Mythical Creatures from the World of Fantasy

Do you remember the old fairy tales you were told as a child？ Your favourite stories no doubt included some of the more wellknown fantasy creatures， such as mermaids， dragons， and unicorns. If you have read ancient Greek myths， then you may also be familiar with creatures like the centaur （half human， half horse）， the satyr （a human with goatlike features）， and perhaps the griffin which is often depicted as an eagle with the body of a lion. In addition to reading about them in books and seeing them in movies， we can find these mythical creatures on vases and in old paintings and ancient mosaics. They also appear as gargoyles in historical and modern architecture， such as in the churches and cathedrals of Paris， and the skyscrapers of New York and Chicago.

In fact， there are hundreds of these kinds of mythical creatures from the world of fantasy， myth， and legend. Not only have these mythical creatures been with us through the ages， but they appear throughout the cultures of the world. For example， the South Pacific nation of the Solomon Islands has mermaidlike creatures in their mythology. These “merpeople” （mer is the French word for “ocean”） are called Adaro. They are part man and part fish， but that is where their similarities with the betterknown merpeople end; an Adaro has a swordfish spear growing out of his head， lives in the sun， comes to earth by sliding along rainbows， and is not very nice to humans！

Dragon-like sea creatures appear in many different cultures as well. For example， the Tarasque， the French version of a dragon， has a lion’s head， a turtle’s shell， a scorpion’s sting， and legs like a bear’s！ This particular dragon not only spews fire， but likes to swim， and is said to inhabit the waters of Ha Long Bay， off the coast of northern Vietnam， which used to be a French colony. It joins the pantheon of other mysterious sea creatures throughout the world， which includes Amemasu， the lake monster of Ainu mythology in Japan; Jormungandr， the sea spirit of Norse mythology; and the fearsome water demons of Slavic lore， the Bagiennik. There are more recent examples of mysterious sea creatures， which people claim to see today. There are the Canadian sea monsters， such as Ogopogo， which inhabits Lake Okanagan in British Columbia， and Manipogo， which has been sighted in Manitoba’s Lake Winnipeg. And， of course， there is the world-famous Loch Ness Monster in Scotland. But it seems these more modern sea monsters are friendly and good for tourism！

In many cases， it is not difficult to understand the folklore roots of these mythical creatures. There often seems to be a grounding in the nature of the area. For example， in Inuit lore， the Akhlut is part wolf and part whale. And in Irish lore， there is a Dobhar-chu， half dog and half fish， and the Kelpie， a waterhorse. It is not surprising to discover that the folklore of many of the world’s desertdwelling people focuses more on ants and bats and birds， rather than fish and whales.

There will never be a list that includes all of the mythical creatures from around the world， since our collective imaginations will forever be creating new ones