Bestiary |
Rán
The wives of the gods responsible for the sea tended to remain much more hidden than their storm-tossed husbands. Perhaps because it is harder to see underwater than in the heavens. That is why the Greek Amphitrite focused on her role as First Lady of the Ocean and left the worries of everyday life to her subordinates.
The Norse Rán, the lawful consort of the sea god Aegir, however, built her own career. As the goddess of storms. Also, as the ruler of the realm of the dead at the bottom of the ocean. She supplemented her subjects in a logical and obvious way, collecting the souls of drowned sailors who had fallen overboard in her nets or sinking entire ships. It should be noted that death in the waves meant, among other things, that the soul did not enter the Scandinavian heaven of warriors, Valhalla, nor did it reach the hellish underworld of Helheim.
(Engravings): Friedrich Wilhelm Heine (1845-1921) after an original by Friedrich Wilhelm Engelhard (1813-1902). / Public domain
2.10.2025 (3.10.2009)
Baxbakualanuxsiwaj
His name means Great Cannibal from the Northern End of the Earth, and it describes both his appearance and behavior quite well. He belongs to the Vancouver Kwakiutl tribe, who also know his exact address—he lives in a large wooden house at the mouth of the Fraser River. You can recognize it by its tall totem pole and possibly also by the grizzly bears and ravens that Baxbakualanuxsiwaj keeps and which feed on leftovers from the table, cooked by his wife Kinkillalala, well secured by legs embedded in the floor. These leftovers are not exactly of decent origin, because He, whose name I cannot even spell correctly, let alone pronounce, eats, as already noted, people, through a series of mouths that open all over his body.
These represent the dancers of the Kwakiutl secret society Hamatsa in initiation ceremonies, during which the Cannibal is invisible. The ritual welcoming new members lasts four days and includes the "possession" of the novice by Baxbakualanuxsiwaj (according to Hamatsa, this is a resident of the distant heavens); the possessed must disappear into the forest and must not be seen by anyone until the fourth and final day of the celebration. Meanwhile, the established members dance frantically, invoking I-don't-want-to-describe-who, and finally celebrate the acceptance of the new member with a symbolic act of cannibalism.
2.10.2025 (15.1.2006)
Kwekwaxa'we and Kwakwakalanooksiwae
The raven is a well-known and popular mythological figure from Siberia to eastern Canada and California.
He appears among the Kwakiutl as well. They call him Kwekwaxa'we, and he is a typical representative of his kind: the Trickster, the Creator, the thief of the Moon. In this respect, he is no different from his colleagues. He brought many good things to people: the sun, the stars, fire, and also salmon to put on that fire.
But you will find another black raven-like creature among them (the one that is more difficult to read from the title), much larger, and if you have read the previous story, you may suspect that Kwakwakalanooksiwae is also a cannibal. He belongs to the secret society of Hamatsa and plays an important role in its initiation ritual, which is reserved only for older, experienced members.
2.10.2025 (15.1.2006)
Windigo
We will stay in Canada for a while longer, even though I originally wanted to explore cannibals from other continents.
Windigo (wendigo) is a creature that comes from the coldest place on earth (although the cold pole, or the coldest place in the world, is located in eastern Antarctica, so that would be a bit out of reach for Canada). It consists of mud and ice, formed into human shape, but this information is not entirely certain, because the windigo is skilled at metamorphosis and takes on human form for reasons that are unclear. Well, because an animal or monster is not as frightening as a fellow citizen who looks normal at first glance, but who, upon closer, quick, and, above all, final investigation, turns out to be a cannibal. However, the windigo is more of an omnivore because it eats everything it encounters, including other windigos.
As for changing body shapes, it has been noted that, in addition to human form, it sometimes takes on the second most popular appearance of demonic shape-shifters, namely that of a dog. Much worse is the fact that real windigos sometimes transform people. This is not mythology, but psychiatry, and people affected by windigo psychosis, misogynistic cannibals, still appear in Canada today.
2.10.2025 (15.1.2006)
Bogeyman
A family ghost that terrifies British children, or rather, households. It appears in sayings that are well known throughout Europe: If you misbehave, the ....(fill in the name of the creature according to local custom) will come for you. As such, it is understandably an ancient creature, but the name itself apparently comes from Malay pirates, whom European sailors encountered (and still encounter today) quite often in those parts, much to their displeasure. The pirates were called Bugis, and sailors used them to scare their children at home, but over time, Bugisman changed to Bogeyman.
The new bogeyman inherited the usual characteristics, and eventually all members of the family feared him, although here and there, some of the more peaceful bogeymen gave up scaring people and preferred to play with children. However, there were also much more principled and terrifying bogeymen, full of evil (they were called bogle), and they did not stoop to any friendship with humans, only terrifying them, and terrifying them thoroughly, fortunately specializing in liars and murderers.
If you want to see a bogeyman, all you have to do is quickly bend down to a hole in the wall, and if there is a bogeyman on the other side, you will see a flash of his eye before he disappears.
2.10.2025 (29.1.2006)
Poltergeist
I wouldn't even have remembered them if I hadn't bought Pratchett's Hat Full of Sky on Friday for my train journey and found in it a wonderful spirit called ordnunggeist, the exact opposite of a poltergeist. While the Discworld spirit Oswald pedantically tidies up and hates mess and noise, poltergeists, as we know, revel in creaking, rattling, teleporting various objects, and invisibly attacking people.
There are a number of theories explaining the phenomenon of invisible spirits, from the classic interpretation of souls lost after death on their way to God's judgment, to detailed physical, chemical, and mathematical explanations. Let everyone choose what their heart desires, I will not discuss it here, but I will leave you with this link and advice: Try Google if you enjoy absorbing megatons of often almost identical information.
Parapsychologists have recorded the activity of poltergeists as far back as ancient Egypt, but despite their promising-sounding German name, poltergeists are most prevalent in England, or rather its former colonies, from where the spirits spread throughout the world. Finally, the most famous, i.e., most cited case is from the suburbs of London, and names such as Enfield, Mrs. Harper, and little Janet are almost automatically mentioned in the same breath when it comes to poltergeists.
2.10.2025 (29.1.2006)
Ocean Born Mary
Just as the White Lady of Rožmberk is one of the most famous ghosts in Bohemia and the Brown Lady is one of the most famous in England, Ocean Born Mary is the legendary specter of New England.
She was born at sea – hence the first part of her name – in 1720, when her parents were sailing from their native Ireland to America in search of luck on the ship Wolf. But they never arrived. Not far from Boston, the ship was attacked by Don Pedro, a feared pirate despite his young age. However, when he learned that there was a newborn baby on board, he shed a tear of sentimentality and promised that if the girl was named after his mother, he would not harm anyone.
Such a challenge could not be resisted, and so Mary got her name, Wolf sailed safely to the New World, and life went on. This was good for Mary's parents, because they had a decent supply of Chinese silk, which the pirate gave to his goddaughter.
If you are eagerly awaiting ghosts, you will have to wait a little longer. Mary grew up, married a Scotsman named Thomas Wallace, gave birth to four sons and one daughter, and then became a widow. The pirate Don Pedro also intended to settle down. Despite his nickname, he was an English nobleman and had been granted land in North America by the king. He built what is now Henniker on this land and brought his goddaughter there with him. The rest of the story continues as in Stevenson's version: one night, Pedro's old companions appeared, Marie heard some curses and found Don Pedro wounded in the garden. Before he died, he revealed to her what he had not told his former companions – where the treasure was hidden.
It's certainly an interesting story, but – well, here it is: when Mary also passed away in 1814, her ghost began to appear in Henniker and continues to do so to this day. For example, two police officers saw her crossing the intersection in front of the house, and on Halloween, Mary sets out in a horse-drawn carriage from her grave to her former home (incidentally, it has been open to the public for almost a hundred years, so if you ever visit New Hampshire, you can take a little trip to the places in question). In short, she behaves like the honorable ghosts that abound on Mary's parents' native continent.
2.10.2025 (5.2.2006)
Štrakakal
We will visit another inhabitant of this Bestiary in Bohemia. In Loket, where a disheveled goblin in a long cloak haunts. His name comes from the German ein schrecklicher Kerl, but it is not clear what is so terrifying about him, except that he chases children, who are just as unkempt as he is, with a brush in one hand and a book in the other, and tries to comb their hair. He does not read to them from the book, but uses it as a percussion instrument, beating them on the back with it.
In addition to this educational role, he also takes care of farm animals in an appropriate manner – he braids the horses' manes. By the way, haven't we seen this somewhere before? I certainly have, but due to a lack of information, I won't dwell on it.
2.10.2025 (5.2.2006)
Sklenařík
Although you can find Devil's Well and several other such devilish creations on the rock called Vyhlídka or Finkenstein, towering above Smržovka near Jablonec nad Nisou, our attention will not be focused on the horned one. Not quite.
A goblin once lived here, called Sklenařík, who was responsible for filling the aforementioned Devil's Well with water. He once fell in love with a certain young lady, which, surprisingly, was not reciprocated.
The goblin took it manfully, giving his platonic love a bowl of gold coins as a dowry and even a glass furnace to his more successful human rival. Then he sat down on Finkstein and cried like a little girl until he cried a rock bowl with a diameter of 130 cm and a depth of 50 cm, which is (the result should be here, but when I saw the formula for calculating the volume of a spherical segment, I gave up) really a lot.
2.10.2025 (5.2.2006)
Nuberu
If it really dislikes someone, it will make it rain frogs on their fields, because el nuberu is a demon of the air element and its nickname, Lord of Storms, is not without reason. At least in its own land, namely northern Spain.
Otherwise, he behaves decently – provided he is given the proper respect. When farmers respect him, he sends the right rain at the right time so that crops thrive. On the other hand, he can flood the crops, and torrential downpours, hailstorms, and storms are his response to insufficient concern. The Lord of Storms walks the countryside as a tiny man with big ears, a large hat, and a cloak.
2.10.2025 (12.2.2006)
Ijanas
They live in caves in Cantabria in northern Spain, are female, and wear no clothes. Hey, stay in your seat, I'm not done with the description yet. These ladies, who are loud, cheeky, and hungry, have breasts so saggy that they throw them over their shoulders.
Ijanas are not particularly dangerous, except that when searching for food, they occasionally destroy beekeepers' hives and sometimes even enter houses.
2.10.2025 (12.2.2006)
Ojancanu
Cantabria is also home to another, this time more dangerous creature, or rather a married couple. Ojancanu and Ojancana are cyclopes, Mrs. One-Eye is bloodthirsty, more dangerous and angrier, just like the ijanas, she throws her breasts over her shoulders and, like them, the Ojancanu family lives in a cave. Fortunately, unlike them, she does not leave her rocky lair too often.
2.10.2025 (12.2.2006)
Feux Follets
Essentially, this is the French-speaking variant of what is known in Bohemia as bludičky or světýlka and in Britain as Will-o'-the-Wisp. In other words, blue flames above swamps that lure travelers.
I don't know how they fare in their native France (although one of Franz Liszt's études from the Transcendental Études cycle bears their name), but my records reveal the presence of feux follets across the ocean in Canada. They haunt the area around Quebec and also the islands of Nova Scotia. I dug up a story about the ship Norway, which did not make it to port during a storm; when the local fishermen saw the will-o'-the-wisps, they knew that something bad was coming and rushed to shore. The sailors of the Norway had no reason not to follow tradition and experience, but they were warned too late. The storm came, and I have already revealed the outcome—the Norway crashed on the rocks.
2.10.2025 (19.2.2006)
Raiju
Sometimes it flies through the sky like a ball of fire, which is how Japanese mythology simply explained the existence of ball lightning. Raiju is a thunder animal, the faithful companion of Raiden, the Shinto god of lightning. It takes the form of a weasel, monkey, or cat—though its body is made of fire and lightning—and although it is essentially harmless, it can sometimes cause quite a stir, which is true of electricity in general.
This happens especially during storms, when Raiju jumps from tree to tree and from roof to roof (sometimes you can see the scratches from its claws, and you know how they were made).
Every now and then, Raiju sleeps in a human stomach, which is not exactly an ideal bedroom, but after today's Sunday lunch, I can quite believe it.
Illustration: unknown author / Public domain
2.10.2025 (19.2.2006)
Oí and Minata-Karaia
Many, many years ago, the banks of the Brazilian river Xingu were inhabited by two strange nations, whose existence is still believed in today. The first – the Oí – were a tribe of giants who roamed the jungle and indulged in choral singing.
You can still hear those songs today, albeit sung by ordinary Indians who learned them long ago and have never forgotten them.
The Minata-Karaia also made sounds, but in this case only the men, who had an opening in the top of their heads and whistled through it. However, this was not the only peculiarity they boasted. Coconuts grew in their armpits; when a Minata-Karaia got hungry, he simply took a nut, broke it over his head, and ate it.
2.10.2025 (5.3.2006)
Sinaa
Among others, the Juruna tribe live by the Xingu River. Although they are no different from their neighbors or from the readers of this Bestiary, their forefather Sinaa, son of a giant jaguar and a human woman, took after his father in appearance.
In addition to the usual feline appearance, he also inherited a rather useful organ—another pair of eyes on the back of his head.
Although the Jurunas appeared on the face of the earth many, many centuries ago, Sinaa has not yet died. When he grows old, he takes a bath and pulls the skin over his head, which rejuvenates him. So he will probably be here until the end of the world, which is also in his power, as the Juruna sky is supported by a forked branch, and Sinaa can remove it.
2.10.2025 (5.3.2006)
Siga and Kyma
Whenever one embarks on a deeper study of supernatural beings, one encounters—always and everywhere, regardless of continent or cultural region—the issue of the Doppelgänger. Whether it be the notorious European werewolves, the security practices of Koschei the Deathless, Genies, or Nightmares. The Doppelganger appears in its crystal-clear form in Norse mythology.
All of this was Europe. To fulfill the opening sentence about any cultural region, I will jump south to Africa.
Siga and kyma are two forms of the human soul whose existence is believed by the Mossi people of West Sudan. Incidentally, the West Sudan is more than half a continent away from the country of the same name, and the Mossi live in Burkina Faso and Ghana, just to improve your knowledge of geography a little. Similarly, West Wales is the historical name of the Cornish peninsula, but that's just a side note.
Back to the souls. The first belongs to a person during their lifetime, and the second becomes theirs after their death. And now the Doubles: The Mossi believe that their souls are related to certain animals – most often crocodiles and snakes, sometimes antelopes or rabbits. This is a common totemic idea, made more understandable for our interpretation by the fact that it involves the usual doppelganger connection. The death of a crocodile also means the death of someone in the village, and an injury to the animal will also affect the person whose siga is in that creature. It is therefore an external soul, permanently residing outside the body.
All members of the clan have the same totem animal and therefore a clear idea of which creature their siga resides in. Moreover, as is usual with totem creatures, they are also the ancestors of the clan, so this is a kind of ménage à trois, as the souls are also the souls of the ancestors, because they too once dwelled in crocodiles and came from crocodiles. And the circle is complete.
2.10.2025 (12.3.2006)
Adroa
The Lugbar god (the Lugbar people live in the territory between Zaire (Congo) and Uganda) has two faces: good and evil. On the one hand, he is the Creator (he has references to both heaven and earth), but the other part of his character is worse.
In appearance, he is one of the more common African half-beings – he has one leg, one arm, half a face; a well-known example is the Zulu Tikdoshe. He appears, somewhat like an African banshee, to those who are about to die.
He is the father of children called adroanzi, who live in rocks, large trees, and streams and lie in wait for travelers at night. As soon as you feel that one of these mischievous children of God is behind you, you must not look back under any circumstances (see how this corresponds to classic European fairy tales), because if you glance over your shoulder, the adroanzi will kill you mercilessly and immediately.
2.10.2025 (12.3.2006)
Elves
I felt only slightly less uncertainty when writing about vampires. The current tradition, which gives old names new faces, pays little attention to the original forms, thus consistently continuing the past. Today's idea of elves is influenced by The Lord of the Rings and especially The Hobbit (not The Silmarillion, because it is too difficult to read) – they are beings somehow connected with the forest and nature. This is a secondary influence of Tolkien's stories. It is difficult to fight against general awareness, so I cowardly wave the white flag. Elves are here to be here, that is, to make up the numbers. Don't expect too much information.
What is certain is that elves in their original form and essence are shrouded in mystery. They appear in Germanic mythology as a superfluous embellishment to the story. In the complex geography of the Scandinavian world, they have their own realm – Álfheimr, probably located somewhere in the second heaven. Even in the oldest known tradition, certain rituals are associated with them, and they are sometimes equated with the Aesir and Vanir. They have magical powers and radiate light, which is why they are also referred to as Liósálfar, the elves of light.
They hate dirt, even in a figurative sense, i.e., lies, and this trait carried over into later periods when they lost their divine origins for good.
The ruler of the elves was probably first Wieland, the divine blacksmith, who later became a heroic figure, but Freyr became the more famous lord of Álfheimr. According to certain indications, it can be concluded that this was not a coincidence, but generally speaking, he came to the elves by chance.
With him, the elves entered into a cult of fertility, which is also related to the cult of the dead, as the deceased take care of the land. This could also lead to some mortals becoming elves, which did happen. This fit into the religious beliefs of the ancient Germanic peoples.
The dark and black elves (døkkalfar and svartálfar) are most likely a contribution by Snorri Sturluson and, at the same time, wonderful proof of how complicated this case is. There is no doubt about the black ones; the author himself identifies them later in the text when Odin sends Loki to Svartálfarheimr, the realm of the black elves, where Loki visits Andvari. The dwarf Andvari, as it is clearly stated. So are black elves just a synonym for little people? But what about the dark elves? We have the right to assume that they are just another substitute term or just a common medieval Christian element, namely, duality. One rather important thing is being forgotten, the fact that the author was a Christian. And that the influence of the new religion had already penetrated all the old European cultures unstoppably at that time.
Medieval elves are best summarized by J.L. Borges in Fantastic Zoology. They steal children and livestock, are mischievous and malicious, and are responsible for many diseases. They started in England, where they shot invisible arrows, resulting in mental illness, but soon such practices began to spread throughout the Germanic world.
The word elf clearly became a general term for unpleasant supernatural beings, merging with goblins, gnomes, and very soon with nightmares, which is best illustrated by the old German word alp, which means both nightmare and elf. However, the elf does not usually take on the doppelganger function of the moth; the vulgarization of lower mythological beings is complete, and the companions of the gods have become ghosts.
And yet, there was a glimmer of hope for better times.
Elves have been present in literature since time immemorial; after all, Sturluson's Edda (and his other works) is a literary adaptation of Germanic mythology. In the Middle Ages, other authors also adopted elves, until the Renaissance and beyond, giving rise to two British authors, the first of whom kept elves alive through gentle resuscitation, and the second of whom brought them to their present-day fame. The first was William Shakespeare, whose work does not reflect an effort to be original, but simply the fact that he drew on the legends of his time.
The elven royal couple in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Titania and Oberon, are not the playwright's invention; they appear in older medieval literature, but thanks to Shakespeare, they survived in people's minds until they returned to their almost original form.
J.R.R. Tolkien, who created his world from Celtic, Scandinavian, and Finnish myths, probably thought of elves because of their existence in English folktales and medieval literature, just like Shakespeare. From Norse mythology, he unerringly grasped the essence, the origins, and significance of the elven race, shrouded in the mists of time.
This was his style of work; Tolkien did not write straightforward fantasy novels, but played a creative game based on the fact that British mythology had not been preserved. So he began to invent it himself, and anyone familiar with the background of The Lord of the Rings knows that it was a perfect game. The original elves of Scandinavian myths are represented here by the Vanyar, those who went to Aman and remained there alongside the gods.
(The fact that this is an insider's game is also evidenced by the fact that many dwarf names, especially in The Hobbit, are names of elves in the original sources. And Gandalf, by the way, was a dwarf for a change.)
The medieval and pre-Tolkien elf tormenting birds was drawn by Richard Doyle, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
2.10.2025 (19.3.2006)
Bludný kořen (The Wandering Root)
All in all, it is more of a supernatural phenomenon than a Czech bogeyman, but why not? It complements the services provided by a whole range of other beings, namely the loss of orientation of the affected individual; while creatures such as Poledníček or Glaistig (to stick to beings you may already be familiar with) can do much more and are involved in other fields, the wandering root sticks faithfully to one trick. After all, when you are (probably) a thing unable to move, you have no other choice.
Getting lost in the woods is not scary in itself, and often the whole effect of the spell serves only as an excuse, but sometimes the story continues, when the path does not lead in circles, but leads to a theoretically abandoned castle, where, strangely enough, a lively banquet is taking place, or into the clutches of some real monster, who apparently has a cooperation agreement with the wandering root.
As for the practice of how to get rid of a temporary curse, sometimes it helps to change your shoes, other times the afflicted person must wait for the obligatory crowing of the rooster.
Or find the nearest trail marker.
2.10.2025 (2.4.2006)
