I know it's stupid but I swore I saw one about two years ago running down a road one night, then the next day a friend's mother died. Now every time at night when I see something I am afraid it could mean something...am I being extra paranoid? I just saw something outside when I went out to my car...I don't know what it was but there are a few ghosts in this area...now I sound crazy...
2006-09-26 17:56:00 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Mythology & Folklore
There's a Church Grim from English folklore. Seems simliar to what she was writing about.
"The guardian of old churchyards in the form of a black dog, it protected the dead from the Devil, demons and other nefarious supernatural creatures. The dog was often seen on stormy nights and was regarded as a portent of death.
It has been surmised that the Church Grim is a folk memory of a sacrifice. It was believed in the past that the first burial in a churchyard would have to watch over the rest of the dead. A dog may have been buried first in place of a human. An old English tradition was the burial of a live dog in the floor of a newly built church. The phantom dog was supposed to guard the church and it's congragets.
Phantom black dogs are numerous in Britain, and almost every area has its own variant. Although not all of these are thought to be derived from a folk memory of a sacrifice, the practice was once widespread."
2006-09-26 18:06:54 · answer #1 · answered by Johhny Drama 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
RE:
Is the "Grim" from Harry Potter based on real folklore or is it something made up by J.K. Rowling?
I know it's stupid but I swore I saw one about two years ago running down a road one night, then the next day a friend's mother died. Now every time at night when I see something I am afraid it could mean something...am I being extra paranoid? I just saw something outside when I went out to...
2015-08-10 05:50:02 · answer #2 · answered by Anni 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actually, phantom black dogs, grims, barghests, padfoots, and other supernatural hounds have quite a history. Yes, a Grim is traditional folklore, which J.K. borrows from liberally. Usually, a harbinger of of death. Pookas, will sometimes take this shape as well. Church Grims usually are around graveyards. Big black grims, are usually spotted around bridges. And just because you can't explain something, does not make you crazy! Check out Katherine Briggs, encyclopedia of fairies...
2006-09-26 18:22:51 · answer #3 · answered by Sad-Dad 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Happy Birthday Harry! And JK Rowling! BQ: Harry Potter, the character? Or Harry Potter the books? Either way, they're both amazing. :)
2016-03-19 09:58:45 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Grim goes back before history was recorded.
2006-09-28 09:56:14 · answer #5 · answered by kilroymaster 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I imagine it is. Most of the things Rowling makes reference to in her stories has some equivalent, or is taken from a pre-existing culture.
2006-09-26 18:06:15 · answer #6 · answered by jedi_junkie05 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm not sure, though there is the black shuck, padfoot and others like it.
2006-09-27 05:22:31 · answer #7 · answered by Phantom Ice-Cream 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
She is writing as though she is seeing the things in her dream every night and this can be answered by her and no one else.
2006-09-26 18:01:15 · answer #8 · answered by rajarammohanroy 1 · 1⤊ 2⤋
you should ask j.k. rowling!
2006-09-26 17:57:57 · answer #9 · answered by hey 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋