Legendary Animals
People have always been interested in animals. Very early in the history of civilization hunters tracked down and domesticated the animals of their own surroundings. These remote peoples also listened eagerly to travelers from far places who told of strange beasts they had seen and even stranger ones they had only heard about.
Because early writers lacked scientific knowledge, they often confused fact with hearsay. Several books of travel and natural history that were dated from pre-Christian times and the Middle Ages were widely read, and their reports of fantastic animals were accepted. New versions, even more bizarre, were handed down. In the 1st century AD the Latin writer Pliny the Elder published a 37-volume 'Natural History', which was a massive compilation of 2,000 earlier works.
In 1544 Sebastian Munster wrote the popular 'Cosmographia Universalis', which had vivid descriptions of dragons and basilisks. Even the great Swiss naturalist Conrad Gesner, in 'Historia Animalium' (1551-87), described the unicorn and winged dragons.
The most famous travel book of the Middle Ages was 'The Voyage and Travels of Sir John Mandeville, Knight', written in the mid-14th century. The mysterious writer's fanciful descriptions of monsters probably were derived from Pliny's 'Natural History'. Claims that the travel adventures were actually compiled in Belgium, where Mandeville changed his name to Jean de Bourgogne, have since been disputed.
- Dragons, Centaurs, and Griffins
Of all the monsters in myth and folklore, the dragon is the most familiar and the most feared. Winged dragons with flame and smoke pouring from their nostrils dominate the legends of many countries. The various species whose parts were combined into the dragon's hybrid form differed from one land to another. (See also Dragon.)
The centaurs of Greek mythology were part human and part horse wild creatures with a great fondness for wine and a reputation for carrying off helpless maidens. They may have originated in stories about the wild horsemen of prehistoric Asia. Never having seen men ride upon the backs of animals, people were filled with awe and terror of these mounted invaders.
The griffin had the head and wings of an eagle, the body of a lion, and the tail of a serpent or a lion. In legends of the Far East, India, and ancient Scythia, griffins were the guardians of mines and treasures. In Greek mythology they guarded treasures of gold and drew the chariot of the sun.
- Basilisk, Mermaids, Sea Serpents
The basilisk, or cockatrice, was a serpent so horrible that it killed with a glance. Pliny the Elder described it simply as a snake with a small golden crown. By the Middle Ages it had become a snake with the head of a cock or sometimes a human head. It was born of a spherical egg, laid during the days of Sirius, the Dog Star, by a 7-year-old cock. The egg was then hatched by a toad. The sight of a basilisk was so dreadful that if the creature saw its own reflection in a mirror it supposedly died of fright. The only way then to kill it was to hold a mirror before it and avoid looking at it directly. The original of the basilisk could have been a horned adder or the hooded cobra of India.
Mermaids lived in the sea. They had the body of a woman to the waist and the body and tail of a fish from the waist down. Irish legend says that mermaids were pagan women banished from Earth by St. Patrick. Sea serpents are still reported in the newspapers. Gesner's 'Historia Animalium' has a picture of a sea snake about 300 feet long wrapping its coils around a sailing vessel. The kraken of Scandinavian myth and the modern Loch Ness monster of Scotland have many similarities.
- The Vegetable Lamb
A mixture of fact and fable is the vegetable lamb. A picture of it appears in the 14th-century book called 'The Voyage and Travels of Sir John Mandeville, Knight'. Various explanations have been advanced to explain the origin of this myth. It is easy for uneducated people to give a literal meaning to figurative language. For example, a figure of speech like "the fleece that grows on trees" is a colorful description of the cotton plant. It could be misinterpreted as referring to a lamb that grows on trees.
Another explanation points to a fern that grows in some Asian countries. It has an odd root system that could be imagined to look like four legs and a head. It is covered with fine furlike fibers and has a reddish sap like thin blood.
- The Unicorn
One of the most appealing legendary animals is the unicorn. It is a white horse, with the legs of an antelope, and a spirally grooved horn projecting forward from the center of its forehead. The horn is white at the base, black in the middle, and red at the tip.
The earliest reference to the unicorn is found in the writings of Ctesias. He was a Greek historian, at one time physician to the Persian king Artaxerxes II. Ctesias returned from Persia about the year 398 BC and wrote a book on the marvels of the Far East. He told of a certain wild ass in India with a white body and a horn on the forehead. The dust filed from this horn, he said, was a protection against deadly drugs. His description was probably a mixture of reports of the Indian rhinoceros, an antelope of some sort, and the tales of travelers.
In early versions of the Old Testament, the Hebrew word re'em, now translated as "wild ox," was translated "monokeros," meaning "one horn." This became "unicorn" in English. By the Middle Ages this white animal had become a symbol of love and purity. It could be subdued only by a gentle maiden. The story of 'The Lady with the Unicorn' was a theme in the finest of medieval tapestries. In church art the unicorn is associated with the lamb and the dove. It also appears in heraldry.
The connection between the unicorn and the rhinoceros may be traced through the reputation of the powdered horn as a potent drug. Drinking beakers of rhinoceros horn, common in medieval times, were decorated with the three colors described by Ctesias. As late as the 18th century, rhinoceros horn was used to detect poison in the food of royalty. In Arabian and other Eastern countries, rhinoceros horn is still believed to have medicinal powers. (See also Pegasus; Sphinx.)
- Thunderbird, Phoenix, Roc
Early humans were very interested in birds and attributed magic and religious powers to them. The connection between birds and death that humans have imagined since prehistoric times still persists strongly in some modern folklore. There are also early hints of humans forming an association between birds and human reproduction. Somewhat later birds were regarded as weather changers and forecasters. Birds symbolized the mysterious powers that pervaded the wilderness in which humans hungered, hunted, and dreamed. Thus it is not surprising that many mythological creatures, such as thunderbird, phoenix, and roc, take the form of birds.
In the legends of native North Americans, the thunderbird is a powerful spirit in the form of a bird. Through the work of this bird, it is said, the Earth is watered and vegetation grows. Lightning is believed to flash from its beak, and the beating of its wings is thought to result in the rolling of thunder. It is often portrayed with an extra head on its abdomen. The majestic thunderbird is often accompanied by lesser bird spirits, frequently in the form of eagles or falcons. Evidence of similar figures has been found throughout Africa, Asia, and Europe.
In ancient Egypt and in classical antiquity, the phoenix was a fabulous bird associated with the worship of the sun. The phoenix was said to be as large as an eagle, with brilliant scarlet and gold plumage and a melodious cry. Only one phoenix existed at any one time, and it was very long-lived no ancient writer gave it a life span of less than 500 years. As its death approached, the phoenix fashioned a nest of aromatic boughs and spices, set it on fire, and was consumed in the flames. From the pyre miraculously sprang a new phoenix, which, after embalming its predecessor's ashes in an egg of myrrh, flew with the ashes to the City of the Sun, in Egypt, where it deposited them on the altar in the temple of the Egyptian god of the sun. The phoenix was understandably thus associated with immortality and the allegory of resurrection and life after death. The phoenix was compared to undying Rome, and it appears on the coinage of the late Roman Empire as a symbol of the Eternal City.
In Arabic legends, the roc, or rukh, was a gigantic bird with two horns on its head and four humps on its back and was said to be able to carry off elephants and other large beasts for food. It is mentioned in the famous collection of Arabic tales, 'The Thousand and One Nights', and by the Venetian explorer Marco Polo, who referred to it in describing Madagascar and other islands off the coast of Eastern Africa. According to Marco Polo, Kublai Khan inquired in those parts about the roc and was brought what was claimed to be a roc's feather, which may really have been a palm frond. Sinbad the Sailor also told of seeing its egg, which was "50 paces in circumference." Thought of as a mortal enemy of serpents, the roc is associated with strength, purity, and life. (See also Folklore; Mythology; Pegasus; Sphinx.)
Some Famous Legendary Animals
- Anubis. Egyptian deity with the head of a jackal or dog and the body of a human. It leads souls of the dead to the underworld and helped Osiris at his final judgment. Anubis' particular concern is with the funeral cult and the care of the dead, and, Anubis is often considered the inventor of embalming.
- Apocalyptic beast. A creature mentioned in the Book of Revelation in the Bible. It has two horns, speaks like a dragon, and bears the mystical number 666.
- Cerberus. The three-headed watchdog of Greco-Roman mythology who guards the gates of Hades, the underworld. Cerberus was transported by Hercules into the world of the living.
- Harpy. Greco-Roman mythological creature with the body of a bird and the head of a woman, often portrayed as very ugly and loathsome. It is sometimes associated with the wind, ghosts, and the underworld. Mentioned in the legend of Jason and the Argonauts and by the poets Virgil in the 'Aeneid' and Homer in the 'Odyssey.'
- Hydra. In Greek legend, a gigantic monster with several heads (usually nine, though the number varies), the center one of which is immortal. It is said to haunt the marshes of Lerna near Argos. The destruction of the hydra was one of the 12 labors of Hercules. When one of the hydra's heads was cut off two grew in its place.
- Ki-rin. The Japanese equivalent of the Pegasus. It lives in paradise and visits the Earth only at the birth of a wise philosopher.
- Kraken. In Norwegian sea folklore, an enormous creature in the form of part octopus and part crab.
- Leviathan. Biblical water monster, variously thought of as a whale or a gigantic crocodile. According to legend, it returns every year to be killed and thus represents the seasonal changes.
- Minotaur. In Greek mythology, a bull-headed monster with the body of a man. It is known for eating human flesh. King Minos imprisoned the minotaur in his labyrinth in Crete.
- Nidhoggr. Nordic serpent-monster representing the volcanic powers of the Earth. Since Nidhoggr also eats corpses, it symbolizes the decay of nature.
- Ryu. A Japanese dragon able to live in the air, in water, and on land. It was considered one of the four sacred creatures of the Orient. Ryu symbolizes rain and storms.
- Satyr. A wild creature of Greek legend whose bottom half is that of a beast, usually including a goat's tail, flanks, and hooves, and whose top half is that of a man. Satyrs are closely associated with the god Dionysus and known for their debauchery. The Italian version of the satyr is the faun. The female counterpart of the satyr is the nymph.
- Simurgh. In Persian legend, a giant birdlike monster so old that it has seen the world destroyed three times over, and thus possesses the knowledge of all the ages.
- Siren. In Greek legend, a creature half bird and half woman who lures sailors to their destruction by the sweetness of her song. Sirens are mentioned by Homer in the 'Odyssey' and in the legend of Jason and the Argonauts.
- Tatzlwurm. A winged, fire-breathing dragon monster of Germanic legend.
- Wivern. A winged, two-legged dragon with a barbed tail. The wivern often appears on heraldic shields and symbolizes guardianship.
- Yali. In Indian legend, a creature with a lion's body and the trunk and tusks of an elephant.