"Ghost" inNorthern England was pronounced "guest", and the origin is thought to be of the combinationburh-ghest, "town-ghost". Others explain it as cognate to GermanBerg-geist, "mountain ghost" orBär-geist, "bear-ghost".[1] Another mooted derivation isBahr-Geist, German for the "spirit of the funeral bier".[2]
In Yorkshire, England, one notable case is said to frequent a remote gorge namedTroller's Gill in the Yorkshire Dales. Aballad entitled "The Legend of the Troller's Gill" can be found inWilliam Hone'sEveryday Book (1830). It recounts the tale of a man who ventures forth "to the horrid gill of the limestone hill" in order to summon and confront the Barghest in an act ofritual magic. The man's lifeless body is discovered soon afterward with inhuman marks upon his breast.[3] There is also a story of a Barghest entering the city ofYork occasionally where, according to legend, it preys on lone travellers in the city's narrowSnickelways. Furthermore, the building at number1 The Shambles is named Barghest.[4] The town ofWhitby is also associated with the spectre,[5] and yet another haunted an area of wasteland between Wreghorn and Headingley Hill nearLeeds.[2][6]
In Durham, during the 1870s a shapeshifting Barghest was said to live nearDarlington and was said to take the form of a headless man (who would vanish in flames), a headless lady, a white cat, a rabbit, a dog, or a black dog. Another was said to live in an "uncanny-looking" dale between Darlington andHoughton near Throstlenest,.[2]
The Barghest often allegedly serves as an omen of death. At the passing of a notable person the Barghest may appear, followed by all the other dogs of the local area in a kind of funeral procession, heralding the person's death with howling and barking. If anyone were to get in the Barghest's way it would strike out with its paw and leave a wound that never heals.[2]
Besides taking the form of a large black dog with fiery eyes, it may also become invisible and walk about with the sound of rattling chains. It may also foretell the death of an individual by laying across the threshold of his or her house, and like thevampire the Barghest is unable to cross rivers.[3][6]
The barghest is a monster in the tabletop role-playing gameDungeons & Dragons, where it is a shapeshifting fiend that can take the shape of a goblin.[7]
The Witcher video game series feature barghests as hostile spectral dogs that hunt travelers in desolate roads at night.
The "Black Hound", also known as Jelly Bean, which terrorises Trolberg inHilda is identified as a barghest in the finale of the first season.[8]
InThe Lord of the Rings Online, barghests are found in many places as killable enemies. They are often found with wights and other undead creatures in areas such as the Barrow Downs or Imlad Balchorth.
A dead barghest which has been 'harvested' appears in the bookCursed byBenedict Jacka.
In the mobile gameFate/Grand Order, the player can summon Fae Knight Gawain, who is in truth a Barghest who was givenGawain's name and authority byMorgan. Barghest appears as a Saber-Class and Archer-Class servant.
The entity is a central theme in "Great Escapes", a 2004 episode of the British TV detective seriesDalziel and Pascoe written by Elizabeth-Anne Wheal.
In the Seanan McGuire'sOctober Daye series, barghests are "nasty, semi-canine beasts with horns, fangs, scorpion stingers... basically everything but wings" that infest the larder of a fae noblewoman.[9]
The card gameMagic: The Gathering features a card named "Hollowborn Barghest" released in 2008 as part of the Shadowmoor set.[10]
In the season 3 episode "Kill Team Kill" ofLove, Death & Robots features a cybernetic bear monster referred to as "Project Barghest".
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, the 2023 expansion for the video gameCyberpunk 2077, prominently features the new gang "BARGHEST" as antagonists. Their logo is a large canine's head with its maw wide open.
Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon, the 2023 video game for theNintendo Switch, prominently features the Revenant Faerie known as "Barghest" as summoned enemies under the will of a Faun, a Fairy Necromancer to attack by its command.
Super Auto Pets, a 2021 video game, features the Barghest in the Tier 1 of the Unicorn Pack. At the start of battle, it gives the Spooked ailment onto the backmost perkless enemy.
^abOne or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Barghest".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 399. This in turn cites:
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Barghest".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 399. This in turn cites: