The Devil in Dog Form

Author(s): Barbara Allen Woods

Source: Western Folklore, Vol. 13, No. 4 (Oct., 1954), pp. 229-235
Published by: Western States Folklore Society
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1496435
Accessed: 11-05-2020 11:38 UTC

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The Devil in Dog Form*
BARBARA ALLEN WOODS

THIS STUDY ON THE DEVIL in dog form has its starti

There, Mephisto is introduced first in the form of a
abandons the idea of suicide, he goes with his famu
their way home, they are joined by a rather stra
which, later back in Faust's study, reveals itself a
this important feature of the Faust drama had it
than in literary sources.
Some of the early reports on the historical Faust
testify that Faust had as his familiar spirit a shag
is expanded in the Widmann chapbook of i599, where
ing color is described. Furthermore, Widmann re
Halberstadt induced Faust to lend him the dog; for
had told him that this dog was one of the most powe
this chapbook in Pfitzer's revision of 1684, havin
from the Weimar library in 180o , the same year in
scenes of the drama.' There is, however, consid
whether he had the poodle-motif in mind before tha
When Goethe got the idea of introducing the d
his specific literary sources were, seems, however,
row view of the problem when one considers the v
the devil as a dog current in Germany and the C
lovers notwithstanding, man's best friend has no
desirable reputation. On the contrary, the dog h
and abetting the archenemy: of providing him with
late among men, of guarding the underworld, of call
of the dead, of haunting bridges and roads to obs
them astray, of following night travellers-often f
* This paper was delivered at the sixty-fifth annual meeting o
held at the University of Arizona, Tucson, December 28, 1953-
1 References to Faust I are from the Weimar edition of Goethe
(Weimar, 1887); lines 1145-1321.
2 See Alexander Tille, Die Faustsplitter in der Literatur des 16
1900).
3 Fausts Leben von Georg Rudolf Widmann, ed. Adelbert von Keller (Litterarischer Verein in
Stuttgart, Vol. 146, Tiibingen, 1880), pp. 212, 397-398.
4 Ernst Traumann, Goethes Faust nach Erstehung und Inhalt erkldrt, 2 vols. (Miinchen, 1919),
I, 163.
[ 229]

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230 WESTERN FOLKLORE

The dog's offenses against mankind are nu

their geographic extent vast. Goethe, as an in
the beginnings of folkloristic science, could
dog's ill repute; and no doubt this knowled
velopment of his Faust drama than we may
The dog's association with the kingdom o
with the devil, very likely goes back to th
larity between the Greek Cerberus and G
between the Vedic sons of Sarama, the dog
two wolves which later became dogs, has
Greeks and Romans associated dogs with H
regions and of witchcraft. Even the Egypt
of the underworld: the god of death, Anub
dess of the netherworld, rode on a dog. T
the equation, dog equals death and underwo
that the dog should be associated with the
Europe and drove the old pagan beliefs und
Many commentators see a survival of the
tion of souls in one of the common moder
that he embodies a restless soul. Restless so
ple such as cruel noblemen, murderers, sui
and all manner of godless persons who
accomplices. Also included among restless s
a violent death, and have gone to their en
anel'd," and hence also have joined the d
frequently take on the form of a dog.
In German folklore, these dogs are most oft
and sometimes shaggy, and with fiery eye
tinguished, they are usually poodles. They
walk a certain route, or sometimes follow
all the dogs in question here-are undeniab
has some peculiar characteristic, such as s
ance, which distinguishes him from a real do
In America, the belief in ghosts in dog f
description of such dogs is not so uniform
among the Negroes in eastern Texas there
puppy which suddenly appeared in a room
were closed. It ran around and around a g
bed, and then suddenly the dog vanished.
cause it got in and out when all means of
area, some boys once were passing a Mexic

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 DEVIL IN DOG FORM 231

her ghost jumped out in dog form, and

and hit it, but it persisted in following th
when they shot again.' Near Rockhaven
broke her neck falling from an apple t
yellow dog." A legend from the Schohar
a big black dog for just an instant; then
the ghost appeared in human form and
The woman acquiesced and had the k
revenge and final justice is rather frequ
time before the Civil War, a colonel in
one of his Negro women, but was acquitte
was constantly followed by a specter dog,
his crime and died."

Very often in the variants of some tale one may consider the weird do
a restless soul, in others, a devil, and in still others, make no attempt at a
to account for the strange creature. Because of the tabu against using th
devil's name, we need not be unduly surprised that these stories do not mo
often name the culprit a devil. Also, ghosts evolve into devils in the proces
of repopulating hell-but that only gradually. In the more traditional ma
terial about dogs, we can see the close relationship between ghosts and haun
and the devil especially well where we have a complex of stories about th
same dog. Thus far, I have found only two such complete reports: one fro
Canton Uri, Switzerland, and one from Lincolnshire. Oddly enough, ther
is a remarkable parallelism between them.
Miiller records that in Uri the dog is called the "window-pane dog" becau
of his eyes which are big and glowing. He is otherwise described as large an
black, and sometimes as a poodle. He usually accompanies people travellin
at night, always on the right or left side (according to the informant), an
then leaves them at a particular place, such as a certain bridge or tree, and
crosses the road from left to right." In one legend, a man mistakenly tries to
befriend the window-pane dog; but it reveals its true nature by growing
larger and larger. This is also the method by which the black poodle in Fau
5 Martha Emmons, "Confidences from Old Nacogdoches," in Follow de Drinkin' Gou'd, ed. J
Frank Dobie (Publications of the Texas Folklore Society, VII [1928]), 124-125.
6 William H. Babcock, "Folk-Lore Jottings from Rockhaven, D.C.," Journal of American Folk
Lore, IV (1891), 172.
7 Emelyn Elizabeth Gardner, Folklore from the Schoharie Hills, New York (Ann Arbor, 193
pp. 88-89.
8J. Hampden Porter, "Notes on the Folk-Lore of the Mountain Whites of the Alleghanies,"
Journal of American Folk-Lore, VII (1894), 110.
SJosef Miiller, Sagen aus Uri, 3 vols., ed. Hanns Bdichtold-Staiubli and Robert Wildhaber
(Schriften der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft fiir Volkskunde, 18, 2o, 28, Basel, 1926, 1929, 1945), II,
29-57-

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232 WESTERN FOLKLORE

effects his transformation into the form

considered an accomplishment of the de
times taken to be a restless soul of an untr
or of a blasphemer. But five stories assert
fessed this to "travelling scholars," and
tempt people to evil.
The phantom dog in Lincolnshire is evi
also big and black, and has glowing eyes
especially for accompanying people on thei
person's left, crossing the road from left t
seems eager to prove that the Lincolnshire
the striking similarity between this dog
Continent, especially in Uri, seems to co
Black Dog is taken to be the restless soul of
other account, a woman once met the dog a
ing, "Put me in yer pocket, put me in yer p
would do to him, if she met him. This
"speak of the devil" sort of legend. Furt
Dog often frightens domestic animals w
that domestic animals have an uncanny s
One man, whose pet dog was thus fright
arriving home, something like a big Als
and pushed him against the gate post.
That a spirit dog should jump on a man
him piggy-back, is an important feature
appears in Goethe's Faust in one of the
A Field." Here, Faust castigates Mephisto
tragic situation, and commands him again
used to do, hang on his (Faust's) shoulder
A French-Canadian example of a person
loup-garou story from Danvis, Vermont.
going to the priest one night because his
dous weight impeded the horse; and whe
black doglike creature. He hit at it, but
put its paws on his shoulders. The man k
not get at his knife to cut it and make
glaring eyes coming closer and closer, t
man to death, had not the priest appeare
10 Faust I, lines 1303-1317. Further examples of a
Newbell N. Puckett, Folk Beliefs of the Southern N
"Ethel H. Rudkin, "The Black Dog," Folk-Lore, X
I Faust 1, 225-226, lines 20-27.
13 Rowland E. Robinson, Danvis Folks (Boston, 189

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 DEVIL IN DOG FORM 233
The motif of a demon dog weighing down
feature in tales of the northern countrie
appears in a place reputed to be haunted,
to the dog's nature.'" In two Schleswig-Ho
restless souls in the form of black poodles.'5
as a devil." Nowhere except in this Fren
have I found the offender described as a werewolf.

In the story that has been noted above the loup-garou corresponds to the
werewolf of Germanic tradition. Here we have a typical account of a living
person who, by dint of the devil's power, is able to change into the form of
a wolf. A loup-garou, however, can change into almost any animal's form-
not always a wolf's. Dorson retells two stories from Michigan where the loup-
garou appears as a pig and as an owl, and in still another as a black dog. This
black dog used to get between a man's legs when he was on his way home,
and the man took it to be one of his father's employees, who was suspect be-
cause of his habit of taking long walks at night." It is possible to explain this
greater versatility of the loup-garou, if we assume that this tradition has ab-
sorbed both werewolf and witch beliefs. Witches, of course, are able to
change into animal form-cats, hares, dog, toads-because of their magic
power derived from the devil.
A witch's ability to change into dog form, however, is only derivative from
the devil's own power to turn himself into a dog. And the devil has often
used the form of a dog in his function as a familiar spirit. A familiar is a
minor demon in animal form, given by Satan to his adherents to supply
information, to do small services, and to furnish companionship. No self-
respecting witch would be without one, and of course she usually has a black
cat; but a black dog likewise has often played this role. In the history of
witchcraft the dog's popularity as a familiar spirit has been documented from
the 14th century on. Modern survivals are seen in a tale from the Schoharie
Hills, where a witch sends her dog to steal her rival's children,' and in one
from Illinois where a bewitched person is knocked down by a big black dog."
A black dog familiar is more frequently attributed to the wizard. One of
the favorite accusations levelled against medieval popes by their enemies
was that of sorcery. Sylvester II, Gerbert, for example, was supposed to have
14 Otto Knoop, Sagen und Erzdihlungen aus der Provinz Posen (Sonder-Ver6ffentlichungen der
Historischen Gesellschaft fiir die Provinz Posen, 2, Posen, 1893), p. 165. There is a striking simi-
larity between this story and one in Harry Middleton Hyatt, Folk-Lore from Adams County
Illinois (New York, 1935), No. 10512.
1 Gustav Fr. Meyer, Schleswig-Holsteiner Sagen (Jena, 1929), pp. 258-259-
16 Finnish Folklore Archives at Helsinki, courtesy of Martti Haavio.
'7 Richard M. Dorson, Bloodstoppers and Bearwalkers: Folk Traditions of the Upper Peninsula
(Cambridge, Mass., 1952), p. 76.
SGardner, op. cit., pp. 112-113.
Hyatt, op. cit., No. 9332.

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 234 WESTERN FOLKLORE

kept the devil in the form of a large black

scholars exempt from the charges of sorce
Albertus Magnus, Agrippa von Nettesheim
were among those thus accused. Even Britis
crusade against witchcraft; in the 17th ce
was definitely considered his familiar." Th
legend, always had on board a black poodle
farmer in Schleswig-Holstein made a contra
big black dog to do the chores." A Thuring
century was always observed to consult his
prophecies."
Satan often chooses the form of a black dog for his more important task
of fetching the souls of the wicked. In Uri, for instance, a big black dog was
seen watching a dance; when asked about this, the dog replied he was the
devil come to fetch a soul. With this forewarning, however, some people
went for the priest; and in this case, the devil was foiled." The devil is prompt
to fetch the souls of those who meet a violent end; in one instance, he enters
the house in the form of a black mastiff just as a man is shot and killed." The
devil often comes to the dying in the form of a black dog and waits under the
bed for his victim to expire. One Swabian legend relates how a priest was
prevented from doing his offices for a dying man, supposedly a practitioner
of witchcraft; for there was a black poodle under the bed that hypnotized
the priest on the spot-this dog was the devil."
There is just such a tale from the Ozarks. A man who refused to have any-
thing to do with the church was dying alone in his house when it was struck
by lightning. His neighbors came over to get him out, but they were unable
to move either him or the bed itself. Then they noticed a strange black dog
emerging from under the bed. They had to leave because the fire was getting
out of control; and the next day they could find no trace of the man's or the
dog's remains. In another version of the same story, the man and the dog were
killed by silver bullets (the only effective ammunition against witches); and
20 Paul Carus, The History of the Devil and the Idea of Evil from the Earliest Times to the
Present Day (Chicago, 1900), pp. 417-418.
George Lyman Kittredge, Witchcraft in Old and New England (Cambridge, Mass., 1929), pp.
176-177.
- Hermann Liibbing, Friesische Sagen von Texel bis Sylt (Jena, 1928), p. 205.
23Karl Milllenhoff, Sagen, Miirchen und Lieder der Herzogtiimer Schleswig, Holstein und
Lauenberg (2nd ed., Otto Mensing, Schleswig, 1921), p. 233 = Meyer, op. cit., p. 310.
24 Ludwig Bechstein, Der Sagenschatz und die Sagenkreise des Thiiringerlandes, 4 vols. (Hild-
burghausen, 1836), II, 128.
25 Mfiller, op. cit., III, 137-138.
6 Ernest W. Baughman, A Comparative Study of the Folktales of England and North America
(Indiana University diss., 1953 [unpublished]), Motif G303.2o.7.
-"Anton Birlinger, Sagen, Legenden, Volksaberglauben aus Schwaben (Wiesbaden, 1874), PP-
20o3-204.

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 DEVIL IN DOG FORM 235
their bodies were burned in the man's house with the same results as in the

first version."28 Both variants, however, concur in the strong implication t

this strange black dog was the devil come to fetch his ally.
The devil, of course, is most likely to appear when called by name. It
often happened to overly eager card players in German legends that t
swear by the devil they will win the next hand-only to find shortly th
after when they stoop to retrieve a card, that there is a huge black dog
glaring eyes under the table." Audacious souls sometimes refuse to heed t
friends' warnings about travelling at night, and assert they are not afra
the devil himself. Almost always such people encounter on their way
devil as a gruesome black dog with fiery eyes." Goethe makes use of t
speak-of-the-devil belief when on the walk, he has Faust invoke the spirits
show him a newer, gayer life, and causes Wagner in turn to warn him of th
danger of this invocation. Just a little later, Faust notices the poodle,
Wagner says that he has been watching the dog for some time." I think
indicates that Goethe meant Faust's calling the spirits to be the cue for
poodle's, i.e., the devil's, appearance.
Faust's experiences with the devil in dog form, then, have much in co
mon with those recounted in innumerable popular legends. Faust too s
of the devil, and a black poodle appeared. He too was followed home by
mysterious dog. He too witnessed the sudden increase in the dog's size
too suffered the poodle's jumping and hanging on his shoulders. This
bolical black poodle which plays so great a role in Goeth's Faust shows m
affinities with the devil dogs in folklore, who no doubt were his sires.
28 Vance Randolph, Ozark Superstitions (New York, 1947), P. 275.
'Theodor Bindewald, Oberhessisches Sagenbuch (Frankfurt a. M., 1873), pp. 84-86=P
Zaunert, Hessen-Nassauische Sagen (Jena, 1929), p. 293.
30 Richard Kiihnau, Schlesische Sagen, 3 vols. (Schlesiens volkstiimliche Ueberlieferungen,
5) (Leipzig, 1910, 1911, 1913), I, 530; Lutz Mackensen, Sagen der Deutschen im Wartheland (P
1943), 260; Paul Zaunert, Rheinland Sagen, 2 vols. (Jena, 1924), I, 186.
81 Faust I, lines 1118-1148.

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