The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures: The Ultimate A–Z of Fantastic Beings from Myth and Magic
From unicorns and trolls to werewolves and griffins, this comprehensive guide is the key to discovering every magical creature from myth, folklore and legend around the world.This compendium of magical creatures explores the history, folklore and mythology of fascinating beasts throughout all the magical worlds. Including stories, celebrations, traditions, and amazing facts, the book spans every major culture across the globe.Many of the fantastic creatures described in the book have appeared in the fictitious worlds of the Brothers Grimm, Lewis Carroll, J.K. Rowling, Tolkien and countless other writers who have stirred our imaginations since childhood fairytales. From unicorns, giants, fairies, elves, goblins, dwarves and trolls to nymphs, mermaids, sphinxes, ogres, cyclops, dragons, salamanders, basilisks, banshees, werewolves, griffins, centaurs, satyrs and gremlins – this is the ultimate reference book on creatures from the magical world.Organized from A to Z for easy reference, the cross–cultural focus spans from the most ancient of creatures to those which have come to prominence more recent ly. Discover everything from obscure magical beings to everyday animals that carry magical symbolism.Find out more in The Fantastic World of Magical Creatures.
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The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures
John & Caitlín Matthews
the ultimate a—z of fantastic beings from myth and magic
This book is dedicated to the loving, wise and magical Dwina Murphy-Gibb
Table of Contents
Discover an Incredible World Full of Every Magical Creature You Could Possibly Imagine…
The City of Gargoyles
We live in a city of gargoyles and fabulous beasts. Extraordinary creatures of all kinds cavort, peer and grapple on most of the walls wherever we walk around Oxford. We are daily familiar with the griffin, the cockatrice, the winged lion and many other magical creatures who guard the buildings of our city.
When we began this book, we were explorers who had yet to see their first phoenix, but we were astonished at the abundance of magical creatures and the worldwide similarities in the stories and themes that make animals and other beings kin to us all. We did not take a microscope or any dissecting tools with us, nor did we wear the sceptic’s sharp-angled spectacles that make all objects under observation appear warped and foolish. Indeed, we did not start out to set ourselves up as any kind of experts. It has been love of all living things that has kept us on the road and helped us travel safely on the compass-point pathways that lead from north to south and from east to west. Some creatures showed themselves to us very generously, others were shy and retiring, and so we had to listen to what other people had reported about them. We hope that such second-hand sources do not amount to idle or damaging gossip, and that the creatures in question may retain their secret habitat free from molestation.
As you set out in these pages, we urge you to wander at will, rather than to read from A–Z. The magical creatures themselves will lead you to find the hidden country that is your unique imagination. We also believe that there are creatures we have not described because they have yet to come into being. As long as the land of imagination is allowed to remain, with such a rich source of fodder, extinction is not an option.
Of course, no book of this extent could be done without the help of all the students of mythical creatures who have gone before. We would like to acknowledge those who made our own researches easier, especially Jan Knappert, Carol Rose and J.C. Cooper, whose wonderfully rich works inspired us to hunt still further. Thanks also go to Emrys Matthews for help with the appearance of various creatures, especially the Vampire, Werewolf and Zombie, in the media, where so many of these have found a new home.
John & Caitlín Matthews
Oxford, 10 March 2005
The Zoology of the Imagination
‘The zoology of our dreams is far poorer than the zoology of the Maker.’
Jorge Luis Borges,
The Book of Imaginary Beings.
Here are creatures of every possible kind. Creatures that hold up the world; creatures that destroy the world; creatures who are one half human, one half animal and sometimes even part god. Here are animals we think we know, but whose natures are magical; creatures who have strange characteristics such as faces in the middle of their bodies, animal heads, forelegs and back legs of different species. Here also are creatures that follow us, padding silently through the night; creatures that prey upon us, from the fearsome and terrible fire-breathing dragon, to the body of water that has a mind of its own and will leap up and chase you before gobbling you up. All are the product – in one form or another – of human imagination, from a time before thought was organized into word and word into text.
Curiously, it seems we have come full circle, since in our own time imagination responds more to visual stimuli rather than to ancient tales, and we are by no means bereft of creatures that enthral, scare and astonish us with their wonder. Film and TV are, for many of us, the first and most immediate source of myth and folktale – from the classic stop-frame animation of Ray Harryhausen, who gave us Medusa and Pegasus in Jason and the Argonauts, to Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, with its credible dinosaurs, we have gained an appetite for ever more wondrous creatures. Whether we think of the computer-animated adventures of the ogre Shrek, or the mythic creatures conjured up, and sometimes ridden, by Harry Potter and his friends at Hogwarts Academy, we are not content simply to accommodate the creatures we have known from the past – we want more. The cinema has not been slow to satisfy this appetite and to stretch our imagination even further. George Lucas has given us a veritable menagerie of new species in his Star Wars universe – from Wookies to Bantha, from Rancor to Hutt. In addition, a legion of movies and TV shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Ultraviolet, numerous versions of Dracula and the Blade trilogy, have kept the history of Vampires and Werewolves fresh and alive in our dreams. These clearly demonstrate that we have not seen the last of the creatures that are to enter into creation.
