Hodag

Hodag "captured" by Eugene Shepard, 1893
E. S. Shepard, circa 1915
E. S. Shepard's residence in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, the den is to the right where he kept the Hodag
The Hodag

In American folklore, the hodag is a fearsome critter resembling a large bull-horned carnivore with a row of thick curved spines down its back. The hodag was said to be born from the ashes of cremated oxen, as the incarnation of the accumulation of abuse the animals had suffered at the hands of their masters.[1] The history of the hodag is strongly tied to Rhinelander, Wisconsin, where it was claimed to have been discovered. The hodag has figured prominently in early Paul Bunyan stories.

  1. ^ Kearney, Luke Sylvester (1928). The Hodag and Other Tales of the Logging Camps. Madison, WI. pp. 9–17.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)