Mermaid
Myth
Another one of the real mythical creatures. Mermaids are known to everyone. They are half beautiful women, half fish. They can be both evil and quite peaceful.
Mermaids and “sea maidens” should be distinguished, strictly speaking. The first has legs, is Slavic, and has the power to tickle unwary travelers to death. They are derived from drowned women. The latter are foreign mermaids, women with fishtails. These ideas are muddled, maybe as a result of the translation of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid.”
Also, these real mythical creatures are endowed with a beautiful voice, with which they lure sailors into their nets. Apparently, the mermaids inherited this trait from the Greek sirens. Those had nothing to do with fish and were half-birds.
Reality
There is reason to believe that mermaids with fishtails appeared in the mass consciousness because of the stories of sailors. They mistook various animals, such as seals, dugongs, and manatees, for them from afar.
Mermaids were mentioned in Pliny the Elder’s Natural History. He cites accounts of inhabitants of the coasts of Gaul who saw “sea maidens” being thrown ashore. However, I think if they had looked at them more closely, they would have been disappointed.
Interesting Facts:
- Where the name “mermaid” came from is unknown. Several variants have arisen, but none have been confirmed.
- Can’t control the water.
- Do not have strong magical or sorcerous powers – not conjure.
- The only ability is to control someone with just a glance. Enchanted will do anything the mermaid commands. There was a rule: if you meet this devil – do not look her in the eye.
- Read minds.
What do you think of this one of the real mythical creatures?
Kraken
Myth
The Kraken is a legendary monster from the stories of fishermen in Norway and Greenland. It is a huge clam, capable of dragging the whole ship to the bottom.
Northerners have a common expression, “Kraken” / “St. Petersburg Herald” “to fish for Kraken. It is believed that this monster spews a huge amount of half-digested excrement. And it is followed by entire schools of fish, finishing its products of life.
Reality
Giant squids exist in reality. True, the fear of sailors whose “eyes are big” have slightly exaggerated their size. The largest specimens of this species reach a length of 13 meters and weigh about 275 kg. The squid can capsize a small boat, mistaking it for prey, but it is unable to sink ships.
Sea monster tales have long been a favorite among fishermen. Giant monsters attacking ships from the dark depths, dragging sailors to the bottom, sharks the size of houses – where is the truth, and where is the fiction? In fact, there is quite a lot of truth in sailor’s tales. At the very least, the dreaded Kraken is certainly real.
Giant squids remain some of the most mysterious real mythical creatures on our planet. On shore, from time to time, throws really monstrous real mythical creatures: in 1639, a squid 37 meters long was thrown onto the sand of English Dover.
The giant squid was photographed in its natural habitat only in 2004. The species Architeuthis dux, the Atlantic giant squid, could well be the terrible Kraken that ruined so many lives.
Since this species’ discovery, individuals have conjectured about its potential size. However, our latest research has shown some truly frightening results: real monsters live underwater.” – Dr. Chris Paxton, University of St. Andrews.
The analysis of Architeuthis dux by a team of scientists from Scotland included scientific papers and various medieval stories of squids attacking ships. In addition, the remains found in the stomachs of sperm whales, the species’ natural enemies, were examined.
So far, the largest squid sighted has come across a military trawler off the Maldives. This monster reached a length of 53 meters. Fortunately, the vessel was of no interest to the Kraken as it went about its business.
According to Dr. Paxton’s work, the average size of a giant squid is about twenty meters. Quite long enough to frighten anyone.
Fortunately, giant squids have not attacked ships in the last few hundred years. One can only surmise the medieval horror sailors felt when they encountered such a monster in the open ocean.
Interesting Facts:
- The Kraken comes from Norse folklore.
According to 13thAccording to Scandinavian legend, the hero Orvar-Odds and his son came into contact with two menacing real mythical creatures from the depths. One of these encounters was later described in detail in a Norse text written in the same century. Kraken comes from the Norwegian word octopus, which is probably related to the German octopus, which means octopus.
- The Kraken originally looked more like a crab.
While many modern depictions show the Kraken as a giant squid, earlier accounts of the beast described it as having thin appendages like a crab.
- Legend has it that the sea monster enjoys solitude and lives deep at the bottom of the ocean. It uses its tentacles to stay tied to the bottom and hunt for food. The beast will only come to the surface when the weather is warm or when it is disturbed.
Jackalope
Myth
Another one of the real mythical creatures. In the folklore of many peoples of the world, there is a horned hare, aka Jackalope (from jackrabbit “hare” and antelope “antelope”) or rabbit. Some scientists even recognized its existence as quite probable. For example, in his Encyclopedic Pictures, the naturalist Pierre Joseph Bonnaterre describes the Jackalope as a real animal.
The Germans generally called this creature Wolpertinger and gave it fangs and wings. They also invented beer by that name.
Reality
Most likely, myths about horned rabbits appeared because of the rabbits infected with a special kind of rabbit papillomavirus. It causes disgusting growths on the head of animals.
And a similar virus sometimes affects giraffes, making them look very ugly – although they themselves don’t seem to care. Better not google it. Really, don’t.
Since the 14th century, in European hunting literature, there have been references to the mysterious beast Jackalope (or, as it is also called, rabbit) – a horned hare or rabbit. Interestingly, there is even a place in the U.S. where you can get a license to shoot the Jackalope.
In the town of Douglas, Wyoming, you can buy stuffed horned hares or get permits to hunt them. However, the permits are only valid for one day, June 31, from 24:00 to 2:00. It’s funny that Sweden has its own counterpart to the Jackalope, the squander, which is a cross between a hare and a grouse. Interesting fact: in modern Swedish, the word “squander” means “nonsense,” “a combination of incongruities.
- Jackalopes are most often found on the Texas prairies, but recently they have also been increasingly seen in Colorado, Wyoming, and even Nebraska. Coyotes and wolves, hares and rabbits, snakes and scorpions, hawks and eagles, armadillos and possums, deer and antelopes coexist peacefully with this outlandish beast. Two years ago, the jackalopes were spotted in Montenegro. Most likely, they got there from America in the holds of ships in search of new ecologically clean habitats.
- It is assumed that the basis for these drawings could be specimens of rabbits and rabbits infected with specific rabbit papillomavirus, which can form freakishly shaped warts on the head of the animal
Cyclops
Myth
Cyclops in Greek mythology are one-eyed giants who eat people. For example, Polyphemus, son of the sea god Poseidon, tried to eat the crew of Odysseus’ sailors. But the latter got the giant drunk and then robbed him of his eye.
Reality
Paleontologist Otenio Abel suggested in 1914 that the myth of the Cyclops was born when people saw the skulls of dwarf elephants. They had a hole in the middle, which is provided for attaching the proboscis. People ignorant of elephant anatomy might have thought it was the skull of a one-eyed giant.
Succubi and Incubi
Myth
Succubi and incubi are promiscuous demons who seek sexual relations with humans. As a rule, such an affair does not end well.
A succubus, taking the form of a beautiful girl, comes to men at night. On the other hand, the incubus is a handsome young man who visits women. The latter can make a woman pregnant and give birth to someone very bad.
If the victim understands that a demon is in front of her, he sends her nightmares and helplessness. And uses force, no longer trying to pretend to be seductive.
Reality
Sleep paralysis is quite common. At least 40% of people have experienced it at least once. And when you have a scary dream and are awake at the same time, it’s very easy to imagine that someone is strangling or torturing you.
Scientists believe that it is sleep paralysis combined with hypnagogia. Hallucinations during the transition from sleep to wakefulness have spawned tales of evil spirits, incubi, succubi, wizards, and ghosts attacking you. Add to this such a phenomenon as pollution, and at the same time, the frightening and exciting image of the demon is ready.
The mythical conceptions of the Cyclops – or Cyclops, as they were sometimes called – originated in ancient Greek mythology. The name is also Greek, from κύκλος-“circle” and όψις-“eye. The round-eyed real mythical creatures, according to one version, were considered the fruit of a divine passion: the spouses Gaia and Uranus became the parents of three “special” brothers. What else could children be in such a family?
She is the Earth goddess, the mother of the sky, the seas, the mountains, the abysses, and hurricanes. He is the first ruler of the universe, the patron of the dome of the sky, and the representative of the very first generation of gods. Their cyclops-sons, Arg, Brontes, and Steropus, disliked their father, and without thinking of the consequences, he sent them to Tartarus after their birth.
From that unfriendly abyss, which was even lower than the realm of the dead, the titans freed the brothers after their father’s carelessness had been removed.
Another version of the ancients said that the Cyclopes were all members of the Arimaspian tribe. The one-eyed people were mentioned by Herodotus, Aeschylus, and Aristeas of Poconos.
It is believed that the purpose of the Arimaspians was to fight the vultures who guarded gold: people may have differed in the theories of the Cyclops’ origin, but there was no doubt about their militant bloodthirstiness.
Unicorns
Myth
Another one of the real mythical creatures. Unicorns are stunning, ethereal horses with horns that protrude from the center of their foreheads. They were viewed as actual animals in ancient Greece and Rome. In medieval Europe, unicorns symbolized holiness, and their horn could save from all poisons and bestow miraculous powers.
In the Grimm fairy tales, however, the unicorn was an extremely vicious and aggressive monster. These animals were also mentioned in Chinese legends – their horns were able to cure impotence. The Chinese, however, can cure anything.
Reality
There are several hypotheses about the origin of unicorns. Perhaps, the reason for it is narwhal tusks, which the Norwegians and Danes traded. But, unfortunately, gullible southerners mistook them for the horn of an amazing beast.
The traders must have been deceiving themselves: it is much more profitable to sell a part of the sacred horse’s body than the tusk of an ordinary member of the zebra whale family.
The second option: the unicorn was invented when the Romans or Greeks found the remains of the skull of elasmotherium. This is an ancient rhinoceros species with a horn sticking out almost from the forehead itself. True, the latter did not look very much like the mythical thin, twisted horns: this thing could pierce a mammoth from one end to the other. So, maybe it’s for the best that these animals are extinct.
Griffins
Myth
A griffin is a winged creature with the head of an eagle and the body of a lion. The image appeared in Egypt and Persia, but it came there from the stories of miners from the gold fields of Central Asia.
Griffins were mentioned by Pliny the Elder, who had said that gold nuggets were found where they laid their eggs. In medieval heraldry, the creature became a Christian symbol of divine power and a faith keeper.
Reality
Folklorist and historian Adrienne Mayor put forward. Mayor. Guardians of The Gold / Archaeology has a very plausible hypothesis that for the remains of griffins, Greeks and inhabitants of Central Asia took fossilized skeletons of protoceratops. These are dinosaurs with beaks and horny collars.
Their bodies looked very much like a hybrid of birds and animals. And wings can be added – after all, these real mythical creatures would have looked much more epic with them.
Basilisk
Myth
Another one of the real mythical creatures. In European mythology, the Basilisk is a monster with the body and head of a rooster and a snake’s tail. It spews venom and kills with its gaze. It is believed that this creature can emerge from an egg laid by a rooster and hatched by a toad. The Basilisk’s worst enemy is the weasel, which does not die after looking at it. And only it can defeat the monster.
Reality
The Basilisk has penetrated. Costello. The Magic Zoo: The Natural History of Fabulous Animals into the legends of superstitious medieval Europeans from the stories of Egyptian cobras. Those, too, can attack from a distance, spitting venom into the eyes of the victim. And the main danger to the cobra is the mongoose, which in later retellings, transformed into a weasel.
The 13th-century legends tell how Alexander the Great allegedly defeated the Basilisk by showing him a mirror. And this commander conquered Egypt. And cobras, most likely, he met. Apparently, the memory of them over time was so transformed that the snake became a wild hybrid of a reptile and a bird that kills with its gaze.
Bunyip
Myth
And here’s another cool one from real mythical creatures. Bunyip is a mythical creature from the stories of the Australian Aborigines who lived in swamps and rivers. The word means “devil” or “spirit.” The Bunyip resembles a cross between an alligator and a platypus and is about the size of a horse. Australians used its tricks to explain the disappearance of people in the marshes.
Reality
In 1871, Dr. George Bennett of the Australian Museum linked. Holden. Bunyips: Australia’s folklore of fear, National Library of Australia Bunyips with extinct marsupial animals that once lived in Australia – the diprotodon, for example.
This creature lived in swamps and looked like a wombat but was as tall as a rhinoceros. Even though the diprotodon fed on plants, it was certainly fearsome in its rage.
It was extinct 20 000 to 40 000 years ago, long after most Aboriginal ancestors had settled the continent.
It is quite possible that hunters helped it to extinction.
But the cultural memory of the enormous marsh beast was so strong that Australians have preserved stories of the Bunyip to the present day.
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