This is for all the people out there who write stories and are on one about mythical creatures. it's got all the good stuff--well, not all of it, I'm not quite done yet, but here is what i have so far.
Angels - Winged messengers from heaven, usually in human form. Represent loving, guiding forces who assist God. Angels are often depicted as healing, resucing, comforting, or otherwise helping human beings who are in need.
Brownies - invisible elves who live with families in houses and assist those who live there. Sometimes a child might catch a glimpse of them but they do not appear to adults. They are considered to be very helpful and a benefit to have around.
Centaurs - Creatures who are half-man and half-horse who appear in many mythological stories.
Cherubim - A spirit of heaven, usually childlike and human but sometimes depicted as a winged animal. They are benevolent beings who assist humans in many ways, including finding love.
Doppleganger - A duplicate of a person or creature. Sometimes, a Doppleganger can appear as flesh and blood, other times it can be an astral projection or a ghost.
Dragons - A mythical creature with great variant in its description. May be evil or good. Some are seen as protector-guardians, either of people or places. Others are fierce and cruel and one must slay them. They typically breathe fire and many have wings.
Dryads - Feminine spirits of nature that reside in the forest. Different ones protect and nurture various species of plant life and/or trees. Often, it is said, they seek revenge upon those who have damaged the forest.
Elementals - Forces of Nature; Spirits of Nature
EARTH: Keepers of the Earth, they resemble stones and rocks in the texture of their skin. Although they may appear to be somewhat human in appearance as well, they move very slowly and smash their targets into bits. Earth Elementals have the power to direct earthquakes into various places.
AIR: Keepers of the Sky, they can sometimes appear as cloud-like beings, swift and semi-transparent. They can direct the paths of wind storms and tornadoes in order to destroy targets.
FIRE: Keepers of the Flame. They can direct fire to shoot and spread anywhere with one flick of their fiery wrists. They sometimes appear within flickering flames, from where they watch the escapades of human beings.
WATER: Keepers of the Sea. They direct waves, hurricanes and whirlpools, causing the energy of water to abide by their will. They can often be seen within a rocking sea, frolicking among the foamy waves.
Gargoyles - Winged creatures that sit atop tall buidings and keep watch. Their purpose is to ward off evil spirits. They can sit so still, they appear to be made of stone but at any moment they can dive down upon their prey below.
Giants - Huge, often violent human-like creatures that cause fear in the people who encounter them. In ancient Greece, giants were defeated in battle and were imprisoned under the earth. It is said whenever a volcano erupts, it is a giant trying to get out.
Gnomes - Very small human-like folks who stand just one or two feet tall. They like to live in gardens and are protectors of nature. Most of them are friendly enough to humans, but some of them can be tricky as well.
Griffon - A creature with the head and wings of an eagle, the body of a lion or tiger, front feet with talons and the tail of a scorpion. Can be a great asset to humans if fighting on their side because they are very fierce. Huge creatures, they can easily carry a human being through the air.
Leprechaun - Merry little human-like creatures who live close to humans but do not like to be seen by them very often. They can be very helpful, like Brownies, and will exchange good luck and other treasures for goods they can use.
Merfolk - People with fish tails who live in the water. Mermaids are sometimes reportedly seen sitting on rocks in the sea and singing to the sailors. When in trouble, Merfolk can call all the creatures of the sea to come to their aid.
Ogres - Human-like folks who stand twice as tall as humans and are built very strong and heavy. They are not very smart, but they are not cruel or evil, although they do enjoy a good fight.
Pegasus - A winged horse, usually white, that can fly. Highly intelligent, they can assist humans in many adventures by carrying them across land and sea.
Pheonix - A bird who sings a beautiful song and carries human prayers on its wings to heaven. When the Pheonix dies, it dies in fire and from this fire, a new Pheonix rises from the ashes.
Pixie - Tiny folk who live among the countryside. They are hard workers and can help crops and flowers to grow, but they also like to play tricks on humans. They have been known to even come inside houses in order to hide things so they cannot be found, or to make a mess.
Sphinx - A winged creature with a lion's body and a human head, usually a female head. They can be very dangerous and will sometimes kill those who cannot answer their riddles.
Unicorn - A horse-like creature with a horn growing out of its forehead. Healing powders are held within this horn which can prevent poison from harming people. Unicorns are very magical and powerful, and keep themselves hidden from humans so that their powers are not misused.
Atlantis - Known as the world's first intelligent civilization, as first described by Plato. Leaders in technology, architecture and other brilliant inventions, they were eventually lost to the bottom of the sea.
Avalon - An enchanted and mysterious island that was positioned among 'the mists.' Hidden to most of the world, this island was where the powerful women of King Arthur's time lived out their lives in service to the Goddess.
Camelot - The famous castle and grounds where the legendary King Arthur lived and reigned.
Delphi - A shrine in Greece that emerged from the center of the Earth. It used to be that all important political decisions had to be made here.
Eden - A garden of paradise where God's first created humans lived before he thew them out.
Lemuria - An ancient land where egg-laying ape-like creatures lived.
Olympus - The mountain of the Gods in northern Greece.
Thebes - A famous city where Odeipus lived. It was later destroyed by those who were fighting over who would rule.
Troy - A place that engaged in war for ten years, all because of a beautiful woman named Helen.
Celtic Gods & Goddesses
Branwyn - Goddess of love, sexuality and the sea
Bridget - Goddess of fertility, feminine creativity, martial arts and healing
Cernunnos - The 'Horned God', God of Nature, Animals, Fertility and the Underworld
Cerridwen - Moon Goddess, Goddess of Dark Prophecy and the Underworld
Coventina - Goddess of Rivers, Abundance, Inspiration and Prophecy
The Crone - One of the Triple Goddess Aspects, Goddess of Old Age, Winter and the Waning Moon
Eostre - Goddess of Spring, Rebirth, Fertility and New Beginnings
Epona - Horse Goddess, Goddess of Prosperity, Healing, Nurturance and Sustainence
Latis - Goddess of Water and Beer
Lugh - Sun God, God of War, Mastery, Magic and Good Harvest
Morrigan - Goddess of War, Revenge, Night, Magic and Prophecy. Queen of Fairies and Witches
The Triple Goddess - The Maiden, Mother and Crone all at once. Moon, Creator, Destroyer
British, Scottish, Irish, Welsh Gods & Goddesses
Amaethon (Welsh) - God of Agriculture, Master of Magic
Arawn (Welsh) - God of the Hunt and the Underworld
Arianrhod (Welsh) - Star and Sky Goddess, Goddess of Beauty, Full Moon and Magical Spells
Badb (Irish) - Goddess of War, Death and Rebirth
Caillech (Scottish, Irish, Welsh) - Goddess of Weather, Earth, Sky, Seasons, Moon and Sun
Cliodna (Irish, Scottish) - Goddess of Beauty and of Other Realms
Creide (Irish, Scottish) - Goddess of Women and Fairies
The Green Man (Welsh) - God of the Woodlands, of Life Energy and Fertility
Morgan LeFay (Welsh) - Goddess of Death, Fate, the Sea and of Curses
Oghma (Scottish, Irish) - God of Communication and Writing, and of Poets
Rhiannon (Welsh) - Goddess of Birds, Horses, Enchantments, Fertility and the Underworld
Skatha (Welsh) - Goddess of the Underworld, Darkness, Magic, Prophecy and Martial Arts
Chinese Gods & Goddesses
Ch'eng-Huang - God of Moats and Walls
Kuan Ti - God of War, the Great Judge
Kwan Yin - Goddess of Mercy and Compassion
Lei Kun - God of Thunder; chases evil away
P'an-Chin-Lien - Goddess of Prostitutes
Ti-Tsang Wang - God of Mercy
T'shai-shen - God of Wealth
Tsao Wang - God of the Hearth and Family
Yeng-Wang-Yeh - Lord of Judgment and Death
Yu-Huang-Shang-Ti - God of the Sky, Father of Heaven
Greek & Roman Gods and Goddesses
Aphrodite (Greek) - Goddess of Love (Venus)
Apollo (Greek) - God of Civilization and the Arts
Ares (Greek) - God of War (Mars)
Artemis (Greek) - Goddess of Childbirth and Hunting (Diana)
Athena (Greek) - Goddess of War, Wisdom and Arts (Minerva)
Ceres (Roman) - Goddess of Agriculture and Good Harvest (Demeter)
Cupid (Roman) - The God of Love
Demeter (Greek) - Goddess of Earth, Agriculture and Fertility (Ceres)
Diana (Roman) - Goddess of the Hunt and Protector of Children (Artemis)
Dionysos (Greek) - God of Wine
Eos (Greek) - Goddess of the Dawn, Mother of the West Wind
Hades (Greek) - God of the Underworld and the Dead (Pluto)
********* (Greek) - Goddess of Eternal Youth
Hecate (Greek) - Goddess of the Underworld, Witchcraft and Black Magic
Hera (Greek) - Goddess of Marriage, Family and Home
Hermes (Greek) - God of Merchants (Mercury)
Hestia (Greek) - Goddess of Hearth, Fire and Family Life
Hypnos (Greek) - God of Sleep
Jupiter (Roman) - King of the Gods (Zeus)
Mars (Roman) - God of War (Ares)
Mercury (Roman) - God of Merchants (Hermes)
Minerva (Roman) Goddess of Wisdom, War and Crafts (Athena)
Morpheus (Greek) - God of Dreams
Nemesis (Greek) - Goddess of Vengeance
Nike(Greek) - Goddess of Victory
Persephone (Greek) - Goddess of Fertility and Nature
Pluto (Roman) - God of the Underworld and the Dead (Hades)
Poseidon (Greek) - God of Horses, Earthquakes, Storms and the Sea
Selene (Greek) - Goddess of the Moon
Triton (Greek) - Merman Sea God
Venus (Roman) - Goddess of Love, Protector of Gardens (Aphrodite)
Zeus (Greek) - Ruler of the Gods (Jupiter)
Norse Gods & Goddesses
Freya - Goddess of Love, Beauty, War, Magic and Wisdom
Freyr - God of Fertility and Success
Frigga - Goddess Mother of All, Protector of Children
Hel - Goddess of the Dead and the Afterlife
Loki - God of Fire, Trickster God
Odin - God of all Men, Father of all Gods
Skadi - Goddess of Winter and Hunting
Thor - God of Sky and Thunder
Tyr - God of War and Law
India's Gods & Goddesses
Brahma - God of the Triniity
Durga - Goddess beyond reach; also known as Shakti (Life Energy) and Parvati (Family Unity)
Ganesha - God who Removes Obstacles, God of Knowledge
Gauri - Goddess of Purity and Austerity
Hanuman - Monkey God, provider of Courage, Hope, Knowledge, Intellect and Devotion
Kali - Goddess of Destruction
Krishna - God of Power and Bravery
Lakshmi - Goddess of Prosperity, Purity, Chastity, and Generosity
Rama - Hero God, Preserver of Families, Destroyer of Evil
Sarasvati - Goddess of Speech, Wisdom and Learning
Shiva - God of Giving and Happiness, Creator
Vishnu - God of Courage, Knowledge and Power; Also known as Hari the Remover
Sumerian Gods & Goddesses
An - God of the Heavens
Enki - Lord of Water and Wisdom
Enlil - God of Air and Storms
Ereshkigal - Goddess of Darkness, Gloom and Death
Inanna - Goddess of Love and War
Ki - Goddess of the Earth
Nammu - Goddess of the Sea
Ninhursag - Goddess of the Earth, Fertility
Utu - Sun God, God of Justice
African Gods & Goddesses
Amun - King of the Gods
Ani-lbo - Goddess of Birth, Death, Happiness and Love
Anubis - God of the Dead
Atum - First God, God of Perfection
Bastet - Goddess of Protection
Bes - Goddess of Childbirth and Family; Protection for Children, Pregnant Women and Families
Geb - God of the Earth
Hathor - Goddess of Love and Joy
Horus - God of the Sky, Ruler of Egypt
Isis - Goddess of Protection and Magic
Leza - Creator who is Compassionate and Merciful (Rhodesia)
Ma'at - Goddess of Truth, Justice and Harmony
Nephthys - Goddess of the Dead
Ngai - High God, Creator and Giver of All Things (East Africa)
Nun - God of Water and Chaos
Nut - Goddess of the Sky who Covers the Earth
Nzambi - Unapproachable God, Sovereign Master
Obatala - Goddess of Earth and People, Creator
Osiris - God of the Dead, Ruler of the Underworld
Ra - Sun God
Raluvhimba - God of the Heavens, Creator
Seshat - Goddess of Writing and Measurement
Seth - God of Chaos
Thoth - God of Writing and Knowledge
Wadjet - Cobra Goddess, Protector of the King
Birth of the Jersey Devil
A storm was raging one night in 1735, when Mother Leeds was brought to bed in child birth. The room was full of woman folk gathered to help her, more out of curiosity than good will. They had all heard the rumors that Mother Leeds was involved in witchcraft, and had sworn she would give birth to a devil.
Tension mounted when at last the baby arrived. It was a relief (and to some a disappointment), when the baby was born completely normal. But a few moments later, before their terrified eyes, the child began to change. The room erupted with screams as the child grew at an enormous rate, becoming taller than a man and changing into a beast which resembled a dragon, with a head like a horse, a snake-like body and bat's wings.
As soon as it was full-grown, the monster began beating all the woman (including his mother) with its thick, forked tail. With a harsh cry, it flew through the chimney and vanished into the storm.
The Monster of Leeds, or the Jersey Devil as he was later called, still haunts the pines of New Jersey, wrecking havoc upon farmer's crops and livestock, poisoning pools and creeks, and appearing on the Jersey shore just before a ship wreck.
Cowboys in Heaven
After cow punching for nigh on fifty years, a Texas cowboy went on to his reward. There was considerable excitement in heaven when he reached the pearly gates. The arrival of a real Texan cowboy was considered something of an event in heaven. Saint Peter himself came right over and insisted on giving the cowpoke a tour. Things were right friendly-like until the cowboy spotted half-a-dozen cowpokes staked out like broncos.
"Why are all those men staked out?" he asked Saint Peter.
Saint Peter replied: "Those are cowboys from the Panhandle. Every time we let them loose, they try to go back to Texas!"
Mississippi Mosquitoes
A visitor to Mississippi decided to take a walk along the river in the cool of the evening. His host warned him that the mosquitoes in the area had been acting up lately, tormenting the alligators until they moved down the river. But the visitor just laughed and told his host he wasn't to be put off from his evening constitutional by a few mosquitoes.
As he promenaded beside the flowing Mississippi, he heard the whirling sound of a tornado. Looking up, he saw two mosquitoes descend upon him. They lifted him straight up in the air and carried him out over the river.
"Shall we eat him on the bank or in the swamp?" he heard one ask the other.
"We'd better eat him on the bank," said the other. "Or else the big mosquitoes in the swamp will take him away from us."
Frightened near to death, the man lashed out at the mosquitoes until they lost their grip and dropped him into the river. He was carried two miles downstream before he was fished out by a riverboat pilot. The man left Mississippi the next day, and has never gone for another walk from that day to this.
Pecos Bill Rides a Tornado
Now everyone in the West knows that Pecos Bill could ride anything. No bronco could throw him, no sir! Fact is, I only heard of Bill getting' throwed once in his whole career as a cowboy. Yep, it was that time he was up Kansas way and decided to ride him a tornado.
Now Bill wasn't gonna ride jest any tornado, no ma'am. He waited for the biggest gol-durned tornado you ever saw. It was turning the sky black and green, and roaring so loud it woke up the farmers away over in China. Well, Bill jest grabbed that there tornado, pushed it to the ground and jumped on its back. The tornado whipped and whirled and sidewinded and generally cussed its bad luck all the way down to Texas. Tied the rivers into knots, flattened all the forests so bad they had to rename one place the Staked Plains. But Bill jest rode along all calm-like, give it an occasional jab with his spurs.
Finally, that tornado decided it wasn't getting this cowboy off its back no-how. So it headed west to California and jest rained itself out. Made so much water it washed out the Grand Canyon. That tornado was down to practically nothing when Bill finally fell off. He hit the ground so hard it sank below sea level. Folks call the spot Death Valley.
Anyway, that's how rodeo got started. Though most cowboys stick to broncos these days.
Healthy Climate
California must be the healthiest state in the union, yes sir! I know of one chap who's grandfather lived to be 200 years old. The old man got awful tired of living after awhile, but couldn't seem to sicken and die.
Finally, his relatives tactfully suggested he try traveling away from California. And sure enough, it worked. The old man took sick not long after leaving and died.
It was part of his last request that they bury him in California; so his heir had his body shipped home. But wouldn't you know it, as soon as he crossed the border into California, the old man revived and rose right out of his coffin, as spry as ever. His heir suggested more travel, but the old man decided to stick it out until his time came.
*Above tall tales re-told by S. E. Schlosser
The Story of Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan was the biggest baby ever born to the world! He was too big to fit inside the house, so his father built him a cradle to put in the water. As Baby Paul slept in the water cradle, his father followed alongside it in a boat so he could keep an eye on him. When Baby Paul began to snore, his father thought the noise was coming from an approaching thunderstorm!
When Paul Bunyan grew up, he decided to become a lumberjack, because he could fell an entire forest with one swing of his axe. The other lumberjacks were glad for his help, since he made their work so much easier. They did have to feed him an awful lot, though. Paul Bunyan loved to eat, especially pancakes. One day, a woman came into the logging camp kitchen and asked the cook, "Why are those logs over there piled up to the ceiling?"
"Those aren't logs," the cook replied. "Those are sausages for Paul Bunyan."
One day, during a heavy snowstorm, Paul Bunyan was out walking and bumped into a mountain. When he looked down, he saw two blue ears sticking out of the snow. He yanked on the ears and pulled up a baby blue ox. He decided to keep the ox and took it home with him. The next day, the snow had melted and Paul Bunyan saw that the baby ox had eaten three entire fields of hay! This was going to be one big ox, for sure. Paul Bunyan called the ox "Babe" and the two of them became fast friends.
Well, Babe got so big that when he and Paul Bunyan walked around Minnesota, they formed ten thousand lakes with their footprints. Minnesota has been known ever since as the 'Land of Ten Thousand Lakes.'
The Dog and the Shadow
Once there was a Dog who had gotten himself a piece of meat and was carrying it home in his mouth to eat it in peace. On his way home he had to cross a plank lying across a running brook. As he crossed, he looked down and saw his own shadow reflected in the water beneath. Thinking it was another dog with another piece of meat, he made up his mind to have that also. So he made a snap at the shadow in the water, but as he opened his mouth the piece of meat fell out, dropped into the water and was never seen more.
"BEWARE LEST YOU LOSE THE SUBSTANCE BY GRASPING AT THE SHADOW.”
Aesop's Fables
The Lion and the Mouse
Once when a Lion was asleep, a little Mouse began running up and down upon him, which soon awakened the Lion, who placed his huge paw upon him, and opened his big jaws to swallow him. “Pardon, O King,” cried the little Mouse: “forgive me this time, I shall never forget it: who knows but what I may be able to do you a turn some of these days?”
The Lion was so tickled at the idea of the Mouse being able to help him that he lifted up his paw and let him go. Some time afterward, the Lion was caught in a trap and the hunters, who desired to carry him alive to the King, tied him to a tree while they went in search of a wagon to carry him on. Just then the little Mouse happened to pass by, and seeing the sad plight in which the Lion was, soon gnawed away the ropes that bound the King of the Beasts. “Was I not right?” said the little Mouse.
“LITTLE FRIENDS MAY PROVE GREAT FRIENDS.”
Aesop's Fables
The Fox and the Grapes
One hot summer’s day a Fox was strolling through an orchard untill he happened upon a bunch of grapes just ripening on a vine which had been trained over a lofty branch. “Just the things to quench my thirst,” quoth he. Drawing back a few paces, he took a run and a jump, and just missed the bunch. Turning round again with a One, Two, Three, he jumped up, but with no greater success. Again and again he tried after the tempting morsel, but at last had to give it up, and walked away with his nose in the air, saying: “I am sure they are sour.”
“IT IS EASY TO DESPISE WHAT YOU CANNOT GET.”
Aesop's Fables
The Seagull and the Kite
A seagull having bolted down too large a fish, burst its deep
gullet-bag and lay down on the shore to die. A Kite saw him and
exclaimed: "You richly deserve your fate; for a bird of the air
has no business to seek its food from the sea."
"EVERY MAN SHOULD BE CONTENT TO MIND HIS OWN BUSINESS"
Aesop's Fables
Chinese Proverbs
- Different flowers look good to different people
- There is no wave without wind.
- A leopard cannot change its spots
- If you are in a hurry you will never get there.
- Matrimony is the grave of romance.
- A child's words have no guile.
- You cannot fight a fire with water from far away.
- In shallow waters, shrimps make fools of dragons.
- If you plant melons , you get melons; if you plant beans, you get beans.
- Water thrown out is hard to put back into the container.
- Road is made by people walking on the ground .
- One's true nature is revealed in time of difficulty.
- To cultivate trees, you need 10 years. To cultivate people, you need 100 years.
- One step in the wrong direction will cause you a thousand years of regret.
- The saddest thing is the death of the heart.
- A single conversation with a wise man is better than ten years of study.
- You won't help shoots grow by yanking on them.
- A closed mind is like a closed book; just a block of wood
- A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.
- Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.
- He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
- If you are patient in a moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.
- Once on a tiger's back, it is hard to alight.
- One never needs their humor as much a when they argue with a fool.
- To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.
- Great souls have wills; feeble ones have only wishes.
- A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
Hatian Proverbs
- A Monkey never thinks her baby is ugly
- The donkey sweats so the horse can be decorated with lace
- To speak French does not mean you are smart
- If work were a good thing, the rich would have grabbed it a long time ago.
Proverbs of Tibet
- Better than the young man's knowledge is the old man's experience
- If the inner mind is not deluded, the outer actions will not be wrong.
- The wise man's wealth lies in good deeds that follow ever after him.
- Cling not to experiences for ever-changing are they
- Rebellious thoughts are like an abandoned house overtaken by robbers.
- Having drunk the country's water, one should obey the country's laws
African Proverbs
- Even a close friend cannot rescue one from old age
- Do not follow a person who is running away
- A man's wealth may be superior to him
- Do not tell the man carrying you that he stinks
- The eye is a coward
- A man who dictates separates himself from others
- A hyena cannot smell its own stench
- A crime eats its own child
- It takes a whole village to raise a child
- You must judge a man by the work of his hands
- A child's hand is not burned by hot yam which is placed into his palm by his mother
- Do not look where you fall but where you slipped
- Having a good discussion is like having riches
- Lack of knowledge is darker than night
- The bitter heart eats its owner
- Even the mightiest eagle comes down to the treetops to rest
- To love a king is not bad, but a king who loves you is better
Irish Proverbs
- There is no use in carrying an umbrella if your shoes are leaking
- Take gifts with a sigh because most men give in order to be paid
- The older the fiddle, the sweeter the tune
- If you put a silk dress on a goat, he is a goat still
- A nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse
- If the knitter is weary, the baby will have no clothes
- The best way to keep loyalty in a man's heart is to keep money in his purse
English Proverbs
- Opportunity seldom knocks twice
- The first step is usually the hardest
- The early bird catches the worm
- There's no fool like an old fool
- Things are not always what they seem
- One good turn deserves another
- Love is blind
- Let sleeping dogs lie
- Life is just a bowl of cherries
- Laughter is the best medicine
- Justice delayed is justice denied
- It never rains but it pours
- All good things must come to an end
- A man's home is his castle
- Actions speak louder than words
- A fool and his money are soon parted
- A friend in need is a friend indeed
- Only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches
- Practice makes perfect
- The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence
- There's no place like home
Aping a Beauty
Xi Shi, a famous beauty, had a pain in her bosom, so she had a frown on her face when she went out. An ugly girl who lived nearby saw her and thought she looked very beautiful. Therefore when she went home, she also put her hands on her bosom and had a frown on her face.
When a rich man in the neighbourhood saw her, he shut his doors tightly and did not go out. When a poor man saw her, he took his wife and children and gave her a wide berth.
She only knew Xi Shi's frown looked beautiful but she did not know the reason for its beauty.
Chinese Fable
His Spear Against His Shield
A man of the state of Chu had a spear and a shield for sale. He was loud in praises of his shield.
"My shield is so strong that nothing can pierce it through." He also sang praises of his spear.
"My spear is so strong that it can pierce through anything."
"What would happen," he was asked, "if your spear is used to pierce your shield?"
It is impossible for an impenetrable shield to coexist with a spear that finds nothing impenetrable.
Chinese Fable
Making His Mark
A man from the state of Chu was crossing a river. In the boat, his sword fell into the water. Immediately he made a mark on the boat. "This is where my sword fell off," he said.
When the boat stopped moving, he went into the water to look for his sword at the place where he had marked the boat. The boat had moved but the sword had not. Is this not a very foolish way to look for a sword?
Chinese Fable
Wise Sayings From Ben Franklin
- Necessity never made a good bargain
- Three may keep a secret if two of them are dead
- Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise
- The worst wheel of a cart makes the most noise
- Keep your eyes wide open before marriage; half-shut afterward
- Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other
- When the well's dry, we know the use of the water
- Little strokes fell great oaks
- Fish and visitors stink after three days
- Well done is better than well said
- What you seem to be, be really
- There are more old drunkards than old doctors
- Love your neighbor, yet don't pull down your hedge
- The discontented man finds no easy chair
- He that speaks much is much mistaken
- Silence is not always a sign of wisdom but babbling is ever a folly
- There was never a good war or a bad peace
The term "mythology" sometimes refers to the study of myths and sometimes refers to a body of myths.[1][2] For example, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures,[3] whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece. The term "myth" is often used colloquially to refer to a false story;[4][5] however, the academic use of the term generally does not refer to truth or falsity.[5][6] In the field of folkloristics, a myth is conventionally defined as a sacred narrative explaining how the world and humankind came to be in their present form.[7][6][8] Many scholars in other academic fields use the term "myth" in somewhat different ways.[8][9][10] In a very broad sense, the term can refer to any traditional story.[11][12][13]
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Nature of myths
o 1.1 Typical characteristics
o 1.2 Related concepts
• 2 Origins of myth
o 2.1 Euhemerism
o 2.2 Allegory
o 2.3 Personification
o 2.4 The myth-ritual theory
• 3 Functions of myth
• 4 The study of mythology: a historical overview
o 4.1 Pre-modern theories
o 4.2 19th-century theories
o 4.3 20th-century theories
• 5 Comparative mythology
• 6 See also
• 7 Notes
• 8 Sources
• 9 Further reading
• 10 External links
[edit] Nature of myths
[edit] Typical characteristics
The main characters in myths are usually gods or supernatural heroes.[14][15][16] As sacred stories, myths are often endorsed by rulers and priests and closely linked to religion.[14] In the society in which it is told, a myth is usually regarded as a true account of the remote past.[14][17][18][15] In fact, many societies have two categories of traditional narrative—(1) "true stories", or myths, and (2) "false stories", or fables.[19][20] Myths generally take place in a primordial age, when the world had not yet achieved its current form.[14] They explain how the world gained its current form[21][22][8][23] and how customs, institutions, and taboos were established.[14][23]
[edit] Related concepts
Closely related to myth are legend and folktale. Myths, legends, and folktales are different types of traditional story.[24] Unlike myths, folktales can take place at any time and any place, and they are not considered true or sacred even by the societies that tell them.[14] Like myths, legends are stories that are traditionally considered true; however, they are set in a more recent time, when the world was much as it is today.[14] Also, legends generally feature humans as their main characters, whereas myths generally focus on superhuman characters.[14]
The distinction between myth, legend, and folktale is meant simply as a useful tool for grouping traditional stories.[25] In many cultures, it is hard to draw a sharp line between myths and legends.[26][27] Instead of dividing their traditional stories into myths, legends, and folktales, some cultures divide them into two categories — one that roughly corresponds to folktales, and one that combines myths and legends.[28] Even myths and folktales are not completely distinct: a story may be considered true — and therefore a myth — in one society, but considered fictional — and therefore a folktale — in another society.[29][30] In fact, when a myth loses its status as part of a religious system, it often takes on traits more typical of folktales, with its formerly divine characters reinterpreted as human heroes, giants, or fairies.[15]
Myth, legend, and folktale are only a few of the categories of traditional stories. Other categories include anecdotes and some kinds of jokes.[25] Traditional stories, in turn, are only one category within folklore, which also includes items such as gestures, costumes, and music.[30]
[edit] Origins of myth
[edit] Euhemerism
Main article: Euhemerus
One theory claims that myths are distorted accounts of real historical events.[31][32] According to this theory, storytellers repeatedly elaborated upon historical accounts until the figures in those accounts gained the status of gods.[31][32] For example, one might argue that the myth of the wind-god Aeolus evolved from a historical account of a king who taught his people to use sails and interpret the winds.[31] Herodotus and Prodicus made claims of this kind.[32] This theory is named "euhemerism" after the novelist Euhemerus (c.320 BC), who suggested that the Greek gods developed from legends about human beings.[33][32]
[edit] Allegory
Some theories propose that myths began as allegories. According to one theory, myths began as allegories for natural phenomena: Apollo represents fire, Poseidon represents water, and so on.[32] According to another theory, myths began as allegories for philosophical or spiritual concepts: Athena represents wise judgment, Aphrodite represents desire, etc.[32] The 19th century Sanskritist Max Muller supported an allegorical theory of myth. He believed that myths began as allegorical descriptions of nature, but gradually came to be interpreted literally: for example, a poetic description of the sea as "raging" was eventually taken literally, and the sea was then thought of as a raging god.[34]
[edit] Personification
Some thinkers believe that myths resulted from the personification of inanimate objects and forces. According to these thinkers, the ancients worshipped natural phenomena such as fire and air, gradually coming to describe them as gods.[35] For example, according to the theory of mythopoeic thought, the ancients tended to view things as persons, not as mere objects;[36] thus, they described natural events as acts of personal gods, thus giving rise to myths.[37]
See also: Mythopoeic thought
[edit] The myth-ritual theory
According to the myth-ritual theory, the existence of myth is tied to ritual.[38] In its most extreme form, this theory claims that myths arose to explain rituals.[39] This claim was first put forward by the biblical scholar William Robertson Smith.[40] According to Smith, people begin performing rituals for some reason that is not related to myth; later, after they have forgotten the original reason for a ritual, they try to account for the ritual by inventing a myth and claiming that the ritual commemorates the events described in that myth.[41] The anthropologist James Frazer had a similar theory. Frazer believed that primitive man starts out with a belief in magical laws; later, when man begins to lose faith in magic, he invents myths about gods and claims that his formerly magical rituals are religious rituals intended to appease the gods.[42]
See also: Myth and ritual
[edit] Functions of myth
One of the foremost functions of myth is to establish models for behavior.[43][44] The figures described in myth are sacred and are therefore worthy role models for human beings.[44] Thus, myths often function to uphold current social structures and institutions: they justify these customs by claiming that they were established by sacred beings.[45][46]
Another function is to provide people with a religious experience. By retelling myths, human beings detach themselves from the present and return to the mythical age, thereby bringing themselves closer to the divine.[17][47][44] In fact, in some cases, a society will reenact a myth in an attempt to reproduce the conditions of the mythical age: for example, it will reenact the healing performed by a god at the beginning of time in order to heal someone in the present.[48]
[edit] The study of mythology: a historical overview
Historically, the important approaches to the study of mythology have been those of Vico, Schelling, Schiller, Jung, Freud, Lévy-Bruhl, Levi-Strauss, Frye, the Soviet school, and the Myth and Ritual School.[49]
This section describes trends in the interpretation of mythology in general. For interpretations of specific similarities and parallels between the myths of different cultures, see Comparative mythology.
[edit] Pre-modern theories
The critical interpretation of myth goes back as far as the Presocratics.[50] Euhemerus was one of the most important pre-modern mythologists. He interpreted myths as accounts of actual historical events, distorted over many retellings.
Varro distinguished three aspects of theology, besides political (social) and natural (physical) approaches to the divine allowing for a mythical theology.[citation needed]
Interest in polytheistic mythology revived in the Renaissance, with early works on mythography appearing in the 16th century, such as the Theologia mythologica (1532).
[edit] 19th-century theories
The first scholarly theories of myth appeared during the second half of the 19th century.[51] In general, these 19th-century theories framed myth as a failed or obsolete mode of thought, often by interpreting myth as the primitive counterpart of modern science.[52]
For example, E. B. Tylor interpreted myth as an attempt at a literal explanation for natural phenomena: unable to conceive of impersonal natural laws, early man tried to explain natural phenomena by attributing souls to inanimate objects, giving rise to animism.[53] According to Tylor, human thought evolves through various stages, starting with mythological ideas and gradually progressing to scientific ideas. Not all scholars — not even all 19th century scholars — have agreed with this view. For example, Lucien Lévy-Bruhl claimed that "the primitive mentality is a condition of the human mind, and not a stage in its historical development."[54]
Max Muller called myth a "disease of language". He speculated that myths arose due to the lack of abstract nouns and neuter gender in ancient languages: anthropomorphic figures of speech, necessary in such languages, were eventually taken literally, leading to the idea that natural phenomena were conscious beings, gods.[55]
Bertolt Brecht, a theater practitioner stated from his works, Brecht in Theatre, where he speculated myths on wood and corks. It became apparent when a rumor foregrounded his city that immigrants sailed from Spain to the Canary Islands on cork made doors. [56]
The anthropologist James Frazer saw myths as a misinterpretation of magical rituals, which were themselves based on a mistaken idea of natural law.[57] According to Frazer, man begins with an unfounded belief in impersonal magical laws. When he realizes that his applications of these laws don't work, he gives up his belief in natural law, in favor of a belief in personal gods controlling nature — thus giving rise to religious myths. Meanwhile, man continues practicing formerly magical rituals through force of habit, reinterpreting them as reenactments of mythical events. Finally, Frazer contends, man realizes that nature does follow natural laws, but now he discovers their true nature through science. Here, again, science makes myth obsolete: as Frazer puts it, man progresses "from magic through religion to science".[58]
By pitting mythical thought against modern scientific thought, such theories implied that modern man must abandon myth.[59]
[edit] 20th-century theories
Many 20th-century theories of myth rejected the 19th-century theories' opposition of myth and science. In general, "twentieth-century theories have tended to see myth as almost anything but an outdated counterpart to science […] Consequently, moderns are not obliged to abandon myth for science."[60]
Swiss psychologist Carl Jung (1873-1961) and his followers tried to understand the psychology behind world myths. Jung argued that all humans share certain innate unconscious psychological forces, which he called archetypes. These universal archetypes express themselves in the similarities between the myths of different cultures.[61]
Following Jung, Joseph Campbell believed that insights about one’s psychology, gained from reading myths, can be beneficially applied to one’s own life.
Like Jung and Campbell, Claude Levi-Strauss believed that myths reflect patterns in the mind. However, he saw those patterns more as fixed mental structures — specifically, pairs of oppositions (for example raw vs cooked, nature vs culture) — than as unconscious feelings or urges.[62]
In his appendix to Myths, Dreams and Mysteries, and in The Myth of the Eternal Return, Mircea Eliade attributed modern man’s anxieties to his rejection of myths and the sense of the sacred.
Mythopoeia is a term coined by J. R. R. Tolkien for the conscious attempt to create fiction styled like myths.
In the 1950s, Roland Barthes published a series of essays examining modern myths and the process of their creation in his book Mythologies.
[edit] Comparative mythology
Main article: Comparative mythology
Comparative mythology is the systematic comparison of myths from different cultures.[63] It seeks to discover underlying themes that are common to the myths of multiple cultures.[63] In some cases, comparative mythologists use the similarities between different mythologies to argue that those mythologies have a common source. This common source may be a common source of inspiration (e.g. a certain natural phenomenon that inspired similar myths in different cultures) or a common "protomythology" that diverged into the various mythologies we see today.[63]
Nineteenth-century interpretations of myth were often highly comparative, seeking a common origin for all myths.[64] However, modern-day scholars tend to be more suspicious of comparative approaches, avoiding overly general or universal statements about mythology.[65] One exception to this modern trend is Joseph Campbell's book The Hero With a Thousand Faces, which claims that all hero myths follow the same underlying pattern. This theory of a "monomyth" is out of favor with the mainstream study of mythology.[65]
[edit] See also
Mythology portal
General
Comparative mythology, Archetypal literary criticism, Folklore, National myth, Artificial mythology, Legendary creature, Mytheme, Monomyth, Mythical place, Creation myth, Wikipedia Books: Mythology
Mythological archetypes
Culture hero, Death deity, Earth Mother, First man or woman, Hero, Life-death-rebirth deity, Lunar deity, Psychopomp, Sky father, Solar deity, Trickster, Underworld
Myth and religion
Religion and mythology, Magic and mythology, Hindu mythology, Christian mythology (Jesus Christ as myth), Jewish mythology, Islamic mythology
Lists
List of mythologies, List of deities, List of mythical objects, List of species in folklore and mythology, List of species in folklore and mythology by type, List of women warriors in folklore
[edit] Notes
1. ^ Kirk, p. 8
2. ^ "myth", Encyclopædia Britannica
3. ^ Littleton, p. 32
4. ^ Armstrong, p. 7
5. ^ a b Eliade, Myth and Reality, p. 1
6. ^ a b Dundes, Introduction, p. 1
7. ^ Dundes, "Binary", p. 45
8. ^ a b c Dundes, "Madness", p. 147
9. ^ Doty, p. 11-12
10. ^ Segal, p. 5
11. ^ Kirk, "Defining", p. 57
12. ^ Kirk, Myth, p. 74
13. ^ Simpson, p. 3
14. ^ a b c d e f g h Bascom, p. 9
15. ^ a b c "myths", A Dictionary of English Folklore
16. ^ O'Flaherty, p.19: "I think it can be well argued as a matter of principle that, just as 'biography is about chaps', so mythology is about gods."
17. ^ a b Eliade, Myths, Dreams and Mysteries, p. 23
18. ^ Pettazzoni, p. 102
19. ^ Eliade, Myth and Reality, p. 10-11
20. ^ Pettazzoni, p. 99-101
21. ^ Dundes, "Binary", p. 45
22. ^ Dundes, Introduction, p. 1
23. ^ a b Eliade, Myth and Reality, p. 6
24. ^ Bascom, p. 7
25. ^ a b Bascom, p. 10
26. ^ Kirk, Myth, p. 22, 32
27. ^ Kirk, "Defining", p. 55
28. ^ Bascom, p. 17
29. ^ Bascom, p. 13
30. ^ a b Doty, p. 114
31. ^ a b c Bulfinch, p. 194
32. ^ a b c d e f Honko, p. 45
33. ^ "Euhemerism", The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
34. ^ Segal, p. 20
35. ^ Bulfinch, p. 195
36. ^ Frankfort, p. 4
37. ^ Frankfort, p. 15
38. ^ Segal, p. 61
39. ^ Graf, p. 40
40. ^ Meletinsky pp.19-20
41. ^ Segal, p. 63
42. ^ Frazer, p. 711
43. ^ Eliade, Myth and Reality, p. 8
44. ^ a b c Honko, p. 51
45. ^ Eliade, Myth and Reality, pp. 6-7
46. ^ Honko, p. 47
47. ^ Eliade, Myth and Reality, p. 19
48. ^ Honko, p. 49
49. ^ Guy Lanoue, Foreword to Meletinsky, p.viii
50. ^ Segal, p. 1
51. ^ Segal, p. 1
52. ^ Segal, pp. 3-4
53. ^ Segal, p. 4
54. ^ Mâche (1992). Music, Myth and Nature, or The Dolphins of Arion. pp. 8.
55. ^ Segal, p.20
56. ^ Brecht on Theatre, p.64
57. ^ Segal, p.67-68
58. ^ Frazer, p. 711
59. ^ Segal, p. 3
60. ^ Segal, p. 3
61. ^ Boeree
62. ^ Segal, p. 113
63. ^ a b c Littleton, p. 32
64. ^ Leonard
65. ^ a b Northup, p. 8
[edit] Sources
• Bascom, William. "The Forms of Folklore: Prose Narratives". 'Sacred Narrative: Readings in the Theory of Myth. Ed. Alan Dundes. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984. 5-29.
• Bulfinch, Thomas. Bulfinch's Mythology. Whitefish: Kessinger, 2004.
• Doty, William. Myth: A Handbook. Westport: Greenwood, 2004.
• Dundes, Alan. "Binary Opposition in Myth: The Propp/Levi-Strauss Debate in Retrospect". Western Folklore 56 (Winter, 1997): 39-50.
• Dundes, Alan. Introduction. Sacred Narrative: Readings in the Theory of Myth. Ed. Alan Dundes. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984. 1-3.
• Dunes, Alan. "Madness in Method Plus a Plea for Projective Inversion in Myth". Myth and Method. Ed. Laurie Patton and Wendy Doniger. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1996.
• Eliade, Mircea. Myth and Reality. Trans. Willard R. Trask. New York: Harper & Row, 1963.
• Eliade, Mircea. Myths, Dreams and Mysteries. Trans. Philip Mairet. New York: Harper & Row, 1967.
• "Euhemerism". The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. Ed. John Bowker. Oxford University Press, 2000. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. UC - Berkeley Library. 20 March 2009 .
• Frankfort, Henri, et al. The Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man: An Essay on Speculative Thought in the Ancient Near East. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977.
• Frazer, James. The Golden Bough. New York: Macmillan, 1922.
• Graf, Fritz. Greek Mythology. Trans. Thomas Marier. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993.
• Honko, Lauri. "The Problem of Defining Myth". Sacred Narrative: Readings in the Theory of Myth. Ed. Alan Dundes. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984. 41-52.
• Kirk, G.S. Myth: Its Meaning and Functions in Ancient and Other Cultures. Berkeley: Cambridge University Press, 1973.
• Kirk, G.S. "On Defining Myths". Sacred Narrative: Readings in the Theory of Myth. Ed. Alan Dundes. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984. 53-61.
• Leonard, Scott. "The History of Mythology: Part I".Youngstown State University.
• Littleton, Covington. The New Comparative Mythology: An Anthropological Assessment of the Theories of Georges Dumezil. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973.
• Meletinsky, Elea. The Poetics of Myth. Trans. Guy Lanoue and Alexandre Sadetsky. New York: Routledge, 2000.
• "myth." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 21 Mar. 2009 <http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9108748>.
• "myths". A Dictionary of English Folklore. Jacqueline Simpson and Steve Roud. Oxford University Press, 2000. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. UC - Berkeley Library. 20 March 2009 <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t71.e725>.
• Northup, Lesley. "Myth-Placed Priorities: Religion and the Study of Myth". Religious Studies Review 32.1(2006): 5-10.
• O'Flaherty, Wendy. Hindu Myths: A Sourcebook. London: Penguin, 1975.
• Pettazzoni, Raffaele. "The Truth of Myth". Sacred Narrative: Readings in the Theory of Myth. Ed. Alan Dundes. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984. 98-109.
• Segal, Robert. Myth: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004.
• Simpson, Michael. Introduction. Apollodorus. Gods and Heroes of the Greeks. Trans. Michael Simpson. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1976. 1-9.
[edit] Further reading
• Barry B. Powell, Classical Myth, 5th edition, Prentice-Hall.
• Boeree, C. "Carl Jung". Personality Theories. 2006. Shippensburg University.[1]2 February 2009
• Buxton, Richard. The Complete World of Greek Mythology. London: Thames & Hudson, 2004.
• Charles H. Long, Alpha: The Myths of Creation. George Braziller, 1963.
• Edith Hamilton, Mythology (199 cool
• Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling
o Introduction to the Philosophy of Mythology, 1856.
o Philosophy of Mythology, 1857.
o Philosophy of Revelation, 1858.
• Graves, Robert. "Introduction." New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology. Trans. Richard Aldington and Delano Ames. London: Hamlyn, 1968. v-viii.
• Joseph Campbell
o The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton University Press, 1949.
o Flight of the Wild Gander: Explorations in the Mythological Dimension: Select Essays 1944-1968 New World Library, 3rd ed. (2002), ISBN 978-1-57731-210-9.
• Kees W. Bolle, The Freedom of Man in Myth. Vanderbilt University Press, 1968.
• Louis Herbert Gray [ed.], The Mythology of All Races, in 12 vols., 1916.
• Lucien Lévy-Bruhl
o Mental Functions in Primitive Societies (1910)
o Primitive Mentality (1922)
o The Soul of the Primitive (192 cool
o The Supernatural and the Nature of the Primitive Mind (1931)
o Primitive Mythology (1935)
o The Mystic Experience and Primitive Symbolism (193 cool
• Mircea Eliade
o Cosmos and History: The Myth of the Eternal Return. Princeton University Press, 1954.
o The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion. Trans. Willard R. Trask. NY: Harper & Row, 1961.
• O'Flaherty, Wendy. Hindu Myths: A Sourcebook. London: Penguin, 1975.
• Segura, E., Honegger, Th (eds.), Myth and Magic: Art according to the Inklings, Walking Tree Publishers (2007), ISBN 978-3-905703-08-5.
• Roland Barthes, Mythologies (1957)
• Santillana and Von Dechend (1969, 1992 re-issue). Hamlet's Mill: An Essay Investigating the Origins of Human Knowledge And Its Transmission Through Myth, Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-87923-215-3.
• Walker, Steven F. and Segal, Robert A., Jung and the Jungians on Myth: An Introduction, Theorists of Myth, Routledge (1996), ISBN 978-0-8153-2259-7.
• Watt, Ian. Myths of Modern Individualism. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1997.
• Zong, In-Sob. Folk Tales from Korea. 3rd ed. Elizabeth: Hollym, 1989.
[edit] External links
Look up myth or mythology in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikiversity has learning materials about School:Comparative Mythology
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mythology
• The New Student's Reference Work/Mythology, ed. Beach (1914), at wikisource.
• Leonard, Scott. "The History of Mythology: Part I". Youngstown State University.
• Myths and Myth-Makers Old Tales and Superstitions Interpreted by comparative mythology by John Fiske.
• Stanford Fossil Historian Links Dinosaur Bones to Mythological Creatures
myth•i•cal
Pronunciation:
ˈmi-thi-kəl
Variant(s):
or myth•ic -thik
Function:
adjective
Date:
1669
1: based on or described in a myth especially as contrasted with history2usually mythical : existing only in the imagination : fictitious, imaginary <constructed a mythical all-star team>3usually mythic : having qualities suitable to myth : legendary <the twilight of a mythic professional career — Clayton Riley>
synonyms see fictitious
— myth•i•cal•ly -thi-k(ə-)lē adverb
myth•i•cal (m th -k l) also myth•ic (- k)
adj.
1. Of or existing in myth: the mythical unicorn.
2. Imaginary; fictitious.
3. often mythic Of, relating to, or having the nature of a myth: a novel of profound, almost mythic consequence.
________________________________________
myth i•cal•ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
________________________________________
mythical or mythic
Adjective
1. of or relating to myth
2. imaginary or fictitious
mythically adv
Collins Essential English Dictionary 2nd Edition 2006 © HarperCollins Publishers 2004, 2006
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Adj. 1. mythical - based on or told of in traditional stories; lacking factual basis or historical validity; "mythical centaurs"; "the fabulous unicorn"
mythologic, mythological, fabulous, mythic
unreal - lacking in reality or substance or genuineness; not corresponding to acknowledged facts or criteria; "ghosts and other unreal entities"; "unreal propaganda serving as news"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2008 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
________________________________________
mythical
adjective 1. LEGENDARY, storied, fabulous, imaginary, fairy-tale, fabled, mythological, storybook, allegorical, folkloric, chimerical
adjective 2. IMAGINARY, made-up, fantasy, invented, pretended, untrue, unreal, fabricated, fanciful, fictitious, make-believe, nonexistent
Collins Essential Thesaurus 2nd Edition 2006 © HarperCollins Publishers 2005, 2006
Black Dragons
Black dragons can be found in marshes and underground cave networks. Black dragons are cunning and evil tempered. They usually side with evil. Black dragons are sometimes known as skull dragons due to their deeply set eye sockets. The dragons have black or very dark gray scales that are glossy when young and with age become duller. Black dragon's smell of rotting vegetation and stagnant water.
Black dragons preferred diet is fish and shellfish they do eat other animals but they like to let these animals once killing rest in stagnant ponds first before eating some days later. Black dragons like to collect coins as there treasure. Black dragons preferred attack method is to ambush their target by making use of their surroundings and vegetation as cover. Black dragons have two different breath attacks. The first is an acid breath attack, which is used to dissolve and blind its attacker/prey. The second breath attack is an oily black smoke attack which can be used to choke its attacker/prey.
Dragons are magical creatures and have the ability to cast spells black dragons are able to perform the following spells.
• Darkness - this causes the local area to become dark.
• Insect Plague - causes a plague of insects to attack an area.
• Corrupt water - this spell can stagnate water.
• Charm reptiles - This allows the black dragon to control weaker reptiles to do its bidding.
Blue Dragons
Blue dragons live in temperate and warm desert environments also they can be found underground. Blue dragons are very territorial. They are well adapted for digging into sand and soft soils. Blue dragons have frilled ears and a large single horn on there snout.
Blue dragons vary in colour from dark blue to light blues; their scales are polished. Blue dragons scales crackle as they built up static energy. Blue dragons like to soar high above the deserts, Blue dragons like to collect gems as treasure they are particularly attracted by sapphires.
They eat red meat, which they usually cook first before eating. There attack methods involve attacking from the sky and diving on there target or burrowing into the sand and wait for the prey to come to them and attack quickly catching there target unawares. Blue dragons breath attack has a lightening breath attack.
As dragons are magical creatures the blue dragon is able to cast the following spells.
• Create/destroy water
• Sound imitation. Blue dragons are able to cast this to allow them to imitate other creature's sounds or speech.
• Illusionary terrain the dragon is able to create images of terrain that appears to be there but is not.
Brass Dragons
Brass dragons live in deserts, plains and in temperate regions. Brass dragons are talkative beasts, they like to gather information. The scales of brass dragons are brown when young as the dragon matures the scales become brassy. Brass dragons exhibit large head plates, which extend to protect there back of the head and upper neck. Brass dragon's eyes resemble that of molten metal.
Brass dragons like to bask in the strong warm sun of the desert. Brass dragons will consume almost anything. Brass dragons have dextrous tongues, this is what allows them to talk a lot and to be able to speak many languages, and they also use their tongue to collect dew. Brass dragons fight with Blue dragons over territory as they share the same environments. Brass dragons would rather talk than fight, if lesser creatures won't talk to them, the brass dragon uses it breathe attack with is a sleeping gas, to put the creature to sleep. Then burying it up to its head in the ground so it has no other option than to talk to the dragon.
Brass dragons are magical creatures and have the following magical abilities;
• Suggestion - the dragon is able to assert some control of another creature by using powers of suggestion.
• Control wind - The brass dragon is able to control the window to a greater or lesser extend, the skill improves with age.
• Control weather - Brass dragons have some power to control the local weather, the area is relative small in which they can do this over and the effectiveness increases with age.
Bronze Dragons
Bronze dragons live in temperate and warm aquatic climates as well as underground. Bronze dragons are inquisitive creatures they like to observe other creatures acting about their daily routines and business. Bronze dragons do this by using a skill called polymorphying, which allows them to assume the appearance of other living creatures.
Young bronze dragons scales and skin tones are yellow tinged with green, as the dragon grows older its colours deepen and develops into a bronze tone. Bronze dragons are well adapted to swimming and can breath underwater unhindered. This swimming adaptation is due to there diets as bronze dragons mainly eat marine or freshwater creatures and aquatic plants.
Bronze dragons dislike killing attackers and would rather bribe or force them away magically. Bronze dragons are armed with two types of breath attack, the first been a lightening breath a ttack which they can electrocute there attacker the second is a gas breath that repulses the attacker away. Bronze dragons are magical creatures and are able to cast the following spells.
• Fog cloud - dragon is able to bring down a cloud of fog to confuse and disorientate its attackers.
• Control weather - The dragon is able to control the weather in the local area.
Copper Dragons
Copper dragons are huge six limbed beasts, which live in temperate and warm desert climates as well as inhabiting underground cave systems. Young Copper dragons start of as a rusty brown colour as they grow older the scales becomes coppery. Copper dragons have turquoise eyes.
Copper dragons are intelligent creatures that like to test other creatures with riddles and jokes. Copper dragons are good-natured creatures, though they will guard their wealth closely. Copper dragons are excellent climbers and jumpers. They will eat almost anything thought their favourite food is giant scorpions. Copper dragons attack with two breath attacks. The first of these is an acid breath, which blinds and dissolves its attacker, prey. The second breath weapon is a sleeping gas used to knock out attackers prey.
Gold Dragons
Gold dragons will live in any climate. Gold dragons are associated with the side of good. Gold dragons are seen to be graceful and wise creatures, they dislike injustice and foul play, and often take it upon them selves to put these things right.
Young gold dragons start out with dark yellow scales and skin tones, as the Dragon ages the scales become more golden. Gold dragons are often accompanied by loyal guards, which can me made up of many types of animals, but often giants.
Gold dragons prefer to use spells in combat rather than physical fighting. Gold dragons have two forms of breath attack, the first of theses is a fire breath that burns attackers/prey. The second breath attack is a gas that weakens opponents. Gold dragons are highly magical creatures and are able to perform the following spells.
• Cloud Kill
• Fireball - a ball of magical fire
• Fire Shield - a wall of fire used to protect the dragon
• Shield - an invisible wall of energy to protect the dragon
• Sleep - the dragon is able to put his enemies asleep
• Stinking cloud - cloud of foul gas
• Slow - reduces the speed of the dragons attackers
Green Dragons
Green dragons are aggressive in nature and will attack without provocation. They have spiky crest that run down their spine. As Green dragons get older there green colour lightens. Green dragons live in forests and are sometimes known as forest dragons. Green dragons have a distinct smell of chlorine about them. Green dragons will eat near enough anything, but there particular favourite are Elves with Sprites a close second.
As said before green dragons will attack with little or no provocation. It does not matter on the size or the ability of the creature. Green dragons enjoy terrorising their prey. Green dragons breath attack is a corrosive acid breath. This dissolves and blinds their attacker/prey. Green dragons also have the ability to breathe underwater.
Green dragons are magical creatures and have the following magical abilities
• Planet growth - green dragons are able to cause plants to grow much quicker.
• Command plants - the green dragon are able to control plants.
• Suggestion - Green dragons are able to use suggestion to control other lesser creatures.
Red Dragons
Red dragons or fire dragons as they are also known are greedy beasts they are after treasure to increase their hoards. They are red in colour, though their wings tend to be grey in colour. Red dragons live in the mountains, in large cave networks deep under the surface. They have a Smokey odour about them, Red dragons like to perch on mountains to view their territory.
Red dragons are meat eaters and their preferred prey is humans or young elves. Red dragons often persuade village elders into regular sacrifices of young virgin maidens to them. Red dragons are confident creatures they tend to dive into there attacks without thinking, though they will normally only attack creatures weaker than themselves. Red dragons prefer to attack with their claws rather than use their breath weapon so not to damage any treasure that their prey might be carrying. Red dragons have a fire breath attack, and dragons are immune to fire.
Red dragons are magical creatures and have the following magical abilities
• Locate object - the dragon has the ability to locate treasure using its magical abilities
• Suggestion - the dragon is able to assert some control of another creature by using powers of suggestion.
A well known red dragon is Dewi (which is the name of the Dragon on the welsh flag).
Silver Dragons
Silver dragons live in temperate and mountainous regions as well as in underground caverns. Silver dragons are cheerful creatures. They have the ability to polymorph, which means that they can assume shapes of other animals. They use this skill often disguising themselves as kind humans, as this is a silver dragons preferred company.
Young Silver dragons start out in colour as blue-grey skin tones and scales, which become silver with age. Silver dragons prefer to live on seclude mountain peaks, this often brings them, into conflict with red dragons that also live in these regions. Silver dragons are highly skilled in the air.
Silver dragons have two breath attackers, the first been a freezing breath that freezes the attacker/prey. The second breath attack is a paralysing gas cloud. Silver dragons are magical creatures and there are able to control the weather with the magic.
White Dragons
White dragons are the least intelligent of the dragons they are simple predators, they lack the intelligence of other dragon species. White dragons are often smaller than the other dragon types. White
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