Mythology @ FreshCaffeine.com

Folklore of England

This is the name of a monstrous dog , also known as SHUCK, SHUCK DOG, or OLD SHUCK, in the folklore of East Anglia, England. Then name is possibly derived from the Anglo-Saxon Scucca, meaning "demon". BLACK SHUCK is described as about the size of a shaggy donkey with huge glowing red eyes, or a single eye, which shower sparks of green or red fire.

At Clopton Hall near Stowmarket however, this monster is described as resembling a monk with the hound's head. Its abode is variously the salt marshes or the sea its self, from which BLACK SHUCK emerges only at dusk to patrol the lanes, marshes, river banks, and graveyards. This creature may be encountered on the roads, where its icy breath and shaggy pelt can be felt as it draws alongside a traveler.

In Suffolk it offers no harm if left alone, but death soon follows for any who challenge it. In Norfolk merely seeing the BLACK SHUCK was enough to invoke sickness or death. One variant of this monster, said to have the face of a monkey, haunts the area between Balsham and Wratting in Cambridgeshire, where it is known as the SHUCK-MONKEY.

Another variant, the ESSEX SHUCK, however, is a benevolent creature that has been known to guide lost travelers and protect those under attack. The fact that it haunts gallows, gibbets, or cemeteries links it with the EVIL SHUCK.

Source: Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth

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Greek Mythology
Roman Mythology

In the classical mythology of ancient Greece, EMPUSA was a terrible female supernatural hybrid monster. She was described as having one leg of brass, and the other that of an ass. The EMPUSA was sent by the goddess HECATE to torment and terrify travelers on dark country roads, and they were accused of being the monster that devoured their corpses when terrified to death.

In the folklore of modern Greece she is a shape-shifting evil spirit. She may manifest in the form of an ox, a dog, a mule, or a beautiful woman. She is a frightening SPIRIT to humans but is considered responsible for causing injury to the sheep on the mountains during the noonday heat.

Source: Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth

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Folklore of Native Australia
A Vampire like Creature

This is the name of humanoid monsters in the traditions and beliefs of the Native Australian people of northern Arnhem Land in northern Australia. The NAMORODO were described as having the shape of humans, but they they were only the skeletal structure held by ligaments, through which the winds of the desert howled. In the traditions of the vampires of western Europe, the NAMORODO rested during the day but at night flew to the homes of sleeping humans. There, if they could gain entry, they would turn them into NAMORODO by draining their blood from their bodies as they slept.

Source: Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth

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Folklore of Malaysia
A Princess that was turned into a Dragon

This is the name of a princess who became a dragon in the Mythology and Folklore of the Malay people of West Malaysia. TIOMAN fell in love with the son of a neighboring king, and , although she was a princess in her own right, the prince did not return her devotion. In the agonies of unrequited love, she brooded and was so consumed with tortured thoughts that her outward appearance metamorphosed into that of a DRAGON with horns on her head and a vast, swirling tail. Despairing even further in her reptilian form, she swam into the South China Sea and sat in the waters, where she again transformed. Soon her vast bulk became an island called PULAU TIOMAN, where her hors showed as the two peaks standing high from her back as the mountains of Bali Hai, and the great tail swirled above the waves to Salang. This is now the most beautiful of the Malaysian islands off the eastern coast and was used as the location for the Bali Hai of the film South Pacific

Source: Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth

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Religious Mythology
Son of Noah

The Italian monk ANNIUS OF VITERBO (Giovanni Nanni, c.1432-1502) asserted the the biblical NOAH was a GIANT. He re-created a whole genealogy of GIANTS from NOAH and IAPETUS to justify the constructed line of decent through the GIANT DIS SAMOTHES to the ancestry of the French nobility of the period. Within this genealogy ANNIUS asserted that the sons of NOAH - SHEM, HAM, and JAPHETH - who were also GIANTS.

Source: Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth

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Mexican Folklore

This is the name of a monster in the traditions and folklore of Mexico. In South America it is known as ANDURA. The HOGA is described as being like a gigantic fish creature, with a head and ears like those of a pig, and extremely long barbs or thick whiskers round its mouth in which were great fangs. This creature amazingly had the ability to change color and could be red, green or yellow. The HOGA was said to inhabit the lake of the city of THEMISTITAN, where it grazed on the leaves of the HOGA tree at the shoreline. Humans were afraid of it since it was reported to take vast fish and even land animals if they strayed too close to the water's edge.

Source: Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth

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Roman Mythology
Greek Mythology

This is the name of one of the GIANTS in the classical mythology of Greece and Rome. EPIMETHEUS was one of the progeny of the TITAN called JAPETUS and the ocean NYMPH CLYMENE according to HESIOD in his work Theoeny (ca. 750 BC), but according to AESCHYLUS (525 BC-456BC) his mother was THEMIS. His sibling were the GIANTS ATLAS, PROMETHEUS, and MENOETIUS. EPIMETHEUS was responsible for endowing the creatures of the world with certain attributes such as speed and strength and helped PROMETHEUS with the forming of human attributes, encouraging him to take fire from the gods for them. His wife was PANDORA, whose curiosity allowed the troubles of the world to be unleashed and her husband to be changed by ZEUS, the king of the gods, into a monkey for his meddling with the domain of the gods.

Source: Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth

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Folklore of England
A type of Hag

This is a monstrous being in the folklore of the county of Lancashire in northwestern England. JENNY GREENTEETH is evil and malignant, inhabiting stagnant lakes and pools of water. She is a predator of humans and in particular awaits for the unwary child who may go too close to the water. When this happens, she grabs the child in her long, green fangs and drags them down under the water to drown. JENNY GREENTEETH may be found in any pool or pond that is covered with green slime or scum. She is a monstrous, demonic being that belongs to a class of Nursery Bogies described with vigor by watchful nursemaids and anxious parents in order to prevent the untimely death of children in such fearful places.

Source: Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth

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South American Folklore

This is the name of a monster in the legends and folklore of South America, especially Chile. The GUIRIVULU is described as a beast that has the shape of a Puma with the head resembling that of a fox. It has the curiously adapted tail that ends in a massive claw. Because of it features it is sometimes called the fox-snake. This monster inhabits the deepest pools and waters of the rivers, where it will attack not only animals but any human that is foolish enough to go near it. Should it come upon a vicim, they are quickly enveloped in the enormous mouth and swallowed into the body, which expands and extends like that of a snake, to take the victim whole.

Source: Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth

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Scottish Folklore

In the folklore of Scotland, this is the name of the MERMAID that inhabited Loch Morar. She behaves is a similar way to the BANSHEE of Ireland, as she only reveals herself when a member of the clan is about to die.

SOURCE: Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins Encyclopedia

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Mythology of China
Mythology of India
Mythology of Japan

This is the name of a female DEMON in the mythology of India; of China, where she is known as HE-LI-DI or KISHIMJIN; and of Japan, where she is known as KARITEI-MO. In the mythology of India and China this DEMON trapped and devoured children until converted by the BUDDHA. HARITI is now a guardian of children and elevated to the status of a goddess able to bless couples with children and cure the sick children. As KARITEI-MO, her original Japanese name, she is especially venerated by the by the SHINGON and NICHIEN sects in Japan, where she is represented holding a child or the flower of happiness.

SOURCE: Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins Encyclopedia

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Iranian Mythology

This is the name of a DEMON in Iranian mythology. His name is taken from the Avestan word meaning EVIL-EYE, and this DEVIL caused his evil work to be effected though the sense of sight. This demon's domain is the temptation to sin through visual experiences such as voyeurism, lust, and covetousness. AGAS is delighted when he sees men falling into his traps, bringing the opportunity to inflict disease of the eyes on tempted humans.

SOURCE: Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins Encyclopedia

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Welsh Folklore

The name of a dwarf or water spirit that inhabited Lake Llyon in Wales. According to the region of the narrator and the SPIRITS activities, he was known by different names: ABAC, AFANC, and AVANC. This DWARF or DEMON was considered to be responsible for terrible flooding by making the surrounding waters of the lake overflow into the surrounding country. He was eventually dragged from his abode by the oxen of HU GADARN and, some say, killed by PEREDUR.

SOURCE: Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins Encyclopedia

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