Posts

Delamere Dragon

Image
  The Delamere forest in Cheshire, England is known for a wide variety of strange phenomenons, from ghostly haunting, to time slips to various cryptid sightings. The one that interests me the most is a dragon that has supposedly survived into modern times. Back in Roman times a road was built through the Delamere forest, to bring salt from the deposits at Northwich to the city and fort at Chester. This was the first substantial intrusion into the forest. Previous to this the Celts had built a hill fort on the edge of the forest, but avoided going deep inside. During the construction there were reports of the labour crew being harassed and attacked by a large reptile. It started with animal carcasses being found in the forest that has been torn apart by a large predator, although this wasn’t that out of place as bears and wolves still existed in England at the time. This was followed by the sounds of roaring from deep in the forest, described like the roar of a lion. Then worke...
Post a Comment
Read more

Three Tailed Baavalorous

Image
  The three tailed Baavlorous is a fearsome critter from lumberjack lore, primarily found in Minnesota and Wisconsin. This wacky creature had the head of a bird with a spiralling unicorn horn. It had the body of an ungulate with split hooved feet. Sources are divided on if this creature had no wings or tiny useless wings, but it couldn’t fly, in spite of its bird like qualities. Most unusual of all the three tailed baavalorous had three tailed, as the name suggests. Each tail was different. To one side was a tail that was either a spike for defending itself, or a shiny scale its used as a mirror. The middle tail was a thick, fat club that it would sit on, and the final tail had peacock like feathers. Either the peacock tail’s feathered had dazzling colours or the entire baavalorous had dazzling colours, either way it led to the creature sitting on its fat tail and admiring itself all day. The other animals would call it the “King of the lumberwood” and give the baavalorous...
Post a Comment
Read more

Shu Hu

Image
  The shu hu is a mythical creature from China, mentioned in the Classic of Mountains And Seas. It was said to live on Mount Yanzhi, which was a good and plentiful place. There were red trees which bore giant fruit. The Ruo River originated from here, it was full of jade and turtles, and many wet stones for sharpening tools could be found on its banks. Here the shu hu could be found. The shu hu was a good and gentle creature. It had the head of a human, the body of a winged horse and the tail of a snake. They were intelligent and could pick up objects and use tools with their flexible snake tails. Shu hus were helpful creatures who would give rides to humans. In spite of being intelligent, shu hus lived on their own and were often lonely. Sources: https://baike.baidu.com/en/item/Shu%20Hu/1414061 https://chinesemythology.wordpress.com/2013/05/04/%E5%AD%B0%E6%B9%96-shuhu/ https://www.chinafetching.com/mythical-animal-in-chinese-culture
Post a Comment
Read more

Coulobre Of Fontaine de Vaucluse

Image
  The coulobre of Fontaine de Vaucluse was a hideous salamander like dragon who lived in the town she was named after. She made her home in a mountain spring just outside of town, which formed a large pool by a cliff side and fed the Sorgue River. The coulobre was so horrible looking that her dragon mates would immediately leaver her. All of her children became small black salamanders rather than dragons. The coulobre was a menace to the land and people around her, devouring humans and live stock alike. Saint Véran took up the calling to kill the dragon. He watched the coulobre for many days to learn her behaviours. Then when she emerged from the pool one night he ambushed the coulobre and made the sign of the cross, injuring and subduing the beast. She few away into the Alps in fear of the saint. The coulobre then died high in the mountains. A village named Saint Véran was built on the location where the coulobre died. For several centuries people thought the coulobre was...
Post a Comment
Read more

Vouivre or Guivre

Image
  The guivre or vouivre is a confusing dragon with many different descriptions. Both names came from the Latin vipera, and both are mythologized versions of the snake. It’s unclear if the two versions are two different dragons or interpretations of one. They’re both certainly regional variations of each other. And both have a wide range of regional variations within the use of the same name. It’s even unclear if the legends about this creature are meant to refer to a species of dragon, or one individual. Most often guivre is used like a species of monster, while vouivre is treated as an individual, yet sources still use them interchangeably. The appearance of this beast also varies widely, from a winged serpentine dragon, to a wingless serpentine dragon, to even things like a giant bird, will-o-wisp like fire balls and streaks of fire flying across the sky. The most detailed description, which is usually applied to the vouivre, is that of a wyvern like dragon, with a single ey...
Post a Comment
Read more

Graoully

Image
  Graoully is a dragon from Metz, France. It is most often depicted as a rather standard wyvern, although in the castle Haut-Koenigsbourg there’s a Graoully statue with four legs. I’ve based my art on the effigy that hangs over Taison Street. The name Graoully comes from the old Germanic word graulich, which means horrible or monstrous, and is the origins of the English word gruesome. Legend has it that back in the 3 rd century Saint Cl é ment was travelling around Gaul Christianizing the population. When he came to Metz he found everyone hiding in their homes, afraid to come out. One of the locals told Saint Cl é ment that a dragon named Graoully lived in the local Roman amphitheatre, along side a horde of serpents, and would routinely come out to terrorize the townsfolk. The townsfolk warned Saint Cl é ment that the serpents in the amphitheatre were so venomous they made the air toxic so nothing could survive near them, but Saint Cl é ment was not deterred. He went to the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Bete Ro

Image
  The Bete Ro was a dragon from La Rochelle in France. It was said to live specifically at Pointe de Raux, hillside jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by cliffs. The actual appearance of the dragon is left vague. It’s said to have wings, and a long reptilian tail, and live in the water, occasionally venturing onto land to attack the nearby settlements. An old worn down image of a beast carved into Church Sainte-Radegonde of Talmont was pointed to as the beast of Ro, however this is actually the lion of Ezekiel. It was said that the bete Ro would attack ships and villages up and down the coast. It was as smart as a humans and possessing a cruel cunning that allowed it to set ambushes for ships and shepherds alike. Eventually seven heroes travelled from across the sea to slay the dragon. They shot the bete Ro with seven arrows, two in its ears, two in its eyes, two in its nostrils and one in its throat. Once the beast was cut off from all its senses the seven heroes...
Post a Comment
Read more