Ankou
In the Celtic folklore of Brittany, a death omen that comes to collect the
souls of the dead. The ankou is the last person to die in a parish
during a year. For the following year, he or she assumes the duty of
calling for the dead. The ankou is personified as a tall, haggard
figure with long white hair, or a skeleton with a revolving head capable
of seeing everything everywhere. It drives a spectral cart, accompanied by
two ghostly figures on foot and stops at the house of one who is about to die
. There, it either knocks on the door (making a sound sometimes heard by
the living) or gives out a mournful wail like the Irish Banshee.
