Barghest

Prints: daniel-eskridge.pixels.com/fea…

A demonic creature with big claws and teeth stalks through long grass soon after nightfall as the moon rises. This black dog shaped beast is a Barghest, a hell hound of English folklore. 3D Rendering.

The barghest is said to be a shape shifter that can take one the form of an elf, a headless human, a white cat, or a rabbit.  It can also turn invisible and rattle chains like a ghost. Often considered an omen of death, the Barghest is said to prey on lone travelers.  Its claws can leave wounds that never heel, but this beast has a weakness: it cannot cross over moving water.

I know of quite a number of cryptids said to roam North America.  Many of those, of course, are based on European legends brought by immigrants to the new world.  The barghest, though, is  one I'd never heard of until recently.  It seems to have remained purely part of the folklore of the people of northern England.  I actually learned of it reading a fantasy novel (Part of the Drizzt series based on Dungeons and Dragons) where the creature was featured as one of the protagonists.  Knowing that monsters in these novels tend to be based on actual folklore, I decided to look it up and found it to be a rather interesting read.