Goddess Hel and the hellhound Garmr by Johannes Gehrts, 1889

A hellhound is a mythological hound that embodies a guardian or a servant of hell, the devil, or the underworld. Hellhounds occur in mythologies around the world, with the best-known examples being Cerberus from Greek mythology, Garmr from Norse mythology, the black dogs of English folklore, and the fairy hounds of Celtic mythology. Physical characteristics vary, but they are commonly black, anomalously overgrown, supernaturally strong, and often have red eyes or are accompanied by flames.

By locale

Europe

Albania

In Albanian mythology a three-headed dog who never sleeps guards the gates of the underworld. In some folktales it appears as the guard of the palace of E Bukura e Dheut in the underworld.[1][2][3][4]

Belgium

Oude Rode Ogen ("Old Red Eyes") or the "Beast of Flanders," was a demon reported in Flanders, Belgium, in the 18th century who would take the form of a large black hound with fiery red eyes. In Wallonia, the southern region of Belgium, folktales mentioned the Tchén al tchinne ("Chained Hound" in Walloon), a hellhound with a long chain that was thought to roam in the fields at night.[5]

Czech lands

Numerous sightings of hellhounds persist throughout the Czech lands.[6]

France

In France, in AD 856, a black hound was said to materialize in a church even though the doors were shut. The church grew dark as it padded up and down the aisle as if looking for someone. The dog then vanished as suddenly as it had appeared.[7] On mainland Normandy, the Rongeur d'Os wanders the streets of Bayeux on winter nights as a phantom dog, gnawing on bones and dragging chains along with it.[8] In Lower Brittany, there are stories of a ghost ship crewed by the souls of criminals with hellhounds set to guard them and inflict on them a thousand tortures.[9]

Germany

In Germany, it was believed that the devil would appear as a black hellhound, especially on Walpurgisnacht.[10]

Greece

In Greek mythology, Cerberus, often referred to as the hound of Hades, is a multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld to prevent the dead from leaving. He was the offspring of the monsters Echidna and Typhon and was usually described as having three heads, a serpent for a tail, and snakes protruding from multiple parts of his body.[11]

Scandinavia

In Norse mythology, Garmr or Garm (Old Norse for "rag") is a wolf or dog associated with both the Goddess Hel and Ragnarök and described as a blood-stained guardian of Hel's gate.[12]

Spain

Catalonia

In Catalan myth, Dip is an evil, black, hairy hound, an emissary of the Devil, who sucks people's blood. Like other figures associated with demons in Catalan myth, he is lame in one leg.[13] Dip is pictured on the escutcheon of Pratdip.

Galicia

In Galicia, the Urco was a giant black hound that led the Santa Compaña, a version of the Wild Hunt.

Canary Islands

In the religious beliefs of the Guanche people of the Canary Islands, the Tibicenas were the canine offspring or attendants of the malevolent volcano deity Guayota.

United Kingdom

England

The myth is common across Great Britain in the form of the "black dogs" of English folklore. The earliest written record of the "hellhound" is in the 11th- and 12th-century Peterborough version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which speaks of a "wild hunt" through the forest between Peterborough and Stamford.[14]

Wales

The gwyllgi (compound noun of either gwyllt "wild" or gwyll "twilight" + ci "dog") is a mythical black dog from Wales that appears as an English mastiff with baleful breath and blazing red eyes.[15]

Cŵn Annwn

In Welsh mythology and folklore, Cŵn Annwn (/ˌkuːn ˈænʊn/; "hounds of Annwn") were the spectral hounds of Annwn, the otherworld of Welsh myth. They were associated with a form of the Wild Hunt, presided over by Gwynn ap Nudd (rather than Arawn, king of Annwn in the First Branch of the Mabinogi). Christians came to dub these mythical creatures "The Hounds of Hell" or "Dogs of Hell" and theorized Satan owned them.[16][17] However, the Annwn of medieval Welsh tradition is an otherworldly paradise and not a hell or abode of dead souls.

In Wales, they were associated with migrating geese, supposedly because their honking in the night is reminiscent of barking dogs. They are supposed to hunt on specific nights (the eves of St. John, St. Martin, Saint Michael the Archangel, All Saints, Christmas, New Year, Saint Agnes, Saint David, and Good Friday) or simply in the autumn and winter. Some say Arawn only hunts from Christmas to Twelfth Night. The Cŵn Annwn also came to be regarded as the escorts of souls on their journey to the Otherworld. The hounds are sometimes accompanied by a fearsome hag called Mallt-y-Nos, "Matilda of the Night." An alternative name in Welsh folklore is Cŵn Mamau, the "Hounds of the Mothers."

The Americas

Latin America

Black hellhounds with fiery eyes are reported throughout Latin America from Mexico to Argentina under a variety of names including the Perro Negro (Spanish for black dog), Nahual (Mexico), Huay Chivo, and Huay Pek (Mexico) – alternatively spelled Uay/Way/Waay Chivo/Pek, Cadejo (Central America), the dog Familiar (Argentina) and the Lobizon (Paraguay and Argentina). They are usually said to be either incarnations of the Devil or a shape-changing sorcerer.[18]

United States

The legend of a hellhound has persisted in Meriden, Connecticut, since the 19th century. The dog is said to haunt the Hanging Hills, a series of rock ridges and gorges that serve as a popular recreation area and can also be known as a protector of the supernatural. The first non-local account came from W. H. C. Pychon in The Connecticut Quarterly, in which it is described as a death omen. It is said, "If you meet the Black Dog once, it shall be for joy; if twice, it shall be for sorrow; and the third time shall bring death."[19]

Additionally, the term is common in American blues music, such as in Robert Johnson's 1937 song, "Hellhound on My Trail."

Asia

Arabia

Jinn, although not necessarily evil, but often thought of as malevolent entities, are thought to use black dogs as their mounts. The negative depiction of dogs likely derives from their close association with "eating the dead,' or relishing bones and digging out graves. Likewise, the jinn is often said to roam around graveyards and eat corpses.[20]

China

The Huodou (Chinese: 祸斗) is a legendary creature originating within the minorities of southern China.

It is described as having the appearance of a large black dog that can emit flames from its mouth. Fire would break out wherever the Huodou went, so the ancients saw it as a sign of fire and often an ominous symbol. It is probably a demonized tribal symbol of southern China.

India

The Mahākanha Jātaka of the Buddhist Pali Canon includes a story about a black hound named Mahākanha (Pali; lit. "Great black"). Led by the god Śakra in the guise of a forester, Mahākanha scares unrighteous people toward righteousness so that fewer people will be reborn in hell.

His appearance portends the moral degeneration of the human world when monks and nuns do not behave as they should, and humanity has gone astray from ethical livelihood.[21]

In Hinduism, Yama, the lord of death, has two dogs who guard the underworld. Their names are Śārvara and Śyāma. The Nepali festival of Kukur Tihar, which brings dogs into temples to honor and consecrate them, is associated with this myth of Lord Yama and his two dogs.[22]

Japan

In Japanese folklore, the Okuri-inu (送り犬) (lit. "escorting dog") is a yōkai that resembles a dog. The okuri-inu closely stalks and follows people walking along mountain paths in the nighttime. If the person falls over by chance, they will be immediately eaten up, but if they pretend to be having a short rest, they will not be attacked.

In literature

  • In Goethe's Faust, the Devil Mephistopheles first appears to Faust in the form of a black poodle, which follows him home through a field.[23]
  • Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles[24]
  • In Thomas Mann's novel from 1947, Doctor Faustus, the 'Faustian' hero Adrian Leverkuhn had two hounds, Suso and Kaschperl.[25] Mephistopheles sent both hellhounds.
  • In Piers Anthony's fantasy novel On a Pale Horse, Satan sends hellhounds to attack Zane (Death) and bring him back to hell. The hounds are immortal but are dispatched by Death's magical scythe.
  • Hellhounds are the pets of Harpies in Anne Bishop's The Black Jewels Series, and hellhounds (called Shadow Hounds) appear in Anne Bishop's Tir Alainn trilogy.
  • The Witches have barghests being demonic creatures along with the Witches. Barghests, however, are always male, and Witches are always female. Barghests are never described but could be seen as dogs.
  • Hellhounds feature in Percy Jackson & the Olympians by Rick Riordan. The most prominent hellhound in the series is Mrs. O'Leary, whom Daedalus previously owned before becoming the pet of Percy Jackson.
  • Hellhounds feature in Laurell K. Hamilton's Merry Gentry series.
  • In Anthony Horowitz's book Raven's Gate, the protagonist, Matt, is pursued through a forest by demonic canines after being discovered eavesdropping on a witchcraft ritual.
  • Hellhounds (called darkhounds) appear several times in Robert Jordan's fantasy book series The Wheel of Time. Darkhounds are a particularly nasty form of Shadowspawn.
  • Hellhounds appear in Roger Zelazny's 1970 new-wave fantasy novel Nine Princes in Amber.
  • In Neil Gaiman's and Terry Pratchett's novel Good Omens, Adam (The Antichrist) receives a hellhound companion that he simply names "Dog."
  • In Christopher Moore's 2006 novel A Dirty Job, a pair of hellhounds appear to protect the main character Charlie Asher's daughter Sophie, a toddler in this book, who turns out to be The Death, with a capital D. Sophie names them Alvin and Mohammed. The hellhounds' disappearance is a plot point in the book's 2015 sequel, Secondhand Souls.

In film

In television

  • Hellhounds appear in the television show Supernatural (e.g., in episode 5.10, "Abandon All Hope").
  • In Lost Tapes season 1, episode 13, the episode is about hellhounds, including the aspect that if one sees them three times, they will die.
  • Hellhounds appeared in the twentieth episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (season 3), "The Prom."
  • Hellhounds also appeared on Destination TV in the show Monsters and Mysteries in America during season 2. Where they were seen terrorizing a California community.
  • The MTV series Teen Wolf features a character who is a hellhound.[28]
  • In the television series The X-Files, a hellhound is prominently featured in the 2018 episode "Familiar," where it guards the gates of the underworld in a secret Connecticut Puritan graveyard and attacks several victims.
  • Hellhounds have made a few small appearances as anthropomorphic in the pilot episode for "Hazbin Hotel" during Charlie's song "Inside of Every Demon is a Rainbow."
  • In the YouTube animated spin-off series "Helluva Boss," an anthropomorphic receptionist named "Loona." She can be seen working at a company called "I.M.P." another Hellhound named "Vortex" also makes an appearance in Season 1, episode 3, guarding Verosika. Like incubi and succubi, hellhounds have the ability to transform into humans. Hellhounds are later revealed to be the lowest-ranked species in Hell, along with Imps.
  • In Episode 9 of Inuyasha: The Final Act, "Sesshōmaru in the Underworld," Sesshomaru's mother uses her necklace, the Meido Stone, to a portal from the underworld to summon the hellhound, but it's unaffected to the Meido Zangetsuha and the beast swallowed Rin and Kohaku as it returned to the underworld, and Sesshomaru after it to save the children and killed it with the Tenseiga.

In games

Dungeons & Dragons

Hell hound
First appearanceGreyhawk (1975)
Based onHellhound
In-universe information
TypeOutsider
AlignmentLawful Evil

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, the hell hound is a hyena-like creature that can breathe fire and hunts in packs. It is classified as an outsider from the Nine Hells.

The hellhound was introduced to the game in its first supplement, Greyhawk (1975).[31] The hellhound appeared in the D&D Basic Set (1977), the D&D Expert Set (1981, 1983), and the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (1991). The hellhound appears in the first edition of Monster Manual.[32] The Monster Manual was reviewed by Don Turnbull in the British magazine White Dwarf #8 (August/September 1978). As part of his review, Turnbull comments on several monsters appearing in the book, noting that the breath weapon of the "much-feared" hellhound has been altered from its previous appearance.[33] The hellhound appeared in the second edition of the Monstrous Compendium Volume Two (1989) and reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993). The hellhound appeared in the third edition of Monster Manual (2000),[34] and in the 3.5 revised Monster Manual (2003) with the Nessian warhound. The hellhound appears in the fourth edition Monster Manual for this edition under the Hound entry.[35]

A hellhound resembles a mangy, skinny, somewhat demonic hyena-like creature with red eyes and draconic ears. It has the ability to breathe fire. However, the Fourth Edition depicts them as nearly skeletal canines wreathed in flame. The hellhound enjoys causing pain and suffering, and it hunts accordingly. A favorite pack tactic is to surround prey silently and then cause two hellhounds to close in and make the victim back into another hellhound's fiery breath. They will attack with their claws and teeth if they have to. If the prey manages to escape, the hellhounds will pursue it relentlessly. Hellhounds are also quick and agile. Another type of hellhound is the Nessian warhound. Nessian warhounds are coal-black mastiffs the size of draft horses and are often fitted with shirts of infernal chainmail. Hellhounds cannot speak but understand Infernal.

The hellhound was ranked ninth among the ten best low-level monsters by the authors of Dungeons & Dragons For Dummies. The authors described them as the "first serious representative of a class of monsters your players will be fighting against for their whole careers: evil outsiders" and that they are interesting because they "introduce players to monsters with an area-effect attack (their fiery breath)."[36]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Poghirc, Cicerone (1987). "Albanian Religion". In Mircea Eliade (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Religion. Vol. 1. New York: MacMillan Publishing Co. pp. 178–180.
  2. ↑ Elsie, Robert (2001). A Dictionary of Albanian Religion, Mythology and Folk Culture. London: Hurst & Company. p. 79. ISBN 1-85065-570-7.
  3. ↑ West, Morris L. (2007). Indo-European Poetry and Myth. Oxford University Press. p. 392. ISBN 978-0199280759.
  4. ↑ Brown, Dorcas R.; Anthony, David W. (2019). "Late Bronze Age midwinter dog sacrifices and warrior initiations at Krasnosamarskoe, Russia". In Olsen, Birgit A.; Olander, Thomas; Kristiansen, Kristian (eds.). Tracing the Indo-Europeans: New evidence from archaeology and historical linguistics. Oxbow Books. pp. 97–122. ISBN 978-1-78925-273-6. p. 104
  5. ↑ Warsage, Rodolphe de Sorcellerie et Cultes Populaires en Wallonie, Noir Dessein, 1998.
  6. ↑ Stejskal, Martin (1991). Labyrintem tajemna, aneb Průvodce po magických místech Československa (1st ed.). Prague: Paseka. p. 36. ISBN 80-85192-08-X.
  7. ↑ McNab, Chris "Mythical Monsters: The scariest creatures from legends, books, and movies" in Scholastic Publishing 2006, pp. 8–9.
  8. ↑ Wright 1846, p. 128.
  9. ↑ Thiselton-Dyer 1893, p. 289.
  10. ↑ Varner, Gary R. Creatures in the Mist: Little People, Wild Men and Spirit Beings Around the World: A Study in Comparative Mythology. Algora Publishing 2007, pp. 114–15.
  11. ↑ Bloomfield, Maurice (1904). "Cerberus, the Dog of Hades". The Monist. 14 (4): 523–540. ISSN 0026-9662.
  12. ↑ "Garm". Norse Mythology for Smart People. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  13. ↑ Bane, Theresa. Encyclopedia of Fairies in World Folklore and Mythology, McFarland, 2013ISBN 9781476612423
  14. ↑ Prickett, Katy. "The terrifying story of the 'hell hound'", BBC News, 31 October 2015
  15. ↑ Eberhart, George M. Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology. Volume 1: A-M. ABC-Clio/Greenwood. 2002. p. 222. ISBN 1-57607-283-5
  16. ↑ Pugh, Jane (1990). Welsh Ghostly Encounters. Gwasg Carreg Gwalch. ISBN 0-86381-791-2.
  17. ↑ Celtic Mythology. Geddes and Grosset. 1999. ISBN 1-85534-299-5.
  18. ↑ Burchell 2007, pp. 1, 24.
  19. ↑ "The Connecticut Quarterly". 19 May 2008. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  20. ↑ Amira El Zein: The Evolution of the Concept of Jinn from Pre-Islam to Islam'. p. 264
  21. ↑ Rouse, W. H. D. (1901). "The Jataka Volume IV". Internet Sacred Text Archive. Pali Text Society. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  22. ↑ Marak, Queenbala; Chaudhuri, Sarit K. (28 February 2020). The Cultural Heritage of Meghalaya. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-07182-5.
  23. ↑ Portor,Laura Spencer. The Greatest Books in the World: Interpretative Studies, 1917, Chautauqua Press, Chautauqua, New York, 89Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  24. ↑ Rendell, Ruth (12 September 2008). "A most serious and extraordinary problem". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  25. ↑ "The dog at the farm in Pfeiffering could grin as well, even though it was not called Suso, but bore the name Kaschperl". Mann, Thomas. (1947).Doctor Faustus: The life of the composer Adrian Leverkuhn. Translated by J. E. Woods, pp. 29
  26. ↑ McCabe, Joseph. "Making Magic", The Complete SFX Guide to Ghostbusters, 2016, p.77
  27. ↑ Hartlaub, Peter (28 March 2010). "Hellhounds". San Francisco Chronicle.
  28. ↑ Peckham, Tina Smithers. "Does 'Teen Wolf''s Hellhound Mean Good Or Bad News For Beacon Hills?", MTV, September 2, 2015
  29. ↑ "Age of Mythology Heaven: Atlantean God Powers". Aom.heavengames.com. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  30. ↑ /https://www.starehry.eu/download/action3d/docs/Blood-Manual.pdf
  31. ↑ Gygax, Gary and Robert Kuntz. Supplement I: Greyhawk (TSR, 1975)
  32. ↑ Gygax, Gary. Monster Manual (TSR, 1977)
  33. ↑ Turnbull, Don (August–September 1978). "Open Box". White Dwarf (8): 16–17.
  34. ↑ Williams, Skip, Jonathan Tweet, and Monte Cook. Monster Manual. Wizards of the Coast, 2000
  35. ↑ Mearls, Mike, Stephen Schubert, and James Wyatt. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2008).
  36. ↑ Slavicsek, Bill; Baker, Rich; Grubb, Jeff (2006). Dungeons & Dragons For Dummies. For Dummies. p. 373. ISBN 978-0-7645-8459-6. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
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