Possibly derived from the Norse hellhound or the widespread British tradition of the Black Dog. In 1577, an enormous black dog reportedly appeared at two churches in Suffolk — Bungay and Blythburgh — during a terrible storm, killing parishioners before vanishing through the locked doors.
The size of a calf or larger. Jet black fur, eyes like glowing coals (red or green depending on account), and sometimes missing an eye entirely. Leaves scorched marks where it has passed.
Its gaze can kill or cause immediate blindness. Can appear and disappear through solid walls. The scorch marks left at Blythburgh church (visible to this day) mark its passage. Its howl carries across impossible distances.
Weaknesses
- conditionDo not make eye contact
Wards
- symbolIron horseshoe above the door
Abdiel
Abdiel (Hebrew עֲבְדִּיאֵל) is primarily a theophoric Hebrew personal name meaning "servant of El/servant of God," attested once in the Hebrew Bible (1 Chronicles 5:15). In later literature—most notably John Milton's Paradise Lost—Abdiel is reimagined as a faithful seraph who opposes Satan's revolt. The provided sources do not treat Abdiel as an autonomous folkloric spirit type or record rituals or wards associated with the name.
Abiel
Abiel is attested in the supplied sources only as a male given name — borne by several historical American individuals and listed as two minor biblical figures. The provided materials contain no evidence presenting Abiel as a supernatural, mythological, or folkloric entity.
Abigail
Abigail is a female figure in the Hebrew Bible portrayed in 1 Samuel 25 as the intelligent and beautiful wife of Nabal who intervenes to prevent David from committing violence; later tradition regards her as one of the Tanakh's seven female prophets and as a model of beauty and wisdom.
Accolon
Accolon is a mortal knight of the Arthurian court, presented in the Post-Vulgate Merlin tradition and Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur as Morgan le Fay's paramour and instrument in a plot to supplant King Arthur; his tale centers on enchanted weapons (Excalibur and its scabbard), love-manipulation, and a tragic duel with Arthur.
Adils
Adils (Old Norse Aðils; also Eadgils, Adillus, Athisl, Adhel) is a semi‑legendary sixth‑century Swedish king attested in Old Norse saga material and later medieval traditions. He appears in saga episodes as a storied royal figure involved in warfare, court acts, and marriage suits rather than as a supernatural being.
Adsullata
Adsullata is attested as a Continental Celtic river goddess associated with the River Savus (modern Sava) in the Roman province of Noricum. Later traditions record her presence in Brittany as a goddess of hot springs and present her as an antecedent or origin-form of the Anglo‑Celtic sun goddess Sul.
Afaon fab Taliesin
Afaon fab Taliesin is a medieval Welsh warrior-counsellor, named as a son of the bard Taliesin and recorded among Arthur’s retinue in Welsh tradition. He appears in the Welsh Triads and in the tale Breuddwyd Rhonabwy (The Dream of Rhonabwy) as a notable martial figure and proverb-speaker rather than as a supernatural being.
Agilaz (Egil)
Agilaz (reconstructed Proto-Germanic) — commonly recorded in medieval sources as Egil or Ægil — is a legendary archer attested in Germanic heroic tradition. He appears as the brother of Völund (Wayland/Weland) in the Old Norse poem Völundarkviða and in the Thidreks saga, and his name is also inscribed on early medieval objects (Franks Casket, Pforzen buckle). The attested material presents him as a named heroic human archer within saga and inscriptional contexts rather than as a recurrent supernatural species.
Aglovale
Aglovale (also Agloval, Aglovan, Aglovaus, Acglavael) is a human knight of Arthurian romance, presented as the eldest legitimate son of King Pellinore and a Knight of the Round Table in the Vulgate/Post‑Vulgate cycles, Malory, and later adaptations. He brings his long‑lost brother Perceval to Camelot, takes part in military actions (including slaying Agrippa in one account), and his death is related in varying ways across traditions (accidental at Gawain's hand, deliberate murder by Orkney kin, or killed during Lancelot's rescue of Guinevere).
Agnarr Geirröðsson
Agnarr Geirröðsson is a mortal prince attested only in the Poetic Edda poem Grímnismál; he aids Odin (disguised as Grímnir) during Geirröðr's torture and, after Odin reveals himself and King Geirröðr dies, Agnarr succeeds as king.
Agne
Agne (also attested Agni, Hogne, Agni Skjálfarbondi) is a semi-legendary king of Sweden in Old Norse saga tradition, preserved in the Ynglingatal corpus and prose expansions such as Snorri Sturluson's Ynglinga saga. He is portrayed as a mighty and famous warrior-king whose campaign in Finland, marriage to Skjalf, and death by hanging form a remembered episode connected to local place-names and a burial mound.
Agravain
Agravain is a literary knight of Arthurian romance cycles: one of the sons of King Lot of Orkney, a member of the Round Table, and a recurring figure in French and English medieval prose and verse. He is portrayed as a skilled but morally problematic courtly knight whose jealousy, malice, and intra-familial violence drive key narrative conflicts (notably the slaying of Lamorak and the exposure of Guinevere).
Community Record
- [1]The Black Dog of Bungay. Fleming, Abraham. 1577. A Straunge and Terrible Wunder. London.literary
- [2]British Goblins. Sikes, Wirt. 1880. British Goblins: Welsh Folk-lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions. Sampson Low.folk