My story “#Dogmom” features a dog named Mila. Mila is a devoted pup. If anything, she loves too much. On a totally unrelated note, I’m thinking about Hellhounds.
These mythical creatures have been the stuff of nightmares for centuries, and for good reason. With their fiery eyes and razor-sharp teeth, they’re said to be the guardians of the underworld.
So let us summon … the Hounds of Hell. You totally just heard that in Vincent Price’s voice.
Who’s a Good Dog?
Starting around 3000 BCE, the Ancient Egyptians began mentioning Anubis. His role was to protect graves and guide the spirit of the deceased to the next world. You have probably seen his image — sometimes he is the man with the head of a jackal, sometimes he is pure canine. He is often depicted holding the hand of the deceased.
According to Dr. Emily Zarka, “Many dogs in early folklore are connected to the underworld.” In ancient Mesoamerica, dogs carried the deceased over a body of water into the afterlife.
The Ancient Persian funeral rite included sagdid, “the glance of the dog,” in which a dog is brought into the room of a newly deceased person to scare away any evil spirits that were hanging around. The deceased themself, on the other hand, would be journeying to the Chinvat Bridge, which connected the worlds of the living and dead. Guess who decided who gets to cross the bridge? Yup, two puppers.
Myths surrounding dogs as guide and protector make sense. After all, early people would have used dogs to watch over home and livestock. But dogs can be fierce, too. And that quality found its way into myths as well.
Guard Dogs from Hell
In Hindu tradition, Sharvara and Shyama guarded the gates of Yama’s palace. Inside, the recently deceased would be judged by the god Yama – but only if they got past the dogs.
Sharvara and Shyama each had four eyes. But they are beaten in the excessive feature department by Cerberus, the dog who had somewhere between three and a hundred heads. (Seriously, Ancient Greek authors spent centuries assigning and unassigning heads to Cerberus.)
Cerberus, too, guarded the underworld. He stood at the gates of Hades. In his case, however, he was keeping people in. And PS, he had snakes growing out of his back.
In Norse mythology, Hel was the “skeletal goddess of death.” She lived in Hel, which she named after herself, like Walt Disney. Her dog, Garmr (rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?), guarded the gates, enormous, ferocious, and covered in blood.
The dogs in these myths, like my actual dogs, were just loyal to whomever fed them. They were fierce, but not inherently evil.
But if you grew up with Sunday School in the middle of your weekend, you already know: Christianity disrupts everything.
Devil Dogs (Not the Snack Cake)
Dr. Emily Zarka again: “Christianity loved to adopt and distort earlier spiritual beliefs and folkloric traditions, especially to support its agenda.”
It was Christians who turned dogs’ role from guarding the underworld into is actually the devil.
In a 1574 case of mental illness demonic possession, the victim was followed by a black dog, who was Satan in disguise. A few years later another possessed man had conversations with a different talking dog. You guessed it: the devil again. In fact, “communicating with dogs” was considered one of the common symptoms of demonic possession.
Remember, back in Genesis, God instructed people to subdue the earth. Nature is bad. And dogs are wild creatures whom we allow into our homes.
Why We Invented Hellhounds
Since we domesticated dogs, their existence has been liminal. They straddle two worlds: human and natural.
The Ancient Persians spelled it out: “The dog’s soul was thought to be a combination of one-third wild animal, one-third human, and one-third divine.”
Since in humans’ eyes dogs already bridged civilization and nature, when it came time to imagine creatures that dwelled in both life and afterlife, dogs were prime candidates. Whether they were helpful or terrifying largely depends on your cultural view of the afterlife.
In conclusion, Hellhounds, like dogs themselves, are creatures capable of being both allies and menaces. And if you read ancient myths, now you can stop wondering why the underworld is guarded by dogs and not, like, bears. Or sharks.
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