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Death is unavoidable. Why do we feel compelled to give a face to our inevitable fate? It can't be for solace. The representations humanity has crafted for death are far more terrifying than the cold, indifferent abyss.
10. The Dullahan
The Dullahan is a headless rider, galloping purposefully through the Irish countryside. He carries his severed head, which gleams with a ghostly pallor and bears a wicked grin stretching across its face. With his head raised, his dark, piercing eyes can spot his prey from miles away. He rides a steed that moves with such velocity that it ignites the bushes in its wake. No matter how securely a gate is locked, it will swing open to allow the Dullahan's entry. When his decapitated head calls your name, your death is sealed.
Even those not marked by the Dullahan should steer clear of him. He hurls a bucket of blood at those who cross his path or blinds them with his spine-whip. However, the Dullahan does have a vulnerability: He is inexplicably frightened of gold. It’s advised to carry gold on your journey. Should the Dullahan approach, simply drop the gold before him, and he will vanish with a blood-curdling scream.
9. The Washerwomen
The Bean Nighe is a spectral fairy from Scottish folklore. It’s said that you can find her by a stream, scrubbing the blood-soaked garments of someone whose death is imminent. A Bean Nighe comes into being when a woman dies during childbirth; her spirit transforms into a fairy washerwoman until the day she would have naturally passed. She appears as a small figure dressed in green, with red, webbed feet.
Unlike other omens of death, this is one you might actually wish to encounter (just pray that it’s not your clothes she’s washing). If you position yourself between her and the water, she will grant you three wishes and allow you to ask three questions, answering them truthfully. However, she will also pose three questions to which you must respond honestly.
The Bean Nighe has an Irish counterpart known as the Bean Sidhe. But unlike their Scottish relatives, these washerwomen roam away from the riverside, gathering at the homes of those doomed to die. Once they begin their mournful wailing, the fate of the person is sealed.
If you manage to capture a Bean Sidhe, you may compel her to reveal the name of the person who is about to die. Look for an old woman with eyes bloodshot from weeping, long unkempt hair, and large, sagging breasts.
8. The Plague Hag
In 1349, a ship docked in Bergen, Norway, carrying the Black Death. The ship's grain cargo was infested with plague-ridden rats and fleas. Over the next six months, the plague spread across Norway, wiping out half of its population.
The Norwegians embodied the Black Death through an elderly woman known as Pesta, the plague hag. She wielded either a rake or a broom. If she entered an area and began raking, many people would die. If she swept with her broom, death would claim everyone in that area.
Sweden also had the plague hag, but in their version, she was preceded by a man. The man carried a shovel, and if he entered a house and began to shovel, it meant that some people would die. If the plague hag followed him and started sweeping, then everyone in the house was doomed. This time, she touched each person with her broom to ensure no one was spared.
Fortunately, the plague hag could be reasoned with, if one was willing to accept their fate. In one tale, a boatman ferries the hag across the river. Upon correctly identifying her, she grants him a swift death rather than a slow, agonizing one from the plague. In another story, a mother and father sleep with their child between them, hidden under the blankets. The mother awakens to find the hag sweeping her room. She pleads, “In the name of Jesus, troll, there are no more to take here.” The hag believes her, killing the parents but sparing the child.
7. Thanatos
In Greek mythology, Thanatos was the son of Nyx, the goddess of night, and Erebos, the god of darkness. His twin brother was Hypnos, the god of sleep; the two of them resided together in the underworld, sharing a bed. Thanatos had an ethereal appearance, with delicate wings and a sword by his side. His duty was to guide the souls of those who passed away peacefully. The Greek poet Hesiod wrote:
“[Thanatos] has a heart of iron, and his spirit within him is pitiless as bronze: whomever of men he has once seized he holds fast, and he is hateful even to the deathless gods.”
Thanatos can be defeated, but it’s a difficult feat. He was once overpowered by strength, when he came to claim the soul of Herakles’s friend. Herakles tackled Thanatos and sent him back to the underworld bruised and empty-handed.
Sisyphus managed to outsmart Thanatos. When Sisyphus’s time to die came, Zeus commanded Thanatos to bind him in Tartarus, but Sisyphus tricked Thanatos into shackling himself. With Thanatos imprisoned, no one could die. The Olympians had to step in to restore order. For angering the gods, Sisyphus was cursed to roll a boulder up a hill for all eternity.
6. The Netherworld Emissary
The Korean Grim Reaper is known as Jeoseung Saja. His role is to escort souls to the king of the underworld to face their judgment. Jeoseung Saja wears long, black robes and a tall, black hat. His pale skin and hollow eyes give him a haunting appearance. His weaknesses differ depending on the region. In Chilgok, he avoids silver and oranges, which are believed to ward off evil.
Long ago, on Geumo mountain, there lived a retired general who sought to evade death. General Sineui planted orange trees around his estate, creating a barrier to keep the emissary of the underworld at bay. When Jeoseung Saja came for him, he circled the estate for days. Eventually, Jeoseung Saja found a malicious peach tree, considered a fruit of evil, and used it to scale the walls. But that wasn’t the end of Sineui’s defenses. He had secured his topknot with a silver pin. One night, Jeoseung Saja crept under the floorboards. When Sineui went to the bathroom, Jeoseung Saja burst through the floor and struck the general down with an iron hammer.
Sineui briefly escaped the underworld. However, after his family buried him following the funeral, his soul returned to his body. Tragically, he suffocated and died once more.
5. Shinigami
The Japanese Shinigami have gained popularity recently, particularly in manga series like Death Note, where they are depicted as a race of demonic entities. These Shinigami extend their own lives by writing the name of a human on a mystical piece of paper known as a death note. When a Shinigami writes a person’s name, the human dies instantly, and the Shinigami takes the remaining years of the person’s life to add to its own. The story begins when a bored Shinigami chooses to give his death note to a human.
However, the Shinigami in Japanese folklore differ greatly from this modern depiction, though it may be misleading to classify them as part of folklore, since the concept of these spirits didn’t emerge until the 19th century. They are influenced by the Western Grim Reaper and share a similar appearance. In folklore, Shinigami measured human lifespans with candles. Once a person’s candle burned out, it was time for that person to pass. The candles of the young, beautiful, and wealthy burned more quickly than those of others.
If you’re ill, you might notice a Shinigami sitting at the foot of your bed, watching you closely as your condition worsens. If you’re on the brink of death, a Shinigami will be standing over you, preparing for the inevitable.
4. The Ankou
In Breton folklore, the Ankou is the one tasked with gathering the souls of the deceased from graveyards, transporting them in a coach to the underworld. Each year, the last person to die becomes the Ankou for the coming year. If the year sees a large number of deaths, the Ankou is said to be particularly malevolent.
The Ankou is described as a tall, gaunt figure, cloaked in a long coat, with a wide-brimmed hat that obscures his face. He drives a coach drawn by two white horses—one strong and youthful, the other frail and aged. As he patrols the graveyard, his head spins continuously, ensuring that no soul can escape his watchful eyes. In some versions of the tale, two skeletal figures accompany the Ankou, rounding up the souls that attempt to flee, tossing them into his coach.
3. Grim Reaper
Before the 14th century, Christian art often portrayed death as an angel or a group of angels. However, following the Black Death, which decimated 30-60 percent of Europe's population, the image of death began to shift. With bodies lying in the streets and widespread suffering, artists abandoned the angelic depiction of death. Instead, they began to envision it as a grim skeleton. Death was now illustrated as picking off victims with crossbows or darts. As the plague intensified, artists equipped Death with a scythe, a tool used for reaping. He was shown mowing down people like a farmer harvesting wheat. Cloaked in black, the color symbolizing mourning, Death became the Grim Reaper, an image that has persisted through the ages.
At times, the Grim Reaper is seen riding a pale horse, assuming the role of the Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse. In this form, he leads the armies of the dead back to Earth.
2. Cu Sith
In the Scottish Highlands, beware of a dog that matches the size of a young bull, with paws eerily resembling human hands. Its shaggy fur is a dark green, the very shade of the fairies. The word “Cu” translates to “dog,” while “Sith” means “fairy.”
The Cu Sith will charge straight toward you. If you hear its haunting howl echo three times, death will be your fate. But if you manage to hide and flee before the third howl, you may escape—at least for now.
Yet, this fairy dog is not only an omen of death. It serves as a guardian of the fairies. Should the Cu Sith encounter a nursing woman, it may choose to spare her life, abducting her instead. The dog would then carry her away to the fairy mounds, forcing her to nurse the fairy children.
1. The Angel Of Death
In Judaism, the Angel of Death was created by God on the very first day of creation. Later, God declared to the angel, “Over all people have I surrendered thee the power.”
The Angel of Death is said to have 12 wings and a body covered with eyes. When your time comes, the angel appears above you with his sword drawn. Upon seeing him, you will experience violent convulsions, your jaw will lock open, and bile from the angel’s sword will drip into your mouth, causing your face to turn a sickly yellow before death strikes. The expression “it tastes of death” is believed to come from this grim ritual.
Once you encounter the Angel of Death, your demise is inevitable. However, while the angel does not make judgments between good and evil, he follows God’s will. Through repentance and leading a life of kindness, one may be able to earn God’s mercy and delay the angel’s approach.
