Qiqirn is a large, bald
dog
The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...
spirit in
Inuit mythology
Inuit religion is the shared spiritual beliefs and practices of the Inuit, an Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous people from Alaska, northern Canada, parts of Siberia and Greenland. Their religion shares many similarities with some Al ...
, from around the area of
Baffin Island. It has hair only on its feet,
mouth and the tips of its ears and
tail
The tail is the section at the rear end of certain kinds of animals’ bodies; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage to the torso. It is the part of the body that corresponds roughly to the sacrum and coccyx in mammal ...
. Its presence will send men and dogs into convulsions, sometimes fatal. However, it is frightened of humans and will run away if an
angakkuq sees it. A similar term, also from Inuit mythology, is keelut, a malevolent earth spirit which also appears as a hairless dog.
Daniel Merkur suggested that the fits caused by the qiqirn were allusions to shamanic initiations.
Popular culture
In
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work.
...
's short story "
Quiquern," the creature is described as a giant, phantasmal, toothless and hairless dog with six or eight pairs of legs. Quiquern is seen wandering before important events, and makes dogs go mad. Two young
Inuit
Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...
hunters, desperate to find food for their starving tribe, believe they are being guided by Quiquern, only to discover that the many-legged "spirit" is actually a pair of sled dogs whose collars had become entangled. Nevertheless, once they see that the dogs are well-fed, the hunters realise the "spirit" has guided them to find food after all.
See also
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Black dog (folklore)
The black dog is a supernatural, spectral, or demonic entity originating from English folklore that has also been seen throughout Europe and the Americas. It is usually unnaturally large with glowing red or yellow eyes, is often connected with ...
*
Cerberus
In Greek mythology, Cerberus (; grc-gre, Κέρβερος ''Kérberos'' ), often referred to as the hound of Hades, is a multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld to prevent the dead from leaving. He was the offspring of the ...
*
Hellhound
A hellhound is a mythological hound that embodies a guardian or a servant of hell, the devil, or the underworld. Hellhounds occur in mythologies around the world, with the best known examples being Cerberus from Greek mythology, Garmr from N ...
*
Ke'let
Ke'let (singular ke’le) are a type of evil spirit or ogre in Chukchi mythology, also sometimes known as Re'kkenit.
Types
Sometimes all spirits were known as ke'let, but generally the word refers to an evil spirit, while benevolent spirits a ...
References
Mythological dogs
Inuit legendary creatures
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