The Grim Reaper is also, of course, a Halloween staple. The quirky 1998 video game Grim Fandango features a take on the Grim Reaper, as does the 2000s children’s cartoon The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy and episodes of Family Guy. It stars in the 1991 comedy Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey. It is a leading character in Terry Pratchett’s 1980–90s comic fantasy series Discworld. It figures in Ingmar Bergman’s 1957 art film The Seventh Seal. It resembles a menacing spirit in Dickens’ 1843 classic A Christmas Carol. The Grim Reaper has proved an enduring character in popular imagination. Discussing “The Maid and the Reaper,” by William Lamson, an article notes how the titular maiden mistakes a regular reaper (farmer) with the grim reaper death, grim here meaning “sinister.” One early instance comes in an 1805 issue of the magazine Music. The name Grim Reaper emerges by the 1800s. I n Greek mythology, a scythe was wielded by the ancient Greek Kronos, the Titan god of Time, sometimes credited for influencing the Grim Reaper. The Grim Reaper ’s scythe-or sickle, a farming tool used to cut down and reap wheat grass and metaphorically, harvest souls-actually predates the grim reaper himself. When the Grim Reaper knocks at your door, it’s your funeral, ready or not. The black robe is mournful and monk-like, pointing to traditions of wearing black at funerals. It’s unclear exactly when its signature features first settled into place, but they are meaningful. Some early imagery even depicts the Grim Reaper in tattered white. Originally, this personified Death was portrayed as a bare skeleton wielding various weapons, like crossbows or darts, its form eventually settling into its telltale black robe and scythe by at least the 1800s. The depiction of death as a ghastly skeleton seems to have originated in 14th century Europe, devastated by the bubonic plague, or Black Death, which by some estimates claimed over half of the population.

According to common legend, seeing the Grim Reaper standing near you, particularly if you are on your deathbed, is a clear sign that your end is near.

One such prominent figure in European lore is the Grim Reaper, a black-robed skeleton who cuts down lives with its dreaded scythe. Throughout history, different cultures have variously imagined our inevitable demise, from the Greek Thanatos to the Norse Hel to the Hindu Yama. It’s at the heart of the human condition.

Grim reaper scythe