Flying mythical creatures. Famous and little-known mythical creatures of the world (60 photos)

Unicorns and mermaids - fact or fiction? We present a list of mythical creatures, evidence of whose existence people continue to search for over the centuries.

Water creatures

Loch Ness monster

The next mention of a “water beast” occurs in 1880 - due to a sailboat that drowned in Loch Ness. The circumstances of the crash were very unusual: according to eyewitnesses’ descriptions, as soon as the ship reached the middle of the reservoir, it was suddenly broken in half by something that resembled tentacles or a tail.

Rumors about the existence of the monster began to spread widely after 1933, when the Evening Couriers newspaper published a detailed account of an “eyewitness” who noticed an unknown creature in the lake.

In September 2016, amateur photographer Ian Bremner managed to take a photo of a 2-meter snake-like creature cutting through the surface of Loch Ness. The photograph is quite convincing, but in the press Bremner was accused of a hoax, and someone decided that the photo depicted three frolicking seals.

Mermaids

In Slavic folklore, the souls of drowned women turned into mermaids. Some ancient Slavic peoples also believed that the mermaid was the spirit of a deceased child who died during the Rusal (preceding the Trinity) week. It was believed that during these 7 days mermaids walked the Earth, emerging from the water after the Ascension of the Lord.

Mermaids are considered evil spirits that can harm a person, for example, drown him. It was customary to depict these creatures naked and without a headdress, less often in a torn sundress.

Sirens

According to another version, they became winged because they could not fulfill the orders of the gods. As punishment thunderer Zeus He left them a beautiful girl’s body, but turned his arms into wings, which is why they could no longer remain in the human world.

The meeting of people with sirens is described in Homer's poem "Odyssey". Mythical maidens enchanted sailors with their singing, and their ships crashed on the reefs. Captain Odysseus ordered his crew to plug their ears with beeswax to resist the sweet-voiced half-women, half-birds, and his ship escaped destruction.

Kraken

200 years later, in 1897, researchers discovered the giant squid Architeutis, reaching 16.5 meters in length, in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. It has been suggested that this creature was mistaken for a kraken two centuries earlier.

It is not so easy to spot a kraken in the vastness of the ocean: when its body protrudes above the water, it is easy to mistake it for a small island, of which there are thousands in the ocean.

Flying creatures

Phoenix

Mentions of the phoenix are found in myths Ancient Greece in the mythology of ancient Egyptian Heliopolis, in which the phoenix is ​​described as the patron of large time cycles.

This fabulous bird with bright red plumage represents renewal and immortality and modern culture. Thus, a phoenix rising from a flame, accompanied by the inscription “One Phoenix of the whole world,” is depicted on the medals of Queen Elizabeth II of England.

Pegasus

The constellation Pegasus, which is located southwest near Andromeda and consists of 166 stars, is named after this fictional winged horse.

Dragon

The first mentions of the Snake date back to the 11th century. On the harp made by the settlers of the Novgorod lands, you can find images of a three-headed lizard, which was originally considered the king of the underwater world.

In some legends, Gorynych lives in the mountains (therefore it is believed that his name comes from the word “mountain”). In others, he sleeps on a stone in the sea and combines the ability to control two elements at once - fire and water.

Wyvern

It is known that the first legends about wyverns appeared in the Stone Age: this creature personified ferocity. Subsequently, his image was used by the leaders of the troops to instill fear in the enemy.

A wyvern-like creature can be found on Orthodox icons, depicting the fight of St. Michael (or George) with the dragon.

Land creatures

Unicorns

The earliest evidence of unicorns dates back to the 5th century BC. The ancient Greek historian Ctesias was the first to describe “Indian wild asses with one horn on their forehead, blue eyes and a red head,” and whoever drinks wine or water from the horn of this donkey will be cured of all diseases and will never get sick again.

No one except Ctesias saw this animal, but his story became widespread thanks to Aristotle, who included a description of the unicorn in his History of Animals.

Bigfoot/Yeti

The first mentions of Bigfoot were recorded from the words of Chinese peasants: in 1820, they met a tall, shaggy monster with large paws. In the 1880s European countries They began to equip expeditions to search for traces of Bigfoot. Valkyries carry the dead to Valhalla

On rare occasions, the maidens are allowed to decide the outcome of a battle, but most often they carry out the will of their father Odin, who decides who will be the victor in a bloody battle.

Valkyries are most often depicted wearing armor and helmets with horns, and a shining light emanates from their swords. The story goes that the god Odin endowed his daughters with the ability of compassion so that they would accompany those killed in battle to the “hall of the slain.”

Sphinx

Legend has it that a female sphinx guarded the entrance to the city of Thebes. Everyone who met her on their way had to guess the riddle: “Who walks in the morning on four legs, in the afternoon on two, and in the evening on three?” People who did not guess right died from the clawed paws, and only Oedipus was able to name the correct answer: man.

The essence of the solution is that when a person is born, he crawls on all fours, in mature age- walks on two legs, and in old age is forced to rely on a cane. Then the monster threw itself from the top of the mountain into the abyss, and entry into Thebes became free.

The editors of the site invite you to learn about the most unusual non-fictional creatures.
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Incredible facts

From the very beginning of its history, humanity has been drawn to legends and myths, many of which had very real reasons. The heroes of these myths often became prototypes of real-life creatures.

In 1799, the English zoologist George Shaw wrote that the platypus looks as if “the beak of a duck had been attached to the head of some quadruped.” However, the platypus for a long time confused scientists not only with his appearance, but also with other oddities.

Naturalists around the world for a long period of time could not decide whether this creature was a mammal. Did it lay eggs or was it viviparous? In fact, it took scientists a hundred years to get answers to these and other questions regarding the platypus (which, by the way, happens to be one of the few egg-laying mammals).

Myths of Ancient Greece

Sirens

The legends about sirens are almost as old as the history of human navigation. One of the earliest mentions of sirens is associated with the era when the first mentions of the half-sister of Alexander the Great, Thessalonica, appeared.

Legend has it that after Alexander returned from his a journey filled with dangers connected with the search for the source of eternal youth, he washed his sister’s hair in living water.

After Alexander died, his sister (and some sources claim that his mistress) decided to drown herself in the sea. However, Thessalonica could not drown in it. But she was able to turn into a siren.

According to legend, she called out to the sailors with the question: "Is King Alexander Alive?" If they answered that, they say, "he's alive, lives, reigns and continues to conquer the world" , then Thessalonica allowed sea travelers to sail past calmly.

If the unfortunate people dared to tell Thessalonica that the king was dead, she immediately turned into a terrible monster (perhaps the same Kraken?), which grabbed the ship and dragged it to depths of the sea along with the whole team.

The only possible explanation for the fact that sailors regularly reported sightings of sirens (that is, demonic creatures with the body of a woman and the tail of a fish) was that men confused them with herbivorous mammals living in sea water (for example, with dugongs or sea cows).

This explanation looks rather strange, since the same sea cows are far from being able to be called at all attractive and seductive creatures on Earth. How could the sailors make such a cruel mistake? Perhaps they had been swimming too long without women...

However, perhaps the reason was that manatees (that is, sea cows) have a habit of sticking their heads out of the water, shaking them in such a way that it looks like a man bobbing in water. When viewed from the back, their rough skin below the head may appear to have hair flowing down from the head.

Another reason could be the fact that the first navigators, who spent a long time at sea, often suffered from hallucinations. It is possible that, from a distance, with only the light of the moon, they could confuse the manatee with women. By the way, a group of animals was named after the mythical sirens, which included manatees and dugongs.

Vampires

Modern man's view of vampires was formed largely thanks to the famous (one might say cult) Irish writer Bram Stoker's Dracula, which was first published back in 1897.

Ever since then appearance the “average” vampire practically did not change - they were a stranger with pale, thin skin, speaking with an unbearable accent (apparently Romanian), sleeping in daytime in a coffin. Plus, he was more or less immortal.

It is well known that the prototype of Bram Stoker's main vampire was a real historical character - Vlad III Tepes, Prince of Wallachia. It is also quite possible that Stoker was inspired by numerous rumors and superstitions regarding death and burial itself. These rumors were caused by the ignorance of people who did not particularly understand the processes of decomposition at that time. human body.

After death, a person’s skin dries out in such a way that teeth and nails look more prominent and prominent against its background. It feels like they have grown up. In addition, internal organs disintegrate, various fluids leave the human body through the mouth and nose, leaving dark stains. People often interpreted these stains as if a dead man drank the blood of living people.

In addition to the above, there were other signs of vampirism that fueled superstition, associated, for example, with coffins. The thing is that sometimes scratches were found on the inner surface of the coffin lids after exhumation, which were perceived as a direct indication that the dead had ceased to be such and were trying to rise from the grave.

Such cases are explained by the terrible mistakes that were common in those days; sometimes they buried the apparent dead man who were, in fact, in a short-term coma, for example. The unfortunate man, waking up and finding himself in pitch darkness, of course, frantically scratched the lid of the coffin from the inside, trying to get out...

It is also believed that the famous Scottish monk and philosopher, blessed John Duns Scotus died in this way. An exhumation was carried out, as a result of which it was discovered that his body in the coffin was curved in an unnatural way. The fingers were torn, and there was dried blood everywhere. Another person buried alive tried unsuccessfully to get out...

Greek mythology

Giants

Giants have remained a constant part of folklore for thousands of years. IN Greek mythology we are faced with a whole tribe of giants who were born into the world by the goddess Gaia after she was fertilized with blood collected during the castration of the sky god and her husband Uranus by Kronos.

Germanic-Scandinavian mythology speaks of creation the largest giant of Aurgelmir from drops of water formed at the moment of contact between the land of ice and mists (Niflheim) and the land of heat and flame (Muspellsheim).

It must have been really big! After Aurgelmir was killed by the gods, our Earth appeared. A stronghold was formed from the giant’s flesh, seas and oceans from his blood, mountains from his bones, stones from his teeth, the sky from his skull, and clouds from his brain. Even his eyebrows came in handy: they began to encircle Midgard, inhabited by people (that’s what the Vikings called the Earth).

The strengthened belief in giants can be partly explained by the phenomenon of hereditary gigantism (however, not in all countries). Scientists are confident that they managed to isolate a gene that leads to familial gigantism. According to the results of various studies, people suffering from gigantism often suffer from pituitary gland cancer, which stimulates uncontrolled body growth.

The height of the biblical giant Goliath, according to legend, reached 274 centimeters. In the modern world there is no clear rule or definition that would allow us to unambiguously say that a giant is a person of such and such height. The reason for this is that different peoples have different average heights (the difference can reach 30 centimeters or more).

One study published in the international medical journal Ulster Medical Journal suggested that Goliath (killed, as we know, by David with a stone thrown from a sling), whose family tree easily identified, suffered from autosomal dominant inheritance of diseases.

They say that the stone that David used hit Goliath in the forehead. And if Goliath was suffering from a pituitary tumor that was putting pressure on his crossbones optic nerves, then this could certainly lead to visual impairment, which did not allow the giant to see the stone flying at him.

Banshee

In Irish folklore, a banshee (that is, a woman from Shea, if translated from the language of the Scottish Celts) is a beautiful young woman, fairy, with flowing white hair and eyes red from continuous tears. He cries, thereby warning the person who hears it that someone in his family will soon die.

Her crying and lamentations are perceived more as a kind of help to a person, rather than a threat. Hearing the howls of a banshee, a person understands that he will soon have to say goodbye forever to someone close to him; and, thanks to the banshee, he has a little time for this.

It is not entirely clear when this legend first began. There are certain references to banshees, dateableXIV century. More precisely, in the year 1350, when a large-scale clash took place near the village of Torlaug between representatives of the Irish and English noble families.

After this, the banshee was almost never forgotten, until the middle of the 19th century. In fact, mourning the dead with lamentations has always been part of the tradition of Irish women, thus expressing bitterness, pain and the severity of loss.

Representatives of the fairer sex stood on the edge of the grave and began to scream at the top of their voices, mourning their loss. This tradition gradually died out during the 19th century because turned into a kind of “attraction” for tourists, who came to look at the mourners from a “real Irish funeral.”

It is not difficult, in fact, to accept the fact that the impressionable Irish, who were always ready to believe in something supernatural, lumped together their women wailing in grief and fairy fairies to ultimately get beautiful story about the banshees warning under the windows of his owners’ house about the approaching grief...

Hydra

According to Greek mythology, Hydra is a gigantic snake with nine (or more) heads, one of which is immortal. If Hydra had one head cut off, then instead, two new heads grew from a fresh wound(or three - different data can be found in different mythological sources).

The killing of the Hydra is one of the 12 glorious labors of the great Hercules. To defeat this monstrously dangerous creature, Hercules enlisted the support of his nephew Iolaus, who helped the hero by cauterizing the heads severed by the strongman.

The confrontation was difficult, but all the animals were also on Hercules’ side. The battle continued until until Hercules cut off all of Hydra's heads, except for one – immortal. The strong man eventually chopped her off too, and then buried her in the ground near the road, covering her with a heavy boulder on top.

The myth of the many-headed hydra was probably inspired to the ancient Greeks by Mother Nature herself. Since ancient times, there have been numerous references to snakes with several heads (although no one has yet mentioned nine heads!). In fact, cases of polycephaly (being born with multiple heads) are much more common among reptiles than among any other animal.

Moreover: thanks to the study of Siamese twins, scientists themselves learned to create polycephalic animals. Known experiments of the German embryologist Hans Spemann, who at the beginning of the 20th century attached slamander embryos together using a child's human hair. As a result, a creature with two heads was born.

Mythical animals

dire wolves

These days, the so-called dire wolves are very well known to those who watch the TV series Game of Thrones. After all, these were the wolves that were given to the young Starks. In fact, dire wolves are not a figment of the imagination of the writers and authors of the famous series.

Dire wolves are real wolves that existed on the territory North America huge wolves, extinct more than ten thousand years ago. These formidable creatures were larger, but stockier (due to shorter legs) than modern wolves.

About four thousand fossilized remains of dire wolves (in addition to many more remains of other animals) have been discovered in the area of ​​tar lakes called Rancho La Brea, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Researchers believe they became trapped in these tar pits when they arrived there to profit from the remains of numerous other animals, trapped in underground bitumen coming to the surface.

The dire wolf had a huge skull, but its brain was smaller than the brain of a modern wolf. Perhaps if the brains of these ferocious creatures were a little larger, they would realize that the remains of various animals did not end up in these tar pits by chance...

If you remember, there was an albino wolf in Game of Thrones. In fact, it is unknown whether there were albinos among dire wolves, although Among the population of modern wolves, albinos are far from uncommon. It is also noteworthy that dire wolves were not as agile as modern wolves.

Basilisk

According to the famous Greek myths and films about Harry Potter (choose for yourself which source is more authoritative for you), the basilisk was a snake with a deadly look and a deadly breath. Legends say that the basilisk hatched from the egg of an ibis bird, which was hatched by a snake.

It is assumed that the basilisk was afraid only of the cock's crow and caress, who was immune to his poisonous bites. Yes, they almost forgot about Harry Potter’s sword, with which he killed this snake - his basilisk, too, as it turned out, was afraid...

In Greek mythology, the basilisk was a normal-sized snake, but by the time this creature ended up at Hogwarts (the school of wizards where Harry Potter studied), it unexpectedly increased to the size of a mammoth (not to mention the length). This creature has had many other reincarnations over these past centuries...

The likelihood that a snake will actually hatch an ibis egg is almost zero (not to mention the fact that an ibis, in principle, is not able to lay an egg with a snake inside). Nevertheless, the legend of the basilisk has a very real basis. Researchers are convinced that the prototype of the mythical basilisk is an ordinary Egyptian cobra.

However, the Egyptian cobra is not so ordinary - it is an extremely dangerous reptile that constantly hisses, and even spits venom at a distance of up to two and a half meters. Moreover, he aims directly between the eyes of his potential enemy or victim.

Every person is familiar with the concept of “mythical creatures”. In childhood, everyone dreams of a miracle; children sincerely believe in beautiful and kind elves, honest and skillful fairy godmothers, smart and powerful wizards. It is sometimes useful for adults to detach themselves from the outside world and be carried away into the world of incredible legends, where magic and magical creatures live.

Typologies of magical creatures

The encyclopedia and reference books give approximately the same explanation for the term “magical creatures” - these are characters of non-human origin, a certain magical power that they use for both good and evil deeds.

Different civilizations had their own characteristic characters. These magical animals belonged to a specific species and genus, which were determined based on who their parents were.

People tried to classify mystical characters. Most often they are divided into:

• good and evil;
• flying, sea and living on earth;
• half-humans and half-gods;
• animals and humanoids, etc.

Ancient mythical creatures are classified not only by description, but also by alphabetical order. But this is impractical, because the collection does not take into account their type, lifestyle and impact on humans. The most convenient classification option is by civilization.

Images of ancient Greek mythology

Greece is the cradle of European civilization. Ancient Greek myths open the door to a world of unimaginable fantasies.

To understand the uniqueness of the Hellenic culture, you need to get acquainted with the magical creatures from their legends.

1. Drakaines are female reptiles or snakes that have been endowed with human traits. The most famous dragons are Echidna and Lamia.
2. Echidna is the daughter of Forkys and Keto. She was depicted as a humanoid creature. She has a beautiful face and body of a snake, captivating with girlish beauty. She combined meanness and beauty. Together with Typhon, she gave birth to many different monsters. An interesting fact is that a mammal completely covered with spines and a poisonous snake were named after Echidna. They live on an island in the ocean located near Australia. The myth of Echidna is one of the explanations for the appearance of dragons on Earth.
3. Lamia is the queen of Libya, daughter of the Lord of the Sea. According to myth, she was one of Zeus’s lovers, for which Hera hated her. The goddess turned Lamia into a monster that kidnaps children. In Ancient Greece, lamias were the name given to ghouls and bloodsuckers who hypnotized young girls and boys, killed them or drank their blood. Lamia was depicted as a woman with a snake body.
4. Grai - goddesses of old age, sisters of the Gorgons. Their names are Terror (Enyo), Anxiety (Pefredo) and Trembling (Deino). From birth they were gray-haired, they had only one eye for three, so they used it in turns. According to the myth of Perseus, the Graians knew the location of the Gorgon. To obtain this information, as well as to find out where to get the invisibility helmet, winged sandals and bag, Perseus took the eye from them.
5. Pegasus is a fairy-tale winged horse. Translated from ancient Greek, his name meant “stormy current.” According to myth, no one before Bellerophon could ride this wonderful white horse, which, at the slightest danger, flapped its huge wings and flew away beyond the clouds. Pegasus is a favorite of poets, artists and sculptors. A weapon, a constellation, and ray-finned fish are named in his honor.
6. The Gorgons are the daughters of Keto and her brother Phokis. Mythology suggests that there were three gorgons: the most famous is Medusa the Gorgon and her two sisters Stheno and Euryale. They caused indescribable fear. They had women's bodies, covered with scales, snakes instead of hair, huge fangs, body. Everyone who looked into their eyes turned to stone. IN figuratively the word "gorgon" means a grumpy and angry woman.
7. The Chimera is a monster whose anatomy was terrifying and amazing at the same time. It had three heads: one was a goat's, the other was a lion's, and instead of a tail there was a snake's head. The beast breathed, destroying with fire everything that came in its way. The chimera was the personification of a volcano: there are many green pastures on its slopes, a lion’s den at the top, and snake coblas at the base. In honor of this magical creature, orders of fish were named. Chimera is a prototype of gargoyles.
8. Siren - demonic folklore character female, who was born from Melpomene or Terpsichore and the god Achelous. The Siren was depicted as half-fish, half-woman or half-bird, half-maiden. From their mother they inherited a beautiful appearance and a unique voluptuous voice, and from their father - a wild disposition. The demigoddesses attacked the sailors, starting to sing, the men lost their minds, sent their ships to the rocks and died. The merciless maidens fed on the bodies of sailors. Sirens are muses other world, therefore their images were often painted on tombstones and monuments. These mythical creatures became the prototype for a whole group of mythical sea creatures.
9. Phoenix is ​​a popular mythical character, represented in the form of a magical bird with golden-scarlet feathers. Phoenix is collective image different birds: peacock, heron, crane, etc. Most often it is depicted as an eagle. The distinctive quality of this fabulous winged character was self-immolation and rebirth from the ashes. The Phoenix has become an indicator of man's desire for immortality. He is a favorite poetic symbol of light. A plant and one of the brightest celestial constellations were named in his honor.
10. Hecatoncheires (Cyclopes) are little-known but interesting magical giants that look like men. A distinctive characteristic of Hecatonchires was that they had many eyes. And one body could hold fifty heads. They lived in dungeons, because immediately after their birth, Uranus imprisoned them in the ground for its own safety. After the complete defeat of the titans, the hecotoncheires volunteered to guard the entrance to the place where the titans were imprisoned.
11. Hydra is another female creation, which, according to myths, was produced by Echidna and Typhon. This is a dangerous and terrible creature that was amazing in its description. She had nine dragon heads and the body of a snake. One of these heads was unkillable, that is, immortal. Therefore, she was considered invincible, because when her head was cut off, two more grew in its place. The monster was constantly hungry, so she devastated the local surroundings, burning crops, killing and eating animals that got in her way. It was of enormous size: as soon as the mythical creature rose on its tail, it was visible far beyond the forest. The constellation, satellite of the planet Pluto and the genus Coelenterata are named after Hydra.
12. Harpies are pre-Olympic creatures who are the daughters of Electra and Thaumant. Harpies were depicted as girls with beautiful faces, long hair and wings. They were constantly hungry and, thanks to their origin, invulnerable. While hunting, harpies descended from the mountains into forest thickets or fields near settlements, attacked livestock with piercing screams and devoured the animals. The gods sent them as punishment. Mythical monsters did not allow people to eat normally, this happened until the moment the person became exhausted and died. The name “harpy” is inherent in extremely greedy, insatiable, evil women.
13. Empusa is a little-known mythical demoness who lives in an otherworldly realm. She was a ghost - a vampire with the head and body of a woman, and her lower limbs were that of a donkey. Her peculiarity is that she could take on different forms - sweet and innocent maidens, dogs or horses. Ancient people believed that she stole small children, attacked lonely travelers and sucked their blood. To drive away Empusa, you need to have a special amulet with you.
14. Griffins are good mythical creatures, because in mythology they personified vigilant power and unique insight. This is an animal with the body of a lion, huge and powerful wings and the head of an eagle. The griffin's eyes had a golden hue. The griffin had a simple functional purpose - to protect. The ancient Hellenes believed that these creatures were the guardians of the gold reserves of Asia. The image of a griffin was depicted on weapons, coins and other objects.

North American magical creatures

America was colonized quite late. For this, Europeans often called the continent the New World. But if we return to historical origins, then North America is also rich in ancient civilizations that have sunk into oblivion.

Many of them have disappeared forever, but various mythical creatures are still known today. Here is a partial list of those:

• Lechuza (Lechusa) - the ancient inhabitants of Texas called a werewolf witch with the head of a woman and the body of an owl. Lechuzas are girls who sold their souls to the devil in exchange for magical powers. At night they turned into monsters, so they were often seen flying around in search of profit. There is another version of the appearance of lechuza - it is the spirit of a murdered woman who returned for revenge. Lechusa was compared to such representatives of the ancient world as harpies and banshees.
• Tooth fairies are small and very kind fairy-tale characters, whose image is actively used in modern Western culture. According to legend, they got their name because they put money or gifts under a child's pillow in exchange for a lost tooth. The main benefit of this character with wings is that they encourage the child to watch his appearance and compensate for tooth loss. It was possible to give a gift to the fairy on any day except December 25, because on Christmas such a gift would entail the death of the fairy.
• La Llorona is the name given to a ghostly woman mourning her children. Her image is very common in Mexico and the surrounding North American states. La Llorona is depicted as a pale woman in white, wandering near bodies of water and along deserted streets with a bundle in his hands. A meeting with her is dangerous, because after this the person begins to have problems. This image was popular among parents, who intimidated their naughty children by threatening that La Llorona might take them away.
• Bloody Mary - if you open the atlas, this mystical image is associated with the state of Pennsylvania. Here a legend appeared about a small and evil old woman who lived in the thicket of the forest and practiced witchcraft. In nearby villages and hamlets, children began to disappear. One day, a miller tracked his daughter to Bloody Mary’s home. For this, her fellow villagers burned her at the stake. Burning, she shouted a curse. After her death, children's bodies were found buried around the house. The image of Bloody Mary was used for fortune telling on Halloween night. A cocktail is named in her honor.
• Chihuateteo - this word in Aztec mythology refers to rare creatures, unusual women who died during childbirth and subsequently became vampires. Childbirth is a form of battle for life. According to legend, Chihuateos accompanied male warriors at sunset. And at night, like succubi, they seduced representatives of the stronger half, sucking energy out of them, and also kidnapped children to quench their thirst. To charm and subjugate, the Chihuateteo could practice magic and witchcraft.
• Wendigos are evil spirits. In the ancient world, people meant by this word “all-consuming evil.” The Wendigo is a tall creature with sharp fangs, a lipless mouth, it is insatiable and its silhouette features are similar to those of a human. They split into small groups and pursue their victims. People who find themselves in the forest initially hear strange sounds, while looking for the source of these sounds, they could only see a flashing silhouette. It is impossible to hit a Windigo with conventional weapons. Only silver items can take it, and it can also be destroyed by fire.
• A goatman is a humanoid that is similar to a satyr or faun. He is described as having a human body and the head of a goat. According to some reports, he is depicted with horns. Height up to 3.5 m, he attacks animals and people.
• Hodag is a powerful monster of an indeterminate kind. It is described as a large animal, reminiscent of a rhinoceros, but instead of a horn, the hodag has a diamond-shaped appendage, thanks to which the fairy-tale character can only see straight ahead. According to legend, he ate white bulldogs. According to another description, he has bone growths in the area of ​​his back and head.
• The Great Serpent is the central religious and social symbol of the Mayan tribe. The serpent is associated with heavenly bodies, according to legend, he helps to cross the space of heaven. Reset old skin- this is a symbolism of renewal and full rebirth. He was depicted as having two heads. With horns, the spirits of previous generations emerged from its jaws.
• Baycock - bright representative mythology of the Cherokee Indians. He was presented as an emaciated man with scarlet fiery eyes. He was dressed in rags or ordinary hunting clothes. Every Indian could become a beycock if he died shamefully, or committed a bad deed: lying, killing relatives, etc. They hunted only warriors, were fast and merciless. To stop the chaos, you need to collect the baycock bones and arrange a normal funeral. Then the monster will calmly go to rest in the afterlife.

European mythical characters

Europe is a huge continent that contains a lot different states and nationalities.

European mythology has collected many fairy-tale characters that are associated with ancient Greek civilization and the Middle Ages.

At all times, people have tried to explain what they could not control and what they could not interfere with. This is how many legends and mythological characters appeared. Different nations had approximately the same idea about magical creatures. Therefore, the little mermaid and the undine, the banshee and La Llorona, are identical.

I already told you once in a section about this and even provided comprehensive evidence in the form of photographs in this article. Why did I talk about mermaids, yes because mermaid is a mythical creature found in many stories and fairy tales. And this time I want to talk about mythical creatures that existed at one time according to legends: Grants, Dryads, Kraken, Griffins, Mandrake, Hippogriff, Pegasus, Lernaean Hydra, Sphinx, Chimera, Cerberus, Phoenix, Basilisk, Unicorn, Wyvern. Let's get to know these creatures better.

1. Wyvern

2. Asp

]

3. Unicorn

4. Basilisk

6. Valkyries

7. Anka

8. Phoenix

“There is another sacred bird there, its name is Phoenix. I myself have never seen it, except as a drawing, for in Egypt it appears rarely, once every 500 years, as the inhabitants of Heliopolis say. According to them, it flies when it dies father (that is, she herself) If the images correctly show her size and size and appearance, her plumage is partly golden, partly red. Her appearance and size resemble an eagle."

9. Echidna

10. Sinister

11. Cerberus

12. Chimera

13. Sphinx

14. Lernaean Hydra

15. Naiads

16. Rukhh

Not only the fabulous Sinbad the Sailor, but also the very real Florentine traveler Marco Polo, who visited Persia, India and China in the 13th century, heard about this bird. He said that mongol khan Khubilai once sent loyal people to catch the bird. The messengers found her homeland: the African island of Madagascar. They did not see the bird itself, but they brought its feather: it was twelve steps long, and the diameter of the feather shaft was equal to two palm trunks. They said that the wind produced by the wings of Rukh knocks a person down, her claws are like bull horns, and her meat restores youth. But try to catch this Rukh if ​​she can carry off a unicorn along with three elephants impaled on her horn! author of the encyclopedia Alexandrova Anastasia They knew this monstrous bird in Rus', they called it Fear, Nog or Noga, and gave it even new fabulous features.
“The leg-bird is so strong that it can lift an ox, flies through the air and walks on the ground with four legs,” says the ancient Russian “Azbukovnik” of the 16th century.
I tried to explain the mystery of the winged giant again famous traveler Marco Polo: “This bird is called Ruk on the islands, but it’s not called in our language, but it’s a vulture!” Only... greatly grown in the human imagination.

17. Khukhlik

18. Pegasus

19 Hippogriff

Not a ghostly horse under the magician - a mare
Born into the world, his father was a vulture;
Like his father, he was a wide-winged bird, -
He was in front of his father: like that one, zealous;
Everything else was like the uterus,
And that horse was called a hippogriff.
The borders of the Riphean mountains are glorious for them,
Far beyond the icy seas

20 Mandrake

21. Griffins

22. Kraken

From time immemorial in the depths of the ocean
The giant Kraken sleeps soundly
He is blind and deaf, over the carcass of a giant
Only from time to time a pale ray glides.
Giant sponges sway above him,
And from deep, dark holes
Polyps innumerable choir
Extends tentacles like hands.
The Kraken will rest there for thousands of years,
So it was and so it will be in the future,
Until the last fire burns through the abyss
And the heat will scorch the living firmament.
Then he will wake up from sleep,
Will appear before angels and people
And, emerging with a howl, he will meet death.

23. Golden dog

“...In Crete, the homeland of the Thunderer, there was a golden dog. She once guarded the newborn Zeus and the wonderful goat Amalthea who fed him. When Zeus grew up and took away the power over the world from Cronus, he left this dog in Crete to guard his sanctuary. The king of Ephesus, Pandareus, seduced by the beauty and strength of this dog, secretly came to Crete and took it away on his ship from Crete. But where to hide this wonderful animal? Pandarey thought about this for a long time during his journey across the sea and finally decided to give the golden dog to Tantalus for safekeeping. King Sipila hid the wonderful animal from the gods. Zeus was angry. He called his son, the messenger of the gods Hermes, and sent him to Tantalus to demand the return of the golden dog. In the blink of an eye, fast Hermes rushed from Olympus to Sipylus, appeared before Tantalus and said to him:
- The king of Ephesus, Pandareus, stole a golden dog from the sanctuary of Zeus in Crete and gave it to you for safekeeping. The gods of Olympus know everything, mortals cannot hide anything from them! Return the dog to Zeus. Beware of incurring the wrath of the Thunderer!
Tantalus answered the messenger of the gods this way:
- It is in vain that you threaten me with the wrath of Zeus. I have not seen a golden dog. The gods are wrong, I don’t have it.
Tantalus swore a terrible oath that he was telling the truth. With this oath he angered Zeus even more. This was the first insult inflicted by tantalum on the gods...

24. Dryads

25. Grants

Myths and legends, any oral or written traditions tend to disappear over time and be erased from human memory.

This fate befell many characters, both good and bad. Some images were modified under the influence of religion or the peculiarities of the folklore of nations that gradually assimilated the indigenous people who gave rise to such a fantasy.

Others remained in the memory of mankind and even became a kind of “trademark”, a hot topic for books, films and computer games.

A mythical creature does not necessarily have features exaggerated by human imagination. Monsters can be of a completely natural appearance, be it an animal, a demigod, or an evil spirit taking the form of a human.

They all have one thing in common - an attempt ancient man explain natural phenomena, disasters and misfortunes by the intervention of an extraterrestrial force, cruel and indifferent.

However, sometimes mythical animals, characters and images begin to live on their own. Once told, a legend is passed on from person to person, acquiring details and new facts.

What they all have in common is a terrible disposition, fear of losing accumulated wealth and an extremely long life span.

The character of such a creature is peculiar. Most of the dragons are wise, but hot-tempered, cruel and proud.

The hero often speculates on the lizard's attitude towards himself in order to later kill him through deception and cunning and take possession of the dragon's untold riches.

Later, many variations of the original image appeared. Thanks to John Tolkien, Robert Salvatore and many other authors of the fantasy genre, dragons were divided by color and even acquired a direct “kinship” with the original forces.

Terrors in the night, a reflection on the fangs of a vampire

A monster capable of drinking the blood of a person or subjugating him to his will. This evil spirits should be considered as an extremely harmful and cruel creature.

The villagers mercilessly drive an aspen stake into the next corpse, the carpenter famously chops off a cervical vertebra with an ax, and the next “vampire” goes to the Underworld.

Before Bram Stoker's novel was published, vampires were not given anthropomorphic features. So, for example, a blood-sucking creature from South America looks like a mixture of a hellhound with various kinds of monsters.

In the Philippines, a vampire is even depicted as a winged torso with a proboscis similar to that of a mosquito.

Thus, the monster “drinks” a person, taking away his youth, beauty and strength.

Ancient people were not so scrupulous and believed that it was enough for a creature to cut off its head, or cut out its heart.

Personal transport for every virgin

Not every mythical creature is terrible in nature, because darkness cannot exist without light, however, just like vice versa.

Mythical animals quite often act as guides for the protagonist, helping him with both advice and deeds.

The messenger of the primordial light, at least according to most legends, is. This creature is pure by nature, aggression and violence are alien to it, so these animals do not remain in the modern world.

The most remarkable fact is that the unicorn has a strange “connection” with the virgin, feels her and always comes to the call.

Interesting fact, the harsh northern peoples of Rus' have their own unicorn, huge and “callous”.

Does it sound satirical? And yet they describe it exactly like that. Unlike the shiny and light creature, Indrik belongs to the spirits of mother earth, and therefore looks the part.

The huge “earth mouse” is not attracted to virgins, but it can also come to the aid of a soul lost in the mountains.

We don’t know what - chimeras

The last chords of life - siren

Despite the fact that the siren and the mermaid are different concepts, they have a lot in common, which ultimately led to a conditional juggling of names and a little confusion.

However, this is acceptable. In Greek mythology, the Sirens are the nymphs of Persephone, who lost the will to live with their mistress when she went to Hades.

With their singing, they lured sailors to the island, where they devoured their bodies, probably out of longing for their patroness.

Odysseus almost fell into their net, and he even ordered his comrades to tie themselves up so as not to become prey to carnivorous fish women.

Later, the image migrated to the mythology of Europe and even became a kind of common noun personifying the temptation of the deep sea for a sailor.

There have been theories that mermaids are actually manatees, which may resemble fish with anthropomorphic features, but the image itself remains relevant to this day.

Witnesses of the past - Bigfoot, Yeti and Bigfoot

Unlike other characters, these creatures are still found throughout the world.

Regardless of their veracity, the very fact of such finds is living proof that the images not only still exist, but also remain relevant.

What they have in common is their similarity with various stages of the evolutionary cycle of human development.

They are huge, have a thick coat of wool, are fast and strong. Despite their meager intelligence, the creatures continue to stubbornly avoid all the ingenious traps created by various kinds of hunters for mystical secrets.

Mythical animals remain extremely hot topic, in demand not only by art workers, but also by historians.

The epic had a huge influence on the development of humanity and the skepticism with which a modern resident of a metropolis treats such mysteries is dictated precisely by mythology and its “domestication” of the forces of nature.