A church grim

 

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        The Church Grim: Guardian of the dead

 

 A church grim is a guardian spirit from  English and Nordic/Scandinavian  folklore.

 

 

 Nordic Church Grim....

A Nordic church grim gose by different names depending on where its located .. the Kyrkogrim (Swedish), Kirkonväki (Finnish), and Kirkegrim (Danish) and likewise defined as the protective spirit of an animal buried alive in the church foundation. 

In Sweden this tradition  was  mainly found in the formerly Danish areas in the south (Scania, Halland, and Blekinge). It'is also connected with a creature called the "natteramm" in Scanian or, in English, "night raven".

 

 

 It usually lives in the church tower but will live any place on church grounds thsat it can stay hidden within., it also wanders the grounds at night, it's job is to with protect the sacred grounds and building. 

A church grim maintains  order in the church and punishes those  sinners that enters the hallowed grounds.

It 's said that the first founders of Christian churches would bury a lamb ("church-lamb") under the altar. When a person enters the church when services are not being held, he may see the lamb, and if it appears in the graveyard (especially to the gravedigger) then it portends the death of a child.

 In some older versions a lamb is said to have only three legs.

The lamb is meant to represent Christ (the Lamb of God) as the sacred cornerstone of the church, imparting security and longevity to the physical edifice and congregation.

 

 

Dogs are loyal faithful protectors which is why they where more commonly used as Church Grim's, but several other animals have been used  as well, the  most often used alternatives where a lamb, boar, pig and horse.

A grave-sow (or "graysow"), the ghost of a sow that was buried alive, was often seen in the streets of Kroskjoberg where it was regarded as an omen of death. 

 

 

There are tales of the Danish Kirkegrim and its battles with the Strand-varsler that tried to enter the churchyard. Strand-varsler are the spirits of those who die at sea, are washed up on the shore, and remain unburied.

In Swedish tradition, a person attempting the Årsgång, or year walk, a divination ritual that involved circling a churchyard on New Year's Eve, would have to contend with the church grim, which was the natural enemy of the year walker.

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                                                                The English Version.

 

 

England's  church grim is usually  a large black dog with red eyes that guards churchyards from  thieves, vandals, witches, warlocks, and even the Devil himself. 

 

In the 19th century, folklorists believed that it had once been the custom to bury a dog alive under the cornerstone of a church as a foundation sacrifice so that its ghost might serve as a guardian.

Like many spectral black dogs, the grim, according to Yorkshire tradition, is also an ominous portent and is known to toll the church bell at midnight before a death takes place. 

 

During funerals the presiding clergyman may see the grim looking out from the churchtower and determine from its aspect whether the soul of the deceased is destined for Heaven or Hell. 

 

The grim inhabits the churchyard day and night and is associated with dark stormy weather.

When a new churchyard was opened it was believed that the first person buried there had to guard it against the Devil. In order to prevent a human soul from having to perform such a duty a black dog was buried in the north part of the churchyard as a substitute.

 

 According to a related belief in Scotland the spirit of the person most recently buried in a churchyard had to protect it until the next funeral provided a new guardian to replace them.

This churchyard vigil was known as the faire chlaidh or "graveyard watch^.

 

A folktale of the Devil's Bridge type is also an example of the motif of a dog (in this case a dog also named Grim) being sacrificed in place of a human being. In the North Riding of Yorkshire attempts were made to build a bridge that could withstand the fury of the floods but none were successful. 

 

The Devil promised to build one on condition that the first living creature that crossed it should serve as a sacrifice. When the bridge was complete the people gave long consideration as to who should be the victim. A shepherd who owned a dog named Grim swam across the river then whistled for Grim to follow, who went over the bridge and became the Devil's sacrifice.

 

 

The bridge then became known as Kilgrim Bridge  and was later renamed Kilgram Bridge, which today crosses the River Ure in North Yorkshire