Monstrum

Currently Playing: The Macabre Origins of the Grim Reaper (feat. @AskAMortician!) | Monstrum

Thanks to Ancestry for supporting PBS. Check out your family's history at http://www.ancestry.com Don’t miss future episodes of Monstrum, subscribe! http://bit.ly/pbsstoried_sub There are fewer images of Death personified than the scythe-wielding skeletal form of the Grim Reaper. But where did it come from? You may have heard that this haunting figure emerged as a result of the Black Plague, but that’s only a fraction of the story. Featuring @AskAMortician, this episode looks at the long history of skeletal Death in religion, literature, art, and pop culture. From violent reaper to dark lover and virtually everything in between, there’s a lot more to Death than, well, Death. #grimreaper #mythology #MonstrumPBS Written and Hosted by: Dr. Emily Zarka Director: David Schulte Executive Producer: Amanda Fox Producer: Stephanie Noone Illustrator: Samuel Allen Editor: Ray Lux Produced by Spotzen for PBS Digital Studios. The world is full of monsters, myths, and legends and Monstrum isn’t afraid to take a closer look. The show, hosted by Emily Zarka, Ph.D., takes us on a journey to discover a new monster in each new episode. Monstrum looks at humans' unique drive to create and shape monster mythology through oral storytelling, literature, and film and digs deep into the history of those mythologies. Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/monstrumpbs/ ---------------------------- Bibliography Burke, Joseph P. The Black Death. Greenwood Press, 2004. "Chronos." Britannica Academic, Encyclopædia Britannica, 26 Sep. 2018. "Cronus." Britannica Academic, Encyclopædia Britannica, 26 Sep. 2018. Gertsman, Elina. The Dance of Death in the Middle Ages: Image, Text, Performance. Brepolis, 2010. Goetz, Hans-Werner. Life In the Middle Ages: From the Seventh to the Thirteenth Century. E-book, Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1993. Guthke, Karl S. The Gender of Death: A Cultural History in Art and Literature. Cambridge University Press, 1999. Kinch, Ashby. “Image, Ideology, and Form: The Middle English ‘Three Dead Kings’ in Its Iconographic Context.” The Chaucer Review, vol. 43, no. 1, The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2008, pp. 48–81. Kurtz, Leonard P. The Dance of Death and the Macabre Spirit in European Literature. Gordon Press, 1975. OED Online, Oxford University Press, March 2021. Roberts, Michael. “Sickles and Scythes: Women’s work and Men’s Work at Harvest Time.” History Workshop, no. 7, Spring 1979, pp. 3-28. Stone, David. Decision-Making in Medieval Agriculture, Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2005. Tholuck, August. The Circle of Human Life. New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1860.