Dog Folklore: Companion Dogs as Seers, Healers, and Fairy Steeds

Companion dogs were often believed to have mystical abilities. Dog Illustration from Johnson’s Book of Household Nature, 1880.

When considering dog folklore, we generally think of those stories which feature the Grimm, the Gytrash, or other sinister black dogs roaming the moors in the North of England. But there is more to canine folklore than the ominous black dogs of legend. Companion dogs, such as Pugs and Corgis, have their place in dog folklore as well.

Stories My Parents Tell Me: Bars of Flaming Swords

Mt. Asog, Camarines Sur, Bicol region, Philippines By Geopoet - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30454555

I asked my parents to tell me about folk beliefs in the Philippines. In the process, I learned some interesting family stories. “Mom, what do you know about the aswang?” My parents never told me much about Filipino folklore when I was growing up.

May Day, Weddings and Births – Folklore Trees and Traditions in Bavaria

Kindsbaum detail © Steve Toase

Maypoles are often seen as a quintessentially English tradition, yet in Bavaria the raising of the Maibaum (or May Tree) is also an important event, and it is not the only time a tree is hefted aloft in celebration.

Purgatory in Spanish Folklore: The Night of the Ánimas

Procession in the fog, by Ferdinand Oehme.

In rural Spain, the night still belongs to the ánimas, the spirits of the dead who didn’t go straight to Heaven or Hell.

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