BARGHEST- A monstrous dog with huge teeth and claws from the area around Yorkshire, northern England. It only appears at night. People believe that anyone who sees the dog clearly will die soon after the encounter. In Wales, they have the red-eyed Gwyllgi, the Dog of Darkness. On the Isle of Man it is called Mauthe Doog.
CENTAURS- The centaurs of Greek mythology are creatures that are part human and part horse. They are usually portrayed with the torso and head of a human, and the body of a horse. Centaurs are the followers of the wine god Dionysus and are well known for drunkenness and carrying off helpless young maidens. They inhabited Mount Pelion in Thessaly, northern Greece. According to one myth, they are the offspring of Ixion, the king of Lapithae (Thessaly), and a cloud. He had arranged a tryst with Hera, but Zeus got wind of it and fashioned a cloud into Hera's shape. Therefore, the Centaurs are sometimes called Ixionidae.
CERBERUS- In Greek mythology, the three-headed watchdog who guards the entrance to the lower world, the Hades. It is a child of the giant Typhon and Echidna, a monstrous creature herself, being half woman and half snake. Originally, the dog was portrayed having fifty or hundred heads but was later pictured with only three heads (and sometimes with the tail of a serpent). Cerberus permitted new spirits to enter the realm of dead, but allowed none of them to leave. Only a few ever managed to sneak past the creature, among which Orpheus, who lulled it to sleep by playing his lyre, and Heracles, who brought it to the land of the living for a while (being the last of his Twelve Labors). In Roman mythology, the Trojan prince Aeneas and Psyche were able to pacify it with honey cake.
Changeling: In British Folklore, a child of the fairies or elves left in place of a stolen human baby. This superstition was especially prevalent in the Scottish Highlands, where a new born child was carefully watched till the day of its baptism. After that it could not be stolen by the fairies. A deformed, sickly, or idiot child was often thought to be a changeling and was cruelly treated so that the fairies would come take it back, returning the human child they supposedly stole.
CHIMERA- In Greek mythology, the Chimera is a monster, depicted as an animal with the head of a lion, the body of a she-goat, and the tail of a dragon (sometimes it has multiple heads). It is a child of Typhon and Echidna. It terrorized Lycia (in Asia Minor), but was eventually killed by the Corinthian hero Bellerophon.
Dwarf: In folklore, a small, supernatural man living in the mountians or in the depths of the earth. Sometimes helpful, sometime malicious, they were believed to posess great knowledge; skilled miners and metal-workers.
Dybbuk: In Jewish folklore, an evil demon or soul of a dead man that takes over the body of a living person.
Erl-King: In Teutonic folklore, the king of the elves, who steals away human children. In later German legend, his hime is the Black Forest.
Fairies: In world folklore, a race of supernatural beings with magical powers. They are usually pictured as resembling humans, though many have that power to assume strange animal shapes. In modern children's stories fairies are usually beautiful and good, but in ancient folk belief they were dreaded, and encounters with them were dangerous.
GARGOYLE- Gargoyles are the grotesque carvings of faces and bodies of humans and animals. Serving originally as water spouts to direct the water clear of a wall, they can often be found on (Gothic) buildings and churches. In medieval times, the function of Gargoyles changed. They became representations of religious events, created for the illiterate population to "read". From the fact that Gargoyles are such hideous creatures stems the notion that they were created to avert evil. Placed on the outside of buildings supposedly kept evil out. In later times, most of them became mainly ornamental and served no other purpose than decoration.
Ghost: In folk belief, an apparition, usually the disembodied spirit of a dead person not at rest.
Ghoul: In Eastern Folklore, an evil spirit that opens graves and eats corpses.
GIANT- The giants in mythology are primordial creatures of enormous size, the personifications of the forces of nature. They usually are the enemies of humans and often battle the gods (such as the Greek Titans, the Irish Fomorians and the Norse giants of Jotunheim). Giants frequently play a significant part in the Creation Myths. They existed long before the gods and humans came. With the appearance of gods there followed a struggle between the two, in which the giants got the worst of it. When a giant was slain by a mighty god, the god would create heaven and earth from the giants body (see: Ymir and Tiamat). Even in the bible there are references to giants. In Genesis it is said that "in those days there were giants in the earth" and of course there is the story of David and Goliath, although the latter can hardly be considered a giant, being only 3 meters (9,8 ft), when compared to the giants in mythology and folklore. There are many fairy tales in which giants appear. Those giants are usually very stupid, greedy and fond of human flesh. Often a resourceful young man (named Jack) is able to kill or defeat the giant (Jack and the Bean Stalk, Jack the Giant Killer). However, not all the giants are evil; in some tales they are kind beings, who befriend little children.
GRIFFIN- The Griffin is a legendary creature with the head, beak and wings of an eagle, the body of a lion and occasionally the tail of a serpent or scorpion. Its origin lies somewhere in the Middle East where it is found in the paintings and sculptures of the ancient Babylonians, Assyrians and Persians. In Greek mythology, they took gold from the stream Arimaspias and, neighbors of the Hyperboreans, they belonged to Zeus. The later Romans used them for decoration and even in Christian times the Griffin motif often appears. Griffins were frequently used as gargoyles on medieval churches and buildings. In more recent times, the Griffin only appears in literature and heraldry.
Jinni or Genie: In Arabian folklore, a demon inhabiting wild and desolate places, representing the hostile elements.
LEVIATHAN- Literally, "coiled". In the Bible, and especially the Old Testament, the Leviathan is some sort of chaos animal in the shape of a crocodile or a serpent. In other bible texts it is taken to mean a whale or dolphin, because the animal is there described as living in the sea. Later the Leviathan became a symbol of evil, an anti-divine power (some sort of devil) which will be destroyed on Judgement Day. The Leviathan appears in more than one religion. In Canaanite mythology and literature, it is a monster called Lotan, 'the fleeing serpent, the coiling serpent, the powerful with the seven heads'. It was eventually killed by Baal. The Leviathan is also the Ugaritic god of evil. "This great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts. There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein."
-- Ps. civ, 25-26
Lilith: In Jewish folklore, a female demon of the night who was believed to prey on children. In medieval rabbinical literature, Lilith was Adam's first wife, displaced by Eve, on whom she worked vengence by threatening her children.
Mermaid: In world folklore, a being in the sea or lakes with the upper body of a women or man and a fish's tail. Mermaids and mermen are believed to have the power of prophecy; seeing them or sometimes just hearing them can mean disaster for the observer. Mermaids often lure sailors to shipwreck with their singing. A mermaid can acquire a soul if she is loved by a human.
NIXES- In Norse folklore, they are water spirits who try to lure people into the water. The males can assume many different shapes, including that of a human, fish, and snake. The females are beautiful women with the tail of a fish. When they are in human forms they can be recognized by the wet hem of their clothes. The Nixes are considered as malignant in some quarters, but as harmless and friendly in others.
Oberon: In Medieval folklore, the king of the fairies or elves.
PEGASUS- In Greek mythology, Pegasus is the winged horse that was fathered by Poseidon with Medusa. When her head was cut of by the Greek hero Perseus, the horse sprang forth from her pregnant body. His galloping created the well Hippocrene on the Helicon (a mountain in Boeotia). When the horse was drinking from the well Pirene on the Acrocotinth, Bellerophon's fortress, the Corinthian hero was able to capture the horse by using a golden bridle, a gift from Athena. The gods then gave him Pegasus for killing the monster Chimera but when he attempted to mount the horse it threw him off and rose to the heavens, where it became a constellation (north of the ecliptic). In another version, Bellerophon killed the Chimera while riding on Pegasus, and when he later attempted to ride to the summit of Mount Olympus, Zeus sent a gadfly to sting the horse, and it threw Bellerophon off its back.
Pixie or Pixy: In English folklore, a fairy or sprite who mischievously leads people ashtray, rattles pans, knocks over buckets, and kisses girls in the dark.
Puck: In English folklore, a hobgoblin, usually of evil intent. In Medieval times he became merely a mischievous fairy, often called Robin Goodfellow.
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