100 A Wizard’s Bestiary it in July of 1953. He described a creature approximately 30 feet long and 6 feet wide, with a head that bore a pair of strange, light-colored markings. It also had a prominent dorsal fin that appeared to be set backwards compared with those of dolphins or sharks. It swam with vertical, porpoise-like undulations, and leapt from the water—making a tremendous splash—before submerging. This sounds like an Orca (Orcinus orca), or killer whale, but how could one get into this lake? Vough—Female Water-Monsters of Scottish legend. Usually garbed in green, they have manes of yellow hair running down their backs to their tails, webbed hands and feet, and no noses. They fear light but have been known to marry humans and produce progeny. This is another of the evil monsters generally referred to as Fuath. Vouivre (or Wouivre, Wyvre, Wivre) —A peculiarly French variation of the Wyvern, depicted as a Dragon with the head and breasts of a beautiful woman. She sees by means of a ruby, garnet, or diamond set between her blind eyes. This magickal gem is coveted by sorcerers, who attempt to steal it while she is sleeping or bathing. The Vouivre inhabits mountainous regions, lurking in ruined castles or monasteries, where she guards hoards of treasure. She will only attack a clothed person, so the best defense is to strip naked, whereupon she will flee. Vritra (orVrtra, Vitra, “Encloser”)—A vast monster of Hindu mythology, usually depicted as a three-headed serpent encircling the world and causing drought by withholding the rains. Sometimes, however, Vritra is portrayed as a gigantic spider. As one of the evil Asuras, Vrita is the enemy of the god Indra, who eventually slays the monster and releases the rain clouds that Vritra had held captive in the mountains. Waheela—A wolfish creature said to inhabit Alaska and Canada’s Northwest Territories. It is larger and more heavily built than ordinary wolves, with a wide head, big feet, and long white fur. Witnesses describe it as being about 4 feet high at the shoulder. Its hind legs are shorter than its front legs, and its tracks indicate widely spaced toes. Solitary creatures, they are never seen in packs. According to native legends, the Waheela is an evil sprit that tears the heads off its victims. Its description matches that of the Pleistocene Bear Dog (Amphicyonid), presumed extinct for 10,000 years. Waitoreke (Maori, “Water-Dweller”; or Kaureke) —A small, otter-like cryptid reportedly inhabiting the South Island of New Zealand. Because no placental mammals are indigenous to New Zealand, it may be an aquatic monotreme, such as the duck-billed platypus. Wakandagi(or Wakandagi Pezi) —A serpentine Water-Monster in the legends of the Mohawk and Omaha Indians of the central United States. Said to inhabit the Missouri River, it hurls exploding spheres of water at intruders upon its territory. Usually seen only through a mist, its head bears antlers like a stag’s, and its hoofed front legs are also deer-like. See Lake-Monsters, Tcinto-Sakto, Unktehi, Weewilmekq. Wallowa Lake Monster—ALake-Monster reported to be dwelling in a deep glacial lake in Oregon. This horned amphibious beast has terrified local Nez Perce Indians for generations. It has been described by some eyewitnesses as being 75 feet long, with seven humps along its back. Other witnesses, however, insist that there are two distinctly different species living in the lake: the first measures 12 feet in length, with a serpentine, Dragon-like body, and a head resembling a hog’s fused with a shark’s; and the second is only about 8 feet long, with a head like a buffalo’s and eyes 14 inches apart. Other witnesses claim the creature bears a large, rhinoceros-like horn. Water-Horse—An amphibious beast with a horselike head, believed to lurk in the depths of many rivers, lakes, swamps, and pools of the British Isles. It is often described as grey or black horse whose hooves point backward. It can change its shape at will. If one mates with an ordinary horse, its progeny will always lie down in the water when crossing fords. Its temperament ranges from relatively docile to voraciously carnivorous. A Water-Horse may W is for Wyvern, serpentshaped, Bat-winged, eagle-clawed, from which few escaped. Red and green, the Wyvern in heraldry Stands for war and envy and plague, all three.
The Magickal menagerie 101 entice a man to ride it over a river, but if he should mention the name of Christ, the beast will drop him into the water. See Kelpie, Lake-Monsters, Nykur. Weewilmekq(or Wiwilemekq)— A serpentine Water-Monster in the traditions of the Algonquin and Maliseet-Passamaquoddy Indians of the eastern United States. It is variously described as a giant worm, a stag-antlered water-serpent, a great spiny sturgeon, or a crocodilian seamonster with huge horns. It lurks in rushing waters, such as waterfalls, rapids, and whirlpools. Its horns contain all its power, conferring great courage and magick upon anyone who can manage to take scrapings of them. See Orm, Unktehi, Wakandagi. Wendigo (or Windigo, Windago, Wiendigo, Witigo, Witiko, WeeTee-Go)—A Canadian hairy hominid similar to Bigfoot, but considered by the local Indians to be quite different— and far more dangerous, as it preys on humans. The most feared creature in Inuit and Algonkian folklore, it is described as a lanky, 15-foot-tall “man-beast” covered in matted fur, with glowing eyes, long, yellow canine teeth, and a hyperextended tongue. But some eyewitnesses insist that the creature is hairless, with a sallow, jaundiced skin. Popularized by Algernon Blackwood’s short story, The Wendigo (1907), legends of this beast date back centuries. This name has also been applied to an alligator-like monster said to inhabit Berens Lake, Ontario, where it tears up fishing nets. White Chest—A serpentine Lake-Monster in the folklore of the Araucanian Indians of Chile. Said to inhabit Lake Aluminé, it has enormous strength. It attacks livestock that come to the water’s edge to drink, dragging them into the depths to be devoured. See Glyryvilu. White Hart—In Welsh folklore, a magickal white stag that leads pursuing heroes into legendary adventures, deep into the forbidden forest and to the very borders of Faerie or the Otherworld. It is featured in the Mabinogion tale of “Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed,” as well as Mallory’sThe Death of Arthur. See Cerynean Hind. White Panther—A luminous, white feline creature said to have emerged centuries ago from the waters of the River Huron, by Lake Erie. Its appearance was hailed by spectacular meteorological displays. A group of Wyandot Indian hunters wounded the beast, gathering its blood into medicine bundles, which they used as hunting charms on both animal and human prey. This evolved into a powerful and brutal brotherhood. In the 18th century, the cult was condemned by Europeans as demonic sorcery, and its members were executed. Whitey—An unhealthy looking Water-Monster reported to be dwelling in the White River, near Newport, Arkansas. The first sightings came in 1915, when witnesses reported seeing a single white hump “as big as a boxcar” in the river, and 14-inch-long, three-toed tracks along the banks. On July 1, 1937, Bramblett Bateman and County Deputy Z.B. Reid saw “something appear on the surface of the water” that was 12 feet long and 4–5 feet wide. Bateman said: “I did not see the head nor tail, but it slowly rose to the surface and stayed in this position for some five minutes.” In 1971, the creature was seen again: “It looked like it was peeling all over,” said one witness. Others reported a bony lump on the head and a spiny ridge along the back. It made a bellowing sound. Whitey is said to be 30–40 ft long, with a scaly, grey-white skin that is peeling in different areas. Cryptozoologist Roy Mackal proposed that it was a male Northern Elephant Seal (Mirounga angustirostris) that came up the Mississippi into the White River. The elephant seal is a huge creature; the biggest known bull measured 22 feet long and weighed 3.75 tons! The molting skin, tracks, voice, and particularly the bony projection on the forehead, all fit this identification. See Baikal Lake Monster, Mishipizhiw, Pal-Rai-Yuk. Whowhie—A monstrous lizard in the legends of the Aboriginal people of Australia’s Murray River area. It terrorized the region, devouring many people, especially children. After a particularly devastating raid on a village, the people tracked the monster to his lair in a cave, where he was sleeping off his meal. They burned brushwood at the entrance, fanning smoke into the cave for seven days until Whowhie finally emerged, coughing and blinded—whereupon the people rushed at him with clubs and spears until he was dead. This tale suggests an actual encounter with the gigantic Pleistocene Monitor Lizard, Megalania (Varanus prisca), which reached 20 feet in length and weighed up to 1,300 pounds—a true Dragon if ever there was one! See Eurora Beast, Kurrea. Wihwin—A horselike Sea-Monster with huge fangs, in the folklore of the Mosquitos tribe of the Caraibes Indians of Honduras, Central America. During the hot dry months, the Wihwin leaves the ocean and prowls the land seeking human prey. It returns to the sea when the rains come. See Kelpie, Sea Serpent. Wikatcha—A feline Water-Monster in the folklore of the Creek Indians of Oklahoma. According to the leg-
102 A Wizard’s Bestiary end, this water-cat mated with a woman from the town of Coosa. When her family determined to drown the child of this union, the mother appealed to Wikatcha, and the enraged father raised a flood that washed away the entire town. The survivors founded the city of Tulsa, but neither the woman, her baby, nor Wikatcha were ever seen again. See White Panther, Yenrish. Winged Serpents of Arabia —According to Herodotus (484– 425 BCE), these creatures resembled water snakes with batlike wings. In the spring they flew in a great horde from Arabia toward Egypt, where they were met in a narrow gorge by Sacred Ibises (Threskiornis aethiopicus), which destroyed them all. This is why the Egyptians so revered the ibis. The Winged Serpents have been identified as Desert Locusts (Schistocerca gregaria). Wishpooshi—A colossal beaver with huge claws dwelling in a vast lake in Washington State. According to Nez Perce Indian legend, this monster wished to be the only one to fish in the lake, and so he drove away or killed anyone who approached. The people appealed to Coyote, the trickster, who engaged Wishpooshi in a titanic battle, churning the water, creating great channels and gorges, and draining the lake. Finally, Wishpooshi swallowed Coyote, who then killed the beast by stabbing his heart from inside his body. From the immense carcass, Coyote created the tribes of the Chinook, the Yakima, and the Klickitat. During the Pleistocene era, a gigantic beaver called Castoroides ohioensis roamed North America, possibly inspiring this legend. It was more than 8 feet long, weighed 485 pounds, and had 6-inch-long teeth. Wolpertinger (or Wolperdinger)—A composite creature said to dwell in the Alpine forests of Bavaria in Germany. Most commonly a stag-antlered rabbit or squirrel, it may also have wings and fangs. Similar creatures include the Swedish Skvader,theRasselbock from the Thuringian Forest, the American Jackalope, and the antlered chicken, Elwedritsche, of the Palatinate region. Stuffed Wolpertingers, created by taxidermists using parts of real animals, are often displayed or sold as souvenirs in their “native regions.” Similar to the Jackalope, the Wolpertinger was probably inspired by sightings of wild rabbits infected with the Shope papillomavirus, which produces antler-like tumors on the animal’s head and body. See Gaffs. Wudewasa (Anglo-Saxon, “WoodMen;” or Wodewoses, Woodhouses, Ooser)—Hairy hominids popularly referred to as “European Wild Men.” They appear in many medieval paintings, church carvings, and illuminated manuscripts. They are often shown holding large, rude clubs, sometimes wearing simple kilts of green leaves. Clearly distinguished from apes and monkeys, they were frequently represented by costumed actors in plays, masques, and dramas. Some researchers feel that they might have been relict Neanderthals. See Bigfoot, Chuchunaa, Faun, Satyr. Wuhnan Toads—Huge, white-skinned, amphibious toads infesting deep, waterfilled gorges in the desolate and mountainous region of central China’s remote Hubei province (known as Wuhnan). For generations they have plagued local fishermen, who have even resorted to dynamite in their attempts to destroy these voracious beasts. In 1987, an expedition of nine scientists from Peking University journeyed to the area to study its aquatic fauna. As they were setting up their cameras and cables along the shore of a lake, three large animals surfaced and began swimming towards them. The creatures resembled toads and were more than 6 feet long, with pale skin and large, gaping maws. Suddenly, one of the beasts shot forth a gigantic tongue, snagging one of the camera tripods and dragging it back into the water. Then the remaining toads emitted a horrific shriek and disappeared into the depths of the lake. Wulver—In Shetland Islands folklore, a hybrid creature with the body of a man and the head of a wolf. Covered in short, brown hair, it lives in a cave halfway up a hill and fishes in deep water. Harmless if unmolested, it will sometimes leave fishes on the windowsills of poor folk. It sounds like a baboon, but what would one be doing in the Hebrides? See Cynocephali. Wyrm (or Worm, Wormkind, Vurm, Orm; from Norse, ormr, “dragon”)—A common term for evil serpentine Dragons in regions of the British Isles that were settled by Vikings a millennium ago. Worms inhabit foul, dank places, such as boggy marshes, fetid swamps, ancient ruins, and sometimes even rivers, lakes, and wells. They prefer hidden lairs near swampy lakes that connect with the sea at high tide, thus allowing these monsters to pass from one environment to the other. Their heads are like those of Dragons or horses, with huge, bulging eyes, great fangs, and often horns. See Grendel, Lindwurm, Loathly Worm, Orm, Loch Ness Monster, Peiste.
The Magickal menagerie 103 Wyvern (or Wivern)—A kind of flying serpentine Dragon with bat wings, two avian hind legs with eagle talons, and a long, barbed tail. Basically, it resembles a Pterosaur, such as ramphorhynchus. One variant is the Sea-Wyvern, which has the tail of a fish. Wyverns have been described as the largest form of Dragon, able to prey on such huge creatures as elephants and rhinos. In heraldry, the Wyvern symbolizes war, pestilence, envy, and viciousness. The default coloration of a heraldic Wyvern is green with a red chest, belly, and underwings. See co*ckatrice, Jaculus, Lindworm. Xan—A fabulous insect-monster mentioned in the sacred texts of the Mayan Popul Vuh in Guatamala. It is actually the Anopheles mosquito, which still figures in the folklore of the Kicher Indians. As the carrier of deadly malaria and the killer of untold numbers of victims, the Xan is one of the most dangerous creatures in this bestiary! Xexeu—Gigantic birds in the mythology of the Cashmawa Indians of South America. Similar to the North American Thunderbirds, they are responsible for bringing the clouds together to create huge storms. Most likely these creatures derive from the magnificent Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus), with its 10-foot wingspan. Xian Yao—A disgusting and hideous monster in Chinese folklore, with a serpentine body and nine human heads. The companion of Gong-Gong, the Black Dragon, the two of them go about fouling lakes and rivers with their excrement and turning them into fetid swamps. Xolotl—A huge and monstrous Underworld dog in the mythology of the Aztec Indians of Mexico, similar in many ways to the North American Coyote. His legs and feet are turned backward, and he can point his ears in all directions. Every evening he catches the golden ball of the sun, dragging it down into the Underworld until the next morning. He is said to have created the first humans and to have given them fire, but he also caused various disasters. Attempting to avoid death, he underwent many transformations, finally becoming the little, perpetually larval amphibian, the Axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum). See Cerberus, Garm, Sharama. Yale (also Yala, Jall, Eale)—First mentioned by Pliny the Elder, the Yale is a spotted black bovine the size of a horse, with the tail of an elephant or lion and the tusked jowls of a boar. Dwelling in the Middle East and India, it bears 2-foot-long horns which it can rotate at will, one pointing forward and the other backward. The Nandi Tribes in Kenya used to train the horns of their cattle in this way, and these were known as “Kamari cows.” The Yale is more likely based on the Indian Water Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), which has horns that can measure up to 14 feet across. Some have claimed—erroneously— that it can swivel its horns forward when threatened. Yael is the Hebrew word for mountain goat, which is also said to be as big as a horse. When the Yale is used in heraldry to symbolize preparedness, the horns are always shown parted rather than parallel. See Centicore. Yali (or Yalaka)—A hybrid mon- ster of Hindu legend, combining the predato- ry aspects of a lion with the musculature, tusks, and trunk of an elephant. Often depicted in Indian temple sculpture to symbolize man’s struggle over the elemental forces of nature, these voracious beasts are said to be vyala (“wicked” or “vicious”). See Makara. Yamamaya—A mystery cat resembling a tiger reported to be dwelling on the Ryukyu island of Iriomote, south of Japan. The size of a large dog, it may be an unknown species of tiger or leopard. SeeCigau,Seah Malang Poo. Yannig (or Yannig An Od)—A nocturnal Sea-Monster in the Breton folklore of Brittany in northern France. After dark, it comes out of the sea seeking human prey. It makes calls like the hooting of an owl, and if anyone answers, the monster instantly swoops down upon them. Y is for Yale, a spotted black cow Whose horns can swivel around on its brow. Tailed like a lion and tusked like a boar, Not front nor behind is safe from its gore. X is for Xan, a remarkable bug Living in jungles in lairs damp and snug. Mentioned by Mayans and Kichers as well, Many have met it – but few live to tell.
104 A Wizard’s Bestiary Yata Garasu—A threelegged crow of immense proportions. In Japanese mythology, the Yata Garasu serves as a divine messenger. Ya-te-veo (“I can see you”)—A fabulous carnivorous tree of Central America, described by J.W. Buel, in his 1887 Land and Sea. It uses the multiple squid-like tentacles atop its trunk to capture prey in the same manner as the little Cape Sundew (Drosera capensis). Elsewhere in the Americas, similarly described predatory plants are referred to as the Brazilian Devil Tree, Brazilian Monkey-Trap Tree, Mexican Snake Tree, and Nicaraguan DogDevouring Tree. See Man-Eating Tree of Magagascar. Yeck—A small, shapeshifting spirit in the folklore of India. A Yeck usually appears as small furry creature wearing a white cap. It is strong enough to lift mountains and it enjoys leading humans astray. But anyone who can steal its cap gains the power of invisibility. Yenrish—A Lake-Monster of Huron Indian legend, the Yenrish is a water-cat or panther said to inhabit the depths of Lake Eerie. See White Panther, Wikatcha. Yìrén (Chinese, “Wild Person”; or Yiren, Yeh Ren, Chinese Wildman, Wildman of Shennongjia, Man-Monkey, Sangui, Hsing-hsing, Fei-fei; also Ren Xiong, “ManBear”)—A large, hairy hominid inhabiting the forests and mountains of China’s remote Hubei province. It is typically reported to be covered in reddishbrown hair, although some white individuals have also been sighted. Its height is estimated at 5–7 feet, although some colossal specimens more than 10 feet tall have been reported. Some think that the Yeren may be a surviving Gigantopithecus, while others suggest it may be a relict population of mainland Orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus), supposedly extinct in China since the Pleistocene. Recently, tests done on Yeren hair samples have shown that they belong to an unidentified creature completely unknown to China. See Almas,Yeti. Yeti (or Gin-sung, Metoh-kangmi, Nyalmo, Rakshi Bompo, Rimi, Thloh-Mung, Wildman of the Himalayas, Abominable Snowman)—A snow-dwelling man-ape living high up in the cold, desolate Himalayan mountains of Tibet and Nepal. Eyewitnesses describe it as 7– 10 feet tall, and covered in long, coarse hair—silverwhite in the snowy mountains and orange-brown in the forests. Similar to its American cousin, Bigfoot, the only evidence for its existence consists of hair samples, footprints, and vague sightings. According to the Sherpas, there are actually four types of Yeti, all distinguished by size, with the teh in the name of each implying a flesh-and-blood animal. The largest (13–16 feet tall) is the Nyalmo or Dzu-Teh (“Big Thing”), the medium-sized one (7–9 feet tall) is the Rimi or Meh-Teh (“Manlike Thing”), and the smaller (man-sized) and best-known is the Rakshi Bompo or Yeh-Teh (“That Thing There”). Many believe that the Yeh-Teh is simply the Nepal Gray Langur monkey (Semnopithecus schistaceus—fairly common in the higher plains of the Himalayas), and that the Dzu-Teh is really a Himalayan Black Bear (Ursus thibetanus). Then there is the Teh-Lma (“That There Little Thing”), the least known, said to be only 3-4 feet tall, covered in reddish-grey hair, with hunched shoulders and a pointy head. It eats frogs and other small animals. See Yìrén. Ying-Lung (or Proper Conduct Dragon)—Rather unique Chinese Dragons with fur instead of scales, and usually with feathered wings as well. They are guardians of the waters of the Earth and the clouds of heaven. Yowie—An Australian hairy hominid, similar to the Yeti or Bigfoot. It is described as 6–14 feet tall, more human than ape, with broad shoulders and no neck. It is covered in longish hair that ranges from black or dark brown through shades of red and tan to almost white. Dark brown or reddish are the most common colors. It leaves footprints up to 16 inches long and 8 inches wide. The first report from European settlers dates to 1881, but the Aborigines had always known of them, calling them Youree. Like most hairy hominids worldwide, they are said to have an overpowering stench. Smaller individuals are quite shy and are probably juveniles, whereas the taller ones are bolder and often aggressive. Some even think they may represent a relict population of hom*o erectus, known to have inhabited Pleistocene Sunderland (now the islands of Indonesia). Ypotamis—An ungainly beast found in medieval travel lore, it was described as a monstrous aquatic horse that delighted in attacking and devouring fishermen. This creature is undoubtedly what we know today as the
The Magickal menagerie 105 Hippopotamus(Hippopotamus amphibious—”Amphibious River Horse”), an ill-tempered creature that needs little provocation to attack boats.See Behemoth, Lubolf. Ypotryll—A heraldic beast with the head of a boar, the body of a camel, the feet of a goat, and the tail of a snake. It has huge tusks and teeth, glowing red eyes, and a gigantic penis. Ythgewinnes (Old English, “Wave-Thrasher”)—A species of sea Dragon that swims along the surface. Vikings carved these onto the prows of their ships to try to ward off real Dragons. Yu Lung (“Fish Dragon,” or DragonCarp)—In Chinese mythology, a Dragon with the fins and tail of a fish. Originally a celestial carp, it is transformed after leaping the Dragon’s Gate waterfall and flying to heaven. It represents high aspirations and success in examinations. Zägh—A gigantic bird of Islamic legend, it has a human head and the ability to understand and speak all human languages. See Angka, Crocho, Kreutzet, Murghi-I-Adami, Pheng, Roc, Simurgh, Thunderbird, Ziz. Zaratan—An Arabic version of the immense islandwhale or titanic turtle known in the West as the Aspidochelone or Fastitocalon. Its vast back is festooned with rocks and crevices overgrown with trees and greenery. Sinbad the Sailor encountered this monster in the first of his legendary voyages. See Father of All Turtles, Imap Umassoursa, Jasconius. Zebroid—The generic term for all zebra hybrids. Zebras (Equus Hippotigris—”horse-tiger”) are able to interbreed with all other equine species, including the Donkey (Equus asinus), resulting in a Zebrass or Zonkey. Ziz (or Renanim, the “Celestial Singer”; Sekwi, “The Seer”; “Son of the Nest”) — An enormous bird of Hebrew legend, much like the Roc. It is so huge that when it stands in the middle of the ocean, the water only comes up to its knees. It can block out the sun with its vast wings and has incredible strength. As the legend goes, once upon a time one of its addled eggs broke, washing away 300 cedar trees and drowning 60 villages. Equated with the Persian Chamrosh, the Ziz was said to have been created to protect all the small birds that would otherwise have died out long ago. According to rabbinical tradition, the meat of this bird will be served, along with that of the Behemoth and the Leviathan, at a great victory feast at the end of the world. Corresponding to the giant archetypal creatures of Persian mythology, the trio of the Behemoth, Leviathan, and Ziz was traditionally a favorite decorative motif for rabbis living in Germany. See Bar Juchne, Thunderbird, Wuchowsen. Zlatorog—A pure white goat similar to a Chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) with horns of gold. It browses on the highest crags of Mount Triglav, in Slovenia. If you can catch one, it will grant your wishes. But the Zlatorog is highly intelligent and will lead hunters on grand chases, often to their deaths. It is also the symbol of Slovenia’s most popular beer, Lasko Zlatorog. See Cerynean Hind, White Hart. Zmei Gorynych—Similar to the Nagas of India, this creature of Russian and Slovenian folklore has the body of a snake with the head and/or upper torso of a man. Notorious for abducting lone women, he is associated with the wicked ogress, Baba Yaga. Zyphoeus (or Xiphias, Ziphius, Water-Owl)—A huge whale found in medieval bestiaries, the Zyphoeus has great googly eyes and a huge, wedge-shaped beak, giving its face the semblance of an owl. It was greatly feared by mariners for attacking any ships it encountered, boring holes in them and sinking them. This was originally based on the Swordfish (Xiphias gladius), but the name has been given as well as to Cuvier’s Beaked Whale (Ziphius cavirostris) and the Giant Beaked Whale (Ziphiidae Berardius). Z is for Zaratan, built like a whale Big as an island and fierce as a gale. Sleeping, it’s covered with boulders and trees – Woken, its ride sends strong men to their knees!
II. Creatures of Night
Upon thy eyeballs murderous tyranny Is in grim majesty to fright the world. Look not upon me, for thine eyes are wounding. Yet do not go away. Come, Basilisk, And kill the innocent gazer with thy sight; For in the shade of death I shall find joy— In life but double death, now Gloucester’s dead. —Shakespeare, 2 Henry VI (3.2.49-55) HIS ENTIRE BOOK HAD ITS GENESIS IN the legend of the Basilisk. One evening, in the spring of 1976, my wife and soulmate, Morning Glory, and I were sitting around the living room with friends discussing mythical beasties, and we decided to look some up in the Encyclopedia Britannica. Under “Basilisk” I found a fascinating entry linking the co*ckatrice, Basilisk, Medusa, a South American lizard, and a deadly Egyptian snake, and we conceived the idea of writing a book revealing the true origins and history of various legendary and mythical creatures. We began seriously and systematically collecting and filing legends, illustrations, and accounts of sightings of everything from Abadas to Zaratans. This research led to many amazing adventures over the next 30 years, including raising Unicorns and diving with Mermaids. But here is where it all began. The Baleful Basilisk “The Basilisk is so exceedingly cruel that when it cannot kill animals with the venom of its gaze it turns then to the herbs and plants, and looking fixedly upon them makes them wither up.” —Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), The Notebooks King Alexander and the Basilisk Alexander the Great was lord of the whole world. He once collected a large army and besieged a certain city, around which many knights and others were killed without any visible wound. Much surprised at this, he called together his philosophers and said, “My masters, how is this? My soldiers die, and there is no apparent wound!” “No wonder,” replied they; “on the walls of the city is a Basilisk, whose look infects your soldiers, and they die of the pestilence it creates.” “And what remedy is there for this?” said the king. “Place a mirror in an elevated situation between the army and the wall where the Basilisk is; and no sooner shall he behold it, than his own look, reflected in the mirror, will return upon himself, and kill him.” And so it was done. —Gesta Romanorum (“Deeds of the Romans”) 13th century The baleful Basilisk (in French, Basilic or Basili-coc) is a special kind of Dragon with a very complicated history and etymology. Originally said to have been born from the blood of Medusa’s eyes after Perseus beheaded her, the Basilisk is described as a monstrous serpent crowned with a dramatic frill, crest, or crown, for which reason it is called the “King of Serpents.” Its name derives from the Greek basileus, meaning “little king,” and its Latin name, Regulus, means “prince.” It is so poisonous that it leaves a wide trail of deadly venom in its wake, and its gaze is likewise lethal. Indeed, it is said that, just as Medusa can, the eyes of the Basilisk can turn a victim to stone. It poisons streams, withers forests, and drops birds out of the sky. Its only natural enemy is said to be the weasel or mongoose, which is evidently immune to its deadly arsenal. But Aelian (175–235 CE) says that the Basilisk also fears roosters: “At the sight of one it shudders, and at the sound of its crowing it is seized with convulsions and dies.” During the first century CE, travelers crossing the deserts of North Africa would Creepers 1. The Baleful Basilisk And Other Venomous Vermin By Oberon Zell-Ravenheart Ian Daniels
108 A Wizard’s Bestiary take along co*ckerels as protection against Basilisks. Fig. 1. Basilisk as serpent Albertus Magnus (1200– 1280), in his De Animalibus, relays the opinion of “natural scientists” that the Basilisk does not actually emit lethal rays from its eyes, but “rather, the cause of the corrupting influence is the visual energy which is diffused over very long distances because of the subtlety of its substantial nature; herein lies its ability to destroy and kill everything.” He also says that the ancients strewed Basilisk ashes in their temples to keep out spiders and other venomous creatures, and that “silver melted in the ashes of a Basilisk takes on the splendor, weight and density of gold.”1Bulfinch says that, in classical times, Basilisk skins were hung in temples to Apollo and Diana to ward off swallows, snakes, and spiders.5 Ah, but first you have to find and kill a Basilisk! Fig. 2. Multi-legged Basilisk Let’s go back to the beginning. The legend of the Basilisk starts with a snake. In his Natural History, Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), says it is “not more than 12 inches long, and adorned with a bright white marking on the head like a sort of diadem. It routs all snakes with a hiss, and does not move its body forward in manifold coils like the other snakes but advances with its middle raised high. It kills bushes not only by its touch but also by its breath, scorches up grass and bursts rocks.” In this statement by history’s first real naturalist lie several important clues to the true identity of the Basilisk.1 For one thing, it is a small creature—according to Pliny, only a foot long. No doubt this is why its Greek name is a diminutive: “little king.” The distinctive feature of raising its body high is most significant, as this behavior is uniquely characteristic of only one family of snakes—the cobras—all of which are able to raise the first thirds of their bodies vertically. Moreover, most cobras have species-specific markings on their heads, often in the form of a diadem. Fig. 3. King Cobra The Basilisk’s natural habitat was originally given as North Africa—Libya, Egypt, and Ethiopia—which is home to several species of cobras. The King Cobra (Ophio-phagus hannah) has been advanced as the original Basilisk, but, at 18.5 feet long, this is the largest of all the world’s venomous serpents, and can hardly be described as “little”! A full-grown king cobra can rear up to look a tall man directly in the eye—a most unnerving experience, I’m sure, and easily giving credence to a fabulous monster. In India, it is widely worshiped as Nagaraja (“King of Snakes”).2 In actuality, the Basilisk derives from the Egyptian Spitting Cobra (Naja nigricollis), which grows to seven feet long, and sprays lethal poison from its fangs with uncanny accuracy into the eyes of its victims, blinding them instantly and rendering them helpless against its bite. This is the basis of the poisonous breath of the monster, which, as it turns out, is not mythical at all. Fig. 4. Egyptian Spitting Cobra (Naja Nigricollis) But it is legendary. From its serpentine origins in a real snake with deadly “breath,” the legend of the Basilisk was carried through the centuries across lands where the actual animal did not exist. One of Europe’s earliest printed books was the Dialogus Creaturarum (“Dialogues of Creatures”), printed in the Netherlands in 1480 by Pieter van Leu. This anonymous work seems to have been the first to identify the Basilisk as “a kind of lizard.” When a colorful little lizard with elaborate crests on its head and back was discovered in Central America, it was immediately given the name of basilisk (Basiliscus). It is also popularly called the “Jesus Christ lizard” for its ability to run across the surface of water, but it has none of the deadly attributes of its fabulous namesake. Fig. 5. Central American Basilisk
Creatures of Night 109 Fig. 8. co*ckatrice The archenemy of the Basilisk became mythologized as the Ichneumon, or Egyptian rat. This was a ferocious Egyptian weasel described by Pliny, Plutarch, and Strabo as the natural enemy of the Asp, the Basilisk, and the Cocodryllus(crocodile). It was said to cover itself with protective mud, then slip down a crocodile’s throat and devour its insides. It is commonly assumed to be the Mongoose (Herpestidae, or “snake-killer”), an Indian weasel which is, in fact, the deadly enemy of cobras—as in the famous Rudyard Kipling story, “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.” But given the Basilisk’s African habitat, its traditional nemesis is far more likely to be the Meercat (Suricata suricatta), popularized in Disney’s The Lion King (1994) and the Discovery Channel’s Meercat Manor. These charming and social little weasels have been documented on film performing elaborate rituals centered on deadly cobras. Fig. 6. Ichneuman (Meercat) Nicholas Waldt, 1580 The co*ckatrice Around 1180, English naturalist Alexander Neckham stated that a Basilisk had to be hatched from an egg laid by an aged rooster, which he called a “Basilco*ck.” Soon, however, the term co*ckatrice or co*ckatrix—originally referring to any hybrid chimerical creature—started being used interchangeably for Basilisk. Here we see the parallel evolution of a new monster called the co*ckatrice, which was said to be born from an egg laid in a dung hill by a 7-year-old co*ck that had mated with a serpent during the “dog days” when the star Sirius was in the sky. The egg was spherical rather than ovoid, and had no shell but only a tough membrane. It was then incubated and hatched by a toad. Thus the hatchling combined the features and habits of its parents and incubator.3 A denizen of North Africa, the co*ckatrice came to be depicted as a rooster with a dragon’s tail and bat-like wings, so poisonous that its very glance or breath would kill. It could rot the fruit on a tree from a distance, and any water from which it drank would be polluted for centuries. To medieval Christians, it represented sin and sudden death. As with the Basilisk, its only foe was the weasel. A popular Heraldic beast, its name was later applied to a venomous lizard of Armenia, as well as to a huge brass cannon of Tudor times. Interestingly, it is a fact of biology that old roosters do indeed often develop egg-like masses in their bodies. As Aristotle (384–322 BCE) observed: “Substances resembling an egg… have been found in the co*ck when cut open, underneath the midriff where the hen has her eggs, and these are entirely yellow in appearance and of the same size as ordinary eggs.”4 And of course, the co*ckatrice itself had to have its own progeny, such as the Flying Serpent of Isa. This was a monstrous snake of medieval Christian legends, reported by travelers as being hatched from the egg of a co*ckatrice in the desert wastelands of Ethiopia. The most venomous of all the serpents, it could fly as well as crawl. Deadly Gazers and Lethal Breathers Fig. 9. Medusa by Caravaggio The Basilisk’s ability to poison victims with its breath and turn them to stone with its gaze derives not only from the spitting cobra, but also from the Greek legend of the Gorgon Medusa—one of three hideous sisters whose petrifying gaze the hero Perseus avoided by looking only at her reflection in the mirrored surface of Athena’s polished shield. From these origins, a number of reptilian monsters were spawned to become fixtures in travelers’ tales and medieval bestiaries. Here are a few of them: The Skoffin was a terrible bird-Dragon of Icelandic legend, clearly derived from the co*ckatrice. Sometimes described as a crowned and winged serpent, its stare was lethal to all, including its own species. When two Skoffins met, they both died. This Fig. 7. co*ckatrice hatching
110 A Wizard’s Bestiary Fig. 11. Aspis Fig. 12. Questing Beast by Rackham Fig. 10. Skoffin creature could only be killed by silver bullets into which a cross was cut. The Muiriasc (or Rosualt) was an Irish monster said to inhabit the plain near Croagh Patrick. Its effluvia caused misery wherever they were directed. If it spewed into the water, all the fish died; if it belched fumes, all the birds dropped dead; and if it breathed vapor over the land, it killed all living things as a plague would. How very like a Basilisk! The Svara was a great yellow Dragon of Armenian legend, with a single long horn, enormous ears, and prodigious fangs. Its venom poisoned the entire surrounding region until it was slain by the hero, Keresapa. The Aspis (Latin, Asp) was a two-legged Dragon of medieval Europe, depicted both with and without wings. Its bite caused instant death, and it was so poisonous that even touching its dead body would be fatal. But it could be easily overcome by music, upon hearing which it would jam its tail into one ear and press the other to the ground. This is an ironic myth because, unlike all other reptiles, snakes have no ears and are stone deaf. The Questing Beast, or Glatisant, was a hybrid creature of British Arthurian legend, said to have the torso of a leopard, the hindquarters of a lion, the head of a snake, and the feet of a stag. Other descriptions have included iron-like scales and prodigious amounts of slime. The rumblings of its stomach sounded similar to the baying of 40 hunting hounds. The Beast was perpetually seeking fresh water to quench its unbearable thirst, but whenever it drank, the water was fouled by its poisonous saliva. Said to have been begotten by the Devil with a princess who accused her brother of rape after he rejected her advances, it is a symbol of incest and anarchy. It appears several times in Mallory’s Le Mort D’Arthur, where it is obsessively pursued by Sir Pellinore and, after Pellinore’s death, by Sir Palomedes. Fig. 13. Catoblepas by Topsell (1658) And then there is the Catoblepas (Greek, “that which looks downward”; also called Gorgon). This bull-like creature of Ethiopia and southern Egypt was said to be covered in iron scales similar to those on a Dragon. It had tusks like a boar’s, and no hair except on its porcine head, which always drooped downward on its scrawny neck. It ate poisonous plants, and would belch noxious fumes if frightened. Pliny claims that “all who met its gaze expired immediately.” Because of this, it is also called the Gorgon, after the Gorgons of ancient Greece, of which Medusa, with her gaze of stone, was the most famous. Early accounts of the Catoplebas described an herbivorous creature with hoofed feet, but by the 1600s this description had changed to a scaly, winged beast with large teeth and claws. Cuvier suggested that it was originally based on the Gnu, or Wildebeest (Connochaetes gnou). Here are a few more venomous serpents of myth and legend that may be identified with real-life snakes: The Uraeus (from Greek, ouraios, “cobra”)—A huge, venom-spitting cobra in Egyptian mythology that coils around the solar disc of the sun god, Ra. It was identified with the cobra goddess Uajit, or Wadjet. The symbol of sovereignty of the Pharaoh, the Uraeus was also called the Eye of Ra, because Ra could spit fire against his enemies. This is the Egyptian Cobra (Naja haje), commonly called the uraeus serpent. The Seps—A small serpent whose venom disFig. 14. Uraeus
Creatures of Night 111 Fig. 15. Indian Krait ending up in the fireplace as it crawls out of the burning logs, awakened by the heat. They do, in fact, exude a harmless milky fluid when frightened, which can actually extinguish weak flames. Moreover, it is true that many newts secrete potent tetrodotoxins through their skin as a defense against predators. Until the middle of the 17th century, fireproof asbestos fibers were believed to be “Salamander wool.” Although they were sometimes drawn as hairy, real salamanders are, of course, entirely smooth skinned, so it came to be said that the wool was from cocoons they wove, as silkworms do. Garments woven from these fibers could be cleaned by throwing them into a fire. Pope Alexander III had a prized tunic of Salamander’s wool, as did the Emperor of India. This information provides a possible explanation for Pliny’s description of the effect of their fluids upon human skin, for this is similar to what happens with asbestos poisoning, which causes skin cancer.4 In medieval Christian symbolism, the Salamander represents those who pass through the fires of passion and of this world without stain. Therefore, it stands for chastity, loyalty, impartiality, virginity, courage, Jesus, Mary, and the faithful. Interestingly, the Salamander is also used to symbolize the flames through which it passes, and so is also a symbol of fire, temptation, and burning desire. It was considered the “King of Fire,” and as such it represented Christ, who baptized with the flames of the Holy Spirit.6 Fig. 20. Crowned Salamander of Francis I The Stellione (or Stellio) is a lizard or newt with a weasel’s head, covered with shiny spots like stars. It is so deadly to scorpions that the mere sight of it paralyzes them with fear. It sometimes appears in heraldry. Albertus Magnus (1200–1280), in De Animalibus, declares it to be the same creature as the Salamander. solves the bones and the body from the inside out. Isidore of Seville says: “The deadly seps devours a man so quickly that he liquifies in its mouth.” T.H. White suggests that this may be the Indian Krait (Bungarus caeruleus). Its venom is four times as potent as that of the Indian cobra!5 The Syren (or Sirena)— According to medieval bestiaries, this is a monstrous, winged, white serpent dwelling in Arabia. It can cover the ground faster than a galloping horse, and fly even faster. Its poison is so toxic that its victims are dead before they even feel the bite. White suggests that this creature may also be based upon the Indian krait.5 Salamandra & Kin Salamandra (or Salamander, Dea) are brilliantly colored lizards or small Dragons that can live in flames and molten lava, and are so cold that they are able to extinguish fires. Paracelsus (1493–1541) gave their name to Fire Elementals, listing them with the other three Elementals: Gnomes (Earth), Sylphs (Air), and Undines (Water). Appropriately enough, the Salamandra sometimes appears today as a symbol for fire insurance. Salamanders were also considered to be highly poisonous. According to Pliney, “The Salamander casteth up at the mouth a certain venomous matter like milk, let it but once touch any bare part of a man or woman’s body, all their hair will fall off, and the part so touched will change the color of the skin to a white morphew.” He adds that the vile venom of a Salamander can infect trees, fruit, water, and even entire nations. If one so much as touched stove wood, anything cooked over it would be poisoned.22 These myths are based on the European Fire Salamander (Salamandra salamandra), a colorful little black and yellow amphibian which hibernates in dead wood, often Fig. 18. Fire Salamander Fig. 19. Hairy Salamander Fig. 17. Salamandra Fig. 16. Syren
112 A Wizard’s Bestiary out warning, rearing up and jumping 2-3 yards in one bound. It has been seen as far south as Sicily, where, in 1954, several farmers reported a long serpent with a cat’s head and forelegs attacking their pigs. Fig. 23. Tatzelwurm 1 Many depictions of the Tatzelwurm resemble skinks (Scincidae), the largest of the lizard families with about 1,200 known species. Most lack a neck and have relatively small legs. Several genera (for example, Typhlosaurus) have no limbs at all, whereas others, such as Neoseps, have only vestigial limbs. Other depictions of the Tatzelworm resemble the Ajolote, or Two-Legged Worm Lizard (Bipedidae bipes) of Mexico, suggesting that this may be a larger European species. A number of these cryptic creatures have been reported killed or found dead, but regrettably, no specimens have been preserved for study. If one is obtained, it may turn out to be related to the New World Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum) and the Mexican Beaded Lizard (H. horridum), presently the world’s only known venomous lizards. But there have been no sightings in recent decades, and the legendary Tatzelwurm may already be extinct.7 Fig. 24. Tatzelwurm 2 Dwelling deep within the dunes of the southern Gobi Desert is a horrible creature known as the Mongolian Deathworm. Locals call it Allghoi Khorkhoi (Mongolian, “intestine worm”). In Kazakhstan, it is known as the Büjenshylan. Its bulky, dark red, wormlike body is reported to be around 2–4 feet long. Supposedly, anything it touches turns yellow. It kills its victims instantly, either by spraying acid-like venom, or by emitting a powerful electrical charge from a range of several feet. Burrowing under the desert sands and emerging to hunt only at night, it hibernates most The Scitalis(or Scytale; from scitulus, “elegant”) is a serpentine, winged Dragon with only two front legs and multicolored scales so beautiful that animals and humans are compelled to stop and admire it—whereupon the sluggish reptile strikes them down and devours them. Its poison is so fiery that anyone it bites is consumed in flames. Similar to the Salamander, it glows with such inner heat that even in a severe frost it will come out of its den to shed its skin. T.H. White suggests that it may be derived from the “superbly marked” rhinoceros viper (Bitis nasicornis), found in the forests of West and Central Africa.5 The Grylio is an evil, Salamander-like reptile described in medieval bestiaries. It was said to climb into fruit trees and poison the ripe fruit. Not only would the fruit become deadly, but also any water into which it fell. The name has also been given to the pig frog (Ranna grylio). It should be noted that many newts produce potent toxins in their skin secretions as a defense against predators. The rough-skinned newt (Taricha granulosa) of the Pacific Northwest produces more than enough tetrodotoxin to kill an adult human foolish enough to swallow the animal or drink water into which it has fallen. In order for the toxins to take effect, they must be ingested or enter via a break in the skin, but this can easily occur on a camping trip if one drinks water from a pool with newts in it. Tatzelwurms & Deathworms The Tatzelwurm is a mysterious, hole-dwelling, European reptile, generally described as a cigar-shaped lizard, about 2 to 5 feet long, with a cat-like head. It is said to be so poisonous that its mere breath can kill a human. Known variously as the Clawed Worm, the Springworm or Jumping Worm, the Stollenworm or Hole-Dwelling Worm, the Tunnel Worm, or the Mountain Stump, many sightings of this creature have been reported over the centuries in the Swiss, Bavarian, Italian, and Austrian Alps. In France, where it is called Arassas, it is said to inhabit caves high in the French Alps. The many descriptions of its appearance vary greatly as to the number of legs (two, four, or none) and texture of the skin (smooth, lumpy, scaly, or hairy). Some say it has a ridge running down its spine and tail, with scales on its warty body interspersed with red veins and bristles. It is highly aggressive and attacks with- Fig. 25. Mongolian Deathworm by Phillipa Foster Fig. 21. Stellione by Matthaus Merian Fig. 22. Scitalis
Creatures of Night 113 Fig. 29. Hoop Snake of the year, becoming active in June and July.7 Driloleirus americanus is a three-foot-long pink earthworm that spits and, strangely, smells similar to lilies. Long thought extinct, a living specimen was discovered in 2005 in the Palouse soils of the Idaho/ Washington border. A six-foot-long, black, slug-like creature called Mulilo has been reported in the Congo region of Africa, along the border between Zaire and Zambia. It is reputed to be highly dangerous, with deadly poisonous breath. American Asps North America has only four types of venomous snakes, three of which are pit vipers. They all share common features: triangular heads, thin necks, thick bodies, and diamond-shaped markings all down their backs. These are water moccasins and copperheads (both Agkistrodon), and rattlesnakes (Crotalus). There is only one species of Copperhead (A. contortrix) and one of Water Moccasin (A. piscivorus), but there are eight different species of rattlesnakes in the United States. The fourth kind of venomous snake is an elapid, related to cobras (and thus, remotely, to the Basilisk). This is the Coral Snake (Micrurus), of which there are two virtually indistinguishable species—Eastern (M. fulvius) and Western (M. tener). They have brightly colored bands of red, yellow, and black, and they look almost identical to the pretty Scarlet King Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum elapsoides). There is a simple rule to tell them apart, based on the order of the colors of their bands: “Red and yellow, kill a fellow; red and black, venom lack.” North America also has its share of mythical venomous snakes, such as the Hoop Snake, which, in pursuit of prey, is said to grasp its tail in its jaws and roll, like a wheel, along the ground. At the last moment it straightens out, skewering its victim with its pointy tail. This is reminiscent of the Ouroboros and the Amphisbaena. Some cryptozoologists believe this is a distorted description of the Sidewinder Rattlesnake (Crotalus cerastes) of the Southwestern deserts. But it is the Mud Snake (Farancia abacura) that is popularly called the hoop snake or stinging snake, for the sharply pointed tail with which it prods its prey. The Uktena is a giant, often winged water serpent of Tennessee and the Carolinas. It is said to have a precious gem upon its horned head, but no one can take it, for, similar to the Basilisk, the monster’s very breath is deadly to all creatures. The Angont is a gigantic, poisonous serpent in the folklore of the Huron Indians of Eastern Canada. The very flesh of this monster is deadly, similar to that of the Poison Arrow Frog (Dendrobatidae). It lurks in forbidding and desolate places, from which it reaches out with its long coils to inflict pestilence and calamities upon humanity. And finally, there is the Sisiutl, a monstrous Sea Serpent in the traditions of the Bella Coola, Haida, and Kwakiutl Indians of Canada’s Pacific Coast. It is variously described as a salmon-serpent, a horned serpent, or even a two-headed serpent. Sometimes it is depicted with fins, four legs, and huge fangs, often with two serpentine bodies emerging from either side of an enormous head. According to the mythic narratives, anyone who meets its gaze will be turned to stone. Sisiutl is an assistant to Winalagilis, the war god, and its powers are therefore sought by warriors. Monster Movies: The Baleful Basilisk I know of only two movies that have featured Basilisks: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), and a made-for-TV movie on the Sci-Fi Channel titled Basilisk, the Serpent King (2006). I am unaware of any co*ckatrice or Salamandra in films. However, Medusa appeared in both The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964) and Ray Harryhausen’s Clash of the Titans (1981). Fig. 31. Sisiutl Fig. 30. Uktena Fig. 26. Copperhead Water Mocassin Rattlesnake Fig. 27. Coral Snake Fig. 28. Scarlet King Snake
114 A Wizard’s Bestiary 2. Cosmic Serpents By Oberon Zell-Ravenheart Forth from the dark recesses of the cave The serpent came; the Hoamen at the sight Shouted; and they who held the priest, appall’d, Relaxed their hold. On came the mighty snake, And twined in many a wreath around Neolin, Darting aright, aleft, his sinuous nexk, With searching eye and lifted jaw, and tongue Quivering; and hiss as of a heavy shower Upon the summer woods. The Britons stood Astounded at the powerful reptile’s bulk, And that styrange sight. His girth was as of man, But easily could he have overtopp’d Goliath’s helmed head; or that huge king Of Basan, hugest of the Anakin. What then was human strength if once involv’d Within those dreadful coils! The multitude Fell prone and worshipp’d. —Robert Southey, Madoc, The Curse of Kehama Tavi—even mate for life. And finally, some snakes are known to be the longest of all reptiles, with recorded lengths of more than 30 feet, in the case of anacondas and pythons. But, as we shall see, reports from jungle explorers suggest that some may reach lengths of more than twice that. Celestial Serpents Many myths and legends describe the sky-spanning vista of the Milky Way as the body of a vast, celestial serpent encircling the entire universe. The oldest example in Western mythology is Tiamet—the great Cosmic World-Serpent of ancient Mesopotamia, equated with salt water and the Milky Way. She has a vast, invincible body, with two forelegs, two great horns on her head, and an enormous tail. In the Babylonian epic, Enuma Elish, she and her consort Apsu/ Abzu (personifying fresh water) create the heavens and Earth and engender the gods, who rebel against them. Tiamet is slain by Marduk, and her body dismembered and dispersed to provide lands and stars. Her flowing blood becomes rivers. Fig. 1. Marduk slaying Tiamet In the Akkadian mythology of later Mesopotamia, Labbu is the celestial serpent of the Milky Way. ERPENTS ARE UNCANNY AND MYSterious creatures. Highly evolved, legless reptiles, they slither swiftly through the undergrowth, drop from trees, swim in both fresh and salt water, burrow into the earth, and even glide through the air. Periodically shedding their skins entire, they heal all of their scars to appear renewed and rejuvenated. And all serpents are predators, killing in manners unique to their kind—either by constriction or by the injection of deadly venom. A deep fear of and even revulsion for serpents seems to be deeply imprinted on the psyches of all primates—including most humans. But while Western culture regards them as the very essence of evil itself, in certain mythologies they are considered to be wise and immortal benefactors and teachers of the Mysteries—especially those of sex. Snakes evolved from earless, eyeless, legless lizards called caecilians, which are still in existence. Although our eyes and those of all other vertebrates derive directly from those of ancient fish, the eyes of serpents are unique in the animal kingdom for having been reinvented from sacratch. They have no eyelids, and so are unable to close their eyes in sleep or blink. Although snakes never re-evolved their lost ears, they developed unique organs for sensing infrared radiation, enabling them to hunt warm-blooded prey in the dark. Although no modern reptiles bear live young, some serpents, such as garter snakes and boa constrictors, do. They accomplish this by hatching shellless eggs inside the mother—a process called oviviparity. Many protect their eggs and young, and some—such as the king cobra of Kipling’s Riki-TikiOberon Zell
Creatures of Night 115 He is slain by the god Tišpak. Ancient Egyptian mythology gives us Ka-enAnkh Nereru, who arcs across the night sky from horizon to horizon in the form of the Milky Way. In a rather backward journey, the solar barge of Ra enters its caudal vent each sunset, and emerges at the other end from its mouth at the following dawn, renewed for another day. Apep is the mighty Moon Serpent of Egyptian mythology that emerges from the primal abyss when the world is formed, much like the Babylonian Tiamet. Apep represents storms, night, and death, and is associated with Set, the evil god of chaos. Apep is always trying to devour the sun-god, Ra. When he succeeds, the result is a solar eclipse, but he is always forced to regurgitate the blazing sun. Eventually Apep is bound by Horus, and chopped to pieces by Osiris. Another vast cosmic serpent in Egyptian myth is Mehen, who coils over the boat of Ra and protects him from the evil Apep as the sun-god sails through the darkness of the Underworld on his nightly return journey from the west to the east. The entrance to the Egyptian Underworld is guarded by the enormous serpent Namtar, who also protects the sun-god, Ra, on his voyages through the darkness from dusk to dawn. And Maka is yet another cosmic serpent of the void in Egyptian myth, who continually attacks Ra on his daily journey across the sky. In the mythology of ancient Greece, this vast serpent of eternity is named Ouroboros, meaning “Tail Devourer,” for, in an endless cycle of destruction and renewal, it continually consumes its own tail as it grows longer at the front end. It frequently appears in alchemical illustrations and to symbolize cyclicality and primordial unity. Numerous ancient texts refer to a serpent of light residing in the heavens. Degei is the immense, sky-spanning cosmic serpent in the folklore of the Fiji Islands. He feeds and mentors the first man and woman, teaching them knowledge of speech, agriculture, fire, cooking, and sex. In Hindu mythology, Asootee is the enormous world-serpent with its tail in its mouth, that encircles the entire universe —turtle, elephants, and Earth. Fig. 4. Asootee encircling the universe. World Serpents On a more terrestrial level, various cultural myths tell of a gigantic serpent that encircles the Earth, or from whose body living creatures are produced. The most famous of these is Jörmundgandr(“Huge EarthMonster”), the Midgard Serpent of Norse mythology that surrounds Middle-Earth (Midgard, the world of humans) with its tail in its mouth. Jörmungand is the second of three children of Loki and the giantess, Angraboda. The first is the Fenris Wolf, and the third is Hel, Goddess of the Underworld. Seeing that the serpent was growing quickly, and knowing that it would someday cause great evil, Odin threw it into the ocean that surrounds the Earth, where it eventually encircled the whole world. At the time of Ragnorak, Jörmungand and Thor will destroy each other. Ahi is a monstrous world-serpent in the Vedic myths of India. Embodying the snows of winter that hold the water in the mountains, Ahi drinks up all the waters of the Earth and then coils itself about the mountains. It is slain by the god Indra with his thunderbolts, thereby releasing the rains of spring. Kholomodumo is a vast, all-consuming serpentmonster in the mythology of the Sotho tribes of southeast Africa. It devours all creatures and humans except for one woman; she bears twin sons who then slay the monster and release all of its victims from its belly to repopulate the Earth. Umai-Hulhya-Wit is a vast, primordial, cosmic water-serpent in the creation myth of the Diegueno Indians of California. It is tricked by the first people into a brushwood dwelling, which is then set alight. The monster explodes, sending out into the world all the cultural artifacts (arts, languages, rituals, music, Fig. 2.Mehen coiling over the boat of Ra Fig. 3. Ouroboros by Theodoros Pelecanos (1478) Fig. 5. Jörmundgandr, the Midgard Serpent
116 A Wizard’s Bestiary legends, and so on) that sustain humanity. The Figonas are winged cosmic serpents who are the creators of all life in the mythology of the Melanesian people on the Solomon Island of San Cristoval. The greatest of these is Aguna. He creates the first man, who is so helpless that Aguna must also create a woman to make fire, cook, and weed the garden. Hatuibwari was considered the primal ancestress of the human race. Her vast, serpentine body has a human torso with four pendulous breasts to nourish all creatures. She also has four eyes and two enormous wings. In Islamic mythology, Falak is the cosmic serpent who lurks in the Realm of Fire beneath the worldsupporting monster Bahamut, and whose mouth contains the six Hells. Dabbat is the vast serpent that will arise out of the Earth on Judgment Day to destroy the world of unbelievers. Lik is a vast and ancient water-serpent in the folklore of Gran Chaco, South America. With palm trees growing along its mossy back, it is said to be the guardian of the fish that dwell in lakes and rivers. And in the American Southwest, Hopi Indian legend tells of vast water-serpents called the Palulukon. Two of them, floating in the great cosmic ocean, support the Earth upon their backs. Their turning causes earthquakes. Rainbow Serpents The sky-spanning rainbow is often envisioned as a vast, multihued cosmic serpent. Such creatures appear in the mythologies of many cultures, but particularly among the native peoples of Australia, Central and West Africa, Melanesia, Polynesia, and the Caribbean. The Rainbow Serpent is associated with fresh water and floods, and may be benevolent or malevolent toward hu- mans. In Australia, he is a crea- ture of the Alcheringa, or Dream- time, with different local names in various regions. The Warramunga refer to him as Wollunqua, and they say he is so immense that he can travel many miles without his tail ever leaving his waterhole. The Kabi of coastal Queensland call him Dhakhan, and say he has the tail of a fish. Normally dwelling in deep mountain lakes, he travels between them in a rainbow. In Arnham Land, the rainbow serpent is a cosmic python called Julunggul or Yurlunggur. Angered at the pollution of a waterhole from the menstrual blood of one of the primordial Wawilak Sisters, he eats both women and inundates the entire Earth in a great flood. In the Western Desert he is called Wanambi. The Wik Mungkan of central Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, call him Taipan. This name has been assigned to a genus of large (up to 10 feet long), fast, highly venomous Australian snakes, one of which, the Fierce Snake (Oxyuranus microlepidotus), has the most toxic venom of any land snake in the world. Bobi-Bobi is a vast heavenly serpent that creates game animals for people to eat, and sacrifices one its own ribs to make the first boomerang for hunting. Thugine is a great black sea-serpent dwelling offshore of the Northern Territories. Other regional names for the Australian rainbow serpent include Langal, Mindi, Ngalbjod, Wullungu, Woinunggur, Worombi, Yero, Ungud, and Ungur— which is also a term for the Dreamtime itself. Other monstrous serpents of the Karadjeri Dreamtime are called the Bulaing. There are also the Lightning Snakes—great, sky-dwelling serpents that descend to the Earth and rebound to the heavens during storms, thus creating lightning. This contact between earth and sky releases the life-giving rains. And Aranda is a huge water-serpent of the Emianga region. It lurks in the deepest rivers and billabongs where it lies in wait for unwary humans, whom it swallows whole in one gulp. Queensland University zoologist Dr. Michael Lee and colleagues have proposed that the legend of the Australian rainbow serpent and other such creatures may have been inspired by an extinct 20-foot-long python, Wonambi naracoortensis. Fig. 9. Wonambi naracoortensisis Damballah (or Damballa Hwedo) is the great cosmic rainbow serpent in the Voodoo mythology of Haiti, which has its origins in the cult of Da among the Fon people of Dahomey, West Africa. The colors of the rainbow encompass everything from his Fig. 6. Hatuibwari Fig. 7. Rainbow Serpent by Oberon Fig. 8. Sea Serpent by Matthaus Merian (1718)
Creatures of Night 117 red masculine head to his blue feminine tail. Within his seven coils he holds the primordial ocean, the air, and the heavens above. His excrement becomes the mountains of the Earth. His consort is Aido Hwedo, the great rainbow serpent of Dahomey folklore that carries the god Mawu in the creation of the world. She eats vast amounts of iron, but when she cannot find enough she eats her own tail, as Ouroboros does. Her excrement also becomes the mountains of the Earth, eventually adding so much weight that Mawu places Aido Hwedo under the Earth to support it, where her writhing causes earthquakes. In the traditions of the Yoruba natives of Nigeria, West Africa, the great rainbow serpent is called Oshumare. Horned Serpents Throughout the world, Lake-Monsters and SeaSerpents are commonly described as immense, undulating, serpentine creatures with horselike heads, necks, and ears. Some witnesses, however, say that the ears look more like horns, so the same animals may also be called Water-Bulls or Horned Serpents. Sometimes they are said to have glowing red or yellow eyes, great fangs, and even the ability to breathe fire. In the British Isles and other countries of the Old World, the equine heads and necks of such creatures are often noted, giving rise to legends of Kelpies, Water-Horses, Horse-Eels, Seahorses, and HorseHeads. But in North America, where horses were unknown until the Spanish conquistadors brought them in the 16th century, the distinctive horns provided a common identity for these enormous aquatic “serpents” that are prevalent in the mythologies of many tribes. Fig. 10. Head of Loch Ness Monster from underwater photo taken 8/9/72 by Academy of Applied Science I believe that Horned Serpents, Long-Necked Sea-Serpents, and classic Lake-Monsters are not reptiles at all, but gigantic aquatic slugs with heads and fleshy feelers like those of a snail. Today it is the oftsighted Lake-Monsters, such as Champ, Ogopogo, and Colossal Claude, that are most known to the public. But such creatures have figured in Native American myths and legends for centuries—if not millennia. American Horned Serpents (or “Great Serpents”) are described as extremely long, with great, gaping mouths and two horns atop their heads. Like the Water-Horses of northern Europe, they may be benevolent or malevolent toward humans. Anyone who eats their flesh will become a Water-Serpent. Fig. 11. Avan Yu, horned serpent of the underworld. Pueblo Indians, San Ildefonso, New Mexico. In Canada, Tcinto-Sakto (“Long-Horned Serpent”) is a giant serpent in the folklore of the Cree Indians, with branching horns like those of a stag. Different varieties can be blue, yellow, or white. Tcipitckaam (also called Unicorn Serpent or Lake Utopia Sea-Monster) is a serpentine Lake-Monster in the folklore of the Micmac and Maliseet of Nova Scotia, where it is believed to inhabit Lakes Ainslie and Utopia. According to legend, long ago two Maliseets were canoing on Lake Utopia, when suddenly the monster appeared and chased them from one end of the lake to the other. Since the arrival of Europeans in the late 1700s, new sightings have been reported every few years. It is described as having the body of an alligator and the head of a horse, with a long red or yellow spiral horn projecting from the center of its forehead. Fig. 12. On Niont by Tracy Swangler In the northeastern United States, Doonongaes is an enormous Horned Serpent in Seneca mythology. Normally dwelling in deep river pools, he occasionally emerges to sun himself on the banks. He and his companion, Skahnowa, the monster turtle, prey upon humans and large animals. The Hurons tell of a giant Horned Serpent called On Niont. It carved deep clefts in rocks and mountains with its single huge horn, which was prized for its magickal properties, much like the horn (alicorn) of a Uni- corn. In the traditions of the Algonquin Indians of the eastern United States, Weewilmekq is a serpentine Water-Monster described as a giant worm, a stag-antlered Water-Serpent, or a great spiny sturgeon. It lurks in rushing waters such as waterfalls, rapids, and whirlpools. Fig. 13. Weewilmekq by Ash DeKirk
118 A Wizard’s Bestiary Moving across the country, Kichiknebik (“Great Horned Serpent”; also called Kitsinackas or Manitou Knebik) is an immense horned rattlesnake in the folklore of the Iroquois, Lenape, and Al- gonquin Indians of the Great Lakes region. It protects people crossing the water in stormy weather. Able to travel swiftly through water or over land, it is large enough to swallow an entire buffalo. In the American Midwest, the Unktehi (or Untekhi) are gigantic, horned Water-Serpents in the folklore of the Lakota Sioux. Inhabiting waterfalls and deep-flowing waters, they are the guardians of the Missouri River, and are constantly at war with the Thunderbirds. Wakandagi Pezi is a serpentine Water-Monster in the legends of the Mohawk and Omaha tribes. A type of Unktehi, it is said to inhabit the Missouri River, where it hurls exploding spheres of water at intruders in its territory. Usually seen only through a mist, its head bears antlers like a stag’s, and its hoofed front legs are also deer-like. Hiintcabiit is a monstrous Water-Serpent in the legends and folklore of the Arapaho Indians of the western United States. It inhabits mountain lakes and rivers, and, like many of its kin throughout the world, it has two horns atop its head. In the deserts of the American Southwest, Navajo folklore describes Teehooltsoodi as a Lake-Monster similar to a giant otter, with smooth fur and enormous buffalo horns on its head. In one tale, it causes the great deluge. Tzeltal is a gigantic Horned Serpent in the mythology of the Chiapas Indians of southern Mexico.And Kolowisi is a great Horned Serpent in Zuni legend. It has sharp fins all over its body and razor-sharp teeth. Sacred Serpents Python was a monstrous female serpent born from the mud and slime that remained after the great flood of Deucalian. She dwelt in a chasm beside the Castellian Spring on the slopes of Mt. Parnassus, guarding an oracular cave of Gaea, until the sun-god Apollo killed her with his arrows and established his temple on the site. This battle was ceremonially reenacted annually in celebration of the founding of the Delphic Oracle, whose priestesses were called Pythonesses. And in Greek myth, a gigantic serpent named Epirotes guards Apollo’s walled garden of Dragons, divinatory descendants of the Python of Delphi. From this legend, the name python was designated for the giant snakes of the Old World, some of which reach lengths of more than 30 feet. In fact, when classical authors wrote of Dragons or Dracones, they actually meant giant snakes—specifically pythons. Fig. 16. Apollo slaying the Delphic Python A sentient serpent in the Garden of Eden is described in the Bible in Genesis 3:1–5: “The Serpent was the most subtle of all the wild beasts that Yahweh God had made….” It has been vilified for tempting Eve to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, when it asked her if Yahweh had said she could eat from any of the trees. When she said no, that they were not to eat of the tree growing in the middle of the garden, under pain of death, the serpent replied: “You shall not surely die. God knows that on the day you eat of it, your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”1 And this, of course, is exactly what happened. A fresco dating from 1291, in the chapel of the Abbave de Plaincourault, in France, depicts vividly the hallucinogenic Amanita muscaria mushroom as the infamous apple of Eden. The Serpent is usually shown in medieval religious art as a snakelike creature coiling about the Tree, but details vary over time. Early images portray it with the horselike head of a typical Lake-Monster. Later depictions give it a human head, and sometimes even female breasts (a Draconopede). It may be shown with a crown, forelegs, or the wings and tail of a peaco*ck. Eventually it came to represent all evil in the world, and was equated with the Devil. Fig. 17. The Serpent in the Garden of Eden by Albrecht Durer (1493) Fig. 14. Untekhi Fig. 15. Kolowisi
Creatures of Night 119 Ananta Sesha (“Infinite”) is the thousand-headed cobra of Hindu myth. His movements churn the waters of the primal sea of milk, producing the sacred elixir of immorality. His mouths spit fire and his bite is poisonous. He will destroy the world at the end of the age, but for now his coils serve as a couch for the preserver-god, Vishnu, shading him with the spread hoods of Ananta’s multitudinous heads. The son of Ananta Sesha, is Vasuki, the World-Serpent. When the gods churned the great Ocean of Milk to create the world, Vasuki was used as the rope. Kaliya is the multiheaded King of the Serpents in Hindu mythology. This poisonous black monster dwells in the depths of the river Yamuna, emerging each night with a host of serpentine minions to ravage the countryside. After losing a battle with the god Krishna, Kaliya and his hordes are driven into the depths of the ocean. Nagas and Naginis are serpent-people of India. Nagas are male, and Naginis, female. They resemble humans from the waist up and snakes from the waist down. Sometimes they have multiple heads and varying colors. There are four classes of Naga—Heavenly, Divine, Earthly, and Hidden—all categorized according to their various functions (guarding the heavenly palace, giving rainfall, draining rivers, or guarding treasures, respectively). It is said that they will eventually destroy the world with fire. In Burma, Nagas are part serpent, part dragon, and part crocodile. They give rubies to those they favor and protect many royal people. In Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia, however, Nagas are giant black Water-Snakes or multiheaded Sea-Dragons that terrorize fishermen. Their images are often used as temple guardians. The name has been applied to the Indian cobra, Naja naja. In Buddhist tradition, the King of the Nagas is Muchalinda (or Vasuki), a giant cobra that winds itself seven times around the Bo tree under which the Buddha meditates, spreading his hood to shelter the Buddha from a storm. In Indonesian mythology, the gigantic King of the Serpents is Naga Pahoda, which dwells in the depths of the sea. When the god Batara Guru scattered dust to form land, Naga Pahoda rose up and squeezed it into many scattered islands. Dewi Sesir is a Balinese sea goddess shown in carvings as a winged serpent with a woman’s face and breasts. Shah-Mar is the great King of the Snakes in Armenian folklore. He dwells in a cavern high in the mountains, attended by many servant serpents. In the folklore of Papua, New Guinea, an enormous serpent called Make Make represents the sungod, Wunekau. Super Serpents In the annals of cryptozoology, there have been numerous compelling reports, mostly from South America, of truly gigantic snakes. Because fossils have been found of immense prehistoric serpents—such as Garstin’s Giant Snake (Gigantophis garstini), which is believed to have attained lengths of 35 feet or more—there is no a priori reason why such monsters could not exist. Indeed, because large constrictors such as boas, pythons, and anacondas continue to grow throughout their lives, the only theoretical limits to their size may be their life spans and the ability of their skeletal frames to support the sheer weight of such mass. The latter does not apply to aquatic serpents, such as anacondas, as the water supports their great bulk. Indeed, an enormous anaconda allegedly measured in the 1940s by a Columbian petroleum geologist was 37.5 feet long. Gigantophis first appeared approximately 40 million years ago in the southern Sahara, where Egypt and Algeria are now situated, and may have died out only as recently as 30,000 BCE. Known only from a small number of fossils, it may have preyed on the pig-sized ancestors of modern elephants.2 It is likely that many of the legends of cosmic serpents may, in fact, be based on human encounters with these very real creatures, such as the following. Fig. 22. Gigantophis Fig. 19.Kaliya defeated by Krishna Fig. 18. Ananta Sesha serving as Lord Vishnu’s couch. Fig. 21. Nagini
120 A Wizard’s Bestiary Fig. 23. Sucuriju Gigante From the Amazon jungle of South America come reports of the Sucuriju Gigante (“Giant Snake”), also known as Sucuri, Sucuruiú, Boiúna, Liboya, Jibóia; or the Spanish Matora, meaning “Bull Eater.” These truly gigantic anacondas have been sighted throughout the 20th century; some were claimed to reach lengths of 120 feet. And several explorers claim to have encountered and even killed monsters 60–80 feet long. On a 1907 mapping expedition of the Amazon, Colonel Percy Fawcett claimed to have shot and measured a 62-foot-long specimen, as illustrated here by Bernard Heuvelmans, the father of cryptozoology:3 Fig. 24. Col. Fawcett’s encounter with a 62-ft anaconda (from a drawing by his son, Brian) In 1922, Father Victor Heinz saw an immense serpent on the Amazon River, near the town of Obidos. He said it was at least 80 feet long, with a body as thick as an oil drum, and it raised a huge wake as it swam down the river. And painter Serge Bonacase told Huevelmans of killing a Sucuriju in 1947, in the swamps between the Rio Manso and the Rio Cristalino.4 Its body measured more than 65 feet long, and its triangular head was 24" by 20". Similar sightings have been reported as recently as 1995, along with enormous tracks and shed skins. Several have supposedly been killed by natives, but bodies are always quickly disposed of. Native folklore of Guiana tells of an enormous serpent called Camoodi. Sometimes mistaken for a huge fallen tree trunk, it is said to be the protector of the Camoodi Forests. Monstrous worms or serpents called Sterpe have been reported from Nicaragua. And in Brazil, gigantic anacondas that capsize canoes, cause floods, and kidnap women are known as Mawadi. Their Queen is Huito, Mistress of the Waters. But truly giant snakes are not confined to South America. Africa is said to be the habitat of Pa Snakes—gigantic serpents that prey upon elephants. When they eat an elephant, they do not spit out the bones for three years. This is clearly an exaggeration of the Reticulated Python (Python reticulatus), the record measured size of which is more than 33 feet long. Fig. 25. Pa Snake attacking an elephant The NgumaMonene is a giant African snake with alligator-like ridges running down the length of its back. It has a forked tongue like a snake’s, and is said to reach 130 feet in length. It is a constrictor that preys upon humans as well as animals. While on patrol over the African Congo in 1959, Belgian helicopter pilot, Col. Remy Van Lierde took this photo of a gigantic snake, 40–50 feet in length. It was dark brownishgreen, with a white belly and a triangular head measuring about 3" by 2". As the helicopter approached, the snake reared up 10 feet in the air and looked as if it would strike at the helicopter if it flew any lower.5 Fig. 26. Giant Congo snake photographed by Col. Remy Van Lierde, 1959. The Nyan—also known as Avagráh, Gara, Gráha, or Tanti-gáha—is a monstrous, wormlike creature inhabiting the rivers and marshes of Bengal and Burma in India. It preys upon large animals, including elephants, coiling about them as a python does and dragging them under the water to be consumed. This is probably the same creature as the Bu-rin, a giant Burmese water-snake, 40–50 feet long. Said to be incredibly dangerous, it has attacked swimmers and even small boats.
Creatures of Night 121 In Japan, the monstrous Serpent of Omi plagued the region of Omi in Japan until it was slain by Prince Yamato Take, son of King Keiko. And in North America, the Lakota Sioux have a legend of Zuzeca (“The Snake”), a massive, python-like serpent that is the source and patron of hidden things, concealed knowledge, lies, treachery, and deceit. The World’s Largest Snake Since the early 1900s, the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Bronx Zoo in New York City have offered a substantial reward for the delivery in good health of a live snake more than 30 feet long. The prize money—initially $1,000, and now up to $50,000—remains unclaimed. According to The Guinness Book of World Records, the longest snake ever measured was a 39.4- foot reticulated python that was killed in 1912 on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. A close second was a 38.3-foot African Rock Python (Python sebae) shot on Africa’s Ivory Coast in 1932. But in his 1931 book, Snakes of the World, the renowned herpetologist and former curator of the Bronx Zoo, Raymond Ditmars, writes, “In all of these years, in an endeavor to obtain record measurements [of reticulated pythons] from authoritative sources, the figures stand at 33 feet and another a few inches over 30 feet.” Of the African rock python, Ditmars states, “It appears doubtful if this snake attains a length of much over 20 feet and the average run of adult examples is 16 to 17 feet.” And in a recent survey of more than 1,000 wild anacondas measured in Brazil, the largest was around 17 feet long and weighed 100 pounds. The biggest snake ever held in captivity was the aptly named Colossus, a reticulated python at Pittsburgh’s now-defunct Havilland Zoo. Upon his death in 1966, Colossus had reached a length of 28.5 feet and a weight of more than 300 pounds. He was succeeded by Samantha, a 26-foot reticulated python at the Bronx Zoo who died of old age in 2002. The current living record holder is Marci, a 25-foot reticulated python on display at the San Antonio Zoo.6 Monster Movies: Cosmic Serpents The brilliant film adaptation, The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964), based on the 1935 novel by Charles Finney, The Circus of Dr. Lao, includes the primordial Giant Serpent. Although many people thought that King Kong battled a huge prehistoric snake in the original 1933 movie, it is actually a Tanystropheus, a 20-ft-long Triassic lizard with a 10-foot-long neck. But in the 1976 remake, Kong does wrestle with a mighty serpent. Conan the Barbarian (1982) features a gigantic serpent guarding a temple treasure. Thunder of the Gigantic Serpent a.k.a. Terror Serpent (1988), tells of a pet snake that grows and grows. Anaconda (1997) and its 2004 sequel, Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, are based on the legend of the Sucuriju Gigante. A series of forgettable movies involving gigantic boas and pythons include: Python (2000), Python II (TV—2002), Boa a.k.a. New Alcatraz (2002), and, finally, the inevitable Boa vs. Python (TV—2004). Fig. 27. Zuzeca by Rosebud Elementary School Oberon Zell
122 A Wizard’s Bestiary 3. Dragons By Ash “LeopardDancer” DeKirk Th’old Dragon under ground In straiter limits bound, Not half so far casts his usurped sway, And wrath to see his Kingdom fail, Swindges the scaly Horrour of his foulded tail. —John Milton, On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity HAT IS A DRAGON? IN MODERN times the concept of the Dragon has become extremely stereotyped. What is the first thing that pops into your mind when you hear the word Dragon? Most likely it will be the winged, fire-breathing terror of European myth. But that is not all a Dragon can be, as we shall see. In many cases, snakes and Dragons are intertwined in the mythos of a culture. Dragons such as Wurms or Wyrms can be reminiscent of giant snakes. These are also known as Serpent-Dragons. The Lindorm or Lindwurm is a Wurm with a pair of wings. In other cases Dragons and lizards are intertwined. Drakes are Dragons that lack wings and look just like giant lizards. The Wyvern is a winged Dragon lacking forelimbs. And of course there is the typical, four-legged, winged variety. Winged serpents are just that—snakes with wings. Their wings may be feathered or webbed with skin, and they may have up to four sets of wings, though one is the norm. Hydra are Dragons with multiple heads. Most Dragons are considered scaly and reptilian, but there are Dragons that sport feathers and fur. Wherever man has dwelt, so there have been Dragons. Western Dragons Dragons are a very common theme in European myth and legend. Vikings painted Dragons on their shields and carved Dragon heads on the prows of their longships. Dragons are especially prominent in heraldry. The heraldic Dragon is most often associated with King Arthur and was likely created by him. The Arthurian Dragon has four legs; the ribbed wings of a bat; the belly of a crocodile; eagle talons; and a serpentine tail. The heraldic Wyvern looks much like the Arthurian Dragon, except that it lacks front legs. Other heraldic Dragons have a wolflike head, the body of a serpent, eagle talons, bat-like wings, and a barbed tongue and tail. In earlier times most European Dragons were actually symbolic of good things, much as their Asian cousins were and are. However, in medieval times the Dragon became symbolic of all things evil. It represented the devil, hell, sin, darkness, destruction, war, greed, and so on. Following is a small sampling of European Dragons. Aitvaras—A Lithuanian Dragon that can shapeshift into a black cat. It was seen by some as a source of good luck and by others as a demonic being. The Aitvaras would attach itself to a family or person and bring good luck and fortune to the household. Unfortunately, many people viewed association with the Aitvaras as a form of sorcery or witchcraft. Alklha (or Alicha, Arakho)—In the Buriat mythology of Siberia, this Dragon is so huge that its black wings, when spread across the sky, allow no light to reach the Earth. Periodically it attempts to devour the sun or the moon, causing an eclipse until the heat forces it to disgorge them. The craters on the moon are the marks of its teeth. Fig. 1. Alklha by Tracy Swangler Amphitere—A legless winged serpent with a dragon-like head, usually found in Wales and England. They have eyes like a peaco*ck’s tail, and wings that sparkle or glitter. The wings may be feathered, or membranous like a bat’s. Amphiteres are 6–9 feet long and covered in heavy scales. They were reputed to possess great wisdom and knowledge, as well as some associated power, such as the ability to hypnotize. Many also guarded hordes of treasure, but, unlike typical treasure-hording dragons, they took this task out of obligation rather than out of a liking of shiny things. It was said that armed men would grow from the teeth of an Amphitere planted in fertile ground, and would be absolutely loyal to the sower. Ian Daniels
Creatures of Night 123 Fig. 2. Amphitere by Ian Daniels Balaur—A large Dragon of Romanian folklore and fairy tales, it has fins, feet, and multiple serpent heads (usually three, sometimes seven or even 12). It represents evil and must be defeated by Fãt-Frumos in order to release the Princess. The term is now applied to a harmless Romanian snake, Coluber jugularis balaur. Bolla (or Bullar)—A serpentine monster in the folklore of southern Albania. It has four legs, small wings, and faceted silver eyes. When it wakes on St George’s Day (April 23) from its year-long hibernation, it devours the first human it sees. After 12 years, it metamorphoses into a horrific, fire-breathing flying Dragon with nine tongues called Kulshedra. Sometimes described as an immense hairy woman with pendulous breasts, Kulshedra causes drought, requiring human sacrifice in propitiation. Carthiginian Serpent—The Roman army confronted this giant Serpent-Dragon along the Bagrada River. It was about 120 feet long and dwelled in the river. The serpent was slain by the army, and the skin of the giant beast kept in the temple on Capitol Hill until about 133 BCE, after which it disappeared. Chudo-Yudo—A monstrous, multiheaded, fire-breathing Dragon of Russian folklore. Considered the controller of the waters, it was propitiated at times of drought. Its mother is the wicked Witch, BabaYaga, and its brother is Koshchei the Deathless. Cirein Croin—These great Sea-Serpents of Scottish myth are so large that they can swallow whales whole. They have greyish scales and a great crest upon their heads. Indeed, Cirein Croin means “Grey Crest.” Dahak— In the Zoroastrian mythology of Persia, this is an evil three-headed Dragon determined to destroy all that is worthy in the world. Its body is composed of lizards and scorpions. Chained beneath a mountain by the hero Thraotona (in some versions, Atar), it will break free at the end of time and wreak havoc upon the Earth. In Islamic mythology, this creature is called Dabbat or Dabbatu ‘L-Ard. Derketo—A whale-monster of Babylonian myth with the foreparts of a Dragon. It was created by the goddess Ishtar, and its birth caused the great flood. Y Ddraig Goch— The Red Dragon of Wales, national emblem of the country. Its antagonist is Gwiber (“Viper”), a winged white Dragon. Fig. 5. The Red Dragon of Wales Dragon of Ladon—A scaly monstrosity with 100 heads, it was placed by the goddess Hera in the Garden of the Hesperides to guard the sacred golden apples of immortality. Heracles killed it during his 11th Labor, and Hera subsequently placed it in the heavens as the constellation Draco. Fig. 6. The Constellation Draco (Al-Thu’ban), from an ancient Arabian manuscript. Dragon of St Leonard’s Forest—A Dragon reported to have ravaged the country around Horsham, in Sussex, England, in 1614. Dragon of Wantley—According to the manuscript known as Percy’s Relics, this monstrous Dragon plagued the region of Wantly (present Wharncliffe) in Yorkshire, England. It was vanquished by More of Mere’s Hall, who had a special suit of armor made that was studded with sharp spikes. He crept up to the Dragon and gave it a swift kick in the rear, whereupon it attacked him in rage and impaled itself on the spikes. This story is virtually identical to that of the Lambton Worm (below), which would seem Fig. 3. Chudo-Yudo to be the original version. Fig. 4. Dahak
124 A Wizard’s Bestiary Fig. 7. The Dragon of Wantley Drake—A wingless Dragon or Lindorm in Swedish folklore, this term may apply as well to Elemental Dragons, such as Fire-Drakes, Sea-Drakes, IceDrakes, and so on. It is also sometimes used for male Dragons. Fafnir—An evil wingless Dragon of Norse and Teutonic mythology. Starting life as a greedy dwarf, he was metamorphosed into a hideous Dragon to guard his stolen hoard of cursed gold. Fafnir was killed by the hero Sigfreid (or Sigurd), who dug a trench across the Dragon’s path, hid within, and thrust his sword up into the monster’s heart when Fafnir passed over. Later, cooking the dragon’s heart over a fire, the hero’s hand was burned by a splash of blood. As he licked the burn, the taste of the dragon’s blood endowed Sigfreid with the understanding of the speech of animals, whereby he learned of a treacherous plot against his life. This tale is told in the Teutonic saga, Das Nibelungenlied. (Wagner’s opera, “The Ring of the Nibelung,” was based in part on the original epic poem.) Gargouille (or Guivre)—A great Dragon that lived in the marshes of the Seine River and ravaged the countryside around the town of Rouen, France. Associated with woodlands, rivers, streams, and deep wells, it was particularly noted for causing waterspouts and upsetting boats to drown and devour the boaters and fishermen. The Guivre is especially toxic; wherever one dwells so also dwells death and destruction. On an interesting note, the mere sight of a naked human is enough to scare the wits out of the Gargouille. The original Gargouille was slain in the 7th century by St Romain, then Bishop of Rouen. He tied two criminals to stakes to bait the Dragon, and when it appeared, he transfixed it with his crucifix, tied his bishop’s stole around its neck, and led it docilely into Rouen, where it was killed by the townsfolk. From that time on, all monstrous building decorations, antefixes, and waterspouts have been called Gargoyles. Goryschche (from Russian, gora, “mountain”)— An immense, 12-headed female Dragon of Russian folklore, she stole hundreds of young men and women to feed her monstrous brood. The hero Dobrynya found her lair when the Dragon was out and killed her offspring. Goryschche pursued him, and in the ensuing fight, he cut off 11 of her heads, sparing her life on the promise that she would leave the people alone. This pledge she quickly broke by seizing the princess. Dobrynya returned to the Dragon’s cave and slaughtered all the baby Dragons as well as the furious mother upon her return. Finding himself stranded in the midst of a lake of her poisonous blood, he called upon Mother Earth, whereupon a chasm opened and drained the lake. Dobrynya then found the Dragon’s treasure hoard and released the captive citizens, including the princess, whom he subsequently married. Hordeshryde—A mighty, treasure-hoarding Dragon of Norse and English mythology that was slain by the hero Beowulf in the eponymous 8th-century Anglo-Saxon epic. Unfortunately, the Dragon’s poison killed Beowulf in return. Fig. 10. Hordeshryde Illuyankas (or Illujanka)—A vast chaos Dragon in the mythology of the ancient Hittites of Mesopotamia. Its serpentine body sports numerous heads. There are two versions of its defeat and slaughter by the gods. Koshei the Deathless (or Kaschchei; from kost, “bone”)—A terrible Dragon of Russian folklore, whose soul is hidden in an egg inside a duck within a rabbit on a remote island, rendering him invincible. He is undone, however, when he captures the princess Vasilissa, who persuades him to reveal his secret. She passes this information on to the hero Bulat, who recovers the egg and smashes it on the DragFig. 8. Fafnir Fig. 9. Gargoyle on Notre Dam
Creatures of Night 125 on’s forehead, killing him instantly. Fig. 11. The hidden heart of Koshei the Deathless by Tracy Swangler Kundrav—A gigantic Dragon in ancient Sumerian mythology, so vast that its lower parts can remain in the ocean while its upper parts touch the clouds. The guardian of another and even more terrible Dragon, Kundrav was a destroyer of land and people, but was eventually slain by the hero Keresaspa. A similar story is told in Vedic myth of India, but the Dragon’s name is Gandareva. Fig. 12. Kundrav by Tracy Swangler Lambton Worm—A famous medieval Orm from Northumbria, England. According to the legend, the young heir to Lampton Hall, John Lambton, caught a small, glistening black, eel-like creature when he was fishing. He described the catch as having the head of a salamander, with needle-sharp teeth and nine holes along either side of its mouth (a feature unique to lamprey eels). Its skin secreted a viscous, sticky fluid. Lambton tossed the repulsive thing into an ancient well, which thereafter became known as Worms Well. Later, while he was off in the Holy Land fighting in the Crusades, the creature grew to enormous size, eventually emerging from the well to ravage the countryside. It coiled around the mound that became known as Worm Hill, forming ridges that remain to this day. When Lambton returned seven years later and discovered the devastation, he vowed to destroy the monster. Upon the advice of a local Witch, he had a special suit of armor made, covered with sharp, doubleedged spikes. Wearing this, he confronted the beast, and as the enraged worm coiled around him, the blades sliced it until it was weakened enough for Lambton to kill it. Lotan (or Lothan)—A vast, seven-headed primordial Dragon of chaos in ancient Mesopotamian mythology. Called “the coiling serpent, the fleeing serpent, the powerful with the seven heads,” it was slain by the Canaanite god Baal in an epic battle. After the Israelites conquered the region of Palestine in approximately 1000 BCE, they incorporated the legend of the Lotan into their own culture, renaming the beast Leviathan. However, the seven heads suggests the same creature known to the Greeks as the Hydra, which is certainly based on the giant squid (Architeuthis). Mušhuššu (or Musmahhu)—A three- or sevenheaded Dragon of Sumerian myth, slain by the god Nigirsu. It served under Tiamat in ancient Babylon, and was identified with the constellation Hydra. Paiste (or Peiste)—This huge, 11-foot-long Wurm of Irish myth was considered an ancient dragon, in existence since the beginning of the world. He has ram’s horns curling around ox-like ears; long fangs full of venom; and ebony, armored scales the size of dinner plates. He was eventually bound to the depths of Loch Foyle by Saint Murrough. Pisuhand (or Pukis, Pukys, Puuk)—In the folklore of the Baltic states, these are small, serpentine dragons, only 2 feet long, that fiercely guard each house and its treasures. They take the form of cats on the ground, but Dragons when they fly through the air. In Estonia, it is called Tulihänd. In some districts it has wings and flies through the air trailing fire. Sea Serpents—Long, seadwelling Serpent-Dragons that move with a vertical, rather than horizontal, movement, as true serpents do. They have Dragon-like heads and may or may not have horns. Some SeaSerpents sport the remnants of flippers. Serpent of the Reuss—A Serpent-Dragon of Swiss legend, reported in 1566 as having four feet with great claws. It terrorized the countryside around Reuss by attacking and devouring livestock in the fields. Smok Wawelski—The Dragon of Wawel Hill, on the banks of the Vistula River in Krakow, Poland. It lived in a cave under the hill and ravaged the land unless it was given a monthly sacrifice of a young maiden. When the only maiden left was the King Krak’s daughter, Wanda, her father offered her hand Fig. 13. The Lambton Wurm Fig. 14. Lotan or Mušhuššu Fig. 15. Tulihänd by Tracy Swangler
126 A Wizard’s Bestiary in marriage to anyone who could vanquish the beast. An apprentice cobbler named Szewczyk Dratewka stuffed a lamb with sulfur and left it by the cave entrance. Upon eating it, the dragon was consumed by thirst, which he slaked in the river. When the water hit the sulfur the dragon exploded, and Szewczyk married the princess. Tiamet—The great cosmic World-Serpent or Dragon of ancient Mesopotamian mythology, equated with salt water and the Milky Way. She has a vast, invincible body, with two forelegs, two great horns on her head, and an enormous tail. In the Babylonian epic, the Enuma Elish, she and her consort Apsu/Abzu (personifying fresh water) create the heavens and Earth and engender the gods, who rebel against them. Tiamet is slain by Marduk, and her body dismembered to provide lands and stars. Her flowing blood becomes rivers. Tarasque—A ferocious amphibious River-Dragon of the Rhone Valley in southern France, where it was prone to devouring virgins. Larger than an ox, it had six legs, the head of a lion, the paws of a bear, and a scaly body with a long, serpentine tail ending in a sharp barb. The hard, leathery shell on its back was covered with spikes. Said to be the progeny of Leviathan and a Bonnocon, it was subdued by St. Martha, who tied her belt around its neck and led it docilely back into the town of Nerlue, where the villagers killed it with stones and spears. Afterward, the town’s name was changed to Tarascon, and annual processions continue to commemorate this event to this day. A Spanish derivation, called Tarasca, is paraded in effigy on the feast day of Corpus Christi in Redondela, Pontevedra, with small children seated inside it. The Tarasque closely resembles an ankylosaur or a glyptodont. However, Peter Costello suggests that the original animal may have been a crocodile. Tatzelwurm—A Dragon of the Bavarian, Austrian, and Swiss Alps, its name means “wurm with claws.” It is also called Stollenwurm or “Hole-Dwelling Wurm.” In the French Alps it is called Arassas. The Tatzelwurm has the head of a cat, a long, snaky body, and two clawed forepaws. Some accounts give the Tatzelwurm hind limbs, whereas others do not. Likewise, some accounts give it smooth skin, and others feature it having small scales. One of the Tatzelwurm’s most interesting abilities is that of being able to jump extremely high and far, earning it the nickname Springwurm. Similar such creatures have been reported further south than the Alps. The last reported sighting of a Stollenwurm was in Palermo, Sicily, in 1954. (See Chapter 1: “The Baleful Basilisk.”) Typhon—A giant fire-breathing Dragon of Greek myth, with 9, 50, or 100 snakelike heads whose eyes blazed fire. Typhon was said to be taller than a mountain, with serpentine legs and arms and bird wings. He was eventually overcome by Zeus in the Battle of the Titans and imprisoned in Tartarus, deep beneath Mt. Aetna, where his paroxysms are said to cause typhoons. On Echinda he fathered such monsters as Cerberus, the Chimera, the Hydra, the Sphinx, the Nemean Lion, and the vulture-eagle that ate Prometheus’ liver. Fig. 20. Typhon from Greek vase. Vishap—A fearsome Dragon of Armenian legend, said to reside at the top of Mt. Ararat. Its blood is so poisonous that any sword or spear dipped into it will render that weapon fatal, even if it makes only the tiniest scratch. Wode Worm of Linton—A serpentine Dragon or Orm in local folklore of northern England. It was vanquished by a hero who thrust a block of burning peat down its throat, thus burning the monster to death from the inside. Eastern Dragons Among the Chinese and the Japanese, Dragons are a most potent symbol of the beneficent, rain-giving powers of the gods. They are symbols of power, royalty, and sovereignty. In China, the Dragon is one of the four great protective beasts of the country, along Fig. 16. Smok Wawelski Fig. 17. Tiamet and Marduk Fig. 18. Tarasque Fig. 19. Arassas by Ian Daniels
Creatures of Night 127 with the Unicorn, the Tortoise, and the Phoenix. Asian Dragons in general have snaky bodies, horselike heads, and four paws with three to four great curving claws apiece. More elaborate descriptions by the scholar Wang Fu during the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) add the horns of a stag, the head of a camel, the eyes of a demon, the neck of a snake, the belly of a clam, the scales of a carp, the talons of an eagle, the feet of a tiger, and the ears of an ox. Asian Dragons are said to have a total of 117 scales. It is believed that 81 of these scales are imbued with yang energy, the active, dominant, masculine force, and the remaining 36 scales are imbued with yin energy, the passive, submissive, feminine force. Many Asian Dragons obtain part of their power from a pearl—called a “pearl of wisdom” or “dragon jewel”—that they keep tucked under their chins, under their tongues, or embedded in their foreheads. Many have the ability to change shape as well, acquiring the form of a human or a more mundane animal, such as a bird or a fish. Dragons turned human or animal are always exquisite specimens of adopted species. Humans and animals may also turn into Dragons through various means. Mages and sages may spend a lifetime seeking the means to turn into one of these great and wise creatures. The Dragon’s Gate, located in the Yellow River, is a place where fish may be changed into Dragons. Chinese Dragons (and most other Asian Dragons) live for millennia and undergo many changes throughout their lifetimes. A Chinese Dragon is not considered fully mature until it reaches the age of 3,000 years. A baby Dragon is hatched from a brilliant, gem-like egg that was laid some 1,000 years previously. The newly hatched Dragon resembles a very large water-snake or eel. When it attains the age of 500 years, the hatchling Dragon will gain a head like a carp’s. During this stage, the youngling Dragon is known as a Kiao. At the age of 1,500 years, the young Dragon will have grown four stubby legs with four claws on each paw, an elongated head and tail, and an abundant beard. At this point it is called Kiaolung. By the time two millennia have passed, the Dragon will have gained horns and a new name, Kioh-lung. During the final millennium it will grow out its wings. Finally, at the age of 3,000 years, the fully grown Dragon is named Ying-lung. When most people today think of Chinese (or Japanese) Dragons, these last two forms are the ones that come most readily to mind. For the most part, Japanese Dragons resemble the Chinese versions in appearance and size. Japanese Dragons tend to be more serpentine, however, and they have only three claws as opposed to the four or five of the Chinese Dragons. Japanese Dragons are the natural enemies of the Kitsune, or fox spirits. Many other Asian cultures feature Dragons in their myths and lore. These Dragons tend to be more Western in both nature and appearance than those of Chinese or Japanese myth. They may have four legs, bat-like wings, and a stockier build—a typical Western Dragon—or they may be more like the Wurms of the West—giant serpents with gargonesque heads. Following is a sampling of Asian Dragons. Azhi Dahaki— One of the greatest of the Persian Dragons was Azhi Dahaki (also known as Az Dahak or Azhi Dahaka). In the Zoroastrian creation myth, this Dragon was created by Angra Mainyu, the “father of lies,” in an effort to rid the world of righteousness. Azhi Dahaki is often depicted as a three-headed, winged serpent. His body was thought to be filled with all manner of poisonous creatures, such as spiders, vipers, and scorpions. His three heads represent Pain, Anguish, and Death. Each head has three eyes and three pairs of fangs. His wings are so vast that, when spread, they cover the sky. When the end of the world comes, Azhi Dahaki will break free of the bonds constraining him and will devour a third of all the people and animals that dwell on the Earth before he is finally subdued. Azi Dahaka Dragons make an appearance in the game Final Fantasy X. Barong—A hideous, bug-eyed Dragon with a long, twisted body, featured in Balinese folk drama as the adversary of Ranga the Witch. Chiao—The supreme Dragon of the Earth in Chinese mythology. Chi Lung Wang (“Fire Engine Dragon-King”)— A beneficent celestial Dragon of China, whose duty was to ensure the provision of sufficient household Fig. 21. Eastern Dragon Fig. 22. Chinese Dragon Fig. 23. Azhi Dahaki Fig. 24. Barong
128 A Wizard’s Bestiary water, especially in case of fire. Cynoprosopi—These Dragons are akin to the Ying-Long of China. They are covered with shaggy fur, and have dog-like heads, muzzles with profuse beards, and bat-like wings. Dragon-Horse—Dragon-Horses resemble horses but have a dragon’s head and scales instead of fur. Although they don’t have wings, some of them are able to fly. Most are water dwellers. These creatures were considered divine messengers. A Dragon-Horse was said to have emerged from the Yellow River and given the Emperor the circular diagram representing the Yin-Yang. A Dragon-Horse was also said to have emerged from the River Lao and revealed the eight trigrams of the I-Ching. In the anime seriesInuyasha, the wolf-demon Sesshoumaru travels in a chariot pulled by a two-headed Dragon-Horse. The Dragon-Kings—The five immortal Chinese Dragon-Kings dwell under the sea in elaborate crystal palaces. One Dragon-King is chief over all, and the other four represent one of the four cardinal directions: North, South, East, and West. Their names are Ao Ch’in, Ao Jun, Ao Kuang and Ao Shun. The Dragon-Kings answer to the Jade Emperor, who tells them where to distribute the rains. According to legend, the Dragon-Kings are 3–5 miles long, with shaggy legs and tails and whiskered muzzles. Their slinky, serpentine bodies are covered in golden scales. In the folk legend Journey to the West, by Wu Cheng’en, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven (also called Son Goku or the Monkey King) terrorizes the Dragon-Kings before being captured and trapped underneath the Mountain of Five Elements. The Dragon-Kings show up later in the story to assist Goku in his trials, attempting to protect the T’ang Priest Sanzang. In addition to the four ocean-dwelling Dragon-Kings, there are a few others, including Lung Wang—the fifth Dragon-King and the master of Fire. Pai Lung, yet another of the Dragon-Kings, is unique in that he is all white. A temple on Mount Yang Suchow in Kiangsu contains a tablet recording the legend of his birth. Fe-lian and Shen-yi—These are rival Dragons. Fe-lian is a wind-god who carries a bag of wind. This notorious troublemaker is watched over by Shen-yi, the Great Archer. Fe-lian and Shen-yi balance one another. f*cku-Ryu—These are Dragons of luck. They end life in the wingless Kiao-Lung phase, but they can fly nonetheless. Falkor of The Neverending Story is a f*cku-Ryu. Fu-T’sang Lung—Subterranean Dragons that are guardians of great wealth and great wisdom. They are also called TreasureDragons. The best modern example of these is found in the emblem for the popular Mortal Kombat game series (shown here). Gong-Gong—A huge and terrible black Dragon of Chinese mythology, it nearly destroyed the heavens and the Earth with the mighty horn on its head. In its hatred of the celestial emperor, Yeo, it tore up a mountain, unleashing a world-flooding deluge. Then it ripped open the sky and dimmed the light of the sun and moon. This sounds like a mythologized account of a vast volcanic eruption in ancient times. Gou Mang and Rou Shou—These are two of China’s cosmic Dragons that serve as messengers of the gods. They are Ti’en-Lung Dragons (see below). The Dragon of the East, Gou Mang is said to bring good fortune and longevity, and is a herald of the coming of spring. As Dragon of the West, Rou Shou heralds the onset of autumn and presages ill fortune and death. Jurik—A fire-breathing cosmic Dragon in the folklore of Sunda, Indonesia. It is equated with the meteors and comets that blaze their fiery trails across the night sky. Ka-Ryu—The Ka-Ryu is among the smallest of the Japanese Dragons. It has fiery red scales and ends its growth in the Kiao-Lung phase. Kiau—A serpentine Dragon living in the marshes along the Chien-Tang River in China. It plagued fishermen until it was killed by a local hero in the year 1129. Kih Tiau—A Sea-Dragon of Chinese folklore, believed to secrete a substance similar to the amberFig. 25. DragonHorse Fig. 26. Dragon King Fig. 27. Falkor Fig. 28. Jurik
Creatures of Night 129 gris of the sperm whale, which was sold as a preservative in 19th-century markets of Canton and Fouchow. Leongalli—A Mongolian Dragon with a serpentine body and a leonine head and forequarters. Li-lung—Benevolent Dragons of earth, wind, and water, they are said to ascend into the heavens in the form of a typhoon or waterspout. Orochi (also Eight-Forked Serpent of Koshi, Koshi Dragon, Dragon of Izumo, Yamata Dragon)— A vast Hydra-esque Japanese Dragon with eight heads and eight tails. According to legend, its gigantic body stretched across eight hills and valleys, and entire forests grew upon its vast back. It terrorized the people of Izumo province for years, kidnapping and eating people along the Koshi Road and demanding an annual sacrifice of a princess. It was finally slain by the hero Takehaya Susanowo, who got it drunk on sake (rice beer) and then chopped off each of its heads. He discovered in one of its tails a magnificent enchanted sword, Ame-no-Murakumo, which has been passed down ever since as the Imperial Sword of Japan. P’eng-niao—These Bird-Dragons are rare in Chinese myth. They have the head of a Dragon and the wings and lower body of a bird; or, they may have a completely serpentine body with feathered scales, and birdlike wings, legs, and feet. The Japanese version is called Tobi-Tatsu or Hai-Ryu. Pi-hsi—This chimeric Dragon is Lord of the Rivers. Pi-hsi has the shell of an armored tortoise and the feet, tail, and head of a Dragon. A modern representation of this Dragon shows up in the Final Fantasy game series as the giant Adamantoise enemies. Ryo-Wo (or Ryujin)—One of the Japanese Dragon-Kings. He is in charge of the Tidal Jewels, which control the tides of the world. He dwells in Ryugu, a magickal jeweled palace at the bottom of the sea, from which he controls the tides that flow in and out through his vast mouth. Ryo-Wo is credited with giving the jellyfish its shape. His beautiful daughter was won by the hero Fire Fade, or Prince Hoori, and thus he became the legendary ancestor of the emperors of Japan. Shin-Lung (“Spiritual Dragon”)—The beautiful, multicolored, five-toed Imperial Dragon of China. He brings the wind-borne rains for the benefit of humanity. Only the Emperor of China was allowed to wear his image; others were forbidden, under penalty of death. Tatsu—These Japanese Dragons are said to be descended from a primitive variety of three-toed Chinese Dragon. The Tatsu are more closely linked with the sea than with the rains, as Japan is less likely to suffer from devastating droughts than China. Also a constellation of the Japanese Zodiac, it is associated with the little fish called the Seahorse. Ti’en-Lung—The Ti’en-lung are the guardians and supporters of the celestial palaces of the gods. Ti-Lung—The celestial Water-Dragon of Chinese mythology, who controls the running waters of rivers and streams. Ukasima Dragon—A great, white-scaled Dragon that dwells in the Ukasima Lake at Yama-shiro, near Kyoto. It is said that every 50 years, the Dragon ascends from the lake and takes the form of a golden songbird or O-Goa-Cho. Its mournful songs, reminiscent of the calls of a wolf, bring only sadness and misery to the land. The sight or sound of this creature was a portent of disaster and ill fortune. The Ukasima Dragon was usually a herald for severe drought. The last reported sighting of the O-Goa-Cho was in April of 1834. Widespread famine and an outbreak of the plague followed this last sighting of the Ukasima Dragon. Yellow Dragon—In Chinese mythology, there are two famous Yellow Dragons. The first is honored for having brought the eight trigrams of the I-Ching to humanity. The second is a terrible predator who is vanquished by the hero Lu Tung-pin, one of the eight Immortals. According to the myth, the Yellow Dragon became the Huanghe River in Central China. Ying-Lung—These Dragons are rather unique in that they have fur instead of scales, and feathered wings instead of the membranous, bat-like wings of most Dragons. They are guardians of the waters of the Earth and the clouds of Heaven. Nall and Ruby from the Playstation games Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete and Lunar 2: Eternal Blue are good examples of YingLung. Fig. 33. Ying-Lung Fig. 29. Orochi, Dragon of Koshi Fig. 30. Hai-Ryu Fig. 31. Shin-Lung Fig. 32. Ti’en-Lung
130 A Wizard’s Bestiary Dragons of the Americas What do you think of when you hear the word Dragon? Probably Europe or China? But Dragons occur in the lore and myths of other parts of the world with just as great a frequency as they do in those two cultures. Dragons abound in the stories of the Native cultures of the Americas. Surely you have heard of the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl? Quetzalcoatl and his Mayan predecessor, Kulkulcan, are types of Dragons similar to the Amphiteres of European myth. An even older variation of this feathered Dragon is Palulukon. Dragons of every variety roam the wilds of the Americas. If you live in the U.S., it’s likely that you have Dragons in the ancient (or not so ancient) lore of your home state. And if you live in Central or South America, then your local folklore is likely rife with them. Here is a sampling of American Dragons: The Ancient One—This Sea-Serpent of Piute myth dwells in Lake Pyramid. The Ancient One enjoys snagging people from the shore and drowning them. Whenever the Piute see a whirlpool in Lake Pyramid they avoid it, as it means the Ancient One is at large and looking for victims. Az-I-Wu-Gum-Ki-Mukh-Ti—This Dragon of Inuit myth has black scales, a walrus’s head, a dog’s body, legs, and feet, and a whale fluke for a tail. This immense beast can sink ships with one blow from its tail and is much feared by the Inuit fishermen. Campacti (or Cipatli)—In Aztec Indian folklore of Mexi- co, this is the vast primordial Dragon from whose slain body the Earth is formed. It was depicted as a fish-like crocodile. Chac—This Dragon of Mayan myth controls the rains and rules over all the waters. He requires a sacrifice in order that the summer rains might come, but he repays human sacrifices with his own blood. Chac is similar to the Asian Dragons. He has a long, serpentine body covered in fish scales, and catfish whiskers at the end of a tapered snout. Stag horns and deerlike ears adorn his crocodilian head. Chac is often depicted holding his lightning axe in one paw. Faery Dragon—Also called Fey Dragon or Penny Dragon, this Dragon is prevalent in South America. It ranges from the size of a mouse to up to 1 foot in length. Although Faery Dragons resemble classical Dragons of Europe, there are several important differences between the two. Faery Dragons sport two sets of wings of either the dragonfly or butterfly variety. Also, they have a longer, more tapered snout, large, iridescent eyes, and coloring that blends in with their surroundings in the same manner as certain moths. But if the light hits it just right, the Faery Dragon’s hide will shine with a rainbow of colors. Gaasyendietha—A huge Dragon of Seneca myth believed to have come from a meteorite that fell from the heavens and crashed into the Earth. For this reason it is also known as the Meteor Dragon. The Gaasyendietha dwells in rivers and lakes. Iemisch—This Patagonian Dragon is much like the Tatzelwurm of Europe. It has a serpentine body with the forequarters of a fox. The Iemisch uses its body to ensnare victims and crush them as a boa or python does. Ihuaivulu—This South American Dragon dwells in volcanoes. It has a slinky, serpentine body with burnished copper and red scales. The Ihuaivulu is a South American version of the Hydra and sports seven heads. As a volcano dweller, it can breathe fire. Piasa— The name means “Destroyer.” This Dragon is a hodgepodge of animal parts, much like the Asian Dragons. It is said to have the head of a bear, the horns of an elk, the scales of a fish, the legs of a bear, and the claws of an eagle. The Piasa also has a mane around its head and shoulders, and sports a tail that is at least 50 feet long and can wrap around its body three times. The Native Americans call this Dragon Stormbringer or Thunderer. (See Chapter 7: “Piasa and Manticore.”) Pal-rai-yuk—An Alaskan Dragon that has six legs on a long, snaky body and spikes running along its spine. The Pal-rai-yuk lives in the rivers and waters of Alaska; Inuit peoples would paint its picture on their canoes as a ward against the fearsome beast’s attentions. Fig. 34. Campacti by Tracy Swangler Fig. 35. Chac Fig. 36. Faery Dragon by Tracy Swangler Fig. 37. Piasa
Creatures of Night 131 Palulukon—These Dragons are part of the plumed serpent family of Amphiteres, along with the Dragon-gods of Mesoamerica. Although they are powerful Dragons, they are neither good nor bad—they just are. The Palulukon represent the element of water, and are weather-workers in charge of bringing the rains. It is said that the world is carried through the cosmic ocean on the backs of two of these colossal beasts. If mistreated, the Palulukon can wreak much damage by unleashing natural disasters such as droughts and earthquakes. Quetzalcoatl—The Aztec feathered serpent-god, ruler of the winds and rains as well as knowledge and the finer crafts and arts. The Mayans called him Kulkulkan, and to the Mixtecs he was known as Lord Nine Winds. Quetzalcoatl is credited with creating the calendrical system. Other names for this well-known specimen of the Amphitere family are Ehecatl and Lord of the Dawn. Quetzalcoatl has multicolored scales and feathers. He is often depicted soaring through the sky, creating a rainbow. The serpent-god was also known to take the form of a human on occasion. It was believed that Quetzalcoatl had departed from this world for the East, traveling on a raft made from serpents, and would one day return. The Aztecs viewed the coming of Cortez and his Spaniards as the return of the Great Plumed One. Thus a mere handful of Spaniards overcame many times their number of Aztec warriors. Dragons of Africa and Oceania The Dragons of Africa and Oceania tend to be a hodge-podge of all the Dragons previously mentioned, and include Amphiteres, Wurms, Drakes, and Sea-Serpents, among others. Here is a sampling of African and Oceanian Dragons: Bida—A giant Wurm of West African Soniniki myth. It circled the city of Wagadu and blessed its inhabitants with gold in exchange for an annual sacrifice of a maiden. She was chosen each year by lottery, until the hero Mamadi Sefe Dekote chopped off its head to rescue his beloved. Bujanga—A huge protector-Dragon in the folklore of Java and West Malaysia. Dwelling in the jungle, it knows all forest lore and understands the speech of all creatures. Dragons of Ethiopia (also called Pa Snakes)— Great serpentine Dragons, up to 35 feet long, with one or two pairs of wings. They are said to prey on elephants; when they eat one, they do not spit out the bones for three years. They may be derived from the Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) and the Reticulated Python (Python reticulatus), both of which may reach that size (although neither has wings). Kongamato—A Wyvern of Zambia. It is a small Dragon with a wingspan of only 3–4 feet, and a tapered muzzle full of sharp teeth. It is covered in leathery, reddish-brown skin. Living in the Jiundu swamps, its favorite pastime is swooping down and capsizing boats. Nguma-monene—This giant Wurm of the Congo has a rigid crest running the length of its back. It is said to make its home in the Dongou-Mataba River. Scitalis (or Scytale; from scitulus, “Elegant”)— A serpentine winged Dragon with only two front legs, and multicolored scales so beautiful that animals and humans stop to admire it—whereupon the seemingly sluggish reptile strikes them down and devours them. Its poison is so fiery that anyone it bites is consumed in flames. It glows with such inner heat that even in a severe frost it will come out of its den to shed its skin. T.H. White suggests that it may be the “superbly marked” Rhinoceros Viper (Bitis nasicornis), found in the forests of West and Central Africa. Living Dragons By Oberon The Dragon is the primordial and archetypal monster of Western mythology. Dragons dominate each of the four Elements: there are wingless cave Dragons, flying Dragons, sea Dragons and fire-breathing Dragons. Males are called “drakes,” and females, “queens.” All have been depicted in occidental legend as ancient, ferocious, and terrifying reptiles, symbolic of the raw, untamable, even hostile power of nature. Dragons are intelligent, crafty, cruel, and greedy. They have a passion for collecting vast hoards of treasure: gold, jewels, arms, and fabulous relics. These they pile together and sleep upon, guarding them jealously. Dragons know the speech of all living creatures, and a drop of Dragon’s blood tasted by the Teutonic Fig. 38. Quetzalcoatl Fig. 39. Dragon of Ethiopia (See Chapter 24: “Leather Wings”) Fig. 40. Kongamato
132 A Wizard’s Bestiary hero Siegfried enabled him to understand the language of birds and animals. Possessing strong individual personalities, Dragons have distinctive and magickal names that give power to those who learn them. Such names as Vermithrax, Draco, Kalessin, and Smaug have been given in stories. But Velociraptor, Tyrannosaurus rex, Carnotaurus, Deinonychus, and Spinosaurus are other Dragon names in Greek. Winged Dragons are of two basic types: the fourlegged variety, with additional wings like those of bats, or fins supported on extended ribs; and the two-legged Wyvern, whose bat-like wings are formed from its forelimbs. These bear such a striking resemblance to prehistoric pterodactyls that they invite speculation as to the survival of such creatures into historic times. There have been some excellent flying Dragons in movies. Dragonslayer(1981) depicted a Wyvern, and Dragonheart (1996) featured the four-legged variety. Although Dragons are considered to be the quintessential creatures of myth and fantasy, they should not be thought of as purely imaginary. In fact, the legends of Dragons have many firm bases in actual animals, both living and extinct (or at least, commonly presumed so). Certainly the first true Dragons were the prehistoric monsters that English paleontologist Richard Owen decided in 1842 to call Dinosaurs (meaning “terrible reptiles”). He could just as well have chosen the term Dragons, as this is what they had been called for millennia—and what they are called today by Chinese paleontologists. Ranging in size from no bigger than a chicken to more than 100 feet long and upward of 100 tons (Argentosaurus), they held undisputed reign over the entire Earth for 150 million years, until nearly their entire Order (Archosauria—”ruling reptiles”) was exterminated in a great cataclysm 65 million years ago. Their immense fossilized bones have provided confirmation, throughout the brief span of human existence, that real Dragons once lived. Fig. 42. Dinosaur stampede by St. John (from The Lost Warship, 1943) But such powerful spirits and intelligences that had existed for so long are not simply exterminated overnight. Just as the long-gone Elves and Little People live on as spirit-beings of Faerie, so the souls of Dragons continue their ancient lineage in the Dragonlands of the Dreaming, holding sway, in our collective memories, over the entire span of mammalian existence.1 And perhaps some still survive even today. From the time of the earliest European explorations of “darkest Africa,” rumors and reports of living dinosaurs have continually trickled out from the vast equatorial swamps of the Congo River basin. Referred to in fearful tones by various local names, monsters such as Mokêle-M’Bêmbe, Chipekwe, Emela-Ntouka, and Muhuru are variously described as having thick crocodilian tails, long necks, horns, back plates, and/ or fierce teeth and claws. All of these are familiar descriptions of dinosaurs, and natives shown pictures of those ancient beasts readily identify them as their own local monsters. (See Chapter 25: “Living Dinosaurs”) Additional evidence comes from some of the earliest depictions of Dragons in ancient civilizations—such as the Sta or Mafadet of Egypt, and the famed Sirrush, or “Dragon of Ishtar,” depicted on the Ishtar Gate of ancient Babylon and dating from the reign of Nebuchadnezzar the Great (605–562 BCE). Also called Mushrush or Mušhuššu, this may very well have been the same “living dragon” featured in the Book of Daniel, who purportedly killed it (Daniel, 14:23–27). Was this, perhaps, a Mokêle-M’Bêmbe, brought to Babylon as a tribute from an African ruler? Fig. 44. Sirrush from the Ishtar Gate of Babylon Although dinosaurs and their fossilized remains certainly provide a solid basis for the existence of true Dragons in the ancient past (and possibly even in some lost world in the swamps of Africa), there is no accounting for the many historical reports of Dragons in European history—such as the Dragon of Wantley, the Lambton Wurm, or the Dragon slain by St. George. I believe that many of these represent true encounters with monstrous invertebrate beasts that today we generically call Lake-Monsters. At least this explanation would fit those accounts in which the Dragon is called Fig. 41. Vermithrax from the movie Dragonslayer Fig. 43. Sta or Mafadet from Egypt
Creatures of Night 133 a Worm or Orm. For a more detailed discussion of such creatures—and my theory on their zoological identification—see Chapter 18: “Lake Monsters.” Fig. 45. Typical lake Monster by Oberon Although modern representations of Dragons invariably embellish them with great, bat-like wings, this is not how they were depicted throughout most of human history. From ancient times through the Middle Ages, Dragons were most commonly described as either gigantic lizards or enormous serpents—often with little distinction between the two. Indeed, as many of the preceding entries amply attest, virtually any large reptilian creature—aquatic, terrestrial, or amphibious—was automatically considered to be a Dragon by definition. Certainly the first and most striking example of a living Dragon encountered by European explorers was Egypt’s gigantic Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus), which often attains lengths of more than 20 feet. Even bigger is the Estuarine Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), the largest of all living reptiles. Normally confined to Indonesia, they are known to reach 30 feet in length. Some of the classic representations of Dragons are clearly crocodiles. Fig. 46. CrocodileDragon Then there is the famous Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis), a giant monitor lizard, also of Indonesia. It attains a length of 6–10 feet and weighs up to 365 pounds, and has a long, yellow, forked tongue that it flickers like a flame. A much larger prehistoric version of this huge reptile was Megalania (Varanus prisca), which measured 15–20 feet long and weighed 1,000–1,300 pounds. This is certainly a true living Dragon by anyone’s criteria! Although Megalania is believed to have been extinct for 40,000 years, sightings of living specimens are occasionally reported from Australia and New Guinea. In 1979, one was spotted by scientist Frank Gordon, who mistook it for a log before it moved off. Aborigines have legends of a giant lizard called Mungoongalli, which is probably the same animal. Recently, part of a Megalania hipbone only 100–200 years old was discovered in a subfossil state. Real Flying Dragons As impressive as they are, gigantic lizards and crocodiles don’t have wings. So how did our conceptions of Dragons acquire the wings that now seem so integral to their anatomy? Certainly, there have been mighty leather-winged Dragons in the paleontological record. The first vertebrates to evolve flight, Pterosaurs (“winged reptiles”) ruled the Mesozoic skies from 228–65 million years ago. They ranged from the size of a sparrow (Anurognathus) to giants with wingspans of 40 feet (Quetzalcoatlus). In the terminology of medieval Dragonlore, these would be called Wyverns, a term for quadrupedal Dragons whose front limbs, like those of bats, supported their wing membranes. But what then of the hexapod Dragon of popular fantasy—with four legs and two bat-like wings? There are no hexapod vertebrates in all of Earth’s evolutionary history, so surely such a creature must be impossible, right? Well, don’t bet on it. The Genus Draco (“dragon”) contains two dozen species of little flying agamid lizards, such as Draco volens. Only 7–9 inches long, they are found in the rainforests and rubber plantations of Madagascar, India, Southeast Asia, and throughout Indonesia. They have been recorded gliding up to 164 feet from tree to tree on membranous wings supported by extended movable ribs. In the 12th century, the first Europeans began traveling over the ancient Silk Road through Afghanistan to India. They returned with spices, travelers’ tales, and small wonders. Among these were the mummified bodies of what traders claimed to be baby Dragons. And surely they could not be doubted as such— for they had fin-like wings growing from their sides. It didn’t take much imagination for artists and compilers of bestiaries to envision what the enlarged adults of these “infant” Fig. 47. Megalania Fig. 48. Wyvern by Oberon Fig. 49. Draco volens Fig. 50. Medieval fin-winged dragon by Edward Topsell (1607)
134 A Wizard’s Bestiary Dragons must look like. And thus was born the image and conception of the winged Dragon so beloved by us to this very day. Take a closer look at many of the early depictions of winged Dragons, and you will see their true origins in these living lizards which bear their name. In 1960, three teenage boys in New Jersey discovered the fossil of a 7-inch-long flying lizard with ribbed wings with a 10-inch wingspan, in 200-million-year-old deposits of the late Triassic. It was appropriately named Icarosaurus, after Icarus of Greek myth, who flew too close to the sun on feathered wings held together with wax. A similar Triassic rib-winged lizard, Kuehneosaurus, was about 2 feet long, with a 2-foot wingspan. And a Chinese version, Xianglong zhaoi, dates from the lower Cretaceous, 125 million years ago. Like Draco, these ancient antecedents could spread their wings for gliding flight, or fold them alongside their bodies. 2 But the most fascinating discovery in the annals of dragonlore was a 250-million-year-old Upper Permian fossil found in a German copper mine in 1910. Its morphology was reinterpreted in 1997 when a complete skeleton was purchased by the Karlsruhe Museum from amateur fossil hunters.3 The 12-inch-long lizard with a flaring head crest, Coelurosauravus, is the oldest known flying vertebrate, with wings unlike those of any other animal. Rather than being supported by internal skeletal elements such as limbs or ribs, its fanlike wing membranes were supported by independent bony rods extending outward and back from each side of the creature’s chest and behind its forelegs— much like the wings of a flying fish. Think of it—millions of years before fishes, birds, pterosaurs, or bats took to the air, the first vertebrate flyers were four-legged reptiles with finlike wings! And then in June of 2007, an even more remarkable Triassic flying reptile was discovered in a quarry on the Virginia-North Carolina border. Named Mechistotrachelos aperos (“soaring and long-necked”), the 10-inch-long lizard had fanlike wings like those of Coelurosauravus, and also a long neck just as Dragons are usually depicted as possessing.4 Fig. 54. Mechistotrachelos aperos We can easily imagine an alternative paleontology where creatures such as Coelurosauravus, Icarosaurus, Kuehneosaurus, Xianglong, and Mechistotrachelos continued to evolve over another 250 million years, giving rise to larger and larger forms. Surely their descendants would be the very image of our cherished conception of flying Dragons. Indeed, this was precisely the premise behind Discovery Channel’s delightful 2005 “mockumentary”: Dragon’s World: A Fantasy Made Real. Monster Movies: Dragons As the most popular of all fabulous creatures, Dragons have probably been featured in more movies than any other mythical monsters. Here is a listing of them, in chronological order: Western Dragons: The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958); Sleeping Beauty (animated, 1959); Goliath and the Dragon (1960); The Magic Sword (1962); The Hobbit (animated, 1977); Pete’s Dragon (animated, 1977); Dragonslayer (1981): Wyvern; Clash of the Titans (1981): Hydra; Flight of Dragons (animated, 1982); Q—The Winged Serpent (1981): Amphitere ; Lair of the White Worm (1988): Orm; Dragonworld (1994); Willow (1988): Orm; Jack the Giant Killer (1994); The Pagemaster (animated 1995); Dragonheart (1996); Hercules (animated, 1997): Hydra; Quest for Camelot (animated, 1998); Dragon World II: The Legend Continues (1999); Jason and the Argonauts (TV, 2000); Dragonheart II: A New Beginning (2000); Dungeons & Dragons (2000); Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone (2001); Shrek (animated, 2001); Reign of Fire (2002); Shrek II (animated, 2004); George and the Dragon (TV, 2004); Earthsea (TV, 2004); Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005); Hercules (TV, 2005): Hydra; Dungeons & Dragons II: Wrath of the Dragongod (2005); Dragon’s World: A Fantasy Made Real (2005); King of the Lost World (2005); Final Fantasy: Advent Children (2005); Eragon (2007) Eastern Dragons: Godzilla (dozens of films from 1954 on); The Neverending Story (1984); Mulan (animated 1998); Dragonheart II: A New Beginning (2000); Saiyuki (50- episode anime series, 2000–2001); Spirited Away (anime, 2001); Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa (anime, 2005) Fig. 53. Coelurosauravus jaekeli Fig. 52. Icarosaurus siefkeri
Creatures of Night 135 Walkers 4.The Universal Unicorn By Oberon and Morning Glory Zell, and Tom Williams Why Unicorns? Not since the fifteenth century has the unicorn had such an enormous appeal. It is easy to see why. In a world suffering from pollution, the unicorn can purify water with a single dip of its horn. In a world where animals are becoming extinct, the unicorn can never die. In a world where we might literally blow ourselves up at any moment, the unicorn harkens back to another time and a better life. The unicorn symbolizes sensitivity coupled with strength, the lure of sexuality and nature linked with the power of purity and truth. Today, when it is difficult to believe in these things any longer, the unicorn reminds us of a time when good existed—when unicorns existed. In a time when the future is looking bleak, the unicorn is a symbol not just of hope or of strength; it tells us that the unattainable is worth striving for, worth searching for, worth believing in—even if it exists only in our minds. —Nancy Hathaway, The Unicorn1 EW CREATURES OF FANTASY HAVE SO captured the modern imagination as the Unicorn. The second-bestknown of all mythic animals (after the Dragon), it appears in nearly all Occidental and Oriental mythologies, including those of China, Japan, Tibet, Tartary, Malaysia, and Nepal. The contemporary appeal of this gracious medieval beast may derive from its symbolic attributes of purity, strength, and hope—commodities which are in regrettably short supply in our materialistic age. Remarkably, this fabulous beast of legend whose origin is lost in lore and history was reborn in modern times. In a world become blasé about miracles, such an event must give a moment’s pause to even the hardened skeptic—enough at least to generate a quick denial: “Unicorns don’t exist. They are nothing but a myth!” Well, the city of Troy was considered to be a mere myth until its excavation in 1871 by Heinrich Schliemann. Like Troy and many other wonders that have become reality, the Unicorn is not just a myth, but a legend. A myth is pure fantasy, whereas a legend has a tiny bit of fact, like the grain of sand at the heart of a pearl. The Quest of the Unicorn By Tom Williams The origins of the Unicorn have been likened to a great river with many tributaries stretching back into yet unexplored mountains. Ancient travelers’ tales from Arabia and Africa told of fabulous one-horned beasts; legends from Persia and India fed the imaginations of medieval Europe with stories that were woven into Christian allegory and magnificent tapestries. And in all the stories, proverbs, relics, and charlatanry there lingered the subliminal certainty that somewhere, in some storied land, the aloof, elusive beast existed as a living animal, and that it could perhaps be captured and presented to the King as a triumph of adventure and faith. Might it just not really be that one of the many streams that flow into the river of Unicorn lore from those distant, fabled mountains really does spring from the existence of a living Unicorn? If so, what a lure to follow once more those streams of fable in a new quest, a quest that could lead to the discovery of the fierce and gentle beast that has proved such a compelling symbol for the human mind over so many centuries! Such a quest has recently been pursued, but this time it was a quest of scholarship and biology, and its adversaries were cynicism and scientific presuppositions. And this time the adventurers have discovered and returned triumphant with…a living Unicorn. In the process of separating fact from fiction and extracting legend from the cocoon of myth, misinterpretation, and outright hoax that often surrounds it, it is necessary to adopt a certain attitude—namely, that ancient writers and native peoples are not necessarily fools and liars; that what is scoffed at as superstitious nonsense may seem so because it has been Ian Daniels
136 A Wizard’s Bestiary distorted by a cultural and temporal lens to which we are not accustomed. In attempting to view reports from a different historical and cultural perspective, and in also trying to analyze the nature of the distortion, we may often arrive at some very interesting facts. The legend of the Unicorn is particularly thorny in this regard because it has, over the centuries, become interwoven with religious and romantic fantasies, mystical attributes, and a number of rather disreputable commercial interests, including a once-thriving trade in narwhal tusks. But when authors whose works are otherwise treated as valid and sincere appear to be honestly reporting something as unusual as a Unicorn, it might just do to pay attention. The Unicorn has left many false clues along its trail—attributes which can rightly be traced to one or more of those “logical explanations” so beloved of people who are frightened of the dark. But other aspects of those fabulous tales and depictions have a ring of truth which, when viewed through a lens that corrected for distortions in time and culture, blazed a trail to the living animal.2 History of the Unicorn According to a popular Biblical tradition (and a catchy little song by Shel Silverstein), the Unicorn is supposed to have become extinct because it missed Noah’s ark and drowned in the great Flood. This seems an oddly anachronistic fable, however, as the Unicorn was best-known in the Middle Ages, and the Deluge occurred at least 6,000 years earlier (c. 5150 BCE). Although the ultimate origin of the Unicorn remains a mystery, it was frequently depicted in the carvings, cylinder seals, and bas-reliefs of the earliest civilizations of Mesopotamia and the Indus valley, more than 4,000 years ago. Only recently have we been able to decipher the inscriptions accompanying these enigmatic images. During the Bronze Age, which was astrologically the Age of Taurus, the Unicorn was commonly represented as a magnificent one-horned bull—a taurine Unicorn. Archaeologists have attempted to explain these representations by saying that the ancient artists were unable to handle perspective, and that they portrayed two-horned animals in profile by showing only one horn. However, there are many basreliefs which clearly show both two- and one-horned beasts together in profile, as may be seen in Fig. 2. Other images are fully sculpted, as in Fig. 3, leaving no doubt as to their intended subject. Fig. 2. Mesopotamian Unicorn (central figure) on the obelisk of Shalmaneser. These early civilizations fell victim to the great geological and social upheavals c. 1600 BCE which ended the Bronze Age and ushered in the Age of Iron. This was the time of the eruption of Thera (1628 BCE), the Exodus, the forging of the first iron weapons, the mastery of horseback riding, the Aryan invasion, and other massive changes in the ancient order. The Minoan Period of Crete came to an abrupt end, as did the Middle Kingdom of Egypt and the Harappa culture of the Indus Valley. Amid the fall of these great civilizations, the Unicorn was nearly lost. It became a rare and secret beast, and when it next appeared it had changed its form. For with the coming of the Iron Age— the astrological Age of Aries—the Unicorn came to be represented as a single-horned ram or antelope. In Egypt, for instance, the species of antelope depicted as Unicorns included gazelles, oryx, and ibex. The Unicorn’s rarity did not reduce its value as a symbol or the accumulation of legends about it. Although the secret of creating Unicorns was never known in Egypt, tomb paintings and papyri of the New Kingdom depict onehorned antelope being offered as sacrifices at the altars of Isis, goddess of the moon, who was the virgin mother of Horus, the sun-god. These sacrificial “Unicorns” are clearly shown as having one horn sawn off, but they indicate the symbolic significance the Unicorn had attained. Fig. 1. Oryx Unicorns by Karen Jollie Fig. 3. 3-inch tall ibex Unicorn, 2nd cen. BCE. Fig. 4. British Museum papyrus showing chess game of lion and Unicorn. Antiquity, IV, 1930, p. 433, fig. 11
Creatures of Night 137 Fig. 5. Karkadan from Mattaus Merian (1718) Perhaps the earliest mention of the Unicorn is by Herodotus (484–425 BCE), who wrote of the “horned ass” of Scythia. By the 5th century BCE, the Unicorn had become a very popular animal in the Western world.3 Plutarch (45–125 CE) tells of a ram’s head with only one horn that was brought to Pericles from his farm as a sign that he would become the single ruler of the Athenian state: There is a story, that once Pericles had brought to him from a country farm of his a ram’s head with one horn, and that Lampon, the diviner, upon seeing the horn grow strong and solid out of the midst of the forehead, gave it as his judgment, that, there being at that time two potent factions, parties, or interests in the city, the one of Thucydides and the other of Pericles, the government would come about to that one of them in whose ground or estate this token or indication of fate had shown itself.5 —Plutarch, Life of Pericles, vii The prophecy of this arian Unicorn was fulfilled as the warring city-states of mainland Greece united for the first time, and the reign of Pericles (460–429 BCE) became known as the “Golden Age of Greece,” during which time brilliant philosophers, playwrights, statesmen, and architects laid the foundations of Western civilization. From 416 to 398 BCE, the Greek physician Ctesias served Darius II, King of Persia, and his successor, Artaxerxes, as court physician. Although he never traveled to India personally, in his Indica, Ctesias offers the earliest known literary attempt to describe the Unicorn: “Among the Indians…there are wild asses as large as horses, some being even larger…. They have a horn on their forehead, a cubit in length (the filings of this horn, if given in a potion, are an antidote to poisonous drugs).”6 In his Historia Animalium, Aristotle (384–322 BCE) includes Ctesias’ description of the one-horned “Indian ass.” Unfortunately, this contribution to the history of the Unicorn was obviously based entirely upon garbled travelers’ accounts of the one-horned Indian rhinoceros. This mistake was made again centuries later by Marco Polo (1254–1324), who was convinced that the rhinoceri he saw on his travels to China were true Unicorns. Certainly they would have seemed fabulous enough in their own right. The rhinoceros Unicorn thus entered the bestiary as the Karkadan. It is described as having the head of a stag, the body of a horse, the feet of an elephant, and the tail of a boar. Despite the rarity of actual sightings during this period, the legend of the Unicorn spread widely. In China, the Unicorn, or Ki-Lin, is said to dwell in heaven and only appear intermittently on Earth, when its appearance signifies the dawning of a new age of harmony and enlightenment. As the Ki-Lin symbolizes good fortune, longevity, grandeur, justice, righteousness, and wise administration, it was believed to appear only during the time of an upright ruler, or immediately preceding the birth or death of a sage. The first Unicorn in China is said to have appeared almost 5,000 years ago to give Emperor Fu Hsi the secrets of written language. According to Tse-Tchet’tong-kien-kang-mou, in 2697 BCE, another Unicorn was seen in the garden of the Yellow Emperor (Huang Di), which was taken as a prophecy that his reign would be long and peaceful. In the 22nd century BCE, one of the judges of the Emperor Shun possessed a “one-horned goat” called the Sin-You that would butt guilty parties but not the innocent. Two Unicorns are also said to have lived during the reign of Emperor Yao, the fourth of the legendary Five Emperors who shaped the world 4,000 years ago. The Chinese KiLin, or “Dragon Horse,” is a deerlike or cervine Unicorn, with a branching antler. It is one of the Four Fabulous Creatures of Chinese mythology. One appeared, it is said, before the birth of Confucius in 551 BCE. According to the legend, his pregnant mother encountered a King (the male Unicorn; the Lin is the female) while she was in the garden skeining yarn. With an engraved tablet of jade in his mouth, the King laid his head in her lap, whereupon she wound some of her yarn among the tines of his horn (Fig. 7). A dithyramb inscription on the tablet praised the great Fig. 6. Ki-Lin, the Chinese Unicorn, from an antique Chinese pen drawing. Fig. 7. Confucius’ mother meets the prophetic Ki-Lin
138 A Wizard’s Bestiary Fig. 10. Albrecht Durer. From Emperor Maximilian’s Prayer Book (1516) Fig. 9. Salute of the Unicorn, from the 9thcentury Bern Physiologus. wisdom of her future son. And so it was. The Analects of Confucius became the foundation of Chinese culture for all time to come, and dynasties of Emperors ruled according to their precepts, in the hope that their reign would be blessed and sanctioned by the reappearance of the Unicorn. 70 years later, some hunters killed a Ki-Lin. Confucius went to view the body and saw that it still had a bit of yarn wrapped around its horn. He wept, knowing that he would soon die. An unusual variety of Unicorn called the Camphur was said to dwell in the coastal waters off the island of Molucca in Indonesia. It had the body and forelegs of a deer, with the webbed hind feet of a goose. The Unicorn of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance—from the 3rd to the 16th century CE—is neither bull nor ram nor antelope nor even a rhinoceros, but a pure white buck goat, with cloven hooves, beard, and flowing mane. His uplifted tail is tufted at the end, leading later artists to render him with the tail of the heraldic lion. He is fearless, proud, strong, and beautiful, as well as aloof and unapproachable. He is fierce yet gentle, a protector of other beasts. Physically, he is graceful and fine-boned. The image of the Unicorn is one of manner and behavior as well as of appearance. A typical version of Physiologus, the medieval bestiary written in the 9th century, describes the Unicorn as “a small animal, like a kid, but exceedingly fierce, with one horn in the middle of his head.” This manifestation of the legendary creature is thus identified as a caprine (goatlike) Unicorn. Factual Bases for Unicorns Ignoring the rhinoceros as a red herring, all the actual sightings of Unicorns reported by medieval European travelers seem to have come from either Nepal or Ethiopia, the latter being the home of the Kaffir and Dinka tribes who seemed, during this period, to have perfected the production of Unicorns as herd leaders and defenders. Even in the 20th century, it was said that among the herds of these tribes, there may be found males with three, four, and five horns. Odell Shepard quotes another observer as reporting that “the Dinkas, who live just south of the White Nile, not only manipulate the horns of their cattle as the Dinkas do, but use this practice as a means of marking the leaders of their herds.”7 Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), Roman officer and encyclopedist, describes in his Natural History a method of manipulating the horns of oxen, which, he says, “are of so pliable a substance and easy to be wrought, that as they grow upon their heads, even whilst the beasts are living, they may be with boiling wax bended and turned every way as a man will.”8 The French traveler François LeVaillant, in his Travels in Africa, speaks of a similar method of training the horns of oxen: “As the horns of the young ox sprout, they are trained over the forehead until the points meet. They are then manipulated so as to make them coalesce, and so shoot upwards from the middle of the forehead, like the horn of the fabled unicorn.”9 It is also a matter of historical record that several Unicorn rams formed part of the large collection of Nepalese animals presented to George V of England when he was Prince of Wales, and that these were exhibited at the London Zoological Gardens in 1906. I have been unable to determine what became of them. A British resident at the court of Nepal was quoted in 1921 as sending reports of unicorned sheep: By certain maltreatment ordinary two-horned sheep are converted into a one-horned variety. The process adapted is branding with a red-hot iron the male lambs when about two or three months old on their horns when they are about to sprout. The wounds are treated with a mixture of oil and soot and when they heal, instead of growing at their usual places and spreading, come out as one from the middle of the forehead.10 It should be noted, however, that these explanations do not hold up under scientific scrutiny, and can only be the result of conjecture on the part of the reporter, or a tale told to the gullible by natives desiring to guard their secrets. Twisting horns with boiling wax or burning a poor animal’s head with a hot poker is not going to produce anything but a mutilated ox or ram. The legend of the Unicorn gained a new chapter at the beginning of the 13th century, Fig. 8. Camphur
Creatures of Night 139 when Mongolian warrior Genghis Khan conquered much of Asia to build a great empire, but the intervention of a Unicorn made him abruptly turn back on the brink of invading India. As the great Khan prepared for what would probably have been an easy victory, a Unicorn “like a deer, with a head like that of a horse, one horn on its forehead, and green hair on its body” approached one of his scouting expeditions and knelt before them, saying, “It is time for your master to return to his own land.” When he heard this, Genghis Khan was taken aback, but realizing this was a sign from heaven not to attack, he turned his army away. One of the most ruthless and fearless warriors in history had been “tamed” by a simple Unicorn, and India was saved from invasion.11 Fig. 11. By Jörg Breu d.Â. from Ritterlich und Lobwirdig Rayss, Lewis vartoman (Augsberg, 1515) The one of them, which is much higher than the other, yet not much unlike to a coolte of thyrtye moneths of age, in the forehead growth only one horne, in maner right foorth, of the length of three cubits. The other is much younger, of the age of one yeere, and lyke a young Coolte: the horne of this is of the length of foure handfuls. This beast is of the coloure of a horse of weasel coloure, and hath the head lyke an hart, but no long necke, a thynne mane hangynge only on the one side. Theyre legges are thyn and slender, lyke a fawne or hynde. The hoofes of the fore feete are divided in two, much lyke the feet of a Goat. The outwarde part of the hinder feete is very full of heare. This beast doubtlesse seemeth wylde and fierce, yet tempereth that fierceness with a certain comelinesse. These Unicorns one gave to the Soltan of Mecha as a most precious and rare gyfte. They were sent hym out of Ethiope by a kyng of that Countrey, who desired by that present to gratifie the Soltan of Mecha. —Lewis Vartoman, Itinerario (1576)13 The last authentic eyewitness reports of living Unicorns in the classical medieval conception occurred in the 16th century. The most important of these is the account of Lewis Vartoman of Bologna, who traveled through the countries of the Near East in 1503. In his Itinerario, Vartoman tells of seeing one-horned cattle in Ethiopia and describes in detail two Markhor (Capra falconeri) Unicorns he saw in the private menagerie of the Sultan of Mecca (see box above). Vartoman was followed 60 years later by Vincent Le Blanc, who set out on his travels through the Orient in 1567, at the age of 14. He saw only one of Vartoman’s Unicorns, the other having died. But in compensation, he saw two at the Court of Pegu. In his Les Voyages Fameux du Sieur Vincent le Blanc, he declared: “I have seen a Unicorn in the seraglio of the Sultan, others in India, and still others at the Escurial.”12 This is our last historical report. The Unicorn is not a single species, for other than the Chinese Lin, there are no female Unicorns. He is an exemplar or avatar of any of a number of horned ungulate species, and he embodies the highest potential of that species. The single horn grows from the center of his forehead (the “third eye”) above the pineal gland—the master gland that ultimately governs the functions of the endocrine glands, such as the pituitary, and also, so the mystics say, the psychic centers of the brain. Therefore, the Unicorn may grow to be larger, more intelligent, and more sensitive than other animals of his ancestral stock. He is a natural herd leader, inevitably rising to dominance. The single perpendicular horn is an invincible weapon compared to the side-swept or backward-curving horns of other horned animals, and it enables the Unicorn to defend his herd even against lions, with which he is often depicted in combat. “The horn that springs from his forehead is terrible to his foe, a defense and a weapon of onslaught” (Natalis Comes, 1551).14 Fig. 12. Lion and Unicorn bull in a Persian frieze. Symbolism and Allegory For these reasons Unicorns developed more than 4,000 years ago, and for these reasons they became symbols of royalty, supremacy, and even divinity. In the Middle Ages, the Unicorn also came to symbolize Christianity, immortality, wisdom, lovers, and marriage. In astrological symbolism, the Unicorn represents the moon, as the lion does the sun. The contest in
140 A Wizard’s Bestiary Fig. 13. Illustration from a German translation of Albertus Magnus’ Summa de Creaturis (1545) which they are so often shown engaged implies an eclipse. Bas-reliefs showing the equation of the horn with the moon go back to prehistoric times, and they appear frequently on cylinder seals from ancient Babylon, Ninevah, Ur, and Persepolis. As the moon waxes and wanes, or is darkened and then lightened during a lunar eclipse, so the Unicorn has been a symbol of rebirth and the triumph of life over death in many cultures throughout the world. The secret of the Unicorn seems to have been finally lost during the religious upheavals of the 15th and 16th centuries, when the Catholic Inquisition and the Protestant Reformation burned libraries as well as people for anything that could be considered heresy. The Crusades and the Islamic expansion into North Africa destroyed or subjugated the tribal people and farming folk who had perfected various methods of animal husbandry unknown to the Christians and Moslems. When these village shamans vanished, so did their secrets, and the Unicorn as a living animal became even rarer, disappearing altogether by the middle of the 16th century. Although initially heralded by their reappearance, the new light of the Renaissance dawned over a Europe that had no place for Unicorns, and they were seen no more in the flesh. Their legend survived, however, in allegorical Christian religious art, wherein the Unicorn came to represent the Savior. The medieval and Renaissance depictions of the Madonna, either with the infant Jesus or with a Unicorn representing Christ (and often complete with a crescent moon), are directly descended from the ancient Egyptian portrayals of Isis. In Egyptian art, Isis was commonly shown bare-breasted, suckling the infant Horus on the throne that was her hieroglyph. The earliest versions of the “maiden and Unicorn” motif show the maiden naked, or at last bare-breasted, and the Unicorn with his head in her lap. In both European and Oriental traditions, the Unicorn is identified with a Messiah who appears when the world is in its darkest hour, and heralds the dawning of a new and better age. As the alchemical symbol for the Element Earth, he represents Earth consciousness and a reawakening of natural values. The Hunt of the Unicorn One of the most popular legends in medieval European lore was the “hunt of the Unicorn.” According to the story, the Unicorn is wild, fierce, and wary, and cannot be approached by hunters (presumably to claim his valuable horn). However, he is beguiled and lulled by the innocence of a pure virgin. Accordingly, hunters set a maiden as bait under a tree in the forest and then hide. Because of his own purity, the Unicorn is irresistibly lured to the virgin. He comes to her, lies down beside her, lays his head in her lap, and falls blissfully asleep. Whereupon the hunters spring from the bushes and slaughter him. Lovely story. Strangely, the treacherous virgin in the tale is commonly equated with the Virgin Mary. Fig. 15. Detail on an Italian miniature, ca. 14th century. The hunt of the Unicorn is most famously depicted in a series of seven exquisite Unicorn Tapestries dating from 1495–1505. Purchased from the French LaRochefoucauld family in 1922 by John D. Rockefeller, these tapestries now hang in the Cloisters of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. Considered by many to be the most beautiful tapestries in the world, they show a group of hunters and richly dressed nobles in pursuit of a Unicorn, which is first encountered purifying the water of a fountain. It is then chased through lush forests, apparently killed, brought back to a castle, resurrected, and chained to a pomegranFig. 14. Naked woman with unicorn. Late 15thcentury. Fig. 16. “Unicorn in Captivity” tapestry.
Creatures of Night 141 Fig. 18. ate tree enclosed by a little fence. What appear at first to be drops of blood on the Unicorn’s white coat turn out upon examination to be pomegranate seeds and juice. The Unicorn was long identified as a symbol of Christ by Christian writers, who interpreted the Unicorn and his death and resurrection as an allegory for the Passion. But the drops of blood/pomegranate juice also recall the Pagan myth of Persephone and her return from the Underworld. Disappearance and Dismissal During the 16th and 17th centuries, ground Unicorn horn, called alicorn, was an essential ingredient in European medicine, and was considered a potent palliative against plague and poison. Entire “Unicorn” horns were placed on the tables of political and ecclesiastical rulers and dignitaries in the belief that the horns would sweat in the presence of poisoned food or drink. For the same purpose, royal drinking cups were carved of supposed Unicorn horns. Interestingly, the keratin in natural horn does absorb dissolved arsenic out of a solution, so there is a factual basis for this practice. With the Age of Enlightenment and the beginning of the founding of the Royal Academy of Science in 1662, belief in Unicorns began to decline, particularly when it became known that most of what had been marketed as true Unicorn horns (unicornum verum) were actually narwhal tusks. This had been a thriving trade in the medieval and Renaissance periods, when alicorn might bring up to 30 times its weight in gold. Later, mammoth and walrus tusks replaced those of narwhals in the apothecaries of wealthy patrons—as did petrified wood, fossil ammonites, and even stalactites—until alicorn was dropped from most pharmacopeias in the mid-18th century. Ironically, narwhal, walrus, and mammoth tusks are composed of ivory, not keratin, and are no help at all in removing poisons. A drinking vessel made out of a regular cow horn would be far more effective! Unfortunately, Ctesias’ ancient identification of the rhinoceros as a Unicorn has resulted, in more recent times, in rhinoceros horn supplanting all previous versions of alicorn in the Orient as a sovereign remedy for many ailments—particularly male impotence. This association has precipitated the near-extermination of both Indian and African rhinos by poachers eager to cash in on such a lucrative market. Personally, I think it a bit unfair that narwhals were dismissed as true Unicorns. After all, they are the only animal other than the ungainly rhino to naturally sport a single long horn (“uni-cornu”), even if it is technically a tooth. They are exquisitely beautiful creatures, and I love their appropriate French name: la licorne de la mère—”Unicorn of the sea.” Fig. 17. La Licorne de la mère Only in the last 400 years has the Unicorn come to be drawn as a single-horned horse. Such a creature is purely an invention of artistic fancy, of course, for horses have never had horns. Perhaps the knightly custom of affixing horns to the headgear of jousting chargers contributed to this image. When the real Unicorn was no longer available to grace coronations and other celebrations of royal courts, knights would armor their chargers with Unicorn-styled headgear in imitation of the real thing. But horses have never grown horns and are, in fact, the “false Unicorns.” Even so, the authentic tradition of the Unicorn has managed to persist to the extent that even equine Unicorns are usually portrayed as having cloven hooves and a goatee. Julian Franklin, the foremost authority on heraldry, attempts to clear up this misconception: The best known of all fictitious creatures is the Unicorn. Not everyone who knows a Unicorn is quite sure that it is fictitious: further, most people, asked to describe it, would say it is a horse with a spiral horn on its forehead. They are not to blame for this ignorance. It is often so drawn— even when acting as a supporter of the Royal Arms. The Unicorn is in fact based on a goat, has cloven hooves, and a beard…it should be observed that he has an heraldic lion’s tail.15 The Unicorn was considered to have been given his death blow in 1827 by Baron Georges Cuvier, the “father of Paleontology,” who declared in 1829 that a cloven-hoofed ruminant with a single horn would be impossible because its frontal bone would be divided and no horn could grow from such a division.16 There were few in the scientific community who dared challenge such an eminent authority as Cuvier, and this dictum remains in many textbooks even today, despite the fact that it was also Cuvier who, in 1821, said, “There is little hope of discovering new species of large quadrupeds.”17 The subsequent discovery of the Kodiak bear, mountain gorilla, okapi, mountain nyala antelope, pygmy hippopotamus, Andean wolf, kouprey ox, and other large quadrupeds made this statement seem so ludicrous that it is now referred to as “Cuvier’s rash dictum” (a phrase coined by cryptozoology founder Bernard Heuvalmans).
142 A Wizard’s Bestiary For many years scholars have followed Ctesias and Marco Polo in identifying the Unicorn with the rhinoceros, ignoring all the sightings and accounts that could not be so explained or calling them merely tall tales. After all, the experts said that Unicorns could not exist; therefore they did not exist. The Living Unicorn And now this history of the Unicorn must become personal. My wife and soulmate, Morning Glory, and I tracked the Unicorn down through the centuries, sifting myths, legends, travelers’ tales, and anatomical, zoological, and anthropological studies to discover the reality behind the fantastic. We researched numerous texts spanning the ages, and collected artistic representations of Unicorns from all times and cultures. And, in the fall of 1976, we finally found the last piece of the puzzle and uncovered the long-lost secret of the Unicorn. When we started out, we too assumed, like all the scholars we read, that the Unicorn was merely a distant derivative of the rhinoceros. But as we catalogued all those images, it began to dawn on us that these Unicorns represented not one, but various species, all of which were depicted as ultimate idealizations with only the single horn in common. Another realization was that, other than in modern fantasy novels, there has never been a female Unicorn; even in scenes of the Garden of Eden, where he was said to be the first animal Adam named, he never appears with a mate. When shown with other animals, he is apart, aloof, and acting as a protector or leader. Clearly, then, the Unicorn could never have been a species—not even a mythical one—but was, rather, a phenomenon manifesting as virtually any species of horned animal. Just as albinism occurs in many different species, so does unicornity (“one-hornedness”). The difference, however, was that albinism occurs naturally, while unicornity was clearly induced through some lost process of animal husbandry—perhaps comparable with the Japanese art of Bonsai. In contrast to the assumption that if there had ever been a living Unicorn, it must have had an evolution and a natural history as other species do, we posited unicornity as a multispecies phenomenon, one that perhaps was produced artificially by some lost technique. Any such technique, however, would have to produce not only an animal that fit the description, but also one whose behavior and manner suggested the undeniable insistence of the legends. Such an animal would, in effect, be fundamentally different from its ancestral stock, elevated so profoundly that it would develop as a different animal. Shepard, that unflagging scholar and humanist, nudges exasperatingly close to the answer: It seems possible, therefore, that what I may call the Unicorn idea, the notion that one-horned animals exist in Nature, arose from the custom of uniting the horns of various domestic animals by a process which is still in use but still mysterious to the civilized world. Here may be the explanation of the one-horned cows and bulls that Aelian says were to be found in Ethiopia and of the unicorned cattle reported by Pliny as living in the land of the Moors…. The one-horned ram’s head sent to Pericles by his farmhands may have been that of the leader of their flock, and so a perfect symbol of that leadership in Athens which, according to Plutarch’s interpretation, they wished to prophesy for their master.18 The final piece fell into place in 1976 at the University of Oregon in Eugene, where Morning Glory and I were teaching. There I came upon the forgotten work of Dr. Franklin Dove, a biologist at the University of Maine, who, in the 1930s, was experimenting with horn development in cattle. In a 1935 article titled “The Physiology of Horn Growth,” he traced various previous efforts at developing a Unicorn and documented his own efforts along those lines. He had made a profound discovery: horns do not, in fact, grow directly out of the bones of the forehead, as had been universally assumed by Cuvier and everyone else. Rather, the os cornu, or bony horn spike, originates in special nodes of tissue called “buds,” which are imbedded in the loose skin of the forehead and later fuse to the frontal bones of the skull. Within a few hours after birth, these nodes direct a flow of enzymes down into the bone beneath, which then “influences the tissues below it to change their course of development,” stimulating bone to grow upward into the horn core, which becomes correspondingly covered with a horny sheath of keratin. Dove determined through his experiments that if the position of these nodes was shifted immediately after birth, they could cause a horn to grow wherever they were positioned. Of course, the limitation is that the tissue connection cannot at any time be severed, so any rearrangement can extend only so far as a pedicle flap can be moved. Dove recalled those Nepalese arien Unicorns that had recently been exhibited in London, and became conFig. 19. Adam naming the Unicorn. From a 15th-century Dutch Bible.
Creatures of Night 143 vinced that his experiments could be used to replicate the process by which they had really been created, and furthermore, that this was, in fact, the actual process by which ancient tribes had originally created genuine Unicorns—the real-life basis of the legend.19 Unicorns Reborn By Tom Williams In 1933, as an extension of his experiments, Dove manipulated the horn buds of a day-old Ayrshire bull calf to the center of its skull and trimmed their facing edges flat so they would, he hoped, fuse to form a single horn. This is exactly what happened, and the calf grew into a full-sized bull with a single quite formidable horn on its forehead (Fig. 19). The grown animal definitely displayed the one-horned properties and its horn, contrary to Cuvier’s opinion, was firmly fused to the frontal bones of the skull. This one-horned bull also turned out to be a Unicorn in ways that even Dove did not expect and though it does not look like the traditional image of a Unicorn, it nonetheless points the way to his creation. Dove noted that the mere presence of the single horn led to certain conclusions about his behavior which fit the literature about Unicorns. The first was the aristocratic nature inherent in every Unicorn: He is always the leader. Quite rightly so, and for reasons quite acceptable to behavioristic interpretation. Any animal fronted with a single horn would learn the advantages of a single well-placed weapon and would, through experience, gain ascendance and leadership over the rest of the herd….. Possession of a single weapon alters the behavior of the animal selected to become a unicorn and indicates that the unicorn’s dominant and aristocratic behavior can be brought out as a single behavior factor, unassociated with genetic origin. The dominance of a unicorned animal over the ordinary two-horned beasts of the herd is here offered as a striking instance of the dependence of behavior upon form.20 The rationale behind the alleged Unicorn techniques of the Dinka becomes clear, especially when one thinks of what such a weapon might mean to a potential predator such as a lion. In fact, the motif of the lion and the Unicorn as implacable foes is richly interwoven in the Unicorn lore, and has even found its way onto the British coat of arms. The Dinka, it seems, were not only creating herd leaders: they were producing some pretty formidable guardians against predators. With the assimilation of the lore and with the results of Dove’s work, the stage was set for the next logical step. Unicorns could be, and probably had been, created by various peoples in the past for very practical reasons. Knowledge of these animals must have come in whatever garbled form to the Europe of the Middle Ages. At some point, roughly 400–500 years ago, the secret was forgotten or lost, and Europeans saw no more living Unicorns. The image of the animal grew distorted, and because it was assumed to be entirely mythical, it took on the incongruous equine qualities of later times. But enough remnants of the image remained to be pieced together in the light of Dove’s discovery: the Unicorns of the medieval tapestries had been created from goats. Oberon and Morning Glory Zell decided that they could resurrect the creation of the medieval Unicorn, so they searched for a type of goat most like the animals in the tapestries. What they finally settled on was a relatively intelligent breed of Angora: white, with a long, silken coat, slender legs, and a beard. So it was that at the Spring Equinox of 1980, Lancelot was born, and within a few hours of his birth, Oberon performed the operation that would produce a Unicorn. Creation of a Unicorn involves more than the mere manipulation and fusion of horn bud tissue; it is an ongoing process of devotion and training. Due to his dangerous potential, it was decided to shower him with affection in order to “imprint” him to humans. Lancelot and his brother, Bedivere, slept with their creators and had an adopted fawn for a childhood companion. As in Dove’s earlier work, the horn bud tissue attached itself to the skull and began forming the single horn spike. X-rays clearly showed the horn to be contiguous with the skull, forming a definite boss Fig. 19. Dr. Franklin Dove’s taurine Unicorn at two years of age Fig. 20. Fighting Unicorn by Karen Jollie
144 A Wizard’s Bestiary (thickening) on the forehead. An unanticipated effect was that the sinuses grew up into the horn, vastly increasing the animal’s sense of smell. Lancelot soon discovered the utility of his horn as a tool—and a weapon—during a couple of encounters with dogs, for whom it was fortunate that it was kept dull and that people were present! Fig. 21. Lancelot, the Living Unicorn. Photo by Ron Kimball The Return of the Unicorns By Oberon Dr. Dove was convinced that his technique was in fact identical to that used by ancient tribes to create the original Unicorns of legend. When Morning Glory and I managed to get hold of Dove’s research notes, we also became convinced, and realized that we now knew the secret of the Unicorn, and that it was in our power to resurrect the authentic medieval Unicorn into the modern world. Well, someone else might just have written a book about it, as we had originally planned to do. But the temptation was irresistible. We just had to give it a try! We moved to the country as caretakers of a 220- acre parcel of undeveloped land which was part of a much larger 5,600-acre homesteading community, to create a Unicorn farm. We built a home, barns, pens, and gardens, and developed the springs, planted trees, raised pet deer, put in a pond, and otherwise devoted ourselves to a life of pioneer homesteading. Meanwhile, we located appropriate breeding stock (Angora goats), studied veterinary medicine and stockbreeding, and embarked upon a truly amazing adventure raising living Unicorns. As Tom already stated previously, the magick worked, and Lancelot was born at the Spring Equinox of 1980, to be followed two weeks later, at the full moon, by his brother Bedivere (we decided to name them for knights of the round table). They were certainly beautiful. Their coats were iridescent white in the sunlight, with the texture of satin, and their long manes were like cloud fluff. And we discovered an amazing magickal synchronicity. That spring, for the first time, virtually every gift catalog was highlighting Unicorns. Books, jewelry, T-shirts, figurines, calendars, posters, decorations, greeting cards, teapots, TV cartoons, gimcracks, and tchotchkes—everywhere we looked it was the Year of the Unicorn! During that first summer, we appeared at the local Renaissance faire, and on countless TV news, talk, and animal shows, both local and national. Our Unicorns were front-page news in every paper in the country, and were featured in many magazines and even a few books. The 1982 Encyclopædia Britannica Book of the Year ran a photo of Lancelot over the caption: “Encyclopedia Britannica defines a unicorn as ‘a mythological animal resembling a horse or a kid with a single horn on its forehead.’ Visitors to Marine World, an amusem*nt complex not far from San Francisco, are sure that Lancelot, a young angora goat, is real. That being the case, Lancelot must be a real mythological unicorn.”21 A highlight for Morning Glory and I was attending the 1981 Octacon science fiction convention in Santa Rosa, California, with Lancelot, where we won the grand prize in the costume contest as “Molly Grue, Schmendrick the Magician, and the Last Unicorn,” from Peter Beagle’s 1968 fantasy novel, The Last Unicorn. This brought our entire adventure around full circle. For the next several years, as we continued to produce a couple more Unicorns each year, we appeared at Renaissance faires all over the United States and Canada—sometimes with as many as four separate teams, each with a different Unicorn. Some of them we exhibited on a rotating schedule at Marine World/Africa U.S.A., near San Francisco, where they were featured as billboard attractions on huge signs overlooking the freeway.. In 1984, after a four-year struggle with the U.S. Patent Office, we finally obtained a patent on the operation itself, citing Dove’s prior work and many references from various dictionaries and encyclopedias to prove the authenticity of our animals. In this, we had the support of our local livestock veterinarian, Dr. James Madigan. Finally, our booking agents landed us a four-year exhibition contract with the Ringling Bros. and Bar-
Creatures of Night 145 num & Bailey Circus, and for the rest of the decade, our Unicorns were the stars of the Greatest Show on Earth, seen by millions. We kept several of them at home as our own companions, and placed some for a while at local animal parks. Decades later, we still hear from people whose lives were transformed by their encounter with “the impossible dream” made manifest, and the epiphany that if a Unicorn can be real, then anything is possible! Fig. 22. Circus poster featuring Lancelot, the Living Unicorn. So the story of the Unicorn has a modern sequel. Yet another of those ancient rivers has been traced into the mountains of fable and fact, an act that is a testimony both to the dedication of truly scientific curiosity as well as to a devotion to the compelling beauty that has been a part of the Unicorn throughout its long history. The Unicorn belongs to no one country or continent, nor even to the human race alone. He is a child of peace and a prophet of good fortune. “...O golden hoofs, O cataracts of mane, O nostrils wide With high distain, and O the neck wave-arched, the lovely pride! O long shall be the furrows ploughed upon the hearts of men Before it comes to stable and to manger once again. Now dark and crooked all the roads in which our race will walk, And shriveled all their manhood like a flower on broken stalk. Now all the world, O Ham, may curse the hour that you were born— Because of you, the Ark must sail without the Unicorn.” —N.W., “The Sailing of the Ark,” from Punch, 1948 The Prophecy of the Unicorn (from the Codex Unicornis, by Magnalucius, founder of the Collegium Gnosticum, 15th century CE) The Unicorn is a kindred race, bound to us in love and service. He points the way, he guards the gate, he waits until the end. Behold! An age shall come when science shall darken everywhere the hopes of men, Chariots of iron shall roll the land, which shall grow hard and barren to bear their weight. The air shall be filled with a clamor of many voices. Unknown plagues and sicknesses shall arise. The sphere of the Moon shall bear the booted heels of Man. Two mighty kingdoms will contend for all the world, and turn against it, until the soil and the sea shall sicken and the wind become a flux of poisoned vapor. And all men shall be sorely tried, so that at the last, none may escape the choice between Light and darkness. Then, in the Time of Great Purification, will the Unicorn return in strength, lingering at the margins of our realm, to seed our minds with dreams of a brighter age to come…. (Translated from the Latin by Michael Green)22 Monster Movies: Unicorns Fantasia (animated, 1940) The Last Unicorn (animated, 1982) Legend (1985) The Little Unicorn (2001) Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) Fig. 23. The Unicorn misses the Ark. Tobias Stimmer Stardust (2007) (1576)
146 A Wizard’s Bestiary Fig. 1. Scythian winged horse on stone palette 5.Wonder Horses By Morning Glory Zell Hast thou given the horse strength? Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? The glory of his nostrils is terrible, He paweth in the valley and rejoiceth in his strength: He goeth on to meet the armed men. He mocketh at fear...neither turneth he back from the sword... He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage... And he saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha... —Job 39:19–25 N OUR MYTHS AND LEGENDS WE IMmortalize beings of all kinds. Long after the originators have passed on, stories that began as campfire tales gather power as they are retold until they gain the stature of a full-scale myth. Creatures that are powerful and amazing and yet share our lives, as horses do, always seem larger than life. From this simple truth is born the Wonder-Horse. Sometimes the Wonder-Horse acts alone—flying to aid a fallen warrior, speaking prophecy, or doing some dastardly deed. But most often, Wonder-Horses are in partnership, usually with a hero of some sort, even if he or she does not know it yet. Most often it is the horse that understands their conjoined destiny and works to teach it to the human. Sometimes these fantastic equines are immortal, and sometimes they are merely mortal. Often the wonder lies in their journey from Earth to heaven—or hell. They can acquire their immortality by birthright, by association, or by earning it the hard way—by becoming a true legend that outlives the horse and sometimes even the culture that created the tale in the first place. Wonder-Horses start with their hooves on the Earth, but, like a mare’s nest, they often end up tangled in our dreams. Every culture shares these horse tales, and it is amazing how so many similarities can occur in cultures separated by many thousands of miles and even years. Horses just can’t help but fill us with wonder: their size and power when they stamp their shiny hooves; the way their muscles ripple under their sleek coats when they shake their proud heads and toss their flowing manes; the sheer poetry in their movement; and the electric thrill of the wind rushing past as they run so quickly it seems as though they are flying. Even though they are no longer our primary means of transportation, they still transport us to magickal realms, and there will always be a place for Wonder-Horses in our hearts. Flying Horses Imagine flying through the air on a horse with wings! Most kids have had this fantasy and a lot of us never outgrew it. But flying horses… how could such a notion come to be? On the face of it, it seems absurd, but to people unfamiliar with horses and all they are capable of—running, leaping and whirling around with a rider—maybe it wasn’t such an impossible idea. The Scythians were some of the world’s greatest warriors and horsem*n and they lived in the Southern steppes of Russia, north of the world of the Classical Greek and Persian civilizations. They were fantastic artisans in gold work, and it is here that we see the first representations of winged horses. The Scythians created fantastic horse gear out of pounded felt that was elaborately dyed and embroidered, with feathered bridles and tall headdresses. They made protective chaps to cover the rider’s legs and the horse’s shoulders, and decorated them to look like wings. Imagine being at the village well when these men came galloping into the center of the town in a cloud of dust, carrying spears and bows and mounted on huge fantastic beasts that looked like horses, but Ian Daniels
Creatures of Night 147 Fig. 2. Birth of Pegasus some having antlers or horns, some with tall plumes like a giant bird, and others with bright red and white wings. One of the winged stallions leaps over a vegetable cart and the seed of a myth is planted. Pegasus is the most famous of all the immortal horses of Greek mythology. He was born when drops of blood from the severed head of the Gorgon Medusa fell into the sea and mingled with the sea foam of Poseidon. He has a brother, born at the same time but completely unlike him: Chrysaor, a dark-winged boar. Originally described as being red, Pegasus is a shining white steed with huge, soft, swan-like wings that enable him to fly so high into the heavens that he can reach the realm of the gods. When he flew back to Earth and first struck the ground, a spring (the Hippocrene, shaped like a hoof print) gushed forth. Its waters inspire poetry. Pegasus was captured by the hero Bellerophon by means of a magick bridle given to him by the goddess Athena. He then rode the great flying steed to slay the monster Chimera (grandchild of Pegasus’s brother Chrysaor) that was plaguing the countryside. But afterward, Bellerophon flew higher and higher on Pegasus until he reached the edge of the gods’ heavenly kingdom. This intrusion by a human mortal offended Zeus, who cast a thunderbolt, unhorsing Belleraphon so that he fell to Earth and broke his hip. Pegasus flew free, and from that time on lives on Olympus, occasionally helping Eos bring the dawn and carrying lightning bolts to Zeus. He acquired a mate, Euippe, and sired two foals, Melanippe and Celeris. He was given a constellation in his honor, and an entire group of flying horses—the Pegasi—came to be named after him. Arion is a lesser-known, but possibly even more amazing, stallion from Greek mythology with two origin stories. In the first one, Arion is the first horse— an immortal, dark-maned stallion brought out of the earth when Poseidon strikes it with his trident. In the second origin story, Arion is the child of a union of the god Poseidon, in the body of a stallion, and the goddess Demeter, in the body of a mare. Arion’s right legs have feet similar to human hands, but his left legs have hooves. He speaks with a melodious human voice, which can be as loud as a trumpet, and he flies so swiftly that he cannot be seen. Poseidon gives him Fig. 3. Celestial Horse Fig. 4. The Seven-Colored Horse to Heracles, who later gives him to the hero Adrastos. In the Battle of the Seven Against Thebes, Arion saves Adrastos with his quick-witted action and advice, and weeps like a person at the death of a child. As the poet Propertius tells us, “Adrastos’ horse, Arion, victory crowned / Grieved at Archemorus’ grave with human sounds.”1 From Hindu mythology comes the wonderful Dadhikravan, the luminous, cosmic white horse with eagle’s wings. He flies across the night sky as the embodiment of the new moon, vanquishing the enemies of the celestial realms. The Celestial Horse of China is an ancient magickal equine. The earliest ancestral horse is Tiansi. Because he is located in the constellation Fang (the Azure Dragon), Celestial Horses eventually came to be associated with Dragons. In its earliest representations, this heavenly courser looks somewhat similar to the Luck Dragon from the movie The Neverending Story. It also sweats red resin (possibly cinnabar), which resembles blood. It was begotten by a Lake-Dragon and a wild mare from the Pamir mountains. Later, in equine form, the Celestial Horse became one of the animals of the Chinese Zodiac. The Seven-Colored Horse from Spanish fairy tales is a pony whose coat has seven ever-changing colors. The pony speaks, flies, and grants wishes to those who can capture it. He helps the hero gain his bride and his heart’s desire. The wish-granting horse that flies in order to achieve the hero’s goals is a common fixture in fairy tales. Tipaka, the steed of the legendary King Sison, is the beautiful magickal horse in the mythology of Thailand. He flies so fast that he arrives at his destination even as it is being named. Beligen is the celestial flying bay horse of Geser, the Mongolian Buryat hero/ savior. Beligen’s hooves never slip, his legs do not get cold, and his eyes flash lightning bolts. Many of the gods and goddesses of ancient Greece—including Hera, Hades, Helios, and the twin Dioskouroi—drive chariots pulled by flying horses. The Anemoi are the gods of the four winds who, in
148 A Wizard’s Bestiary the guise of horses, draw the chariot of Zeus. The golden mares of Demeter race so lightly over the tops of the cornstalks that they do not bend. Many Norse gods and goddesses also fly about on magickal equines, sometimes on horseback and sometimes in chariots. Odin, Sunna and Mani, Gna, Nott, and others fly the northern skies from Asgard to Bifrost to visit the realms of the giants. Others, such as the Valkyries, sweep down to Earth to reclaim the souls of heroic mortals. There are many heavenly horses in the Hindu Pantheon as well. Recounted in the Vedas and later sacred scriptures, Rudra, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Soma, and Suraya all ride or drive flying horses. Some, such as Suraya and Vishnu, take equine forms themselves at times. The Naras are the beautiful winged chariot horses that transport Kubera, the Hindu god of wealth, on his journeys across the sky. FaeryHorses Ears co*cked to hear the slightest rustle, nostrils quivering to catch an elusive scent, skin quivering and muscles tensed to spring into flight, horses seem to sense a world that we cannot perceive with our own limited senses. Is it any wonder that we have always thought of them as being not quite of this world? With their beauty and their flighty nature they seem akin to Faeries. Indeed, what is a fairy tale without the Magick Horse? Some of the most famous horses of this variety come from Celtic legends and medieval lore. The Tanglecoated Horse is an Irish tale in which the Celtic Chieftain Fionn encounters a wild, gigantic, and unlovely horse—the Tangle-Coated Horse— while out hunting. The horse is befriended by Cunnaun, who climbs up on his shaggy back. Then Fionn and all the rest of his men join Cunnaun on the animal, whose back stretches to fit them all. Then the horse carries them over the land and into the sea. There, under the waves, the horse bears them to a magickal realm of Sea Faeries. The name of the Tangle-Coated Horse is Earthshaker, and when he hears his name spoken, he transforms into a noble and graceful steed with a beautiful silver coat shining with Faery light. The band mount Earthshaker for the return journey through the sea (as long as the men keep hold of the horse they can breathe under water). Yet, when he leaves the Faery realm, Earthshaker turns back into the shaggy, homely Tangle-Coated Horse again. However, anytime Fionn and his men wish to visit the realm of Under Wave, Earthshaker will take them back. In other classic fireside stories you may hear of the Horses of the Faery Reid. These magickal steeds are ridden by Faery folk from their hollow mounds to their gatherings. Some horses are silver grey, some satin black, some fiery golden chestnut, and others snowy white. All are heartbreakingly beautiful, adorned in green and with gold and silver bridles trimmed with ribbons and bells. Sometimes a mortal manages to sneak into the procession and mount one of these fantastically graceful and ethereal creatures. The horse carries the mortal until he does something to offend the Faery folk, at which point the steed pitches the offending mortal headfirst into a ditch. A similar creature, though a little darker in nature, is the Irish Phooka. This mostly harmless but mischievous spirit can appear in the shape of many difFig. 6. The Tanglecoated Horse Fig. 8. Phooka Fig. 7. The Faery Reid by Scott Fray Fig. 5. Aurora, Goddess of the dawn
Creatures of Night 149 ferent creatures. But his favorite form is a pitch-black horse with fiery eyes. He likes to disguise himself as an apparently tame and shaggy pony and let some weary traveler climb up on his back for a ride. But as soon as the traveler mounts him, he is off like a shot through marshes and thorn bushes for a hell ride. Finally, his terrified passenger is thrown into a ditch or pool of mud, and when he cleans the muck out of his ears he can hear the chuckling of the Phooka as he regains his Faery shape and gallops away. Often the heroic knight of a fairy tale encounters a horse that will lead him into an adventure—for example Ogier, a Prince of Denmark, encounters the Faery horse Papillon, a glorious creature famed for his wise discourse, his strength, and his magickal powers. Papillon can talk as well as fly, and walk between the worlds. The Faery steed leads Ogier into a flowering meadow where he meets the Faery Morgana, who takes him to Avalon. Papillon graciously takes Ogier back and forth between the realm of mortals and Avalon, where they eventually remain. Sometimes the hero of the tale must do battle to gain the horse. Sir Osbert’s Phantom Courser is a large, beautiful, black steed won in a battle with a mysterious knight errant, whom Sir Osbert encounters on a moonlit plain surrounded by ancient ruins. Triumphant though wounded, Osbert leads the fieryeyed sable courser back to his stable where it remains until the co*ck crows, at which point it rears with flashing eyes, spurns the ground, and vanishes.2 Many of our heroes stray from this world into the world of myth and fairy tale, and there they remain with their mighty steeds. In the depths of a lost mountain cavern lies the last kingdom of a great warrior king and his knights. They are all mounted on their favorite bold steeds that have led them to glory in a former time and place. There they sleep suspended in the Dreaming awaiting the call of their country’s greatest need, when they will awake and ride forth to glorious victory. Most of the national heroes from ancient and medieval times have a spiritual existence in this magickal cavern, together with their faithful mounts. But sometime the hero is not a powerful knight at all, but just a simple peasant boy, such as Ivan of Russia, who meets the Wish-Fulfilling Horse, known sometimes as the Humpbacked Horse (konyokgobunok), the Little Magic Horse, or the GoldenManed Horse. This little horse appears as modest and unassuming as Ivan, and yet it has wondrous Faerie powers that enable it to grant wishes and transform the peasant boy into a hero who brings the beautiful magic Firebird to the Tsar and marries his love, Princess Yelena the Beautiful. AngelHorses The galloping Angel-Horses come sweeping down from the clouds like cloudy visions themselves. Angels are often thought of as the good guys; certainly they are the companions and helpers of the gods, their avatars, and their prophets. The wise and shining white horse named Kantaki bore Siddartha Gautama on his journeys leading to enlightenment as the Buddha. In the Mahaburata, the first created horse was Uccaihcravas(“he with ears held high”), who became the king of all horses. Luminous white with a black tail, Uccaihcravas was swift as thought and flew through the air to follow the path of the sun. He became one of the horses of Indras. Fig. 10. The Little Humpbacked Horse Fig. 9. Ogier and Papillon Fig. 11. Siddhartha Gautama and Kantaki
