Folklore Research
While doing some research for an essay in Urban Legends (yes, I have a class that is all about Urban Legends and it is fantastic) I came across an interesting bit of information. My paper partly involves Black Dogs, since the legend I'm researching seems to be an off-shoot or a crossbreeding between the Black Dog legends and the Vanishing Hitchhiker.
Anyways. The Black Dog is, as the name suggests, a black dog. It's a spectral black dog of variable size (usually about the size of a "big" dog, but it can be anywhere up to the size of a young calf or as small as a Weinerhund) and it's usually regarded as being malevolent, or at least really ominous - although there are specific ones that are seen as being benevolent.
One of the alternate names for the Black Dog is Padfoot.
Which now has me wondering, "Did she do that on purpose, or is it just something that seemed like a good name for a big black dog that seems, at the beginning, to be very ominous?"
Anyways. The Black Dog is, as the name suggests, a black dog. It's a spectral black dog of variable size (usually about the size of a "big" dog, but it can be anywhere up to the size of a young calf or as small as a Weinerhund) and it's usually regarded as being malevolent, or at least really ominous - although there are specific ones that are seen as being benevolent.
One of the alternate names for the Black Dog is Padfoot.
Which now has me wondering, "Did she do that on purpose, or is it just something that seemed like a good name for a big black dog that seems, at the beginning, to be very ominous?"