trickygod:

Of all the creatures in Swedish folklore, The Church Grim was doubtlessly the most complex and certainly the most feared.

Little is known of it, since it was considered bad luck to even speak about it. The Church Grim’s appearance varied which could possibly be attributed to the nature of the Church Grim’s origin.

When a church was built in medieval times, an animal was sometimesburied alive under the floors - most commonly goats since these were comparatively cheap. There have also been stories of criminals being burried alive as punishment. In other versions the criminals heart was cut out and placed inside an animal carcass that was sacrificed. The heart was the central in many of the myths surrounding The Grim. Stories from the south of Sweden told that if you could touch the Church Grim’s heart, you could stare into the eye of creation.

The Church Grim guarded the church against thieves and grave robbers, but because of it even honest folks avoided the church at night. Some stories say that if you were unlucky enough to be the last one to die during the year, you would serve The Church Grim the following year.

There are stories that suggest that The Church Grim was not a guardian at all, but rather a sort of parasite that was drawn to the energy of the church. While there it fed on people’d hopes, dreams, and fears. A recent and controversial theory suggests that the Church Grim was closely related to a nameless Bronze Age deity.

Text and screencaps are both from Year Walk, which is an indie game based on Swedish folklore (x)