Ankou: Breton Angel Of Death That Delivers Souls To The Underworld

A. Sutherland – AncientPages.com – In Brittany’s fairy folklore, there is a frightening spirit Ankou (“death”). Ankou is the personification of death and a soul harvester. He is the Angel of Death and Death’s servant.

Image credit: Ifernyen – CC BY-SA 3.0

Ankou is portrayed as an exhausted skeletal figure with flowing white hair. His head is able to turn at a 360-degree angle, to symbolize his ability to see everywhere, everything. Ancient tales vary on the details of Ankou’s identity.

One version of the tale says that Ankou is headless; yet another describes this mysterious figure with two skeleton assistants who help Ankou to collect the souls of the dead. His job, for the next year, is to guide the dead souls away from their bodies. Ankou, who never misses a day, travels the countryside by using only one particular path and he usually appears at dusk, with a scythe fitted upside down.

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