Episode 235 - Black Dog Folklore with Mark Norman

Squaring the Strange

First, Celestia recounts the Skeptic Track at Dragon Con, and Ben discusses a rabbit hole he went down after receiving a press release on some alleged new Champ footage. Then we welcome back folklorist Mark Norman, who discusses black dog folklore (also the title of one of his books), specifically the Barguest or Shuck. Spectral canines can be hellhounds, guardians or neutral entities, and have a surprisingly long history -- as long as humans have been in the company of dogs, one might suppose. Norman discusses the difference between a typical ghost and a "folk ghost," and goes into the very first recorded "haunted house" in ancient Greece and how it led to ghosts being envisioned with chains. From the Hound of the Baskervilles and Sirius Black/Padfoot in the Harry Potter series to a metaphorical black dog representing depression, we look into what's connected to this folklore and what isn't.