Mythical Creatures

People have always told stories about mythical creatures, such as dragons, unicorns, and mermaids. Before the days of airplanes and cameras, nobody could be sure what wild beasts might live in lands far away. Even now we are not exactly sure what lives at the bottom of the sea or on top of the highest mountains.

Travelers used to come home with tales of extraordinary creatures. Some tales were true and some were false. People laughed at the idea of a giraffe before they had seen one. On the other hand, there was a time when almost everyone thought that dragons were real.

FIRE-BREATHING MONSTERS

Most countries have legends about huge reptiles, usually with wings and often breathing fire. The Chinese admired dragons for their wisdom. In European legends, dragons were generally terrifying creatures.

In many stories, the hero has to fight a huge dragon. In Christian legend, Saint George fought a dragon to stop it from eating people!

MAN-EATING SPIDERS AND GIANT BIRDS

Japan has several mythical spiders, including Tsuchi-Gumo, a monster that could only be destroyed by fire. Another story tells of Spider-Woman, who lives in a lonely castle and traps travelers in her sticky webs.

Not all legendary spiders are evil. Native American and West African mythologies include spider-gods. However, many of us are still frightened of spiders, and horrifying ones appear in several recent stories, including The Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter books.

A spider would have to be huge to eat a human being, but would still not be as big as the roc, a bird that supposedly could carry off an elephant. In the Arabian Nights tales, Sinbad the Sailor travels through the sky clinging to the roc’s leg.

HORSES WITH HORNS AND LIONS WITH WINGS

Hundreds of years ago, many travelers told tales of an animal with a single horn—a unicorn. Unicorns’ horns were supposed to be magical.

In Europe, the unicorn was usually described as a white or silver horse with a single long horn in the middle of its forehead. Chinese unicorns looked more like lions.

Lions appear in many myths. The sphinx in Greek myths was a creature with the body of a lion, the head of a woman, and the wings of an eagle. The sphinx was a dangerous beast. She asked people a really tough riddle. If they gave the wrong answer, she killed them.

LEGENDS OF SEA AND LAKE

Many real creatures that live underwater have inspired legends. Whales and giant squid are remarkable animals. People used to exaggerate their size and powers. There are legends of whales swallowing men alive. Krakens, huge sea creatures that look like giant squids, were said to pull whole ships under the waves.

Tales are also told about mermaids, beautiful women with fish tails instead of legs. Mermaids represented danger to sailors. Sailors who heard them singing could become entranced and steer their ships onto the rocks.

MODERN MYSTERIES

Hardly anyone believes in mermaids now. But plenty of people think that a huge monster lives in Loch Ness, a lake in Scotland. There have been tales about a long-necked, hump-backed animal in the lake since the 6th century ad. Nobody has proved that this sea serpent exists.

The Abominable Snowman is another legendary creature that fascinates people. Explorers of the Himalaya Mountains in Asia tell stories of this “wild man” of the mountains. People have even taken photographs and made plaster casts of what they think are its enormous footprints.

A similar hairy creature known as Bigfoot supposedly lives in North America. Bigfoot is said to roam the mountains and forests of the Pacific Northwest.