The Church Grim
When a new church was built, folklore says, a black dog was buried on the north side of the churchyard, to stand guard there forever.
What was reported
The church grim is a guardian spirit of English and Scandinavian folklore, which watches over a churchyard and protects it from the devil, witches and those who would disturb the dead. In England it was usually said to be a large black dog, seen near the church at night or in stormy weather.
Folklore says that when a new church was built, a dog was buried alive on the north side of the churchyard so that its spirit would become the guardian. In Sweden, the kyrkogrim was sometimes said to be a lamb. Seeing the grim could be taken as a sign that someone would die.
Explanations offered
There's little archaeological evidence that animals were actually buried as guardians of churches, so the story may be a way of explaining the black dog spirits seen around churchyards. It's part of a wider tradition of spectral black dogs in British folklore, like Black Shuck and the barghest.
- When
- Told for centuries
- Where
- Churchyards of Yorkshire, England, UK
- Witnesses
- English and Scandinavian folklore
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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