nightmarcher means in Hawaiian folklore, a ghost of an ancient Hawaiian warrior who marches together with other such ghosts on certain sacred nights from their burial sites or the ocean to the sites of ancient battles or sacred places. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 86 out of 100.
Why “nightmarcher” is a great word
NIGHTMARCHER — [Noun] In Hawaiian folklore, the ghost of an ancient warrior who marches in spectral procession on sacred nights from burial sites to ancient battlegrounds. The term is a calque of the Hawaiian huakaʻi pō (literally "night journey" or "night procession"), formed from English night + marcher (one who marches). Unlike a "nightmare" (a private terror of the sleeping mind) or a "ghost" (a solitary, wandering spirit), a nightmarcher is a collective, ancestral force bound by sacred protocol. It is the low thunder of approaching drums on the path of the Kāne, the glint of spectral torches against the black silhouette of the pali, and the stark, silent warning to lie prone and avert one’s eyes—a column of memory moving through the dark, more a geological fact than a story.
noun
- In Hawaiian folklore, a ghost of an ancient Hawaiian warrior who marches together with other such ghosts on certain sacred nights from their burial sites or the ocean to the sites of ancient battles or sacred places.“... happening in, will not become confused and angry in his efforts to get out. Beds should not be placed directly opposite doorways. One keeps indoors when the Nightmarchers are abroad. On certain nights these progressions of ghosts can […]”