The International Guide to the Mythological

Origin: English and Scandinavian Habitat: Churchyards Behavior: Moderate Description:  A ghost of a big black dog. Facts:  Church grims oversee the welfare of a particular  church  and protects the  churchyard  from those who would profane and commit  sacrilege  against it.  It dwells in the churchtower or some other place of concealment, or wanders the grounds at night.  In English and Scandinavian folklore, when a new churchyard is opened it is believed that the first person buried there had to guard it against the devil. In order to prevent a human soul from having to perform such a duty, a dog is buried on the north part of the churchyard as a substitute.  In Yorkshire tradition, it is an ominous parent and is known to toll the church bell at midnight before a death.  They are associated with dark stormy weather . It often appears as a  black dog  but is known to take the fo...

Origin: Finnish Mythology  Habitat: Woods and forests Behavior: Moderate Description: A large woodland spirit of a bear.  Facts:  Commonly referred to as 'The King of the Forest' According to Finnish mythology, Otso was born on the shoulders of Otava, in the regions of the sun and moon, and ‘nursed by a goddess of the woodlands in a cradle swung by bands of gold between the bending branches of budding fir-trees.’  His nurse would not give him teeth and claws until he had promised never to engage in bloody strife , or deeds of violence. Otso, however, does not always keep his pledge , and accordingly the hunters of Finland find it comparatively easy to reconcile their consciences to his destruction.  Otso is called in the runes by many endearing titles as ‘The Honey-Eater’, ‘Golden Light-Foot’, ‘The Forest-Apple’, ‘Honey-Paw of the Mountains’, ‘The Pride of the Thicket’, and ‘The Fur-robed Forest-Friend’.