HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

In
American folklore American folklore encompasses the folklore that has evolved in the present-day United States mostly since the European colonization of the Americas. It also contains folklore that dates back to the Pre-Columbian era, Pre-Columbian era. Folklor ...
, the hugag is a
fearsome critter In North American folklore and American mythology, fearsome critters were tall tale animals jokingly said to inhabit the wilderness in or around logging camps,Dorson, Richard M. ''Man and Beast in American Comic Legend.'' (Bloomington, IN: Ind ...
similar to a
moose The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...
with an extensive upper lip, preventing it from grazing, and jointless legs preventing it from lying down.


Name usage

The word hugag well predates its usage as a term to describe a mythical creature. It appears as a variant spelling of hewgag, a woodwind instrument akin to a kazoo. For example, the June 20, 1846 issue of the ''American Republican and Baltimore Daily Clipper'' reads, "My friends and fellow-countrymen—awake, arise! for the Philistines are upon you. Strike the tunjo! blow the hugag! whistle the fife, and chastise the drum! Your lives, your loaves, and liberties are in danger." However, the word also appears in non-English works. The term is referenced in a German text as a transliteration of an Arabic name in 1861. As well, Hugag also appears as a name of a mine located at Republican Mountain, in Colorado, discovered in 1870. The first mention of the hugag to refer to an imaginary animal, while also establishing it as a myth among loggers, is found in the 1900 book ''In the Limestone Valley: Pen Pictures of Early Days in Western Wisconsin'' by S.W. Brown. Albeit spelled "hew-gag," the creature, as described by Brown, had round feet surrounded on all sides by claws to conceal its direction of travel. Apart from this, Brown does not offer much detail aside from that the "hew-gag" is not as "ferocious" as other woods beasts.


Characteristics

The modern conception of the hugag is largely derived from 1910's ''
Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods ''Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods, With a Few Desert and Mountain Beasts'' is a 1910 fantasy field guide by William Thomas Cox (1878–1961), Minnesota’s first State Forester and Commissioner of Conservation, with illustrations by Coer ...
'' by William T. Cox. In the book, Cox describes the hugag as an animal, constantly meandering, in size corresponding with the moose and adds "in form it somewhat resembles that animal." Describing its range as northern Minnesota, western Wisconsin and "the Canadian wilds towards Hudson Bay," Cox elaborates: Cox adds that the only means the creature has for rest is to brace itself against a tree, in what condition the animal may be captured should notches be made into the wood. Latter accounts, such as Henry H. Tryon's ''Fearsome Critters'' and Richard Dorson's ''Man and Beast in American Comic Legend'', are heavily reliant in the details set down in Cox's work. However, Tryon divulges several characteristics independent from Cox's account including: warts on the snout, bumps on the head and pine needles instead of hairs on the body of the hugag. Similarly, whereas Cox's describes the hugag's diet as consisting of twigs or bark, Tryon contends that the hugag subsists on "a steady diet of pine knots makes the pitch ooze constantly from his pores."


Folkloric parallels

Several commentators, such as folklorist
Richard Dorson Richard Mercer Dorson (March 12, 1916 – September 11, 1981) was an American folklorist, professor, and director of the Folklore Institute at Indiana University. Dorson has been called the "father of American folklore"Nichols, Amber M.Richard M. ...
and author Daniel Cohen, highlight that the hugag's inability to lie down mirrors legendary creatures of classic antiquity. Dorson cites an article by Horace Beck, entitled "The Animal that Cannot Lie Down," highlighting that
Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...
opposed the argument that an elephant cannot sit or bends its legs as well that
Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...
once reported of an elk that could not lie down. Dorson holds that Cesar's account, in language, closely compares to that of Cox's. Likewise, Daniel Cohen in his 1975 book ''Monsters, Giants and Little Men from Mars'' references an account by
Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...
of the
Achlis {{Refimprove, date=August 2013 The achlis was one of a number of strange creatures listed in Roman mythology by Pliny the Elder in the 1st century BC. He described it as saying it looked somewhat like an elk, though it bore some very strange chara ...
, which likewise possesses equivalent attributes; albeit, Cohen seemingly confuses the hugag with the analogously named
Hodag In American folklore, the hodag is a fearsome critter resembling a large bull-horned carnivore with a row of thick curved spines down its back. The hodag was said to be born from the ashes of cremated oxen, as the incarnation of the accumul ...
.


See also

*
Achlis {{Refimprove, date=August 2013 The achlis was one of a number of strange creatures listed in Roman mythology by Pliny the Elder in the 1st century BC. He described it as saying it looked somewhat like an elk, though it bore some very strange chara ...
*
Dahu The dahu () is a legendary creature that resembles a mountain goat and is well known in France and francophone regions of Switzerland and Italy, including the Aosta Valley. The dahu, a Quadrupedalism, quadrupedal mammal, may have been inspired ...
*
Fearsome critters In North American folklore and American mythology, fearsome critters were tall tale animals jokingly said to inhabit the wilderness in or around logging camps,Dorson, Richard M. ''Man and Beast in American Comic Legend.'' (Bloomington, IN: Indi ...
*
Folklore of the United States American folklore encompasses the folklore that has evolved in the present-day United States mostly since the European colonization of the Americas. It also contains folklore that dates back to the Pre-Columbian era. Folklore consists of legen ...
*
Hodag In American folklore, the hodag is a fearsome critter resembling a large bull-horned carnivore with a row of thick curved spines down its back. The hodag was said to be born from the ashes of cremated oxen, as the incarnation of the accumul ...


References

{{American tall tales Fearsome critters Tall tales