A fierce or demonic dog, especially one depicted in mythology or literature as a guard or servant of hell.
Compound of 'hell' and 'dog.' The term appears in medieval and early modern literature, likely influenced by classical mythology's Cerberus and European folk beliefs about supernatural hounds.
Almost every culture has stories of terrifying supernatural dogs—black dogs in English folklore, hellhounds in Christian mythology—suggesting our primal fear of dogs transformed into something we couldn't control or understand!
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