Conway’s Demonology and Devil-Lore: What Your History Book Missed

Hey everyone, and welcome back to Nicole Explains It All! Today, we are diving into a fascinating, slightly spooky, but incredibly historical text: Moncure Daniel Conway’s 1879 book, Demonology and Devil-Lore. If you thought demons were just scary movie monsters, buckle up, because history is way more complex!

Unpacking the Book

Conway’s book explores how ancient humanity’s struggles with nature birthed the idea of demons. He asserts that early humans created a vast brood of “Hunger-demons” because they believed invisible, voracious beings were stealing their hard-to-get food. Essentially, the natural world was overlaid by an unnatural religion, which diverted human thought and science.

The Big Difference: Demons vs. Devils

One of Conway’s most interesting points is the strict distinction he draws between a demon and a devil.

Demons: These beings originally had no moral character.
Motivations: A demon’s harmfulness is incidental to its own satisfactions, much like a famished wolf.
Devils: This concept required a much higher development of human moral sentiment.
Malice: The word “Devil” is strictly limited to beings who love evil for its own sake.

From Deities to Demons

Conway explains that demons often evolved through the “degradation” of primitive gods. Under the theory of Dualism, dethroned and outlawed deities from subjugated religions were transformed into types of evil for the popular imagination. Interestingly, the word “demon” actually shares a root with “deity,” originating from a word that bore a good meaning before suffering conventional degradation.

Conway’s Classification of Demons

Conway organized demons into twelve chief classes based on the very real physical obstacles primitive humans faced. Here is a quick breakdown of what those early phantoms represented:

Class Type	Associated Harm or Obstacle
Hunger	Starvation and scarcity
Weather	Excessive heat or cold
Earth	Destructive elements, barrenness, or physical obstacles
Enemies	Destructive animals and human foes
Unseen	Illusion, darkness, disease, and death

“The demons in which men have believed form a complete catalogue of the obstacles with which they have had to contend in the long struggle for existence.”

This book totally changes how we look at folklore by grounding supernatural fears in real human survival! Which type of mythological demon do you find the most historically fascinating?

>>>You can download the PDF of the book here: Demonology & Devil Lore

Chapter Summaries

Volume I of Demonology and Devil-Lore by Moncure Daniel Conway is divided into three main parts, each detailing different aspects of demons, their origins, and their personifications.

PART I

Chapter I: Dualism. Covers the origin of Deism, the evolution from the far to the near, illustrations from witchcraft, primitive Pantheism, and the dawn of Dualism.
Chapter II: The Genesis of Demons. Discusses the euphemistic nature of their good names, their mixed character (with illustrations of Beelzebub and Loki), demon-germs, the knowledge of good and evil, and the distinction between a Demon and a Devil.
Chapter III: Degradation. Explores the degradation of deities, indicated in names and legends of their fall, as well as incidental signs of the divine origin of demons and devils.
Chapter IV: The Abgott. Examines the ex-god, deities demonised by conquest, theological animosity, devil-worship as an arrested Deism, Sheik Adi, why demons were painted ugly, and survivals of their beauty.
Chapter V: Classification. Outlines the twelve chief classes of demons based on the obstructions of man, modifications of forms for various functions, and theological demons.

PART II: THE DEMON

Chapter I: Hunger. Details hunger-demons (Kephn, Miru, Kagura), Ráhu as the Hindu sun-devourer, Sheitan as moon-devourer, ghouls, goblins, vampyres, the leanness of demons, and the origin of sacrifices.
Chapter II: Heat. Focuses on demons of fire (Agni, Asmodeus, Prometheus), the feast of fire, Moloch, Tophet, genii of the lamp, Bel-fires, Hallowe’en, volcanic and incendiary demons, and the demons’ fear of water.
Chapter III: Cold. Describes the descent of Ishtar into Hades, Baldur, Herakles, survivals of the Frost Giant, the Frozen Hell, the Northern abode of demons, and the north side of churches.
Chapter IV: Elements. Examines a Scottish Munasa, Rudra, Siva’s lightning eye, the flaming sword, limping demons, demons of the storm and whirlwind, the Japanese Thunder God, inundations, Nixies, Hydras, demons of the Danube, and tides.
Chapter V: Animals. Distinguishes animal demons (hedge-hog, fox, rats, lions, cats, dogs, wolves, boars, bears, serpents), explores transmigrations, and notes that every animal power to harm was demonised.
Chapter VI: Enemies. Looks at the Aryas, Dasyus, Nagas, Vakkhos, Lycians, Ethiopians, Were-wolves, Goths, Scythians, Giants, Dwarfs, Berserkers, Britons, and Gog and Magog.
Chapter VII: Barrenness. Covers Indian famine and sun-spots, the demon of the desert, the Sphinx, Egyptian plagues, Abaddon, Set, Typhon, the Cain wind, the desert Eden, Azazel, and Tawiscara.
Chapter VIII: Obstacles. Explores Mephistopheles on crags, holy and unholy mountains, the Devil’s Pulpit, Montagnards, Tarns, Tenjo, T’ai-shan, Apocatequil, Rock ordeal, Scylla and Charybdis, Scottish giants, and Devil’s bridges.
Chapter IX: Illusion. Details Maya, natural treacheries, misleaders, glamour, Lorelei, mermaids, transformations (swan and pigeon maidens), Nudity, Japanese Siren, Will-o’-Wisp, the Water-Man, sea phantoms, and suicide.
Chapter X: Darkness. Focuses on shadows, Night Deities, Kobolds, Walpurgisnacht, night as an abettor of evil-doers, nightmare, dreams, invisible foes, the Prince of Darkness, second-sight, the moonshine vampyre, and glamour.
Chapter XI: Disease. Examines the Plague Phantom, Devil-dances, Destroying Angels, Ahriman in Astrology, Saturn, Satan and Job, the Fatal Seven, Yakseyo, the Singhalese Pretraya, Reeri, Maha Sohon, Luther on disease-demons, cattle-demons, and the Plough.
Chapter XII: Death. Discusses the Vendetta of Death, Teoyaomiqui, the Demon of Serpents, Death on the Pale Horse, Kali, war-gods, Satan as Death, Thanatos, Yama, Towers of Silence, Alcestis, Hel, Azraël, the Dance of Death, and Death as both foe and friend.

PART III: THE DRAGON

Chapter I: Decline of Demons. Looks at the growth and decline of demons in India, moral man versus unmoral nature, Heine’s ‘Gods in Exile’, the Master Smith, extermination of the were-wolf, refuges of demons, and giants reduced to “Little People”.
Chapter II: Generalisation of Demons. Explores the demons’ bequest to their conquerors, nondescripts, exaggerations of tradition, the Saurian Theory of Dragons, monsters of various mythologies, and the conventional dragon.
Chapter III: The Serpent. Discusses the beauty and unique characters of the serpent, Michelet’s thoughts on the viper’s head, the serpent protected by superstition, and human defencelessness against its subtle powers.
Chapter IV: The Worm. Covers an African serpent-drama, the veiled serpent, the Ark of the Covenant, Aaron’s rod, the worm, the Dii Involuti, the Serapes, the Bambino at Rome, and serpent-transformations.
Chapter V: Apophis. Examines the naturalistic theory of Apophis, the Serpent of Time, the Epic of the Worm, the Asp of Melite, vanquishers of Time, Nachash-Beriach, the serpent-spy, and treading on serpents.
Chapter VI: The Serpent in India. Details the Kankato na, Vedic serpents, Ananta and Sesha, the healing serpent, the guardian of treasures, primitive rationalism, underworld plutocracy, Vritra, the Adder, and a Teutonic Laokoon.
Chapter VII: The Basilisk. Focuses on the serpent’s gem, the basilisk’s eye, house-snakes, king-snakes, the heraldic dragon, Melusina, the Laidley Worm, victorious dragons, Pendragon, Merlin, and medicinal dragons.
Chapter VIII: The Dragon’s Eye. Discusses the Eye of Evil, Turner’s dragons, cloud-phantoms, Paradise and the snake, Prometheus and Jove, art and nature, dragon forms across cultures, and the modern conventional dragon.
Chapter IX: The Combat. Explores the pre-Munchausenite world, the Colonial Dragon, Io’s journey, Medusa, British dragons, the Communal Dragon, savage saviours, the Brutal Dragon, and the Saint of the Mikados.
Chapter X: The Dragon-Slayer. Details demi-gods, Alcestis, Herakles, the Ghilghit Fiend, the religion of Atheism, resuscitation of dragons, St. George and his Dragon, and saintly allies of the dragon.
Chapter XI: The Dragon’s Breath. Examines Medusa, phenomena of recurrence, the brood of Echidna, Behemoth and Leviathan, the Mouth of Hell, the Lambton Worm, Ragnar, the Worm’s Orthodoxy, the serpent, superstition, and science.
Chapter XII: Fate. Discusses Doré’s ‘Love and Fate’, Moira and Moiræ, the ‘Fates’ of Æschylus, the surrender of divine absolutism, Jove and Typhon, commutation of the demon’s share, popular and theological fatalism, Fate and Necessity, the deification of Will, and metaphysics.