View source for Barghest

{{short description|Mythical creature in Northern English folklore}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
In [[Northern England|Northern English]] [[folklore]], the '''Barghest''' or '''Barguest''' is a [[myth]]ical monstrous [[Black dog (ghost)|black dog]] with large teeth and claws;<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Barghest|volume=3|page=399}} This in turn cites:
*[[Wirt Sikes]], ''British Goblins'' (1880)
*''[[Notes and Queries]]'', first series, ii. 51.
*[[Joseph Ritson]], ''Fairy Tales'' (Lond. 1831), p.&nbsp;58; ''Lancashire Folklore'' (1867)
*Joseph Lucas, ''Studies in Nidderdale'' (Pateley Bridge, 1882)</ref> however, in other cases, the name can refer to a ghost or [[household deity|household elf]], especially in [[Northumberland]] and [[County Durham|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".<ref name="EB1911"/> Another mooted derivation is ''Bahr-Geist'', German for the "spirit of the funeral bier".<ref name="Henderson" />

== Domain and description ==
In Yorkshire, England, one notable case is said to frequent a remote gorge named [[Troller's Gill]] in the Yorkshire Dales. 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 afterward with inhuman marks upon his breast.<ref name=Hone>{{cite book |last=Hone |first=William |date=1830 |title=The Every-day Book and Table Book |volume=3 |pages=653–655}}</ref> 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 of York|Snickelways]]. Furthermore, the building at number [[1 The Shambles]] is named Barghest.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://york-me-community.org/a-little-shambles-shopping-review/ |title=A Little Shambles Shopping Review |website=The York ME Community }}{{dead link|date=February 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The town of [[Whitby]] is also associated with the spectre,<ref>{{cite book |first=Jeffrey |last=Shaw |title=Whitby Lore and Legend |date=1923}}</ref> and yet another haunted an area of wasteland between Wreghorn and Headingley Hill near [[Leeds]].<ref name="Henderson" /><ref name=Briggs>{{cite book |author-link=Katharine Mary Briggs |last=Briggs |first=Katharine |date=1976 |title=An Encyclopedia of Fairies |publisher=[[Pantheon Books]] |pages=16–17 |isbn=0394409183}}</ref>

In Durham, during 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 "uncanny-looking" dale between Darlington and [[Houghton-le-Side|Houghton]] near Throstlenest,.<ref name="Henderson">{{cite book |last=Henderson |first=William |title=Notes on the folk-lore of the northern counties of England and the borders |url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Notes_on_the_folk-lore_of_the_northern_counties_of_England_and_the_borders/Chapter_7#275 |edition=2nd |year=1879 |publisher=Folk-Lore Society |page=275 |chapter=Ch. 7}}</ref>

The Barghest often allegedly 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.<ref name="Henderson" />

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.<ref name=Hone/><ref name=Briggs/>

== In popular culture ==
{{more citations needed section|date=October 2018}}
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 (novel)|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 [[Gerald 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 Barghest O' Whitby]]'' is an EP by 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.
* In the video game ''[[Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner]]'', the Barghest appears as a recruitable demon named Hairy Jack.
* 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/barghest.htm |title=Barghest |website=d20srd.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120071738/https://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/barghest.htm |archive-date=20 November 2022}}</ref>
* ''[[The Witcher (video game)|The Witcher]]'' video game series feature barghests as hostile spectral dogs that hunt travelers in desolate roads at night.
* The "Black Hound", also known as Jelly Bean, which terrorises Trolberg in ''[[Hilda (TV series)|Hilda]]'' is identified as a barghest in the finale of the first season.<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 December 2018 |title=Five Thoughts on Hilda's "The Black Hound" |url=http://www.multiversitycomics.com/tv/hilda-the-black-hound-113/ |access-date=6 February 2021 |website=Multiversity Comics |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190225044700/http://www.multiversitycomics.com/tv/hilda-the-black-hound-113/ |archive-date=25 February 2019}}</ref>
*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 (author)|Daniel O'Malley's]] ''[[The Rook (novel)|The Rook]]'', the barghests were elite combat forces of the Checquy organization.
*In the mobile game ''[[Fate/Grand Order]]'', the player can summon Fae Knight Gawain, who is in truth a Barghest who was given [[Gawain]]'s name and authority by [[Morgan le Fay|Morgan]]. Barghest appears as a Saber-Class and Archer-Class servant.
*The entity is a central theme in "Great Escapes", a 2004 episode of the British TV detective series ''[[Dalziel and Pascoe]]'' written by Elizabeth-Anne Wheal.
*In the Seanan McGuire's ''October Daye'' series, barghests are "nasty, semi-canine beasts with horns, fangs, scorpion stingers{{nbsp}}... basically everything but wings" that infest the larder of a fae noblewoman.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McGuire |first=Seanan |title=Late Eclipses |publisher=Daw |year=2011 |location=NY |language=en}}</ref>
*The card game ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' features a card named "Hollowborn Barghest" released in 2008 as part of the Shadowmoor set.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hollowborn Barghest |url=https://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/card/details.aspx?multiverseid=146095 |access-date=21 September 2022 |website=gatherer.wizards.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210707074751/https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=146095 |archive-date=7 July 2021}}</ref>
*In the season 3 episode "Kill Team Kill" of ''[[Love, Death & Robots]]'' features a cybernetic bear monster referred to as "Project Barghest".
*''[[Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty]]'', the 2023 expansion for the video game ''[[Cyberpunk 2077]]'', prominently features the new gang "BARGHEST" as antagonists. Their logo is a large canine's head with its maw wide open.
*''[[Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon]]'', the 2023 video game for the ''[[Nintendo Switch]]'', prominently features the Revenant Faerie known as "Barghest" as summoned enemies under the will of a Faun, a Fairy Necromancer to attack by its command.
*''[[Super Auto Pets]]'', a 2021 video game, features the Barghest in the Tier 1 of the Unicorn Pack. At the start of battle, it gives the Spooked ailment onto the backmost perkless enemy.
* A Barghest appears in ''[[Marvel's Midnight Suns]]'', a game which deals with the supernatural side of the [[Marvel Universe]].

== See also ==
{{Wiktionary}}
*[[Black dog (ghost)]] – A list of phantom black dogs by locale
*[[Black Shuck]]
*[[Fox spirit]]
*[[Wild Hunt]]
*[[Cŵn Annwn]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Spectral Black Dogs}}
{{Fairies}}

[[Category:Black dogs (folklore)]]
[[Category:Northumbrian folkloric beings]]