literary mythical creatures

[cacian]

what role do mythical creatures play and literature
for example
mermaid
and do you have a favourite?

[YesNo]

I prefer mermaids over zombies or computers that get out of control. My favorite is the goddess Ishtar in Gilgamesh.

[PeterL]

Mythical creatures usually are examples of something with characteristics that don't exist in the physical world. Of the ones that I can think ofright now, I guess my favorite is Aphrodite or Hera.

[Danik 2016]

They are usually symbolic figures. I guess I love all the older mytologies I know: the Greek, the Brazilian, the German. I like fairies and Kobolds and mytical animals.
One of my favorites is the Greek godess Pallas Athena.
Like Yes/No I prefer the older mytologies to the technological ones.

[Dreamwoven]

mine is the unicorn

[Helga]

I wrote my BA thesis on Grendel and his mother from the epic poem Beowulf. They certainly can be described as mythical, and my avatar is a drawing of Grendel.

Here on the ice there are many stories about elves and hidden folk the live in rocks. For some reason this has been used to target tourists that seem to think everyone on the ice believes in elves. I don't, but there are a few 'elf rocks' close to my house and a guide who says she knows the elves takes tourists on a walk close to my house and tells them about elves. Apparently there is a big elf community here...

The old stories about the hidden folk, and elves are really about society and peoples behaviour. You shouldn't cheat and lie, cause you can be taken into an elf rock and there is no way out. Be nice and treat everyone kindly no matter where they come from and you will be rewarded, if you don't you will be punished. The punishments are brutal, so be careful. One old poem I used to sing to my son was about being nice to your hidden maiden, or else your death will be slow and painful.

[Danik 2016]

"You shouldn't cheat and lie, cause you can be taken into an elf rock and there is no way out."
It´s a pity this kind of punishment exists only on the ice. It should be universal.;)

[Helga]

"You shouldn't cheat and lie, cause you can be taken into an elf rock and there is no way out."
It´s a pity this kind of punishment exists only on the ice. It should be universal.;)

yes, we are all very kind on the ice, for fear of being stuck inside a rock

[dark desire]

This is such a lovely question. In Indian mythology there is a pantheon of characters. In particular if you look at the Mahabharata, there are so many stories besides the central story. A great variety exists. What can we say about the characters in Caroll's Alice in Wonderland? My wife is a big fan of those. I guess people in the ancient times were more imaginative, after all they did not know about computer programming. The longing to see something more than the usual human beings around or the fear of the unknown should be at the origin of creation of the myths. One also gets a strong sense of people who imagined myths in the movie The Man From Earth. Imagination must have been so free and boundless in those times. No wonder, a civilization that works on pointless jobs can only come up with zombies in the imagination. I have also heard that the graphic novelist Neil Gaiman does interesting things with mythical creatures in his works.

[North Star]

yes, we are all very kind on the ice, for fear of being stuck inside a rock
But that didn't stop Georg Bjarnfreðarson. ;)

I'm very partial to those olden mythical beings, too, whether they're Finnish, Germanic, Greek or something else. As to what is their role, there are probably as many different answers to that as there are mythical beings. While they often have some mythical powers, they still tend to represent something that is found in humans or nature too. Social criticism must have been easier to present when veiled in mythology, for example.

[Danik 2016]

Some Brazilian mythical creatures:
http://www.beyondsamba.org/2013/09/11/brazilian-folklore-magical-creatures-that-inhabit-the-forests/
And here are the images of some of them:
https://www.google.com.br/search?q=Brazilian+folklore+images&tbm=isch&imgil=yh-R9tUV_rFxTM%253A%253B8ymsOLFJErr94M%253Bhttp%25253 A%25252F%25252Ffabiocralves.deviantart.com%25252Fa rt%25252FBrazilian-Folklore-Creatures-75474635&source=iu&pf=m&fir=yh-R9tUV_rFxTM%253A%252C8ymsOLFJErr94M%252C_&usg=__OKp30_zTZRGFHlq8dkaSWyt_ij0%3D&biw=800&bih=450&ved=0ahUKEwilyI28g8HMAhXHk5AKHRS3Cm0QyjcIOA&ei=XDwqV6WqAsenwgSU7qroBg#imgrc=yh-R9tUV_rFxTM%3A

[North Star]

Some Brazilian mythical creatures:
http://www.beyondsamba.org/2013/09/11/brazilian-folklore-magical-creatures-that-inhabit-the-forests/
Interesting. Here you can see Finnish mythical creatures:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_mythology

[Danik 2016]

Thanks, North Star. It would be nice to have some images too.

[North Star]

Well here's Gallen-Kallela's depiction of the end of Kalevala, Väinämöinen leaving as the son of virgin Marjatta has taken his place. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/V%C3%A4in%C3%A4m%C3%B6isen_l%C3%A4hto.jpg

Here's Väinämöinen earlier in Kalevala, leading a fight against Louhi (the bird-like witch) who is trying to steal Sampo
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Sammon_puolustus.jpg

Here's Ilmarinen forging the magical machine Sampo that created endless amounts of money, salt and grain.
http://kalevalataidettakouluille.ateneum.fi/images/ilmarinen/gallen-kallela-iso.jpg

Here's Lemminkäinen's mother in the underworld Tuonela, after she has gathered and sewn together the body parts of her son.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Gallen_Kallela_Lemminkainens_Mother.jpg/1280px-Gallen_Kallela_Lemminkainens_Mother.jpg

These are all by Akseli Gallen-Kallela (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akseli_Gallen-Kallela), who is best known for these Kalevala-themed works, and who was an important figure in the making of the Finnish national identity from 1890s onwards.

[Danik 2016]

Those are very strong images. Might this last story, with this figur that is sown together, be a forerunner of the story of Jesus?

[Dreamwoven]

Any pics of the abominable snowman?

[YesNo]

I thought the abominable snowman was a version of bigfoot, but maybe not.

One of the themes involving mythical creatures that I enjoy is how they test humans. For example, when the Beast did not accept the rose the beggar woman offered in exchange for shelter, he brought her wrath upon him which was ultimately a blessing since it was how he met Beauty.. Also a simple kindness could result in a major gift. They delightfully over react.

[cacian]

I thought the abominable snowman was a version of bigfoot, but maybe not.

One of the themes involving mythical creatures that I enjoy is how they test humans. For example, when the Beast did not accept the rose the beggar woman offered in exchange for shelter, he brought her wrath upon him which was ultimately a blessing since it was how he met Beauty.. Also a simple kindness could result in a major gift. They delightfully over react.
hi YesNo how do you mean by
he brought her wrath upon him?

[Danik 2016]

Any pics of the abominable snowman?
Here you are:
The abominable snowman (Yeti) from Tibet/Himalaia:
https://www.google.com.br/search?q=Yeti&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj_tuDb28XMAhUMGpAKHbk_AgkQ_AUIBygB&biw=800&bih=450#imgrc=s51H8LOOZf0jHM%3A
Bigfoot-USA, Canada
http://weeklyworldnews.com/headlines/56651/bigfoot-skull-found/

[YesNo]

hi YesNo how do you mean by
he brought her wrath upon him?

It seems that she, this fairy godmother or spirit of the words or whatever she was, was testing the prince when she asked him for shelter in exchange for the rose. The test was would he give her shelter even though she appeared as old, poor, weak and unattractive. When the prince rejected her request, this angered her and she put a curse upon him. He failed the test, but she took it personally as well, and over-reacted at least by our standards of justice. And so he "brought her wrath upon him". In other words, she turned him into a beast.

Of course one could say that is what he was all along under his handsome appearance. She just made it manifest. Just as she all along was a beautiful creature under the appearance of someone unattractive.

Ultimately this curse was a blessing since his beauty returned when Beauty passed her test.

[Dreamwoven]

Here you are:
The abominable snowman (Yeti) from Tibet/Himalaia:
https://www.google.com.br/search?q=Yeti&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj_tuDb28XMAhUMGpAKHbk_AgkQ_AUIBygB&biw=800&bih=450#imgrc=s51H8LOOZf0jHM%3A
Bigfoot-USA, Canada
http://weeklyworldnews.com/headlines/56651/bigfoot-skull-found/

Google images has many false pictures, look at them closely. As for the two fossilised skulls that puts the Yeti in the same class as dinosaur bones, but only with two cases, and no complete skeletons.

[thekingrat]

Cyclopes, from the Odyssey and other ancient Greek literature/poems

[YesNo]

Here's a bigfoot or sasquatch research organization. I thought they even had DNA from bones of alleged members of the sasquatch species or subspecies of humans, but I couldn't find the specific link I was looking for. http://sasquatchresearchers.org/links/

[Danik 2016]

Google images has many false pictures, look at them closely. As for the two fossilised skulls that puts the Yeti in the same class as dinosaur bones, but only with two cases, and no complete skeletons.
Sorry, Dreamwoven, if I chose a bad link by mistake. I´m no expert. In fact I first heard of Bigfoot on this forum.