Of hellhounds
“I got to keep movin’, I got to keep movin’
Blues fallin’ down like hail, blues fallin’ down like hail
Hmm-mmm, blues fallin’ down like hail, blues fallin’ down like hail.” – From Robert Johnson’s blues song “Hellhound on My Trail”
“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.” – Wikipedia
Shown here, “Goddess Hel and the Hellhound Garmr by Johannes Gehrts, 1889.” Garmr guards the gate of Hel in Norse Mythology.
In Greek mythology, Cerberus guards the gates of hell and is called the hound of Hades. Typically, the hound is portrayed with three heads as is the dog guarding the depths of Hogwarts as shown in the Harry Potter film. The hound guards Hades’s gate to keep people from getting out.
In the U.S., a hellhound is said to guard the hanging hills at Meriden, Connecticut, and was first mentioned by W. H. C. Pychon where he claimed that “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.” The trick here is keeping up with how often you’ve met one before.
Wolves, and their supernatural cousins, the hellhounds, are a universal theme in myths, legends, and ghost stories. “The Omen,” a supernatural horror film released in 1976 to both mixed reviews and commercial success focuses on the nasty big dog. It’s fair to say that the hound of the Baskervilles fits neatly into the hellhound category.
People ask which came first, the chicken or the egg? When it comes to hellhounds and other denizens, which came first, a natural fear of imagined things that go bump in the night or a fear of things that are “really out there” that we think may have come into your lives on a dark and stormy night?
I vote for the things really being out there.
–Malcolm
