shadow-stalker
nounEtymology Alliterative literary calque of Old English sceadugenga, from sceadu (“shadow”) + genga (“goer, walker”).
1
A monster or other malevolent figure that moves about at night.
- In the wan darkness, while the warriors slept, the shadow-stalker drew near from the moorland.1898, Stopford A. Brooke, English literature: From the Beginning to the Norman Conquest, New York: The Macmillan Company, page 73:
- [T]he shadow-stalker will not draw anyone down to the shades unless God wills it.1952, John A. Nist, The Structure and Texture of Beowulf, London: Faber and Faber, page 53:
1 more example
- The out of the night came the shadow-stalker, stealthy and swift.1999, Seamus Heaney, Beowulf, London: Faber and Faber, page 23: