Rare Monsters

 The hagg worm was a type of flying serpent found in Cumbria, in England. It’s considered a dragon, but most acknowledge it’s quite different from the typical idea of a dragon. They didn’t breath fire like a normal dragon, and they may have been venomous, but it’s never mentioned. These creatures were large hairy, flying snakes. It’s never said whether they flew on feathered or bat like wings, but the more ghoulish option the better. The exact size of these flying serpents is never stated, but they are large enough to swallow magpies in one quick gulp like a swallow catching flies. And large enough to be a threat to people. You might hear the name hagg and immediately think of hags, those hideous old crones from Scottish legend who would eat children. Although the word hagg is from old English, meaning swamp, and was later applied to both hags and the hagg worms, because that’s where they lived. Specifically, the hagg worms lived in the forested swamps outside of the town of Ar...

   Campe was a primordial monster and guardian of Tartarus in Greek mythology. She appears in the Titanomachy. Campe’s name means twisting or crooked one. She was known as the nymph of Tartarus. Campe is described as one of the more confusing monsters from Greek mythology. She had the qualities of several other monsters mixed together. Campe had the head and torso of a human woman, albeit covered in reptilian scales. She had snakes for hair like Medusa. She had eagles talons for hands and wings as black as the night, alternatively wings like the sphinx. Her hips were wreathed in the heads of animals, similar to Scylla, but instead of dogs it was an assembly of every fearsome and vicious animal possible. She had snakes for legs like Echidna, specifically it was said Campe had one hundred snakes for legs. Finally Campe had a scorpions tail, which she held high over her head. It’s unknown if she was supposed to be beautiful apart from her monstrous features or a hideous hag. ...

  Ogopogo is the most famous lake monster in Cananda. It’s found in Lake Okanagan in British Columbia It’s said to live in an underwater cave somewhere near Rattlesnake Island. The name Ogopogo comes from a 1920’s folk song The Ogo-pogo funny foxtrot , which was a satirical song making fun of local monster sightings. The name stuck. Ogopogo is described as being 30 to 50 feet long and serpentine in shape. It often travels with an undulating up and down motion, which creates humps on the surface of the water. Ogopogo has two small horns that are similar to a giraffe’s ossicones. Ogopogo is dark green to black in colour. Other details are less consistent. It’s described as having either a horse or sheep like head. Sometimes it has a hairy mane down its neck. Sometimes it has sturgeon like scales down its back and sometimes it had either a fish’s or whale’s tail. Long before settlers came to the area Ogopogo was known to the Syilx people as N’ha-a-ikt. They saw Ogopogo as ...

 While dragons vary greatly around the world they can generally be placed into to broad categories, the eastern and western dragons. You would expect that if dragons are being seen in modern times that each type of dragon would be witnessed in their respective regions, eastern dragons being seen in Asia and western dragons being seen in Europe and North America. So far this has held true with the cases I’ve showcased in this blog, with western style dragons and wyverns appearing in America. However I’ve found two incidents that go against this trend, where each kind of dragon is found far outside their respective lands. In 2001 cryptozoologist Karl Shuker received a report from a group of scientists from the British Naturalists Association. They were adamant about keeping their anonymity, as any admission of a paranormal event happening to them would be career ending. In March of that year this group of scientists had been out at a quarry in Powys, Wales. There they saw a cre...

  Yet another unlikely place dragons have shown up in the modern world is the eastern side of Iowa. Just like the River Dinos, this is another one of those frustrating cryptids that have multiple sightings, but there’s very little information in each account. The description of these dragons varies with each encounter, but generally they’re winged snakes, with shiny scales and horned heads. No legs are ever reported. Sometimes their heads are more sea horse like or crocodile like. All the dragons are reported to be larger than any native bird, with wingspans up to 15 feet. They also flying by slithering or twisting through the air, so we have another cryptid who doesn’t flap its wings. The earliest sighting was written about in the Burlington Times on August 11, 1887. A farmer named Lee Quarter saw a giant serpent flying over his corn fields. He said it had a forked tongue, serpent like body and scales that glistened in the sun. It flew with a writhing and twisting motio...

  The beithir is a Scottish dragon. It inhabits mountainous regions, near water. Hiding out in caves and steep mountain valleys. Unlike other European dragons the beithir lacks wings or fire breath. Instead it’s highly venomous and has a poisoned sting. It’s also associated with ice and lightning. The beithir was considered the largest and most deadly of serpents. In addition to its other abilities the Beithir was cunning and had the ability to shape shift. The beithir would lurk in high mountain valleys near water and wait for passing victims. When an unlucky person would enter the territory of the beithir the dragon would sting their victim. The stung person then had to run to the nearest water and wash off the sting. If they made it to the water before the beithir then they were saved. If the beithir reached the water first then the victim would be devoured. It was believed that if a snake was killed then its head and body had to be separated from each other by quite a distance,...

  The Cape Sable serpent is a sea monster spotted in Cape Sable, off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1976. It was described as an ugly creature, covered in lumps and barnacles. It's head is like that of a wart hog, with bumps protruding off it's cheeks, and prominent tusks in its mouth. The creature's eyes are bloodshot and set on top of stalks, like a snail. It has a long serpentine body, 10 to 15 feet long and two feet thick. There's a back fin running down the length of its body and a fish like tail at the end. Its color is greyish brown in color. It moves through the water by undulating its body up and down, creating rows of humps that protrude out of the water. A swimming method seen in many sea serpents reports. The first sighting was on July 5, 1976. Eisner Penny was fishing off the coast of Cape Sable Island when he saw the sea serpent rising out of the water. He first thought the monster was a whale, but has he approached he realized it was unlike any a...

  Xiangliu was a serpent with nine human heads. Sometimes the head each have different necks, and other times the head form a cone or a grid, all beside each other. In spite of this monstrous appearance, Xiangliu was intelligent and a minister to the equally monstrous water god Gonggong. Xiangliu was responsible for enacting Gonggong's orders to bring floods and devastation to the land. Xiangliu's mere presence was able to cause devastation everywhere he went. Everywhere he breathed became a bog with poisoned water. He was also immoral and took glee in destruction he caused and the suffering he created for others. When Gonggong rebelled against the heavens Xiangliu fought by his side. However once the goddess Nuwe killed Gonggong Xiangliu fled. Yu the Great, the last of the three sage kings, tracked Xiangliu to the swamps of Sichuan Province. He killed Xiangliu after a pitched battle. However Xiangliu's blood threatened to poison the whole region. If Xiangliu was left t...

  Vishap is a dragon from Armenian mythology. He was depicted as a serpent with wings, often with features of other animals, such as horns. Vishap was closely associated with water. He was also venomous and able to taint everything around it, and associated with bad luck, curses and sudden tragedy. Vishap was thought to live in the Armenian highlands, especially Mount Ararat. The volcanic activity of Mount Ararat was attributed to Vishap. Vishap was also associated with thunderstorms, causing them when he ascended into the sky or descended back down to the ground. He was even responsible for eclipses. Unusual for dragons, but much like European fairies, Vishap was thought to steal children and replace them with a dragon whelp from its own brood. Vishap was slain by Vahagn, an important god in ancient pagan Armenia. He was the god of war, bravery and the sun. Vishap himself was also worshipped as an earlier god of water and fertility before becoming purely a monster. Vishap is also ...

  Tompondrano means lord of the water in Malagasy. The name is used for both ordinary water snakes and a mythical giant water snake. The tompondrano is believed by multiple different cultures in Madagascar, who each have slightly different interpretations. While the creature is usually thought of as a giant snake, various groups in Madagascar also see it as other creatures, such as whales, sharks, crocodiles and even pilot fish. Most legends about the tompondrano are of a fresh water creature, but some groups see it as a sea creature, or able to move between both kinds of water. The tompondrano is believed to be a regular water snake that was blessed by the Vazimba, a mythical race of fae like people who live in the center of Madagascar. This made the tompondrano sacred and granted it magical powers over water. Such sacred associations were extended to all water snakes, which people were forbidden from harming. And if one was found dead it would be wrapped in silk in the same mann...

  The jimplecute is a vampiric reptile from Ozark legend. It is a rarely heard of fearsome critter and shouldn't be confused with the gowrow, the more famous reptile from the region. There are two different descriptions of the jimplecute. The original appearance is of a long serpentine reptile, yet still baring short legs. It has skin the texture of dead leaves, which allows it to hide better in the forests. It even had the chameleon like ability to change color, so to blend in with leaves of different seasons. This jimplecute is able to wrap around its victims like a python to immobilize them while it feeds on their blood. The more modern version of the jimplecute is of a vampiric dinosaur, usually something similar to a raptor. This interpretation comes from the book We Always Lie to Strangers by Vance Randolph, which is a book about Ozarks folklore. There Mr Randolph describes the jimplecute as a prehistoric. Although I think he meant that all reptiles are primitive in his e...

 The grootslang is a monster, or possibly two monsters, from South Africa. The word grootslang literally means 'big snake' in Afrikaans. The first type of grootslang is purely mythical in nature and comes from the creation myths of pre-Christian stories, specifically those of the Zulu people. When the gods finished creating the land of the Earth they started creating the various creatures that would live on it. They made an entire species of grootslangs. These beings were a hybrid of snake an elephant, having the grace and agility of snakes, and the cunning and strength of elephants together in one being. This being their very first creation, the gods were inexperienced and didn't know how powerful they could make a creature before it was dangerous. When they made other animals the grootslangs would hunt them all down and kill them before they could get established. So the gods rounded the grootslangs up and pulled each one apart into two separate animals, a snake and an el...

  Falak is a gigantic snake from Arabian legend. It's larger than the whole world combined. Falak resides in the abyss, the seventh and final level of hell. The other levels of hell are held in its mouth. In Arabian mythology the world is carried on the back of an angel, who stands on the celestial bull Kuyuta, who in turn stands on the whale (not dragon) Bahamut. Bahamut in turn swims in the celestial ocean, which are the surface waters leading to the abyss. Falak desperately wants to reach up out of the abyss and devour all these other beings and the whole world. It's only the fear of God's punishment that stops Falak from doing so. God also gave Falak the other six levels of hell to hold to keep it busy and not focused on destroying the world.  

 Lake Ontario has had it's share of monster sightings over the year. Every sighting has been drastically different, which doesn't help the credibility of this monster. Yet the different forms it takes have been fascinating. Many of the sightings have been concentrated around the shores of Kingston, which has given the monster or monsters the name Kingsie. There are more sightings than I can list here, so I will only cover the most interesting. While sightings occurred before this point, the earliest that was given a definite date happened in July 3 rd , 1817, where a ship's crew saw a giant snake like creature in the water. It was one foot in diameter and 30 to 40 feet long. The name of the ship or the crew members who witnessed the event was not given. On July 1 st , 1833, Captain Kellogg and his crew on the Polythermus saw a giant worm like creature. It was blue in color and had no obvious head, tapering to a point at both ends. The creature swam by the ship in a smooth ...

  Azi Dahaka, also known as Zahak, was a dragon in early Persian mythology. He first appears in the Avesta and the later Denkard texts of the Zoroastrian religion. The legend of Azi Dahaka continued in folklore after the Muslim conquest of Persia, where he appeared in the epic poem Shahnama. Azi Dahaka was described as a three headed dragon, unlike other person dragons, which are usually single headed and long bodied, like an evil version of far eastern dragons. In the Avesta Azi Dahaka was the son of Ahriman. Even though he was a dragon he had the intellect and cunning of a human, and could take human form. With his human cunning Azi Dahaka was so evil he committed every form of sin. Later in the Shahnama, Azi Dahaka, then named Zahak, was said to be a human 'blessed' with evil magic and foresight by Ahriman, but Ahriman's touch leaves two snakes which grow from Zahak's shoulders which must be fed with human flesh. In the Avesta Azi Dahaka lived in Babylon and worshipp...

Mesopotamia is a collection of some of the oldest civilizations on Earth. Written records date back 6000 years. Because of this some of the earliest examples of dragons can be found here. While the dragons of ancient Sumeria, Acadia, Babylon and Assyria may seam strange today, they were the origin of many of the tropes we associate with dragons even until today; things such as dragons being types of snakes, even though they have legs and wings; being venomous to the point of having poison blood, being winged, having seven heads; and having the limb combination of four legs and a set of wings (at least for one dragon). Although Mesopotamia did not distinguish dragons from other monsters, and would have listed them along side less reptilian beasts, such as giant birds and scorpion men. Because the Mesopotamian civilizations are so old very little information remains on each dragon. Compounding this problem is the fact that Mesopotamia was not one one civilizations but a culturally simila...

  Everyone knows about python snakes, but fewer people know about the ancient Greek dragon the genus was named after. It does tend to get lost in search results, after all. Python is described by Hyginus as being a giant snake, not unlike it's real life counterparts. Although the dragon Python was said to be venomous. In later depictions from the medieval era onward Python is depicted as a more typical dragon, with legs and wings. Python first appeared when it was sent by Hera to torment Leto after Zeus took interest in her. Once Apollo was born he sought to avenge his mother's constant torment by slaying Python. In some versions of the myth Apollo accomplished this while he was still a child. Apollo pursued Python to Delphi, where he had to enter sacred ground to slay Python. In some versions of the myth it was Python's blood that gave the location of Delphi its prophetic qualities, in other versions Delphi's placement at the centre of the world already gave it thes...