It’s amazing to me the bits and pieces of information I collect while researching a book. Most of the information never ends up in the manuscript, but I keep the notes in case I ever find a use for them.
Yesterday somebody asked me if I had an Internet link to the origin of the grim reaper. I didn’t have the link, but I had something better: my notes.
According to William Bramley, author of The Gods of Eden: in 1559 in Brandenburg, Germany, there appeared fifteen men with “fearful faces and long scythes, with which they cut the oats, so that the swish could be heard at great distance, but the oats remained standing. The visit of these men was followed immediately by a severe outbreak of plague in Brandenburg. Were the ‘scythes’ long instruments designed to spray poison or germ-laden gases?
“Strange men in black, demons, and other terrifying figures were observed in other European communities carrying ‘brooms’ or ‘scythes’ or ‘swords’ that were used to sweep or knock at people’s doors. The inhabitants of these houses fell ill with plague afterwards. It is from these reports that people created the popular image of death as a skeleton, a demon, a man in a black robe carrying a scythe.”
So there you have it, the origin of the grim reaper.
And me? I found a use for my notes.
: 
: 
: 
: 
: 
: 
: 
: 
: 
: 
: 
November 9, 2007 at 12:48 pm
Grrrrrrrrrrrr. I can’t wait for you to get into the best parts of my book, you’re going to have so much fun. Why does a day have to pass so slowly…
November 9, 2007 at 3:03 pm
I’m looking forward to reading the rest of your book. I wait until you have several new chapters posted before I read them, so I can get a better feel of what’s going on. So far, so good.