Book of Imaginary Beings
Encyclopedia
Jorge Luis Borges
wrote and edited the Book of Imaginary Beings in 1957 as the original Spanish Manual de zoología fantástica, or Handbook of Fantastic Zoology, expanding it in 1967 and 1969 to the final El libro de los seres imaginarios. The English edition, created in collaboration with translator Norman Thomas di Giovanni
, contains descriptions of 120 mythical beasts
from folklore
and literature.
In the preface, Borges states that the book is to be read "as with all miscellanies...not...straight through.... Rather we would like the reader to dip into the pages at random, just as one plays with the shifting patterns of a kaleidoscope
"; and that "legends of men taking the shapes of animals" have been omitted.
: A creature that lives on the staircase of the Tower of Victory in Chittor. It may only move when a traveler climbs the staircase, and it follows close at the person's heels. Its form becomes more complete the closer it gets to the terrace at the tower's top. It can only achieve this ultimate form if the traveler has obtained Nirvana
, otherwise it finds itself unable to continue.
Abtu
and Anet: Two identical fish that, according to Egyptian legend, swam in front of the prow of the sun god's ship on the lookout for danger.
The Alicanto
: A mine shaft dwelling bird that feeds upon gold. It is pursued by miners.
The Amphisbaena
: A two-headed snake, with one head being where its tail would normally be. It is venomous and, if chopped in half, its two parts can reunite.
An Animal Imagined by Kafka: A kangaroo-like animal with a flat, human-like face and a very long tail.
Singing Beast Imagined by C. S. Lewis
: An animal that sits upon its haunches like a dog, but appears more like a horse. Its toes are camel-like, and, unable to produce its own milk, it raises its young by nursing them on the milk of other animals. It has an entrancing call that sounds almost like a glorious song. (from Perelandra
)
An Animal
Imagined by Poe: A small, flat animal with pure white fur and bright red claws and teeth. Its head is feline, except for its canine-like ears.
Animals in the Form of Spheres: At the time of its writing, some believed that planets and stars were actually living beings, and that the movement of the heavenly bodies was voluntary.
Antelopes with Six Legs: According to Siberian myth, these six-legged antelopes were far too fast for human beings to catch. A divine huntsman, Tunk-poj, cut off the animal's rear-most legs to make the animal easier for humans to hunt.
The Ass with Three Legs: This massive creature is said to stand in the middle of the ocean. It has three legs, six eyes, nine mouths, and one golden horn.
Axehandle Hound
Bahamut
: A huge, measureless fish which is often used to describe the spaces between heaven, earth, and hell.
Baldanders
: Also known as Soon-Another's, these creatures can assume many shapes. It appears to have a human head and torso, the tail of a fish, the leg of a goat, and the wings and claws of a bird.
The Banshee
: The "woman of the fairies" does not have a distinct shape, but is instead described by her keening wails.
Barometz: This "animal" is actually a plant in the shape of a lamb with golden fleece.
Basilisk
: The basilisk's appearance has changed over the ages, but it is most often considered a chicken-like serpent with anywhere from four to eight legs. It is extremely venomous, and its gaze can turn anyone into stone.
Behemoth
: A massive creature that is often likened to an elephant or hippopotamus.
Brownies: Small brown colored men that often visit homes while the inhabitants are asleep to perform various chores.
Burak
: A horse-like creature with long ears and the wings and tail of a peacock. It may also have a man's face.
Carbuncle: This creature was alleged to be seen in Latin America. Legends say the Carbuncle has some sort of jewel on its head.
Catoblepas
: Described as a black buffalo with a hog's head, this creature's head is so heavy that it constantly hangs low to the ground. It is also believed that, like the basilisk, looking into its eyes will kill you instantly.
Celestial Cock: The Celestial Cock, also known as the Cock of Dawn, has three legs and makes its home in the Fu-sang tree, a mile-tall tree that grows in "the region of dawn." It is said to crow three times each day: once at dawn, once at midday and once when the sun sets.
Celestial Stag: No one has ever seen a Celestial Stag. They live in underground mines, searching for the light of day. They will attempt to bribe, speak to, and even torture miners in their quest to reach the surface, where they turn into a deadly liquid form.
Centaur
: A well-known beast with the torso of a man and the hindquarters of a horse. Most are portrayed as savage beasts, but others can be well learned in many arts.
Cerberus
: A three-headed dog known to guard the gates of the underworld in Greek mythology.
Charybdis
: A sea monster, once a beautiful naiad and the daughter of Poseidon and Gaia. She takes form as a huge bladder of a creature whose face was all mouth and whose arms and legs were flippers and who swallows huge amounts of water three times a day before belching them back out again, creating whirlpools.
The Cheshire Cat
: A rather mischievous cat with a large, grinning face. It can also make itself invisible, leaving behind only its disembodied smile.
The Chimera
: Although it may have several different forms, the chimera is most often described as a three-headed beast. Sprouting from its back is the head of a goat, a lion's head at its front, and a snake's head as its tail.
The Chinese Dragon
: Compared to the Western Dragon, this dragon is considered divine and holy. It is often seen with antler-like horns and protrusions running along its spine. The Chinese dragon is often pictured with a pearl: the source of its power.
The Chinese Fox: These foxes appear like average foxes, but may sometimes be seen standing on their hind legs to walk. They presumably live about a thousand years, and are bad omens for their mischievous ways. They are known to shapeshift and are able to see into the future.
The Chinese Phoenix
: Two basic creatures are described as a symbol of eternal love: the male Feng and the female Huang. They are described as very beautiful birds similar to a peacock, have three legs, and live in the sun.
Chonchon
Ch'ou-T'i: A legendary Chinese creature with a head both front and back.
Chronos or Heracles: This dragon-like creature is often known by two names. Like the chimera, it is made of three heads: a bull's head at its front, a god's head at its middle, and a lion's head at its rear.
The Denizens of Ch'uan-T'ou: Creatures with human heads, beaks, and bat wings.
An Insect Imagined by C. S. Lewis
: A strange, jointed insect consisting of a cylindrical body and many thin legs.
Crocotta
and the Leucrocotta: The crocotta is described as a hybrid of a dog and a wolf, and may be able to imitate the voice of a person. The leucrocotta is similar, but described as an antelope and hyena hybrid.
A Crossbreed: An animal described by Kafka in "Description of a Struggle" that is half cat and half lamb. Its fur is woolly and soft, yet it has a cat's face and claws. It does not make any sounds, and refuses to chase after rats.
Doppelgänger
: Also known as the Double, the Doppelgänger is best described as a man's exact counterpart.
Eastern Dragon: Quite similar to the Chinese dragon of the same region, the Eastern dragon takes roughly the same form, but may be lacking wings. The pearl is also the source of its power, and they can make themselves invisible if they so wish.
Eater of the Dead: Most commonly associated with Egyptian myth, the Eater attends to the "wicked". It is described as having the head of a crocodile, the midsection of a lion, and the hindquarters of a hippo.
Eight-Forked Serpent: A massive serpent with eight heads and eight tails. Its eyes are a deep red, and trees are said to grow along its back.
The Elephant That Foretold the Birth of the Buddha: A white elephant with six tusks that appeared in a dream to, as its namesake suggests, foretell the birth of Buddha
.
The Eloi
and the Morlocks: In the setting of H. G. Wells
' The Time Machine
, it is suggested that humans evolve (or devolve) into two distinct species. The Eloi are thin and fragile artisans, living on fruits. The Morlocks are blind laborers, living underground and rising to the surface on moonless nights to feed on the Eloi.
Elves
: Little is known about the actual appearance of elves, but they seem to be very small people, and are often portrayed as having pointed ears. They are known for causing all sorts of mischief, such as tangling hair and stealing cattle.
The Wonders of God's Creation Manifested in the Variety of Eight: A mysterious creature that lives in the world of Bliss. Allegedly, all sounds, sights, and smells to this creature are divine.
The Fairies
: Fairies are described as beautiful, tiny people that like to meddle in the affairs of humans.
Fastitocalon: A massive whale that many sailors often mistake for an island.
Fauna of Mirrors
: It was believed that another world existed behind all mirrors, inhabited by a wide amount of unknown and strange creatures. Luckily, our worlds are now cut off from one another.
Garuda
: This beast is the mount of the god Vishnu
. It is half man and half vulture, with a white face, deep red wings, and a golden body.
Gillygaloo: A bird which nests on mountain slopes and lays square eggs, which lumberjacks use as dice.
Goofang: A fish("about the size of a sunfish but much bigger") which swims backwards to keep the water out of its eyes.
Goofus Bird: A bird that builds its nest upside down and flies backwards.
Gnome
s: Sprites of the earth and hills, gnomes are often shown as bearded dwarves, often with rough features. They often watch over treasure as well.
Golem
: This creature was created for the purpose of doing menial chores, and was controlled by a magic tablet placed under its tongue. Normally apathetic and unaware, if uncontrolled the creature enters a wild frenzy.
Griffin
: The griffin is best described as an eagle with the body of a lion, and is very strong.
Haniel
, Kafziel, Azriel
, and Aniel: Sometimes referred to as angels, these four beasts also possessed four faces: a man's, a lion's, an ox's, and an eagle's. They also possessed four wings.
Haokah
, the Thunder God: He appears as a man with large antlers, using the wind to beat his thunder drum.
Harpies: Creatures with a vulture's body, a woman's face, and an insatiable hunger. They are described as having filthy genitalia and a foul smell about them.
Heavenly Cock: Also known as the Bird of Dawn, this Chinese rooster has three legs and crows three times a day, to signal dawn, noon, and dusk.
Hide: A many-eyed octopus
-like creature shaped like an animal's hide
.
Hidebehind
: A strong, nocturnal creature which feeds off the intestines of its prey. It captures and hides from wayfarers in the woods by sucking in its body so that it can hide behind the trunk of any tree, or the person trying to look at it. It is said they have an aversion to alcohol.
Hippogriff
: A creature invented by Ludovico Ariosto
in the 16th century in his epic Orlando Furioso
, based on an expression of Virgil
's denoting the impossible, "to cross griffons with horses"; the griffon [see above] being a cross between a lion and an eagle believed by Virgil's commentator Servius to loathe horses.
Hochigan: A long-ago bushman who stole the animals' gift of speech. Borges links this to Descartes' idea that monkeys stay silent to avoid having to work, and to a story by Argentinian author Lugones about a chimpanzee killed by the strain of learning to talk.
Hsiao
: An owl-like creature with a man's face, an ape's body, and a dog's tail.
Hsing-T'ien
: A headless creature with eyes on its chest and its mouth on its belly.
Hua-Fish: A flying snake-fish that foretells drought.
Huallepen: A swift-moving dog with a human head, which laughs maliciously.
Hui: An amphibious sheep-like animal, which can mate with cows to produce deformed offspring; if a pregnant woman sees one, her child will also be deformed.
Humbaba
: A giant in the Assyrian epic
Gilgamesh
that guards mountain cedars, he is scaly, with vulture claws, lion paws, bull's horns and a tail and penis with snakes' heads at the ends. Men-scorpions from the poem, which guard the mountain Mashu, are also mentioned.
Hundred-Heads: The hundred heads was said to be a gigantic fish with many heads, each one that of a different animal. Legend holds that the fish was the reincarnated spirit of a monk who had often called others "monkey-head" or something similar. The karma of these insults had made him return as a monster.
The Hydra of Lernaea
Ichthyocentaur: from the waist up, this creature has the form of a man, but below the waist they have the fins and tail of a fish. Their forefeet are either in the form of a lion's or a horse's.
Jewish Demons: In Jewish tradition the world between those of the body and spirit is that of angel
s and devils, densely populated and including creatures from many other cultures. One of the devils is Keteb Mereri, Lord of the Noontide and of Scorching Summers.
Jinn
- One of the three kinds of intelligent creatures created by Allah in Muslim tradition, Jinn are formed from smoke of fire, have five orders, can be good or evil and of either sex and can appear as clouds or in various forms or be invisible. Borges mentions various legends about them, as well as Victor Hugo
's poem "Les Djinns", and the possible link between the Latin genius and Jinn.
the Kilkenny Cats
: These cats often fight with each other, devouring everything but the other's tail.
A King of Fire and his Steed: These were beings formed completely of the constantly changing flames of fire.
Kraken
Kujata
: A giant bull with thousands of eyes, nostrils, mouths, and feet, which helps to support the world(perched atop Bahamut).
The Lamed Wufniks
: there are precisely thirty-six Lamed Wufniks in existence. It is said that, without knowing it, they support the universe and affirm god. If one comes to realize their purpose, they immediately die and are replaced by another unsuspecting man.
Lamia
: Half woman and half serpent, these creatures are said to have sprung from one of Zeus's varied love interests. They are thought to be sorceresses, and although they cannot speak they whistle sweetly.
Laudatores Temporis Acti
Lemuri: The Lemuri were the souls of the evil dead, created by Romulus
to subdue the restless spirit of his brother Remus
.
The Leveler: Reputed to live on the planet Neptune
, this creature is 10 times the size of an elephant
, and looks quite a bit like it. Its most remarkable features are its conical legs (which are flat on the bottom). Bricklayers employ the leveler to flatten hilly areas for construction projects. It is herbivorous and has few enemies.
Lilith
: A woman created before Eve
, according to a Hebrew document. Dante Gabriel Rossetti
imagined her as a snake in Eden Bower and the similarity of her name with the Hebrew layil or night produced the Middle Age idea of her as a creature of the night.
The Lunar Hare
: Ideas of the shapes seen in the moon range include the English "man in the moon
", the legend of Cain eternally carrying thorns there, and the Chinese legend of the Lunar Hare: It jumped into a fire to feed the Buddha, who sent its soul to the moon, where it mixes the elixir of life.
Mandrake
Manticore
Mermecolion: An ant/lion hybrid which inevitably starves because it cannot eat either meat or grains, although its lion half craves the former and its ant half craves the latter.
Minotaur
The Monkey of the Inkpot: an extract from Wang Tai-Hai describes a small creature with black fur and scarlet eyes that sits by writers and drinks their leftover ink.
The Monster Acheron
: A giant, taller than a mountain, with three mouths and all of Hell
in his stomach, described in the Vision of Tundale
.
The Mother of Tortoises: A giant tortoise made of water and fire, on whose shell is written the "Universal Rule", a divine treatise.
Musical Serpent: A four-winged serpent which makes sounds similar to those of the "Musical Stone".
Nāga
: a half human half snake creature
Namazu
: this beast is said to be a giant cat-fish that lives beneath the surface of the earth, and causes earthquakes with its movements.
Nasnas
: A creature shaped like half a man, with one leg, one arm, one eye, and half a heart.
The Norns
The Nymphs
Odradek: subject of The Cares of a Family Man
("Die Sorge des Hausvaters"), a short story by Franz Kafka
An Offspring of Leviathan: A creature of medieval legend, "a dragon that was half beast and half fish".
Ocean Men: Merman
: like creatures of Chinese legend, who cause storms.
One-Eyed Beings
The Ouroboros
The Panther
Peryton
: Combining the physical features of a stag
and a bird
The Phoenix
Ping Feng: A black pig with a head at each end.
Pinnacle Grouse: Has only one wing, and flies in a continuous circle around the top of a mountain.
Pygmies: 27-inch dwarfs mentioned by Pliny
and Aristotle
who inhabited the mountains beyond India, waging war on the cranes that attacked them for three months a year. The Carthaginians also had a god called Pygmy
who was used as figurhead on warships.
Queer Arm People: People with a single arm and three eyes, who build flying chariots.
The Rain Bird
: Also called the shang yang, this bird creates rain by carrying water from rivers in its beak.
Remora
Roperite: A pony-sized animal which uses its lariat
-like beak to ensnare rabbits.
Rukh
Salamander
The Satyrs
Scylla
The Sea Horse: An aquatic horse, which sometimes surfaces to mate with land horses.
The Shaggy Beast of La Ferte-Bernard
Simurgh
Siren
s
The Sow Harnessed with Chains: Also called the Tin Pig, this creature is heard rattling its chains on railroad tracks by night, but is never seen.
Sphinx
Squonk
: Reputed to live in the Hemlock
forests of northern Pennsylvania
.
Strong Toad: Distinguished from other toads by its turtle
-like shell, the Strong Toad glows like a firefly, cannot be killed except by burning, and can attract or repel anyone nearby with its stare.
Swedenborg's Angels
: The perfected souls of the blessed and wise, living in a Heaven of ideal things, each reflecting the perfection of this realm.
Swedenborg's Devils
: these are people which, after dying, choose to go to hell rather than to heaven. They are not happy there, but they are reputed to be more content in hell than they would have been in heaven.
Sylph
Talos
The T'ao T'ieh
: a dog with one (often monstrous) head attached to two bodies, which symbolizes the sins of gluttony
and greed.
Teakettler
Thermal Beings: Entities composed solely of heat, from an earlier stage of the world's creation.
Ti-chiang: A faceless, supernatural bird with six feet and four wings.
The Tigers of Annam: Tigers who rule over the four cardinal directions, with the Yellow Tiger commanding them from the world's center.
The Trolls: Due to the arrival of Christianity in Scandinavia, pagan giants were diminished into small, malevolent, stupid, mountain-dwelling elves. The Elder Edda states that the giants would cross Bifrost
, a great rainbow, at the Twilight of the Gods
, breaking it with their weight and so destroying the world. Trolls figure in Ibsen's Peer Gynt
as 'nationalist' creatures that view their squalour as luxury and suggest putting out Peer Gynt
's eyes so he can avoid seeing the ugliness he is confronted with.
Two Metaphysical Beings: Condillac's
sensitive statue inhabited by a new-formed soul which becomes human through sensory perception(starting with smell
); a creature that can only sense the outside world through a moveable feeler
.
Unicorn
The Unicorn of China
Upland Trout: Flying fish which nest in trees and fear water.
Valkyrie
: "The chooser of the slain"
The Western Dragon
: A tall heavy serpent with claws and wings.
Youwarkee: The half-bird half-woman heroine of the 1751 novel "The Life and Adventure Peter Wilkins a Cornish Man‘’ by Robert Paltock
, Youwarkee is one of the winged glumms that inhabit an Antarctic island. Peter Wilkins is a shipwrecked sailor who marries her and converts them to Christianity.
Zaratan
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , known as Jorge Luis Borges , was an Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator born in Buenos Aires. In 1914 his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school, receiving his baccalauréat from the Collège de Genève in 1918. The family...
wrote and edited the Book of Imaginary Beings in 1957 as the original Spanish Manual de zoología fantástica, or Handbook of Fantastic Zoology, expanding it in 1967 and 1969 to the final El libro de los seres imaginarios. The English edition, created in collaboration with translator Norman Thomas di Giovanni
Norman Thomas di Giovanni
Norman Thomas di Giovanni is an American-born editor and translator known for his collaboration with Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges.-Biography:...
, contains descriptions of 120 mythical beasts
Legendary creature
A legendary creature is a mythological or folkloric creature.-Origin:Some mythical creatures have their origin in traditional mythology and have been believed to be real creatures, for example the dragon, the unicorn, and griffin...
from folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
and literature.
In the preface, Borges states that the book is to be read "as with all miscellanies...not...straight through.... Rather we would like the reader to dip into the pages at random, just as one plays with the shifting patterns of a kaleidoscope
Kaleidoscope
A kaleidoscope is a circle of mirrors containing loose, colored objects such as beads or pebbles and bits of glass. As the viewer looks into one end, light entering the other end creates a colorful pattern, due to the reflection off the mirrors...
"; and that "legends of men taking the shapes of animals" have been omitted.
Creatures mentioned
Á Bao A QuA Bao A Qu
Á Bao A Qu is a Malay legend described in Jorge Luis Borges's1967 Book of Imaginary Beings. Borges claimed that he had found the legend in thebook On Malay Witchcraft , by C.C. Iturvuru.The Á Bao A Qu lived in the Tower of Victory in Chitor...
: A creature that lives on the staircase of the Tower of Victory in Chittor. It may only move when a traveler climbs the staircase, and it follows close at the person's heels. Its form becomes more complete the closer it gets to the terrace at the tower's top. It can only achieve this ultimate form if the traveler has obtained Nirvana
Nirvana
Nirvāṇa ; ) is a central concept in Indian religions. In sramanic thought, it is the state of being free from suffering. In Hindu philosophy, it is the union with the Supreme being through moksha...
, otherwise it finds itself unable to continue.
Abtu
Abtu
Abtu is the name of a sacred fish, according to Egyptian mythology, and of the city of Abydos, the place where Osiris and the early rulers of Egypt were buried....
and Anet: Two identical fish that, according to Egyptian legend, swam in front of the prow of the sun god's ship on the lookout for danger.
The Alicanto
Alicanto
The Alicanto or Allicanto is a mythological bird of the desert of Atacama, pertaining to Chilean mythology.-Legend:The legend says that the alicanto's wings shine during the night with beautiful, metallic colors, and their eyes emit strange lights; making a luminous flight some would not project...
: A mine shaft dwelling bird that feeds upon gold. It is pursued by miners.
The Amphisbaena
Amphisbaena
Amphisbaena , amphisbaina, amphisbene, amphisboena, amphisbona, amphista, amphivena, or anphivena , a Greek word, from amphis, meaning "both ways", and bainein, meaning "to go", also called the Mother of Ants, is a mythological, ant-eating serpent with a head at each end...
: A two-headed snake, with one head being where its tail would normally be. It is venomous and, if chopped in half, its two parts can reunite.
An Animal Imagined by Kafka: A kangaroo-like animal with a flat, human-like face and a very long tail.
Singing Beast Imagined by C. S. Lewis
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
: An animal that sits upon its haunches like a dog, but appears more like a horse. Its toes are camel-like, and, unable to produce its own milk, it raises its young by nursing them on the milk of other animals. It has an entrancing call that sounds almost like a glorious song. (from Perelandra
Perelandra
Perelandra is the second book in the Space Trilogy of C. S. Lewis, set in the Field of Arbol...
)
An Animal
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket is the only complete novel written by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. The work relates the tale of the young Arthur Gordon Pym, who stows away aboard a whaling ship called the Grampus...
Imagined by Poe: A small, flat animal with pure white fur and bright red claws and teeth. Its head is feline, except for its canine-like ears.
Animals in the Form of Spheres: At the time of its writing, some believed that planets and stars were actually living beings, and that the movement of the heavenly bodies was voluntary.
Antelopes with Six Legs: According to Siberian myth, these six-legged antelopes were far too fast for human beings to catch. A divine huntsman, Tunk-poj, cut off the animal's rear-most legs to make the animal easier for humans to hunt.
The Ass with Three Legs: This massive creature is said to stand in the middle of the ocean. It has three legs, six eyes, nine mouths, and one golden horn.
Axehandle Hound
Axehandle hound
The Axehandle Hound , is an American fearsome critter of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Overall, it resembles a dog with a roughly axelike shape. It has a head shaped like an axe blade, complemented by a handle-shaped body atop short stubby legs...
Bahamut
Bahamut
Bahamut is a vast fish that supports the earth in Arabian mythology. In some sources, Bahamut is described as having a head resembling a hippopotamus or elephant.-Overview:...
: A huge, measureless fish which is often used to describe the spaces between heaven, earth, and hell.
Baldanders
Baldanders
Baldanders or The Soon-Another is a creature of Germanic literary myth that features protean properties.-Origin:Baldanders was first conceived by shoemaker and writer Hans Sachs after reading the description of Proteus in The Odyssey...
: Also known as Soon-Another's, these creatures can assume many shapes. It appears to have a human head and torso, the tail of a fish, the leg of a goat, and the wings and claws of a bird.
The Banshee
Banshee
The banshee , from the Irish bean sí is a feminine spirit in Irish mythology, usually seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld....
: The "woman of the fairies" does not have a distinct shape, but is instead described by her keening wails.
Barometz: This "animal" is actually a plant in the shape of a lamb with golden fleece.
Basilisk
Basilisk
In European bestiaries and legends, a basilisk is a legendary reptile reputed to be king of serpents and said to have the power to cause death with a single glance...
: The basilisk's appearance has changed over the ages, but it is most often considered a chicken-like serpent with anywhere from four to eight legs. It is extremely venomous, and its gaze can turn anyone into stone.
Behemoth
Behemoth
Behemoth is a mythological beast mentioned in the Book of Job, 40:15-24. Metaphorically, the name has come to be used for any extremely large or powerful entity.-Plural as singular:...
: A massive creature that is often likened to an elephant or hippopotamus.
Brownies: Small brown colored men that often visit homes while the inhabitants are asleep to perform various chores.
Burak
Buraq
Al-Burāq is a mythological steed, described as a creature from the heavens which transported the prophets. The most commonly told story is how in the 7th century, Al-Buraq carried the Islamic prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Jerusalem and back during the Isra and Mi'raj or "Night Journey", which is...
: A horse-like creature with long ears and the wings and tail of a peacock. It may also have a man's face.
Carbuncle: This creature was alleged to be seen in Latin America. Legends say the Carbuncle has some sort of jewel on its head.
Catoblepas
Catoblepas
The catoblepas is a legendary creature from Ethiopia, described first by Pliny the Elder and later by Claudius Aelianus. It is said to have the body of a buffalo and the head of a wild boar. Its back has scales that protect the beast, and its head is always pointing downwards...
: Described as a black buffalo with a hog's head, this creature's head is so heavy that it constantly hangs low to the ground. It is also believed that, like the basilisk, looking into its eyes will kill you instantly.
Celestial Cock: The Celestial Cock, also known as the Cock of Dawn, has three legs and makes its home in the Fu-sang tree, a mile-tall tree that grows in "the region of dawn." It is said to crow three times each day: once at dawn, once at midday and once when the sun sets.
Celestial Stag: No one has ever seen a Celestial Stag. They live in underground mines, searching for the light of day. They will attempt to bribe, speak to, and even torture miners in their quest to reach the surface, where they turn into a deadly liquid form.
Centaur
Centaur
In Greek mythology, a centaur or hippocentaur is a member of a composite race of creatures, part human and part horse...
: A well-known beast with the torso of a man and the hindquarters of a horse. Most are portrayed as savage beasts, but others can be well learned in many arts.
Cerberus
Cerberus
Cerberus , or Kerberos, in Greek and Roman mythology, is a multi-headed hound which guards the gates of the Underworld, to prevent those who have crossed the river Styx from ever escaping...
: A three-headed dog known to guard the gates of the underworld in Greek mythology.
Charybdis
Charybdis
Charybdis or Kharybdis was a sea monster, later rationalised as a whirlpool and considered a shipping hazard in the Strait of Messina.-The mythological background:...
: A sea monster, once a beautiful naiad and the daughter of Poseidon and Gaia. She takes form as a huge bladder of a creature whose face was all mouth and whose arms and legs were flippers and who swallows huge amounts of water three times a day before belching them back out again, creating whirlpools.
The Cheshire Cat
Cheshire Cat
The Cheshire Cat is a fictional cat popularised by Lewis Carroll's depiction of it in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Known for his distinctive mischievous grin, the Cheshire Cat has had a notable impact on popular culture.-Origins:...
: A rather mischievous cat with a large, grinning face. It can also make itself invisible, leaving behind only its disembodied smile.
The Chimera
Chimera (mythology)
The Chimera or Chimaera was, according to Greek mythology, a monstrous fire-breathing female creature of Lycia in Asia Minor, composed of the parts of multiple animals: upon the body of a lioness with a tail that ended in a snake's head, the head of a goat arose on her back at the center of her...
: Although it may have several different forms, the chimera is most often described as a three-headed beast. Sprouting from its back is the head of a goat, a lion's head at its front, and a snake's head as its tail.
The Chinese Dragon
Chinese dragon
Chinese dragons are legendary creatures in Chinese mythology and folklore, with mythic counterparts among Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Bhutanese, Western and Turkic dragons. In Chinese art, dragons are typically portrayed as long, scaled, serpentine creatures with four legs...
: Compared to the Western Dragon, this dragon is considered divine and holy. It is often seen with antler-like horns and protrusions running along its spine. The Chinese dragon is often pictured with a pearl: the source of its power.
The Chinese Fox: These foxes appear like average foxes, but may sometimes be seen standing on their hind legs to walk. They presumably live about a thousand years, and are bad omens for their mischievous ways. They are known to shapeshift and are able to see into the future.
The Chinese Phoenix
Fenghuang
Fenghuang are mythological birds of East Asia that reign over all other birds. The males are called Feng and the females Huang. In modern times, however, such a distinction of gender is often no longer made and the Feng and Huang are blurred into a single feminine entity so that the bird can be...
: Two basic creatures are described as a symbol of eternal love: the male Feng and the female Huang. They are described as very beautiful birds similar to a peacock, have three legs, and live in the sun.
Chonchon
Chonchon
For other uses, see Chonchon The Chonchon is a mythical bird from Mapuche religion also present in Chilean and southern Argentinan folk myth.-Legend:...
Ch'ou-T'i: A legendary Chinese creature with a head both front and back.
Chronos or Heracles: This dragon-like creature is often known by two names. Like the chimera, it is made of three heads: a bull's head at its front, a god's head at its middle, and a lion's head at its rear.
The Denizens of Ch'uan-T'ou: Creatures with human heads, beaks, and bat wings.
An Insect Imagined by C. S. Lewis
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
: A strange, jointed insect consisting of a cylindrical body and many thin legs.
Crocotta
Crocotta
The crocotta , is a mythical dog-wolf of India or Ethiopia, linked to the hyena and said to be a deadly enemy of men and dogs.-Ancient Accounts:...
and the Leucrocotta: The crocotta is described as a hybrid of a dog and a wolf, and may be able to imitate the voice of a person. The leucrocotta is similar, but described as an antelope and hyena hybrid.
A Crossbreed: An animal described by Kafka in "Description of a Struggle" that is half cat and half lamb. Its fur is woolly and soft, yet it has a cat's face and claws. It does not make any sounds, and refuses to chase after rats.
Doppelgänger
Doppelgänger
In fiction and folklore, a doppelgänger is a paranormal double of a living person, typically representing evil or misfortune...
: Also known as the Double, the Doppelgänger is best described as a man's exact counterpart.
Eastern Dragon: Quite similar to the Chinese dragon of the same region, the Eastern dragon takes roughly the same form, but may be lacking wings. The pearl is also the source of its power, and they can make themselves invisible if they so wish.
Eater of the Dead: Most commonly associated with Egyptian myth, the Eater attends to the "wicked". It is described as having the head of a crocodile, the midsection of a lion, and the hindquarters of a hippo.
Eight-Forked Serpent: A massive serpent with eight heads and eight tails. Its eyes are a deep red, and trees are said to grow along its back.
The Elephant That Foretold the Birth of the Buddha: A white elephant with six tusks that appeared in a dream to, as its namesake suggests, foretell the birth of Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
.
The Eloi
Eloi
The Eloi are one of the two post-human races in H. G. Wells' 1895 novel The Time Machine.-In The Time Machine:By the year 802,701 AD, humanity has evolved into two separate species: the Eloi and the Morlocks...
and the Morlocks: In the setting of H. G. Wells
H. G. Wells
Herbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
' The Time Machine
The Time Machine
The Time Machine is a science fiction novella by H. G. Wells, published in 1895 for the first time and later adapted into at least two feature films of the same name, as well as two television versions, and a large number of comic book adaptations. It indirectly inspired many more works of fiction...
, it is suggested that humans evolve (or devolve) into two distinct species. The Eloi are thin and fragile artisans, living on fruits. The Morlocks are blind laborers, living underground and rising to the surface on moonless nights to feed on the Eloi.
Elves
Elf
An elf is a being of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of divine beings endowed with magical powers, which they use both for the benefit and the injury of mankind...
: Little is known about the actual appearance of elves, but they seem to be very small people, and are often portrayed as having pointed ears. They are known for causing all sorts of mischief, such as tangling hair and stealing cattle.
The Wonders of God's Creation Manifested in the Variety of Eight: A mysterious creature that lives in the world of Bliss. Allegedly, all sounds, sights, and smells to this creature are divine.
The Fairies
Fairy
A fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural.Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term...
: Fairies are described as beautiful, tiny people that like to meddle in the affairs of humans.
Fastitocalon: A massive whale that many sailors often mistake for an island.
Fauna of Mirrors
Fauna of Mirrors
The fauna of mirrors is an ancient Chinese myth that behind every mirror there is an entirely different world. This other dimension is home to creatures that are unknown to earth...
: It was believed that another world existed behind all mirrors, inhabited by a wide amount of unknown and strange creatures. Luckily, our worlds are now cut off from one another.
Garuda
Garuda
The Garuda is a large mythical bird or bird-like creature that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology.From an Indian perspective, Garuda is the Hindu name for the constellation Aquila and...
: This beast is the mount of the god Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
. It is half man and half vulture, with a white face, deep red wings, and a golden body.
Gillygaloo: A bird which nests on mountain slopes and lays square eggs, which lumberjacks use as dice.
Goofang: A fish("about the size of a sunfish but much bigger") which swims backwards to keep the water out of its eyes.
Goofus Bird: A bird that builds its nest upside down and flies backwards.
Gnome
Gnome
A gnome is a diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature...
s: Sprites of the earth and hills, gnomes are often shown as bearded dwarves, often with rough features. They often watch over treasure as well.
Golem
Golem
In Jewish folklore, a golem is an animated anthropomorphic being, created entirely from inanimate matter. The word was used to mean an amorphous, unformed material in Psalms and medieval writing....
: This creature was created for the purpose of doing menial chores, and was controlled by a magic tablet placed under its tongue. Normally apathetic and unaware, if uncontrolled the creature enters a wild frenzy.
Griffin
Griffin
The griffin, griffon, or gryphon is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle...
: The griffin is best described as an eagle with the body of a lion, and is very strong.
Haniel
Haniel
Haniel , also known as Anael, Hanael or Aniel, is an angel in Jewish lore and angelology, and is often included in lists as being one of the seven archangels. Haniel is generally associated with the planet Venus, he is also the archangel of the Sephirah Netzach...
, Kafziel, Azriel
Azrael
Azrael is the name of the Archangel of Death in some extrabiblical traditions. He is also the angel of death in Islamic theology and Sikhism. It is an English form of the Arabic name ʿIzrāʾīl or Azra'eil , the name traditionally attributed to the angel of death in some sects of Islam and Sikhism,...
, and Aniel: Sometimes referred to as angels, these four beasts also possessed four faces: a man's, a lion's, an ox's, and an eagle's. They also possessed four wings.
Haokah
Haokah
In Lakota mythology, Heyókȟa is a spirit of thunder and lightning. He is said to use the wind as sticks to beat the drum of thunder. His emotions are portrayed opposite the norm; he laughs when he is sad and cries when he is happy, cold makes him sweat and heat makes him shiver. In art, he is...
, the Thunder God: He appears as a man with large antlers, using the wind to beat his thunder drum.
Harpies: Creatures with a vulture's body, a woman's face, and an insatiable hunger. They are described as having filthy genitalia and a foul smell about them.
Heavenly Cock: Also known as the Bird of Dawn, this Chinese rooster has three legs and crows three times a day, to signal dawn, noon, and dusk.
Hide: A many-eyed octopus
Octopus
The octopus is a cephalopod mollusc of the order Octopoda. Octopuses have two eyes and four pairs of arms, and like other cephalopods they are bilaterally symmetric. An octopus has a hard beak, with its mouth at the center point of the arms...
-like creature shaped like an animal's hide
Hides
A hide is an animal skin treated for human use. Hides include leather from cattle and other livestock animals, alligator skins, snake skins for shoes and fashion accessories and furs from wild cats, mink and bears. In some areas, leather is produced on a domestic or small industrial scale, but most...
.
Hidebehind
Hidebehind
A hidebehind is a nocturnal fearsome critter from American folklore that preys upon humans that wander the woods, and was credited for the disappearances of early colonial loggers when they failed to return to camp. As its name suggests, the hidebehind is noted for its ability to conceal itself...
: A strong, nocturnal creature which feeds off the intestines of its prey. It captures and hides from wayfarers in the woods by sucking in its body so that it can hide behind the trunk of any tree, or the person trying to look at it. It is said they have an aversion to alcohol.
Hippogriff
Hippogriff
A Hippogriff is a legendary creature, supposedly the offspring of a griffin and a mare.- Early references :...
: A creature invented by Ludovico Ariosto
Ludovico Ariosto
Ludovico Ariosto was an Italian poet. He is best known as the author of the romance epic Orlando Furioso . The poem, a continuation of Matteo Maria Boiardo's Orlando Innamorato, describes the adventures of Charlemagne, Orlando, and the Franks as they battle against the Saracens with diversions...
in the 16th century in his epic Orlando Furioso
Orlando Furioso
Orlando Furioso is an Italian epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto which has exerted a wide influence on later culture. The earliest version appeared in 1516, although the poem was not published in its complete form until 1532...
, based on an expression of Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
's denoting the impossible, "to cross griffons with horses"; the griffon [see above] being a cross between a lion and an eagle believed by Virgil's commentator Servius to loathe horses.
Hochigan: A long-ago bushman who stole the animals' gift of speech. Borges links this to Descartes' idea that monkeys stay silent to avoid having to work, and to a story by Argentinian author Lugones about a chimpanzee killed by the strain of learning to talk.
Hsiao
Hsiao
Xiao is a Chinese surname. In the Wade-Giles system of romanization, it is rendered as Hsiao. It may also be romanized as Siew, Siow or Siu....
: An owl-like creature with a man's face, an ape's body, and a dog's tail.
Hsing-T'ien
Xing Tian
Xing Tian meaning "punished one" or "he who was punished by heaven" is a Pre-Qin Dynasty mythological headless giant appearing in the Shan Hai Jing, Oracle Bones and also mentioned in the Imperial Readings of the Taiping Era.-Sources in the Shanhaijing:...
: A headless creature with eyes on its chest and its mouth on its belly.
Hua-Fish: A flying snake-fish that foretells drought.
Huallepen: A swift-moving dog with a human head, which laughs maliciously.
Hui: An amphibious sheep-like animal, which can mate with cows to produce deformed offspring; if a pregnant woman sees one, her child will also be deformed.
Humbaba
Humbaba
In Akkadian mythology Humbaba or Huwawa , also Humbaba the Terrible was a monstrous giant of immemorial age raised by Utu, the Sun...
: A giant in the Assyrian epic
Epic poetry
An epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form...
Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh was the fifth king of Uruk, modern day Iraq , placing his reign ca. 2500 BC. According to the Sumerian king list he reigned for 126 years. In the Tummal Inscription, Gilgamesh, and his son Urlugal, rebuilt the sanctuary of the goddess Ninlil, in Tummal, a sacred quarter in her city of...
that guards mountain cedars, he is scaly, with vulture claws, lion paws, bull's horns and a tail and penis with snakes' heads at the ends. Men-scorpions from the poem, which guard the mountain Mashu, are also mentioned.
Hundred-Heads: The hundred heads was said to be a gigantic fish with many heads, each one that of a different animal. Legend holds that the fish was the reincarnated spirit of a monk who had often called others "monkey-head" or something similar. The karma of these insults had made him return as a monster.
The Hydra of Lernaea
Lernaean Hydra
In Greek mythology, the Lernaean Hydra was an ancient nameless serpent-like chthonic water beast, with reptilian traits, that possessed many heads — the poets mention more heads than the vase-painters could paint, and for each head cut off it grew two more — and poisonous breath so virulent even...
Ichthyocentaur: from the waist up, this creature has the form of a man, but below the waist they have the fins and tail of a fish. Their forefeet are either in the form of a lion's or a horse's.
Jewish Demons: In Jewish tradition the world between those of the body and spirit is that of angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
s and devils, densely populated and including creatures from many other cultures. One of the devils is Keteb Mereri, Lord of the Noontide and of Scorching Summers.
Jinn
Genie
Jinn or genies are supernatural creatures in Arab folklore and Islamic teachings that occupy a parallel world to that of mankind. Together, jinn, humans and angels make up the three sentient creations of Allah. Religious sources say barely anything about them; however, the Qur'an mentions that...
- One of the three kinds of intelligent creatures created by Allah in Muslim tradition, Jinn are formed from smoke of fire, have five orders, can be good or evil and of either sex and can appear as clouds or in various forms or be invisible. Borges mentions various legends about them, as well as Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
's poem "Les Djinns", and the possible link between the Latin genius and Jinn.
the Kilkenny Cats
Kilkenny Cats
The term Kilkenny cat refers to anyone who is a tenacious fighter. The origin of the term is now lost so there are many stories purporting to give the true meaning....
: These cats often fight with each other, devouring everything but the other's tail.
A King of Fire and his Steed: These were beings formed completely of the constantly changing flames of fire.
Kraken
Kraken
Kraken are legendary sea monsters of giant proportions said to have dwelt off the coasts of Norway and Iceland.In modern German, Krake means octopus but can also refer to the legendary Kraken...
Kujata
Kujata
Kujata may refer to:* A bull generally thought to be resting on the head of Bahamut in Arabian mythology* Northumberland Island, Greenland...
: A giant bull with thousands of eyes, nostrils, mouths, and feet, which helps to support the world(perched atop Bahamut).
The Lamed Wufniks
Tzadikim Nistarim
The Tzadikim Nistarim or Lamed Vav Tzadikim , often abbreviated to Lamed Vav, refers to 36 Righteous people, a notion rooted within the more mystical dimensions of Judaism. The singular form is Tzadik Nistar .-Origins:...
: there are precisely thirty-six Lamed Wufniks in existence. It is said that, without knowing it, they support the universe and affirm god. If one comes to realize their purpose, they immediately die and are replaced by another unsuspecting man.
Lamia
Lamia (mythology)
In ancient Greek mythology, Lamia was a beautiful queen of Libya who became a child-eating daemon. Aristophanes claimed her name derived from the Greek word for gullet , referring to her habit of devouring children....
: Half woman and half serpent, these creatures are said to have sprung from one of Zeus's varied love interests. They are thought to be sorceresses, and although they cannot speak they whistle sweetly.
Laudatores Temporis Acti
Lemuri: The Lemuri were the souls of the evil dead, created by Romulus
Romulus
- People:* Romulus and Remus, the mythical founders of Rome* Romulus Augustulus, the last Western Roman Emperor* Valerius Romulus , deified son of the Roman emperor Maxentius* Romulus , son of the Western Roman emperor Anthemius...
to subdue the restless spirit of his brother Remus
Remus
Remus is the twin brother of the mythical founder of Rome.Remus may also refer to:* Remus , a fictional planet in Star Trek* Remus , a moon of the asteroid 87 Sylvia...
.
The Leveler: Reputed to live on the planet Neptune
Neptune
Neptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Named for the Roman god of the sea, it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third largest by mass. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus, which is 15 times...
, this creature is 10 times the size of an elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
, and looks quite a bit like it. Its most remarkable features are its conical legs (which are flat on the bottom). Bricklayers employ the leveler to flatten hilly areas for construction projects. It is herbivorous and has few enemies.
Lilith
Lilith
Lilith is a character in Jewish mythology, found earliest in the Babylonian Talmud, who is generally thought to be related to a class of female demons Līlīṯu in Mesopotamian texts. However, Lowell K. Handy notes, "Very little information has been found relating to the Akkadian and Babylonian view...
: A woman created before Eve
Eve
Eve is the first woman created by God in the Book of Genesis.Eve may also refer to:-People:*Eve , a common given name and surname*Eve , American recording artist and actress-Places:...
, according to a Hebrew document. Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti was an English poet, illustrator, painter and translator. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais, and was later to be the main inspiration for a second generation of artists and writers influenced by the movement,...
imagined her as a snake in Eden Bower and the similarity of her name with the Hebrew layil or night produced the Middle Age idea of her as a creature of the night.
The Lunar Hare
Moon rabbit
The Moon rabbit, also called the Jade Rabbit, in folklore is a rabbit that lives on the moon, based on pareidolia that identifies the markings of the moon as a rabbit. The story exists in many cultures, particularly in East Asian folklore, where it is seen pounding in a mortar and pestle...
: Ideas of the shapes seen in the moon range include the English "man in the moon
Man in the Moon
The Man in the Moon is an imaginary figure resembling a human face, head or body, that observers from some cultural backgrounds typically perceive in the bright disc of the full moon...
", the legend of Cain eternally carrying thorns there, and the Chinese legend of the Lunar Hare: It jumped into a fire to feed the Buddha, who sent its soul to the moon, where it mixes the elixir of life.
Mandrake
Mandrake
Mandrake may refer to:* Mandrake , a plant of the genus Mandragora* Mandragora , in occultism* Mandrake Linux, former name of Mandriva Linux, a computer operating system...
Manticore
Manticore
The manticore is a legendary creature similar to the Egyptian sphinx. It has the body of a red lion, a human head with three rows of sharp teeth , and a trumpet-like voice. Other aspects of the creature vary from story to story. It may be horned, winged, or both...
Mermecolion: An ant/lion hybrid which inevitably starves because it cannot eat either meat or grains, although its lion half craves the former and its ant half craves the latter.
Minotaur
Minotaur
In Greek mythology, the Minotaur , as the Greeks imagined him, was a creature with the head of a bull on the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, "part man and part bull"...
The Monkey of the Inkpot: an extract from Wang Tai-Hai describes a small creature with black fur and scarlet eyes that sits by writers and drinks their leftover ink.
The Monster Acheron
Acheron
The Acheron is a river located in the Epirus region of northwest Greece. It flows into the Ionian Sea in Ammoudia, near Parga.-In mythology:...
: A giant, taller than a mountain, with three mouths and all of Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
in his stomach, described in the Vision of Tundale
Visio Tnugdali
The Visio Tnugdali is a 12th-century religious text reporting the otherworldly vision of the Irish knight Tnugdalus...
.
The Mother of Tortoises: A giant tortoise made of water and fire, on whose shell is written the "Universal Rule", a divine treatise.
Musical Serpent: A four-winged serpent which makes sounds similar to those of the "Musical Stone".
Nāga
Naga
Naga or NAGA may refer to:* Nāga, a group of serpent deities in Hindu and Buddhist mythology.-People:* Nayan / Nayar/Nair people of Kerala Society* Naga people, a diverse ethnic identity in Northeast India...
: a half human half snake creature
Namazu
Namazu
In Japanese mythology, the Namazu or Ōnamazu is a giant catfish who causes earthquakes. He lives in the mud beneath the earth, and is guarded by the god Kashima who restrains the catfish with a stone. When Kashima lets his guard fall, Namazu thrashes about, causing violent earthquakes...
: this beast is said to be a giant cat-fish that lives beneath the surface of the earth, and causes earthquakes with its movements.
Nasnas
Nasnas
A nasnas is a monstrous creature in Arab mythology. According to Edward Lane, the 19th century translator of The Arabian Nights, a nasnas is "half a human being; having half a head, half a body, one arm, one leg, with which it hops with much agility". It was believed to be the offspring of a demon...
: A creature shaped like half a man, with one leg, one arm, one eye, and half a heart.
The Norns
The Nymphs
Odradek: subject of The Cares of a Family Man
The Cares of a Family Man
"The Cares of a Family Man" is a short story by Franz Kafka which deals mostly with a small creature called Odradek. The creature has drawn the attention of many philosophers and literary critics, who have all attempted to interpret its meaning. The story was written between 1914 and 1917. In 1919...
("Die Sorge des Hausvaters"), a short story by Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka was a culturally influential German-language author of short stories and novels. Contemporary critics and academics, including Vladimir Nabokov, regard Kafka as one of the best writers of the 20th century...
An Offspring of Leviathan: A creature of medieval legend, "a dragon that was half beast and half fish".
Ocean Men: Merman
Merman
Mermen are mythical male equivalents of mermaids – legendary creatures who have the form of a human from the waist up and are fish-like from the waist down.-Mythology:...
: like creatures of Chinese legend, who cause storms.
One-Eyed Beings
Cyclops
A cyclops , in Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, was a member of a primordial race of giants, each with a single eye in the middle of his forehead...
The Ouroboros
Ouroboros
The Ouroboros is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail. The name originates from within Greek language; οὐρά meaning "tail" and βόρος meaning "eating", thus "he who eats the tail"....
The Panther
Panther (legendary creature)
A Panther is a creature out of ancient myth that resembles a big cat with a multicoloured hide.Under medieval belief after feasting the panther will sleep in a cave for a total of three days. After this period ends, the panther roars, in the process emitting a sweet smelling odor...
Peryton
Peryton
The peryton is a fictional animal combining the physical features of a stag and a bird, presumably originating in Jorge Luis Borges' Book of Imaginary Beings, although he refers to a lost medieval manuscript as a source...
: Combining the physical features of a stag
STAG
STAG: A Test of Love is a reality TV show hosted by Tommy Habeeb. Each episode profiles an engaged couple a week or two before their wedding. The cameras then follow the groom on his bachelor party...
and a bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
The Phoenix
Phoenix (mythology)
The phoenix or phenix is a mythical sacred firebird that can be found in the mythologies of the Arabian, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, Indian and Phoenicians....
Ping Feng: A black pig with a head at each end.
Pinnacle Grouse: Has only one wing, and flies in a continuous circle around the top of a mountain.
Pygmies: 27-inch dwarfs mentioned by Pliny
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
and Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
who inhabited the mountains beyond India, waging war on the cranes that attacked them for three months a year. The Carthaginians also had a god called Pygmy
Pygmy
Pygmy is a term used for various ethnic groups worldwide whose average height is unusually short; anthropologists define pygmy as any group whose adult men grow to less than 150 cm in average height. A member of a slightly taller group is termed "pygmoid." The best known pygmies are the Aka,...
who was used as figurhead on warships.
Queer Arm People: People with a single arm and three eyes, who build flying chariots.
The Rain Bird
Rainbird
Rainbird, Rain Bird or Rainbirds may refer to:- Birds :* Rainbird, colloquial name given to various birds thought to sing before rain, including the European Green Woodpecker, Jamaican Lizard Cuckoo, Pacific Koel, Channel-billed Cuckoo, Burchell's Coucal and Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, as well as...
: Also called the shang yang, this bird creates rain by carrying water from rivers in its beak.
Remora
Remora
The remora , sometimes called a suckerfish or sharksucker, is an elongated, brown fish in the order Perciformes and family Echeneidae...
Roperite: A pony-sized animal which uses its lariat
Lariat
Lariat can refer to:*A rope in the form of a lasso*Lariat chain, a science demonstration*A professional wrestling move, a variation of a clothesline*A genetic structure in Splicing *Double Lariat, a popular song sung by Luka Megurine...
-like beak to ensnare rabbits.
Rukh
Salamander
The Satyrs
Satyr
In Greek mythology, satyrs are a troop of male companions of Pan and Dionysus — "satyresses" were a late invention of poets — that roamed the woods and mountains. In myths they are often associated with pipe-playing....
Scylla
Scylla
In Greek mythology, Scylla was a monster that lived on one side of a narrow channel of water, opposite its counterpart Charybdis. The two sides of the strait were within an arrow's range of each other—so close that sailors attempting to avoid Charybdis would pass too close to Scylla and vice...
The Sea Horse: An aquatic horse, which sometimes surfaces to mate with land horses.
The Shaggy Beast of La Ferte-Bernard
Peluda
The Peluda is a supposed dragon or mythical beast that terrorized La Ferté-Bernard, France, in medieval times. It is said to have come from and lived near the Huisne river near the town. Despite the French origins, its more recognized name is Occitan —or any latine origin— for "hairy"...
Simurgh
Simurgh
Simurgh , also spelled simorgh, simurg, simoorg or simourv, also known as Angha , is the modern Persian name for a benevolent, mythical flying creature...
Siren
Siren
In Greek mythology, the Sirens were three dangerous mermaid like creatures, portrayed as seductresses who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. Roman poets placed them on an island called Sirenum scopuli...
s
The Sow Harnessed with Chains: Also called the Tin Pig, this creature is heard rattling its chains on railroad tracks by night, but is never seen.
Sphinx
Sphinx
A sphinx is a mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head or a cat head.The sphinx, in Greek tradition, has the haunches of a lion, the wings of a great bird, and the face of a woman. She is mythicised as treacherous and merciless...
Squonk
Squonk
The Squonk is a legendary creature reputed to live in the Hemlock forests of northern Pennsylvania. Legends of squonks probably originated in the late nineteenth century, at the height of Pennsylvania's importance in the timber industry.-In folklore:...
: Reputed to live in the Hemlock
Tsuga
Tsuga is a genus of conifers in the family Pinaceae. The common name hemlock is derived from a perceived similarity in the smell of its crushed foliage to that of the unrelated plant poison hemlock....
forests of northern Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
.
Strong Toad: Distinguished from other toads by its turtle
Turtle
Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines , characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield...
-like shell, the Strong Toad glows like a firefly, cannot be killed except by burning, and can attract or repel anyone nearby with its stare.
Swedenborg's Angels
Emanuel Swedenborg
was a Swedish scientist, philosopher, and theologian. He has been termed a Christian mystic by some sources, including the Encyclopædia Britannica online version, and the Encyclopedia of Religion , which starts its article with the description that he was a "Swedish scientist and mystic." Others...
: The perfected souls of the blessed and wise, living in a Heaven of ideal things, each reflecting the perfection of this realm.
Swedenborg's Devils
Emanuel Swedenborg
was a Swedish scientist, philosopher, and theologian. He has been termed a Christian mystic by some sources, including the Encyclopædia Britannica online version, and the Encyclopedia of Religion , which starts its article with the description that he was a "Swedish scientist and mystic." Others...
: these are people which, after dying, choose to go to hell rather than to heaven. They are not happy there, but they are reputed to be more content in hell than they would have been in heaven.
Sylph
Sylph
Sylph is a mythological creature in the Western tradition. The term originates in Paracelsus, who describes sylphs as invisible beings of the air, his elementals of air...
Talos
Talos
In Greek mythology, Talos or Talon was a giant man of bronze who protected Europa in Crete from pirates and invaders by circling the island's shores three times daily while guarding it.- History :...
The T'ao T'ieh
Taotie
The Taotie is a motif commonly found on ritual bronze vessels from the Shang and Zhou Dynasty. The design typically consists of a zoomorphic mask, described as being frontal, bilaterally symmetrical, with a pair of raised eyes and typically no lower jaw area...
: a dog with one (often monstrous) head attached to two bodies, which symbolizes the sins of gluttony
Gluttony
Gluttony, derived from the Latin gluttire meaning to gulp down or swallow, means over-indulgence and over-consumption of food, drink, intoxicants or wealth items to the point of extravagance or waste...
and greed.
Teakettler
Teakettler
The Teakettler is a legendary creature from American folklore with origins in lumberjack culture, specifically the lumber camps of Minnesota and Wisconsin. It is part of a group of similar folklore creatures known collectively as Fearsome Critters. Overall, it resembles a small stubby legged dog...
Thermal Beings: Entities composed solely of heat, from an earlier stage of the world's creation.
Ti-chiang: A faceless, supernatural bird with six feet and four wings.
The Tigers of Annam: Tigers who rule over the four cardinal directions, with the Yellow Tiger commanding them from the world's center.
The Trolls: Due to the arrival of Christianity in Scandinavia, pagan giants were diminished into small, malevolent, stupid, mountain-dwelling elves. The Elder Edda states that the giants would cross Bifrost
Bifröst
In Norse mythology, Bifrost or Bilröst is a burning rainbow bridge that reaches between Midgard and Asgard, the realm of the gods...
, a great rainbow, at the Twilight of the Gods
Ragnarök
In Norse mythology, Ragnarök is a series of future events, including a great battle foretold to ultimately result in the death of a number of major figures , the occurrence of various natural disasters, and the subsequent submersion of the world in water...
, breaking it with their weight and so destroying the world. Trolls figure in Ibsen's Peer Gynt
Peer Gynt
Peer Gynt is a five-act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen, loosely based on the fairy tale Per Gynt. It is the most widely performed Norwegian play. According to Klaus Van Den Berg, the "cinematic script blends poetry with social satire and realistic scenes with surreal ones"...
as 'nationalist' creatures that view their squalour as luxury and suggest putting out Peer Gynt
Peer Gynt
Peer Gynt is a five-act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen, loosely based on the fairy tale Per Gynt. It is the most widely performed Norwegian play. According to Klaus Van Den Berg, the "cinematic script blends poetry with social satire and realistic scenes with surreal ones"...
's eyes so he can avoid seeing the ugliness he is confronted with.
Two Metaphysical Beings: Condillac's
Étienne Bonnot de Condillac
Étienne Bonnot de Condillac was a French philosopher and epistemologist who studied in such areas as psychology and the philosophy of the mind.-Biography:...
sensitive statue inhabited by a new-formed soul which becomes human through sensory perception(starting with smell
Smell
Smell may refer to:* Olfaction, sense of smell, the ability of humans and other animals to perceive odors* Odor, the percept resultant from the sense of smell...
); a creature that can only sense the outside world through a moveable feeler
Antenna (biology)
Antennae in biology have historically been paired appendages used for sensing in arthropods. More recently, the term has also been applied to cilium structures present in most cell types of eukaryotes....
.
Unicorn
Unicorn
The unicorn is a legendary animal from European folklore that resembles a white horse with a large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead, and sometimes a goat's beard...
The Unicorn of China
Qilin
The Qilin is a mythical hooved Chinese chimerical creature known throughout various East Asian cultures, and is said to appear with the imminent arrival or passing of a wise sage or an illustrious ruler. It is a good omen that brings rui . It is often depicted with what looks like fire all over...
Upland Trout: Flying fish which nest in trees and fear water.
Valkyrie
Valkyrie
In Norse mythology, a valkyrie is one of a host of female figures who decides who dies in battle. Selecting among half of those who die in battle , the valkyries bring their chosen to the afterlife hall of the slain, Valhalla, ruled over by the god Odin...
: "The chooser of the slain"
The Western Dragon
Dragon (disambiguation)
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or otherwise reptilian traits.Dragon may also refer to:-Literature:* Dragon , a 1990 adventure novel by Clive Cussler...
: A tall heavy serpent with claws and wings.
Youwarkee: The half-bird half-woman heroine of the 1751 novel "The Life and Adventure Peter Wilkins a Cornish Man‘’ by Robert Paltock
Robert Paltock
Robert Paltock was an English novelist and attorney. His most famous work is The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins, a Cornish Man .Paltock was admired by Walter Scott, Coleridge, and Charles Lamb....
, Youwarkee is one of the winged glumms that inhabit an Antarctic island. Peter Wilkins is a shipwrecked sailor who marries her and converts them to Christianity.
Zaratan
Zaratan
The Zaratan is a grandiose sea turtle found in literature and folk lore. Zaratans are notable for their long-life span and impossible size. Zaratan shells are easily mistaken for small islands, similar to the whale-like Fastitocalon. The Zaratan is catalogued in Jorge Luis Borges's El Libro de...
See also
- AnthrozoologyAnthrozoologyAnthrozoology is the study of human-animal interaction. It is a modern interdisciplinary and burgeoning field that overlaps with a number of other disciplines, including anthropology, ethology, medicine, psychology, veterinary medicine and zoology...
- Birds, Beasts and Relatives
- Celestial Emporium of Benevolent Knowledge's Taxonomy
External links
- Fantastic Zoology A graphical interpretation of the book