The Fantastic Manifestations of the Devil
	Ülo Valk

	According to Christian etiology, Satan and the demons are angels who rose against God and fell into sin. As a punishment, they were driven out of heaven. When they fell into sin, their original heavenly beauty was transformed as a mark of disgrace and they turned into horrible, grotesque monsters. In the descriptions of the demons their humanlike features (i.e. the relics of their former angelic shape) are often combined with those of a beast. Thus, the fantastic manifestations of the Devil can be seen as a peculiar combination of his two main forms of appearance: the anthropomorphic and zoomorphic shapes. In folklore and Christian art the satyric form of the Devil is so prevalent that it can be regarded as his classical manifestation. It is a human figure which has been attributed a few animal features (horns, hooves, tail, hairy body). Sometimes there are so many of the latter that the only remaining human features are the ability to speak and walk on two hind legs. Gods and other mythological creatures who combine human and zoomorphic elements can be found in a large number of religions all over the world. This kind of image is especially characteristic of the mythologies of ancient Egypt and India, but it also occurs in the religions of ancient Greece and Rome, Celtic tradition (horny god Cernunnos) and elsewhere. From a Christian viewpoint all these religions are pagan. Their core is worshipping idols, and low and evil forces in various forms. In Christian mythology, the Devil is the only such creature with animal features and combined appearance whose activities are real and perceptible. He is the opposite of the church and Christians, representing a hostile power. The other forms of the Devil that he can take in addition to his fantastic and demonic shapes can be viewed as transformations, attempts to hide his real nature. The satyr-like appearance is his natural form. Jacques LeGoff has pointed out two main roles of the medieval Devil: he is both the tempter into sinning and the one who punishes for it. In the first role he appears in a deceitfully pleasant form, while as a punisher he appears in his proper, horrible form since he does not need the masquerading any more. This observation generally holds for Estonian folk belief as well. The Devil in the role of a moralist who sees to proper Christian behaviour tends to appear in the demonic form, although there are many exceptions to that general rule.
	There are also descriptions of fantastic zoomorphic creatures who are endowed with no human features at all: "The Devil is said to be a half-dog and half-ram, with a tail behind and horns on his head". Visions described in memorates are sometimes even more fantastic: I saw a strange animal once. This happened in Vastse-Kuuste. There was an apple-tree by the road. We were coming with the cattle. The other boy said, "See, there is a nice apple up there." As I looked at the apple, I saw an animal on all fours under the tree. Its skin was like a calf's skin, and it wore a baron's hat. The brim of the hat was made of something like human nails. Then I thought, "This is the Old Fiend (vana juudas)." Then it began to move; its legs were like crayfish's claws. Demons cannot be seen any more. When gunpowder was invented, revenants disappeared. I was a child when we were once in the town of Paide and we sought shelter from the thunderstorm in a house that was still under construction. Then we suddenly saw a weird creature on top of the oven: it lay on its belly and it had a horse's head, he-goat's horns and owl's eyes. It had wings and under the wings there were claws. Its hind part was like seal's and it was covered with scales. It was eating something out of its left hand and moved its body. Then my mother came and the beast disappeared. My mother said, "See, the Devil, shameless creature, came to show himself to the children." This was not a revenant, this would have been different, so it must have been the Devil.
	I was a child when we were once in the town of Paide and we sought shelter from the thunderstorm in a house that was still under construction. Then we suddenly saw a weird creature on top of the oven: it lay on its belly and it had a horse's head, he-goat's horns and owl's eyes. It had wings and under the wings there were claws. Its hind part was like seal's and it was covered with scales. It was eating something out of its left hand and moved its body. Then my mother came and the beast disappeared. My mother said, "See, the Devil, shameless creature, came to show himself to the children." This was not a revenant, this would have been different, so it must have been the Devil. Such fantastic combinations of different zoomorphic elements are rare in Estonian tradition, however. The figure of the satyr that is widespread in Europe is also prevalent in Estonia: Once there was an old witch who could revive the dead in their graves and do other miracles. Then she died. The coffin with the witch's body was put on a cart and two large black horses were harnessed in front of it. But the horses could not move the cart. The men beat the horses so that they were all in lather. Then someone told them to look at the cart from under the mane of the horse. The men did so and saw that the Devil was sitting astride the coffin. He had long horns, large hooves and he was hairy all over. When the men finished looking at him, the horses started to bolt, neigh and run. The men could hardly stop them. /.../
	The satyric Devil with a fantastic appearance is well known in Estonian folklore. The image was borrowed from the religion of late medieval Western Europe, being the third most frequent one among the manifestations of the Devil. This type might also comprise those numerous cases where the Devil is not described in a legend although he appears in a visible form. It is very likely that in such instances either the anthropomorphic or the traditional satyric shape has been meant, and not the form of an animal or a thing. The statistical data do not allow to draw the conclusion that the satyric manifestation of the Devil was relatively rare in Estonian folk belief. The image of the demonic being with a tail, horns and animal legs was well known but it does not actualise in folklore as often as might be expected. /.../ The descriptions of the fantastic Devil in Estonian folk belief contain more details and are more vivid than those of his anthropomorphic or zoomorphic form: many German noblemen, all with tails, and fire coming out of their mouths, a dreadful black manlike figure with red teeth, an ugly monster - tall, with thin goat's horns, his face is black and indescribably ugly, he has hooves like no other creature, dancers with and without horns, either naked or dressed, all spitting fire, and the musician is a grey stallion, who lashes out and also spits fire. According to one description the Old Nick (vanapagan) resembles a German nobleman: he has a tiny face and a large nose, thin legs and cloven feet, and an umbrella on his head. Another text gives the following picture of the dancing devils: they were horned and had tails behind, and they had long black claws. The dancing devils have been also described as monkey-faces who have long legs and tails.
	The Devil in the satyric guise was mentioned already in the records of Estonian witchcraft trials. An old herdsman called Mikk was brought before the court of JŸri parish in Kurna in 1636; he confessed that witches had meetings with the Devil on Holy Thursday, Good Friday and at Midsummer Night. He said that the Devil was an ugly man with big horns and long claws and that witches must pay him annual tribute. Otherwise he would beat them with a huge iron crowbar. In the analysed Estonian folklore, the most frequent demonic features are horns (108 times), animal feet (cloven hooves/horse's or cow's feet 105 times) and tail (92 times). It is often his terrible teeth that attract attention: these can be long or large (26 occurrences), red/bloody (14 occurrences) or of metal (9 instances). On 18 occasions the Devil spits fire (the episode of striking fire from the teeth has not been included here; it recurs as a stable motif in the legend type about giving a ride to a traveller). The hairy appearance of the Devil has been mentioned in 19 instances, his beard (goatee) on 12 and burning/fiery eyes on 10 occasions. The asymmetry of the Devil's body is very typical of his descriptions in Estonian popular religion. His right side is said to be different from his left side on 22 occasions. /.../ I have seen the Devil with my own eyes and I have touched him with my hand, too. This was about fifteen years ago. It was the time when my first love left me and I even thought about killing him. Once I sat in the back room at twilight and I was very angry, and then the Devil appeared from behind the stove. It must have been the Devil, who else. He came so quietly that I didn't hear anything, not a slightest rustle. Otherwise he looked like a human being but he was black and had little horns on his forehead close to the hair. His one foot was human but the other ended with a hoof. When he clattered his teeth, sparks came out of his mouth. He came near me and put his hand on mine. The skin of his palm was as smooth as mouse skin. Then he said, "Don't be afraid, I'll help you!". I wanted to scream but couldn't. Then he moved away slowly and grew smaller and finally disappeared into a picture. This picture had always been hanging in our room. I couldn't think evil thoughts any more.
	The extract was taken from the book: Ülo Valk. The Black Gentleman: Manifestations of the Devil in Estonian Folk Religion. FF Communications No. 276 [translated by Ülle Männart]. Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 2001, pp. 144-162 by the kind permission of the author and the publisher.
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