Big Book of Dragons, Monsters and Other Mythical Creatures - E&J Lehner

8/7/2019 Big Book of Dragons, Monsters and Other Mythical Creatures - E&J Lehner

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BIG BOOK OFDRAGONS, MONSTERS,AND OTHER MYTHICAL CREATURES

Ernst and Johanna Lehner

D O V ER PU B LICA TIO N S, IN C.Min eo la , N ew Yor k


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Chapter 7AERlAL MONSTERS . 99The Griffin . 110

CONTENTSForeword . - - .Introduction -- - - - .Lis t of II Iustrations . . .

Chapter 1DRAGONS .The Lindwurm - _ .The Tatzlwurm .Chapter 2

ORIENTAL DRAGONSChapter 3

SERPENT MONSTERSThe Ouroboros .ihliograpliiroJ 0 "

Thli!lDovu edhiun, 1l:r1ilrmblished in 200',. i!i .II.DuPRbl:i.d~ I"(il'ubfkn~iou or I .F1]llIOJ;Ifc B~lj.a.1J'~ Bm,,-:, OIl1'J J'u,rm,;lm iJ~HJ1Jj and Fjj/kl{)fll", oflrig:ipoHr p!lbUsheriby nUIQf P ub ll ah l ng C lOm p '" ). N o w Y or k. I n . 1 . 9 1 i9 .

Chapter 4TERRESTRIAL MONSTERS 65The ManticoraThe Basil isk .OVER p ia o r i a l c A r c h i'J I c SERIEST his b oo k u"lo~ t o l b lC D I ) '\ 't !. T P l a to n A I _'l IclJ : . . . . 1' S uic s. Y Oli m oy UL r the

de! ligm. nIli:! iUUltnilionl rlfr ~ ' nl p h i~ A n d " , ra f t. ! . o p p l. . ic a .t . io w . . r~t- e nd ' "d L ho U iapeeial permiee ien, pmcided lhl1lyon Inc lude no 'IIiQnllhlJll r..ur to the _Awepqh.lialion Of" pHtj~t. ( Fo r' p er m is si on f ur addition l. ' l l use, plea w r it e t o P e J' !m i . !8 i ol llD e ,a rt m tD t .. D O ' \' f. f P ub li t3 ti O u: e: . I ee 3J EUJ;I 2 n d 5 1 1 ft 'i . . M i nr u la , '. 'Y: 1150].)

liowe'\'P..r. C ' e l ' u b l i ( > , . I l Y o n o r r erJ rO dli clJ oD of I II I~ iUia!iLr"lIIliilll by n ny u th trgrnplllc serviee ...whether itbe i n . . book Dr in nil)" other design reeeueoe, iI 'Lriellyprohiihited.

Chapter 5AQUATIC MO STERS , ..The Sea Serpent .. ..' .

Chapter 6DENIZE S OF THE DEEP

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Chapter 8MALIGNED ANIMALSThe WhaleThe OctopusThe HedgehogThe Salamander .T.he Sea LionThe RosmarinThe NarwhaleThe OstrichThe ManateeThe AnnadilloThe Su & the Haut , ' __h , u ~~ , _

. . . . . . , ~~. ,. .. , , .. ,.

Chapter 9BENIGN MONSTERSThe DolphinTh e Centaur ..The PegasusThe Pheenlx .The UnicornThe Sph inx .

.. ,,,..... u.................. , , " ----- . h __ , '" , ..

++ h __ _ , , __ _

..._ ._ .- __ .- H ~ __ . __

Chapter 10MEDIEVAL MARTIANS 164

Chapter 11MONSTROUS MUTANTS .Bihliography .. ." .Clossary .Index .

1 7 01 8 4IB7.. " 190

1191 2 Q1 2 . 4 .1 2 71281 2 91 3 01 31132 ,1 3 313413 5

1 3 61 3714114414 81 531 6 1

FOREWORDArtistic freedom is a fa irly modern inno-

va tion . The a rt is ts o f ant iqui ty and the Mid-dle Ages , indeed those of the 11ena ts sance ,were bound by dictated conventions ofimagery and style. They were a rt ist s none-theless , and, despite these obstacles , fOUDdsuitable avenues for the express ion of fancy,wit and imaginat ion. One such area, whichseems perenn ial ly to have fascinated them,was the creation oI imaginary animals, basedon supers ti tion , l egend, myth, o r s imply thef ree play of their own invention.

The Greek and Roman art ist d rew hom therich s torehouse of class ic myth to representsuch c reature s a~ the Gorgon, the Harpy, theSphinx, the Pegasus. In Islamic times, theMusu lrnan craftsman, prevented byMahomet 's s tr ictures f rom making naturalrepresentations , skirted Koranic law, aDdri sked e ter na l damnat ion , by turn ing to theunnatur al - weaving into his designs strangeforms that were part human, part animal,part vegetable. His counterpart In MedievalEurope , act ing on similar impulses, workedthe image of Gargonilte, the popular folklegend dragon, i nto the decorations of thechurch of the Ile de Fr ance.

Scr iptures, received texts , epics providedthe artis t with a stagger ing array of demons,monsters and anthr opomorphic terro r. TheChinese tale of the bat tl e of Cautama withthe bizar re monster army of Mara was trans-lated nearly image fOE image On the wal ls ofthe Caves or the Thousand Buddhas a tTun-huang (l ang Dyoasty). In the West, theTemptations of 51. Anthony and thedlsmal

eschatological passages from the Apocalypse(Book of Revelations), with their numerousmonsters and unear th ly cr ea tu re s, becamestandard themes for artistic composition.

There Were still other sources. Assembledin the ten th century and much read in theMiddle Ages was the Picafrix, l it eral ly atreatise on magic practices employing astrol-ogy. The formulas for magical control calledfor the making of likenesses of gods anddem 00$ and lifty ~re deser lbed for the use ofthe simulator -a pit ifully small number whencompared to the 16th-century demonog-rapher Feyerabend, who inhis Theatrllm Dja,.bol!imlists over two-and-a-half trlllion devils.For the more scholar ly artis t there was muchto be Jearned from Boccaccio's GenealcglaDeorum, a compendium ofmythological godsand beasts. Adding to the fabulous ter rorsthat abounded werethe grossly dis torted, yethighly imaginative tales of travelers.Schedel's Chronicle o f the World, publishedin Niknberg In 1498, cites , as (1 few of thewi tnessed marvel s of the Eas t, cynophal i o rdog-f aced , ba rk ing men and sciopedes , hu-mans with but One leg ending in a monstrousfoot, The Unicorn i ts If, of Indian ancestry,came to Europe via P liny' s Natural ffisf01'!Iand is undoubtedly a somewhat maccura teaccount of the rhinoceros,

Since the close of the Middle Ages, anynumber of artists have heeded the pro-nouncement of Durer that, "If a person wantsto create the stuff that dreams are made of,let him freely mix all sorts .o f creatures," Dur-ing the Benaissance, such strange forms were


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8-- F{)REWOlIDdes ignated ' "g ro tt es chl ." whence our word"g rot esque , " r e fer r ing 1,0 a n o r name n t al stylesu g g e s I e d bySOID e reli es f rom. an tiq uityfound in a grotto-like structure inRome-sin-ister, playful and unfamiliar. Bosch andBreugbe! are the most well-known members0 . thi s stylistic company, but it is well tore-member that Baphael made ornamental gro-tesques for the pill ars of t he papal 10 gg~as.Leonardo da Vinci, Signorelli" Griinewalda n,d a D o st ofothers were also known for theirindulgence iD monster-making.

Nor d id the in tere st cease witbthe beg in-n iD g o f modern art an d th e o ns et o f t he a geofscience, Odilon Redan, James Ensor , JohnGraham and, more recently, RobertBeauchamp ru-eamong the artists who havecont inned the fa selna tion for demonic andfantastic form. The cur ious manifes tationso f d re am s alld of t h e s u bl im i n al m e n ta il if e,with all their attendant oddities of substance

andcontradictory juxta posil ions , are s ti ll ofsingular concern to artists. The Surrealist andDada movements del iber ately a tt empted toinvesligat'll such phenomena, and elements ofcontemporary Pop and Funk art still bearwitness to that search. Durer 's observation isechoed in our time by Joseph Campbell's;

The """"",ciou. ,en ds all sorts 0 ' V ' P O I 1 l ,a-dd being;. terr;m and d .l ud ln g I m ag es u pi nto th e ; "' in d - whe t he r i n d re am , b ro addnyllght, or in,.rut}'; lor the h="", ~g-da m b eneath th e floor of the oom[>At.ollve1yneal little dwe lli ng t ha t -we c al l Ou r con -s ei nu sn es s, g oe s d ow n i nt o u n su sp ec te dAladdin'. caves. iT;'" H'; 'Q Wilh "Thc~-. "ndFuC


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10~INTRODUCTIONto the unnat ural i ntercourse of differentspecies of an ima ls; whi le accord ing to me-dieval theology such creatures were believedto be the ou tcome of copulat ion by infe rnalcreatures with witches. In ear lies t t imes andin primi tive be li efs , anima l s ac ri fi ce s wererelated to the deep-seated ancient tendencyin man to identify himself with the powerand spirit of the slain anim a I. Prehis torteman cove ted the mys te rious persona li ty ofbeasts whose skins , tails . horns and featherswere not only worn as c lo th ing and decora -tion, but also for their magical vir tues . Manyof the beasts encountered by man in thesetimes were awe-inspiring in their strength,ferocity, Or gruesome appearance, and soman adopted the ir char ac te ri st ics fo r r u m -se lf. He 110t on l y used t h e adornmen ts ofthe animals but also used their names andrepl ica s later on in cognomina , t it les andhera ld ic dev ices ; a s in the escu tcheons ofmedieval kn ight s; the fami ly totem poles ofthe Indians of Alaska and British Columbia,the hal f-human, hal f-an ima l fami ly gods ofPolynesia; or the religious animal dance

masks of Africa , North and South Americaand the Far East . All this use of animal andmonster images was primari ly to endow theuser with the heroic features (I[ the beastrepresented, and to f righten away evil spiri tsand demons. Looking a t the most out stand-ing characteristics of monsters of bygonedays, we find that even today there are an-imals which show some of these monst rousfeatures: for size we still have the pachy-deans. e lephan t, rh inocer os and luppopot-amus; f or fe roci ty , the camivoreus beas ts:lion, tiger, woU: and others: for dragon-likeugl lness , the rep ti les : c rocodi le . cayman,gavial, all igator , chameleon, iguana, eilamonster and others; fer grotesqueness . th edromedary , g ir aff e, hyena, and gori ll a; fo rdeadlfness: the boa constrictor, cobra, rattle-snake and other poisono1)S serpents; forhideous looking insects: the scorpion, black-widow spider, praying mantis, and mole-cricket; for sea-monsters : the hammerheadshark, manta-ray, moray, and man-of-war;and for Bying monsters : the vampire bat ,vul tu re , condor and other b irds of prey.

St. John in PIlI.hnOS .:sodthe seven-headed red droitgop(Re-vellttion 12:3),from Phil. Flou.Q'" Camp.,dl a, printed by Ie sn M eT . .. .. . , Port., 1510

INT RO D UC TIO N ~ 11

T b e W h or e o f B 8 Ib y l oD r i di n .g t h e seven-heeded dr:ag(l~ Fn :nuD t1 ; w 'N~Te8to:r:nc!lltduigl'lMby aRm. Bu_rg kn l o i r ) pr in t ed bysn. .an OO .ma rl A.ug s .b -wg , 1523 ~


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12- INTRODUCTION

Strang. mowt. .. .. .. hond, inthe, . ,d tho . ir, &omCo"d VOn Megenw;,Puch dvNot"" prinll by 'oh..,,,-B .,...I.., Aupburg , 1478

L IS T O F IL LU STR A TIO N SAnimal and " " ' 1 1 $ ' " designs, by Master E .S UpperR h enlsb, 1 44 0-141 .1 1 _. .. . Fm nJ:ispiooeOmarnentel ini tial l. tto' L (Lameth) in the funn ofa lIerpe.llt,. from a Hebrew manusorlpt Btble,Bn lognn , lOth ""lltury .. . Tltle pogc

Tile Blbltcal monsters B.h ...."h d LeO",l"".., tie-s i lp w d b yWi ll Jo m B l ok e. London, 18 25 ... . .. 9sr. John inP.Im.,. and the seven-beaded re d dtagon.prin.ed by Jean M em o""" , Pa ris , 1 51 0 .,.. .. . .. .. 1 0Th e Whore of B .brl on ri di ng \ he ."ven-beadeddragon. Augsburg, 1523 ' IIStnoPg. ITI!lIl$tl". on ""0 .. in the sea and th e oit,pr lD ted br rob am> B oe r ol . < , A ug > bu rg , 1418 . .. .. .. . 12St. Mtchnel , I. yi ng t ho dragon ol, ln , l lt h cec turv .. 13The capture of tho imtcom, 13.h """wry 15E ve a nd th. 'Orpedt of oin, Augsburg, 1470 16The dra gon-mout h o f hol l, A"pburg, 14.78 17The .hm oft he o .headed dei ty , Moloch, r""" !beO.dlpu.t A..8lIl'-, 80_. 1652 .. . . 1 9Dragon k lV lng ao o le p. bl !J ll , I rom. a 12t t1 -" ", "lUr ybestiary mnn.,.OIIpl 21

The Wy m 01M ". Im, Y ", nce , 1 5t h ce nt ur y 2. 2P ol ip h il i a nd t h e < h :a go n, f ro m FmnruCllS Columna',Hup""wlO'Mcllla P o ll ph i li , V e n ic e , 1 4 .9 9 . . . . . . . . . 2. 2Dragon, afted..uca s (Hugcnoz) van L ey den. Hol la nd( 1 4 9 4 -1 533 ) . . .. . .. . . . .. . . , .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . 2 SMother dragon s 6gh tin g for tlmir )/OWl8. fro m. aF re nc h man ,, .c rl pt , P ar ts , 15t h " " " ! m y 23

The dragon .. l ay. . ' S~ l ), fo rg ore th 0 1 An ti och , b yL u


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14~ILLUSTRATIONS"! b. o lo he ,n ic S i( }' Oms on , fr om Basil Valentin's!.&oth < l . . phll""tJfJh .. , Paris, 1600 ...... 34The OO r m e U c d r ug o n- ec o ns t er , f ro m Hcftlll1ph_di&che. Sonn . ,mol M"nddrillrl. MJrlm, 1752 34Too D r a gr m o f D ar lr n es s , E d in b ur gh , 1121 55The d ragon Di.bol us, Loadcn, 16!12 35Th e alcl>ernlo S ky D r . .,. , l in kin g th e sun a nd th omoon, VIenna. 1534 _ _" ,.. , "~ ... I.' 36

The Dr.goD 01H.~ '. SwltzoTland, 1 5 21 _ . . _, ., ." 36The I W o- he .< kd dr ag nn ,f ro m a Moyon s tooo c,wlngat Copan, M ox :l "" . .. " " , . " . .. .. " " . .. .. .. .. " . .. . " .. as

Tw o-b ea de d d ra gc n d es ig n f" ,m 0 Ouetar Indianbowl. SOD I s ,doro , " ",,,,,, ' , 37Two-beaded Chum, drngon design. rom 0 pain lEdPer uv ia n c ia ), p it cher , T :r ui ll lo , . .. .. . ,. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 37

lJ..Th./"m. t h e " " " " lE l i a ll o n Dmro. rorn.n "< l e i . . . tAmb ic . . t ro nomr c man ll li !ri ll t. . . ., . .. .. .. " .. . ". .. .. . 3 B

Pf.J..-I, lb . d r a ,goDm . . to l5o god of th o II""",. fro",an old Chin ese engraving , "...... 59

C/,cn.lu."110 old Chinese engraving , ". 39C h i " " " . dra gon, f rom an o ld I. .. . t em s i l hOl lct tB " . . .. . . t oT h e D r o go l> of Lonll"Vlty, C a n m n . Ch ina . ._ .. .. 4 0The d ra go n e m bl em o f t he C hi ne se emperor. from aC h i n es e l a t ll e m sllhooo1ie ".. ... "......... 41The D,ag u .. 01 th e C],,"' d. and of U re S .. , f r o" , anold C hines. cngmvl'lK '" , ..,,, , 41: u e a " " o ' , e1oudg.Ur .r i1ig sword, A ! " , ,, k . . , , . . , .no-tru",g~ d"'igned by Holwsoi ...... ,. ... , 42

The dra gon Ryu , F roman o ld j o" anese peD dtowing 43The desceadlng Mel ascending dr.gom RglJl-d.rbl ,fr om an o ld J opan"". engraving _" 43

Azon~ lh.e Pcrsi :3n god of creat ive motion.Chall "phv. o r 1 1 01 1 ,Egyl'Mon mythology[1", , 11 , tulloi..-y g ood . . . of Il Ild%lt ElIYPt.Ce""",.. le ge ll da ry 6 ", t I ci ng o f At tl "" ,Th e ''''P''I'ts o f P o s e ido n s t r an g l in g ~Il and his

SOm (G reclc mythology) . ... ........ "... 4647he .erpeot- foo.e;! Gill"', R omO J l w o n c a lv i ng .

B e ra c l . . ond l ol om kil li ng Hyd"1, the mmyheadeds e rp en t 0 1 L e m a . after. Greek v O S1 jp al nt lo g . .. " ." 4 7Ab"' ..... from on . " ~ q _ " "G"",,~c amulet '18The s even -a dod Seq>ont o f Fa! , &o m on .nUqueC"",U. seal ,..... ... ".. .. 48O"hiuch..,. tho Serpnt-< :arr ler. rom a n An bl eIISIrr>D.,rnl~a1 manus";pl 4llThe 1 1 " " " . from Edward T op s. U, A HIsIrg 0 1 FQfJfoFOOledB._. London, 1MB " . . ". .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 49The IWoboaded Am" h 1 . b ao h a , ftom a 12th -oen tmy""'!lory monus";p! " ...".... .... .... . .... 50

Th e Am l' oo ba en . .. a tw o- h d ed l izard, from S",.",,"tum.j v..""".;um Hl.rlDrine, Bolo( ln li ., I640 , 50Multlple-he.dod serpents. f rom MUnste r ' . De A/ric,,",rtgjonibw ,. ," , " .._ ~,.. . 50

Symhbc r~pr~S.mbitio" of the s .""ent of ImmOl '-al!b'. f rom Rosicruci.n book, 16th """Ill!)' ....... 51

46

Entwined serpents, from 0 F ruoch emb lem. 1559. 5 1The G r ee t S e rp e nt l I . ' ! oundj A d B : m .I J : ou n ty ~ O h i o 52.Serpenl's b ea d, prt hi st or ic mound bui lder s' e eppe r,,10e 1'rti.c~, R"", Oo,,"ty, Oblo. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 52Fly ing serpenl :~ &o m B is h~ H" ,, -, Eg.dc', Th. NflWS U '' '" W 0 1 Old Gr Mond. London. 1734 B9

The (aptweof the unicorn (nledieva.! Cllriliti.n legend)F r om III IDtdievl I . l m t t ur u .; c .r i pl B i b le . . 1at.h C.cntur) '


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1 6 - - I L LUSTRAT IONSMenn. ld and merman Q f tim Nil e Del la . f romUlyss'" AIrlro"""d.... HillDrlQ MOM, or um , ., _ .. . 90M~Iusine, from tile Pobllsrn,,', l""tflr Icr Melu"""",printed by C",ho:rd 1 . 0 < 0 0 . Antwerp, 1491 . 91DoubletaIledSpanlsb siren, Valencia,1520 91Mermaid, printed in c ..m u.ny, 155ll ,. . . , . . ,,_ 9ZSiren. Fnnkfort/M., 1 579 . ' ,. , .. , 0 0The S ir en o f lu ;! Phi lo 3UpbeD , m m Valentin'li1.'104,,'"du phil",,,,,,,,,,, P0ri3, IB69 .. , .... 98SiTell, after BOIbo, from AlIgem. ' "~ H 1 .1 10"" de,RctJen:z;u W t U ' s - e r lind;!;lU .L.(JHde~ C ~ f . l J J . ! W Y I 1141 . 93Melusines. !'rom Abroha", EI.".~s U,,,It ChU-m t s c l h U ' W4t r k , Le'ipzig] 1 760 ,....... ._ _ "" 94Morgan 01the Blaok Roe\;. near L;""""",I. from .. 'EngU,h chap-book, 18th century ,." .. , 94l\1inguo. tho mc,m,tid of JoP"" 95A fulte _mU!.id exhibited in London i.lB22 95Dagon , 1M Phillst ine-AszyrUm god of earth WIdagrioulrure, h.lf man .na hall f ish ". .." 96Tri!"", sootho, of tho W ' V " " . Greek mythology 96'Ihe Mo"k-Osh, sea 111(111,1", .. ugbl in 1572, fromJ . Sluper'sOm'fJhJl"I/t.~s g~ntlan~ ]5'12 97The Bish_Ash . sea """ ,, ,t Il r seen In 1 531 , f r omJ. Siuper'. 0 0 1 "1 , , . . fer< g".lIoll, 1572 97The Sea-Idng, human-headed monsl ll , R s h , from1. W . Schmuck'. F",,,,,r;, 1679 .. ,''' ~, 97T ho N e gr o- 8s h, f ro m C O nn d L y co st ne nO $ ' Predrg.-oru", aa .".w"lOrum c l o t , , " " " " I , B as lo ; 1 55 7 . .. . _. . 9 8

Morm on . after R odel.I i"" 1554 _. 98Nltroch. th. cagle-hendo-d god (anclent " , - , s Y r i a nmythology) 99AI",due, the winged goo of creation (llIlclont B..by~Ionian mythology) 99HipflOIl'lll'h, bal l hone, half grillIn, f rom 17t lr -century Itallan stgnet " , ".. 100

111p".~Clru"". the cook-lro from on ~quaCre.11: 001. paiI>.ting "., , " "".. 100

Sen m'Uf1)~ the seed -seat t e re r { S8$S : (l . n :lan ,-Pe~BIDn my-thology) , , " "'_ ~ _ .., __ , 101Lo",=.. AssyrianCB.bylolli.n winged lion. 1 01fIarp~. from a 16th-C


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18 -..> ILLUSTBATIONSTh. giaJlt o cl u ' . tt ac ki ng a vesse l, f rom an oldFrenoh engmving 125TlJe gian' octopus .ttaclcing thosubmarine Nrlll.,.f rom Twenll1 Thousand uaguss u u d a r the S sn 126Hedgehog d.stroying. fa"""" '" """,.fromll German.mb~m. printed in 1470.. 121The hedgobog, London, 1MB a1S al ama nd er c ev ort tn g 1 0B r e, f rom Ma jer 's Stae ...IOromCh~ml"""', f '. "l :(or t!M. , IOS7. . . 1 2 < 1The s :n ll lma.ndcr, nom P. A, UaUioH'os Comm.(.w10in;r liLyons, 1519 .. 1MSealion, eftcr lIodcUt"" 1554 129The sea- lion, a fter Kolben, Germ.ny, 1747 129The RBfmarlnjor walrus. Germany, 1560 _ _ 130The IlOSUlllr ln. Or walrus, from CMnor"s HvrorltwA..I",.II""',2unoh, 15.51.... 130The narwhal e , f rom Her be rt 's 05.",. Yea, .. T,,,,,,,Z.illt. Africa and Aria, London, 1077 .,., _, lSI

The J18JWb.I.,.fw Barbot, 1747 131Httn]d~c rep~ntBtlon of the ostricb, from an oldEngllsh.rmar!al .. " ", 132Emblemaijc repMonlati(O, 01an . , tr iob, pnored byAmoullo! , Lyono, 1 S 50 " . 1 32M.. ,J l" '' '. p~~ torl . mound buJldmli' ""l 'P"-l" p1atl)arnfaet, II"" Coun!)" Ohro __ "........ . 133Tho III&OIilee. Zurich. ISSl , l33S ym b oU o a rm a di ll o, h om a n a no io nt a rt l .e ~ M ex ic o 1 :l 4The Ibosh (."".dlllo). after Nlrol .. Monordes.Antwerp. 1597 __..""' .. "., .."..... lS4Fonolful representation 01 the Sumonster (oppOS'sum), Antwerp, 1558 ..",..."...... "" . ..... 135

F A ru :i fu lm pr es en ta .t io n o f t he : H lI Ut -- m oc st e: r ( ~toed 'loth), Antwerp, 1558 ,. H!SThe Jap",,"' e t0pIT. 8aku , 138Nerei d j ll ay lug wit h d1phin,a ft an ant iqueCreek YII# paJnling 137Neptune r id ing on a dolphin ID to th e h ar bo r o fVern"", printed inVenice, 1500 135TJu.ancbor "nd tho dolphin in the pnole,l. nalti momte, with two h oo ds . " ..

18 01 80

W Ol ll D.D _ ... tee. hill ""I. hill womoo . . .. . " ~ , , .~ . . .. . .. . 181CirllDOSto, "'ith lour eyes a nd a rms .,' 181Fish-boy ho m in 1684..t a e i so i g li ltaly. nom .....,.wh!linn handbill printed inEngland ._".........__181F.oclful medical ",p~\atlOtl of joined twins intho ",omb. Parh, 1577 , __ 182The llonheaded I)arbora U",eIln, rom Aldro"and Opet~Om" ia Man.oI"'fn U..lor!4, lIololfJ)Q,188S.. lSI!EngU"b boy mo",l"r, born in 1552 " .,__IllSEngllsb r n a r J > r e r boy ...,n in 1554 _ " " .. IBSHcrrtble mo",l to,. . muton~ nom Lycos th ene s ' Pro-dlgIo ,,,,naslo.1557 "" .. , " " " 183Two.beaded gir l r rrut an t f rom Ambroise Pod'.Llo' .... d8 CM", r l l' . .ri P ar ls . 1 .5 72 . .. . __. .. . __. __ 1 83

Th 1_,,1 the he.dod ddy, MoJooh, 01 GebillIWm (Am", 5,26),[rom AJh.nlldus Kir(!her~!iIOedlpUil Aej:; 'YP" ia.om, Hom.ol' 1652


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Chapter 1

DRAGONSThe dragon isone of the o ldest , most wide-

spread and persistent monsters in occidentalmythology, religion and folklore. Itis a four-e lementa l beast : the re were sub te rraneandragons, aquatic dragons, dragons of theair, and lire- breathing dra gons, All dragon>in Western myths were s in ister, t er ri fy ingc reature s, emblemat ic of dest ruct ive, evi land anarchical principles. The dragon-slay-ing mythological and religious folk-hero Orsa in t was al so s tri crly a f ea tu re of the West -ern wo r ld, from the Euphrates in the eas t tothe Iberi an peninsula in the wes t , and f romthe Nil e val ley in the south to the Teutonicfore st s in the north. In ant iqui ty the re wasthe Greek sun-god Apollo, who slew thedragon-serpent Python, guardian of thechasms of darkness on Mount Parnassus,and the legendary Phoenician prince Cad-mus who killed a dragon sacred to Mars.From the teeth of thls dragon, watch hesowed in the earth, armed men sprang up

and proceeded to f ight each o ther unt il on lyfive were left a live . These Bve helped Cad-mus found and build t he city of Thebes. Inmedieval t imes there were dragon-slaytngfolk-heroes such as S iegfrioo, hero of theTeutonic Nibelungelllied, who killed thedragon Fafn,r, guardian of the NibelungenHoard; o r B e owu lf , hero of the Ang lo-Sasonepic. who slew the treasure-guarding dragonravaging his kingdom, Goates. Chr is tian loreis f ull of saints wbo have fought, killed ort ra ns f ix ed m a n y a u evil dragon; S t. George,St. Margaret, St. Martha, St. Romain, St.Samson, St. Philip of Bethsaida and manymore. The dragon wage was widely usedinmedieva l t imes in the Western world tosymbolize evil - in religious works, in mysticand magic philosophies, in Gnostic and Rosi-crucian emblem books, and in demonology,astrology and alchemy, as the representationof tile devil, hell, sin, heresy, darkness, super-s ti tion, and other evil capacit ies,

-21


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Th e wwem CI r M e r l j o , f r o t t J an II) I t t ir n e l f : d i S O r c e . t .e : r - " Samulet,France, eady 15th ~nbJr:y

DBAGONS-2J2-DRAGONS

Drogoo, aftor Lutat (Hug,,,,,,.) va",Leyden, Helland (1494-1533)

P ;oH phil i n nd t he d rq 'oD , & om F r a . n d : ! i C U J : Coh.Jmnl:!!! ' ,5, II !lpni!'n>I,oma.t:illi_aPolivh:i l i , pTi.l l ted by , A Mm , Ma f lUdUSj Ven;c;e j 1400 MoLb....... gn.. G!ih~"g10' t l , o : " y o " " " ltom. F,.nolooaI l igre__p:hicmnnu .5 er !pt . P ar i s , . 15 th ( l en twy


14/98

24~DRAGONS

1"11(1dragon~:;;IJlYe.r St . M'gJ!&fI- ,:UI oU f A,g,l i (Wli . . . ft.om L'Q,{JusQr . ru.eh , t h _ i I i l :Elder 's W,iU61P1bIDgil" HlI!mgJII!. I l'J lbttc"~WiUenberg, 1500

HerOIl I . . . , l .y ing tnodr.ogQII L o a, JlnmI.b'8 " ,, /1 " "' 1 1" ', p ri nt od b y J oh . nn " , S c lI ot t, S t r: a 5; b" ,g ,. 1530

DRACONS~ 25

The rlra~:n..day~ Buggerett:o~fmm P'DnIll?,4. ReM.ldlgJ-' j 1n :n(DT!() , ra . ta illRIU"~,e.ttD) p r in t - ed b y C - om .i o dl l l l 'Tri~.o drJIMoolerratoJ v , e n i . c e . . U S S: -


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26~DRAGONS

Sc'ioo-beaded dtRgon~feum Q Y lU 'h d L Y C !( IS th M .el,' P r o di , gw l 'um a l e. ,dento. . . , . oh"",;",,". printod b,Yll.nry P~I,I,B.d e; 1557

DBAGONS~21

The d. . :, ' j,goit~. tlllJl'~"f : .O l l !orge . .mnl Ed mund S~ent-e:r '$ T h il F iI..nfll Q:ue ene . ,~,;"toil b y W i ll io n ; l 'u ! U ll b r. L o n d o n, 1 5 90

Orn e n A ! ' ! ' . l h . l O p i c u . f ; l ' & e m U I VH - e! $ AI~{Qva :ud'US' Se ' i J n r n J umel D,.""mum B"lriae, Bo!n","" IG40


16/98

ZS-DRAGONS

Sky drognn, l oom Vb",.. Aldro' .nduo' 5orptfliume.1DJ'llGOni"" , H;'larla., Bo l l l! l i ll l . L6411

Th. " ,. ,. Ie gged draSJ>I l-wonn of M il lm , f rom m y sses AldrovmdllS'S O ! P < I ' l I I l m l .tD.''':onl"m 1 1 11 '1 0 " ". , B o l o gJ U l, 1 1 > 4 0

DRAGONS-29

The .d:~


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30~DRAGONS THE L INDWURMThe Lindwurm was not act ually a dragon,but a winged monster serpent, without legsor c laws, whose sca ly armor g lowed in bri l-liant green-gold or green-silver. III Germanic-

Nordic folk-sagas and Middle High Germanepic poems of k n ig h tl y l ov e a n d h e ro ic d ee ds ,itwas the guardlan of hidden treasures andof beautiful maidens in dis tress.

T h o l og l e s " w ln g od L i lh : lw w, ,, ,, , 0 glanr dmgcn-lfke '''l1Ofito ,r Germnn i e -Na rw c f o lk l o re E k r u J 1 1 ~. " O- g r J >

The Ta.tzlwllml.a of the Pilohu MOl1n t a in ; , from .A.thAOasiwK I r ' C ! h c r" ' $ j \ t lu"dw Subu~t'raJl.eWl

THE TATLLWURM DRAGONS "i>


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32~DRAGONS

S ym b oU c I e pr e s .e n t ll t io n o f theDmgnn o f E v H , f~empc: 0 1 1Bo d d e s t r 'o y i n g itJiclf,from l.s:ecr,(!t Ror i c r u .e 1D 'n emh le :m book : , 16t l l ICe1llury

The l.unliruJTl". (Light ond Knowl edgo) , Ioyi ng 11> 0.-. g om . 1 Ev il (O .rl m . ..an d SuptntitiOD)J [rom ill s e c r e t Ro s i e r uc i f l ll . em 'b l c i n book, lGtb ClclllW')I'

DRAGONS-33

Herm""ltrodHus standing over the a le h mleDragon 01Chaos,[rom H. JOI ll$ th.alerts 'Vi.o t.or lum SPl1' ,,!{I ' iCUIDJ F r r : m I d 'O : I f /M : . , 1 6 : 2 5

Th e tw c - hc l II , d e d a l c hem i c dragon, E) !mboli~Dg the M.tll~ritl Prima) Jeom!!Ii.. As hlll.le', Theo.lrum Chern/oum Brit""n/o,,m, London, 16511


19/98

'rh. Dlob"mlo 'Sky DT'ag'D" IinIdng tho SW I and the moo..,fro", lla


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36~DRAGONS

The alcbemic ~I!yDr.gDn Imking lb . ' '' '' . li d t lo . '"000, frnrnHOl1' Singrieoo,',Vil(:.lIn Proktik, desll!lled byv. F


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chapter 2

ORIENTAL DRAGONSDragons a re al so importan t beas ts inFar

Eastern mythologies, but there is a deeplymarked diffe rence in the ir symbol ic mean-ing, they are not the viClO usmonsters of themedieval Western world, but f riendly, lov-able and benevolen t c reatures . They a re thegenii of strength, th e emblems o f v i gi la n c ean d pro tect ion, the guard ians of t reasuresand wisdom. Among the Chinese and theJapanese, d ragons a re the most poten t sym-bols of the bene ficent , ram-g iv ing powers ofthe gods of water and clouds, and of power,royalty, and sovereignty. In Japan the dragonis th e emblem o f th e Mikado, and in Chinaof the Emperor. China a lone has four impor-tan t gr oups of pro tect ive dragons: the Tien-Lung, ce le st ia l guard ians of the mansions ofthe gods; the ereator dragons ofwind, cloudsan d rain for the benefit of mankind; theLI-L'Ung, benevolent earth, sky and waterdragons whi ch ascend to the sk y as water-

spouts or typhoons; and the guardian dragonsofwealth and wisdom. InChinese mythologythe dragon isone of the four importan t typesof intelli geDt an d protective beasts, the chiefof the scaly reptiles. (The other three arethe Unicorn - Jdng of the hairy beasts; thePhoen 1 lt - lord of the f ea thered c reatur es ;and the T or to is e - master of the shelled ani-mal s . ) In Persian mythology the dragonAzhdahD is the guardian of all gafli - thesubterranean t reasures of the earth. One ofthe most important and colorful Orientalfestivals i s t h e C h in es e D r ag on B ou t F I 1$ H 1 Ja ~d u ri ng w h ic h d ra g on -s h a pe d boats are racedon alI waterways iII China, and spec ia l r icecakes ded icated to His Majesty the Dragonare eaten by a merrymaking crowd. Thisf e s n v a l is in reall ty a n a t i on -w id e p ra ye r fora good harvest resulting from the fecundra ins of which Lung - the Dragon - is theeeles tial guardian.

38~

ORIENTAL DRAGONS ~ 39

Pil.t,tl~ t i l e d r l tgon to r t tl i s e 80d o f t he rlvers, symbo l , 0' !,:JlO.{lllQ""ji:bII!iDgt]l~ from anold Chill .ese engaving

Chll1l-lung,lb. ""...dlen d ro gO ltO, f ll Om l ID old ChInese engraving


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40 - ORIENTAL DRAGONS

Ch in . e ! f I - r l ' r I l I I O n . , leem . ( J .U e ld lan l~rn -s i lhouC! t t .e

T h e D r , I1 , KOD f Lo-n,Ke\Oity, from B m u r .a l t t. b le t i n t il e T e m pl e D rLongevj,ty~ cmton. China

ORIENTAL DRAGONS - 41

T h e d r os n D emb lem o r t h o Ch in u s- ccmporor'l , Jyrnbo' o f Cl'(o_,p~h... .e pOwert[mm Chlne.o l. torn,jlb.u.n.

The o.:ago:o.s'of the Clou:d, J lDd of t he Sea , f rom an old Ohinese engrEl;viog


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42 ~ ORIENTAL DRAGONS ORIENTAL DRAGONS ~ 43

Th.edr.gon R~~,fromo. old Iepsnese pen dr.wins

H e a v e n' ,s c l ou d ga t he r i ng s w or d } Mflr t l ' nu ; lo . ..r IO--f 4 Iim .: ; i; . ene o f t he three J l lpDnC$1I!IImptri.ll ~:lUU(es, l ound in t i l . , toil o f n d _ rag . gn . . d . f 1 :i g I 'I f ! :d . b)' HakWaj The d..,eend!ng ond nseending dr.goru lIuu,.,-dilbi (dr.gon-he.d ands n a k e - t a il ) . f r om ,lUI old J D 1 H l . n r u : e e . l l, J r B ' I ,I i n r


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Chapter 3SE R PE NT M O NST ER S

Since time immemorial, m an has rearedthe serpents. Their subtle and rapid move-ments, the swiftness of their attack, theirvenom,their secret hiding placesmake themthe most dangerous and potent monsters inthe imagination of mankind. Their ability toshed their skins caused them to be regardedas possessingperpetual youth an d everlastinglife.They wereconsidered as incomprehensi-ble as destiny, able to conceal themselveseven where there were onlysmall stones andshort grass . Their abi li ty to l ive for longperiods without food made them seem likemysterious gods. In ancient days there wasvirtually noreligion or philosophy, no nativelore or body of legend, no ma.gicor mysticsystem of belief, that did not assign impor-tant functions to serpents. In many myth-ologies, the monster serpent is not only thebeast of chaos and destruction, but also ofcreation. In the Assyrian-Babylonian reli-gion, Marduc, the creator, slew the serpentmonster of chaos,T;omat, splitting itintwo

and creating from one hal f the ear th , andfrom the other the sky. The demonic three-headed serpent Azhi Dahaka, of ancientPersian mythology, wa s the symbol of th edestructive ati;] tile generative p ow er s o f theearth; the Nordic serpent monster Nidhoggr,living in Hel, the primordial abyss, repre-sented the vulcanie powers o! the ear th;Cecrops , the half man,half serpent of Greekmythology, firstking ofAttica, was the tradi-tional founder of civilization, and of Athens,the citadel of which was called Geelopia. InChinese mythology the woman-headed ser-pent Nii - kua - sh! was the world creator. Themonster serpent symbol was prominent inthe beliefs of the Gnostics, the Rosicrucians,the Ophites and other mystic or Satanistsocieties, and was used by the astrologersand alchemists. We also lind serpent mon-sters in the myths and lore of almost everytribe inAfrica, Asiaand America, where theyappear mostly in the role of villain,symboliz-ing everything that is disruptive or evil.

44.-4:wn, t he a n ci eu tP e tS ia n g od o f c r e at iv e mDtio~ " " n t h lh.c"rpI!"~u~ " ,h 1 0 1 the S p ir it 0 .1Life

SERPENT MONSTERS - 45

(;1,,,., ,1 , ; ', or Bail, tho fuue-wmged serpent of ancient E~yptl4ll mythology

Ua:it, th. tutelary godd. .. orthe .Dclont Egypt ,"" North,i n t h e fo r m o f Il ~Yinglu r . B . f ) : U S


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48 -SERPENT MONSTERS SERPENT MONSTERS ~ 49


26/98

Ab:ra:m.J~ t 'hc : li er pt nt .I ~" ed god - o t ' meglc el l nl hi cnce , f rom ani i 11 1 tl 'q u . eC ~O S l: i Ci l D lU l d t o ward of w:itcll .cr,aFt

Ophtr,u:Jm"l, the Scrpent-earrit"r J wo:rshipped DS IIICO ! ! o U:dion by th I f 1e t ! uS;,lo_ni$t . s .o~i.et.yof Oph il e s, teem a n Ar ab i e ,a:Uron.Qmlcal m.llnllset,ipt

T h e B o at , f ro m dw 3 l' d T op u I _\ ". sA.ni~81'lJ of FOIII..Pooled 8ea.i('f~p ri nt ed a t L au do n, 1 85 8,


27/98

50,,,, SERPE T MONSTERS

The tWQhrll:d~d Iun:p hubaen.]f rerc I12.th c en tu ry b es ti A ry m . ii _1 U i. ,s M pt

The ADlp,h1~bA.enll p :, a two-headed l izard, from Aldro"lllndus~Sf!rp,IIl '!1Uunet Draccmlum flb'a,rille, Bo lag :n :a~ 1640

Mtt lHpl e. h de d " rpen to , I r omM 1i" ,,1. r 'S D . M r iC G ~ , . ; ;I o ni b . .

SERPENT MO STERS- 51

S,...,boUt >e l " . " ' ' 'U lionollhe Sr:rpenlof Immorality "o"hipping l u J [ thoAlt.ll{ (If LwtlO from Ii. , : eCR ( R o s l c ru c 1 l il l ll cm,blem boo~ 1(jth t ! 'Onlur-y

Eotwtned .tetpel1tlli. $)in1bo' of pliyslt:lll : l ! !od . 5 J ! ir f t ua l un lon ,from iii. French emhlem, Lyo~) Hi59

SERPENT M O NS TE R S - 53


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52 - SERPENT MONSTERS

The Creat S e rp en t Mound, about 500 f e el J o n g) erected b)' dieprehi.!i itcr i e m ou n d I mU d ,e t li o t A d am s C c :n .l ll 'b .Ohi~

Se. rpcnt ' l Jhead j a p r e hi s to r ic m o u n d b u i ld e r s ' o o pp e r p la t e a .r t if a ct ,(.om the Hopwell Mound, II." CounI)"Oblo

Flying s e rpen , t s J lin ~mamental designbythe ."clent Indions 01the Mtniuippi V.!le~

Prehistoric shoUgo.gd,. mound build... .,ule


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54~ SERPE T MONSTERS

QuBl~t'il:. the plumed serpent bird.lYIDbol o r the air',.{rom B_ft ..ulee ' " ' ; i l l euvIn.g.. .f4ienqu.er ~ieldco

Kukulc.anJ th e p lu m ed s er pc nt, f ;A ; Jm IIAbyanwaH CIIrviD. YuchllAu, Chillpll$J MH:t~ Mllyan rain IC!rpcnt., from theCod~ Col"fe. mmwcri:Pt

SERPENT MONSTERS ~ 55

f n _ . r : I l l l . eerp f l f. lt monrt iI !T, hom lb . ! : !QuechuRll lndlaru

FeC l t 'be red j t ' .rpe :n~ IIm y th o lo g ic a l ' YI 2 1 bo l o f l hl tNlcullo l'ndiansy Lab Ma'ilagua, NioU'IISU'"

Co~ s-e rpc nt r no nd et o f l hr O-Ulhtt!-O lndiw,Verac:ruz,Mrxioo

S ER PE T M ON STE RS - - = 57


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5 6" 4> &S E B J' E ! T M O N S T ER S

'nt! m ) ' thQ l og i c, . cd ~ n tl ke m e n s re ro r t h e 5 JQ P u eb lo I n di lL l l' il

Bt tJ l~fi .koQiI!Ni ,t l t the homed $f!r_PlI!lll. rf!'iI'lflit)' !i ) 'moolof the Moki lndiAl15. Sc,')' Can)'on, Ari~"11

ADan YLI ' l'the U:tpe:nl of t h e u nd e rwodd,P ue b1 D h il i, IU lI , S a n l Jd el om o , N e w M ex ic o

rh~li.ghtni.ll~ lmll.ke mQrMller,Noctkl l l Indilllll, B r LL i lh C o l umbi .

The p]umt=d sl!rpll!!nf$of ligblnil'l-J.lhtinder and tlllIi'lJhom A T~'Wa Indilln poden' detorilltIon, S"n Ildefense, New M~rlL 'Q

58 ~ SERPE T MONSTERS SERPENT MONSTERS ~ 59


31/98

Unk~llJhc,he gN!.nt homed J(!fJ.HIDt godo f t he A l go O 1h.I.~.l The drAcc I J 1 he l lc i lCd :R rpent (If t ha m l nh tl( Ch in . .. .. .. ' ho lo !O '1

A'Vatll i r of Krllhnl l l,.f ro m a n o ld H .i: nd u eogr.l lvi l lg

60 -;;;,. SERPENT MONSTERS SERPENT MONSTERS - 61


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II , . . - - .,~.t < l ? : -I~~

Sfl"lra t he se ven- he aded I gR -.! :t p ent U n,; _n~ IU V i s hm .l " t ( ( u, H Jh l in d c : :. I mD ' p) , h ;u th e bl 11h o f B reh m lat from a n . ,1 rl Hind U i!: f lCl " :J y i "ng

~J"(I, the wnrfd fcrpcnlt with its. tail in ib mou~h.Imclrdingt h e t h tt :e ' \Y o ri ch . C " ,t n a u 6 n ~l el U E l in . d. u C!Ullmie

THE OUROBOROSThe serp en t hi ting it" 0w n tail, the

Ot

THE OUROBOROS SERPENT MONSTERS ~ 63


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62 - SEBl'ENT MONSTERS THE OUROBOROS

' Ib.e d r a .g o n O , J r .( t bC l ro . , f l "l J m all o l d m a t t ic l 1 iiW \l S c r[ p t,r..(1Milgitl rT~inl ' ,France

T he H ~: dl is k a s Ourobol'Ht 5 ym b QT .o ff h e A r au jofrom H ' 1 : l T I l p o o U D ' ! 5 5dtt :cla h' 1. tm~1(M, Rame , LS9 1

T bC ! le rc w ae d d m g on . IU O l J. rc b o: rO . , s y m h D I el t he f o ur eh~ihetl15-,from Ab.nham Hll!IAuus IlftJiJtrJ Chumiachll6 \V i!'rkt 1.e ip%i:g:~ 1760

T h e a -o w ne d d ot 1 bl ~a lJ :o n Ii:0 1 4 I '0 9 0 fl U i J iymb oU 'l 1 n g lhe (OUI" elcmc.ntw..f r o : r n AhT' iI h . o . m E h : i l Z . P . l " ' . J Uf'ill.!~,Chu-ml.dj~'W Ifk. I..e:ip:z.illj l760

64- MONSTERS OF THE HOLYLAND


34/98

A l I eg :e d I i Jom te r . f o r t he H o ly Land, from O~mhll!'du.'Ide Rr~)'dcnb~eh'lll~iMHdIiCff,LlmJ, p ri nt ed b y P et ru . O r li ch , 5.l)")'CT. 1-195

Chapter 4

TE RR EST RIA L M O NSTE RS

WerewoiF, (hJlfj Co-meslor". ,; Hi,to ,.ICQ Scltola"';t!Q,. . . l : l t l i--cent:ul 'y b~!i.lU") mlftwctipl

B e sid es d ra go ns a nd s er pe nt s ma.ny com -posite monsters infested the mountains andplains, forests and jungl es of every CO D tlnen tof the globe. Among them were the elass lealwatchdog of Hades, the three-headed, Cer-ber1lS, with a dragon's tail a nd a ne ck bri s-tling with se rpe nt heads, who hved on theshore of the Styx and prevented the shadesof the dead f rom leaving the underwor ld ;the fire-breathing monster Ch ime r a , with thehead of a lion, the body of a goat, and thetail of a serpent, who rava ged the Lycia nplains inancient Greece, and thewerewoluesOr wolf-men, known to the ancient Greeksand Romans, who were human beings trans-formed by witchcraf t and black magic intocam iorcus beasts, l ike the French LOIlp,GMOIl. that roamed the plains and foresb; of

the European lands a t n ight . The lat te r ex-isted inmany fol 'qls in many other lands; aswerewolves to the North Amerlcan In dians;as jag;uaT-men in South America; as Were-tigers in India, Borneo, Western Asia, Chinaan d Japan; a s were li ons inA l ri ca ; a nd in stillc l Jf f e re n t g u is e s e ls ewh er e . Many other legendary carnivorous monsters were reportedinmedieval natural histories; theLamia, whofed onlostchildren, the ferocious Manticora;the terrifying Basilisk, Or Cockattice; and theGorgon, or Catoblepas; a s wel l a s equal lyfright ful creature. wh o were probably fanci-ful. imaginary representations 01 re al butl it tl e-known beasts, such as the t iger, thehyena, the llon, wild dogs and cats of al lkinds, as they first appeared to wonderingan d fearful eyes.

6ti ~ TE R R E S TR IA L MO N S TE R S TE R R E STIU A L MO N S TE R S .. .,.. , 67


35/98

&lIerophotL on P~IDU$, sl..yinll;tht!,Chimera. :f)'mbol of the 1:mp6nibJe,.ofl!!r IIIn 1I.n[lI~n Greek vll!Ie plh l tmg D,!Jgul$' "mlg/e'er,,,, (E : n.KUs h 'WoI ! 'r t 'wu lf ) )Imm RoIlI~tuIiU'$R,lfigi,," prodiM.l"n., PG'ri$, 1587

lkreutrs (:.pl'urinl the three-headed Cerben.r ...wat


36/98

The: [dmill, (rom E d , D ( d T o bS e. U' .! l A lfinbrfl oj I'Gm-Fooled 8ea#I-)D rin le d b y E . C o tM ,.L ou don . l OS S

' l1JIClG o r g o n , 6rCin:t'(lbtl!plI~ f r o m Eclwll ,d Top~e-W;! iA m dcru 01 Fou7oFoo1c t J no l ! ' - t J , f ' Jprinted &r E. Co t es, Landen, 1605

TH E M A NT IC O RAThe Manllcora i s be li ev ed to h e 9. vampiric,

man-killing monster 0 . anc ient Tataria origin,whose name derives from the Persian manya- man, and "VGr - to eat, It was !l:rst men-tioned in t he wrl lf ugs of the C ree k physi ci anand natural historla.nKtesias, who lived andworked a t the anc ient Pers ian COiJl"L in t helifth century B.C. The existence of the Man-ttcora was also accepted by the influentialCre ek phi lo soph er Ari stot le (384 -322 8.C. ).From that time On , the Manttcora hauntedancient bestiaries and, lal r on, medievaln atural h is to ri es . The mon st er WlIS variouslydescr ibed by dllIerent scholars, and lllus-t ra te d in b es ti ar ie s ac cording to the f an ta st icimagination. < I f the reproducing arti st . I t wasalways r epr esented, however, as Q fearfulc ompo si te mon st er the si ze of a hor se , u su al lywith the body an d claws of a H O D , o r w ith

the scaled rump of B li oness and t he talonso f a g ri ff in : some time s w ith aman 's h ea d w iththree rows of teeth in each jaw, or wi th t hefa re of a horned man , Or a man's head Witha mane in the form of a Phrygian cap; andusual ly wi th the tail of a basilisk or a scor-pieD, ti pped wit h a poisoned ar row-head, orcovered with bristly spikes whteh could bethrown great distances with deadly accuracy.Somet imes the Mant ic ora was equipped withdragon's wi ngs, or with four dugs I lke a cow;and its voice was sa id to res emble the un it edtones of a flnte and a trumpet, parodying thehuman voice. In other words , this terriblem o ns te r o f medieva l t imes was endowed withev ery fa nt ast ic o r mons trou s fe ature known.Later works suggest i t derived f rom dis to rtedmemor ies o f the rarely Seen man -e at in g t ig erOr t he c arnon- Iee ding laugh ing hyen a.

I}"hoM I In l ie o r- .n m or n te t o f Tlltllll~ .p pen d niwin g 'r om a M~:till:(.\o m.ln\ .Ui ,,+Ipt ,17,h_lory

70 -.,.., TERRESTRIAL MONSTERS THE MANTICORA THE MANTICORA TERRESTRIAL MONSTERS ~...e 71


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Th e mI)JCIi-drJUiOn MAnl lcor4 , rwn'\I,bed l. a t )' ,ml . nU .i e .r . i pt ~ l tl b CC!1 ' It u ry

The te:rrible Mt!.OtiCOI'D mO Juterl" caught in the yeur 1530 inthe HnubefJ l. Fgr~n;! S~Dnl l1 . .rtom Kunnd Cmnu'llh: quti .drupDdobUl CllfJipari . B:u;lll, 18chcent'tll'Y

The mllln-drilgon M . 'l D ti co n. U S 4! dM i ,,It'lvil.'Cby t h e. _ p l' i: n l~ B u s ; dr . .gQJ LUK ' - ' - I TlIic.IIny. l551

Tb e IDJ l in-d il l .g ; o ll Mant icoT lI . t f r om Edwliird Top s e1 r J ; A Hfdo'll of Fou,-. .FtJlJI ,ul Bl1.aDr-~Dttdby E . C o ie , ,. L an d on . t658

72 ~ TERRESTRIAL MONSTERS TIm MANTICORA l'ERRESTlUAL MONSTERS ~ 73


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Pisbt ln, i MQ.nl:fl;D~, hom Ifil l ~vrn~ ' I I ) , 1m UDIrnoWlll m~_t: !rJoMi . dd l- f l, l lh _< !! n j .1h , rH l 'l y 15 t h OI!!nlUrr

T HE BA SIL ISKThe Basilisk, Or Cock~trlce , was a noisom e

bea~t IVhicll callld stare or hiss a man 10death. It was an uruavory, winged rep ti leborn of a yolkless egg ! : tid by a. cock andha tche d bya toad in the wa rmth of a dung-heap. So deadly W,," its breath that it wiltedHU vegets tion and shattered any stone ittouehed; ltJ; fa ce was ,0 hom ble tha t thevery sight of it would. kill any living thing.It wa s c onsidered to be t he king of all ser-pents an d reptiles, and its na me w as derivedf rom the Gmek hasil/klls -little ling. TheC oc ka tric e I s m e n tio n e d in tb e B ib I e ( is oi ah!I:n:s), and is referred toman y limes, eithera s Co c k at r ic e Or B as dts k, in E ng l1 sh I ite ra -rue: b y Sh a k e s pe a re ; by John Cay in hisBeggar's Opc"" by Shelley in hi s Ode toN (1)1111$. In the 15th ce n tury, a decrepi t nine-y ea r-o ld c oc k w as tried in th e p ub lic c our ta t B a se l On th e c ha rg e o f h (l,,! in g la l d a n eg gduring the days of the Dol l. Sta r; the eock,

found guilty, wa s put to death by th e off icialh an gm a n, T he B as ilis k w as d es crib ed by th eRoman writer and naturalist Pliny (23-78. . . . .0 .) M Iiv in g i n th e W arm cl!m ate of Cyren-a ica and th e Lib ya n d es e rt , fearing o nl y t hec rowing of a cock and th e s igh t of a weas el,the only animal immune 10 its breath andsigh to Travellers erosslng the desert in the!irsIc ea tu ry o f Chris tia u tim e took alon g ac oc k an d II wease l 10 k ee p B as ilis ks a wa yfrom their camps. In pte-St. Patrick times,th e Isles I)r Brittania (Tin bIGS) were soinfested with Cockatrices that n o bo dy d ar edleave his horne withal! t a sl Iver m irror inhi' pocket, because its own image would killth e m on ster. T he la .s t rec ord ed a ppe ara nc eo f a B a si li sk W,\S in W a rs aw in the y ea r 1 58 1 ,when, two girls, playing in th e cellar of theirh o us e , w e re a ll eg ed Iy killed by o n e' s b r ea t h .inbemldry the Bas i ! isk, and itscousin, theWivcro, symbolized the "death-dealiog" eye.

. , D D J I I l d c : . Qlfi{!"1' linE I I ' I F : H . l b n m L I U ' , ) " T . f ii l l u W t r i ; p tll . . 2 t h cenhll")'

74 " '" TERRESTRIAL MONSTERS THE 'BASILISK TBEBASILI K TERRESTRIAL MONSTERS F"_~ 75


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The Co.:J r : .mer , .or Brnll:i~ afluan old Engll ih m.anu.l ofhrnLldry

Galle COila-dilldi S" . . . .lL1'lIllt,. t he BEl : ii l hkl. lt er A~KI.r: 'chd ' MIiI:fUh. Suble-mnUl 'u"

B : l$ ni $~ o r C ot :k ll m Cl t! '" f ro m J oh a nn S tl li bi u, s" D~tob JlrflJthfl. printed by \V. RubH INurc:mw.;:". 1510

AQUATIC MONSTERS .....e 11


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Chapter 5A QUA TIC M O NST E RS

The most superstit tous group on eart h arethe membe rs o f the b ro th erhood o f . e~Ear ;n gmen, no matt er what t hei r na tion al it y. r el l-gion, belief , creed or color. A nd with justifi-c at io n, s i0ce thetrs is the only profess foo inwhich men pit t hei r l iv es and l imbs a ga in stall four earthly elements that endanger man-kind: the churn ing waters o f the o ce an s, f ogsand rainstorms; tlle turbulent oirof typhoons,hurricanes and tornados; the terrestrial dan-ger . of r ee fs and c li lf s in coastal waters; nodthe const ant dreaded menace of f i r e on the irvessels . N" l to ment ion t he possibili ti es ofa cc id en t, h ung er and thirst. No wonder t hatm ar iner s of al l t imes in all four comet'S ofthe globe, Inspired no doubt by such dan-g.8I'OUS real creatures of the deep as sh a rks ,

st ing-rays. morays, el eclr lc eel s and Por tu-gue se men -o f-wn r - which a re b ad enough-popu lat ed the e no rmou s s tr et ch es of t re ach -e rous a nd un saf e water s w ith count le ss fo rmso f f ic ti ti ou s mon st er s, whos e smg le purposewas to punish human mtruders into theirr ea lm. And so they invented sea -serpentsand sea-dragons, mermaids and mermen,gigantic fish and octopi, and mailed anda rm ored s ea -m on sters of all kin ds . A nd w hoc an say wit h allthority that somewhere inthe deep crags on the ocean Iloor, unseen byhuman e yes, there do not still, exist weirdaquat ic monst er s fr om an actedU\lviarl past,which might have beeu swept to the oceansurface in Iivast upheaval, to be glimpsed byf ri gh te ned sa ll cr s f ig ht in g fo r thei r Uves ?

78,..".,M om le n: o f t he 9l !C 'p, Irem SebA. iUIl l" l z. . l i jo5 ter".Connogr( l ph i a Unjlj.llrmli.l, B A I le . L S 4 .

Neptune riding ofl.1II1U,ppocampw,.I rem au ftldillU(: C t c ek vase paintin,

H i pp o cl ll fi lp w :- t he S e ll .h f. u '$ cl ' r om , KC ll ln . d G


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SCrlnOI the $el InoMer- living oll liw lIalim side of Ihi!!Str:ai~ 01Madna(( ; f" tC 'Qo,lhnnliR mythology)

The: f ea l oo m 1 er Cl'ntaUl'O"T1" ' i 'cTI, III CllI l l td '~hlhtlU.ralJrI(CR~_Rnm"_n mythology)

n,,,su Oevi~ lrcl'tl.l!! FI " c . " _ l u : h l ' L o \ V . l I ( l u c : : r ,printed atGonmr, Selfl~lOhe. i6th IltDtu_1')"

nle .AJ'gUf.lCImQn~tt ':r. rrem otll\W:Mlllcnus'" ncwtlettuA f D f i . nH ' t L i n ( ) t- f :a r 1 ~ Gfl't'mwril:d (ND.rth SII!:III),R nme , H!li37

B O - AQUATIC MONSTERS AQUA:TIC MONSTERS"__~ Bl


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Tblfl~~4l1l h~(ldofthena, hoM fur l If l t iquc g:r~ .. llclllfltVUlu;I t-Mochic lndi.liHl t! tr . iUHiC! dCCOi' I II I ' IDII ,Ptru

The er . .bJ qmbo l of ~ he SeD from f Mo-chJc:aIndian dttign,p ~ l! < -C b imu J p rl tb i tt or ic : P e n; ! T h e l er f' t! r" L t ;o o o f t be se e, W U IJ '1 0 5frol'" b i . t . J he l ! . , f r om 1m ;rncl~nlI n d ia n e c nm i c ,: d , ce o r\ l. t ii lD , Ilf!. SlIIh'ador

The: .nCI.I} c tA b -- go d o r i h: e s e e ,r,rol'JlII Pcm"illn poUII!f)" dl:cor.lltlCFn

82~ AQUATIC MONSTERS AQUATIC MONSTERS........S3


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Thl ! l HDr t lo l !d Se r :pcml 'l ' . i i i m ) 'l hl ll og l~ 1 w at et m o ru l~ rI) . !~ Mimh'reoo In u . l 1 $ ' Th e f il .b le d i ie A I 1 I OMh : r o ! W l ll 5 g o, ha m I d t : : C J ) I 1 I . U v t l M I ~ l C 'enpav'.mg b)" the lIaidm Indi~ru. Drit i8h ColumbiD

The.H~ 'V:o.im'Serpent, " tff~hi'ltoric. wnter mootterof the HovlrndllfH,.Arizona ' The g ,a _ tnOMle r Tbm~'(I'b of thellaidu InwIIlJ.,l to mG CC fe mo n_ i ~_ 1 u u :t oo , _U t' ii is h eo'umbil

84 ~ AQUATIC MONSTERS AQUATIC MONSTERS - 85


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86 ~ AQUATIC MONSTERS AQUAT IC MONSTERS --- 87


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l'u-Lungj th~ f j Jh . .drn!;onmnl l5 te fJf rom u n cla Chi nl! ; ! li ! b ru sh dnl iwi f '! g .

The i U ! ' C I J ,[M-mler Mohm - Spi ri t- or l it e S ! :! ~ t h ,e V< : !h i cl _ cJ:[ V;brun!l : ,god. t 'he " '" . .. . ' IVodlo m~' .hol .J 'r )

Tf-IE S E A SERPENTSen serpents are the most widelypubli-c ized monsters of the deep, From the time of

the Biblical sel l monster Nahas (Amos 9.:3).th e Arabian sea serpent Tinnin. the serpentsof Neptune who killed Ll>oCQi;inll G-reekmythology, and. the lofidgard se rpent o f Nor-wegian legend, thlsc:rearure bas cropped uptim e and ag ain througbou t the ee n to ries ,There are sea s e 'Pen t s i n Hindu mythologyand Fijian l egend; they have been seen offtbe Libyan Coast, as recorded by Aristotle,;in the Swedish Se a (Ba ltic ); In the Sea ofDarkn",I (Atlantic); olf the Isle uf Skye; inthe Nurwegian f joTd, : a nd, ac cording toLapland tc ,aga s. in the Sea of I 'I "land. Seaserpents are reported in the works of OlausMagnus, Aldrovandus, Pontoppidan, th..Bishop Hans Egede, and many ethers. Records .0 1encounters with sea serpents are foundi..th." log books of numeruus ships, such as

H ,M .S . D ae da lu s ( SQuth A t lan ue , 1848);H . M . S . P a u Un e (off Cape San Roque, L875);the barque Cca rg it i" (1877) ; 1 [ . 1 1 I J . YachlOsborne (cIT Sicily, 1877); the Amerlcanshi\, Sdcramento (1877); the Samatra (.RedSea, 1877)and the British ship Prl valeer (olfBres t , 1879),Sea serpents were reported Seenf rom the p ie r off L landudno (1882); fromthe steamer Su/latl (1009.;) by the Frenchmail steamer P'u6ijique (ne ar t he Loya l tyIsla nds , 1923), a nd so on. There we re a1 ' . 0landlocked sea monsters, I lke the Ready seaserpen t of Province town (seen 1886), andthe star performer .0 1 them all, allegedlyseen by thousands of visirors, Nessy, the sease rpe nt of Loc h Ne ss in Scotland' , WestHighlands. Notwithstanding the manifoldappearanc", of tlns monst er spec ies , hew-ever. scienti st s h"v" never b een able 1.0 cap-ture a single specimen,

The water se:rpRfitCior the Nil tt Ulld,/llJt~swaJlowtng .. llying. :rum'!Iram .. be!i t i.f lI"Y n'i.tll1.LlU:npl. l.~h OO_uh .i 1 ' J '

88 -.,& AQUATIC MONSTERS THE SEA SERPENT THE SEA SE.lll'ENT AQUAT IC MONSTERS ~ 89S .E R P ENT MAR l N.


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S U . ! J e : ; r p - o o t . ! ! i _ l t dd o. lp h in . f ro :m G J Ii w : ' p J i h l ~ r . b e E l d t r r - ' l ! ! l ; Hidona NII.Uf~I~.p _ r in t ed l a ' M ~ S C : i! li l'& P, d l , & - y ,. m , V o I :! o i. e t: !. H I l

:Sea ftI~tln t h e S e a a fDAr b IJ _ J Ircm O'laUJMIIPIll" RI.u.ni l l ,d~CcntffiUollS I B ' P r o m l , r i o n " d i b " " .pri ""d by I . M .d . V.I .Wo, Thl lOgn .. 1555

S l & I 'I ' JI ' m JM , g r in ~ t l ie o .e : c l. !e~lilll;n:i.f.fl.fi,.'l!!ttioU)5C om m llillloi~ L y o l : l . : i w 1 57 9

Se a >etpCfi~ &om Bi t llO f lK i l l\ ! [god.', TM Nom SU " '" ll oj O ld c .- een I


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DENIZENS OF THE DEEPIn the folklore of seafaring people thereexists a semi-human population of the deepas wi d espread an d f arll u n g . as th e tra ve lrange of the ships which ply the Seven Seas.

The re has never been a t ime in nau tica l h is -tory, aever n count ry by the sea , I I " V ' " aharbor on the globe, Inwhich mariners haveDot told of mermaids and mermen they havethemselves enecuntered 0" heard about f:romreliable mates, Among these watery creatureswere the sea lind fishgods of antiquity, withtheir entourage of Tritons, Nereids andNaiads; the Sirens of Greco -Roman myth-ology; the Medieval Undines; the legendaryMel~sines of French folklore; the Lorele;(from the High Cern, ,,n I~r - to lw-k, and/0 1 - the rock) of Rhenish folk-sa ga, t heMorgaru ( from the Welsh Mar l iHorgall-seafolk of Brittany) of Welsh-Bretonic Iolk-

lore; the Ningyos - mermaids of Japanesemytholpgy; an d nll their manifold c-ounter-pa rt s in other We st""' or Orient al fable s.S ince th e am p of th e ship Argo of Creekmyt ho logy, there seem alway" to have beenmerma id . and mermen a round to Lureun-suspecting sailors and their ships to destruc-tion and a w at er 'y g ra ve _ Even in our highlytechn ical and scien ti fic age , no number ofnegative statements by scientlsts and naturalbistorians, based on nomatter what amountof research insobmannes and bathyspheres,will ever b able to destroy the belief ofsuperstitious mariners In the existence ofthese semi-human deniz ens of the dee p.M erm a id s a nd m e rm e n will n o dou bt 0 0 rid-ing the waves and5ltti ng on reefs and rockscenccc ling their mischief for as Io n g as therea re men who godown to the sea inships .

M e I . " f tU I l d a . n d merman of t he N i le D e lt a.fwm Ul) 'S JCS AJd roVDDdus : ' llbtom MOJ1.llicro,um

. ' It ll w in c , r : ro m 1 t 1 ~ p u .b l J: J be . r' : !I p o~U l 1 01 ' . M ' t 4 I I . ( ~ r . r i ' l l d '~tho flbh: or the bCIlLLltrulmcrm.Aid,prinled by GernRl'du(!u~Antwerp., 1491

Doubl.e-Igjlt=:d Spll lui .sh nren, prinlttlby Jww J oH r e . .v.. cnciJIII52,O

92~ DENIZENS OF THE DEEP THE MERMAID THEMERMAlD DE IZENSOF THE DEEP ~ 93


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MA' l nn : a i d ,. f f t lm II l 6t h . e e nt u rv 1 1 , 1 ! I1 - u r. i .1.i shJI ' l ' .p:r in-led Iii GcnnJItl)t l55.H

S ir eD , . b y C . C or vi nU $ ( Qr S i, am u n d F tI )' tt .a be ll d~1'.""kfarl/M"lS711

The Si~ or the PhiJ.Q~phUJi~ hom Badl VIIJl'ntin'5'L'N o ' " de" 'phi~ol ,hn~ Parhl ,. 1659

SireD, after B lt bo l. I rc m A l lg lf m ef n~ fliltGnd' d i J f Re ' i . le - n ;1tJ 1Va#~, .J1 d ;P;ij Lc",d~~Gd : Jn . ll lu y , 1 7 4 7

94- DEN1ZENSOF THE DEEP THE MERMAID THE MERMAID DENIZENS OF TEE DEEP _ 95


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Me lm i ll i !. . ll f ro m I o .b r ~h l lm E l ei l l; z ;! a .r 's Orc t ll , . C h l lm iKh ll l '. t \V~ . .,1.


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Dtr;;un..the .FhlUst ine-A.uyri in pd 0' eruth eed lilpimllu~1ha n ma n IIn d h al f fbl1

Tri ton, Joothe r O r the waves , t he dou.ble -AJhu . i ll ' !d"til d b ' . , .Clf Crnk mythology

T h e M , an k f u _, D , JII iUme u st er e ,t u. . Ij :j :h t n ] 5 7 2 ,h'OJI1 . Slu~,r ..Om"ium I~ ".....iaD, l572 T he B lJ llD p of h h, ,t~" m . oU lt t: r s ee e in 1 .5 3 L .from J, S l rr p lI ! T S Omn h . . m '~!:~t;.r;IJ:I:, 1572 -

T h e S e a- ki n. :g , a I .Q c U ul r ep re le nt il ,t io u. o r I I hum.I""headtd' mons t e r fish.f J " D l T I J. W. Sc lU ltUc lc ' s : F.cuU~Un9

98 _ DENIZENS OF THE DEEP THEMERMAJDchapter 7


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Th_iI!lNe.g;ro--&~ C..IIIujbtn J 549 i l l lhtJ Baltlc S t J I. { :r om COn r a d L ) 'W 5 t h il ! \n H"Pmd(:J07um at! O J ' ~J ' i' c ru m c l ~, r: m l ct 1 r. 1 . B : ! $ l~ ] 557

ping tts wings, and lightning by opening andclosing its eyCll; th e e ag le -m e n o f tile Ame r -indians; the Tengu of [apanese folklnre, ailyiI'Ig demon, half man, half bird; and thew in g ed t h un d er -g o d wi K un g of C hin esem y t h ol og y . T h er e are a ls o s e m l- dr ag o n b ir dssuch as the Japanese Hoi Rlyo; the ChineseP'eng-niao; the Vedic bird-king Ca . .uda , ve-hle le of Vishnu a nd impla ca ble e nemy ofserpents; Milke-Make, the Easter Island bird-creator of the universe; and many a monsterbird on Jav, and other Pacmc islands. Inour modem, technological age we ha ve noneed for all these a er ia l c o m p os it e m o n s te rso f b y go n e times. We ereate our OWIl Bgmeutsof anxiety: [ying saucers with their cargoeso f l ittle g re en m e n, g ian t a nts , and rcbotniks,

A ER IA L M O N ST ER SIn a d di ti on t o d ra g on s an d Hying serpents ,

m an y eth er kin ds of c om pos ite aerial m oo-s ters Blled the skies of anc ient mythQlogyand medieva l folklore. Among them werethe winged gods o! Ass)'l ian-Babylonianmyt ho logy; the winged horses, lions, bullsand other c re at ur es o f B a by lo nia , Assyria,Egypl an d Persia : til O r ee o- B om a n f ly in gb ea st s - th e Corgons and Harpies, the ma nyb ir d m o n st er s o f A m e ri ca n a nd A s ia tic o rig in ,such asthe Rukh, Or Roc, a f a bu l ou s . g i g an t icbird of prey of Persian-Arabic legend, sos t rong it could carry o ff t he I '' '' ge sl a ni m als10 its D en to food its young; II,e Thun,u"birdof th e N orth and South Ameri can Indlans,also known 10many Asiatic tribes - a super-ontural eagle who ereated thunder by finJl-

Ni trocb , the eagle-heeded go d(&id"". Auyrirn ..."1,,,101)')

Al~du.c, the winged godof ere.tioDto"",,,,,' D.byle.l.., mytholo",)

""""'99

100-eAERIAL MONSTERS AERIAL MONSTERS - 101


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L GmU Ui ll , A 5 5: yr i! lJ l -, Bi lb y lu l }j a n w in g ed l io n w it h Iihuman head,I l .Dciaol Bmbylmm.

HlppOll1IPhl' h m l f 1 1 0 1 " $ C I , h , uM IJrimfl~from : i l l 17th ecnl Ur)' ltaU.llIl~,d, tK:t 5~m:u:rtl.1 tb~ ,JlCed~Uc:ret(S.... ni.,..P."i .. mylholoJyi

H i pp a l. ec h 'y o n. t h e ood, .hoHe.f r om i lU ll I i fi t l q ll e G r C ' _ ! k " IIJ e , , , [n l i ng

102'_' AERIALMONSTERS AERIAL MONSTERS-103


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The Gol"l"OD ID01B1er, f rom an Iltltlr,ueGreek \ ! I .5C p:d:nting

H o r l . r p . . . t o l ! ', D i l . le I I I .m . . l flWmter Of G r - , e t . k m)'lholollP'~fm!J11III l6th ct'ntury Germ buHIR.rf

T Ilf i W [n gc d U O u o f Sr. M li rk , d eJ tJ P, la d b r L uc as C 1 "B n nm th e Eld~r,[ ru m l V it hm t bi :! tb il f n el li ,g lh l .l m b . : -h ,. W i tl wb .r !: rg ,. 1 S O D

St.e.duJ ,Auyrian-Babylanian winged hull 'with . .hwnan head.nn . : :l e n t Ba .b l' l o11 i l ;

104.._, AERIALMO S'IERS AER1ALMONSTERS -105


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T b . o i ! I E ! I , p l . f ! MILD, oo,ppeJ" ptiilll!-Ilrt'kot. of th ep ro h i$ lo CJ ri c m a un d b ui ld e: lI J E t ow ll h M ou n d. C l; lQ Tg il i

T he m tJ l~ e: r-b if d w hic h d e\'O U H m en " from A .pH-historicp(otroglYllh Crock dr awi ng) inthe Pua CUIt.k lli~~:r,Illinoh

'[htl.Flyin,Balg)e MIlfi~WDr g!ld o( t h o Z u ni J ' r l _ _U . ru

T he . D rin g m O Mtet so d o r w,:rorthe In.::", Irui iRUS. Peru

106"""" AERIAL MONSTERS AERIAL MONSTERS ... .. ."107


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T hlt E .. g l~ 1 M!linmollSUDof thenalenr ,M1mbnllo J.n.dlmi;

The bird;smomtf t' -pd or theNlJ.C.I.lu.dinm

TIml;U1 t h Cl m i J l; : hi : QV o I JU J e ri a l m O I 1 5 tc -rD r J.IIp.b..TlI:~~folklore

I lu: i RlflO. the . ancltlnt J.parlet. dr.goDbirdjfRim Q drawing in t he C h i- ol Yi n m o D & 1 l- er y, ,K)O\O

108 ~ AERIAL MO STERS AERIAL MONSTERS ~ 109


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J.Va'n.:.s1:' dragon-bird, f rom II~h~dow pia)" pUppel", JI.V1II

Mokllt.-MlJk~ Iht: creator, , !I e ab i rd J O " loftheEUlet blends

l ..c i .JmnJ;. t h E ! , C h l m l5 J l : l gW of thundu,( tom 611 o ld C bi n6 & , pe n c lr a: w .i :n c

c..,.da, kiD,.f tho b;rd


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THE GRIFFINOne ofthe oldest legendary aerial monsters

is the Gr yphu . s, G r y ph t ln , or c . . y p s , whosename ilea yes In every lnnguage &om theCreek g ry po s - hooked - because ofit. largebeak, It i s c a ll ed Grif f in In Engl i s h , Grif fo"InFrench, Grlfo.in Italian. and Grc!JO inCer-man. It was bel ieved to be8 Ferociousmon-s te r o f en orm o us h eig ht w ho fe d l iv e h u m a nsto its young. Half lion, half eagle , itwas soInrge that one could make drinking vessels& om its claws. Itdwelt in the c ou ntr y b e-tween the Hyperboreans, the North-windpeople of Mongolia, and til Arirnaspians,the one-eyed tdbe of Scythia . Itwas knownto the Sumerian. in &100 e.c, under the nameof Chumbalm, and we I lnd it also in the myth-o lo g ic a l a rt lf ac ts o f the Sumerians, Assy : r i9 rn ,

Babylonlnns, Chaldeans, Egyptians, Myce-Deans, Indo-Iranians , S)' rlnns, Seythians , andCreeks. I t was mentioned in the writing' ofthe Greek philosopher, naturalist and hi s -torian K . t e & l r u , who li ve d a t t he Persian Courtf ro m 4 16 to 3 99 D.C. Th e monster was a swornenemy of horses and constantly at war withthe Arullaspians, who tried to capture thegold hoard g ua rd ed b y the gri.ffi l ls. In ancientastrology, the chariot of the sun was drawnby a pa ir o fgriIIins . Wherever they appearedin legend, they w er e a lw ay s guardians oftreasures, as I" Iranian, Soythian and Indianmythology, Sinc e the da ys of the Orusades( 11th to l31h ceo turi es} we c an End thegri ffin in th e he ra ldry of eve ry na tion inthe W es t, a s a s ym b ol o f eternal vigilance.

T he o l de n known represcnUdioll of C hm n. ba b" - the griffin, r11;l im. n a n ti q ;u e cyUnda le~ f ound lit SU J a , \ V e s tem Irl in,. :WOO B,C .

G r if fi nJ . l :r o m 'In a n t i q l J l l ' J 'P~r.t i eu g C l o l d .""lei,f ound OD t he b lI Dk s o f t he A m wO .a r' ya R h o, tt , W e &t em A d . . ( U . s. S. B. )

ADyr1nn ~ rroman"lItiqlle ttonocanllnlio the NimruCi '.'.cr a.t Nineveh

112 ~ AERIAL MONSTERS THECRIFFIN THE GRIFFIN AERIAL MONSTERS"""" 113


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G r il li o. m e d a s e n a n ti Q. ue C r- ee k o kn U .r lo n(Opt!I .!5t : :d.ul l !Ue) Gli fl ip.I~a1 of Count F:ri !l !.dri (!h von Brr:llt~CennnQ),. 1!lfi8

G r if li lC s er d o f P ri .P ce .B o rw in , ,' O n R o s t oe .klGel'lll.ln:Ytl237


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116 ~ AERIAL MONSTERS THE GRIFFIN THE GRIFFIN AERIAL MONSTERS ~ U7


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sn..er-maunted clJlW Qf a GNiD. I rem LucaJ Ctanach the Eldn',WfHS'rttber(.ar lJ.eillgthlUlibuch'I Wittf!nberg. 1500

c../U . d .. Ign.


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Gt I l PMn , l r om I I _ F t ' t ! 1 J - C h sJ'gnet .p.rit l t:edinL), , (ln1 ,J .$3:]

GriJlln, hv m Da tU V l I1 tln t in 'l a J .chctn ic volume Vom G f "OI jt i fl Ste inprinted allAjpxil , 1601 I

pleasant sound Or smell, has been. maligned,a s a c re atu re f ro m hell; a m a n- kill in g; c ro p-and cattle-destroying or ship-wrecking man-s ter: u s y mbol of mischief; u demonic emblemofdea th , the dev il o r hal l; an Ins trument ofblack magic; Or an omen of all kinds ofcatastrophic or otherwise unpleasant occur-rences , Thor were a lso the harmless S a . w -mander , supposed to l ive in .fire; the equallyharmless Hedgehog , accused of eat ing thecrops stored by Iarmers and of milking theirsleepil'lg cows dry On nocturnal forays; theiron-eating Ostrich, who robbe d horse s ofthe ir i ron shoes , the large sea mammal! ofthe whale and seal families, accused of man-killing and ship-wrecking, ad 1nfi"Umll,

MALIGNED ANIMALSThere are m!I .Dyharmless animals whowere maligned in bygone times as hellishmonster s, such as the Iahllellfllon, a mem-ber of the wease l famHy, nat ive to Africa ,

bel ieved to be a supe r-poisonous monsterbecause it feeds on such tidbits 31; snakes,!'31~and crocodile eggs; the Bat and the Ow!,t wo n oc tn rn al c re at ur es w h o w er e consideredthe steady companions ofwitches and war-locks;the Toad, symbolic ofdeath and decay;and tbe Bouo Nair (black he-goat), allegedto he the incarnation of the d.,,>iI and the ve-hic le ofwitches for their trip to the Witches'Sabbath, ear ly every animal on land, in thesell or in tJlt! a ir, o f g reat s iz e O r grotesqueform, of nocturnal or unusual behavior, un-

1 , . 1 1 rlm..m~;m"an a e t I . . L i I l A h io n m .a k. ;! l d lJ e r. f ro m a n e .t hi b iU o n pollEt',ptinled by r \ ' i m l l l . l . J $ Wald4 Str\'lobwI. about 1580~1l9


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122"'- MALIGNED ANIMALS TIlE WHALE THE WHALE MALIGNED ANIMALS ~ 123


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I k n eh l ! d. w h a l e- mu u s te r , I t em O l n l .. ! ; ,M J I : ; UW ' Hq r kr ri d d i ll 'G e r U 'l 1 J u. S t - pf C n ir iG n a l w lH ' ,ptlnU:d br J.M. (10Vlolti~ llome,~ 1532

Thl!l wh..iIIIe.rfioiruiter f ind illyoung, roll) Kon rad ~ er r !11~1 An iuwlium. pri lned AtZl.II icb! 1551

" I 1 ' U : ,Killu ' 9h.al .oc. r J V l l I II. d et om U . ..e d ru w in gb } ' L h f : ll 1 i n ii L r In,dln.rut W l ' C \ Q g o J 1 , Ahl , . .b

'Ibc KiHei Whlll~ frUID n. dC'(lOrlItiv(! drllwing.by tho Halda lnill.Of, Br i t i sh Columbl.

l24 --- MAliGNED ANIMALS ras ocrosus MALIGNEDANIMALS-125


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THE OCTOPUSOne of the most grotesque creatures in thesea is the Octopus, or E igh t /DO ! , w ho se n am ewas de rived from the Greek oclO - eight,and pow; - foot. It was conside red by the

ancient mariners to be oneof the most fright.e rung ter ro rs of the sea . In reality, it is asmall-to-large, harmless mollusk. a memberof the cuttlefish family, with a soft sack-likebody. R large head with a moutll on timundersurfaee, and eight arm. covered withsuckers. I ts largest specimen is the Octopuspunctatu$, which lives on the ocean bottomolf the Fac iRc Coast o f North America andreaches a span of about 14feel from arm tipto am) ti p. Many a tale wa s told in bygonet imes about g iant octop i tha t Infe sted the[dung sea lanes. The y were thought tohave been able to pull whole ships with theirc rews to a watery grave-lISill the saga of

the Kraken, a fabulous composite monsterof Norwegian s e a l or e, imagined as a giganticoetopus-crab rising in theOceanus Cermani~GUII1 (North Sea)_ It had an enormous, lla tshape, said 10 be a m ile and a h al f in circum-ference, and when it submerged, its mRnyarms created n whirlpool that sucked downeveu the largest s hips . To th e s am e gToul' ofsea yams belongs the Spnnish-Portuguesefable of th phantom island Man Satanaxio(Sa~IIJ] 's Hand). which rose every day I romthe waters ofthe Sea ofDarkness (Atlantic).like IIgi gaotic black hand, to scoop up pass-ing ships and draw them down to the depthsof the oce an. To the South, Central, andN o rt h A m e ri ca n Indians the octopus and itsrelatives, the squid and fhe cuttlef ish, werebenevolent monsters, and were considereds y m bo ls o f f ec un di ty .

126 ~ MALIGNED ANIMALS THEQCTOPUS THE HEDGEHOG MALIGNED ANIMALS "O>!> 121The Hedgehog was accused to medi eva ltimes of being a gluttonous animal which

made night ly forays into hams to eat storedcrops or suck sleeping cows dry of milk. The

sight. Actually, it is a valuab le an ima l, s inceit devours cockroaches and oilier insects.'owadays, European purveyors and manu-Ja .ct ure rs o f f oodstu ffs use hedgehogs t o he lp


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' ne g Il In t o a o )l lU S : I I I t t a c l d n s : t h e n t bma r l n : e vets.l NllullJu., fremJu!~Vflme'jTUJmI lv Thotwmd LClag...~ u n d er ' he S I! "G ,P H h- , 1 .8 73

peasants of the Middle Ages ldned it On keep their premises clean.

aedgeb'lI d..uo!'ing [""" ......... p,( ro m a C en ru m ! em bl em , p ri n' lt !d in l47Q

Th e h e c l le h ogl from Top~.ell!s A H b t .o ' 1l o f F o . . .. P o a l ft d B t i 4 lU1Lcmdon. 1858

128 ~ MALIGNED AN1MALS TIlE SALAMANDERAccord ing to the Roman natura li st andwriter Cains Pliny the Elder (23-79 ...0.),the Salamander w35 created from the spinalcord ofa dead man .Itwas believed that this

cou ld l ive in 6re . Asbes tos was thought tobe , not a mineral, but the hide shed by aSalamander. This animal Is in reality a harm-less member of the cold-blooded lizard Iam-

THE SEA LION MALIGNED ANIMALS ~ 129The S ea L io n is a maligned member 01 theseal family, actually a harmless, big-eared,6sb-eatiog mammal. Like somany other largemarine animals, however, itwa s he ld to be,

inmedi eva l t imes, a man-ea ting sea monster.Depicted with a humanized bead andsharpclaws, it was believed 10 kill and devoursailors who fell overboard.


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he llis h crea ture was so de adly c old tha t it ily, useful in dest roying insects,

S a I . a m : . a n d l C r ' e f n ' t J r t i n _ ; g :n L i re , r e p n u e: n :l in . l t h e .sp:ltit or m-al . "nQ p r b r u J ,t tcrm M.l\:iajer", SIC(Ttorum ChwmlC' . l tm.Fr l l nidor tlM . . 1681

The s a l am . . nd .l ! l. h ' OmP .A . M l t t i ol i ll CD 1 7 1m 4 n : ta i f 'a ,L) 'O fU t , J5 79

F . a . t K : i f u l rcpta.cotl1ion 01 I lo.lion,ofler Bod.elltw, 1554

T h e r e a U o D , . J 't e r K o lh e nt from A l l , I ! ' m I i : r l i e l lbtorfe J~rRmsn suW tn#t ~n41UL~GermAny, 1 1 ' "

130 - MAUGNED ANIMALS THE ROSMAlUNThe R08l11


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on shore, it pulled itseli up to the top of therocks with its enonnous teeth, fell upon the grounds.

Fanci fu l r n pr e se n lJ ti oo o f U l i ! ! R l I , t m U . M f I , or \ :~alrUJ, .from -II Geml.M1o (!ngl'llvi~ 1 560

Thii l R O jm on .n l o r walrw; from KOfirad Ge. i l lCr',. HUtori 'a e Anima l iam,printed Zorloh.l5!ll

would draw wa te r and s ink. I t is actually a medieval Europe.

- ---,_T hl: n ll rW ha lo fr om S ir 'lb om u H er be rt 's S om . Yearn iNWtl.- hllb A / "r i ca a n d A s io ,. pr in ted lI,t London , Ur77

Fanc i ful ft:pre!eDl~cion of t b t ! Darw'hl l l s , a ft c H n rb ot :J&om Al l t I'mm:n l l ! :UulOnCl i det R d .a e n z u W i Ul Vr l i r Jd . :;:U L a nd e , 1 7 4. .7


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134 ~ MALIGNED ANIMALS THE ABMADlLLOAfte r the di scovery of t he New World,European naturalists published fanciful pic-tures and reports of a vicious Dewmail-cladmonster called by the Indians Aio;;htochtli ,

by the Spaniards Anna : lum , and by the Por-tuguese E"""berato. It was actually the shyArmadillo of the Edenta:la (toothless) family,which feeds on ants.

THE SU &THE BACT MALIGNED ANIMALS ~ 135


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Symbo l i c armlidiUo, fromnn a:m:icnlllrttlId, Med(n

The Ibat ::h (a nn l l d iUoJ , a l t er N l c ow Mon l l td l ' !$ , i r o l l) Chn . rI . e1de L'Edme' ,Simplirium fJ'l . e d i c m : n e n t C ! 1 ' U m , An~ 1 5 9 ' 7

P l : l J i C i f u l r1 : -pre l i iud.gt ion or tbe SUlDIJHde:r ('I1)Jpouum), Jscm ~."driiThcyet'~Si ru : . . .mitel l 'd. (l ! a F r o n ", an:tll'ul'(~tiqtl.(!!~ A n tw er p, l 55 8

Fan e i f l. 1 1 repr6 t 1 l t. l it l o n or thel lout:monJte:r ( tmee tOt ' d s lo th ), f ro m Andn Tbmret' jSiJ1#Wdnt t . . .d e ' " F ,Q .t \c e nn(4rClique. An~ 1558

Chaptex 9BENIGN MONSTERS - t31

THE DOLPHIN


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BENIGN MONSTERSA mon,g th e legendary m ons ters of th e

world were som e wh o h ad n c an im os itytoward human helligs, bu t were, On the con-trary, h e lp f ul , b en e vo le nt c re at U l' es .T h eyapP" 'U som etim es in W es tern leg en ds, h utm ore of ten . m th ase of th e F ar Eatt. O ne ofth e m o st lo va ble s uc h. O rie n tal beast s i.theB~lw o f J ap ~n es e f olk lo re , It creature witha long, trunklJke no s e, p a tt e rn e d after a realnocturnal animal of t h e p ac h yd er m f am i ly ,the lapu, found in South A rn e .. c a o u;d th eM a la ya n P en in s ul a. A c e rm : li ll g to Japanesefolklore the B ale" Iivas on h um an dream s,an d if you h ave a bad dream , th e B alm canhe willed to eat it before it.becomes a. night-m a r e. T h er e is a ls o t he w in ge d h or se P eg as usof G reek m yth olog y, sym bol of poetry an dth e art s ; th e Unicorn. r el ig io us s ym b il l ofpurity In th e W es t, an d in th e E a s t, kin g of

th e anlmals; th e SpNfIIJ : , sym bol of sIlence,with it; lion's bodr and human hea d; th eD o !p hin , t alis m an o f s ailo rs an d em blsm ofsafe t ra ve l; t h e A rablan Phoel l i :x, whioh rtsesf ro m it s OW n a sh es , s ym b oliz tn g resurrect ionan d a new l ife a fter d eath ; a nd the CentaurCI l I ro ""a Greek m y th ol og io e 1 m o ns te r, h alfm an . h alf h ors e, th e foun din g fath er of m ed-kine and pharmacology, Th(!$e are all moa-strous betngs , yet hiendiYilu d helpful tohumanity ino It" WBYor ano ther , A1I tha tgl i t tws is n ot g old , a nd n eit he r ts everythingIIIIUSUal o r mon s t ro u s -l oo k in g necessarilyterrih le an d f ears om e. In every c ollectionof children', foory tales, llevery land andev er y l an gu ag e , We c an als o 6D d stories ofdwarfs, g no m es an d other friendlr. man-l ikemonsters,

136-Th.l.pona'IlIt, Boho". noorurnaliho


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N'.pbm. r id ing ona dolph in lnI o Ill. bubor .r Ven ice, f rum ) ." "" , d . B..m"n' .P i < m ' d m V .. . .; . . pri1l led InVenice, 1500

Th e f,TmG: and th e dolph in to the [ J ri n lO 1 : " ,J d c ri c a o f A l d lQ M.m.nthl~~lh1lbest knawn Li$Qllrthedolphln in htral:dr:r, Vflni~ 1: '. 1500

TbC!!oomttlllation A . l . - d u l f o n 1 ' (ItDelpldnw,fm m an Cluly Arabic utrnnomicad man.usuipt

140 ~ BENIGN MONSTERS THE DOLPHlN BENIGN MONSTERS - 141


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"[h~ d a i: p. b in r e sc u ln g A r iO D J trom the p r i n t ' e r' . .d .c v! ce oF 1 0 hn n O p O. ri n, B u lt :. t. 1544 Fl l nc ir . . .1d Q l pM; ,_ l l 1nu lc t . for J I l fe t r av e l,r.


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T h e o eu tA u r Chtron. pl .ayw,g with I b c C r e. t 'k god. d( l av e, E r w; )r rom 1ll' lI01d F r . e n . c ll t : Rgr - li v i n ,

T bg eU l b att lin g d ,e . c en ta ur Ih om N l 'OO l f A uJ O "' Tt tt u sD'e : , tn;dt l I"Q compo.ritioni.t, F o rt i, . J 4 9 5

Y O U D S : cen ll l! .l t1 p layi ll J, { rom Dlaiogu.,.toj Creatu:,a AforcrJ!!t.f~t4L an da u. 1 :1 20

1 1 .e c o n. rl eU a ti on S . G .i tt !l J' ll lf ~ o r t he c en ta ur Arch.,,..I re m a n a Id F nn c. h e np -: I. . .. n g o f l hm . 'Z od Ia c

144-BENIGN MONSTERS

TH E P EGASU S

THE PEGASUS BENIGN MONSTERS-145


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T he w hit e w in ge d h or se o f a n cien t legend,PeIlG W$ , w as th e m os t g "n tle of all fablede re a l ur es . A c cc rd tn g t o G re ek m y th olo gy , itW85 b elie ve d t o h av e b ee n c re at ed b y Posel-d on f ro m th e b lo od y b en d o f t h e s la ie g o rg onMedal!! . Caught 8 Jld 'tam ed by A th en a, itb ec am e th e s tee d o f t he C or in th ia n. f olk h er oBel lerephou m hi!; f i gh t WIth the mons t e rCh imera and in his othsr adventures, WhenB e lle ro ph on , r .d in g P eg as us , t rie d 10 reachthe dwelling of the gods onMount Olympus ,l ie was .th ro wn b y the Hyi ng h o rs e iPegasusre ached the summit a lone and became theT h .un d e. rl ng H o rs e of looe, carrier of thedivine lightning holt s. He was pla ce d as apennanent constellation wnong th e stan . In

pre -Cla ss ic al t imes , the Bgure of the sky-h or se w as w ed In a st ro lo gy b y t he A s sy ria n"Babylonians, th e El:rlfScans,the Hittites,a.ndth e early Aryans . I ts name derives from th ePhoenician Pa g S~6 - the bridled horse. InLate r l t ad i tio n P eg as us b ec am e th e sym beliemoun t of poets am I artis ts because o.f th eCreek legend whieh said ilia t with:a stamp ofh is h oof h e c aused th e !low of Hippocren e,the fountain of t h e MU5e s ,0 l 1 Mmmt Helicon.T hu s P eg as us b ec am e the s ym b ol o f p oe tic~lsp'iration and th e em blem of th e c reat iveam . The le ge nd o f th e c eles tia .) h ors e a ls or eached t im Far East , whe re i t became thefabled Chinese K,yl in, and th e Japanesel(j.Rill.

T b l l ! ! Bilbyillbian EB.~UI; r-em-.. w a l l c U " o' tn t r1.0 i I lD _ e i m l t . Nlom'itb

146 - BENIGN MONSTERS THE PEGASUS THE PEGASUS BE IG MONSTERS--147


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P eg lll. sw n od th e C ~it. o f A rt, f ro m IDo o1d J i i' r eo t l h .mgr av i uJ ;

T h e ( ! tI 1 e. 5 ti 31 hO " f SO jI l" fi n, t he C h in -C :5 "e v er sf en o i t hl l r lC'gams.r rom a.D o ld C h i n e se p en d r. a. wi ng

K J R /n , ~ l h c J.IIplltttlSt v er . i on o f the PI!!I4IUI,from l iD .Dc imt drawing in ..Ky-ototemple

148 -.,.e BENIGN MONSTERS

THE PHOENIX

"fIlE PHOENIX BENIGN MONSTERS ~ 149


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The Phcenk, Fellu or Fire-Bird, iii be-lieved to be of ancient Indlan '0.' Persiano rig in , ~ t was c alle d t he Beml l l i n E g y pt ia nm y th olo gy a nd liv ed in th e d es erts o f Arabia,from where it f lew every live hundred yearsto the holy city of Heliopolls in Egypt, tobuild In the Tem ple o f I : b B S un a nB S t ofmyrr II, cassia and f ranldncense, This nes twa s ignited by Ra , t he sun god, Illld con-sumed by Ere . The c rema ted phoen ix roserejuvenated from its own ashes, symbollzmgt h e u n dy in g s p ir it ua l in, tin ct of m an an d th eprom is e of retn cam ation after death . Th ep ho en ix w as a ls o e m b le m a tic o f lif e a nd im-mortality inancient Creece and Rome. Chris-tianity harrowed j t f rom th e Ancien ts as th eem blem of th e spm!" . . v ic to ry ev er d en th, th e

sy m bel of th e re


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152""'" BENIGN MONSTERS THEPHOENlX BENIGN MONSTERS- 153

THE UNICORN


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Fe.n".llwml:, the mdM~ale C hin es e p hoe ni x. r ule r of t he r ea t b t t ed an fmabf ro m a n a nc ie n t C h i t U l ! f . e pII(n d r .wing ]

The Unicorn is the most widely known of allm yth ic al a na na ls , a pp ea rln g in one f orm oranother in nearly all Western and Orientalmythologies . According to Biblical etiology,the unicorn became extinct because it wa sthrown out of the ark, and drowned. Its namederive, from the Latin "flUS - one, and cornu- hom. Itwa s the Biblical Reem, mentionedin Deuteronomy3S:17: "his hams Ilf6 like thehorns o f the unicorn." Inthe belief of theear ly Christian Church, I twas the symbol ofvirginity an d th e emblem of the power oflove. In the s:bcteeoth aud seventeenth cen-turies, ground unicorn horn was a popular in-gredient in European medic ine and was usedas a potent remedy against peatilenee andpoison. Un ic e r n horns wa re put 00 the tablesof rulers and church dJ gnl taries because it

was be lleved tha t the hems wo uld sweat atthe presence of poisoned food. These h O I 1 1 l l ,which sold for a king'. ransom 10 Europe,were in reall ty the tusks of the narwhale. Inantiquity, Ktesias and Herodotus reportedthe presence of unlcoms InLibya and Ethi-opia . Far East er n fo lk lor e is espec ial ly dcb inone-horned animals ; unieorns are found inthe mythologies of Tjhet, Tartary, Malaya,and the Himalayan region, The most promi-nent of all Oriental unicorns is the Chin-Lin,or Dragon-Horse , the k ing o f all animals , oneof the four fabulous creatures of Chinesemythology, and the symbol of good luck,longevi ty, grandeur, fel Jcity and wise admin-istration. nappea rs onl y when a sage Is aboutto be born, and is said to bave been seen lastat the birth of Confucius.

TheA,UrDm builuol


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Th t l B u . b yl o n :i . .nu llie om , ( ra m a n ID t i q u e: wAI l ~rring lit PoUldl"l l ln.EIniI'II,Uoly

Af~- t.he unico~ from _ b c r t iJ 1 1 'Y D l I I lw c r i ,p t wliIb _lilt)'

Tb. Wlloom wllb S t. Jwt]". endAlpho:nst'I rof FII!ff .nm

156 ~ BENIGN MONSTERS THE lJN]CORN THEUNlCORN BENIGN MONSTERS ._, 157


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nYl :r'ttPC "",ith tbe Wi.In.D.I lb~.fym_bol (If tln~LHo!,y Chott, fro!:nPaulw; Sl!lI.liF'!I. E ; f p fml a lw Imagiflwn. In emblem book, Colognet 11570

'Ihe nniq;lnt. f rom Koond CefOfr"S Hhlorlllfl' Animali,flrnJprinted. C l _ t Zurrm1 J 551


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160 ~ BENIGN MONSTERS TBEUNICORN BENIGN MONSTERS - 161

THE SPHINXThe Sphinx was one of the fabulous compos- b e ad ed A I I d ro - Spl li ru ; , the ram-beaded erio-


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ite beasts of Egyptian mythology, a creaturewith n woman's bead, a bull's lo in s, a lion'sc la w s, l in d IU) eagle's wings, Th eh um an bea drepresented intelligence and knowledge: thelion's c laws stood for daring and action: thebull'. loins denoted s tamina and persever-ance; and the folded eagle 's wings, silence.The sphinx was the gua rd ian of Egypt ianmagic and occult wisdom, endowed with thefour virtues of the Magi: knowledge, daring,willpower and silence. Sphinxes we", placedat the ent rances opalnoes and temples toguard their mysteries, and 10warn those whopenetra ted tnto these sanctuaries to conceal&-omthe profane the knowledge the}' hadgained. Varia tions of sphinxes are found inmany por ts o f the anc ient world; the re a rethree types in Egypt alone: the human-

Spillnx, the hawk-headed Rierlleo-Spldnx.There were also th e roan-headed sphinxes 01A s sy rl an - B a b ylo nl an t em p le s and palsees,and the oracular divinity sphinx of Thebes (nBceotta , Some existed even in Far Easternlegends. With the excepti on o f the GreekSphinx of Thebes ( the only talking sphinx ofancient myth.ology), who killed passers-bywho were una ble to answer it s riddle s, allsphinxes were friendly and benevolent crea-lures, the guardians of reli_giollS,occult andmagic sec re ts ; and the ir image became thesymbol ofmystic wisdom and the emblem ofsilence in many par

Big Book of Dragons, Monsters and Other Mythical Creatures - E&J Lehner

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Transcript of Big Book of Dragons, Monsters and Other Mythical Creatures - E&J Lehner