Luferlang - [Fearsome Critter]

 Luferlang (& variants) - [Fearsome Critter] - (Latin: Spinacaerulea tresarticulosus) - (aka: "Lufferlang")

• About this Critter: an extremely dangerous, hideous, 'braying equine fiend' which can run in either direction on its short, triple-jointed legs. it has an indigo stripe running down its spine, The only thing less pleasant than its face is its bite: A single nip from the creatures toxic maw means certain death to those who are unfortunate enough to get in its way. – Fortunately; “It bites but once a year" – so if you met one that had already bitten someone, you'd be safe. Supposedly The “biting season” (when the creature is most active) takes place between February 30th and ends on July 12th. - It's said that the creature can be warded off by wearing orange kerchiefs, or scared off by holding up a large mirror causing the creature to become self-conscious and run away in disgust. -- Wearing green enrages the creature, so only fools wear green during this time. - it's powerful, bushy, swivel-jointed tail is located in the middle of its body & used for swatting pests. – Although they are perhaps similar? - The Luferlang should not be overly conflated with Ihrke''s "Old Spider-Legs" ('Pseudohippys arachupus') - nor Odin's "Selphneir."

• History: Although the luferlang, like many fearsome critters likely has a brief oral history between lumbermen slightly before the initial mention; The earliest written mention of a 'Luferlang' is found in "Paul Bunyan & Tony Beaver tales" [C.E.Brown, 1930] - where it is mentioned briefly among other creatures living near Paul Bunyan's camps. it is unclear what kind of animal it was... –

"...The Luferlang was an animal with a dark blue stripe running down its back. its tail in the middle of the back. it could run in either direction and its bite was almost certain death..." 

"LUFERLANG. A curious animal with a dark blue stripe running down the length of its back. Its brushy tail was in the middle of the back. Its legs were triple-jointed and it could run equally fast in any direction. It attacked its prey without provocation and its bite was certain death. “It bites but once a year, so if one met one that had already bitten someone, one was perfectly safe.”

The bulk of the 'modern lore' associated with this critter and the creature's general 'equine' appearance was first established in Fearsome Critters [Henry H Tryon, 1939] Margaret (Tryons wife) drew it hiding behind a rock grinning menacingly at a gentleman holding up a large mirror, although she did not illustrate the monsters entire body, the look & lore stuck.  - Tryon's description is as follows:

"THE LUFERLANG

Spinacaerulea tresarticulosus

A dangerous fellow to meet up with. Very likely to attack without any provocation. Bites but once a year, but the bite is sure death.
    Certain unique features make it easy, however, to identify the animal. A dark blue stripe down the spine, a bushy, swivel-jointed tail set in the middle of the back (this appendage is most useful in keeping off the flies) and all four legs triple-jointed are what the traveler should look for. These legs make it possible for the Luferlang to run equally fast in all directions. In case of an attack, the victim should suddenly hold a large mirror up beside himself. The double image will so confuse the beast that he will rush off in disgust.
    The biting season usually occurs on July 12. An orange-colored handkerchief conspicuously displayed will invariably afford full protection. Green clothing of any shade should be studiously avoided at this season, as it serves to arouse the animal further."

[Note: The "orange kerchief" used as a supposed 'ward' paired with the fact that the creature is "enraged by green'  on july 12th might feel strange but it reminded me of Leprechaun lore & St Patrick's day celebrations: where-in you must wear green on that day or else suffer a pinching from your peers. - but reversed so that those "who generally prefer orange win instead." - July 12th is the irish's Orange-mans day after all! ...Also worth mention is that there are several folkloric/mythological creatures cross culture who 'fear &/or are weak to mirrors or their reflection' the most obvious being the greek "Medusa" & 'Narcissus'... Incidentally this critter seems to borrow part of its latin name (Spinacaerulea) from a type of indigo passionflower (Though its obviously named for the 'blue stripe' down its back.) - Final 'note', is that donkeys tend to get triple joint pain (similar to an artists carpel tunnel) as they get older! :') ]

...Jumping ahead in time a bit, from the 40s-60s the luferlang made brief appearances in papers -and in the odd paul bunyan novel or picture book for a while, (it was also given a short poem in Gillygaloos and Golly-whoppers. [Quentin Blake & Ennis Rees 1969]) – it was also was (jokingly) sighted a couple times by conservation wardens  in papers (a warning to poachers to leave the poor deer alone.)

[article clipping: "Now is the time to seek Gillygaloos in the woods" 1962]

...Then perhaps, The Luferlang made its second-most noteworthy mention in "Mythical Creatures of the North Country" [by Walker D Wyman, 1969 & '78] – in the reprint, Wyman added the very important and mythical date of February 30th to the luferlangs lore, and not much else, but he also categorized it as "A Mythical animal, reported but not Authenticated." – his very brief entry goes as follows:

Luferlang "The distinctive feature of this animal was the tail in the middle of its back. Since it had triple-jointed legs, it could run fast in every direction. Its bite was fatal, bringing sudden death; however it only bit once a year on February 30th."

Separate to the Luferlang is another critter which made its earliest mention here too: The legend of “Old spider legs 'The eight legged horse.” - in recent years the creature came to often be mistaken or lumped together with the luferlang (or they're even said to be the same creature.) – Though it is described somewhat similarly: it definitely is NOT supposed to be the same creature! - To start, The Luferlang was said to have specifically four legs! & Wyman even classified spider legs with its own latin name ('Pseudohippys arachupus') – The included legend goes as follows:

"Old Spider Legs, the Eight-Legged Horse

(Pseudohippus arachupus)
"Up in the marshes of the ancient lake now known as Crex Meadows in Northwestern Wisconsin, there was once established the business of harvesting the tall grass growing there, tying it in bundles, and shipping it to Minneapolis where it was made into baskets, mats, and rugs. Since the land was marshy, farmers tied eighteen inch boards, shaped like snow shoes, on their horses' hoofs to support them. It was a great business in its day, and it also led to one of the greatest legends of a mythical animal ever seen in the North Country.
One day a Burnett County farmer appeared at the railway loading station with his team in a lather and with only a half load.
He was breathless from having seen one of the wonders of the world and wanted to report it to the other people. As he had mowed along the edge of Crex Meadows, a strange creature had jumped from behind some alders and run deep into the marsh. It was a horse, he swore, or at least half a horse in size. It was dark brown in color and had a black tail that swept the ground. But it had eight legs instead of four, sort of like a spider, and could run like the wind, only faster.
The farmer said he unhitched his horses from the mower when he had recovered from the shock, and getting on one, clomped, clomped across the marsh after the eight-legged horse. But he never saw it again. He was doggone sure he wasn't looking at a will-of-the-wisp or anything like that, and he sure hadn't had a drink from his jug of old stump-blower that he had left behind with his lunch. No, sir, this was the real thing, an eight-legged horse.
The Eight-legged Horse has also been seen in the Iowa marshes."

[Clipping from my personal copy, to my knowledge the book itself is not available online elsewhere, its rare & out of print.]

Interestingly, Wyman places the story in Crex meadows, North Wisconsin. & he ends the entry by saying that yet /another eight legged horse/ was also reported by 'Max Ihrke' a student from U.W. River Falls, Iowa in 1961. - [However, sadly, wherever he found that report is quite likely lost to time. (or at the very least, its out of my reach.) – Searching "Max Ihrke" in newspapers & on archive shows that he was indeed a Farmer, possibly the Sheriff of St Croix in 1969? - But sadly not much else is to be found at present.) if there where more reports, i might be more likely to classify spider legs a 'cryptid' over a 'critter' proper.]

[a Wisconsin newspaper illustration of 'old spider legs' following the books publishing. - Do note that 'running like the wind but only faster' is also attributed to Odens eight legged steed "Selphneir" of Norse mythology, (though it has 8 legs, selphneir is not a "Spider-horse"]

Today Most people today probably first learned of the 'old spider legs' legend from the brief article on the 'Cryptidz wiki' [which has been up without context since 2008] they of course did not bother to give a source for their material at all. (typical.) 

[snapshot of 'old spiderlegs' cryptidzwiki page snapshot taken as of writing.]

[Despite what the cryptidz wiki theorizes about this one (explaining it  as a mutant horse for no good reason.) The most probable explanation is the simplest & silliest; someone mistook two horses standing/running along next to each other. - image source: Alamy]

• Another Name / "LuFFerlang" Variation: back to 1945, in the first edition of "The American Language Supplement 1" – The creature was again listed among several other classic critters just by name, however 'Luferlang' was misspelled with two f's, instead as 'Lufferlang.' - (My best guess is a simple typo capitalized "F" & "E" next to each other can look muddy in print sometimes as well.) – Regardless, this error followed it to various books, magazines & dictionaries which featured critters. - Much Later, a multi-legged tarantula-like "lufferlang" also appeared in in "Knicklesnifters" [Alvin Swartz, 1976] so, perhaps luferlangs & lufferlangs are different critters entirely? (both seem to be scared of their own reflection however, so maybe I'd just call this one "Var.Arachnid" and call it a day.)

...But I digress, back to the main critter at hand: a combination of the above legends, Tyrons book, Schwartz's & Wymans 'old spider-legs' legend, the Luferlang's 'modern look' was popularized. - For whatever reason, today many Mythologists & Artists alike seem to conflate the luferlangs story with "Old Spider Legs" giving it 8 legs and often illustrating it as a mix between horse and spider. Despite the fact that the earlier descriptions describe it with only four triple jointed legs and with a tail above its head.  This change might also be due to pop-culture (As a "spider-horse" variant of the critter appeared in a rather infamous card game and overtook the top google results for several years.) - Otherwise, it might just be up to the artists personal taste (Norse mythology is far more popular after all & a spider horse is admittedly a pretty cool concept) – Either way, i find the confusion (if you want to call it that) to be quite silly, as these creatures are quite obviously distinct & even given unique latin names in their source material! [which admittedly is nearly impossible to come by for the armchair researcher.]  – However, I will also say in the same breath: No harm done. – Conflation like that is another way that folklore & creatures naturally evolve! :)

I do admit that the temptation to draw an arachnid horse was there, however I'm a stickler for the source material; The 'horror' in the luferlang at its genesis was that it was a critter thatcould turn on a dime to bite you with its hideous face. (Despite the logical anatomy of a horse.) So, i drew it as close to Tryons as i could! (Perhaps this is how it was posed behind the rock.)

---

[Art sticker by samkalensky part of my fearsome critters collection of stickers! check my shop and follow for more, if you like my stickers and deep dives into each creature, please consider supporting!]