Barghest

In Northern English folklore, the Barghest or Barguest is a mythical monstrous black dog with large teeth and claws,[1] though in other cases the name can refer to a ghost or household elf, especially in Northumberland and Durham, such as the Cauld Lad of Hylton.

Origin of the name

"Ghost" in Northern England was pronounced "guest", and the origin is thought to be of the combination burh-ghest, "town-ghost". Others explain it as cognate to German Berg-geist, "mountain ghost" or Bär-geist, "bear-ghost".[1] Another mooted derivation is Bahr-Geist, German for the "spirit of the funeral bier".[2]

Domain and description

One notable case is said to frequent a remote gorge named Troller's Gill in the Yorkshire Dales, Yorkshire, England. A ballad entitled "The Legend of the Troller's Gill" can be found in William Hone's Everyday Book (1830). It recounts the tale of a man who ventures forth "to the horrid gill of the limestone hill" in order to summon and confront the Barghest in an act of ritual magic. The man's lifeless body is discovered soon after with inhuman marks upon his breast.[3] There is also a story of a Barghest entering the city of York occasionally where, according to legend, it preys on lone travellers in the city's narrow Snickelways. Whitby is also associated with the spectre.[4]

In the 1870s a shapeshifting Barghest was said to live near Darlington and was said to take the form of a headless man (who would vanish in flames), a headless lady, a white cat, a rabbit, a dog, or a black dog. Another was said to live in an "uncannie-looking" dale between Darlington and Houghton near Throstlenest,[2] and yet another haunted an area of wasteland between Wreghorn and Headingley Hill near Leeds.[2][5]

The Barghest often serves as an omen of death. At the passing of a notable person the Barghest may appear, followed by all the other dogs of the local area in a kind of funeral procession, heralding the person's death with howling and barking. If anyone were to get in the Barghest's way it would strike out with its paw and leave a wound that never heals.[2]

Besides taking the form of a large black dog with fiery eyes, it may also become invisible and walk about with the sound of rattling chains. It may also foretell the death of an individual by laying across the threshold of his or her house, and like the vampire the Barghest is unable to cross rivers.[3][5]

Many stories feature ghostly black dogs. Dogs specifically named as barghests appear in the following:

  • The barghest appears in the children's book The Whitby Witches by Robin Jarvis.
  • In Roald Dahl's The Witches, the barghest is described as always being male.
  • Neil Gaiman's short story "Black Dog" features a barghest in the form of a huge black dog which has occult powers.
  • In "The Child Thief" by Brom, barghests are distinctly doglike fairy pets of a powerful witch.
  • The 1978 made-for-TV movie Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell features a barghest named Lucky.
  • The EP "The Barghest o' Whitby" by the Yorkshire-based doom metal band My Dying Bride.
  • In the video game Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, the barghest is a wolf-like enemy that appears in small packs.
  • A barghest appears in the first episode of the TV series Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands, where it is killed by Grendel.
  • The barghest is a monster in the tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, where it is a shapeshifting fiend that can take the shape of a goblin.[6]
  • The barghest acts as the first boss of the role-playing video game Heartbound, where it is a corrupted dog.
  • The Witcher video game series feature barghests as hostile spectral dogs that hunt travelers in desolate roads in the night and can only be hurt with a silver blade.
  • The barghest is the main antagonist in the CITV show Roger and the Rottentrolls. It is only seen by its red eyes and in later episodes, its arms.
  • The "Black Hound" that terrorises Trolberg in Hilda is identified as a barghest in the finale of the first season.
  • In The Lord Of The Rings Online, barghests are found in many places as killable enemies. They are often found with wights and other undead creatures in areas such as the Barrow Downs or Imlad Balchorth.
  • A dead barghest which has been 'harvested' appears in the book "Cursed" by Benedict Jacka.
  • In Daniel O'Malley's The Rook, the barghests were elite combat forces of the Checquy organization.

See also

References
  1.  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Barghest". Encyclopædia Britannica. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 399. This in turn cites:
    • Wirt Sikes, British Goblins (1880)
    • Notes and Queries, first series, ii. 51.
    • Joseph Ritson, Fairy Tales (Lond. 1831), p. 58; Lancashire Folklore (1867)
    • Joseph Lucas, Studies in Nidderdale (Pateley Bridge, 1882)
  2. Henderson, William (1879). "Ch. 7". Notes on the folk-lore of the northern counties of England and the borders (2nd ed.). Folk-Lore Society. p. 275.
  3. Hone, William (1830). The Every-day Book and Table Book. Vol. 3, pp. 653–655.
  4. Jeffrey Shaw, Whitby Lore and Legend, (1923)
  5. Briggs, Katharine (1976). An Encyclopedia of Fairies. Pantheon Books. pp. 16–17. ISBN 0394409183.
  6. "Barghest". www.d20srd.org.
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