Hodag

Overview

A horned, spiked, scaly creature from northern Wisconsin lumberjack folklore, made famous by surveyor Eugene Shepard's 1893 hoax in Rhinelander; now the official symbol of the city.

Details

Origin:

Strongly localised to northern Wisconsin, especially Oneida County and the area around Rhinelander.

Regions:

Wisconsin, Oneida County, Rhinelander

First Reported:

1893

Full Account

The Hodag is a fearsome critter from the lumberjack folklore of northern Wisconsin, classically described as having the head of a frog, the grinning face of a giant elephant, thick short legs set off by huge claws, the back of a dinosaur, and a long tail with spears at its end. The creature was popularised in 1893 by Rhinelander surveyor and prankster Eugene Shepard, who fabricated newspaper accounts of having captured a hodag in the forests near the town and exhibited a wood-and-hide sculpture rigged with wires at the first Oneida County fair around 1896. When the Smithsonian Institution announced plans to send zoologists to inspect the specimen, Shepard admitted the hoax. Despite this, the Hodag was rapidly adopted as Rhinelander's civic symbol and now appears on the city seal, in a fibreglass sculpture by Tracy Goberville at the Rhinelander Area Chamber of Commerce, as the mascot of Rhinelander High School, and as the namesake of the long-running Hodag Country Festival. The Hodag has since appeared in mainstream popular culture, including the Harry Potter universe (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, 2017 edition), the animated series Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, and the video game Inscryption.

Also Known As

• Bovine spiritualis (Pseudo-Latin)
• Black Hodag of Rhinelander (Rhinelander, Wisconsin, USA)

Etymology

Origin:

Coined or popularised by Eugene Shepard in his 1893 newspaper accounts in and around Rhinelander, Wisconsin; precise etymology is uncertain.

Meaning:

Generally treated as Shepard's invention; sometimes folk-etymologised as a contraction of 'horse' and 'dog'.

First Use:

1893, in Eugene Shepard's newspaper accounts of his alleged capture in Rhinelander, Wisconsin.

Timeline

• 1893-01-01 — Eugene Shepard publicises the alleged capture of a hodag in the forests around Rhinelander, Wisconsin (Foundational hoax of the modern hodag tradition)
• 1896-01-01 — Shepard exhibits a fabricated 'living hodag' rigged with wires at the first Oneida County fair (Tens of thousands attend; the hoax peaks before being exposed)
• 1896-01-01 — When the Smithsonian Institution announces plans to send zoologists, Shepard admits the hodag is fabricated (Public exposure of the hoax)

Sightings & Evidence

Cultural Significance

Originally promoted as a real creature; now universally understood as a beloved local legend with a known hoax origin.

Related Phenomena

• Hugag — Fellow fearsome critter of upper Midwest lumber-camp tradition
• Agropelter — Fearsome critter that hurls branches
• Hidebehind — Lumber-camp fearsome critter; canonical fearsome-critter companion
• Wampus cat — Appalachian and Southern fearsome critter
• Jackalope — Comparable hoax-rooted folk cryptid in the American West

Tags

Sources

• Hodag — Wikipedia