# Grim Reaper - OED says 1977 origin? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 23, 2004, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grim-reaper-oed-says-1977-origin/251853 "2004-06-23T19:13:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grim-reaper-oed-says-1977-origin/251853/1 "2004-06-23T19:13:29Z")
I was browsing through Take Our Word for It, a great web word magazine, when I came upon this from [issue #78](http://www.takeourword.com/Issue078.html): > [@](#): > > Where was the term Grim Reaper first used or where did it originate? > > This expression, and its brothers Reaper, Old Reaper and Great Reaper, come from the practice of portraying Death as wielding a scythe. Surprisingly, the earliest reference provided by the Oxford English Dictionary comes from Longfellow in 1839: “There is a Reaper whose name is Death, and, with his sickle keen…” Grim reaper doesn’t show up until 1977… Naturally enough, the nitpickers jumped on this in [issue #79](http://www.takeourword.com/Issue079.html): > [@](#): > > Although I have the greatest respect for your research, there is no way I am willing to accept that the first time the words “grim” and “reaper” appeared side by side was 1977 (Issue 78)! Someone at OED has not been diligent enough, I am certain. > > We thought the same, but the OED is not to be taken lightly, and none of our other esteemed sources offered anything earlier. Allow us to request pre-1977 examples of grim reaper from you, our readers (please provide source and date). However, keep in mind that even rock group Blue Oyster Cult referred to Death as simply “the Reaper” in their “Don’t Fear the Reaper” of 1976. and [issue 80](http://www.takeourword.com/Issue080.html), with the earliest citation being: > [@](#): > > I didn’t believe it either. I remembered a book by John D. McDonald “The Green Ripper” the title being a play on words, but when I looked up the publishing history discovered it was printed in 1979, so no good. Undeterred however and spurred on by the “fawn coloured Desert” (Issue 79) I dug a little and found a reference to a 1944 comic book “The Grim Reaper & Spectro” - Wonder Comics - May 1944. and then [issue 81](http://www.takeourword.com/Issue081.html): > [@](#): > > After reading Issue 80 I searched a bit more diligently. Having eliminated Shakespeare, the Holy Bible ( King James Version) Mary Shelley, lots of Poe and some Thomas Hardy, I remembered reading somewhere that grim derived from the brothers Grimm of fairy tale fame due to the content of their tales which were a far cry from the sanitized versions I grew up with. Accepting this as true together with the fact that most translations into English were done after 1850, it does not seem unreasonable for it to take until the twentieth century for it to turn up in conjunction with “reaper”. I write all this to explain why I stopped searching for any references earlier than this: > > Title: Dawn O’Hara, the Girl Who Laughed; Author: Ferber, Edna; Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap; City: New York; Date: 1911; in which the phrase appears. > > I think my conclusions reasonable, but wonder whether the original premise is itself a fairy tale. > > You certainly take the prize for the earliest occurrence of grim reaper that we’ve heard of, but there is a flaw in the premise that grim derives from the Brothers Grimm. Actually, grim is a very old word, going back to Indo-European ghrem- “angry”. It is thought that it is imitative of the sound of rumbling, such as thunder (Russian for “thunder” is grom). It is another name for the Norse god Odin, the sky god. Grumble is one relative of grim, grimace is another and the English port of Grimsby is understood to mean “Odin’s town”. So it is quite possible that grim reaper could have appeared in English before 1850. > > Earlier references, anyone? Anyone? And has the OED corrected itself? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grim-reaper-oed-says-1977-origin/251853/2 "2004-06-23T19:54:14Z")
The original quote is a misreading of the OED. It’s entry is: > [@](#): > > b. fig. the (Great, Grim, Old) Reaper: Death personified. > The expression arises from the iconographic portrayal of Death wielding a scythe: cf. SCYTHE n. 2. > > 1839 LONGFELLOW in Baltimore Lit. Monument May 17/1 O, not in cruelty, not in wrath, The reaper came that day. 1931 N. & Q. 5 Sept. 180/2 One is startled by the inroads which the great reaper has made in the ranks of the Knights since the 15th Edition. 1940 A. UPFIELD Bushranger of Skies xiv. 161 That he happened to be the seventh son of a seventh son…was said…to account for his escapes from The Reaper. 1976 R. LEWIS Witness my Death v. 182 The old house had been silent, waiting with him for the Old Reaper to come again. 1977 New Statesman 2 Sept. 304/1 The Grim Reaper has been rather too vigorously at work among us… At least ten of the best have gone. While it is true that the first mention of “Grim Reaper” as a phrase is from 1977, the OED is looking for examples of “Reaper,” not “Grim Reaper,” so the fact that the phrase is missing in this instance does not mean the phrase was not used before 1977. [This site](http://www.takeourword.com/Issue081.html) indicates a usage from 1911 (scroll down). [This book](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0517060205/104-4204648-9447167?v=glance&st=*) seems to cite an example from 1711. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grim-reaper-oed-says-1977-origin/251853/3 "2004-06-23T23:26:55Z")
> [@](#): > > This site indicates a usage from 1911 (scroll down). **Chuck** , I know we think alike on a lot of things, but that doesn’t mean you can cite me a quote given in my OP! :smack: The Dictionary of Clichés cite is an interesting one, which makes me really wonder why they couldn’t find a pre-20th century cite on Take My Word for It. It’s usually a good site - but they really blew it this time. Oh, **Sam** … ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grim-reaper-oed-says-1977-origin/251853/4 "2004-06-23T23:54:30Z")
Do you know how hard it is to find a phonebooth this time of night when you’re trying to change clothes. And my cape got caught in the blasted door. The online OED _still_ doesn’t have it before 1977, but I agree that might be becasue the didn’t care about the _phrase_. Also, they did that volume a bit ago, and it probably hasn’t benefited from electronic databases yet. I found plenty of cites in my newspaperarchive search. These are middle of the road US newspapers from 1750-date. Earliest was 1873. The exact phrase was about a person dying and "gathering the sheaves of the Grim Reaper. I found an 1851 cite using Proquest’s “American Periodical Series.” That’s the earliest I could find, but I don’t have enough time to do a full-court search right now. Interestingly, the phrase was “sheaves of the Grim Reaper.” ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grim-reaper-oed-says-1977-origin/251853/5 "2004-06-24T04:09:37Z")
Now I have this image scrambling through my brain of a half-naked Samclem being hauled away by a pair of unamused cops. Geez, Ed, couldn’t you have made Eve a mod instead? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Popup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@Popup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Popup)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grim-reaper-oed-says-1977-origin/251853/6 "2004-06-24T07:31:08Z")
Is it possible that the image of Death as scythe-wielding (chess-playing) dark-caped old geezer came from the 1957 Bergman film [The seventh seal](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050976/)? At least in Swedish iconology the scythe-carrying man has been associated with Death since the 17th century, and it’s just possible that this film would have been influential enough to project this image onto the world scene? (Although I see now that you’ve found other earlier sources, I still think that it’s possible that Bergman popularised this personification of Death.) ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grim-reaper-oed-says-1977-origin/251853/7 "2004-06-24T13:19:48Z")
There was a book published in 1903 with the title “The finish of three rascals, or, Nick Carter and the grim reaper”. (Published in New York by Street & Smith, in the series New magnet library ; no. 841) ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grim-reaper-oed-says-1977-origin/251853/8 "2004-06-24T16:09:51Z")
Here’s a site with research done by people with PhD’s and stuff: [http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:H3iPhFRWX9gJ:www.mindreader.com/fate/articles/Fate1096.doc+grim+reaper+origin&hl=en](http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:H3iPhFRWX9gJ:www.mindreader.com/fate/articles/Fate1096.doc+grim+reaper+origin&hl=en) > [@](#): > > So when did the phrase “Grim Reaper” come into use? So far, the earliest reference Joanne was able to find was to a 1931 legal case in Florida. I jumped onto the LEXIS service (for whom I work) and tracked down the case and the quote. For your reference, it’s the State of Florida ex. rel. Skillman v. City of Miami, 101 Fla. 585 at 591: “When one looks upon a funeral home his thoughts naturally turn to the certainty of death and to the scenes of desolation and sorrow which within his experience have been occasioned by the grim reaper.” The case, involving a funeral home, was heard in the Florida Supreme Court, the opinion dated May 12, 1931. * * * Itallian movie 1962: [http://www.reel.com/movie.asp?MID=4475](http://www.reel.com/movie.asp?MID=4475) * * * 1944 Comic book: [http://home.insightbb.com/~GoldenYears/NedorChronology.html](http://home.insightbb.com/~GoldenYears/NedorChronology.html) > [@](#): > > Wonder Comics 1 May 1944 XX/XX/XX Nedor First Grim Reaper and Spectro, and first, origin, and only Mechano ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grim-reaper-oed-says-1977-origin/251853/9 "2004-06-25T01:27:18Z")
I guess my new powers include _invisibility_. 🙂 [From an earlier post]–I found an 1851 cite, and it was not uncommon in US newspapers from 1873-1900. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grim-reaper-oed-says-1977-origin/251853/10 "2004-06-25T11:37:36Z")
> [@Popup](#): > > Is it possible that the image of Death as scythe-wielding (chess-playing) dark-caped old geezer came from the 1957 Bergman film [The seventh seal](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050976/)? > > At least in Swedish iconology the scythe-carrying man has been associated with Death since the 17th century, and it’s just possible that this film would have been influential enough to project this image onto the world scene? > > (Although I see now that you’ve found other earlier sources, I still think that it’s possible that Bergman popularised this personification of Death.) As I think you realise, the basic image is much older and is not specifically Swedish. A scythe was a common attribute for Death in the depictions of the ‘Dance of Death’ that appears throughout Europe from the fourteenth century onwards. True, the earliest versions tend to show a skeleton wearing a shroud rather than a cowl, but, once the scythe had become his recognisable trademark, it became easy for the other details to mutate. What Bergman did was to create a variation that can be endlessly spoofed. Why bother merely introducing the personification of Death when you can add a clever cinematic allusion as well? Or rather, what was once a clever cinematic allusion before it became a cliché. To reinforce the crucial point already made by **RealityChuck** and **samclem** , the _OED_ is often more haphazard when dealing with phrases rather than individual words. I don’t suppose that the compilers seriously thought that the 1977 date was anything more the earliest reference they happened to have on file. Including it at all is their way of indicating that they would welcome earlier references. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grim-reaper-oed-says-1977-origin/251853/11 "2004-06-25T12:09:32Z")
The Reaper in Greek mythology: [http://www.algocentral.com/pandora/thereaper.html](http://www.algocentral.com/pandora/thereaper.html) ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grim-reaper-oed-says-1977-origin/251853/12 "2004-06-25T13:19:24Z")
Sure, the scythe in the medieval depictions of Death does derive from the earlier imagery associated with Chronos, but it needed that intermediate step to create the later image of the Grim Reaper. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grim-reaper-oed-says-1977-origin/251853/13 "2004-06-25T14:24:08Z")
Paul Barber’s [**Vampires, Burial, and Death: Folklore and Reality**](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0300048599/qid=1088172510/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-6895399-2312964?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) (about pre-modern burial customs, beliefs about death, and their affect on folklore), suggests that the image of Death as weilding a scythe derived from an old European practice of burying corpses with a scythe. The explanation Barber offered for the custom was partially giving the dead farming tools they might need in the next world, and partially putting a sharp blade over the corpse so it would run into trouble if it attempted to rise again. If anyone happened to unearth such a corpse later (maybe checking to make sure it _hadn’t_ risen?) they might be greeted with the sight of a robed or shrouded skeleton with a scythe. I have no other source for this burial practice so I don’t know if it ever really was a custom, but I thought the story was interesting enough to be worth mentioning.