Beowulf fighting with Grendel’s mother in her watery lair Source: Wikimedia Commons
The grindylow is a malignant Yorkshire water spiritType of primitive spiritual entity from the pagan past, perhaps the manifestation of a race memory, usually associated with a single place. said to lurk in stagnant pools, dragging down into the water those children who venture too close.[1] It is described as being human in shape, with long arms, long fingers, sharp little horns and green teeth. Like Jenny GreenteethWater spirit said to inhabit pools in Cheshire, Lancashire and Shropshire. If children venture too close, then she reaches out of the water and drags them in to their deaths. in Cheshire, Lancashire and Shropshire, and Peg PowlerEvil spirit of the River Tees in northeastern England, said to drag children who ventured too close the water's edge to their deaths., who inhabits the River Tees in northeastern England, the grindylow is almost certainly a nursery bogey intended to scare young children away from dangerous bodies of water. It is perhaps best known today for its appearance in the lake near Hogwarts, in J. K. Rowling’s book Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.[2]
The name grindylow is thought to be associated with the gigantic monster Grendel in the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf, whose mother tries to drag the hero to his death in her watery lair.[3]
Briggs, Katherine Mary. An Encyclopedia of Fairies: Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogeys and Other Supernatural Creatures. Pantheon Books, 1976.
Cresswell, Julia. Legendary Beasts of Britain. Shire Publications, 2013.
Rosen, Brenda. The Mythical Creatures Bible: The Definitive Guide to Legendary Beings. Sterling Publishing Company, 2009.
Cookie Consent
We use cookies to optimise our website and our service. By clicking on “All cookies”, you consent to us using all cookies and plug-ins as described in our Cookie policy.
Functional cookies
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.