Brig of Dread or Bridge of Dread is a bridge to

Purgatory Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...

that a dead

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

had to cross.

Evil Evil, in a general sense, is defined as the opposite or absence of good. It can be an extremely broad concept, although in everyday usage it is often more narrowly used to talk about profound wickedness and against common good. It is general ...

souls fall from the bridge into

hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...

. This is a common

afterlife The afterlife (also referred to as life after death) is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's identity or their stream of consciousness continues to live after the death of their physical body. The surviving ess ...

theme found in some form or other in many cultures, such as the

Chinvat Bridge The Chinvat Bridge (Avestan: 𐬗𐬌𐬥𐬬𐬀𐬙𐬋 𐬞𐬈𐬭𐬈𐬙𐬏𐬨 ''Cinvatô Peretûm'', "bridge of judgement" or "beam-shaped bridge") or the Bridge of the Requiter in Zoroastrianism is the sifting bridge, which separates t ...

Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion and one of the world's History of religion, oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian peoples, Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a Dualism in cosmology, du ...

and

As-Sirāt As-Sirāt ( ar, الصراط ''aṣ-ṣirāṭ'') is, according to Islam, the bridge which every human must pass on the Yawm al-Qiyamah ("Day of Resurrection") to enter Paradise. It is mentioned in the Quran, and is described in hadith. As- ...

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. The "Brig o' Dread" is an important element in ''The

Lyke-Wake Dirge The "Lyke-Wake Dirge" is a traditional English folk song and dirge listed as number List of folk songs by Roud number, 8194 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The song tells of the soul's travel, and the hazards it faces, on its way from earth to pur ...

'', an old Northern English waking song. There is much in that song that seems Germanic heathen. The "Brig o' Dread" is probably related to

Bifröst In Norse mythology, Bifröst (), also called Bilröst, is a burning rainbow bridge that reaches between Midgard (Earth) and Asgard, the realm of the gods. The bridge is attested as ''Bilröst'' in the ''Poetic Edda''; compiled in the 13th centur ...

(which probably means "trembling-way") or

Gjallarbrú Gjallarbrú (literally "Gjöll Bridge") is a bridge in Norse mythology which spans the river Gjöll in the underworld. It must be crossed in order to reach Hel. According to ''Gylfaginning'' it is described as a covered bridge, "thatched with ...

("resounding-bridge" or "noisy-bridge") which may be the symbolism here rather than the Christian later folk-etymological explanation.

John Christopher Atkinson John Christopher Atkinson (1814–1900) was an English author, antiquary, and priest. Life Born on 9 May 1814 at Goldhanger in Essex, where his father was then curate, he was the son of John Atkinson and the grandson of Christopher Atkinson (d. 18 ...

, J. R. Smith (1868)
''A Glossary of the Cleveland Dialect: Explanatory, Derivative, and Critica''l
London: John Russell Smith. p. 601.

References

Afterlife places Northumbrian folklore {{Death-stub