More Legendary creatures.

[Otis McNutt 395]

Lightning Bird

The lightning bird is a real or imaginary bird superstitiously associated with special powers among southern African native peoples. The believed supernatural powers vary according to the traditions of different tribes. Generally lightning is believed to be the bird's manifestation. The bird or its egg are believed to be retrievable from the scene of the lightning strike, both of which are believed to contain special properties.

The bird

Among certain African tribes the Hammerkop is believed to be the lightning bird. Among others the lightning bird is believed to manifest itself only through lightning, except to women, to whom it reveals itself as a bird. In these instances the bird is of imaginary nature and may take several forms. In one instance a village girl described a black rooster-like bird that ran up her hoe and left claw marks on her body before it flew back to the clouds. In other instances it is described as having iridescent feathers like a pearooster's or a fiery red tail, bill and legs.

Its powers

The fat of the bird is believed to be of significance either as the fuel that the bird sets on fire when it throws down a lighting strike or as a component in valuable traditional medicine. The fat is believed to be procured by catching the bird at the moment when the lightning strikes the ground, or by digging the bird up from an underground cavity at the spot. The bird is furthermore believed to lay a large egg underground at the location of the lightning strike. This may be a good or bad omen that may require digging to procure or dispose of the eggs.

Cultural significance

In most instances the tribe's witch doctor plays the essential role in dealing with the lightning bird. A supposed extract from the bird's flesh may for instance be prepared into a remedy for tracing thieves. In this way the witchdoctors may exert control over the minds of both law abiding and criminal members of their society.

[Anon 0]

You had to use a picture of Zapdos didn't you?

[Na Riknia 4]

Leviathan

Leviathan is a Biblical sea monster referred to in the Old Testament (Psalm 74:13-14; Job 41; Isaiah 27:1). The word leviathan has become synonymous with any large sea monster or creature. In the novel Moby-Dick it refers to great whales, and in Modern Hebrew, it means simply "whale".

Judaism

The word "Leviathan" appears in five places in the Bible, with the Book of Job, chapter 41, being dedicated to describing Leviathan in detail:

Book of Job 3:8 "May those who curse days curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan "; NIV

Book of Job 41:1-34: "Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?...He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride." KJV (quoted 1 and 34 only)

Psalms 74:14: "Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness." KJV

Psalms 104:24,25: "O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches. So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts." KJV;

Isaiah 27:1: "In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea." KJV

The word Leviathan is also mentioned in Rashi's commentary on Genesis 1:21: "God created the great sea monsters - Taninim." Jastrow translates the word "Taninim" as "sea monsters, crocodiles or large snakes". Rashi comments: "According to legend this refers to the Leviathan and its mate. God created a male and female Leviathan, then killed the female and salted it for the righteous, for if the Leviathans were to procreate the world could not stand before them."

The festival of Sukkot (Festival of Booths) concludes with a prayer recited upon leaving the sukkah (booth): "May it be your will, Lord our God and God of our forefathers, that just as I have fulfilled and dwelled in this sukkah, so may I merit in the coming year to dwell in the sukkah of the skin of Leviathan. Next year in Jerusalem."

A commentary on this prayer in the Artscroll prayer-book (p. 725) adds: "The Leviathan was a monstrous fish created on the fifth day of Creation. Its story is related at length in the Talmud Baba Bathra 74b, where it is told that the Leviathan will be slain and its flesh served as a feast to the righteous in [the] Time to Come, and its skin used to cover the tent where the banquet will take place."

There is another religious hymn recited on the festival of Shavuot (celebrating the giving of the Torah), known as Akdamut, wherein it says: "...The sport with the Leviathan and the ox (Behemoth)...When they will interlock with one another and engage in combat, with his horns the Behemoth will gore with strength, the fish [Leviathan] will leap to meet him with his fins, with power. Their Creator will approach them with his mighty sword [and slay them both]." Thus, "from the beautiful skin of the Leviathan, God will construct canopies to shelter the righteous, who will eat the meat of the Behemoth [ox] and the Leviathan amid great joy and merriment, at a huge banquet that will be given for them." Some rabbinical commentators say these accounts are allegorical (Artscroll siddur, p. 719), or symbolic of the end of conflict.

In a legend recorded in the Midrash called Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer it is stated that the whale which swallowed Jonah narrowly avoided being eaten by the Leviathan, which generally eats one whale each day. In a hymn by Kalir, the Leviathan is a serpent that surrounds the earth and has its tail in its mouth, like the Greek Ouroboros and the Nordic Midgard Serpent.

Legend has it that in the banquet after the end of conflict, the carcass of the leviathan will be served as a meal, along with the behemoth and the ziz.

Leviathan may also be interpreted as the sea itself, with its counterparts behemoth being the land and ziz being the air and space. Some scholars have interpreted Leviathan, and other references to the sea in the Old Testament, as highly metaphorical references to seafaring marauders who once terrorized the Kingdom of Israel. Others liken the mention to Tiamat and other similar monsters who represented the sea as a foe to the gods in myths of nearby cultures.

The Biblical references to Leviathan have similarities to the Canaanite Baal cycle, which involving a confrontation between Hadad (Baal) and a seven headed sea monster named Lotan. Lotan is the Ugaritic orthograph for Hebrew Leviathan. Hadad defeats him. Bibilical references also resemble the Babylonian creation epic En

[Otis McNutt 395]

You had to use a picture of Zapdos didn't you?

all the artist rendition pics of Lightning Bird looked dumb, Then I remembered Zapdos, Lightning Pok

[LDGM 0]

all the artist rendition pics of Lightning Bird looked dumb, Then I remembered Zapdos, Lightning Pok

[Otis McNutt 395]

prehaps the Huldra?

Huldra

In Scandinavian folklore, the huldra (Norwegian, derived from a root meaning "covered" or "secret") is a seductive forest creature. Other names include the Swedish skogsr

[AarghZombies 0]

How about the Beast of Bodmin? Theres always some rumour that a large cat-like creature roams the English countryside...

[LDGM 0]

what about the legendary japanese kitsune which inspired the creation of the pokemon "Ninetails" and the ghost fox of the zelda series, "keaton"?

[Otis McNutt 395]

Beast of Bodmin Moor

The Beast of Bodmin, like The Beast of Exmoor, is a phantom wild cat which ranges in Cornwall in the United Kingdom. Bodmin Moor became a centre of these sightings with occasional reports of mutilated slain livestock: the alleged panther-like cats of the same region came to be popularly known as the Beast of Bodmin Moor.

long held hypothesis suggested the possibility that alien big cats at large in the United Kingdom could have been imported as part of private collections or zoos, later escaped or set free. An escaped big cat could not be reported to the authorities due to the illegality of owning and importing the animals.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food decided to conduct an official investigation in 1995. The study's findings decided there was "no verifiable evidence" of exotic felines loose in Britain, and that the mauled farm animals could have been attacked by common indigenous species. The report stated that "the investigation could not prove that a 'big cat' is not present."

Less than a week after the government report, a boy was walking by the River Fowey when he discovered a large cat skull. Measuring about four inches wide and seven inches long (10

Edited 2 Apr 2008 by Diamond Triforce (see edit history)

[Ryu 7]

I love cats especially Tigers and Panthers

WOOT!!

[Otis McNutt 395]

Kitsune

Kitsune is the Japanese word for fox. Foxes are a common subject of Japanese folklore. Stories depict them as intelligent beings and as possessing magical abilities that increase with their age and wisdom. Foremost among these is the ability to assume human form. While some folktales speak of kitsune employing this ability to trick others

[Otis McNutt 395]

yet another "destination Truth" inspired post

Mapinguari

Or according to some eye witness accounts

The mapinguari (or mapinguary) is a legendary ground-dwelling sloth-like creature with red fur living in the Amazon rainforests of Brazil and Bolivia. According to some native accounts the creature has a series of unnatural characteristics related to other fantastic beings of Brazilian mythology, like long claws, caiman skin, backward feet and a second mouth on its belly. These characteristics are not shared by all accounts of the creature.

It is slow, but ferocious and very dangerous due to its ability to move without noise in between the thick vegetation, its only weakness being that of avoiding water bodies (which limits its movements in a region where so many rivers, brooklets and lagoons exist, especially during the rainy season). Most accounts state that the creature is carnivorous -- though not necessarily man-eating. When it smells the presence of humans it stands up on its back feet, becoming as tall as two metres, a movement similar to Grizzly bears.

Many cryptozoologists are intrigued by reports of this creature, though some have dismissed it as a folkloric/mythologic creature, just like the North American Wendigo, for instance, or a long-preserved folk memory of the giant animals that existed in South America in the Pleistocene, in particular the giant ground sloth Mylodon.

Among the many researchers who have tried to find evidence for the existence of the Mapinguari is the ornithologist David Oren. During his various expeditions, he has collected a range of material some of which was later shown to be agouti fur, anteater feces, and casts of tracks that were inconclusive. Nevertheless, Oren still considers the creature to be real, but highly elusive, and nowadays extremely rare, avoiding contact with humans whenever possible.

[AarghZombies 0]

Thanks for those DT!

[Otis McNutt 395]

Thanks for those DT!

Thanks, for what the posts? Alright here ay go.

Ropen

The Ropen is a flying cryptid alleged to live in the vicinity of Papua New Guinea. According to the book Searching for Ropens, it is "any featherless creature that flies in the Southwest Pacific, and has a tail-length more than 25% of its wingspan. On Umboi Island the word "ropen" refers to a large nocturnal creature that glows briefly as it flies. The ropen is the subject of folklore (like a man but also like a spirit) but it's believed by some natives to be a real animal . Descriptions vary, but it is often said to be batlike, and sometimes, Pterosaur-like; although pterosaurs are believed to have been extinct for 65 million years. The ropen is believed to be nocturnal and to exhibit bioluminescence. Purportedly it lives on a diet of fish, though there have been some reports of the creature feasting on human flesh, especially grave robbery.

As an attempt to discredit mainstream scientific views on the age of the Earth, several expeditions have been embarked upon by American creation scientists, including Carl Baugh, Paul Nation, Jonathan Whitcomb, David Woetzel, and Garth Guessman. They hope that the discovery of a pterosaur in contemporary times will cast doubt on scientific views on the age of the Earth and the Theory of Evolution. However, it is unclear what bearing surviving pterosaurs would have on evolutionary theory.

In late 2006, Paul Nation, of Texas, explored a remote mountainous area on the mainland of Papua New Guinea. He videotaped two lights that the local natives call "indava." Paul Nation believed the lights were from the bioluminescence of creatures similar to the ropen of Umboi Island. The video was analyzed by a missile defense physicist who reported that the two lights on the video were not from any fires, meteors, airplanes or camera artifacts. He also reported that the image of the two lights was not caused by any paste-on hoax. Later, the ropen was the subject of an episode of Destination Truth. Host Joshua Gates captured images of luminescent objects in the sky that could not be identified.

Nahuelito

Nahuelito is a lake monster reported to live in Nahuel Huapi Lake, Patagonia, Argentina. It has been described as a giant serpent or a huge hump, as well as a plesiosaur. Press coverage for the creature began in 1922, but reports of Nahuelito extend well into the nineteenth century. The Buenos Aires Zoo has been attempting to collect evidence on the cryptid since 1922, but no consequential evidence was found.

On April 17, 2006 the local newspaper El Cordillerano reported that an anonymous photographer dropped off two pictures of what he said is Nahuelito with a note that read "It is not a twisted tree trunk. It is not a wave. Nahuelito has shown his face. Lake Nahuel Huapi, Saturday April 15, 9 o

[Otis McNutt 395]

Cinnamon bird

The cinnamon bird, also known as Cinnamologus, Cinomolgus and Cynnamolgus, is a mythical creature described in various bestiaries as a giant bird that collected cinnamon to build its nests.

According to Herodotus in his The History, the cinnamon bird inhabited Arabia, the only country known to produce cinnamon at the time. The giant cinnamon birds collected the cinnamon sticks from an unknown land where the cinnamon trees grew, and used them to construct their nests, fastened to sheer cliffs. The Arabians employed a trick to obtain the cinnamon. They cut the oxen and other beasts of burden into pieces, laid them near the birds' nests and withdrew to a distance; the birds were then tempted down to carry the chunks of meat back to their nests, where the weight of the carcasses broke them from the cliffs, leaving the Arabians to collect the fallen cinnamon.

In Aristotle's Historia Animalium (History of Animals), one of his works of natural history, he explains that the cinnamon bird brought the cinnamon from unknown locations to build its nest on the slender branches in the tops of high trees. The inhabitants of the bird's home attached leaden weights to their arrowtips to topple the nests, collecting the cinnamon sticks within. Aristotle referred to the bird as Cinolmolgus.

Pliny the Elder adopted a more skeptical view of the cinnamon bird. He discredited Herodotus specifically and antiquity in general in his Naturalis historia (Natural History) by asserting that the tales were invented by the natives to raise the price of their commodities.

Solinus' Collectanea Rerum Memorabilium (Collection of Remarkable Facts)

Physiologus, a collection of moralized animal tales expanded upon over 1000 years

A Latin prose bestiary from the 12th century with Aristotle's version of the cinnamon bird

How We Visited the Land of Satin from Gargantua and Pantagruel by Fran