Black dog (folklore)

For other uses, see Black dog (disambiguation).

Sidney Paget's illustration of The Hound of the Baskervilles. The story was inspired by a legend of ghostly black dogs in Dartmoor.

The black dog is a supernatural, spectral, or demonic hellhound originating from English folklore, and also present in folklore throughout Europe and the Americas. It is usually unnaturally large with glowing red or yellow eyes, is often connected with the Devil (as an English incarnation of the hellhound), and is sometimes an omen of death.[1] It is sometimes associated with electrical storms (such as Black Shuck's appearance at Bungay, Suffolk),[2] and also with crossroads, barrows (as a type of fairy hound), places of execution and ancient pathways.[1][3][4]

Black dogs are generally regarded as sinister or malevolent, and a few (such as the Barghest and Shuck) are said to be directly harmful.[5] Some black dogs, however, such as the Gurt Dog in Somerset, are said to behave benevolently as guardian black dogs, guiding travellers at night onto the right path or protecting them from danger.[5][6][7] The black dog is a recognised folkloric motif.[8]

  1. ^ a b Simpson & Roud 2003, p. 25.
  2. ^ Westwood & Simpson 2005, pp. 687–688.
  3. ^ Stone, Alby Infernal Watchdogs, Soul Hunters and Corpse Eaters in Trubshaw 2005, pp. 36–37.
  4. ^ McEwan 1986, p. 147.
  5. ^ a b Briggs 1977, pp. 135–140.
  6. ^ Rickard & Michell 2000, pp. 286–287.
  7. ^ Briggs 1976, pp. 207–208.
  8. ^ Quaile, Shelaugh. "'The black dog that worries you at home': The Black Dog Motif in Modern English Folklore and Literary Culture Modern English Folklore and Literary Culture", The Great Lakes Journal of Undergraduate History, vol. 1, issue 1, 2013