burialor

Burialor is a term used in speculative fiction and role-playing contexts to denote either a person who oversees burial rites or a ceremonial object associated with interment. In these usages, burialor encompasses both the practical and symbolic elements of funerary practice, bridging preparation of the remains, ritual conduct, and the placement of grave goods.

Etymology: The word appears to be a modern neologism formed from the English words burial and its agent suffix -or. It has no widely recognized historical origin and is primarily encountered in fictional settings and game lore.

Role and practices: When used to name a person, a burialor may lead rites, arrange ceremonies, and serve as mediator between mourners and the deceased, while ensuring ceremonial purity and adherence to a culture's rules about desecration, contamination, or remembrance. If used for an object, burialor can denote a ceremonial staff, urn, or marker used to seal, record, or signify interment status during rites.

Variants and cultural representations: In different works, burialor figures may be priests, tribal elders, or functionaries with specialized knowledge of funerary art and cemetery management. The concept also appears in settings where burial customs are central to world-building, with diverse beliefs about afterlife, spirits, and remembrance.

See also: Mortician, Sexton, Funerary art, Burial customs.