Monday, October 10, 2016

Meditating on Medieval Bestiaries

I've always had a fondness for the monsters from Medieval Bestiaries. So I decided to jot down my notes about various creatures from this type of source. Resources are primarily from several Medieval Bestiaries, lists of heraldic beasts, Jorge Luis Borges' Book of Imaginary Beings, Sebastian Münster’s Cosmographia, and the Carta Marina annotations. I've decided to leave out several of the more common or uninteresting beasts, such as Barnacle Goose, Basilisk, Bittern, Carbuncle, Centaur, Chimera, Cinnamologus, Cockatrice, Dipsa, Griffin, Harpy, Hippocampus, Hippogriff, Hydra, Hypnalis, Incubus, Jormungandr, Kraken, Lamia, Leviathan, Mandrake/Mandragora, Manticore, Medusa, Mermaid, Minotaur, Orphan Bird, Pegasus, Peryton, Phoenix, Salamander, Sea-Lion/Merlion, Sea-Serpent, Senmurv, Siren, Simurgh, Sphinx, Sucubus, Unicorn, Vegetable Lamb (of Tartary), Wyvern, and Zilant. Also, I left off the Greek Cetus/Cetos/Ketos as there are varying descriptions and depictions of the creatures, and I've always felt that the better depictions are the Clash of the Titans' movie "krakens" and Altantis: The Lost Empire's "leviathan."

The Land of Nod blog has a series of articles that cover several of these creatures: Medieval Bestiary



Abarimon - A bestial, savage race of people who have backwards feet, yet can run at great speed.

Afanc - Welsh lake monster, also known as Addanc or Avanc, resembling a crocodile-beaver.

Al Mi'raj - An Arabic creature described as a yellow rabbit with a two foot long spiraling black horn projecting from its forehead. Known for being fiercely territorial and having a voracious appetite. Also called Miraj, Mi'raj, and Mir'aj.

Alerion - A heraldic large eagle, displayed without beak or talons. Also called Avalerion

Allocamelus - Heraldic "Ass-Camel," having the body of a camel with the head of a donkey (representing a llama).

Alp - A Germanic shapeshifter, may be classified as fey (elf), undead (vampire or spirit), or demonic (incubus). More information at Alp.

Alphyn - Germanic Heraldic beast (from the German for "chaser" or "wolf"), this chimeric creature is a lion-wolf hybrid, depicted as a stocky quadreped with a white, airy body, thick, golden, tufted mane, long, thin tongue and triple knotted tail. It may have eagle or dragon talons on its forelegs, or the cloven, goat-like hooves. It may also be depicted with all four legs bearing lion's claws.

Amphiptere - Heraldic winged serpent. It is not a feathered serpent, having instead, bat-like wings and is usually green or greenish-yellow in coloration. Also called Amphithere, Amphitere, or Phipthere.

Anthropophagus - Also known as androphagi ("man-eaters"), this race of people from Greek mythology were cannibals, sometimes confused with blemmyaes.

Amphisbaena - Originally a snake with a head at each end of the body, by medieval times, it had morphed into a horned cockatrice with a snake-headed tail. Known for eating ants, it is also called "Mother of Ants." Also known as Amphisbaina, Amphisbene, Amphisboena, Amphisbona, Amphista, Amfivena, Amphisien Cockatrice, Amphivena, or Anphivena (the last two being feminine).

Arimaspians - A Greek mythical peoples, described as one-eyed men who battled griffins for their gold.

Aspidochelone - A whale-turtle with huge spines on its back that is so large that it resembles an island, often developing sandy beaches, rocky crags and tree-filled valleys. While it produces a sweet scent to hunt the fish that are its prey, it is most notable for luring sailors to their doom. The typical tale of a ship's crew mooring to the "island" and then when they go to light fires for cooking, the creature dives deep into the water, taking the sailors and moored ship with it down to the depths. Also called Aspedocalane, Aspido testudo, Aspidoceleon, and Aspis chelone. Pliny the Elder identifies this creature as "pristis" (of immense size) which may related to Pristers (q.v.).

Astomi - Greek mythical peoples who consume pleasant scents, such as flowers or fruits instead of food or drink. They are depicted with hairy, rough bodies and no mouths and can be killed by smelling strong, unpleasant odors.

Balena - Monstrous whales from cartographic maps, sometimes called Troll Whales or Devil Whales.

Bicorn - Also called Bicorne or Bulchin. While the name would indicate a creature with two horns, the depictions of this creature describe a fat, well-fed panther with a human face that feeds well on "hen-pecked husbands." It has an underfed counterpart known as a Chichevache which feeds onoly on "hen-pecked wives."

Blemmyae - A Greek mythocal race of headless men whose facial features could be found on their chests. Also known as Akephaloi ("headless ones"), with Epiphagi appearing as a variant name for those whose eyes could be found on their shoulders rather than on their chests.

Bonnacon - Mythical bull-like creature, with the mane of a horse, and horns that curl uselessly in to the degree that they provide no defense. Known for it's acidic or burning dung which can be fired as far as two acres. Also called Bonacon or Bonasus.

Caladrius - Snow-white bird that can detect and possibly cure disease and illness.

Calopus - Roman variant of the antelope, "pretty foot." Appears as a roe deer with large saw-blade horns. Also called Aeternae, Analopos, Antalope, Antholops, Aptaleon, Aptolos, Jachamur, Jachmur, Jamur, Pantolops, and Yamur. Often confused with the Chatloup ("cat-wolf"), a wolf-bodied creature with the head of a cat and goat's horns.

Calygreyhound - Heraldic beast described as having a cat's head with laurel-like antlers, an antelope body, eagle talons on its forelimbs with ox hooves on its hind limbs and a tufted tail like that of a lion or poodle.

Camelopard - Heraldic depiction of a giraffe, described as a long-necked camel with the skin of a leopard. Also called Camelopardel, though this usually refers to a variant with swept-back horns.

Catoblepas - A scaled, heavily-maned buffalo with a wild boar's head that is so heavy its blood-shot eyes always points down. The stare or breath of the beast was believed to kill or petrify people.

Cerastes - Spineless horned vipers from Greek mythology with two ram's horns or four smaller horns on their head. They hide in the sand with only their horns protruding in order to lure prey in close.

Cercopes - Greek, tailed, forest creatures known for their knaveries and mischief.

Choromandi - Hairy, savage people of Greek origin with dog's teeth that communicate in horrible screams instead of recognizable speech.

Crocotta - Also known oas Corocotta or Crocuta, a dog-wolf or lion-hyena hybrid with a powerful jaw plate instead of teeth, believed to alternate sexes each year and self-impregnate. Also known for human-like speech which is uses to lure men out where it can devour them. Some magical abilities are attributed to them, such as being immune to weapons of steel, having great strength and being fleet of foot, or being able to paralyze dogs. Often confused with the similar Leucrotta, a chimera with the body and tail of a lion, a badger's head, stag's legs and cloven hoofs, and a mouth that replaces teeth with ridges of bones, though the ability to imitate human speech is the same.

Cynocephali - Dog- or jackal-headed humanoids originating from Greek myth. Also spelled Canocephalus.

Echaneis - A remora-like fish that held ships in place by attaching themselves to the ship. Also called Echinius, Echinus, Enchirius, Essinus, Esynus , Remora, and Urchin.

Enfield - Heraldic chimera with the head of a fox, eagle's talons on the forelegs, a greyhound's chest, lion's body and hindlegs and tail of a wolf.

Ethiopian Pegasus - Two-horned pegasi believed to hail from Ethiopia.

Fastitocalon - Giant whale that is basically identical to the Aspidochelone, but not as turtle-like.

Forest Bull - Greek origin carnivorous red cattle, double normal size, with swiveling horns believed to hail from the forests of Ethiopia.

Gegenees - Six armed giants from Greek mythology.

Gorgades - Hair-covered female people from Greek sources that hail from Atlantic islands. May be related to the Satyrus.

Hercinia - Also known as Ercinea or Harz Birds, these birds have brightly glowing feathers and hail from the Hercynian forest of Germany.

Hippalectryon - A horse-rooster chimera from Greek mythology with the foreparts of a horse and the wings, tail, and hind legs of a rooster. Large enough to support a man-sized rider.

Hippopodes - Horse-footed mythical humanoids believed by the Greeks to live on islands in the Baltic Sea.

Hircocervus - A goat-stag or horse-stag humanoid hybrid also known as Tragelaph.

Hydrus - A serpentine, water dwelling creature with three heads hailing from the Nile, believed to pull a chest-bursting move on crocodiles which consumed them. Also called Enhydros, Enidros, Hildris, Hydra, Idra, Idres, Ydre, Ydris, and Ydrus.

Ichneumon - A dragon killing creature (which may also kill asps and crocodiles), the name, which translates from Greek as "tracker" is used for the snake-fighting mongoose. It is only described in that it covers itself with mud and closes its nostrils with its tail in order to be swallowed and thus attack dragons from the inside. This may relate the creature to the hydrus. The Latin translation of "tracker" or Calcatrix is where the cockatrice derives its name and the Ichneumon is one of the few creatures not effected by a cocaktrice's petrification ability. It is also called Echinemon.

Ichthyocentaur - This fish-centaur hybrid was originally depicted as a hippocampus, but later became a dolphin-tailed humanoid with lion or horse forelegs; a look associated with some tritons.

Jaculus - Also known as Iaculus, this winged serpent is commonly called, "Javelin Snake," due to its hunting tactic of hurling itself from trees into its prey. Generally seen as a bat-winged green snake, it also appears as a white-feathered two- or four-leged serpent with dragon-like characteristics.

Jasconius - This island-sized fish is similar to the Aspidochelone or Fastitocalon, the only real difference is that it is depicted as fish rather than whale or turtle.

Karkadann - A unicorn-like creature hailing from the deserts and plains of Persia. Commonly described as a buffalo with scaly, black skin, three yellow hooves on each foot, a lion's tail, and a conical horn protruding from the nose that is said to have medicinal properties (as an antidote to poison).

Keythong - A wingless griffin found in heraldic crests. Also known as Alce.

Lampago - Heraldic beast in the form of a man-tiger, with the body of a lion or tiger and man's face. Also called Lympago. It is similar to the manticore-like Satyral, a creature described as having the body of a lion, two ox-like or anteleope horns, the tail of an antelope, and an elderly man's bearded face.

Leontophone - Small creature that is the enemy of lions either poisoning them while eaten, or being burned and having their ashes used to taint meat that is left out for lions.

Libyan Aegipanes - One of the many variant sub-species of satyrs. Satyrs themselves are basically goat-horned humanoids (with constant erections, that drink alot), occasionaly depicted as having the lower body of a goat as well, though this later association more properly defines the Roman Faun and the Greek Pan-like creatures known as Panes. Some confusion also exists with regards to the Sileni, horse-legged humanoids who later became conflated with the deity Silenus. Red-haired satyrs were known as Satyros Satyrides or the Latin Satyrus and hailed from remote Atlantic islands. Eithiopian Satyrs were considered violent, though they could be pacified with strong drink. Libyan Panes (occassionally called Libyan Satyrs) are typically depicted has having horse-like ears and tails, making them similar to Sileni.

Lindworm - As a heraldic beast, lindworms are depicted as venomous, wingless, bipedal dragons. Norse depictions show a constricting sea serpent with glowing eyes in it's horse-like head with front claws (instead of a wyvern's hind claws).

Machlyes - Greek mythical people hailing from Libya, described has having one side of their body with male characteristics and the other side having female characteristics.

Macrocephali - Tribe of African peoples accorded large or long heads by Greek sources.

Melusine - Fresh water mermaid with two (often serpentine) tails instead of one, ocassionaly depicted as having wings.

Myrmecoleon - The Ant-Lion, also called Formicaleon, Formicaleun, Mermecolion, and Mirmicioleon. Either a "Lion of Ants" or an ant with the body of a lion.

Monoceros - Another unicorn variant, typically described as having a single, long, black horn projecting from its stag's head, a horse's body, elephant's feet, and boar's tail.

Morhon - This sea creature appears on maps and in heraldry as a whale with two blowholes and a leonine mane.

Muscaliet - A small creature with a hare's body, squirrel's legs and tail, weasel's ears, mole's muzzle, swine's bristly hair, and boar's tusks. They are said to generate so much heat that they burn their own nests.

Musimon - Also known as the Tityrus and Trytron, this heraldic beast has the body and legs of a goat, a ram's head, and four horns...two straight and two curved.

Nebek - A dog-like heraldic beast with a long, tufted tail, short tongue, and wrinkled snout.

Nependis - Heraldic beast with the upper body of an ape and the lower body of a boar, with a long, curling tail.

Nuli - A race of humanoids with backwards pointing, eight-toed feet.

Onocentaur - A human-donkey centaur. Also called Honocentar, Onoscentaurus, Uncor, Unocentaurus.

Ophiotaurus - Also known as the Serpent Bull, Stygian Bull, or Tauros Ophis, this creature has a black bull's head, body, and forelegs, with a serpent's tail.

Opinicus - Heraldic variant of a griffin, with a lion's forelegs, camel's neck, and a camel's or bear's short tail.

Orcha - A sea monster from the Carta Marina. Also known as Orc*, Orca, and Orque. This whale-orc, complete with pig-faced and tusked snout appears prior to the Carta Marina in Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso as well as Pliny the Elder's Naturalis historia.

Orthrus - Cerberus's two-headed brother.

Pandi - Greek mythical tribe with gigantic ears, eight fingers and toes, and white hair which turns black with age.

Panotii - A mythical peoples of Greek origin whose ears were so large that they forsake clothing, and could possibly fly with them.

Pantheon - Heraldic beast with the body of a hind (black, dark blue, or red in color) spotted with mullets (straight pointed stars) or estoilles (wavy pointed stars), a fox's bushy tail, and cloven hooves.

Parandrus - An ox-sized creature with shaggy, bear-like hair, deer's legs with cloven hooves, and a stag's head with branching antlers. It has the ability to change the color of it's skin like a chameleon. Also called Parander, Tarandos, Tarandrus, and Tharandus.

Pard - Extremely fast feline creatures with spotted coats believed to mate with lions to produce leopards.

Polypus - Meaning "many-footed," this term is used to name giant lobsters and depictions of eight-legged, giant fish.

Pristers - Also called Physeter or Pristis, a whale sized creature with a mammalian face, horse's mane, and two blow holes which it uses to spout water at ships and sink them.

Pygmies - A tribe of goat riding, Greek humanoids pygme ("length of the forearm") tall, locked in battle with cranes.

Questing Beast - Chimeric monster of Arthurian legend that has the head and neck of a snake, body of a leopard, hindlegs of a lion, and the feet of a hart. Also known as the Beast Glatisant or Barking Beast.

Quinotaur - Sea creature from Frankish myth that resembles a hippocampus, but with the foreparts of a bull instead of horse, and an addition of three more horns forming a trident formation in the middle of the forehead.

Rockas - Gigantic rays known to rescue swimmers harassed by Sea-Dog-Fish.

Rosmarus - An amphibous "sea-elephant" that is more like a horse or dog combined with a walrus. It is a quadruped creature with clawed limbs, tusks, and a fish's tail.

Satyrus - Also known as callitrix or cericopithicus. An ape species which bears twins, one of which the parent hates and the other that the parent loves.

Scitalis - Also known as Scytalis or Scytale, this serpent has hypnotic markings on it's back which allows it to awe viewers, thus allowing it to strike. It is sometimes depicted with two front legs and its body heat is so great that it sheds skin even in winter.

Sciritae - Greek mythical tribe from India who have snake-like nostrils instead of a nose, and bandy, serpentine legs. Also called Syrictae, Scritai or Skiritai.

Sea-Bee - A heraldic beast composed of a bee with a fish tail.

Sea Bishop or Sea Monk - A fish that looks like a monk.

Sea Goat - Heraldic beast with the head and forelegs of a goat and a fish's tail.

Sea Rhinoceros - Fish-like creature with the head of a rhinoceros and a spotted pattern on it's hide.

Sea Wolf - Heraldic beast with the head and forelegs of a wolf and a fish's tail.

Sea Wyvern - Heraldic wyvern with a fish's tail in place of a wyvern's barbed tail.

Seps - Serpent with pointed ears and poison that liquifies its prey. Sometimes depicted with two or four legs.

Serpopard - Chimeric creature with the body of a leopard or lion and the head and neck of a snake.

Sha - Also called Set Animal, Typhonian Animal, and Typhonic Beast. This chimera consists of an aardvark's head, a jackal's body and front lets, a donkey's hindlimbs, and a forked reptilian tail that has triangular points.

Sirrush - Messopotamian and Babylonian scaly dragon with hind legs resembling the talons of an eagle, lion forelegs, a long tail, a horned head, a snake-like tongue, and a crest. Also called Mushassu, Musussu, Mushhush, and Sirrusu.

Skiapodes - Also known as Monopods, Sciapods, and Skiapods. A mythical race of creatures with one large foot on one leg that used their large foot to as a sun shade or rain shield. They were beleived to hail from Eithiopia or India.

Springhval - Norwegian name for a whale fish with a sword-like dorsal fin, arm-like flippers, and a boar's snout and tusks that is a very fast swimmer. Also called Orca.

Syrbotae - Twelve foot tall giant peoples hailing from Africa in Greek mythology.

Telchines - Also spelled Telkhines. Malignant Greek magician creatures found on the islands of Keos and Rhodes with flippers for hands and dog's heads who were great metal-workers, having forged Chronos' Sickle and Poseidon's Trident. Their magical abilities include shapeshifting, being able to control weather, bringing about hail, snow or rain, fouling water, producing poisonous substances, causing crops to whither, and a hypnotic gaze.

Theow - Wolf-like heraldic beast with cloven hooves, and a bovine muzzle and tail.

Wiedergänger - Germanic revenant which may cause mischief or desire to avenge an injustice from when they were alive. May be related to Norse Draugr, headless riders, and vampires.

Yale - Also known as Centicore, Eale, or Jall. A black, bull-like beast with a goat's head, the tusks of a boar and the tail of an elephant, notable for having two horns (which may appear straight or curved) that can swivel, with one generally kept pointing backwards so that it can bring that horn to bear if the other should be damaged. In heraldic depictions, it often has a goat's body and a pattern of multi-colored spots. There are also some additional variants, such as an antelope's body, horse's body, ears, mouth, and/or tail, tawny fur, a tufted lion's tail, a bear's snout, lion's face, bear's face, cloven feet, or pawed feet. It is the enemy of the basilisk.

Yppotryll - Heraldic beast with the body and humps of a camel, tusked boar's head, cloven hooves, and a serpent's tail. Also called Hippotryll or Ypotryll.

Zaratan - Likely just the Middle Eastern name of the Aspidochelone, this creature, an island turtle, appears in The Book of Imaginary Beings and is likely the name for the island whale encountered in Sinbad the Sailor's First Voyage.

Ziphius - Large fish- or whale-like sea monster with a sword-like dorsal fin which it uses to attack ships, and an owl's face. It feeds primarily on black seals.


*The Tolkienesque Orc appears to derive from the words orcþyrs or orcneas, related to the term orco (ogre), ultimately believed to be derived from the Roman Orcus. This type of "Orc" also appears in Orlando Furioso, as a blind, cannibalistic giant that cannot be killed.

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Revisiting the Denham Tracts

Aeons & Augauries has a post talking about different types of humanoids that reminded me of the Denham Tracts list of spirits and fairies (including the notable pre-Tolkien inclusion of Hobbits). There's also an article in Dragon Magazine #158 that gives a lot of alternate names, though I'm a bit more wary of how the author defined some of the alternate terms.

"What a happiness this must have been seventy or eighty years ago and upwards, to those chosen few who had the good luck to be born on the eve of this festival of all festivals; when the whole earth was so overrun with ghosts, boggles, Bloody Bones, spirits, demons, ignis fatui, brownies, bugbears, black dogs, spectres, shellycoats, scarecrows, witches, wizards, barguests, Robin-Goodfellows, hags, night-bats, scrags, breaknecks, fantasms, hobgoblins, hobhoulards, boggy-boes, dobbies, hob-thrusts, fetches, kelpies, warlocks, mock-beggars, mum-pokers, Jemmy-burties, urchins, satyrs, pans, fauns, sirens, tritons, centaurs, calcars, nymphs, imps, incubuses, spoorns, men-in-the-oak, hell-wains, fire-drakes, kit-a-can-sticks, Tom-tumblers, melch-dicks, larrs, kitty-witches, hobby-lanthorns, Dick-a-Tuesdays, Elf-fires, Gyl-burnt-tales, knockers, elves, rawheads, Meg-with-the-wads, old-shocks, ouphs, pad-foots, pixies, pictrees, giants, dwarfs, Tom-pokers, tutgots, snapdragons, sprets, spunks, conjurers, thurses, spurns, tantarrabobs, swaithes, tints, tod-lowries, Jack-in-the-Wads, mormos, changelings, redcaps, yeth-hounds, colt-pixies, Tom-thumbs, black-bugs, boggarts, scar-bugs, shag-foals, hodge-pochers, hob-thrushes, bugs, bull-beggars, bygorns, bolls, caddies, bomen, brags, wraithes, waffs, flay-boggarts, fiends, gallytrots, imps, gytrashes, patches, hob-and-lanthorns, gringes, boguests, bonelesses, Peg-powlers, pucks, fays, kidnappers, gallybeggars, hudskins, nickers, madcaps, trolls, robinets, friars' lanthorns, silkies, cauld-lads, death-hearses, goblins, hob-headlesses, bugaboos, kows, or cowes, nickies, nacks, waiths, miffies, buckies, gholes, sylphs, guests, swarths, freiths, freits, gy-carlins[1], pigmies, chittifaces, nixies, Jinny-burnt-tails, dudmen, hell-hounds, dopple-gangers, boggleboes, bogies, redmen, portunes, grants, hobbits, hobgoblins, brown-men, cowies, dunnies, wirrikows, alholdes, mannikins, follets, korreds [2], lubberkins, cluricauns, kobolds, leprechauns, kors, mares, korreds, puckles, korigans, sylvans, succubuses, blackmen, shadows, banshees, lian-hanshees, clabbernappers, Gabriel-hounds, mawkins, doubles, corpse lights or candles, scrats, mahounds, trows, gnomes, sprites, fates, fiends, sibyls, nicknevins, whitewomen, fairies, thrummy-caps[3], cutties, and nisses, and apparitions of every shape, make, form, fashion, kind and description, that there was not a village in England that had not its own peculiar ghost. Nay, every lone tenement, castle, or mansion-house, which could boast of any antiquity had its bogle, its spectre, or its knocker. The churches, churchyards, and crossroads were all haunted. Every green lane had its boulder-stone on which an apparition kept watch at night. Every common had its circle of fairies belonging to it. And there was scarcely a shepherd to be met with who had not seen a spirit!"

The wiki article has a lot of links, showing us that many of the listed names are just variants of the same thing, and there are a couple of repeated entries, so I went in to take a look and came up with the following list:
UPDATE: After going to the original Denham Tracts, I found several annotations to include on the list.

alholdes*
banshees
barguests (Barghest, Bargtjest, Bo-guest, Bargheist, Bargeist, Barguist, Bargest, or Barguest; a type of Black Dog) [3]
black dogs (Black Dog)
black-bugs*
blackmen*
Bloody Bones
boggarts
boggleboes (Bogeyman)
boggles (Bogle) [1]
boggy-boes (Bogeyman)
bogies (Bogle)
boguests (Bargest)
bolls*
bomen (Bogeyman)
bonelesses*
brags
breaknecks*
brown-men (Simonside Dwarf; aka Bogle, Duergar) [24]
brownies (brounie or urisk (Lowland Scots) or brùnaidh, ùruisg, or gruagach (Scottish Gaelic)) [2]
buckies (Bucca; Bucka, Puca)
bugaboos (Bugbear)
bugbears
bugs (Bogle)
bull-beggars (Bugbear)
bygorns*
caddies*
calcars*
cauld-lads (Cauld Lad of Hylton; ghost) [17]
centaurs
changelings
chittifaces*
clabbernappers*
cluricauns
colt-pixies*
conjurers
corpse lights or candles (possibly "ghost candles"; Will-o'-the-wisp; Jack O' Lantern, or Joan of the Wad, Jenny Burn-tail, Kitty wi' the Whisp, or Spunkie)
cowies (Hedley Kow)
cutties (Cutty Soams, or bluecaps) [31]
death-hearses
demons
Dick-a-Tuesdays (Will-o'-the-wisp)
dobbies (Hobs) [6]
dopple-gangers [23]
doubles (Doppleganger) [27]
dudmen*
dunnies [25]
dwarfs
Elf-fires (Will-o'-the-wisp)
elves [10]
fairies [29]
fantasms
fates
fauns
fays
fetches [8]
fiends (x2)
fire-drakes
flay-boggarts*
follets**
freiths*
freits*
friars' lanthorns (Will-o'-the-wisp)
Gabriel-hounds (Hellhound)
gallybeggars (Bugbear)
gallytrots (Black Dog)
ghosts
gholes (Wikipedia uses "ghouls" here in it's list)
giants
gnomes
goblins [18]
grants*
gringes*
guests (Ghost)
gy-carlins [Gyre-carling] (Queen of Elfhame/Elphame)
Gyl-burnt-tales (Will-o'-the-wisp)
gytrashes (A type of Black Dog)
hags [5]
hell-hounds
hell-wains (Wild Hunt)
hob-and-lanthorns (Will-o'-the-wisp)
hob-headlesses (Hob or Brag) [19]
hob-thrushes (Hob)
hob-thrusts* [7]
hobbits***
hobby-lanthorns (Will-o'-the-wisp)
hobgoblins (x2)
hobhoulards (Hob)
hodge-pochers (Hob)
hudskins*
ignis fatui (Will-o'-the-wisp)
imps (x2)
incubuses
Jack-in-the-Wads (Will-o'-the-wisp)
Jemmy-burties (Will O'-The-Wisp)
Jinny-burnt-tails (Will-o'-the-wisp)
kelpies
kidnappers
kit-a-can-sticks (Will-o'-the-wisp)
kitty-witches*
knockers
kobolds
korigans (aka kornandon, ozigan, nozigan, torrigan, viltañs, poulpikan, paotred ar sabad (???))
korreds** (x2)
kors*
kows or cowes (Hedley Kow) [20]
larrs (Lares)
leprechauns
lian-hanshees (Leanan sidhe, leannan si, lhiannan shee)
lubberkins (Lubber Fiend, Lob, Lubberkin, Lurdane, Lob Lie-By-The-Fire; a type of brownie, hob, domovoi, tomte similar to Robin Goodfellow or Hobgoblin; also Abbey Lubber)
madcaps (possibly a redcap)
mahounds (a demon or the Devil)
mannikins
mares (Nightmare)
mawkins*
Meg-with-the-wads (Will-o'-the-wisp)
melch-dicks (Will-o'-the-wisp)
men-in-the-oak*
miffies*
mock-beggars* [9]
mormos (Mormo, greek spirit)
mum-pokers*
nacks (Neck-water spirit)
nickers (Neck-water spirit)
nickies (Neck-water spirit)
nicknevins (Nicneven, Nicnevin, Nicnevan; a Fairy Queen or Witch; a type of Gyre-Carling/Gyre-Carlin/Gy-Carling/Gay-Carlin; etymology suggests "greedy old woman" or "ogress") [28]
night-bats*
nisses
nixies [22]
nymphs
old-shocks (Old Shuck; a type of Black Dog)
ouphs (Changeling)
pad-foots (Black Dog)
pans
patches*
Peg-powlers [15]
pictrees (a type of Brag?)[11]
pigmies
pixies
portunes (Roman god of keys, doors, livestock)
puckles (Puck)
pucks
rawheads (Bloody Bones)
redcaps
redmen*
Robin-Goodfellows (Pucks) [4]
robinets*
satyrs
scar-bugs*
scarecrows
scrags*
scrats*
shadows
shag-foals (Black Dog)
shellycoats
sibyls
silkies (Selkie) [16]
sirens
snapdragons
spectres
spirits
spoorns*
sprets (Sprites)
sprites
spunks (Will-o'-the-wisp)
spurns*
succubuses
swaithes (Svartalf) [12]
swarths (Svartalf)
sylphs
sylvans
tantarrabobs*
thrummy-caps (A type of elf) [30]
thurses (Jotunn)
tints*
tod-lowries*
Tom-pokers*
Tom-thumbs
Tom-tumblers*
tritons
trolls
trows
tutgots*
urchins (Elf)
waffs (Ghost) [14]
waiths (Ghost) [21]
warlocks
whitewomen (ghost or "Witte Wievan/Wittewijven" wise women/elvs of Netherlands/Belgium/France; aka Juffers/Joffers/Dames Blanches (white ladies))
wirrikows (Wirry-cow) [26]
witches
wizard
wraithes [13]
yeth-hounds (a type of Black Dog)

Notes:
*possibly made up
**follet may be a type of french hobgoblin, the lutin or nain rouge
**korred may be a variant of korrigan
***predates Tolkien's usage

Annotations from the Denham Tract:
1. Boggle-house, parish of Sedefield. Bellinham Boggle-Hole, Northd. [Bogle houses in Lowick Forest, Northumberland.]
2. There is also a river of this name in the Bishopric of Durham. Also at York is Browney Dike, a portion of the Foss.
3. The York Barguest. See Memoirs of R. Surtes. Esa.: new ed., p. 80, 1852.
4. This merry fay acted the part of fool or jester, at the court of Oberon, the fairy monarch.
5. Hag-House. A farmstead near Braneepeth.
6. The Mortham Dobby. A Teesdale goblin.
5. Hob-o-t'-Hursts, i.e. spirit of the woods. Hobthrush Rook, Farndale, Yorkshire.
8. The spirit or double of a dying person.
9. Mock-beggar Hall. Of houses, rocks, etc., bearing this name we meet with many instances.
10. Elf-Hills, a parish of Hutton-in-the-Forest, Cumberland. Elf-How, a parish of Kendal. Elf-Hills, near Cambo.
11. There is a village of this name near Chester-le-Street; and singular enough a ghost story, called the "Picktree Bragg," is attached to it. See Keightley's Fairy Mythology, Bohn's ed. p. 310.
12, 13, 14, 21, 23, 27. The same as note 8.
15. This oulde ladye is the evil goddess of the Tees. I also meet with a Nanny Powler, at Darlington, who from the identity of their sirnames, is, I judge, a sister, or it may be a daughter of Peg's. Nanny Powler, aforesaid, haunts the Skerne, a tributary of the Tees.
16. The Heddon Silky, and Silky's Brig, near Heddon. See Richardson's Table Book, Leg. Div., vol. ii., p. 181.
17. Occasionally, we may hear Cowed, or rather Cowd Lad. The meaning, however, is the same; Cowd being a variation of the more refined world, cold.
18. Goblin Field, near Mold, Flintshire.
19. Hob-Cross-Hill. A place near Doncaster.
20. "The Hedly Kow," a Northumberland ghost story.
22. "Know you the nixies, gay and fair?
      Their eyes are black, and green their hair,
      They lurk in sedgy waters."
            Keightley.
24. See ghost story of the "Brown Man of the Moor." Richardson's Table Book.
25. The Hazelrigg Dunny. An excellent Northumberland ghost story.
26. "Frae gudame's mouth auld warld tale they hear,
      O' warlocks louping round the wirriknow."
The works of Robt. Fergusson, ed. by A.B. Grossart, Edin., 1851, p. 61.
Mr. Maxwell uses worrikow as the name of a ghost in his Border Sketches. From the honour paid to him, according to the above couplet, he appears to have been a sort of master hobgoblin.
28. Mother witches.
29. Fairy Dean, two miles above Melrose. Fairy Stone, near Fourstones, in the parish of Warden, Northumberland. This stone, in which a secret cavity, has attained a celebrity in history owing to the letters being placed therein, to and from the unfortunate Earl of Derwentwater, during the '15.
30. Thrummy Hills, near Catterick. The name of this sprite is met with in the Fairy tales of Northumblerand.
31. These are a certain class of female Boggles, not altogether peculiar to Scotland, who wore the lower robes, at least, a-la-bloomer. The are named by Burns, in his inimitable poem Tam-o'-Shanter. Mr. Halliwell gives the word as localized in Somersetshire.

Wikipedia notes that parts of the list may derive from Discoverie of Witchcraft, dated 1584, so here is that list for comparison:
"...and they have so fraied us with bull beggers, spirits, witches, urchens, elves, hags, fairies, satyrs, pans, faunes, sylens, kit with the cansticke, tritons, centaurs, dwarfes, giants, imps, calcars, conjurors, nymphes, changelings, Incubus, Robin good-fellowe, the spoorne, the mare, the man in the oke, the hell waine, the fierdrake, the puckle, Tom thombe, hob gobblin, Tom tumbler, boneles, and such other bugs,..."


Obviously, not all of the entries are humanoids, Will-o'wisps, Barguests*, Black Dogs, Hell Hounds, Wirry-Cows, various types of ghosts & spirits, and some other undead are included. Some of the possibly made up names are also interesting, because they're more likely alternate or regional spellings of the other included creatures. Tracing the variant names through Wikipedia gives us some interesting notes, but mostly shows that the term 'hobgoblin' covers the majority of the mischievous humanoids, covering brownies, bogles, bogies, bogeymen, pucks, buccas, pookas, etc. which in turn links to ettins (giants), barguests (which leads to black dogs), headless humanoids, Brags (which leads to kelpies and other water horse/necks which leads to nixies), and changeling/shapeshifter creatures (which is no doubt why so many of these creatures bleed over into other, non-humanoid types...they have a preferred shapeshifted form in order to play pranks on the people they encounter.

Given this list, even with a few duplicate entries, I'm kind of surprised and disappointed that some other names didn't show up. Dullahans have become more popular lately as one of the many headless horseman (or coachman for the "death-hearses" entry) variants. Black Dog (and other hell hound/ghost dog variants) didn't appear as much as I would have thought; Black Shuck, Black Hounds, Wishthounds, Padfoots, the Grim, Shags, Shugs or Black Shugs, Trashes, Strikers, Skrikers, Lean Dogs, Gurt Dogs ("Great Dogs"), Hairy Jacks, Yell-Hounds, Cù Sìth (though more widely recognized as an "elf hound"), Black Dogs of Death (Tchico), and Tchian d'Bouôlé (Black Dog of Bouley Bay), Oude Rode Ogen ("Old Red Eyes") aka "Beast of Flanders", Tchén al tchinne ("Chained Hound"), etc. Banshees also seemed under-represented. I'm somewhat surprised that undines/ondines and salamanders didn't make this list either, given that sylphs and gnomes did. Some other common types that also seem to have been missed: Bean nighe, Billy Blind, Bluecap, Bodach, Caoineag, Cat Sìth, Coblynau, Drow (related more to trow than the commonly depicted modern 'dark elf'), Each uisge, Fear darrig, Fuath, Ghillie Dhu, Glaistig, Grindylow, Hedley Kow, Huldra, Jack-o'-lantern (a surprising lack of this variant), Jenny Greenteeth, Kabouter, Killmoulis, Klabautermann, Knucker, Leanan sídhe, Merrow, Nain Rouge, Sluagh, and Tomte.

Saturday, October 1, 2016

Playing around with Character Sheets, Mark 2

I still can't quite get my equipment page of the character sheet to come out quite the way I want it, but this should be a usable version.

Two Sided Character Sheet for Mutant Future

Also, here's a little Henchman Record Sheet thingy.

Henchman Record Sheet

Random Jewelry Generation Tables

Since one of the themes floating around this week is jewelry, I thought I'd post some random jewelry generation tables.

JEWELRY GENERATION TABLES

D10 Quick Jewelry Types
1    Finger Ring   
2    Earring
3    Chain Necklace
4    Mask
5    Crown
6    Headdress
7    Pin
8    Bead Necklace
9    Body Ring
10    Belt

D10 Non-Metal Jewelry Components
1    Leather
2    Bone
3    Shell
4    Wood
5    Hair
6    Petrified Wood
7    Glass
8    Hemp
9    Horn/Tusk
10    Feathers

D10 Base Metal Jewelry Components
1    Pewter
2    Brass
3    Tin
4    Zinc
5    Copper
6    Steel
7    Titanium
8    Tungsten
9    Stainless Steel
10    Bronze

D10 Precious Metal Jewelry Components
1    Electrum
2    Hepatizon
3    Tumbaga
4    Shakudo
5    Niello
6    Gold
7    White Gold
8    Silver
9    Sterling Silver
10    Platinum

D12 Decorative Gemstone Jewelry Components
1    Hematite
2    Lapis Lazuli
3    Malachite
4    Agate
5    Inca Rose (Rhodochrosite)
6    Rose Quartz
7    Copal
8    Coral
9    Jet
10    Ivory
11    Obsidian
12    Turquoise

D10 Semi-Precious Gemstone Jewelry Components
1    Amber
2    Amethyst
3    Chalcedony (see subtable)
4    Alexandrite
5    Tourmaline
6    Jasper
7    Nephrite Jade (see subtable)
8    Common Opal  (Roll 1d5 for subtype: 1 - Milk Opal, 2 - Wood Opal, 3 - Resin Opal, 4 - Liver Opal, 5 - Water Opal)
9    Peridot
10    Topaz
11    Beryl (see subtable)
12    Garnet

D12 Chalcedony Subtable
1    Carnelian
2    Chalcedony
3    Onyx
4    Sardonyx
5    Mtorolite
6    Aventurine
7    Sard
8    Chyrsoprase
9    Tiger's Eye
10    Hawk's Eye
11    Opalite
12    Bloodstone

D8 Nephrite Subtable
1    Greenstone
2    Mutton Fat Jade
3    Chicken Bone Jade
4    Spinach Jade
5    Golden Jade
6    Pacific Blue Jade
7    Inanga
8    Snowflake Jade

D10 Beryl Subtable
1    Aquamarine
2    Beryl
3    Red Beryl
4    Green Beryl
5    Heliodor
6    Golden Beryl
7    Clear Beryl
8    Goshentite
9    Pink Morganite
10    Rose Morganite

D10 Precious Gemstone Jewelry Components
1    Jadeite Jade (see subtable)
2    Pearl (Roll 1d4 for subtype: 1 - Pink Pearl, 2 - Yellow Pearl, 3 - White Pearl, 4 - Black Pearl)
3    Diamond
4    Ruby
5    Emerald
6    Ammolite
7    Sapphire
8    Star Sapphire/Ruby
9    Zircon (see subtable)
10    Precious Opal (roll 1d4 for subtype: 1 - Black Opal, 2 - Fire Opal, 3 - White Opal, 4 - Boulder Opal)

D12 Jadeite Subtable
1    Pink Jade
2    Lavendar Jade
3    Grayish Green Jade
4    Bluish Green Jade
5    Black Jade
6    Olmec Blue Jade
7    White Jade
8    Moss-in-Snow Jade
9    Pale Apple Green Jade
10    Apple Jade
11    Yunan Jade
12    Imperial Jade

D8 Zircon Subtable
1    White Zircon
2    Jargoon
3    Brown Zircon
4    Jacinth
5    Hyacinth
6    Starlite
7    Green Zircon
8    Cat's Eye Zircon

D100 Jewelry Design
1 Acorn
2 Anchor
3 Ankh
4 Apple of Disordia
5 Axe
6 Balance Scales
7 Bear's Head
8 Bee
9 Biohazard Symbol
10 Bird of Prey
11 Caduceus
12 Castle
13 Chess Piece
14 Claw
15 Cloud
16 Conch Shell
17 Crescent Moon
18 Crook & Flail
19 Crown
20 Crucifix
21 Dagger
22 Death's Head
23 Dolphin
24 Double-Headed Eagle
25 Dragon
26 Dragonfly
27 Endless Knot
28 Eye of Horus
29 Eye of Providence
30 Fasces
31 Fish
32 Five Pointed Star
33 Fleur-de-lis
34 Flying Spaghetti Monster
35 Four Leaf Clover
36 Fylfot
37 Globus Gruciger
38 Hammer & Sickle
39 Harp
40 Heart Shaped
41 Hourglass
42 Hunting Horn
43 Ichthys
44 Infinity Symbol
45 Jack-o'Lantern
46 Labrys
47 Lightning Bolt
48 Lion's Head
49 Lizard
50 Lotus Flower
51 Magatama
52 Maltese Cross
53 Maple Leaf
54 Marijuana Leaf
55 Medusa Head
56 Mjolnir
57 Mr Yuk
58 Mushroom
59 OIive Branch
60 Ouroboros
61 Palm Teree
62 Peace Symbol
63 Pentacle
64 Pentagram
65 Pinecone
66 Radiation Symbol
67 Rearing Cobra
68 Rod of Asclepius
69 Rose
70 Saltire
71 Seashell
72 Scarab
73 Scorpion
74 Sickle
75 Sigil of Baphomet
76 Six Pointed Star
77 Skeletal Hands
78 Skeleton Key
79 Skull
80 Skull & Crossbones
81 Smiley Face
82 Snowflake
83 Spider
84 Square & Compass
85 Star & Crescent
86 Starburst
87 Sun & Moon
88 Swastika
89 Sword
90 Taiji (Yin-Yang Symbol)
91 Teardrop
92 Tower
93 Tree
94 Trident
95 Triskelion
96 Valknut
97 Wasp
98 Wheel of Dharma
99 Wolf's Head
100 Zodiac Sign

D100 Random Post Apocalyptic Jewelry
1 Black Gold Bloodstone Ring
2 Black Gold Rearing Cobra Ring
3 Black Pearl Necklace
4 Black Tungsten Wedding Band
5 Diamond Stud Nose Ring
6 Diamond Teeth Grill
7 Electrum Thulsa Doom Snake Pendant
8 Emerald Stud Nose Ring
9 Gold & Emerald Four Leaf Clover Necklace
10 Gold & Ruby Globus Cruciger Pendant
11 Gold Bangle
12 Gold Barbell Eyebrow Ring
13 Gold Belly Button Ring
14 Gold Carnelian Ankh Amulet
15 Gold Crucifix Dangle Earrings
16 Gold Diamond Engagement Ring
17 Gold Diamond Stud Earrings
18 Gold Episcopal Ring with Amethyst
19 Gold Eye of Horus Talisman
20 Gold Flava Flav Clock Necklace
21 Gold Heart Dangle Earrings
22 Gold Heart Shaped Ruby Ring
23 Gold Hoop Earrings
24 Gold Hoop Nose Ring
25  Gold Key Pendant Necklace
26 Gold Nipple Ring
27 Gold Pearl Ring
28 Gold Plated Square Cut Cubic Zirconia Ring
29 Gold Sapphire Teardrop Dangle Earrings
30 Gold Skull Stud Earrings
31 Gold Solar System Gemstone Bracelet
32 Gold Star Pendant Necklace
33 Gold Stud Nose Ring
34 Gold Sun & Moon Mismatched Stud Earrings
35 Gold Superbowl LXIX Ring
36 Gold Teeth Grill
37 Gold Topaz Heart Pendant Necklace
38 Gold Zodiac Symbol Necklace
39 Jade & Lapis Lazuli Bracelet
40 Jade Magatama Amulet
41 Jade Marijuana Leaf Stud Earrings
42 Jade Nose Screw
43 Malachite and Red Coral Necklace
44 Niello Skull Brooch
45 Obsidian Nose Screw
46 Opal Nose Screw
47 Peridot Lotus Pendant Necklace
48 Pink Gold Princess Crown Ring
49 Platinum Ammolite Pendant Necklace
50 Platinum Jacon's Ladder Stud
51 Platinum Nipple Ring
52 Platinum Winged Dragon Ear Cuff Clip
53 Platinum-plated Silver Cubic Zirconia Hoop Earrings
54 Purple Gold Ouroboros Torc
55 Red Gold Pentacle Necklace
56 Ruby Stud Nose Ring
57 Silver Amethyst Ring
58 Silver Barbell Eyebrow Ring
59 Silver Belly Button Ring
60 Silver Birthstone Flower Bracelet
61 Silver Birthstone Ring
62 Silver Black Diamond Braided Ring
63 Silver Chain Turquoise Pendant Necklace
64 Silver Claw Bead Lava Bracelet
65 Silver Delta Tau Chi Pledge Pin
66 Silver Dolphin Dangle Earrings
67 Silver Eye of Providence Amulet
68 Silver Middle Finger Stud Earrings
69 Silver Mjolnir Amulet
70 Silver Moonstone Pendant Necklace
71 Silver Nose Chain
72 Silver Oval Turquoise Rope Ring
73 Silver Peace Symbol Necklace
74 Silver Pearl Stud Earrings
75 Silver Polyhedral Dice Necklace
76 Silver Rose Stud Earrings
77 Silver Ruby Stud Earrings
78 Silver Skull & Crossbones Dangle Earrings
79 Silver Turquoise Ring
80 Snowflake Obsidian Seal of Solomon Talisman
81 Stainless Steel Ball Stud Earrings
82 Stainless Steel Barbell Eyebrow Ring
83 Stainless Steel Barbell Prince Albert Stud
84 Stainless Steel Beaded Ball Chain
85 Stainless Steel Belly Button Ring
86 Stainless Steel Caduceus Pendant Necklace
87 Stainless Steel Intertwined Triple Band Ring
88 Stainless Steel Lock Pendant Necklace
89 Stainless Steel Medical Bracelet
90 Stainless Steel Nose Chain
91 Stainless Steel Punk Spike Hoop Earrings
92 Stainless Steel Screw Stud Earrings
93 Stainless Steel Skull Ring
94 Stainless Steel Star Stud Earrings
95 Titanium Crucible Ring
96 Titanium Dreamcatcher Dangle Earrings
97 Titanium Nose Chain
98 Topaz Fleur-de-lis Amulet
99 White Gold Class Ring
100 White Gold Oval Onyx Ring