Though Tom doesn't recognize the man he encounters in the swamp as the devil right away, it doesn't take him long. Washington Irving describes the man, saying,
Tom lifted up his eyes and beheld a great black man seated directly opposite him, on the stump of a tree. He was exceedingly surprised, having neither heard nor seen any one approach; and he was still more perplexed on observing, as well as the gathering gloom would permit, that the stranger was neither negro nor Indian. It is true he was dressed in a rude Indian garb, and had a red belt or sash swathed round his body; but his face was neither black nor copper-color, but swarthy and dingy, and begrimed with soot, as if he had been accustomed to toil among fires and forges. He had a shock of coarse black hair, that stood out from his head in all...
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directions, and bore an axe on his shoulder.
The man refers to himself in several ways when Tom asks who he is. He describes himself variously as
- a wild huntsman
- the black miner
- the black woodsman
- he to whom the red men consecrated this spot, and in honor of whom they now and then roasted a white man
- the great patron and prompter of slave-dealer
- and the grand-master of the Salem witches.
This is enough for Tom to know who the man is. He says that the man is clearly Old Scratch, which is a common name for the devil. He refuses to take what the devil offers (and mentally refers to the man as the devil) because he thinks that being rich will make his hated wife happy. When he finds out that the devil killed his wife when she attempted to bargain with him, he again thinks of the man as Old Scratch and as the black woodsman.
He decides to bargain with the devil, who at one point he thinks of as "old black-legs." He's wealthy for the rest of his life, but eventually, the devil comes to take him away and complete their bargain.
Throughout the story "The Devil and Tom Walker" a variety of different names and descriptions are used to refer to the devil. For example, when he is introducing himself to Tom Walker, the devil refers to himself as the "Wild Huntsman," the "Black Hunter," and the "Black Woodsman." He also gives himself two titles during the conversation, calling himself "the great patron and prompter of slave dealers" and "the grand master of the Salem witches." Interestingly enough, although the devil uses a great many different names for himself, Tom Walker only ever uses one name to refer to the devil, "Old Scratch." This choice is interesting because the use of the name "Old Scratch" is heavily associated with US English. In using "Old Scratch," Washington Irving demonstrates his great interest in the history, culture, and vernacular of the United States and his belief in its literary value. In contrast, the devil's preferred names are more suggestive of the his association with darkness and the particular trades that Irving finds most evil or disgraceful (those participating in witchcraft and slave dealers).
What names are given to the stranger in the woods in "The Devil and Tom Walker"?
The stranger in the woods is better known to Tom as "Old Scratch", which is really just another name for the Devil. However, he is never actually named as the Devil specifically, but this is probably just because he likes to be coy about it.
Scratch claims that he goes by many names, depending upon who is referring to him; the three names he gives are the Black Miner, the Wild Huntsman, and the Black Woodsman. All three of these are occupations that we might expect to be associated with a frontier or working-class lifestyle, indicating one element of Americanization that Irving has included in his interpretation, contrasting with more traditional European depictions of the Devil as being separate from society and more concerned with magic and obviously supernatural characteristics.
This may also be intended to show that the Devil hides his true nature through various disguises and aliases, or to indicate that demonic figures in all cultures are in fact the same Devil, lending legitimacy to the Christian perspective that pagan "gods" were in fact Satanic misdirection. This is supported by Scratch's mention of the local Native Americans making human sacrifices to him, which he enjoyed and appreciated.