Statue of Death, personified as a human skeleton dressed in a shroud and clutching a scythe, from the Cathedral of Trier in Trier, Germany

Death, due to its prominent place in human culture, is frequently imagined as a personified force, also known as the Grim Reaper. In some mythologies, the Grim Reaper causes the victim's death by coming to collect them. In turn, people in some stories try to hold on to life by avoiding Death's visit, or by fending Death off with bribery or tricks. Other beliefs hold that the Spectre of Death is only a psychopomp, serving to sever the last ties between the soul and the body, and to guide the deceased to the afterlife, without having any control over when or how the victim dies. Death is most often personified in male form, although in certain cultures Death is perceived as female (for instance, Marzanna in Slavic mythology).

By region

A Western depiction of Death as a skeleton wielding a scythe

Middle Eastern

Mot (lit. "Death") was personified to Canaanites as a god of death. He was considered a son of the king of the gods, El. His contest with the storm god Baʿal forms part of the myth cycle discovered in the 1920s in the ruins of Ugarit. Lacunae obscure some of the details, but Mot apparently consumes Baʿal before being split open and mutilated by that god's sister, the warrior 'Anat. After a time, both gods are restored and resume battle before the sun goddess Shapash prompts a truce by warning Mot that, if forced to, El would intervene on Baʿal's behalf. The Phoenicians also worshipped death under the name Mot and a version of Mot later became Maweth, the devil or angel of death in Judaism.^[1]^[2]

Hellenic

Thanatos as a winged youth, c. 325–300 BC, at Temple of Artemis, Ephesos

Ancient Greece found Death to be inevitable, and therefore, he is not represented as purely evil. He is often portrayed as a bearded and winged man, but has also been portrayed as a young boy. Death, or Thanatos, "θάνατος" in Greek, is the counterpart of life, death being represented as male, and life as female. He is the twin brother of Hypnos, "ὕπνος" in Greek, the god of sleep. He is typically shown with his brother and is represented as being just and gentle. His job is to escort the dead to the underworld, Hades, "ᾄδῃς" in Greek. He then hands the dead over to Charon, "χάρων" in Greek, who mans the boat that carries them over the river Styx, "Στύξ" in Greek, which separates the land of the living from the land of the dead. It was believed that if the ferryman did not receive some sort of payment i.e. Charon's obol, "ὀβολός" in Greek, the soul would not be delivered to the underworld and would be left by the riverside for a hundred years. Thanatos' sisters, the Keres, were the spirits of violent death. They were associated with deaths from battle, disease, accident, and murder. The sisters were portrayed as evil, often feeding on the blood of the body after the soul had been escorted to Hades. They had fangs and talons, and would be dressed in bloody garments.

Celtic

Breton folklore shows a spectral figure portending death, the Ankou (yr Angau in Welsh). Usually, the Ankou is the spirit of the last person that died within the community and appears as a tall, haggard figure with a wide hat and long white hair or a skeleton with a revolving head who sees everyone, everywhere. The Ankou drives a deathly wagon or cart with a creaking axle. The cart or wagon is piled high with corpses and a stop at a cabin means instant death for those inside.^[3]
In Ireland there was a creature known as a dullahan, whose head would be tucked under his or her arm (dullahans were not one, but an entire species), and the head was said to have large eyes and a smile that could reach the head's ears. The dullahan would ride a black horse or a carriage pulled by black horses, and stop at the house of someone about to die, and call their name, and immediately the person would die. The dullahan did not like being watched, and it was believed that if a dullahan knew someone was watching them, they would lash that person's eyes with their whip, which was made from a spine; or they would toss a basin of blood on the person, which was a sign that the person was next to die.
Also in Ireland there is a female spirit known as Banshee, who heralds the death of a person, usually by shrieking or keening. The banshee is often described in Gaelic lore as wearing red or green, usually with long, disheveled hair. She can appear in a variety of forms. Perhaps most often she is seen as an ugly, frightful hag, but she can also appear as young and beautiful if she chooses. In Ireland and parts of Scotland, a traditional part of mourning is the keening woman (bean chaointe), who wails a lament – in Irish: Caoineadh, caoin meaning "to weep, to wail". When several banshees appear at once, it indicates the death of someone great or holy. The tales sometimes recounted that the woman, though called a fairy, was a ghost, often of a specific murdered woman, or a mother who died in childbirth.
In Scottish folklore there was a belief that a black, dark green or white dog known as a Cù Sìth took dying souls to the afterlife.

Slavic

In Poland, Death, or Śmierć, has an appearance similar to the traditional Grim Reaper, but instead of a black robe, Death has a white robe. Also, due to grammar, Death is a female (the word śmierć is of feminine gender), mostly seen as an old skeletal woman, as depicted in 16th century dialogue "Rozmowa Mistrza Polikarpa ze Śmiercią" (Latin: "Dialogus inter Mortem et Magistrum Polikarpum").
In Serbia and other slavic Balkan countries, Grim Reaper is well known as Smrt ("Death") or Kosač ("Billhook"), Balkan people found this very similar to the Devil and other dark powers. One popular saying about the Grim Reaper is: Smrt ne bira ni vreme, ni mesto, ni godine ("Death is not choosing a time, place or years" - which means she is destiny.)^{[original research?]}

The Low Countries

In the Netherlands, but also to lesser extent in Belgium, the personification of Death is known as Magere Hein ("Meager Hein"). Historically, he was sometimes simply referred to as Hein or variations thereof such as Heintje, Heintjeman and Oom Hendrik ("Uncle Hendrik"). Related archaic terms are Beenderman ("Bone-man"), Scherminkel (very meager person, "skeleton") and Maaijeman ("mow-man", a reference to his scythe).^[4]
The concept of Magere Hein was pre-Christian and tied to Pagan beliefs, but it was Christianized and likely gained its modern name and features (scythe, skeleton, black robe etc.) during the Middle Ages. The designation "Meager" comes from its portrayal as a skeleton, which was largely influenced by the Christian "Dance of Death" (Dutch: dodendans) theme that was prominent in Europe during the late Middle Ages. "Hein" was a Middle Dutch name originating as a short form of Heinric (see Henry (given name)). Its use was possibly related to the comparable German concept of "Freund Hein". Notable is that many of the names given to Death can also refer to the Devil, showing how his status as a feared and "evil" being led to him being merged into the concept of Satan.^[4]^[5]
In Belgium, this personification of Death is now commonly called Pietje de Dood "Little Pete, the Death".^[6] As with some of the Dutch names, it can also refer to the Devil.^[7]

Scandinavia

In Scandinavia, in Norse mythology death was personified in the shape of Hel, the goddess of death and ruler over the realm of the same name, where she received a portion of the dead.^[8] In the times of the Black Plague, Death would often be depicted as an old woman known by the name of Pesta, meaning "plague hag". She wore a black hood. She would go into a town carrying either a rake or a broom. If she brought the rake, some people would survive the plague; if she brought the broom, however, everyone would die.^[9]
Later, Scandinavians adopted the classic Grim Reaper with a scythe and black robe.

Baltic

Lithuanians named Death Giltinė, deriving from the word gelti ("to sting"). Giltinė was viewed as an old, ugly woman with a long blue nose and a deadly poisonous tongue. The legend tells that Giltinė was young, pretty and communicative until she was trapped in a coffin for seven years. The goddess of death was a sister of the goddess of life and destiny, Laima, symbolizing the relationship between beginning and end.
Lithuanians later adopted the classic Grim Reaper with a scythe and black robe.

India

Yama, the Hindu lord of death, presiding over his court in hell

The Sanskrit word for death is mrityu (cognate with Latin mors and Polish śmierć), which is often personified in Dharmic religions.
In Hindu scriptures, the lord of death is called King Yama (यम राज, Yama Rājā). He is also known as the King of Karmic Justice (Dharmaraja) as one's karma at death was considered to lead to a just rebirth. (Yudhishthira, eldest of the pandavas and a personification of justice, was born through Kunti's prayers to Yama.) Yama rides a black buffalo and carries a rope lasso to carry the soul back to his home, called Naraka, pathalloka, or Yamaloka. There are many forms of reapers, although some say there is only one who disguises himself as a small child. His agents, the Yamadutas, carry souls back to Yamalok. There, all the accounts of a person's good and bad deeds are stored and maintained by Chitragupta. The balance of these deeds allows Yama to decide where the soul has to reside in its next life, following the theory of reincarnation. Yama is also mentioned in the Mahabharata as a great philosopher and devotee of the Supreme Brahman.
Buddhist scriptures also mention Mara, much in the similar way.

East Asia

Yama was introduced to Chinese mythology through Buddhism. In Chinese, he is known as King Yan (t 閻王, s 阎王, p Yánwáng) or Yanluo (t 閻羅王, s 阎罗王, p Yánluówáng), ruling the ten gods of the underworld Diyu. He is normally depicted wearing a Chinese judge's cap and traditional Chinese robes and appears on most forms of hell money offered in ancestor worship. From China, Yama spread to Japan as the Great King Enma (閻魔大王, Enma-Dai-Ō), ruler of Jigoku (地獄); Korea as the Great King Yŏmna (염라 대 왕), ruler of Jiok (지옥); and Vietnam as Diêm La Vương, ruler of Địa Ngục or Âm Phủ
Separately, the Kojiki relates that the Japanese goddess Izanami was burnt to death giving birth to the fire god Hinokagutsuchi. She then entered a realm of perpetual night called Yomi-no-Kuni. Her husband Izanagi pursued her there but discovered his wife was no longer as beautiful as before. After an argument, she promises she will take a thousand lives every day, becoming a goddess of death. There are also death gods called shinigami (死神), which are closer to the Western tradition of the Grim Reaper; while common in modern Japanese arts and fiction, they were essentially absent in traditional mythology.
In Korean mythology, the equivalent of the Grim Reaper is the "Netherworld Emissary" Jeoseung-saja (저승사자). He is depicted as a stern and ruthless bureaucrat in Yŏmna's service. A psychopomp, he escorts all—good or evil—from the land of the living to the netherworld when the time comes.^[10]

Latin America

Santa Muerte

Our Lady of the Holy Death (Santa Muerte) is a female deity of Mexican folk religion, whose faith has been spreading in Mexico and the United States. Since the pre-Columbian era Mexican culture has maintained a certain reverence towards death, which can be seen in the widespread commemoration of the Day of the Dead. Elements of that celebration include the use of skeletons to remind people of their mortality. The cult of Santa Muerte is indeed a continuation of the Aztec cult of the goddess of death Mictecacihuatl (Nahuatl for "Lady of the Dead") clad in Spanish iconography.
In Aztec mythology, Mictecacihuatl is the "Queen of Mictlan" (Mictlancihuatl), the underworld, ruling over the afterlife with Mictlantecuhtli, another deity who is designated as her husband. Her role is to keep watch over the bones of the dead. She presided over the ancient festivals of the dead, which evolved from Aztec traditions into the modern Day of the Dead after synthesis with Spanish cultural traditions. She is said now to preside over the contemporary festival as well. She is known as the "Lady of the Dead" since it is believed that she was born, then sacrificed as an infant. Mictecacihuatl was represented with a defleshed body and with jaw agape to swallow the stars during the day.
San La Muerte (Saint Death) is a skeletal folk saint that is venerated in Paraguay, the Northeast of Argentina and southern Brazil. As the result of internal migration in Argentina since the 1960s the veneration of San La Muerte has been extended to Greater Buenos Aires and the national prison system as well. Saint Death is depicted as a male skeleton figure usually holding a scythe. Although the Catholic Church in Mexico has attacked the devotion of Saint Death as a tradition that mixes paganism with Christianity and is contrary to the Christian belief of Christ defeating death, many devotees consider the veneration of San La Muerte as being part of their Catholic faith. The rituals connected to and powers ascribed to San La Muerte are very similar to those of Santa Muerte.
In the Brazilian religion Umbanda, the orixá Omolu personifies sickness and death, and also the cure. The image of the death is also associated with Exu, lord of the crossroads, who rules the midnight and the cemeteries.

In Abrahamic religions

The "Angel of the Lord" smites 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp (II Kings 19:35). When the Angel of Death passes through to smite the Egyptian first-born, God prevents "the destroyer" (shâchath) from entering houses with blood on the lintel and side posts (Exodus 12:23). The "destroying angel" (mal'ak ha-mashḥit) rages among the people in Jerusalem (II Sam. 24:16). In I Chronicles 21:15 the "angel of the Lord" is seen by King David standing "between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem." The biblical Book of Job (33:22) uses the general term "destroyers" (memitim), which tradition has identified with "destroying angels" (mal'ake Khabbalah), and Prov. 16:14 uses the term the "angels of death" (mal'ake ha-mavet). The angel Azra'il is sometimes referred as the Angel of Death as well.^[11]^:64–65
Jewish tradition also refers to Death as the Angel of Dark and Light, a name which stems from Talmudic lore. There is also a reference to "Abaddon" (The Destroyer), an Angel who is known as the "Angel of the Abyss". In Talmudic lore, he is characterized as archangel Michael.^[12]

In Judaism

La mort du fossoyeur (Death of the gravedigger) by Carlos Schwabe

In Hebrew scriptures, Death ("Maweth") is sometimes personified as a devil or angel of death (e.g., Habakkuk 2:5; Job 18:13).^[1] In both the Book of Hosea and the Book of Jeremiah, Maweth/Mot is mentioned as a deity to whom Yahweh can turn over Judah as punishment for worshiping other gods.^[13] The memitim are a type of angel from biblical lore associated with the mediation over the lives of the dying. The name is derived from the Hebrew word mĕmītǐm (מְמִיתִים – "executioners", "slayers", "destroyers") and refers to angels that brought about the destruction of those whom the guardian angels no longer protected.^[14] While there may be some debate among religious scholars regarding the exact nature of the memitim, it is generally accepted that, as described in the Book of Job 33:22, they are killers of some sort.^[15]

Form and functions

According to the Midrash, the Angel of Death was created by God on the first day.^[16] His dwelling is in heaven, whence he reaches earth in eight flights, whereas Pestilence reaches it in one.^[17] He has twelve wings.^[18] "Over all people have I surrendered thee the power," said God to the Angel of Death, "only not over this one which has received freedom from death through the Law."^[19] It is said of the Angel of Death that he is full of eyes. In the hour of death, he stands at the head of the departing one with a drawn sword, to which clings a drop of gall. As soon as the dying man sees Death, he is seized with a convulsion and opens his mouth, whereupon Death throws the drop into it. This drop causes his death; he turns putrid, and his face becomes yellow.^[20] The expression "the taste of death" originated in the idea that death was caused by a drop of gall.^[21]
The soul escapes through the mouth, or, as is stated in another place, through the throat; therefore, the Angel of Death stands at the head of the patient (Adolf Jellinek, l.c. ii. 94, Midr. Teh. to Ps. xi.). When the soul forsakes the body, its voice goes from one end of the world to the other, but is not heard (Gen. R. vi. 7; Ex. R. v. 9; Pirḳe R. El. xxxiv.). The drawn sword of the Angel of Death, mentioned by the Chronicler (I. Chron. 21:15; comp. Job 15:22; Enoch 62:11), indicates that the Angel of Death was figured as a warrior who kills off the children of men. "Man, on the day of his death, falls down before the Angel of Death like a beast before the slaughterer" (Grünhut, "Liḳḳuṭim", v. 102a). R. Samuel's father (c. 200) said: "The Angel of Death said to me, 'Only for the sake of the honor of mankind do I not tear off their necks as is done to slaughtered beasts'" ('Ab. Zarah 20b). In later representations, the knife sometimes replaces the sword, and reference is also made to the cord of the Angel of Death, which indicates death by throttling. Moses says to God: "I fear the cord of the Angel of Death" (Grünhut, l.c. v. 103a et seq.). Of the four Jewish methods of execution, three are named in connection with the Angel of Death: Burning (by pouring hot lead down the victim's throat), slaughtering (by beheading), and throttling. The Angel of Death administers the particular punishment that God has ordained for the commission of sin.
A peculiar mantle ("idra"-according to Levy, "Neuhebr. Wörterb." i. 32, a sword) belongs to the equipment of the Angel of Death (Eccl. R. iv. 7). The Angel of Death takes on the particular form which will best serve his purpose; e.g., he appears to a scholar in the form of a beggar imploring pity (The beggar should receive Tzedakah.)(M. Ḳ. 28a). "When pestilence rages in the town, walk not in the middle of the street, because the Angel of Death [i.e., pestilence] strides there; if peace reigns in the town, walk not on the edges of the road. When pestilence rages in the town, go not alone to the synagogue, because there the Angel of Death stores his tools. If the dogs howl, the Angel of Death has entered the city; if they make sport, the prophet Elijah has come" (B. Ḳ. 60b). The "destroyer" (saṭan ha-mashḥit) in the daily prayer is the Angel of Death (Ber. 16b). Midr. Ma'ase Torah (compare Jellinek, "B. H." ii. 98) says: "There are six Angels of Death: Gabriel over kings; Ḳapẓiel over youths; Mashbir over animals; Mashḥit over children; Af and Ḥemah over man and beast."

Scholars and the Angel of Death

Black Angel, Oakland Cemetery (Iowa City, Iowa)

Talmud teachers of the 4th century associate quite familiarly with him. When he appeared to one on the street, the teacher reproached him with rushing upon him as upon a beast, whereupon the angel called upon him at his house. To another, he granted a respite of thirty days, that he might put his knowledge in order before entering the next world. To a third, he had no access, because he could not interrupt the study of the Talmud. To a fourth, he showed a rod of fire, whereby he is recognized as the Angel of Death (M. K. 28a). He often entered the house of Bibi and conversed with him (Ḥag. 4b). Often, he resorts to strategy in order to interrupt and seize his victim (B. M. 86a; Mak. 10a).
The death of Joshua ben Levi in particular is surrounded with a web of fable. When the time came for him to die and the Angel of Death appeared to him, he demanded to be shown his place in paradise. When the angel had consented to this, he demanded the angel's knife, that the angel might not frighten him by the way. This request also was granted him, and Joshua sprang with the knife over the wall of paradise; the angel, who is not allowed to enter paradise, caught hold of the end of his garment. Joshua swore that he would not come out, and God declared that he should not leave paradise unless he was absolved from his oath; if not absolved, he was to remain. The Angel of Death then demanded back his knife, but Joshua refused. At this point, a heavenly voice (bat ḳol) rang out: "Give him back the knife, because the children of men have need of it will bring death." Hesitant, Joshua Ben Levi gives back the knife in exchange for the Angel of Deaths name. To never forget the name he carved Troke into his arm the Angel of Death's chosen name. When the knife was returned to the Angel Joshua's carving of the name faded and he forgot. (Ket. 77b; Jellinek, l.c. ii. 48–51; Bacher, l.c. i. 192 et seq.).

Rabbinic views

The Rabbis found the Angel of Death mentioned in Psalm 89:48, where the Targum translates: "There is no man who lives and, seeing the Angel of Death, can deliver his soul from his hand." Eccl. 8:4 is thus explained in Midrash Rabbah to the passage: "One may not escape the Angel of Death, nor say to him, 'Wait until I put my affairs in order,' or 'There is my son, my slave: take him in my stead.'" Where the Angel of Death appears, there is no remedy, but his name (Talmud, Ned. 49a; Hul. 7b). If one who has sinned has confessed his fault, the Angel of Death may not touch him (Midrash Tanhuma, ed. Buber, 139). God protects from the Angel of Death (Midrash Genesis Rabbah lxviii.).
By acts of benevolence, the anger of the Angel of Death is overcome; when one fails to perform such acts the Angel of Death will make his appearance (Derek Ereẓ Zuṭa, viii.). The Angel of Death receives his orders from God (Ber. 62b). As soon as he has received permission to destroy, however, he makes no distinction between good and bad (B. Ḳ. 60a). In the city of Luz, the Angel of Death has no power, and, when the aged inhabitants are ready to die, they go outside the city (Soṭah 46b; compare Sanh. 97a). A legend to the same effect existed in Ireland in the Middle Ages (Jew. Quart. Rev. vi. 336).

In Catholicism

Medieval painting of Death playing chess from Täby Church in Sweden

In Roman Catholicism, the archangel Michael is viewed as the good Angel of Death (as opposed to Samael, the controversial Angel of Death), carrying the souls of the deceased to Heaven (cf. his invocation in the traditional offertory prayer of the Requiem Mass).^[22] Death is also one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse portrayed in the Book of Revelation. Revelation 6:7–8^[23]

In Islam

In Islam, Azrail (Malak al-Maut) is the angel of Death. He pulls the souls out of the body, and guides them through the journey of the afterlife. His appearance depends on the person's deed and actions, with those that did good seeing a beautiful being, and those that did wrong seeing a horrific monster.^{[citation needed]}
Islamic tradition discusses elaborately, almost in graphic detail, as to what exactly happens before, during, and after the death. The angel of death (Malak al-Maut) appears to the dying to take out their souls. The sinners' souls are extracted in a most painful way while the righteous are treated easily.^[24] After the burial, two angels – Munkar and Nakir – come to question the dead in order to test their faith. The righteous believers answer correctly and live in peace and comfort while the sinners and disbelievers fail and punishments ensue.^[24]^[25] The time period or stage between death and resurrection is called the life of barzakh.^[24]
Death is a significant event in Islamic life and theology. It is seen not as the termination of life, rather the continuation of life in another form. In Islamic belief, God has made this worldly life as a test and a preparation ground for the afterlife; and with death, this worldly life comes to an end.^[26] Thus, every person has only one chance to prepare themselves for the life to come where God will resurrect and judge every individual and will entitle them to rewards or punishment, based on their good or bad deeds.^[26]^[27] And death is seen as the gateway to and beginning of the afterlife. In Islamic belief, death is predetermined by God, and the exact time of a person's death is known only to God.

In popular culture

Games

Castlevania (Video Game series) (1986-Present)
Frogger: The Great Quest* (2001-2002)

*NOTE: Although this game does not make a direct reference to (the personification of) Death, the character's name (Mr. D, or The Dark One) along with characteristics and features that both Death and this character possess, distinctively implies that this character is Death.

Notes

Shinigami (死神, "god of death" or "death spirit") are gods or supernatural spirits that invite humans toward death, and can be seen to be present or interpreted to be present in certain aspects of Japanese religion and culture. Shinigami have been described as monsters and helpers, creatures of darkness, and fallen angels. Many cultures describe Shinigami as Death themselves.

Japanese religion

Miyazu, Kyoto Prefecture. Statue of Yama (Enma) at Nariai-ji.

In Buddhism, there is the Mara that is concerned with death, the Mrtyu-mara.^[1] It is a demon that makes humans want to die, and it is said that upon being possessed by it, in a shock, one should suddenly want to commit suicide, so it is sometimes explained to be a "shinigami".^[2] Also, in the Yogacarabhumi-sastra, a writing on Yogacara, it was a demon that decided the time of people's deaths.^[3] Yama, the king of the Underworld, as well as oni like the Ox-Head and Horse-Face are also considered a type of shinigami.^[4]

"Depiction of Searching in the Blue Sea by Amanonu (天瓊を以て滄海を探るの図)" by Eitaku Kobayashi. Izanami is to the left.

In Shinto and Japanese mythology, Izanami gave humans death, so Izanami is sometimes seen as a shinigami.^[4]^[5]
However, Izanami and Yama are also thought to be different from the death gods in western mythology.^[3]^[6] Some forms of Buddhism do not involve believing in any deities, so it is sometimes thought that the concept of a death god does not exist to begin with.^[3] Even though the kijin and onryō of Japanese Buddhist faith have taken humans' lives, there is the opinion that there is no "death god" that merely leads people into the world of the dead.^[6] After the war, however, the western notion of a death god entered Japan, and shinigami started to become mentioned as an existence with a human nature.^[3]

Ningyō jōruri

Generally the word "shinigami" does not appear to be used in Japanese classical literature, and there are not many writings about them,^[7] but going into the Edo period, the word "shinigami" can be seen in Chikamatsu Monzaemon's works of ningyō jōruri and classical literature that had themes on double suicides.
In Hōei 3 (1706), in a performance of the "Shinchuu Nimai Soushi", concerning men and women who were invited towards death, it was written "the road the god of death leads towards",^[8] and in Hōei 6 (1709), in "Shinchuuha ha Koori no Sakujitsu", a woman who was about to commit double suicide with a man said, "the fleetingness of a life lured by a god of death".^[9] It never became clear whether the man and woman came to commit double suicide due to the existence of a shinigami, or if a shinigami was given as an example for their situation of double suicide,^[4] and there are also interpretations that the word "shinigami" is an expression for the fleetingness of life.^[10]
Other than that, in Kyōhō 5 (1720), in a performance of The Love Suicides at Amijima, there was the expression, "of one possessed by a god of death". Since the character was seller of paper, the character who confronted death wrote "paper" (紙, kami) as "god" (神, kami),^[11]^[12] but there are also interpretations that Chikamatsu himself didn't think about the existence of a shinigami.^[4]

Classical literature

"Shinigami" from the Ehon Hyaku Monogatari. By Shunsensai Takehara.

In the classical literature of the Edo period, shinigami that would possess humans are mentioned. In the Ehon Hyaku Monogatari from Tenpō 12 (1841), there was a story titled "Shinigami", but in this one, the shinigami was the spirit of a deceased one and had bad intent, and acting in jointly with the malicious intent already within people who were living, those people were led on bad paths, which caused repeat incidents to occur at places where there was previously a murder incident, for example by causing the same suicide at places where people have hanged themselves before,^[13] and thus these shinigami are somewhat like a possession that would cause people to want to die.^[7]^[14]^{[clarification needed]} Close to this, according to the essay of the Bakumatsu period titled "Hanko no Uragaki", there were the itsuki and that made people want to commit suicide through hanging, as well as things told through folk religion such as gaki-tsuki and shichinin misaki.^[3]
In the later Edo Period, the essay "Shōzan Chomon Kishū" in Kaei 3 (1850) by the essayist Miyoshi Shōzan, the one titled "upon possession by a shinigami, it becomes difficult to speak, or easier to tell lies" was a story where a prostitute possessed by a shinigami invites a man to commit double suicide,^[15]^[16] and in the kabuki Mekuranagaya Umega Kagatobi by Kawatake Mokuami in Meiji 19 (1886), a shinigami enters into people's thoughts, making them think about bad things they have done and want to die.^[17] These are, rather than gods, more like yūki (meaning ghosts and yūrei^[18]), or evil spirits.^[4]
In the San-yūtei Enchō of classical rakugo, there was a programme titled "Shinigami", but this was something that was not thought of independently in Japan, but rather from adaptions of the Italian opera the Crispino e la comare^[19] and the Grimm Fairy Tale "Godfather Death".^[20]

Folk religion

Shinigami are also spoken about in folk religion after the war. According to the mores of Miyajima, Kumamoto Prefecture, those who go out and return to attend to someone through the night must drink tea or eat a bowl of rice before sleeping, and it is said that a shinigami would visit if this was ignored.^[21]
In the Hamamatsu area, Shizuoka Prefecture, a shinigami would possess people and lead them to mountains, seas, and railroads where people have died. In those places, the dead would have a "death turn" (shiniban), and as long as there is nobody to die there next, they shall never ascend even if they were given a service, and it was said that people who were alive would be invited by the dead to come next.^[15] Also, it is ordinary to visit graves for the sake of Higan during noon or when the sun sets, but in the Okayama Prefecture, visiting the grave for Higan during sunrise without a previous time would result in being possessed by a shinigami. However, once one has visited the grave in sunset, then it would become necessary to visit the grave again during sunrise, to avoid a shinigami possessing one's body.^[15] With this background of folk belief, it is also thought that sometimes people would consider the ghosts of the deceased, who have nobody to deify them, to be seeking companions and inviting people to join them.^[15]

Ankou

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Ankou in La Roche-Maurice, Finistère

Ankou (Breton: /ɑːnkuː/ an Ankoù) is a personification of death in Breton mythology as well as in Cornish (an Ankow in Cornish), Welsh (yr Angau in Welsh) and Norman French folklore.^[1]

Background

This character is reported by Anatole Le Braz, a 19th-century writer and collector of legends. Here is what he wrote about the Ankou in his best-seller The Legend of Death:

The Ankou is the henchman of Death (oberour ar maro) and he is also known as the grave yard watcher, they said that he protects the graveyard and the souls around it for some unknown reason and he collects the lost souls on his land. The last dead of the year, in each parish, becomes the Ankou of his parish for all of the following year. When there has been, in a year, more deaths than usual, one says about the Ankou:

– War ma fé, heman zo eun Anko drouk. ("On my faith, this one is a nasty Ankou.")

There are many tales involving Ankou, who appears as a man or skeleton wearing a cloak and wielding a scythe and in some stories he is described as a shadow that looks and a scythe, often atop a cart for collecting the dead. He is said to wear a black robe with a large hat which conceals his face.^[1] According to some^[who?], he was the first child of Adam and Eve. Other versions have it that the Ankou is the first dead person of the year (though he is always depicted as adult, and male), charged with collecting the others' souls before he can go to the afterlife.^{[citation needed]} He is said to drive a large, black coach pulled by four black horses; accompanied by two ghostly figures on foot.^[1]^[2]
One tale^{[citation needed]} says that there were three drunk friends walking home one night, when they came across an old man on a rickety cart. Two of the men started shouting at the Ankou, and then throwing stones; when they broke the axle on his cart they ran off.
The third friend felt bad and, wanting to help the Ankou, found a branch to replace the broken axle, and then gave the Ankou his shoe-laces with which to tie it to the cart. The next morning, the two friends who were throwing stones at the Ankou were dead, while the one who stayed to help only had his hair turned white. He would never speak of how it happened.
Ankou is the king of the dead, and his subjects have their own particular paths along which their sacred processions move.^[3]
Another origin story is that the Ankou was once a cruel prince who met Death during a hunting trip and challenged him to see who could kill a black stag first.^[1] Death won the contest and the prince was cursed to roam the earth as a ghoul for all eternity.^[1]

Appearance in subcultures

Every parish in Brittany is said to have its own Ankou.^[1] In Breton tradition, the squealing of railway wheels outside one's home is supposed to be Karrigell an Ankou ("The Wheelbarrow of Ankou").^[4] Similarly, the cry of the owl is referred to as Labous an Ankou ("The Death Bird").^[4] The Ankou is also found on the baptismal font at La Martyre where he is shown holding a human head.^[5]
In Ireland the proverb "When the Ankou comes, he will not go away empty" relates to the legend.^[1]
The seventh album of the Spirou et Fantasio comics series, named L'Ankou, also relates to the legend.^[6]^{[better source needed]}

Celtic Folklore of Brittany

It is said that the Ankou is a death omen that collects the souls of the deceased. The Ankou is the last person to die in a parish during a year. The last deceased person will assume the duty of calling for the dead. They describe the Ankou as a tall, haggard figure with long white hair. It is also perceived as a skeleton with a revolving head able to see everything everywhere. The Ankou is said to drive a cart and stops at the house of someone who is about to die. It knocks on the door, this sound is sometimes heard by the living, or it could give out a mournful wail like the Irish Banshee. The Ankou has also been reported as an apparition entering the house, it takes away the dead who are then placed in the cart with the help of two ghostly companions.^[7]

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Death (personification)