Tradition / Region: Scottish Mythology
Alternate Names: Cú Sídhe, Coin-Shìth (plural)
Category: Dog
The Myth
The Cù-Sìth is a great supernatural hound spoken of in the traditions of the Highlands.
It is said to dwell among rocky clefts and lonely hills, wandering the moors and wild places far from settled land. The creature is immense, as large as a small cow, and covered in a shaggy coat that is often described as dark green, blending with the moss and heather of the hills.
Though huge, the Cù-Sìth is a silent hunter. It moves without sound across the land, appearing suddenly and vanishing just as quickly. Most of the time it gives no warning of its presence.
But at times it does cry out.
When it does, the sound is terrible to hear. The hound gives three barks — and only three. These cries carry for great distances, even out across the sea, and those who hear them know that something otherworldly is near.
Legend says that anyone who hears the barking must reach a place of safety before the third cry sounds. If they fail, terror will overwhelm them, and the fear itself may bring their death.
Because of this, the Cù-Sìth was feared as a creature tied to the fairy world and to fate. It roamed the lonely places between hills and shore, its voice a warning that the boundary between the human world and the unseen one had grown thin.
So the great green hound of the Highlands was remembered as a silent wanderer of the moors, whose three terrible barks could decide whether a traveler lived or died.
Gallery
Sources
Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Cù-sìth. In Wikipedia, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%B9-s%C3%ACth
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