one of my favourite black dogs myths is the legend of the loyal dog Gellert from the Welsh region of Snowdonia. Prince Llewellyn had a favorite greyhound named Gellert that had been given to him by his father-in-law, King John. He was as gentle as a lamb at home but a lion in the chase. One day Llewellyn went to the chase and blew his horn in front of his castle. All his other dogs came to the call but Gellert never answered it. So he blew a louder blast on his horn and called Gellert by name, but still the greyhound did not come. At last Prince Llewellyn could wait no longer and went off to the hunt without Gellert. He had little sport that day because Gellert was not there, the swiftest and boldest of his hounds. He turned back in a rage to his castle, and as he came to the gate, who should he see but Gellert come bounding out to meet him. But when the hound came near him, the prince was startled to see that his lips and fangs were dripping with blood. Llewellyn started back and the greyhound crouched down at his feet as if surprised or afraid at the way his master greeted him. Now Prince Llewellyn had a little son a year old with whom Gellert used to play, and a terrible thought crossed the prince's mind that made him rush towards the child's nursery. And the nearer he came the more blood and disorder he found about the rooms. He rushed into it and found the child's cradle overturned and daubed with blood. Prince Llewellyn grew more and more terrified, and sought for his little son everywhere. He could find him nowhere but only signs of some terrible conflict in which much blood had been shed. At last he felt sure the dog had destroyed his child, and shouting to Gellert, "Monster, thou hast devoured my child," he drew out his sword and plunged it in the greyhound's side, who fell with a deep yell and still gazing in his master's eyes. As Gellert raised his dying yell, a little child's cry answered it from beneath the cradle, and there Llewellyn found his child unharmed and just awakened from sleep. But just beside him lay the body of a great gaunt wolf all torn to pieces and covered with blood. Too late, Llewellyn learned what had happened while he was away. Gellert had stayed behind to guard the child and had fought and slain the wolf that had tried to destroy Llewellyn's heir. In vain was all Llewellyn's grief; he could not bring his faithful dog to life again. So he buried him outside the castle walls within sight of the great mountain of Snowdon, where every passerby might see his grave, and raised over it a great cairn of stones. And to this day the place is called Beth Gellert, or the Grave of Gellert
In Phoenix, Arizona there's a town which about 8 years ago was terrorized by a band of feral chihuahuas. I don't know if or how they solved the situation.
Doctor Emily, I NEVER expected you to ever mention my hometown of Bungay! And you pronounced it perfectly (less so Blythburgh - which is more like Bly-burr, but the valiant attempt is appreciated). When I was a child, I remember looking for the scratches from Black Shuck on the door of St Mary's church, and many things in the town were named after him, such as Black Dog Cycling Club, Black Dog Antiques shop, and an elaborate streetlight in the centre of town was topped by a weather vane in the shape of a shaggy black dog.
@@taylorfusher2997 Why don't you just ask a question that's actually related to the video you're commenting on? Or that's actually relevant to the person you're replying to?
in Guatemala we have el Cadejo, a black dog with red eyes. Despite his inicial dark appearence, it is said to be a protector to the local drunkies who walk home at night, some say its an angel who fell from grace but seeks to find some, others say i'ts a demon that seeks to keep men trapped in their vice.
I was going to comment about el Cadejo too. It's basically the same but in Costa Rica the legend says that he used to be a young man cursed by his father due to his persisting heavy drinking. I've known people who swear to have seen it lol
That is fascinating! Since reincarnation is a common theme in Indian religions (sanatana Dharma Buddhism, etc), I have heard a lot of stories of family members who realize that They would drifting apart from their family members too late coming back as dogs of various kinds, including a rather personal story in which a dear friend's mother or grandmother took care of all of the street dogs in her neighborhood because in her words "My son loved these creatures, if he somehow did not escape the cycle of reincarnation, I am sure he would request that he would b a dog, even adopting a puppy at one point, not eating for a week or more when The now grown up puppy was poisoned by some sick motherfucker who had issues with her family,
In El Salvadoran folklore we have it to black one and white one. White one guides lost people kids and drunks home at night. That or it guides you to treasure. The black one chases you and ia evil seeing means badluck the white one protects from the black one.
Gotta mention the OG Hellhound: Cerberus! Who's a good doggy? Yes Cerberus roughly (ruffly) translates as "spotted" so yeah, the god of the Underworld named his 3 headed hellhound Spot!
We had a black dog (a Labrador named Bo) who was just an absolute sweetheart, if a bit dim. An oft repeated phrase around our house was, "Both neurons, Bo. Both neurons."
It's worth reflecting on where humans would normally see dogs that weren't with humans in the Roman and later ages; trash piles, and other places that stank of death. Dogs largely become scavengers when feral, though the packs can start hunting like wolves. And consider the circumstances that would lead to large amounts of dogs going feral: the death of their owners, in war or plague or etc, would lead to hundreds of thousands of dogs with no one to obey. Even at home, then and today, we all know stories of loyal dogs who stay by their dead master, making for an obvious death association.
Interestingly enough, many people of the Hindu religion actually believe black dogs, usually considered related to the underworld somehow, as harbingers of good health and wealth, since they have a connection to Lakshmi, The goddess of wealth/prosperity, that is supposedly why it is difficult to find black street dogs in certain parts of India, they have all been adopted!
Good chance that scavenging was part of how we domesticated them. The less fearful wolves would scavenge human camps, pretty ballsy considering we viewed them as dangerous competitors.
Two of the most iconic monsters in Central American mythology are the Cadejo Blanco and the Cadejo Negro, two spirit dogs that represent good and evil. The black or evil one is far more common from anecdotal experiences in the countryside, especially appearing and stalking evil men or drunkards, whereas the white one appears more rarely and usually does so to save people from other supernatural entities. They both are reported from rural roads on the forest's edge, and usually appear to people who wander around in the dark alone.
Reminds me of the Cadejo. In Central American myth, there are two dogs called Cadejo. One is is black the other is white. The black Cadejo is said to go after evildoers that are out at night, while the white Cadejo protects people out at night.
Great episode! Even more "dogs as guardians of the afterlife" are found in the Avesta and the Rg-Veda. Both are guardians of the afterlife that are encountered after a very thin bridge.
If I am not wrong the God Dattatreya , who is supposed to be a combination of all three of the Hindu Trimurti (Trinity is a similar concept), has four black dogs in every depiction of him literary or in image form, apparently every doggo represents one of the Vedas
@@infinite5795 Before Europe was swept away by the powerful Aryans from Russia the natives of Europe were slightly dark skinned and spoke a different family of languages. The evidence of which can be seen in Basque, the remnants of pre Aryan Europe. Another group migrated to Iran and then permanently settled in India. There were two categories among them the Brahmins and Kshatriyas. I think in Europe this corresponds to Jews and Gentiles.
There's also always the legend of Robert Johnson who was said to have sold his soul to the devil at a crossroads for his skill at blues guitar & one of his songs is literally about a hellhound on his trail.
There's a book at my work about the Salem Witch Trials. I perused it one night, and it mentioned that, along with people like little old ladies, sick people, and literal children, some accused 'witches' who were put to death were three dogs that were thought to belong to the devil. Not sure whether or not they were all black dogs, but given the superstition, and everyone else in that lineup, I wouldn't be surprised...
@@Copperkaiju at my (now old) job, there was a book talking about the Salem witch trials. I've looked over it a couple times, and the beginning of the book gives a list of those who were accused of witchcraft. Some accused 'witches' of the time include three dogs that were believed to belong to Satan.
It’s interesting how often black dogs specifically come up related to ominous happenings. There are tales told by older truckers (those who drove in North America prior to modern electronic drivers’ logs). At night, when they were tired, many tell stores of seeing black dogs running towards their trucks, jumping at the windshield, and then disappearing. Many would swerve to avoid and end up in accidents. My husband, also a truck driver, said his apparition was a flock of birds. There’s also a movie called “The Black Dog” about the phenomenon
Interesting! From the other side of the world, I have heard stories from Indian truckers about how good things happen to them because they fed a random, usually black and kind of mangy looking, dog on one of their routes,
When I was a tank driver in the Marines, I saw a large amount of weird things in my night vision device. We called them road runners. It was something about the size of a rabbit that would run across the road.
"Hound of the Baskervilles" was the first Sherlock Holmes book I had ever read. I chose to read the book (originally) because of the spectral pooch aspect. (I am a dog lover btw.)
How come the word psychopomp was not mentioned? Those who guide spirits into the afterlife turn out to be dogs in many cultures, making them almost the archetype psychpomp, not to mention it's a cool sounding Greek word.
Brilliant ep, as usual. There is a mental health institute here in Australia actually named the Black Dog Institute, largely, i think, because of the Winston Churchill reference. They do a lot of good work, but yeah, thought you might find that interesting.
I had an encounter with a ghost dog while walking across a park to my bus stop one early morning. I saw the silhouette run across the field before I started walking across. When crossing I heard and felt it run behind me since the ground shook. I twirled behind me quickly and I saw nothing. I remember that morning very well.
This was so interesting! It is interesting to see how many places had stories of dogs that are somehow connected to death. However I personally would prefer to pet them rather than fear these dogs.
If you are somehow able to talk to one of the shepherding/guide dogs to the underworld, I'm pretty sure they would be chill with pets and scratches so long as you asked for permission beforehand haha, you might even be rewarded for treating your guide well!
Have you ever heard of the Cu Sith (pronounced Coo She)? It's mostly found in the Scottish Highlands, and the name is Scottish Gaelic, which translates as Fairy Hounds. They have green fur, because of their connection to the Fay.
Heh. I come from Devonshire, where there's a VERY strong tradition of Black Dogs / Hell-Hounds / Wild Hunts / Church Attacks, especially up on Dartmoor. Apparently, a guy called Art C. Doyle heard about these Devonian folk stories and wrote a book about some famous detective or other investigating one of these stories. 😉
Love those origins and how they've been morphed over the generations. Excellent video. And if Dog from "Good Omens" isn't "goodest" of the underworld good boys... I'm not a fan of dogs in real life, but mythology is great.
I used to read a ton of Stephen King books when i was in high school and the only book and movie based on a book by him that i ever really struggled to get through was Cujo. and not because it was scary either, it was so SO BORING! The entire idea of the scary element being a rabid dog was sound, yet the book and movie alike moved so slow and a ton of nothing happened for most of the story. Best part i later learned that Stephen King doesnt remember even writing cujo because he was so addicted to some really bad stuff at the time.
I too found Cujo extremely boring, especially surprising because dogs can freak me out sometimes and rabid dogs are my worst nightmare, so I went in expecting to be terrified. I was very unpleasantly surprised to find out I was bored the whole way through.
I come from East Anglia and make art based on local folklore, sometimes including Black Shuck. Another good example is the Elgoods brewery in Wisbeach who's symbol is a black dog of the fens and many of these symbols can be found around the surrounding area as shop signs etc. I have some great folklore books with tales of people encountering Black shuck in the fens, getting led off course on misty nights and drowning in the marshy ditches that line the roads...
I remember a story about a blind kid who had to get special permission to allow his guide dog (seeing eye dog for our American friends) into his mosque because they're still considered dirty.
It seems to vary, either by time or region or both. In the Thousand and One Nights there's a story of a man who recounts having been transformed into a dog and subsequently being taken in by a butcher as a pet. He explicitly describes the butcher as... well, I don't remember the precise phrasing, but it was something along the lines of "not one of those superstitious bumpkins who think dogs are unclean." I always found that interesting for some reason.
Hi! Acarologist here, can I get the reference for that 1800's text about placing ticks into the hands of the sick to determine if they were soon to die? I LOVE tick references from the past.
Growing up I was into urban legends, folklore, and ghost stories, and I remember often when black dogs were mentioned they would include urban legends about ghostly black dogs showing up to guide and protect people walking alone at night. Often the premise was something like they were walking alone late at night through a wooded or deserted area, and they realize a large black dog (that may or may not have red eyes) was following them. They're terrified, but keep going, and the dog follows them until they're safely out of the woods. They then either see a suspicious person hiding in the woods or they later hear about people being attacked in that area, and come to the realization that the dog they were so afraid of was actually protecting them.
My god that is a beautiful story! Does it have any religious lore behind it? Are these scary dogs chosen by whichever deity is in the area to protect humans from one another?
Also, this is funny to me, but the number of times that a group of dogs that a friend of mine or a relative of mine fed regularly defended them from a group of people trying to mug them is beyond insane, I guess This is the perfect case of fiction/myth following truth
@@MegaGun2000 I really wish I had more details or specific sources, I only have childhood memories to go off of unfortunately. Most of the time when I heard about it, it was presented in an urban legend style like those hills where ghostly children will allegedly push cars up: allegedly true, supposedly there were people who had friends of friends this happened to, attributed to various specific locales (although I've long forgotten which ones). Urban legends can be a lot of fun to unpack, but since they claim to be true, they're sadly often not presented with a ton of background about the inspiration of the legends. Now that I'm older I've seen shows, podcasts, and TH-cam videos go into the origins and cultural fears that allowed different urban legends to form, but when I was a child either that kind of stuff wasn't readily available yet, or simply wasn't marketed towards my age range.
I've heard of hellhounds before, but when it comes to "Black Dog" as a separate, specific death-related creature, the only tale I've heard of before today portrayed them as guardians of graveyards. "Church Grimms," as they're called, were black dogs that protected both the physical remains and souls of the dead from grave robbers and evil spirits. They also kept the site's ghosts company, and served as therapy dogs to help them move on.
My wife and I rescued a small terrier mix who has guarding issues. He guards my wife from me, I never knew how vicious a little dog could be and now after a year of being bitten (scars to prove it) I can appreciate the fear of Hellhounds.
Black dog stories have even made it to the US! I know my home state of Connecticut has the Black Dog of the Hanging Hills in Meriden. It's much smaller than Black Shuck, and it's said that seeing it once is good luck. Seeing it twice is a warning, but seeing it a third time is a death omen.
I like that there aren’t really many hellcats because we know. We know what cats are really like. Good boys not being good boys in fiction is far more plausible.
My grandparents owned a book about mysterys of the world and i became obsessed with it, mostly with the story about the Black Dog of Norfolk and to this day, this story is still my fav
Very cool video. I love exploring the mixed nature of humanity's relationship with dogs. They're one of our first efforts of breeding/eugenics, a species that has been beside us since prehistory, yet we both love and fear them. Never mind that this species wouldn't exist without humans, they are something to be feared, and unfortunately, sometimes recipients of our cruelty. Humans seem incapable of returning the unconditional love that dogs are capable of. After all, even Faust had a canine companion that was his ever present companion. Wait, that dog was the devil in disguise, waiting to claim his soul. Bad example!
It's more a recognition that not all doggos are good boys, just like humans. Some are snarling feral predators what will tear your mule and then you apart, then eat their fill and leave the carcasses.
I remember hearing a variation of a hellhound that would track down and fetch damned souls that tried to run or hide from their fate. Only dangerous if you already belonged where they were taking you. Everyone else just got the fear of God put into them
I haven't watched the video yet and in all honesty, I think hellhounds reveal the fact that we as humans are afraid of man's best friend turning on us. Even though we have stories of animals turning on their owners because of either mistreatment or some other circumstances. But I think its more of the fact that for as long as man has walked earth, they've always had a companion to venture with them in the dark beyond the flickering light, and what scares us is the possibility that our companions can turn on us in the dark.
Wonderful as always! I think any mention of heel-hounds, Black Dogs and other mystical dog-like beasts should include the Shisa of Okinawan Ryukyuan tradition. Although opinion is divided as to whether Shisa are more lion than dog, their function as guard dogs is all but conclusive that these fearsome, magical protectors deserve some mention in connection with their Western variations.
I remember seeing statues of Shisa everywhere when I lived in Okinawa, even on the gates to my elementary school despite it being on base. What I found perplexing was that there was a third statue on the roof.
Where I live we have an unusual black dog. the black dog of the hanging hills is small with an soundless bark. seeing it once means joy, the second means sorrow and the third time means your death.
Can you do the variations of kitsune next? There's Yako (the tricksters) and Zenko (the messengers of Inari Ōkami) plus several other types. Kinko and Ginko are like Shinto yin-yang, both givers of luck for different things in life
In the Philippines, we have what we call 'Bagat' evil spirits that take other forms- usually a gigantic black dog with red eyes. This is common in the provinces. Fascinating how prevalent this figure it is in almost all cultures.
Perhaps it is because humans domesticated doggos so long ago that damn near every culture has some variation of a series of very specific myths I also guess that since dogs have always been companions for humans, but can turn angry and dangerous when feral, the idea of an angry dog with the power to hurt you is like super
It's been speculated that many sighting stories of black shucks walking certain roads at night were spread by smugglers and criminals so that people would avoid those places during certain times. ( the times at night when criminals would need to use the roads to smuggle their loot)
I don't know why, but now I kinda want to read a book about a hellhound and a familiar cat wandering the streets of 18th century London together and terrorizing people... and maybe solving crimes ?
Imagine if both belonged to a rather useless detective, they'd do all the mystery solving/footwork as their inept human narrowly avoids one disaster after another.
just the thought of an exhausted mind... i always thought the "hounds" from Ghost Busters looked like what i imagined the Echthros/Echthroi from Madeleine L'Engle's Swiftly Tilting Planet looking like. weirdly, i didn't see the movie until several years after reading the books. that's a thought... do a deep dive on those critters along with what angels "actually" look like. something about "a plethora of wings."
5:32 takes two to tango Zarka. the shark episode is the freshest. there's also Medusa, the grays, chupacabra the first one, basilisk, and a few others.
I had a Black Shuck sighting once. It was about 7 yrs ago during a turbulent time in my life when I woke up from a fidgety sleep and saw a black dog standing in the doorway to my bedroom. It was huge, the size of a giant Rottie made up of black shadow, not the color black. It had glowing red eyes. It was looking at me fixedly but not really staring. I sat up on my elbow, fully mobile in bed...it wasn't a dream. I kept looking at it and it looked back at me keeping full eye contact. When you mentioned "transient spaces" something clicked. A doorway is a transient space and this creature did not move at all. I watched it for a while and I wasn't afraid of it despite it's unearthly presence. When I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment then opened them, it was gone. Most of the references of such creatures are that they are harbors of evil but sometimes they are guides. No, no drugs, wasn't drunk and don't have severe mental illness. It's an experience I'll never forget.
Black dogs are also a very big part of Japanese mythology and superstition. There’s also a Raiju, a mythical six legged lightning dog who is owned by the Shinto god of thunder and lightning Raijin
00:00 Hey people, remember Cujo is not the villain in that movie, just another victim. Go read an analysis called "Animal Media Studies: Cujo Edition", by Christopher Sebastian. Even though it's posted on Patreon, it's free to read. 3:07 See? Even when they are the victims, animals are unjustly blamed and abused.
You forgot to mention Latin America's version of the Hellhound: El Cadejo. It is said that if you are walking alone at night along a trail a black Cadejo will appear to you. If you are a good and religious person, a white Cadejo (which is more or less a Heaven hound) will appear and protect you from the black one. However, if you are a bad or evil person, the black Cadejo will attack you, rip you to shreds, devour your entrails, and leave your corpse unrecognizable.
I am so grateful that you created this because I thought I was crazy when I encountered these dogs.(I won't explain) thank you for taking the time to create this
Great video! I was hoping you were going to mention The Hound of the Baskervilles! Its one of my favorite Sherlock Holmes stories and it immediately popped into my head when I saw the thumbnail :-D
Hiya! There's a black dog spirit you didn't mention! The Pookah, or puca. They are shapeshifters, and can be a dog, horse, goat, etc. They aren't specifically evil, and sometimes help people who are kind to them.
I wonder if the “sounding like hellhound” was inspired by stridor, an abnormal lung sound that resembles a dog barking. Stridor is caused by upper airway problems like choking on something, infection, or can be caused by congenital problems.
hell, hounds in Japanese folklore are able to possess humans they are called inugami meaning God dog they are often depicted as having a mixture of both human and canine features
Great video, interesting theories & well researched as always. Just one little detail, that my inner zoology student just can't quite let go of, it's an extremely common mistake, that unfortunately most people tend to make, when they see a black big cat and call it a Panther, but the term is actually inaccurate. Black Jagguars, like the one in your photo, and black Leopards sometimes inherit a very specific latten gene (that I won't butcher the spelling of) which causes them to be born with the black pigment of thier fur & skin. They are the only two species of big cat known to carry this gene. The species we call Pather (also known as Puma or Mountain Lion), does not carry this gene. So there is actually no such thing, as a black Panther.
I quite enjoy the fact that large spooky dogs are a common theme in folklore. Likely because dogs are like close to humanity, and those in the wild have a bit of mystery to them. I quite like the story of the Okuri Inu, the spirit of a dog that haunts Japanese mountain roads, pouncing on travelers when they fall on the rough terrain, however keeping all other dangers at bay with their presence alone. Though you do need to show the spirit respect by leaving food outside of your home when you return, else you'll be get return visits from the spirit.
Had to look up what ancient poodles looked like and i can definitely see them as primordial boogeymen patrolling a beksinski esque wasteland stocking the featureless husks of the less fortunate among the departed.
One example of association between the Devil and dogs is that Dog (or cão) is one name for the Devil in Brazil Also I find interesting the association in the ancient world between the Dog Star Sirius, the dog days of Summer (this ones would be caused for the presence of the bright Sirius in the sky) and a supposedly rise of rabies cases in dogs
This reminds me of the story of my elementary school’s “ghost” The story of Bubbled the ghost that haunts the girls locker room was a girl that was killed by a dog that found its way into the locker room somehow. You can still see the dogs paws scorched into the floors. Which there were impressions of dog prints in the floor somehow so 🤷♀️
“Puppers, doggos and booping the snoots of floofers.” Honestly, it was worth watching this video just for that (though I’m also glad that Harry Potter got a shoutout for its takes on the creature).
I was in agreement with this comment, until Harry Potter was mentioned. 😒 If people would just *stop* defending it and it's shitty bigot of an author, I would be so happy.
I'm a little confused on the timeline for something. Dr. Z is discussing how black dogs were seen in the Medieval period and then says, "In one 1800s CE French text..." But that wouldn't be considered Medieval, surely? Then she goes on to say, "Black dogs continued to be associated with illness centuries later. Even in the late 18th century..." Which is earlier than the 1800s CE? Sorry, I really don't mean to be pedantic, I love this channel. This portion just confused me. Unless I'm missing something. Do, please, let me know if I am.
If they had dogs, you can bet people had stories about them. Humans and dogs have always had an interesting symbiosis. Dogs would sniff out food and humans would bring it down. Then dogs became not just hunting companions but also guardians and rescuers. So it only really makes sense that people make up creatures based on them.
After all the mudlarking videos I have seen I would want to take my chances with hellhounds. Between human waste, and any kinds of industry based waste like raw chemicals used to tan leather for example made the Thames one toxic soup.
Here in Chile around Chiquicamata, a miner's town, there's the leyend of El perro negro or the black dog, a dog with black furr and giant fiery red eyes with a golden chain around its neck that looks like a normal dog from afar but the closer you get the more demonic and unnatural it looks and the more your instinct will scream at you to run away from it but if you push through and follow it, it will eventually start to dig a hole, once its done stick a knife in the hole with rosary beads around it (catholic country so to be expected) and under that place you'll find a giant gold deposit which belongs to the devil but well, the devil doesnt have to know you took it 😉
I like how this one is bought a nice dog and also related to the devil somehow, but he is like an annoyed employee, sure, take the gold, It's not like Lucifer has the balls to ask me where it went, haha
![เปิด อาณาจักร หมื่นล้าน "สาระตั้ม" l [Nickynachat]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/3XE0nPF4YkQ/mqdefault.jpg)
one of my favourite black dogs myths is the legend of the loyal dog Gellert from the Welsh region of Snowdonia.
Prince Llewellyn had a favorite greyhound named Gellert that had been given to him by his father-in-law, King John. He was as gentle as a lamb at home but a lion in the chase. One day Llewellyn went to the chase and blew his horn in front of his castle. All his other dogs came to the call but Gellert never answered it. So he blew a louder blast on his horn and called Gellert by name, but still the greyhound did not come. At last Prince Llewellyn could wait no longer and went off to the hunt without Gellert. He had little sport that day because Gellert was not there, the swiftest and boldest of his hounds.
He turned back in a rage to his castle, and as he came to the gate, who should he see but Gellert come bounding out to meet him. But when the hound came near him, the prince was startled to see that his lips and fangs were dripping with blood. Llewellyn started back and the greyhound crouched down at his feet as if surprised or afraid at the way his master greeted him.
Now Prince Llewellyn had a little son a year old with whom Gellert used to play, and a terrible thought crossed the prince's mind that made him rush towards the child's nursery. And the nearer he came the more blood and disorder he found about the rooms. He rushed into it and found the child's cradle overturned and daubed with blood.
Prince Llewellyn grew more and more terrified, and sought for his little son everywhere. He could find him nowhere but only signs of some terrible conflict in which much blood had been shed. At last he felt sure the dog had destroyed his child, and shouting to Gellert, "Monster, thou hast devoured my child," he drew out his sword and plunged it in the greyhound's side, who fell with a deep yell and still gazing in his master's eyes.
As Gellert raised his dying yell, a little child's cry answered it from beneath the cradle, and there Llewellyn found his child unharmed and just awakened from sleep. But just beside him lay the body of a great gaunt wolf all torn to pieces and covered with blood. Too late, Llewellyn learned what had happened while he was away. Gellert had stayed behind to guard the child and had fought and slain the wolf that had tried to destroy Llewellyn's heir.
In vain was all Llewellyn's grief; he could not bring his faithful dog to life again. So he buried him outside the castle walls within sight of the great mountain of Snowdon, where every passerby might see his grave, and raised over it a great cairn of stones. And to this day the place is called Beth Gellert, or the Grave of Gellert
Woah what a story :")
That was a great bed time story! 🎉
Awwww that made me sad.
The Soul of Caliban by Emma-Lindsay Squier, is a more modern take on this story.
Oh my god that’s so sad!! 😢
We’ve also managed to domesticate Hellhounds, too. They are apparently called “Chihuahuas” nowadays
I’d sooner consider petting a Doberman than a chihuahua
Did you know the dog it comes down from was kept both as pet and for the pot? The little ones were more for...well you know...
In Phoenix, Arizona there's a town which about 8 years ago was terrorized by a band of feral chihuahuas. I don't know if or how they solved the situation.
You win the comment section 😂
@@9Johnny8 I've heard of that
Doctor Emily, I NEVER expected you to ever mention my hometown of Bungay! And you pronounced it perfectly (less so Blythburgh - which is more like Bly-burr, but the valiant attempt is appreciated). When I was a child, I remember looking for the scratches from Black Shuck on the door of St Mary's church, and many things in the town were named after him, such as Black Dog Cycling Club, Black Dog Antiques shop, and an elaborate streetlight in the centre of town was topped by a weather vane in the shape of a shaggy black dog.
@@taylorfusher2997 Spamming is cringe
Did you find scratches or scorch marks, though? Super curious!
@@taylorfusher2997 Why don't you just ask a question that's actually related to the video you're commenting on? Or that's actually relevant to the person you're replying to?
in Guatemala we have el Cadejo, a black dog with red eyes. Despite his inicial dark appearence, it is said to be a protector to the local drunkies who walk home at night, some say its an angel who fell from grace but seeks to find some, others say i'ts a demon that seeks to keep men trapped in their vice.
@@taylorfusher2997 ?
I was going to comment about el Cadejo too. It's basically the same but in Costa Rica the legend says that he used to be a young man cursed by his father due to his persisting heavy drinking. I've known people who swear to have seen it lol
That is fascinating! Since reincarnation is a common theme in Indian religions (sanatana Dharma Buddhism, etc), I have heard a lot of stories of family members who realize that They would drifting apart from their family members too late coming back as dogs of various kinds, including a rather personal story in which a dear friend's mother or grandmother took care of all of the street dogs in her neighborhood because in her words "My son loved these creatures, if he somehow did not escape the cycle of reincarnation, I am sure he would request that he would b a dog, even adopting a puppy at one point, not eating for a week or more when The now grown up puppy was poisoned by some sick motherfucker who had issues with her family,
Also a folktale in Costa Rica. I couldn't stop thinking about it during this whole video
In El Salvadoran folklore we have it to black one and white one. White one guides lost people kids and drunks home at night. That or it guides you to treasure. The black one chases you and ia evil seeing means badluck the white one protects from the black one.
Gotta mention the OG Hellhound: Cerberus! Who's a good doggy? Yes Cerberus roughly (ruffly) translates as "spotted" so yeah, the god of the Underworld named his 3 headed hellhound Spot!
*might translate to spotted
Actually, linguistic scholars debate this subject quite a bit, and many have come to the conclusion that no, it does not translate as "spot".
@@LisatheWeirdo sometimes myth is more comfortable than fact. I like Spot. Spot is good. But thanks for keeping it legit.
OSP
another fact if one sees a hellhound 3 times you die just like that 😨🐕🦺🐕🦺🐕🦺
We had a black dog (a Labrador named Bo) who was just an absolute sweetheart, if a bit dim. An oft repeated phrase around our house was, "Both neurons, Bo. Both neurons."
It's worth reflecting on where humans would normally see dogs that weren't with humans in the Roman and later ages; trash piles, and other places that stank of death. Dogs largely become scavengers when feral, though the packs can start hunting like wolves. And consider the circumstances that would lead to large amounts of dogs going feral: the death of their owners, in war or plague or etc, would lead to hundreds of thousands of dogs with no one to obey. Even at home, then and today, we all know stories of loyal dogs who stay by their dead master, making for an obvious death association.
Interestingly enough, many people of the Hindu religion actually believe black dogs, usually considered related to the underworld somehow, as harbingers of good health and wealth, since they have a connection to Lakshmi, The goddess of wealth/prosperity, that is supposedly why it is difficult to find black street dogs in certain parts of India, they have all been adopted!
Good chance that scavenging was part of how we domesticated them. The less fearful wolves would scavenge human camps, pretty ballsy considering we viewed them as dangerous competitors.
@@MegaGun2000 Good to hear! Glad to hear at least some cultures still respect man's oldest friend.
Two of the most iconic monsters in Central American mythology are the Cadejo Blanco and the Cadejo Negro, two spirit dogs that represent good and evil. The black or evil one is far more common from anecdotal experiences in the countryside, especially appearing and stalking evil men or drunkards, whereas the white one appears more rarely and usually does so to save people from other supernatural entities. They both are reported from rural roads on the forest's edge, and usually appear to people who wander around in the dark alone.
Cerberus is apparently Greek for "the spotted one."
Hades named his dog "Spot."
OSP said it, I didn't!
I just wanted to write the same.
Hades is so unjustly treated.
Cute, but sadly incorrect.
@@carissstewart3211 I thought so too. Isn't the correct translation something like "demon from the pit"?
Considering their connection with feeding on the dead, I like to imagine Cerberus as a giant three-headed Spotted Hyena.
@@namelessghoul596 I think I saw a classicist on TikTok say it was more like "from the Earth". So it's more like Mud Puppy! 😆
Reminds me of the Cadejo. In Central American myth, there are two dogs called Cadejo. One is is black the other is white. The black Cadejo is said to go after evildoers that are out at night, while the white Cadejo protects people out at night.
Great episode! Even more "dogs as guardians of the afterlife" are found in the Avesta and the Rg-Veda. Both are guardians of the afterlife that are encountered after a very thin bridge.
@@taylorfusher2997 Aryan tales are bizarre and outlandish.
If I am not wrong the God Dattatreya , who is supposed to be a combination of all three of the Hindu Trimurti (Trinity is a similar concept), has four black dogs in every depiction of him literary or in image form, apparently every doggo represents one of the Vedas
@@vijayvijay4123 Greeks aren't Aryans dear, but Dravidians are surely Africans.
@@infinite5795 Before Europe was swept away by the powerful Aryans from Russia the natives of Europe were slightly dark skinned and spoke a different family of languages. The evidence of which can be seen in Basque, the remnants of pre Aryan Europe. Another group migrated to Iran and then permanently settled in India. There were two categories among them the Brahmins and Kshatriyas. I think in Europe this corresponds to Jews and Gentiles.
There's also always the legend of Robert Johnson who was said to have sold his soul to the devil at a crossroads for his skill at blues guitar & one of his songs is literally about a hellhound on his trail.
And of course Led Zeppelin's Black Dog
Yeah, not a coincidence.
There's a book at my work about the Salem Witch Trials. I perused it one night, and it mentioned that, along with people like little old ladies, sick people, and literal children, some accused 'witches' who were put to death were three dogs that were thought to belong to the devil. Not sure whether or not they were all black dogs, but given the superstition, and everyone else in that lineup, I wouldn't be surprised...
@@taylorfusher2997 it has something to do with the bestial qualities of the wilderness hencewhy they have beastly features such as goat ears and legs
Considering that the Salem witch trials would have been similar to the which trials of Europe which had no rhyme or reason, that would make sense,
@@taylorfusher2997 ...I didn't say one word about horses or sex, what are you going on about?
The grammar was a little weird, could you clarify a bit?
@@Copperkaiju at my (now old) job, there was a book talking about the Salem witch trials. I've looked over it a couple times, and the beginning of the book gives a list of those who were accused of witchcraft. Some accused 'witches' of the time include three dogs that were believed to belong to Satan.
It’s interesting how often black dogs specifically come up related to ominous happenings. There are tales told by older truckers (those who drove in North America prior to modern electronic drivers’ logs). At night, when they were tired, many tell stores of seeing black dogs running towards their trucks, jumping at the windshield, and then disappearing. Many would swerve to avoid and end up in accidents. My husband, also a truck driver, said his apparition was a flock of birds. There’s also a movie called “The Black Dog” about the phenomenon
Interesting! From the other side of the world, I have heard stories from Indian truckers about how good things happen to them because they fed a random, usually black and kind of mangy looking, dog on one of their routes,
When I was a tank driver in the Marines, I saw a large amount of weird things in my night vision device. We called them road runners. It was something about the size of a rabbit that would run across the road.
"Hound of the Baskervilles" was the first Sherlock Holmes book I had ever read. I chose to read the book (originally) because of the spectral pooch aspect. (I am a dog lover btw.)
I was wondering if anyone was going to mention this! Whenever I hear 'hellhound' I immediately think of this book.
Hellhounds are awsome. Even before I know what a hellhound actually is, Houndoom was one of my favourite pokemon 😅🔥
Lmao. I came looking for this comment! I played the OG Gold, Silver and Chrystal and Houndoom was my favorite too.
@@lizc6393 Houndoom is the goodest of good boys.
Sometime I feel like I’ll never achieve my dream of being the best twerker in the world
@@idigamstudios7463 Houndoom belongs only to the best of the best boys
@@lizc6393 yeah it's an extremely beautiful pokemon. Especially back then that almost every pokemon was unique
I'm so glad to see descriptive audio here. More accessibility is wonderful.
How come the word psychopomp was not mentioned? Those who guide spirits into the afterlife turn out to be dogs in many cultures, making them almost the archetype psychpomp, not to mention it's a cool sounding Greek word.
A psychopomp would probably fit in better in a Grim Reaper/underworld guide video. Not sure if she’s done one yet however.
@@Pleasestoptalkingthanks she has actually
Sounds like a gay nightclub
Brilliant ep, as usual. There is a mental health institute here in Australia actually named the Black Dog Institute, largely, i think, because of the Winston Churchill reference. They do a lot of good work, but yeah, thought you might find that interesting.
I had an encounter with a ghost dog while walking across a park to my bus stop one early morning. I saw the silhouette run across the field before I started walking across. When crossing I heard and felt it run behind me since the ground shook. I twirled behind me quickly and I saw nothing. I remember that morning very well.
This was so interesting! It is interesting to see how many places had stories of dogs that are somehow connected to death. However I personally would prefer to pet them rather than fear these dogs.
If you are somehow able to talk to one of the shepherding/guide dogs to the underworld, I'm pretty sure they would be chill with pets and scratches so long as you asked for permission beforehand haha, you might even be rewarded for treating your guide well!
Have you ever heard of the Cu Sith (pronounced Coo She)? It's mostly found in the Scottish Highlands, and the name is Scottish Gaelic, which translates as Fairy Hounds. They have green fur, because of their connection to the Fay.
Heh. I come from Devonshire, where there's a VERY strong tradition of Black Dogs / Hell-Hounds / Wild Hunts / Church Attacks, especially up on Dartmoor. Apparently, a guy called Art C. Doyle heard about these Devonian folk stories and wrote a book about some famous detective or other investigating one of these stories. 😉
Ah yes. Baskervilles.
Hee Hee good one 😂
Love those origins and how they've been morphed over the generations. Excellent video. And if Dog from "Good Omens" isn't "goodest" of the underworld good boys...
I'm not a fan of dogs in real life, but mythology is great.
I used to read a ton of Stephen King books when i was in high school and the only book and movie based on a book by him that i ever really struggled to get through was Cujo. and not because it was scary either, it was so SO BORING! The entire idea of the scary element being a rabid dog was sound, yet the book and movie alike moved so slow and a ton of nothing happened for most of the story.
Best part i later learned that Stephen King doesnt remember even writing cujo because he was so addicted to some really bad stuff at the time.
Cocaine
I too found Cujo extremely boring, especially surprising because dogs can freak me out sometimes and rabid dogs are my worst nightmare, so I went in expecting to be terrified. I was very unpleasantly surprised to find out I was bored the whole way through.
You must've read a different Cujo from the one I read.
Technically it was more then rabies because the bat that bit cujo was from the universe that all of Stephen kings monsters come from.
Drug addiction or not, Stephen King refuses to let himself be edited.
King overwrites to the max.
"Modern day Hellhounds are known as chihuahuas" - (my aunt's chihuahua Maximillian)
I come from East Anglia and make art based on local folklore, sometimes including Black Shuck. Another good example is the Elgoods brewery in Wisbeach who's symbol is a black dog of the fens and many of these symbols can be found around the surrounding area as shop signs etc. I have some great folklore books with tales of people encountering Black shuck in the fens, getting led off course on misty nights and drowning in the marshy ditches that line the roads...
Please, for the love of all of good and pure things in this world, provide links to those folklore sources! 🥺
I remember a story about a blind kid who had to get special permission to allow his guide dog (seeing eye dog for our American friends) into his mosque because they're still considered dirty.
It seems to vary, either by time or region or both. In the Thousand and One Nights there's a story of a man who recounts having been transformed into a dog and subsequently being taken in by a butcher as a pet. He explicitly describes the butcher as... well, I don't remember the precise phrasing, but it was something along the lines of "not one of those superstitious bumpkins who think dogs are unclean." I always found that interesting for some reason.
I read somewhere that the first person who was buried in a new graveyard soul was stuck there forever so they’d bury a dog there first
Hi! Acarologist here, can I get the reference for that 1800's text about placing ticks into the hands of the sick to determine if they were soon to die? I LOVE tick references from the past.
So you study cars?
@@louielouie6259 Ticks and mites. 😃
@@Quake210
Lol! I never knew there were so many mite species, take care mate.
Growing up I was into urban legends, folklore, and ghost stories, and I remember often when black dogs were mentioned they would include urban legends about ghostly black dogs showing up to guide and protect people walking alone at night.
Often the premise was something like they were walking alone late at night through a wooded or deserted area, and they realize a large black dog (that may or may not have red eyes) was following them. They're terrified, but keep going, and the dog follows them until they're safely out of the woods. They then either see a suspicious person hiding in the woods or they later hear about people being attacked in that area, and come to the realization that the dog they were so afraid of was actually protecting them.
My god that is a beautiful story! Does it have any religious lore behind it? Are these scary dogs chosen by whichever deity is in the area to protect humans from one another?
Also, this is funny to me, but the number of times that a group of dogs that a friend of mine or a relative of mine fed regularly defended them from a group of people trying to mug them is beyond insane, I guess This is the perfect case of fiction/myth following truth
@@MegaGun2000 I really wish I had more details or specific sources, I only have childhood memories to go off of unfortunately. Most of the time when I heard about it, it was presented in an urban legend style like those hills where ghostly children will allegedly push cars up: allegedly true, supposedly there were people who had friends of friends this happened to, attributed to various specific locales (although I've long forgotten which ones).
Urban legends can be a lot of fun to unpack, but since they claim to be true, they're sadly often not presented with a ton of background about the inspiration of the legends.
Now that I'm older I've seen shows, podcasts, and TH-cam videos go into the origins and cultural fears that allowed different urban legends to form, but when I was a child either that kind of stuff wasn't readily available yet, or simply wasn't marketed towards my age range.
I've heard of hellhounds before, but when it comes to "Black Dog" as a separate, specific death-related creature, the only tale I've heard of before today portrayed them as guardians of graveyards. "Church Grimms," as they're called, were black dogs that protected both the physical remains and souls of the dead from grave robbers and evil spirits. They also kept the site's ghosts company, and served as therapy dogs to help them move on.
Cadejo is my personal favorite iteration of the hellhound.
My wife and I rescued a small terrier mix who has guarding issues. He guards my wife from me, I never knew how vicious a little dog could be and now after a year of being bitten (scars to prove it) I can appreciate the fear of Hellhounds.
Black dog stories have even made it to the US! I know my home state of Connecticut has the Black Dog of the Hanging Hills in Meriden. It's much smaller than Black Shuck, and it's said that seeing it once is good luck. Seeing it twice is a warning, but seeing it a third time is a death omen.
How about seeing it 4 times ?
I remember having read about hell hounds/black dogs being seen in the Bridgewater Triangle area of Massachusetts.
arthur conan doyle sure had fun with the hound of the baskervilles. so much lore, so much potential...
I like that there aren’t really many hellcats because we know. We know what cats are really like. Good boys not being good boys in fiction is far more plausible.
they may have covered that Cujo dog in "blood" but it still looks dopey
Just needed to boop the snoot, and it would have been a far different movie.
My grandparents owned a book about mysterys of the world and i became obsessed with it, mostly with the story about the Black Dog of Norfolk and to this day, this story is still my fav
I wished you mentioned the Cadejo, a Latin American hellhound in modern folklore.
Great video still 👍🏽
This channel is so informative with Monsters and languages, I love it,
Very cool video. I love exploring the mixed nature of humanity's relationship with dogs. They're one of our first efforts of breeding/eugenics, a species that has been beside us since prehistory, yet we both love and fear them. Never mind that this species wouldn't exist without humans, they are something to be feared, and unfortunately, sometimes recipients of our cruelty. Humans seem incapable of returning the unconditional love that dogs are capable of. After all, even Faust had a canine companion that was his ever present companion. Wait, that dog was the devil in disguise, waiting to claim his soul. Bad example!
It's more a recognition that not all doggos are good boys, just like humans. Some are snarling feral predators what will tear your mule and then you apart, then eat their fill and leave the carcasses.
@@westrim very true, but perhaps that is also why, in so many folk tales, the unfaithful dog is depicted as the embodiment of evil
I remember hearing a variation of a hellhound that would track down and fetch damned souls that tried to run or hide from their fate. Only dangerous if you already belonged where they were taking you. Everyone else just got the fear of God put into them
I haven't watched the video yet and in all honesty, I think hellhounds reveal the fact that we as humans are afraid of man's best friend turning on us. Even though we have stories of animals turning on their owners because of either mistreatment or some other circumstances. But I think its more of the fact that for as long as man has walked earth, they've always had a companion to venture with them in the dark beyond the flickering light, and what scares us is the possibility that our companions can turn on us in the dark.
Wonderful as always! I think any mention of heel-hounds, Black Dogs and other mystical dog-like beasts should include the Shisa of Okinawan Ryukyuan tradition. Although opinion is divided as to whether Shisa are more lion than dog, their function as guard dogs is all but conclusive that these fearsome, magical protectors deserve some mention in connection with their Western variations.
I remember seeing statues of Shisa everywhere when I lived in Okinawa, even on the gates to my elementary school despite it being on base. What I found perplexing was that there was a third statue on the roof.
I also find the connection between hounds and river deities interesting.
Where I live we have an unusual black dog. the black dog of the hanging hills is small with an soundless bark. seeing it once means joy, the second means sorrow and the third time means your death.
As someone who's owned poodles I can see them fitting in the hell hound role very well. They're too smart for their own good
I always wondered why the 3 hellhounds in the 2003 Hulk movie included a poodle. I get 3 heads for Cerberus but poodle? Now it makes sense.
@@taylorfusher2997 wat
@@taylorfusher2997 Dude, seriously seek help. You type the same comments on like every video, I’m genuinely concerned.
@@Pleasestoptalkingthanks it must be a bot or something. Their channel description is insane
Can you do the variations of kitsune next? There's Yako (the tricksters) and Zenko (the messengers of Inari Ōkami) plus several other types. Kinko and Ginko are like Shinto yin-yang, both givers of luck for different things in life
I'd like to see the Tanuki or Kappa. Danzaburou or Kuzembo preferably
nah theres other mythologies that deserve more attention lol
In the Philippines, we have what we call 'Bagat' evil spirits that take other forms- usually a gigantic black dog with red eyes. This is common in the provinces. Fascinating how prevalent this figure it is in almost all cultures.
Perhaps it is because humans domesticated doggos so long ago that damn near every culture has some variation of a series of very specific myths
I also guess that since dogs have always been companions for humans, but can turn angry and dangerous when feral, the idea of an angry dog with the power to hurt you is like super
It's been speculated that many sighting stories of black shucks walking certain roads at night were spread by smugglers and criminals so that people would avoid those places during certain times. ( the times at night when criminals would need to use the roads to smuggle their loot)
I mean, it makes sense, it was definitely a thing, and still is, even if it sounds like a plot for a scooby-doo episode
But then who would the criminals rob? 😄
I don't know why, but now I kinda want to read a book about a hellhound and a familiar cat wandering the streets of 18th century London together and terrorizing people... and maybe solving crimes ?
Imagine if both belonged to a rather useless detective, they'd do all the mystery solving/footwork as their inept human narrowly avoids one disaster after another.
just the thought of an exhausted mind...
i always thought the "hounds" from Ghost Busters looked like what i imagined the Echthros/Echthroi from Madeleine L'Engle's Swiftly Tilting Planet looking like. weirdly, i didn't see the movie until several years after reading the books.
that's a thought... do a deep dive on those critters along with what angels "actually" look like. something about "a plethora of wings."
My favorite use of the hellhound, hands down, is in Alan Moore’s “Voice of the Fire”.
I've always imagined Hellhounds looking like a BEEFY Doberman/Shepherd mix... but like the size of a tiger.
Rottweiler
Dr. Zarka, what do you think the influence of the black dog mythologies have had on fairytales that feature wolves?
5:32 takes two to tango Zarka. the shark episode is the freshest. there's also Medusa, the grays, chupacabra the first one, basilisk, and a few others.
I had a Black Shuck sighting once. It was about 7 yrs ago during a turbulent time in my life when I woke up from a fidgety sleep and saw a black dog standing in the doorway to my bedroom. It was huge, the size of a giant Rottie made up of black shadow, not the color black. It had glowing red eyes. It was looking at me fixedly but not really staring. I sat up on my elbow, fully mobile in bed...it wasn't a dream. I kept looking at it and it looked back at me keeping full eye contact. When you mentioned "transient spaces" something clicked. A doorway is a transient space and this creature did not move at all. I watched it for a while and I wasn't afraid of it despite it's unearthly presence. When I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment then opened them, it was gone. Most of the references of such creatures are that they are harbors of evil but sometimes they are guides. No, no drugs, wasn't drunk and don't have severe mental illness. It's an experience I'll never forget.
Steven King famously really liked Kujo… he just wishes he could remember writing it.
Very very interesting! I love learning about the differences in how cultures/regions view the world around us and how those change over time.
My favorite episode ever!
Black dogs are also a very big part of Japanese mythology and superstition. There’s also a Raiju, a mythical six legged lightning dog who is owned by the Shinto god of thunder and lightning Raijin
Jackals were found around gravesites in ancient Egypt. Maybe man's earliest encounter with dogs were them as scavengers of the dead.
00:00 Hey people, remember Cujo is not the villain in that movie, just another victim. Go read an analysis called "Animal Media Studies: Cujo Edition", by Christopher Sebastian. Even though it's posted on Patreon, it's free to read.
3:07 See? Even when they are the victims, animals are unjustly blamed and abused.
"Fetch me their souls!"
Thank you, thank you, thank you for finally covering them.
You forgot to mention Latin America's version of the Hellhound: El Cadejo. It is said that if you are walking alone at night along a trail a black Cadejo will appear to you. If you are a good and religious person, a white Cadejo (which is more or less a Heaven hound) will appear and protect you from the black one. However, if you are a bad or evil person, the black Cadejo will attack you, rip you to shreds, devour your entrails, and leave your corpse unrecognizable.
I am so grateful that you created this because I thought I was crazy when I encountered these dogs.(I won't explain) thank you for taking the time to create this
I had the same expierence when i was a kid, there were 2 of them.
I suspect they were Barghest's, just by the looks of them, red eyes.
Great video! I was hoping you were going to mention The Hound of the Baskervilles! Its one of my favorite Sherlock Holmes stories and it immediately popped into my head when I saw the thumbnail :-D
Hiya! There's a black dog spirit you didn't mention! The Pookah, or puca. They are shapeshifters, and can be a dog, horse, goat, etc. They aren't specifically evil, and sometimes help people who are kind to them.
Are pookahs essentially tricksters?
I wonder if the “sounding like hellhound” was inspired by stridor, an abnormal lung sound that resembles a dog barking. Stridor is caused by upper airway problems like choking on something, infection, or can be caused by congenital problems.
Please make a video of Giant, Elf, Dwarf, and Mokele-mbembe.
hell, hounds in Japanese folklore are able to possess humans they are called inugami meaning God dog they are often depicted as having a mixture of both human and canine features
I will never get over it. It is not only terrible that there are books in a fireplace, but also how they lie there!
Dogs are the most magnificent creatures, and so much better than humans. Humans don't deserve dogs.
I'm glad you got to The Baskervilles. I kept waiting for some mention of Son Of Sam though.
Great video, interesting theories & well researched as always. Just one little detail, that my inner zoology student just can't quite let go of, it's an extremely common mistake, that unfortunately most people tend to make, when they see a black big cat and call it a Panther, but the term is actually inaccurate. Black Jagguars, like the one in your photo, and black Leopards sometimes inherit a very specific latten gene (that I won't butcher the spelling of) which causes them to be born with the black pigment of thier fur & skin. They are the only two species of big cat known to carry this gene. The species we call Pather (also known as Puma or Mountain Lion), does not carry this gene. So there is actually no such thing, as a black Panther.
Excellent shows , thank you 🐺
I quite enjoy the fact that large spooky dogs are a common theme in folklore.
Likely because dogs are like close to humanity, and those in the wild have a bit of mystery to them.
I quite like the story of the Okuri Inu, the spirit of a dog that haunts Japanese mountain roads, pouncing on travelers when they fall on the rough terrain, however keeping all other dangers at bay with their presence alone.
Though you do need to show the spirit respect by leaving food outside of your home when you return, else you'll be get return visits from the spirit.
Great topic!
Don't forget Crowley in Supernatural, with his hellhounds. One is Juliet, another one is about six feet tall and both are invisible.
You forgot Armenian's mythology: Aralez. Winged dogs on the battlefield who would lick and heal the wounds of fallen soldiers.
Good boys/ girls.
I was adopted an found out I have some Armenian ancestry. Are there any books you can recommend on Armenian mythology? I only know of Anahit/Anahita.
@@kokuinomusume Best boys/girls
I am so glad that Ol' Shuck was mentioned.
I wanna see a Kitsune and a cat sidhe!
Tell me more about the hell doggos that inspired Shakespeare's war doggos ☺️
Dr. Z is legit. I love Hell Hounds.
I've always wanted one. Ironic given my name.
I remember an old (1990's) movie where the hellhound is replaced by a genetically modified St. Bernard with many abilities.
Only movie I can remember with a genetically-modified dog was Man’s Best Friend. That dog was a Mastiff though.
Had to look up what ancient poodles looked like and i can definitely see them as primordial boogeymen patrolling a beksinski esque wasteland stocking the featureless husks of the less fortunate among the departed.
One example of association between the Devil and dogs is that Dog (or cão) is one name for the Devil in Brazil
Also I find interesting the association in the ancient world between the Dog Star Sirius, the dog days of Summer (this ones would be caused for the presence of the bright Sirius in the sky) and a supposedly rise of rabies cases in dogs
This reminds me of the story of my elementary school’s “ghost”
The story of Bubbled the ghost that haunts the girls locker room was a girl that was killed by a dog that found its way into the locker room somehow. You can still see the dogs paws scorched into the floors. Which there were impressions of dog prints in the floor somehow so 🤷♀️
Was it a concrete floor? A dog probably wandered into the construction site while the cement was still drying.
“Puppers, doggos and booping the snoots of floofers.” Honestly, it was worth watching this video just for that (though I’m also glad that Harry Potter got a shoutout for its takes on the creature).
I was in agreement with this comment, until Harry Potter was mentioned. 😒 If people would just *stop* defending it and it's shitty bigot of an author, I would be so happy.
I'm a little confused on the timeline for something. Dr. Z is discussing how black dogs were seen in the Medieval period and then says, "In one 1800s CE French text..." But that wouldn't be considered Medieval, surely?
Then she goes on to say, "Black dogs continued to be associated with illness centuries later. Even in the late 18th century..." Which is earlier than the 1800s CE?
Sorry, I really don't mean to be pedantic, I love this channel. This portion just confused me. Unless I'm missing something. Do, please, let me know if I am.
I think 1800s France was the "Industrial" period. I think medieval lasted until 1500s
@@ajzorger93 Yeah, that's what I was thinking, too.
Thank you for making this documentary about my Chiweenie! So thoughtful 🥰
I like the Hell Hounds in 'Supernatural' that would drag your soul to Hell when your contract with Crossroads Demon was up.
If they had dogs, you can bet people had stories about them. Humans and dogs have always had an interesting symbiosis. Dogs would sniff out food and humans would bring it down. Then dogs became not just hunting companions but also guardians and rescuers. So it only really makes sense that people make up creatures based on them.
Damn, you’d have to be pretty terrified to jump into the Thames in the 1500s, I’d take my chances with the hellhound
After all the mudlarking videos I have seen I would want to take my chances with hellhounds. Between human waste, and any kinds of industry based waste like raw chemicals used to tan leather for example made the Thames one toxic soup.
I'm terrified of the type of large dogs hellhounds are described as. Yet I'd take my chances with one of them than risk my luck in the Thames.
Here in Chile around Chiquicamata, a miner's town, there's the leyend of El perro negro or the black dog, a dog with black furr and giant fiery red eyes with a golden chain around its neck that looks like a normal dog from afar but the closer you get the more demonic and unnatural it looks and the more your instinct will scream at you to run away from it but if you push through and follow it, it will eventually start to dig a hole, once its done stick a knife in the hole with rosary beads around it (catholic country so to be expected) and under that place you'll find a giant gold deposit which belongs to the devil but well, the devil doesnt have to know you took it 😉
I like how this one is bought a nice dog and also related to the devil somehow, but he is like an annoyed employee, sure, take the gold, It's not like Lucifer has the balls to ask me where it went, haha
@@MegaGun2000 what's he gonna do? Fire me? I'm already on fire
"The liminality of the dog as inside/outside, helper/harmer in equal measure..." I love that
Totally thought you would have mentioned church grims those deserve their own video though.
It was hell to get St Bernard to act threatening in the movie Cujo. He was a hug monster ❤