3 Mar 2008

Lucy and Lupin, Monchy 1916

British dog, British dugout.

Jünger mentions in In Stahlgewittern that he had a dog in the trenches at Monchy, a Schäferhund (German shepherd dog):
"Zwischen den zusammengepreßten Körpern drängte sich winselnd mein Schäferhund mit dem Instinkt des Tieres in die finsterste Ecke hinein." ("My sheep-dog [sic!] crept whimpering between our tightly-packed bodies with an animal's instinctive desire for the darkest corner.")
But from reading the original diary, it seems he could actually have had two dogs. The quotation from his published account is supposed to be from 3rd February 1916. In his original diary Jünger mentions “Mein Hund Lucy” ("my dog Lucy") in an entry the 26th January 1916. The next day he writes:
“Wenn ich in den Graben gehe, beglückt mich der Hund treu und redlich.”
However, two weeks later, the 8th February 1916, Jünger writes “der Hund Lupin” ("the dog Lupin"); the 14th February 1916 he mentions “der Hund” ("the dog"), and finally the 16th February 1916, according to the original diary, “starb mein Hund Lupin” ("my dog Lupin died").

Thus, either Jünger had two dogs, or he had two names for the same dog.

German dog, German trench