Magical Gains

Friday, March 16, 2012

Underwater Panthers, the Alkonost and the Nandi Bear...

I'm very lucky I have family that indulge my nerdiness. My sister sent me a great birthday present recently, a three book series of Fantasy Artist's Pocket References. By Finlay Cowan. All images in this post are from the books.
Anyway. These books are so cool. Not only do they have some awesome creatures, (some of which, *gasp* not even I had heard of...) they show you how to draw them! If only I had more time on my hands at the moment, I'd be sketching away like a crazy woman!

[Nandi Bear by Finlay Cowan]

A couple of them particularly caught my eye as unfamiliar, and I'd like to share them with you. The first is the Nandi bear. This one is a cryptid, rather than a mythological creature (see my blog post on the Chupacabra here if you don't know the difference between a cryptid & mythological beastie). The Nandi bear is said to inhabit a region in Kenya unsurprisingly inhabited by the Nandi tribe. Also known as the Kerit, this creature has the same kind of 'elusive nature' as the Abominable Snowman. It's believed to have a loping gait like a bear crossed with a hyena, but can also stand on two legs. It is known to attack people and there are many alleged 'sightings'. Current theories on it's origin suggest it may be a type of unknown hyena, or bear (although bears are not indigenous to the Nandi area), or perhaps some ancient, rare giant baboon.
I think it is a particularly cool cryptid anyway.

Secondly, the next creature from these books to catch my eye, and one that was completely unfamiliar to me - was the Underwater Panther, sometimes called Mishibizhiw. This creature originates from Native American mythology particularly the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi nations around the Great Lakes area of the US and Canada.

[picture by Finlay Cowan]

Underwater Panthers are considered to be water monsters, and have various descriptions and personality traits depending on the legend. The beast can take a variety of forms... the body of a wild feline (lynx or mountain lion), the horns of a deer or bison with upright scales on its back and occasionally feathers. They usually have extremely long tails, and hiss or roar. They are said to live in the darkest, deepest parts of lakes or rivers and can cause storms.
Personality varies, sometimes benevolent and sometimes malevolent - to possess a hair from it would bestow great power.

[Picture by Finlay Cowan]

Thirdly there is the Alkonost, who is a rather lovely birdlike mythological woman.
The Alkonost is, according to Russian folklore, a creature with the body of a bird but the head of a beautiful woman. She makes sounds that are amazingly beautiful, and those who hear these sounds forget everything they know and want nothing more ever again - which you'll agree is very smiliar to the Sirens of Greek mythology. The Alkonost however, is generally benevolent towards humans. However, when lays her eggs on a beach she then rolls them into the sea and upon hatching a thunderstorm will ensue. The thunderstorms are so fierce that the ocean will become so rough no one can sail that day.
The name of the alkonost comes from the Greek demigoddess, Alcyone. In Greek mythology, Alcyone was transformed by the gods into a kingfisher.

Don't you just just love how mythological creatures are transformed from culture to culture? I do.

Anyway, if you are looking for a particularly interesting set of books about mythology with the added bonus of drawing thrown in - two of my favourite subjects!) I thoroughly recommend these books for inspiration! Rest assured I'll be pawing over them for years to come.

Here are the links;

Fantasy Artist's Pocket Reference - Dragons & Fantasy Creatures

Fantasy Artist's Pocket Reference - Phantastic faeries

Fantasy Artist's Pocket Reference - Incredible Characters

Have a wonderful weekend.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Jörmungandr - more than your average sea-serpent!

Image Courtesy: Kool-Mike

Special isn't he?

May I introduce Jörmungandr, from Norse Mythology. Anyone who is at all familiar with Norse Mythology will know that Jörmungandr (also known as Midgarðsormr in Old Norse) is one of the three children of the god Loki and a giantess Angrboða. Quite frankly if I were in Loki's position, I'd be asking for some serious paternity testing... as from the varying appearances of Loki and Angrboða's children, you've seriously got to wonder what she got up to in her spare time...

[Image courtesy Loki's Children: (graphite on paper/color by corel painter) ]

Anyway, Jörmungandr full siblings were; Hel (humanish woman) and Fenrir (a giant wolf). I am particularly interested in Fenrir, mainly because one of my favourite authors JK Rowling, chose to name her werewolf after him (Fenrir Greyback). Rowling is always clever with her use of mythology.

I will say that Jörmungandr also had a number of half-brothers, from Loki's wife Sigyn. One of these half brothers turns into a wolf and disembowels the other. Nice family. However, the most bizarre fact about Jörmungandr's family is that his father, when in the form of a mare, actually gave birth to an eight legged horse named Sleipnir - who rather horrifically, was fathered by an enormous stallion.... seriously, the mind boggles.

Image courtesy Wiki Loki and Svadilfari (1909) by Dorothy Hardy
(personally I'd entitle this one "RUN LOKI RUN!")

Anyway, Loki's three children by the giantess were all thrown into the ocean by Odin (a fellow God). In the ocean, Jörmungandr grew to immense size. He apparently grew so large his body ran the circumference of the Earth and he could place his tail in his mouth.

Naturally all great Serpents must have an enemy, and in this case Jörmungandr's arch enemy is the God Thor. Legend has it that the last meeting between the serpent and Thor is predicted to occur at Ragnarök (an epic battle for supremacy) when Jörmungandr will come out of the ocean and poison the sky. Thor will kill Jörmungandr and then walk nine paces before falling dead, having been poisoned by the serpent's venom.

There isn't anything particularly unusual about Jörmungandr as a serpent, with the except of his massive size and his unique family. Most cultures have a serpent mythology. If you're interested in sea serpents (and seriously why wouldn't you be?!) Here are some other very interesting serpent like beasties to check out.

Bobbi-Bobbi - Australian Aboriginal benevolent mythical serpent.
Kolowisi - Zuni Northern American mythical serpent
Yofune-Nushi - Japanese malevolent sea serpent, with a very similar story to George & the Dragon.

I got this massive list from the Mythical Creatures List - which is a great resource if you're looking for something unusual to ad to your creature data base!

If you liked the one's above, I'm sure you'll find something even more exciting there.

Have a wonderful week!

Monday, February 27, 2012

Character interviews... what would you like to know?

Well, for an upcoming guest blog and give away, I have been asked to interview Lugh!

Lugh - for those of you unaware, is one my secondary characters and makes an appearance in every book in the Magic Series.

So, my question to you is, what questions would you ask Lugh if you had the chance?

Good Reads Give Away - Mimosa Black

Just letting you all know, that Mimosa is up as Goodreads Book Giveaway

Mimosa Black

by Nicola E. Sheridan

Released December 07 2011

Giveaway ends in 22 days (March 21, 2012)
1 copy available, 605 people requesting

Enter to win

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Teaser for you...it's nearly done!

Lucian heard the crack of the Pater Rex’s magic before he felt it. Raw pain screamed through his body, his face was on fire, burning. Heat licked his face with hundreds of hot evil tongues. This time he couldn’t suppress a roar.

“Just take the damn wish Lucian!”

Friday, February 10, 2012

Monkeying about with... Varanas!

[image courtesy : http://paizo.com]

Vānara (Sanskrit: वानर) popularly refers to a group of ape-like humanoids in the Hindu epic Ramayana who were brave and inquisitive by nature. They possessed supernatural powers and could shape shift.
The term Vanara can be described as forest-dweller (vane carati iti vanara). [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanara]

Vanaras were created by Brahma and the other Gods to help in battle. They are powerful and have many godly traits. Taking Brahma's orders, the Gods began to parent sons in the semblance of monkeys (Ramayana 1.17.8). The Vanaras took birth in bears and monkeys attaining the shape and valor of the gods and goddesses who created them (Ramayana 1.17.17-18). After Vanaras were created they began to organize into armies and spread across the forests.

Personality wise, the Varanas are considered to be amusing, childish, mildly irritating, badgering, hyperactive, adventurous, bluntly honest, loyal, courageous, and kind.

[picture courtesy: exoticindiaart]

One of the most famous Varanas is Hanuman (check out the link for a super interesting myth). Hanuman is considered a deity and a central character in Ramayana. There are a lot of clips on youtube that depict Hanuman and some of the stories around him (spoken in Hindi). Here's one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzOBZMV7aw8&feature=related)

One of the other interesting features of Hanuman in particular, was his ability to shape shift. He could shrink himself to the size of a cat, and also magically grow to the size of a mountain (hello King Kong!)

Vanaras were also described in the epic Mahabharata, as one of theVanaras were described as one of the Exotic Tribes of Ancient India.

All up, a very cool and interesting mythological creature, and one that is still worshipped today.

Monday, February 6, 2012

What are you interested in?

OK, so I've been absolutely flat out with University so I have been unable to prepare an interesting post on mythological creatures for you... However, I'm going to list a few here, and if you comment and tell me which you're most interested in, I'll do my next blog on one. and perhaps add one to a book! :)

Undines - Beatiful water elementals.

[photo courtesy: Creative Uncut ]

Salamanders - wrathful fire elementals.

[photo courtesy; bop myspace ]

The Kitsune - fox like women with potentially demonic traits.

[photo courtesy; fanpop ]

The Perytion - hybrid creature with head & feet of a stag, with the shadow of human.

[photo courtesy: fine art America ]

The Rangda - ferocious femal folk demon of Balinese culture.

Photo courtesy: http://giantbomb.com]

The Vanara - brave beings shorter than human with light broun hair and simian faces.