Luferlang

Overview

The Luferlang is a 'fearsome critter' of North American logging-camp tall tales, recorded in Henry H. Tryon's 1939 Fearsome Critters as a hideous equine beast with triple-jointed legs that allow it to run equally fast in any direction, a dark blue dorsal stripe, a swivel-jointed tail set in the middle of its back, and a single deadly bite delivered only once a year.

Details

Origin:

A creature of the oral tradition of North American logging camps, with no fixed real-world range. Tryon (1939) places fearsome critters generally in the forests of the northern United States and Canada.

Regions:

Great Lakes, Northeast United States, Pacific Northwest logging country

First Reported:

1939

Full Account

The Luferlang (also Lufferlang) is a creature of North American logging-camp folklore, belonging to the genre known as 'fearsome critters'. Its canonical description is from Henry H. Tryon's 1939 Fearsome Critters: a horse-like beast with all four legs triple-jointed, allowing it to run equally fast in any direction, a dark blue stripe down the spine, and a bushy, swivel-jointed tail set in the middle of its back. It is reputed to be exceptionally dangerous and likely to attack without provocation, but bites only once a year — though, the tradition holds, that single bite is invariably fatal. The standard defences cited by Tryon are unusually specific: holding up a large mirror so the doubled image confuses the beast and drives it off, or wearing or displaying an orange-coloured handkerchief, which is said to give 'full protection'. Like other fearsome critters — the Hodag, the Snoligoster, the Hidebehind, the Squonk — the Luferlang originated as an oral tall-tale tradition in the logging camps of the Great Lakes and northeast United States, used to entertain seasoned loggers and to haze new recruits. It survives almost entirely as a literary tradition, principally through Tryon's book.

Also Known As

• Lufferlang (North American logging-camp folklore)

Etymology

Origin:

Coined within North American logging-camp oral tradition; the etymology is opaque and not given in the cited literature. The word's first published appearance in cryptid bestiaries is in Henry H. Tryon's Fearsome Critters (1939).

Meaning:

Not glossed in the original sources.

First Use:

1939 (Tryon, Fearsome Critters)

Timeline

• 1910-01-01 — William T. Cox publishes Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods, codifying the genre but not including the Luferlang (Establishes the published fearsome-critter genre)
• 1939-01-01 — Henry H. Tryon publishes Fearsome Critters, including the canonical Luferlang entry (Earliest known print appearance of the Luferlang)

Sightings & Evidence

Cultural Significance

Audiences of these tall tales never literally believed in fearsome critters; the tradition functions as occupational humour and initiation.

Related Phenomena

• Hodag — Wisconsin lumberjack fearsome critter
• Hidebehind — Lumberjack fearsome critter that hides behind trees
• Squonk — Pennsylvania lumberjack fearsome critter
• Agropelter — Branch-throwing lumberjack fearsome critter
• Splinter Cat — Tree-shattering lumberjack fearsome critter

Tags

Sources

• Fearsome Critters — Idlewild Press
• Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods, With a Few Desert and Mountain Beasts — Judd & Detweiler
• Fearsome critters — Wikipedia
• William T. Cox's Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods (full text) — lumberwoods.com