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Female fairies living among the Austrian Alps, in northern Italy and the borders of Slovenia. They are shapeshifters but their true form is that of a beautiful young woman with long hair and either goat’s or horse’s feet. They are particularly known as guardians of rivers and mountain streams, and it is advisable to ask their permission before setting foot in any such water. If a man enters the water and stirs up the mud of the stream-bed, the Aguane may come forth and attack him. While they have been known to eat human beings who trespass in their waters, they are also known to be fond of children, whom they carry on their shoulders across rivers.
AGUNUA
In the Solomon Islands of Melanesia, the creators of life were the Figonas. The greatest Figona was Agunua who created a male child, but he was so helpless, Agunua made a woman to make fire, cook and weed the garden. Another Figona was the great cosmic serpent Hatuibwari, who features in the traditions of the San Cristobel Islanders of Melanesia.
AHI
Represented as either a dragon or a vast cosmic serpent in the Vedic myths of ancient India, the Ahi was so huge that in some versions of the myth it is described as drinking all the waters of the Earth, after which it curled itself around the peaks of a great mountain range. The god Indra found it there and slew it, causing the waters to run free again. It is probable that this story reflects the period in winter when the waters are frozen, to be released again with the coming of spring. The Ahi is sometimes connected with Vrtra since both withhold water, steal women and cows, and endanger fertility.
AHUIZOTL
The Ahuizotl appears in the folklore and legends of Mexico. So terrifying was this creature that even to see it was to invite death. It is usually seen as a flesh-eating creature that takes the form of a dog, but with the feet of a monkey and a human hand growing at the end of its prehensile tail. Its name means ‘water opossum’, and it lies in wait for fishermen in the waters and along the banks of rivers. It has a number of tricks by which it catches people, including making small fish and frogs leap about in the water to attract the attention of would-be fishermen. The Ahuizotl then reaches out with the hand at the end of its tail, and drags its victim beneath the water. Within three days, bodies are found floating, and are recognized as victims of the Ahuizotl by the fact that their eyes, teeth and nails are missing – these being delicacies to the monster.
AI APAEC
The supreme deity of the Mochicr people of southern coastal Peru. He takes the form of an ancient man with long pointed fangs and the whiskers of a cat. An anthropomorphized feline god once worshipped in the north of the country, Ai Apaec is one of those gods who are known as the teachers of mankind, bringing the skills of farming, fishing, hunting, music and medicine to the people. He also presides over birth and his court included a lizard and a dog. He is represented on the four-faced pottery vessels made by the people of northern Peru as a human being with the face of the cat on the back of his head; the cat’s face has the eyes of a god.
AI TOJON
A giant two-headed eagle that perches on the top of a mountain and sheds light over the world in the folklore of the Yakut peoples of Siberia.
AIATAR
A creature resembling a giant serpent or snake found in Finnish folklore. Known as the ‘Devil of the Woods’, this creature is said to suckle small snakes. These snakes can cause sickness in the person who sees them. In some areas of Finland, especially along the edge of the Arctic tundra, the Aiatar is seen as a destructive female force that brings bad luck to all who encounter it.
AICHA KANDIDA
A predatory water demon or Afrit of Moroccan folklore which lurks along the banks of the River Sebu, around the Aquadel at Marrakesh, and even in the grounds of the Sultan’s palace in the same city. She appears as a beautiful young woman who lures lonely men to their death. Once her victim is within reach, she transforms into a gigantic monster and drags her victim away to consume him beneath the water. The only way to escape her is to find another human being or an inhabited dwelling, since the Aicha Kandida is apparently able only to attack one person at a time. Occasionally she will relinquish her prey if bribed by a sufficiently generous gift.
AIDA HWEDO
The great Rainbow Serpent of Dahomy mythology.
Aida Hwedo carried the creator Mawu from place to place as she went about creating the Earth. Whenever they stopped for the night, in the morning there were mountains – the piles of excrement left by Aida Hwedo. When the creation was completed, Mawu realized that there were too many large objects on the surface of the Earth and that it was likely to break apart as a result. So she brought Aida Hwedo and commanded him to coil around the inside of the earth’s crust. To prevent the serpent from being overcome by the heat, Mawu placed the sea around him to cool his skin. However, if he gets too hot and shifts in his place, he causes earthquakes. Aida Hwedo lives on a diet of iron bars, but when these are exhausted he will begin to swallow his own tail, at which point the world will be destroyed.
Belief in the rainbow serpent survives in both Surinam and Haitian Voodun belief, and great efforts are made by these people to ensure that the creature is never angered. Thus, before young people marry, if either of them is devoted to Aida Hwedo, they make special offerings to prevent jealousy or resentment in the god.
AIGAMUXA
In the mythology and folklore and of the Khosian people of South Africa, the Aigamuxa are man-eating ogres who inhabit the dunes of the Kalahari desert. Though human in appearance, they have eyes in their instep or in the heels of their feet, so that they are constantly forced to stop and lift a foot in order to see where they are going. Despite the fact that they appear human, they are huge in stature with gigantic hands and feet and enormous sharpened teeth. Whenever they catch human prey, they tear them in pieces and devour them. However, like most ogres, there are very stupid and easily tricked. One story tells how the trickster god Jackal was being pursued by a troop of Aigamuxa. Jackal scattered tobacco dust in his wake, which irritated the eyes of his pursuers and enabled his escape.
AILLEN TRECHENN
A three-headed monster that emerged every Samhain (Hallowe’en) from a mound at Cruachan in County Roscommon to ravage Ireland. It hated all human beings, especially the heroes of Emain Macha and the ancient stronghold of Tara. It was eventually killed by the poet and warrior Amairgen.
AION
The lion-headed god of time in classical Greek and Gnostic traditions. Sometimes shown with four wings or arms (representing the fourfold division of time) or standing on a globe encircled with the signs of the zodiac (representing his reign over the year and the ages). He carries two keys, which unlock the two solsticial gates – a silver key opens the Gate of Cancer and a golden one of the Gate of Capricorn. These gates lead beyond the circle of ordinary time into the infinite realm of the soul.
AIRAVATA/AIRAVANA
In the Hindu mythology of India, Airavata is one of sixteen giant white cosmic elephants who support the Earth on their backs. Airavata stands at the eastern quarter of the world with the god Indra upon his back. The name Airavata comes from the word iravat meaning ‘Child of the Water’. According to Hindu mythology, this wondrous beast was created from the churning of the waters at the beginning of time. He takes the form of a milk-white elephant with wings and was so beautiful that Indra chose him as a personal war elephant. As Airavata flew through the air, he sucked up all the waters from the Earth and sprayed them over the surface to bring the gift of rain to the human race.
Airavata is also seen as the father of all elephants and initially his many children were also winged; they subsequently lost the ability to fly after interrupting a class being taught by a sage after landing in a tree above him. The sage decreed that henceforward they would serve mankind in whatever way they were required. To this day, white elephants, which are extremely rare, are considered to be descendants of Airavata and as such are reserved for the use of royalty, often being given as gifts between kings. The origin of the term ‘White Elephant’ probably originates here, since the beasts in question were valuable but could not be used in any other way.
In the great Hindu mythological epic Mahabharata, a different origin is described for Airavata. Here we are told how the god Brahma took a cosmic egg and opened it, holding one half in each hand while chanting seven mantras over them. From the right-hand shell came eight pure white male elephants, each with four tusks; the chief among these was Airavata. From the left-hand shell emerged eight pure white female elephants. Together these sixteen cosmic creatures stood at the eight cardinal compass points to support the Earth. This idea almost certainly influenced the writer Terry Pratchett, who describes four elephants holding up the Discworld in his series of novels of that name.
AITVARAS
In Lithuanian folklore, the Aitvaras is a creature whose natural form is that of a dragon, but which also takes on other forms including those of a black cockerel or a black cat. It is a type of luck-bringer, of which there are numerous instances in European folklore. Often, a person will bring it home unknowingly, and once there it takes up habitation and begins to work on behalf of its new owner. The Aitvaras’ one objective is to bring well-being and plenty to the house in which it lives, but it usually does this by robbing neighbouring houses. In return, it demands only the sustenance of an omelette every day, but the household suffers the worst side of the bargain since in time it will take the souls of everyone there.
One story tells of a recently married woman who was mystified by the way in which her husband’s corn store never seemed to run dry. Eventually, she took a consecrated candle and went out at night to explore the barn. There she found the Aitvaras, in the shape of a black cockerel, disgorging endless amounts of grain. When it saw her and felt the power of the candle, it flew into the air and vanished, never to be seen again. The woman survived but her husband had already signed away his soul. The earliest reports of this evil creature come from an account of 1547, when a man was investigated for a sudden and unexpected increase in his wealth. It was revealed that he had signed a pact with the devilish Aitvaras, pledging his soul in return for wealth.
AJA EKAPAD
In Hindu Vedic tradition, this one-footed goat was the symbol of swiftness because it was the force of lightning itself and hit the Earth in a single place with the ferocity of its kick.
AKER
The god of the Earth in Egyptian mythology. Aker is represented as a narrow strip of land with a human or lion’s head at either end, or sometimes as two lions back to back and joined in the centre. One lion faces the west where the sun rises, the other faces east where the sun sets. The two lions or lion-headed beings are almost certainly the same as those who guard the entrance and exit to the underworld in this tradition.
AKHEKHU
A strange beast described by medieval travellers to the Middle East, the Akhekhu resembled a serpent, but had four powerful legs and clawed feet. It almost certainly derives from the folklore of Egypt. It is similar to the Griffin.
AKHLUT
A gigantic killer whale mentioned in the folklore of the Inuit, especially those who live along the Bering Sea coastline of Alaska. While its home is the sea, it takes on the form of a giant white wolf in order to prey on humans. Inuit who see large wolf tracks ending suddenly at the edge of an ice floe refer to these as the ‘tracks of the Akhlut’.
AKUPARA
In Hindu mythology, this is the name of a giant cosmic tortoise that supports the entire Earth on its back.
AL
Al is a terrible fire-eyed demon from Armenian mythology. Originally a demon which carried diseases, the Al is now associated with ill-luck in childbirth. It is said to blind unborn children in the womb and cause miscarriages. It also steals seven-month-old children. As well as its fiery eyes, it has snake-like hair, fingernails of brass, iron teeth and it carries a pair of iron scissors with which it cuts the umbilical cord of its chosen victim, inflicting poison on both mother and child. To shield themselves from its evil influence, pregnant women surround themselves with iron weapons that keep it at bay. The Al have a king who is chained in a hidden abyss, from which he can be heard shrieking constantly. In Afghanistan, the creature is represented as a young woman with long teeth and nails. Her feet are reversed.
ALAN
A species of bird-like humanoids with wings, long teeth and hands and feet facing backwards. In the folklore of the Tinguian people of the Philippine Islands, they inhabit the jungles. At night they nest in trees, hanging upside down from the topmost branches like bats. There are also said to have homes beneath the ground that are lined with gold. They are most often represented as helping spirits who give aid to the heroes of the islands; however, at times they can be both mischievous and malicious.
ALBASTOR
A gigantic creature from the folklore of the Cheremis people of eastern Russia. On the ground, it can take the shape of any animal, but it is most often described as a giant, white-skinned man with long flowing hair. It can also fly through the air, at which time it takes on the appearance of a shooting star with a comet-tail of light behind it. Its origin is said to be the souls of baptized and illegitimate children. It punishes people who overindulge in sexual intercourse by providing them with such voracious sexual appetites that they eventually die of exhaustion. It often mates with humans and signs of this may be betrayed by the presence of a sore on the victim’s lips. The human lover of a woman who has lain with an Albastor will also become ill. It can be defeated in two ways: first by breaking the little finger of its left hand; secondly by placing crosses at doors and windows to prevent it entering the house.
ALBERICH
The king of the dwarves in Teutonic and Scandinavian mythology, Alberich lives in a magnificent underground palace, the walls and ceiling of which are covered with gemstones. He guards a great amount of treasure, including a magic ring, the mighty sword Balmung, a belt which confers strength upon its wearer, and a cloak of invisibility. In common with most dwarves in this tradition, he is a famous smith and artificer, responsible for many of the great objects of power possessed by the gods – among them Freya’s necklace. He is an essential character of the ‘Volsunga Saga’ and ‘Nibelungenlied’, which describe the theft of this great treasure and the retribution that followed. Alberich is a major figure in Richard Wagner’s operatic ‘Ring Cycle’, which retells the Teutonic myths with psychological overtones.
ALECTO
One of the Furies from Greek and Roman mythology, this hideous creature is shaped like a human with bat wings and the head of a dog. Like her sisters, she was born from drops of blood that fell on the earth when the great Titan Uranus was castrated by his son, Zeus. Her name means ‘the Unceasing’ and she is said to be responsible for war, pestilence and revenge.
ALFA
In Scandinavian and Teutonic mythology, the Alfa, or elves, are divided into two tribes: the Svartalfar (dark elves) and the Liosalfar (light elves). The Liosalfar are bringers of light and are extremely beautiful, being tall, with skins whiter than the sun. They live in a realm between the Earth and Heavens known as Alfhime. The Svartalfar, on the other hand, live beneath the earth and their skins are blacker than a night without stars. They are famous smiths and responsible for many fabulous weapons and magical armour. Despite their evil reputation, they are associated with fertility and had a strong following among the Norse peoples. Both races are said to have originated from the maggots that ate the flesh of the cosmic giant Ymir. J.R.R. Tolkien drew heavily on their history in the creation of the elvish races which play such an important part in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
ALICANTO
This creature from the folklore of Chile emerges at night, shedding a golden or silvery light from its great wings. The Alicanto is a strange bird-like monster which likes to eat gold and silver, and if it discovers a rich vein of ore, will continue to eat until it is too heavy to fly. Gold prospectors in the Chilean foothills are always on the lookout for the Alicanto in the hope that it will lead them to golden riches. The wily bird, however, leads them only to their deaths, flashing its wings enticingly until they fall into a bottomless ravine.
ALICORN
An alternative name for the European Unicorn.
ALKLHA/ALICHA
A great cosmic dragon from the mythology of the Buryat people of ancient Siberia. Its wings were black and so large that when spread they covered the entire sky – overcast days were said to indicate that the Alklha had opened its wings. The creature appears to have lived in a region high above the Earth, because from here it made periodic attacks on the sun and moon. To this day, the marks on the surface of the moon are said to be the claw or teeth marks of the Alklha. Anyone among the Buryat people, seeing a section of the sun or moon obscured – such as might happen during an eclipse – believed that the Alklha was active and would throw stones into the sky to discourage it. The gods finally found a solution to this troublesome creature by cutting it in half. One half remained in the heavens, the other on the Earth; that way, whenever the Alklha attempted to consume either sun or the moon, the heavenly sphere would fall straight through the monster and resume its place in the sky.
ALKONOST
A Russian version of the Siren, this being is half woman and half bird. She lives in the land of the dead with her counterpart the Sirin. Her role is to torment the souls of the damned by singing terrible songs to them in her harsh voice and tormenting them with vile punishments.
ALLOCAMELUS
One of the many strange and bizarre creatures found in the bestiaries of European heraldry. The Allocamelus has the head of a donkey and the body and legs of a camel.
ALMA
A creature originating in Siberia and living in the northern forest and wastelands. The Alma has also been seen in Kazakstan and the Caucasus. The name means ‘Wild Man’ in Mongolian. It is a fur-covered humanoid like the Bigfoot or Sasquatch found in the United States. Gigantic and humanoid in shape, it is covered in shaggy brown, black or red fur. Sightings of Almas have been reported since the 17th century, the most recent being in 1948 by the Russian scientist, Alexander G. Pronin, who said it looked very like a man but with much longer arms.
In the mid-19th century, a female Alma with reddish-black hair and with a deeply sloped forehead was captured in Abkhazia in the western Caucasus. It was named Zanya. She reportedly mothered six children by different men of which four survived. These offspring looked like normal humans except for being of much darker complexion and immensely stronger than men. Descendants of these Alma children are said to survive to this day and were investigated by Russian historian, Boris Porshney. He was struck by their Negroid features and powerful jaw muscles. He attempted to unearth the remains of Zanya, but they only succeeded in finding the remains of her original descendants whose skeletal structure was nearer to that of a Neanderthal than a modern human. This find has led to speculation as to whether the Alma is a living survivor of the prehistoric early humans, the Neanderthal.
ALOES
One of a number of strange beasts reported by early explorers of the New World, the Aloes appears in a 16th-century work by the antiquary Ambroise Pare, On Monsters and Marvels, in which it is described as a sea creature which had the head of a goose, a very long neck and four large flippers. It may have been a partial memory of the seal with a bird standing on its back. This is typical of many such descriptions penned by the first European explorers of the New World.
ALOJA
In Catalan tradition in Spain, the Aloja are the fairies who guard the fate of human beings. They oversee the process of birth and are responsible for the provision of plenty. They are similar in nature to the Fates (Moirae).
ALPHYN
This heraldic beast looks like a tiger. It derives from an Arabic chess piece, the equivalent of the European knight of the chessboard. The Arabic name for this piece is ‘al-fil’ and it is usually depicted as an elephant.
ALSVID/ALSWIDER
The name of one of the two great horses (the other was Arvak) that pull the Chariot of the Sun in Norse mythology. Alsvid means ‘all swift’. The gods are said to have fixed a pair of bellows beneath the shoulders of the horse to cool it down.
ALTAMAHA-HA
This water monster inhabits the Altamaha River and the marshes around Darien in Georgia, USA. The creature has not been sighted since the early 1960s, but it is said to be 10–40 ft long with a body 1–2 ft wide. It resembles a giant eel although it is very much bigger than the largest recorded eel.
ALYEONG
In Korean myth, Alyeong was the first queen of Shilla.
When the hero Pak Hyeokkeose was born, elders went in search of a wife for him, looking for a girl who had certain significant features. They found what they were looking for in a Saryang village where a creature had appeared that was a cross between a chicken and a dragon (or Kyery-ong). A child was born from the sides of this creature who was a human girl except that she had a chicken’s beak. When she was bathed, this beak fell off. She was married to the hero when she was 13 years old.
AMAROK
A giant wolf in the mythology and folklore of the Inuit people of the United States and Canada. Its name is curiously similar to that of Ragnarok, the Norse name for the day of doom when the whole world will be swallowed by the giant wolf Fenris. The Amarok is said to be responsible for the deaths of many hunters on the lonely Arctic tundra.
AMBIZE
Another of the strange creatures reported by 16th-century travellers, this beast was said to inhabit the seas around the West African coast, especially the Congo delta. It was described as having the body of an enormous fish, but with the head of a pig or ox. It had human hands instead of fins and a round flat tail like a beaver. Though considered a delicacy by local fishermen, it was extremely difficult to catch due to its great size.
AMEMAIT/AM-MIT/ AMMIT/AMMUT
A giant flesh-eating monster from Egyptian mythology, the Amemait was responsible for consuming the hearts of souls condemned for earthly crimes and misdemeanours. Its name can be translated as ‘Corpse Eater’, ‘Bone Eater’ or simply ‘Devourer’. The Amemait is described as being part hippopotamus, part lion, and part crocodile, and is often depicted as accompanying the god Osiris or as a guardian to the gateway of temples.
AMGWUSNASOMTAKA
Amgwusnasomtaka is the name of the crow-mother of the Hopi Indians of the North American south-west. She has a sharp beak and two warrior sons called Hu who have bull’s horns and tails. They are represented in the purificatory dances of the Hopi with whips made of yucca plants. Each child who is part of these rites is beaten by dancers representing the Hukatchinas (spirits). Amgwusnasomtaka holds the whips of her sons and replaces them from her supply when they wear out. When each child has been beaten in these initiatory rites, she then submits to the same treatment, receiving the lashes upon her back. According to this mystery, Crow-Mother sympathizes with the children in this ritual, which teaches them respect for all the katchinas.
A-MI-KUK
A monster reported by the Inuit people of the Bering Strait and Alaska. Described as a huge, heavy creature with a moist and slimy skin, the A-Mi-Kuk lives in the sea but is also capable of burrowing under the earth to emerge in inland lakes. Instead of legs, it has four unnaturally long human arms and hands, which it uses both to walk upon and to capture its prey. It hunts mostly fishermen and people foolish enough to bathe in the sea, but has also been known to consume large quantities of fish and saltwater birds.
AMMUT
A goddess of the Underworld in Egyptian mythology, her name means ‘Devourer of the Dead’, and she is described as consuming the hearts of those who have led evil lives on Earth. Ammut is often shown in the Hall of the Two Truths, where the hearts of dead people are weighed against a feather to discover whether they have done good or evil in their lives. The head of Ammut is that of a crocodile, her front legs and torso belong to a lion or leopard, and her back legs are those of a hippopotamus.
AMPHIPTERE
Although this is one of the many strange creatures found in European heraldry, the Amphiptere also seems to have been known about more widely. Certainly, anyone bearing this device on their shield was considered to be extremely dangerous and best avoided, especially in battle. In its heraldic form, the Amphiptere is shown with the body of a winged serpent, razor sharp claws and fanged mouth.
AMPHISBAENA
The classical Greek writer Lucan, who described the Amphisbaena as a winged reptile with an extra head on the end of its long prehensile tail, first mentions this creature in his book Pharsalia. The creature’s name means ‘to go both ways’. It became a favourite device of the compilers and embellishers of medieval bestiaries, who often showed this creature in the margins of their books. It is generally shown with its tail curved above its back, grasping its extra head in the jaws of its normal mouth. In this position, it was able to travel by rolling along the ground like a wheel. It must have been a formidable adversary to encounter, since it could run in either direction, possessed the legs of an eagle with claws to grip its victims, and eyes that gave forth beams of light in the darkness. Wounds inflicted by the Amphisbaena generally failed to heal and brought death to the person who had been bitten. Yet, despite its evil nature, it was much sought-after during the Middle Ages for its medical properties. According to Lucan and his fellow-writer Pliny the Elder, its dried skin was an excellent cure for rheumatism. It is described as living in the deserts of Libya and may possibly be based on an actual reptile that is capable of running in both directions, and that raises its tail like a scorpion when threatened. It appears among the great bestiary of creatures in European heraldry.
AMPHISIEN
A variant of the Cockatrice, often found in heraldry. Unlike the ordinary Cockatrice – but like the Amphisbaena – it had an additional head at the end of its tail. Its glance turned anyone who saw it to stone.
AMUN
One of the primal creator gods of Egyptian mythology, Amun is sometimes portrayed as a goose. He is also associated with the ram, which is regarded as a sacred animal and is a reflection of Amun’s role as a fertility god. He is also sometimes seen as a snake in which form he is called Kemetaf (‘He Who Has Completed His Time’). Beginning as a god of Thebes, Amun eventually became a supreme state god in the new kingdom of Egypt. He was said to abide in all things, which may account for his many forms.
