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.