What Is a Wraith?

Posted by scarygeek on January 22, 2010 at 10:25 am

I have decided that I am going to start to watch a few of the new programs that have come out recently on television, especially the Fox Network.  In New Braunfels, Texas, and using Time Warner Cable, that would be channel 111.  Well, last night I started by watching the series “Bones.”  It was the first time I had watched this show, and it seemed to be serious with some humor, and I enjoyed it.  In this particular episode this “Bones” team, was trying to determine whether or not this set of skeletal remains were those of JFK.  It was entertaining, but the one show that seemed appropriate to speak of here on ScaryGeek, is the new show called, “Supernatural.”

I think that I have missed a few eipisodes, so I am not sure how these two brothers, Dean and Sam, became Monster Hunters, but apparently they are fighting to save the world from Lucifer.  This particular episode took place in a Mental Hospital, where Dean and Sam, have become patients, in order to investigate some deaths, that were reported as suicides, but thought to be the work of a supernatural being, in this case, a Wraith.  This is the first time I have heard of this word, and even after trying to do some research in the encyclopedias, and reference books, could only come up with a few definitions.  Most of the information online is from gamer sights, so more of a fantasy take.

From what I can gather, the word Wraith, comes from Scottish dialect.  It has a few different meanings and those I could find were, ghost, spectre, apparition, messenger of death, holy figure, the apparition of a dead person, and the best of them all, a black man-shaped cloud, that seeks to absorb human energy.  So, I think it is more of a general term used for all of these, and it is used most in Scottish literature, fantasy, folklore.  The word seems to have first been used as far back as 1513, in fantasy literature, and was used to describe evil or dangerous beings.

I have also read that a Wraith is a body double, which acts a messenger of death.  To see your own Wraith, it then becomes a Fetch, and is a messenger of your own death within the year.  So, this definition reminds me of what a Banshee might also be, or at least similar to.  If there is anyone that knows more about the Wraith, I would love to hear about it, and also add it to my site.  Please, email me at lisa@scarygeek.com.