Self & Society: British Lit @Hood College

"Now, sires," quod he, "if that yow be so leef To finde Deeth, turne up this croked wey, For in that grove I lafte him, by my fey, Under a tree, and there he wol abyde: Nat for youre boost he wole him nothing hyde." (760-764) Scene from Tim Burtan's "Sleepy Hollow"  Image from the Sleepy Hollow (film) Wikipedia page

"Ne Deeth, allas! ne wol nat han my lyf. Thus walke I, lyk a restelees caityf, And on the ground, which is my modres gate, I knokke with my staf bothe erly and late, And seye, 'Leve moder, leet me in! Lo, how I vanish, flesh, and blood, and skin! Allas! whan shul my bones been at reste?'" -The Pardoner's Tale, lines 727-733 More and more am I changing my thought that the old man is Death to he's an Ankou - a henchman of Death, who is (according to different sources) either the first or last person to die of the year and wanders around collecting souls before he can pass on.