Magical Creatures Revisited:

the Dark Side

    

    Usually when you hear the words Magical Creatures, you think of unicorns and fairies, dragons and elves. The list of Magical Creatures also includes a whole host of not so nice beasts. These beings are commonly considered to be demonic or evil in nature, although some may be what they are due to spells or enchantments cast on them.

     Medusa was just such a Magical Creature. As the legend tells, Medusa was a very beautiful woman who offended Athena, goddess of war and peace, by bragging that she was more beautiful than the goddess.  Athena became extremely angry and cast an unbreakable enchantment on Medusa, turning her beauty to horrible ugliness, and her hair to live serpents. To look directly upon her features would turn any person to stone. According to the story, Medusa was killed by Perseus, and her head presented to Athena.

     Another such Magical Creature is the vampire, reputedly a demon or an animated corpse that leaves its grave each night to hunt humans for blood. Due to the nature of these cursed Magical Creatures, anyone who is drained of blood by them becomes just like them. Belief in vampires has existed since the earliest times; giving rise to many fantastic legends and fanciful superstitions, such as the belief that garlic and crosses repel them. There are supposedly only two ways to kill a vampire. Either a stake must be driven through its heart, or it must be completely burned to ashes. In the ancient tales, the vampire was usually a demon or god, however, in more recent superstitious lore, it has become a person who died as an evil sorcerer, suicide, or criminal, and was therefore cursed at their moment of death to walk the earth as an undead Magical Creature. The most famous of vampires is Count Dracula.

     Some of the other mysterious brutes on the Magical Creature list have been made more familiar through not only older fables and stories, but also some of our more modern writer’s imaginary worlds, such as Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, and Rowling’s Harry Potter fantasies. Trolls, goblins, giants, and the basilisk are all there. Dragons have also joined the ranks of not so nice Magical Creatures, having turned into evil, lazy, greedy beasts from their ancient original status as humanity’s helpers.

     Trolls, also known as ogres, are a large, hideous humanoid race, and appear in myths and legends of Magical Creatures the world over under various names. They are another species which prey on humanity for food and treasure, but are usually easily overcome by adventurers meeting them, due to their low level of intelligence.

     The basilisk is another dark Magical Creature that has gained increased popularity through modern fantasy literature, as well as folklore. The basilisk is referred to as the “king of serpents”, due to the crown shaped crest on the top of its head. Basilisks are said to be miraculously hatched by a cockerel from the egg of a serpent. To look into their eyes is instant death, giving us the phrase “if looks could kill”, and its breath is also poisonous. The basilisk is reputedly vulnerable to only one thing, the crowing of a rooster.

     There are many more fascinating and mysterious dark Magical Creatures than we have time or space to discuss here. They can be found throughout the wealth of extraordinary fables, fantasies, and superstitions of our world.

                                                                                                                           

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