Tradition / Region: American Mythology
Alternate Names: Axhandle Hound, Ax-handle Hound
Category: Dog
The Myth
Among the tall tales of the lumber camps of Minnesota and Wisconsin, woodsmen told of a strange and troublesome creature known as the Axehandle Hound.
The animal was said to resemble a dog, but its body was shaped like an axe. Its head formed a broad blade, while its long, straight body resembled the handle of a tool set atop short, stubby legs. Because of this strange shape, it moved in an awkward but determined way as it prowled through the forests at night.
The Axehandle Hound did not hunt animals for food. Instead, it lived on axe handles. Whenever a careless woodsman left his tool unattended outside a cabin or camp, the creature might come creeping in the dark. By morning, the handle would be chewed away, leaving only the useless metal head behind.
The hound was said to travel from camp to camp under cover of night, sniffing out wooden handles wherever they could be found. Loggers warned each other to keep their tools close, for once the creature found a camp rich in axes, it would return again and again.
Some believed there was one way to protect against it. Axe handles made from red oak were said to repel the beast, and camps that used them claimed to be left undisturbed.
So the Axehandle Hound became part of lumberjack lore — a strange dog-shaped spirit of the forest, wandering the logging roads in search of forgotten tools and leaving frustrated woodsmen in its wake.
Gallery
Sources
Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Axehandle hound. In Wikipedia, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axehandle_hound
Interpretive Lenses
Religious Readings
- Christian Ascetic Deep Dive
Philosophical Readings
- Nietzschean Deep Dive
Psychological Readings
- Jungian Deep Dive
Esoteric Deep Dive
- Hermetic Deep Dive
Political / Social Readings
- Marxist Deep Dive