In American folklore, the axehandle hound (axhandle hound, ax-handle hound, or similar) is a fearsome critter of Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Description
The animal resembles a dog with a body axe-like in shape. It has a head shaped like an axe blade, hence the name, complemented by a handle-shaped body atop short stubby legs. It subsists on a diet consisting entirely of the handles of axes which have been left unattended. [1] A nocturnal creature, [2] the axehandle hound travels from camp to camp searching for its next meal. [3] According to folklore, the axehandle hound strongly dislikes axe handles made from red oak. [2]
See also
References
- ^ Borges, Jorge Luis (2005). Book of Imaginary Beings. New York: Viking Press. p. 83. ISBN 0-670-89180-0.
- ^ a b Tryon, Henry Harrington (1939). Fearsome Critters. Cornwall, NY: Idlewild Press. p. 5.
- ^ "Paul Bunyan natural history: describing the wild animals, birds, reptiles and fish of the big woods about Paul Bunyan's old time logging camps | Turning Points in Wisconsin History | Wisconsin Historical Society". www.wisconsinhistory.org.
- Baughman, Ernest Warren - Type and Motif-index of the Folktales of England and North America, Mouton 1966, page 533.
- Botkin, B. A. - The American People: Stories, Legends, Tales, Traditions and Songs, Transaction Publishers, ISBN 1-56000-984-5, page 250.
- Botkin, B. A. - The Pocket Treasury of American Folklore, Pocket Books 1950
- Rose, Carol - Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth, W. W. Norton & Company, ISBN 0-393-32211-4, page 32, 119.
External links
- Description (in Italian)