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The mythology of every nation is replete with monsters that used to frighten children and that many adults were afraid of (and some are still afraid). These monsters become the heroes of fairy tales and ballads, and films are made about them and books are written. Today we will talk about the 10 most terrible monsters from around the world, touching on the myths of Greece, Slavic culture, and even talk about a monster from Abkhazia.
10 Ayustal
A vile and unpleasant creature from Abkhazian mythology, which is very similar to our devil. Small, with hooves and claws, he does not have great strength, but he loves to offend the weak and even knows how to move into sick and weak people. Quarrels in the family, illness, death – all this is considered the work of hands in Abkhazia Ayustala.
9. Kraken
The Scandinavians were experienced sailors and navigators. But during their travels, they often encountered things they couldn’t explain, including sea monsters. One such sea monster, Kraken, is firmly established in Norse mythology due to its huge size and habit of attacking ships and devouring sailors.
Norse and Viking legends describe the Kraken as a gigantic, tentacled creature with eyes the size of dinner plates. Most “eyewitnesses” compared the Kraken to a squid or octopus, but noted that it is much, much larger. Some stories claim that the Kraken’s tentacles are hundreds of meters long. Others say the sea monster is so big that it could be mistaken for an island.
8. Mananangal
The legend says that Mananangal – a beautiful woman during the day, who with the onset of night turns into an evil, blood-drinking monster. It is said that Mananangal will come out of his house around midnight to hide in the bushes or maybe in a grove of banana trees. There, she rubs her body with a certain type of oil, and after a few minutes, she grows bat-like wings and her body splits in half at the waist. The body from the navel down will remain in place, while the upper half flies in search of something to eat.
With her keen sense of smell, she can smell a sick person or pregnant woman from miles away. In the Philippines, this monster is really afraid, because despite the year 2020 in the yard, the people there are still quite superstitious.
7. Cyclops
Cyclops – giant one-eyed monsters, a wild race of creatures that have neither social manners nor fear of the gods. Cyclops means “round eye”. Considered the sons of Uranus and Gaia, they served Hephaestus, whose workshop was located in the heart of the volcanic Mount Etna. According to Homer’s Odyssey, where he introduced probably the most famous Cyclops, Polyphemus, the Cyclopes were the sons of Poseidon, not Gaia.
Homer described the Cyclopes as savages who abstained from agriculture and laws and were shepherds who lived in the southwestern part of Sicily, actively feeding on people and living with their wives and children in caves.
6. Koschey
“There is an island in the sea on the ocean, on that island there is an oak tree, a chest is buried under an oak tree, a hare in a chest, a duck in a hare, an egg in a duck, a needle in an egg, Koshchei’s death” – these words are familiar to everyone from childhood child, because Koschey, along with Ivan, is perhaps the most popular fairy-tale character from Slavic culture. An evil sorcerer who loves to ride a magical talking horse and kidnap other people’s brides.
5. Sikome
Sikome is a broad term describing monsters that look like ugly women. In addition to being ugly, they often have bestial features: claws, paws, pointed ears, or tufts of fluffy hair. They usually have long black hair, saggy, deformed breasts, and wide, twisted smiles. Shikome spends a lot of effort trying to make herself beautiful by putting on thick white makeup on her face and wearing a layered kimono. Their over-grooming only emphasizes their ugliness, making them a satirical mockery of high fashion.
They are servants of the land of the dead, and they are quite dangerous. They are fast, capable of jumping a thousand ri (approximately four thousand kilometers) at a time. They are also always hungry and can gobble up food at an incredible rate. And they love, as you know, not pizza and not sushi.
4. Vuivr
Vuivr has been an integral part of the French heritage since the 12th century. It is described as a water serpent with two legs, two wings and no arms, which distinguishes it from what it is often compared to – a dragon. Like the dragon, Vuivre is a treasure keeper. Its hiding place is underground, and to see how this creature washes its shining wings at the water’s edge, you can only see it once a year, when it goes out to drink and fish in lakes or rivers.
At this particular moment, he puts a carbuncle in the reed, that is, a giant gem that he wears on his forehead. This carbuncle in legend is the wyvern’s unique eye. Apparently, this fascinates the men of all legends, and sometimes those who manage to capture him learn that he is able to turn iron into gold.
3. Griffin
Griffin – a composite mythological creature with the body of a lion (winged or wingless) and the head of a bird, usually the head of an eagle. The griffin was a favorite decorative motif in ancient Middle Eastern and Mediterranean lands. Probably originating in the Levant in the 2nd millennium BC, the griffin spread throughout western Asia and into Greece by the 14th century BC. The Asian vulture had a crested head, while the Minoan and Greek vultures usually had a mane of spiral curls. Most often, he was depicted either lying or sitting, often paired with a sphinx.
2. Song
The ancient Slavs did not approve of suicide and believed that a person who ended his life himself, in a year turns into Song. Where they got this word from and why they called it that way is unknown. Yrka is, in fact, a kind of analogue of a zombie and a vampire rolled into one: a terrible, half-decomposed monster that roams the Earth with the sole purpose of drinking human blood. This monster did not always hunt people alone: he also had a partner Ukrut, who played a secondary role in their tandem and made sacrifices to Yrka.
1. Cerberus
Cerberus – also known as the “hound of Hades” – was a many-headed dog that guarded the gates of the underworld, kept the dead from escaping, and made sure those who entered never left. The child of Typhon and Echidna, he was part of a monstrous family that included Orthus, the Lernean Hydra, and the Chimera. On only three occasions has Cerberus been deceived by visitors to Hades: Hercules did it with his power, Orpheus with his music, and Sibilou Kumae with honey cake.
According to Hesiod, Cerberus was the second of the four monstrous children of Typhon and Echidna, born after Ortas, the two-headed dog who guarded Geryon’s cattle, but before the Lernaean Hydra and possibly Chimera, they are all many-headed. Later writers list many other monsters among the Cerberus siblings, including the Sphinx, the Nemean Lion, the Caucasian Eagle, Sou Krommenian, the Colchis Dragon, Ladon, and even Scylla and the mother of the gorgon. Wonderful family, what can I say.