List of Mythic creatures
- Thread starter Shadowdragon
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Shadowdragon
Explorer
Dogbrain said:
A lot of Germanic creatures seem to be what people think of when they think of Celtic creatures. It was either lump them with Celtic creatures, or Norse. There are already a bunch of Norse creatures, but I didn't have all that many Celtic, so they went into the Celtic list. Drow is just the D&D name for Dark Elf. I should probably change the name on the list to Dark Elf just to avoid confision.
There seems to be several Roman creatures. I could include them all with the Greek creatures and just note them as being Roman. Or would it be better to make a seperate list for roman creatures. Again, more modern creatures can be included on the list, although creatures from the middle ages onward should be kept to a minimum, if left off alltogether.
Last edited:
Shadowdragon
Explorer
I've been going over the posts in this thread and I've come up with some questions:
Should I include Roman creatures (like the peryton) with Greek creatures? I can note which ones are actually Roman. Or should they have a seperate list?
Where is the catoblepas from. I'm fairly sure it's Greek, although the Greek version looks a lot more like the Gorgon from the MM then the catoblepas from the MM2.
What are Greek Dragons like? Are they the normal lizards with wings? Or are they more like the Linnorm (from MM2) and Sea Drakes (from FF)?
I still need help sorting the following creatures. If possible, please put the creatures into one of the cultures on the list instead of useing general terms (like saying the Leucrocuta is "european")
Hybsil (from MM2)
Lamia (the MM ones, not The Lamia from Greek mythology)
Leucrocuta (from MF)
Sea Drake (from FF)
Wyvern (too modern?)
With these things sorted out I think the list is fairly complete. It will be very interesting to compare this list to the one Mongoose releases (if they ever release a list of monsters, or better yet, a complete monster manual). I'm going to start on creating stats for new monsters and converting stats for monsters that aren't quite right. If anyone's interested I may put them up on my web site, including the creature list.
Should I include Roman creatures (like the peryton) with Greek creatures? I can note which ones are actually Roman. Or should they have a seperate list?
Where is the catoblepas from. I'm fairly sure it's Greek, although the Greek version looks a lot more like the Gorgon from the MM then the catoblepas from the MM2.
What are Greek Dragons like? Are they the normal lizards with wings? Or are they more like the Linnorm (from MM2) and Sea Drakes (from FF)?
I still need help sorting the following creatures. If possible, please put the creatures into one of the cultures on the list instead of useing general terms (like saying the Leucrocuta is "european")
Hybsil (from MM2)
Lamia (the MM ones, not The Lamia from Greek mythology)
Leucrocuta (from MF)
Sea Drake (from FF)
Wyvern (too modern?)
With these things sorted out I think the list is fairly complete. It will be very interesting to compare this list to the one Mongoose releases (if they ever release a list of monsters, or better yet, a complete monster manual). I'm going to start on creating stats for new monsters and converting stats for monsters that aren't quite right. If anyone's interested I may put them up on my web site, including the creature list.
Gez
First Post
About lamia:
The site is in French, but briefly sumed-up:
The Sumerian had a protector daemon, shaped as a bull with a human head, called a "lama". (The basic design you can see for lamasu, shedu, sphinx, and various others.)
Upon reaching the Akkadians, that benign guardian spirit became the lamassu.
Upon reaching the Assyrians, both lamas and lamassus become the male and female version of the same kind of creature.
Eventually, lamassu becomes lamashtu.
Meanwhile, the Babylonians, redacting stuff about the epic of Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, a thousand year after the events, confuse Kishillilla (the demoness Gil fought) with these newfangled "lamashtu" thingy and change the lama into a child-eating monster. (Interestingly, they also twist the name further by mixing it with Kishillilla's one, eventually stumbling upon "lillithu", which was promised to a brillant career as Lillith among the Hebrews.)
Her shape was a bit diversified by all these travels: her bull (err, cow?) body was swaped for that of a winged serpent or that of a lion.
Upon reaching the Greek, the lama becomes the lamia. Hesodes speaks about a woman named Lamia, who was rap, err, "seduced" by Zeus and got a child from him. Jealous, Hera cursed her to eat her own child. To punish her for this foul crime (no, no, I'm not speaking about Hera there), the gods decided that she would be turned into a monster, condemned to repeat endlessly her sin.
(Just so you know, never call upon the justice of gods. They can't be trusted.)
The site is in French, but briefly sumed-up:
The Sumerian had a protector daemon, shaped as a bull with a human head, called a "lama". (The basic design you can see for lamasu, shedu, sphinx, and various others.)
Upon reaching the Akkadians, that benign guardian spirit became the lamassu.
Upon reaching the Assyrians, both lamas and lamassus become the male and female version of the same kind of creature.
Eventually, lamassu becomes lamashtu.
Meanwhile, the Babylonians, redacting stuff about the epic of Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, a thousand year after the events, confuse Kishillilla (the demoness Gil fought) with these newfangled "lamashtu" thingy and change the lama into a child-eating monster. (Interestingly, they also twist the name further by mixing it with Kishillilla's one, eventually stumbling upon "lillithu", which was promised to a brillant career as Lillith among the Hebrews.)
Her shape was a bit diversified by all these travels: her bull (err, cow?) body was swaped for that of a winged serpent or that of a lion.
Upon reaching the Greek, the lama becomes the lamia. Hesodes speaks about a woman named Lamia, who was rap, err, "seduced" by Zeus and got a child from him. Jealous, Hera cursed her to eat her own child. To punish her for this foul crime (no, no, I'm not speaking about Hera there), the gods decided that she would be turned into a monster, condemned to repeat endlessly her sin.
(Just so you know, never call upon the justice of gods. They can't be trusted.)
Shadowdragon
Explorer
OK, forget about the Roman creatures.
It sounds like the Lamia from the MM is the male version of the Lammasu, is this correct? If that's the case I suppose it can be placed under Egypt (Assyrian). The MM version is evil, was the mythological version evil as well?
It sounds like the Lamia from the MM is the male version of the Lammasu, is this correct? If that's the case I suppose it can be placed under Egypt (Assyrian). The MM version is evil, was the mythological version evil as well?
Shadowdragon
Explorer
Just a few questions left and I think the list is as complete as I can get it. Can someone help me with my questions about the catoblepas, Greek dragons, and the creatures I can't seem to place? Again, if anything on the list is missing, shouldn't be there, or is in the wrong place, please let me know.
tarchon
First Post
Shadowdragon said:
I think the MM catoblepas is Pliny's version with some details filled in from imagination. The MM gorgon on the other hand is suspiciously similar to Aelian's version of the catoblepas. (Both quoted in http://www.theoi.com/Thaumasioi/Katoblepon.html#Katoblepon)
Basically, Greek dragons were big snakes with bad attitudes.
http://www.theoi.com/Thaumasioi/Katoblepon.html#Drakon
http://www.theoi.com/Tartaros/Drakones.html
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