The Ziphius

In Medieval folklore, the Ziphius was a monstrous nautical creature said to attack ships in the northern seas. It possessed the body of the fish and the face of an owl, complete with large eyes and a beak. It is said to be able to cleave the hull of a ship like a blade.

This creature sounds terrifying, but what could have inspired it?

In the 16th Century, Swedish writer Olaus Magnus illustrated the animal on his Carta Marina and described the Ziphius as:

“Because this Beast is conversant in the Northern Waters, it is deservedly to be joined with other monstrous Creatures. The Sword-fish is like no other but in something, it is like a Whale. He hath as ugly a head as an Owl: His mouth is wondrous deep, as a vast pit, whereby he terrifies and drives away those that look into it. His Eyes are horrible, his Back Wedge-fashion, or elevated like a sword; his Snout is pointed. These often enter upon the Northern Coasts, as Thieves, and hurtful Guests that are always doing mischief to ships they meet, by boaring [sic] holes in them, and sinking them.”

To Magnus, mythical creatures were just as real as the familiar land animals. He included an assortment on his maps, furthering their stories and instilling fear in sailors.

The name Ziphius gets its name from the Greek word xiphias meaning sword. The creature was named for the large dorsal fin seen on the back of the creature, and its “ability to cut ships in two and sink them.”

But what is behind these stories?

Historians tend to believe that what Magnus and others saw in the ocean were Cuvier’s Beaked Whales. They are found in oceans worldwide and can reach up to 7 m long and weigh up to 3 tons!

The head is long and slopes into the body with an upturned jaw that makes it appear to be smiling. Beaked whales are often seen with linear scratches and oval scars. These are thought to be caused by the sharks and parasitic lampreys that attach to the animal.

As they grow older, the face develops a whitish coloration with dark-colored patches around the eyes. This happens especially in males.

Cuvier’s Beaked Whales rarely breach. As they swim, their head and body will roll high out of the water.  preparing for a deep, vertical dive, they may arch their back more than normal and usually display their flukes. 

Cuvier’s beaked whales are capable of diving up to at least 3,300 feet for 20 to 40 minutes to opportunistically feed on mostly cephalopods and sometimes fish and crustaceans. The deepest known dive for a Cuvier’s beaked whale was almost 3000 m and the longest known dive lasted 222 minutes!

Today these animals are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. While their population is stable, their main threats are ocean pollution. They have been found with plastic in their bodies. They have also become entangled in fishing gear in the Caribbean and near Indonesia.

This species is also sensitive to underwater sounds and anthropogenic noise. Strandings of this species in the Bahamas, Canary Islands, and in the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas have been associated with active naval sonar. These deep-diving animals become confused and are no longer able to feed, communicate, or navigate in the ocean.

The Cuvier’s Beaked Whale is most likely what inspired the myth of the Ziphius, with its pale face and dark eye patches. This would invoke the imagery of owls across Europe with their white facial disks and dark eyes. Their deep-diving habits make them rare sites for humans, especially during the early days of exploration.

The link between the Ziphius and Cuvier’s Beaked Whale is so established that the scientific name of the whale is Ziphius cavirostris.

Sources:

Grzimek, Bernhard (2003). Hutchins, Michael; Kleiman, Devra G.; Geist, Valerius; et al. (eds.). Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia, Vol 15, Mammals IV (2nd ed.). Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group.

“Cuvier’s Beaked Whale (Ziphius cavirostris)”. NOAA. 15 January 2015. 

https://www.wired.com/2013/09/carta-marina/

https://cryptidz.fandom.com/wiki/Ziphius_(Cuvier%27s_Beaked_Whale)#:~:text=Ziphius%20cavirostris,and%20a%20wedge%2Dshaped%20beak.

Snake Stones

In Whitby, England, there is a story about a Saxon Abbess named Saint Hilda. She was charged with founding an abbey in Whitby, but first, she had to rid the region of an infestation of snakes. Snakes were considered the animals of the Devil and would negatively affect any congregation that would reside in the abbey. So Hilda cast a spell that turned all the snakes of Whitby to stone. And she threw them from the cliff tops.

While this is considered one of the more famous stories, it is not the only one. St. Cuthbert was said to have cast a powerful beheading curse on all these snakes. In southern England, St. Keyna was a devout British virgin who turned the snakes to stone through the power of prayer.

But what are these objects?

We now know that Snakestones are an extinct cephalopod related to squids, which lived in the seas during the Mesozoic Era (201-66 mya). The “snakestone” is the hard external shell fossilized after death.

The name ammonite was inspired by the spiral shape of their fossilized shell with resembles tightly coiled rams’ horns. The early Greeks saw ammonites as sacred symbols associated with the horned god, Ammon. They called the fossils “Cornu Ammonis” or horns of Ammon.

Ammonites were often used as protection from snakebites and cures for blindness and barrenness. The ancient Romans believed that sleeping with pyritized ammonites under their pillow could help the dreamer predict the future. German farmers might place an ammonite in an empty milk pail to persuade their cows to lactate.

So do these creatures have these prescribed powers?

Ammonites are closely related to living octopodes, squids, and cuttlefish. They had a hard outer shell in which the soft body lived. Ammonites came in many different forms with straight, coiled, and “knotted” shells.

Because their soft bodies are rarely preserved, little is known about their way of life. These animals most likely lived out in the open water and were good swimmers. They most likely fed on plankton. There have been indications of ink sacs preserved, so they may have avoided predation by squirting ink.

The shell was created as the creature grew. As it grew larger, smaller segments of the shell were walled off and the animal could maintain its buoyancy by filling them with gas.

A defining feature of Ammonites is their suture pattern. A suture is an immovable joint, typically between two bones. As ammonites are invertebrates, the sutures are found on its shell. Ammonite sutures are very complex, with many subdivisions within each line.

Research shows that these complex suture patterns may be used to help the animals adjust to changing water pressure. The multiple subdivisions allow the pressure to be pushed along multiple points in the shell instead of a single point.

The beauty of these fossils have captured the human imagination since the Stone Age and given rise to many myths. To reinforce the legend of their origin and make them saleable, Victorians even cared heads onto the fossils. This has helped the story endure.

Sources:

Jorgensen, Darrah. 2017. The Relationship Among Suture Complexity, Shell Form, and Stratigraphic Formation In Ammonites Of The Western Interior Seaway. Unpublished Thesis.

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/snakestones-ammonites-myth-magic-science.html

Happy Book Birthday!

“Rise of the Dragon Queen” was released one year ago today! To celebrate, I am hosting this giveaway.

I will be giving away a free copy of “Rise of the Dragon Queen,” a Rise of the Dragon Queen mug, and a Believe in Magic magnet!

Enter to win today!

Entry form

The Dobhar-chu

The Dobhar-chu is a creature in Irish folklore. This creature is a lake monster that has inhabited the lakes of the British Isles since ancient times. It is said to resemble a giant otter crossed with a hound. The Dobhar-chu is said to be the size of a crocodile.

The Dobhar-chu is a blood-thirsty-gruesome creature that lives in the deep waters of lakes and seas and can travel on sea or land. It is said to be aggressive toward humans and animals, typically seen in mated pairs. Some legends even consider the Dobhar-chu to be the immature form of the Loch Ness monster. But where did this creature come from?

The word Dobharchú is an obsolete Irish word for otter. Dobhar is a rarely used form of water and Cú means hound. Together the word means “Water Hound” to describe the basic look of the animal.

Sightings date back to 1684. One such siting was recorded in the 1896 edition of The Journal of Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. A Miss Walkington described seeing a “wolf-dog-fish.” A few months later A Mr. Chicester Hard said he heard rumors of a king of all lakes and father to all otters. Some legends consider the Dobhar-chu to be the immature form of the Loch Ness monster.

The most famous siting was in September of 1722. A woman known as Grace Connolly had gone down to the river to wash some clothes. She was attacked and killed by a monster that emerged from the water.

Her husband Terence found her body with the monster asleep over the body. Terence killed the animal. It is said the animal let out a high-pitched whistle which called to its mate. A second Dobhar-chu emerged from the lake pursuing Terence.

After many miles of chase, Terence was able to behead the animal. Grace Connoly was put to rest with a carving on the Dobhar-chu on her tombstone.

What could have attacked this poor woman?

Sea lions are pinnipeds with the ability to walk on all fours, and a big chest and belly. They have external ears and their faces superficially resemble otters. These animals live in the subarctic and tropical waters in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, excluding the Altlantic Ocean.

A male California sea lion can weigh on average 300 kg and grow to 1.8 m long. The largest Steller’s sea lion can weigh up to 1000 kg and grow up to 3 m long.

Sea lions tend to rest on earthly land ice habitats. They raise their young and tend to group in brooding pairs. When the breeding season begins, the males establish territories. Males become especially territorial around the ages of 9-13. While sea longs are polygamous, they are fiercely protective of their mates during the mating season.

Sea lion attacks on humans are rare, but when humans come within 2.5 m of these large animals it can become unsafe. During mating season, males are incredibly territorial. They see any other animals as a possible threat.

In 2007 in Western Australia, a sea lion leapt from the water and mauled a 13-year-old girl surfing. A marine biologist suggested that the sea lion saw the girl as a toy to be played with. Attacks in the San Francisco Bay area have been characterized as territorial acts.

But how did a sea lion make its way to Ireland?

It is possible a mated sea lion pair was resting on an ice floe and ended up in unknown territory. This has happened as recently as 2021.

In March 2021, a walrus was spotted on the western shore of Ireland. The animal fell asleep on an iceberg in the Arctic and floated down to Ireland while it slept.

This walrus traveled over a thousand miles and spent time on the Irish coast until he was able to make his way back to the Arctic.

It is possible this is what happened to inspire the Dobhar-chu. A mated pair of sea lions fell asleep on an ice floe that made its way down to the Irish coast. As it was mating season, the male was particularly aggressive.

The woman – Grace Connolly – was an unfortunate casualty of the animal’s aggression as he sought to protect his territory.

Sources:

Tohall, Patrick (1948). “The Dobhar-Chú Tombstones of Glenade, Co. Leitrim (Cemetries[sic] of Congbháil and Cill-Rúisc)”. The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. 78 (2): 127–129.

von Radowitz, John (November 10, 2017). “Does prehistoric otter explain Dobhar-chú myth?”. Independent.

Jean-Paul, Orsini (1 January 2004). “Human impacts on Australian sea lions, Neophoca cinerea, hauled out on Carnac Island (Perth, Western Australia): implications for wildlife and tourism management”. researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au. 

Jean-Paul, Orsini (1 January 2004). “Human impacts on Australian sea lions, Neophoca cinerea, hauled out on Carnac Island (Perth, Western Australia): implications for wildlife and tourism management”. researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au. 

https://www.travelandleisure.com/animals/walrus-wakes-up-in-ireland

https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/irelands-hound-dobhar-chu

https://cryptidz.fandom.com/wiki/Dobhar-chu

The Phoenix

The Phoenix in classical mythology is a fabulous bird associated with the worship of the sun. It is known for its cyclical regeneration. The phoenix obtained new life from the ashes of its predecessor.

But where did this firey creature come from?

The phoenix can be traced back to ancient Egypt. The Egyptian phoenix was said to be the size of an eagle, with brilliant scarlet and gold plumage and a melodious cry. Only one phoenix existed, as it continued to be born again. As it approached the end of its life, the phoenix fashioned a nest of boughs and spices, set it on fire, and was consumed in the flames. From the pyre, spang the new creature which flew to Heliopolis- the City of the Sun – to the temple of the sun god Re.

The Egyptians associated the phoenix with immortality, and that symbolism had a widespread appeal. It was adopted into other religions, including Islam and Christianity.

In Christianity, the phoenix was compared to undying Rome, and it appeared on the coins as a symbol of the Eternal City. It was also interpreted as an allegory of the resurrection.

In Islamic stories, the phoenix was identified as the “anqā,” a mysterious bird that was originally created by God with all perfections, but thereafter became a plague and was killed.

It is in these stories that we start to see where the stories of the phoenix were inspired.

The word “anqā” is the feminine form of ʾaʿnaq meaning “long-necked. This implies the animal had a long neck such as a heron or crane.

The anqā was described as very beautiful and colorful with a long neck and four pairs of wings. It was also known for the whiteness in its neck. It is said the animal eats nothing except elephants and large fish.

Goliath Heron

Grey Heron

It is likely the phoenix is based on a combination of the Goliath Heron and the Grey Heron. Both animals are native throughout Europe and Asia and into parts of Africa. Birds of the wetlands, they can be seen mainly around lakes, rivers, ponds, and on the sea coast. They feed on aquatic animals, such as fish and frogs.

The Goliath Heron, also known as the giant heron, is the world’s largest living heron. This animal stands 1.5 meters and weighs up to 5 kg. The animal is covered mainly in grey feathers. The head and chest are chestnut. The chin, throat, foreneck, and upper-breast are white with black streaking.

The Grey Heron stands up to a meter tall and weighs up to 2 kgs. They have a white head and neck with a broad black strike extending above the eye into a feathered crest. The body and wings are blue-grey with black underneath. The beak is a sharp pink.

In Egyptian tradition, herons were considered a manifestation of the resurrected Osiris. The bird is often shown perched in his sacred willow tree. The heron hieroglyph was used to Re directly. It has always had close ties to the sun.

The heron was also closely associated with Nile and the creation. It was often seen on isolated rocks of the islands and the chaos that flooding could cause. This association could be where Islamic tradition associated the phoenix with plague.

The word phoenix originates from the Greek word phoinīx. The word was borrowed from the West Semitic word for madder, a red dye made from the rubia plant. The word Phoenician (modern day Lebanon) appeared to be from the same root, meaning “those who work with red dies.” Therefore, it is believed that phoenix means “The Pheonician bird” or “The red bird.”

The legend of the phoenix has gone through several iterations as it passed through several cultures. It started out as herons in the Egyptian culture symbolically representing rebirth and the sun god Re. As it has moved to modern culture, we lost the original source turning them into mythical creatures born from flames.

Sources:

Van der Broek, R (1972), The Myth of the Phoenix.

Barnhart, Robert K (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, HarperCollins.

“Grey heron (Ardea cinerea)”. ARKive.

Ali, S. (1993). The Book of Indian Birds. Bombay: Bombay Natural History Society.

“Phoenix (mythological bird)”. Encyclopedia Britannica. 

Cirlot, J. E. (2013). A Dictionary of Symbols. Courier Corporation.

http://www.egyptianmyths.net/phoenix.htm

The Kappa

A Kappa is an amphibious demon found in traditional Japanese folklore. They are typically depicted as green, humanlike beings with webbed hands and feet and have a turtle shell on their back. The depression on their head holds water and if liquid is lost, they are severely weakened.

The name kappa is a contraction of the words kawa meaning river and wappa meaning child. The creature has also been called kawaso meaning otter and dangame meaning soft-shelled turtle suggesting an outward resemblance to these animals. The name komahiki or “steed-puller” refers to its reputation to dragging away horses.

Kappas are said to be roughly humanoid and the size of a child, living in ponds and rivers around Japan. Even with their small size, they are physically stronger than a grown man.

These creatures are seen as troublemakers or tricksters. Their actions range from spying to drowning people, kidnapping children, and eating human flesh. People will often give cucumbers to the water demon to mollify the kappa.

But what inspired this strange creature?

The Japanese Giant Salamander is a species of fully aquatic salamander endemic to Japan. These creatures grow around 1.5 m in length. It is the third-largest salamander in the world behind the Chinese and South China giant salamander.

The skin of the animal is typically a mottled brown and black. However, due to its aquatic lifestyle algae often covers the body – making them appear green. The coloring of the skin along with distinctive warts provide camouflage. The animal has a mouth that extends across the width of its head and can open the width of its body.

Japanese giant salamanders live only in streams with clear, cool water. Due to its large size and lack of gills, it is confined to flowing water where oxygen is abundant. It breached the surface periodically to breathe but spends most of its time hiding in the stream bottoms.

Adults feed mainly off freshwater crabs, frogs, and fish. It has a slow metabolism and can go weeks between meals. Japanese giant salamanders are known to be aggressive and grab its prey with its powerful jaws. With its poor vision, the animal could mistakenly have grabbed hold of an unsuspecting swimmer, causing a drowning.

There are several things that can tie Kappas and the Japanese Giant Salamanders together. With their size and habitat, they could certainly surprise an unsuspecting traveler!

Sources:

https://www.thedodo.com/mythical-monster-animals-814513925.html

https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-mysterious-phenomena/are-mummified-remains-unidentified-creature-proof-mythological-kappa

Ashkenazi, Michael (2003). Handbook of Japanese Mythology.

Shamoon, Deborah (2013). “The Yōkai in the Database: Supernatural Creatures and Folklore in Manga and Anime”.

The Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians. Facts on File Inc. 1986.

Japanese Giant Salamander”. Smithsonian National Zoological Park. 2016.

The Cockatrice

A cockatrice is a mythical beast with the body of a dragon and the head of a rooster. The creature is said to be able to kill people by its penetrating stare, deadly touch, or even by breathing fire. It has been featured throughout English myths for centuries. But what is this strange animal?

A cockatrice is said to be born when a rooster egg is incubated by a serpent. The hybrid is born with only the weasel immune to its powers. Its own site was another prominent weakness as it would turn itself to stone.

The name cockatrice was first mentioned in the Bible in the book of Isaiah. The Oxford Dictionary gives derivation from the old French cocatris translated from the Greek ichneumon – meaning tracker.

This references the crocodiles that open its jaws to the birds that enter and pick its teeth clean. An extended description the cocatris make it clear it refers to this phenomena.

However, another extinct animal may have inspired this myth as well.

Oviraptor is a genus of dinosaur that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous period (75 – 71 mya). The creature was named “Egg Theif” because the scientists thought the creature was stealing eggs from a nearby ceratopsian nest.

This animal is a small featured animal that looks very similar to a hybrid creature with a dragon body and rooster head. It had a toothless jaw and horny beak. The arms were developed with three long clawed fingers. The tail likely supported large feathers.

Mythology actually surrounds the Oviraptor as well. As the name implies, these creatures were thought to be egg thieves. When found in 1923, scientists mistakenly thought the eggs found with them belonged to the nearby ceratopsians – Protoceratops andrewsi.

However, years later, in 1983, another paleontologist reexamined the bones and discovered that the eggs belonged to the Oviraptors and the adult skeletons were brooding.

Looking inside the eggs, embryonic oviraptors were found as well. It turned out it was the Protocertops who was robbing the nest!

Wherever the legend of the Cockatrice came from, it is true that the creature lives on in our imagination. These creatures are fascinating, and it is fun to see how the skeleton of an Oviraptor or the mutualism between a crocodile and bird could influence the myth of the Cockatrice!

Sources:

Pedro Tafur, Andanças e viajes

Bane, Theresa (2016). Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore. McFarland. p. 89. ISBN 978-0-7864-9505-4.

arsbold, Rinchen (1983): O ptich’ikh chertakh v stroyenii khishchnykh dinozavrov. [“Avian” features in the morphology of predatory dinosaurs]. Transactions of the Joint Soviet Mongolian Paleontological Expedition24: 96-103.

Osborn, H. F. (1924). “Three new Theropoda, Protoceratops zone, central Mongolia”. American Museum Novitates (144): 1−12.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/cockatrice

New Year’s Myths

We said goodbye (and good riddance) to 2021! And we rang in 2022! Hopefully, this next year will have some better things in store for everyone.

To aid in the good luck here are some fun superstitions from around the world to bring you luck in the new year!

If you are hoping for a year of jet-setting adventure, perhaps you should ring in the new year carrying around an empty suitcase. According to Latin American superstition, this will conjure a year full of adventure.

A common American New Year’s tradition – especially in the South – is eating black-eyed peas. These legumes made their way from West Africa during the Slave Trade to feed the captured people on their arduous journey. In America, the enslaved planted them in their gardens to sustain their families and livestock.

After the Civil War, the consumption of black-eyed peas became more popular. This is thought to be mainly in part that the Union soldiers refused to take the large stocks of unfamiliar food with them as they left. It made black-eyed peas a staple in Southern diets.

From this exploded a variety of recipes. The earliest printed recipe can be found in the 1847 A Carolina Housewife cookbook – serving the legumes with pork.

However, no one knows exactly where the tradition of eating black-eyed peas for good luck and prosperity in the new year came from. One theory is that the enslaved ate black-eyed peas when the Emancipation Proclamation became effective on January 1, 1863. Another theory is based on the Southern phrase: Eat poor on New Year’s and eat fat the rest of the year.

So if you are wishing for prosperity in 2022, cook up your favorite Black-eyed pea recipe and enjoy!

New Year’s parties can get very loud, especially when the clock strikes midnight. This comes from the Chinese belief that loud noises can ward off evil spirits. Noisemakers, fireworks, and shouts were all used to ward off bad spirits who would bring ill-luck in the coming year.

Another tradition is to stock up your cupboards and fridge before the clock strikes midnight. This is done because a bare house foretells a year of scarcity. This harkens back to the Great Depression. Bare pantries were a sign of hardship and food on the shelves brought people comfort.

Finally, a popular tradition in the Phillippines says to open your door just before midnight. This is done to usher out the old year and welcome in the new.

I hope you all have a safe, happy, and prosperous 2022!

Sources:

https://www.oprahdaily.com/life/g29774563/new-years-eve-superstitions/

https://www.countryliving.com/entertaining/g29538911/new-years-superstitions/

Why Do We Eat Black-Eyed Peas on New Year’s?

2022 Pop Sugar Reading Challenge

For the past 8 years, Pop Sugar has put out their annual reading challenge. The challenge provides 40 prompts that you have to find books to fit (i.e. a book with silverware on the cover). It is up to you to decide how the book fits.

It is a great way to connect with other readers and people who love books! This year’s challenge is up! You can find it here.

If you want to follow my reading challenge, these are the books I have chosen to fulfill the prompts:

Happy reading everybody!

Holiday Sale

“Rise of the Dragon Queen” is on sale through New Years!

If you have wanted to check out the epic story but were put off by the cost, now is your chance! The physical and ebook are on sale through New Year’s Day! It makes a perfect gift or just a cozy read for a winter day.

Buy today!