What are my favorite Mythological Beasts? Wow. Most of them are actually pretty bad.
Except for unicorns.
I was never terribly impressed with unicorns. Maybe it’s because I didn’t grow up in the Middle Ages, nor was I a little girl in the 1970s, when they came back in style. They have not seemed to stop growing in popularity ever since.
Perhaps I am looking at this the wrong way, though. I read “MYTHOLOGICAL BEASTS” and right away, beasts from classical mythology came to my mind: Centaurs, Hydra, Satyrs, Sirens, Gorgon, Minotaur and the like.
Not good.
Even elves can be evil and sprites can be spiteful.
You can’t trust a leprechaun about anything.Don’t remind me of banshees;[ see https://fourfoxesonehound.wordpress.com/2012/06/29/banshees/ for a laugh]
Vampires? Werewolves? Nuh-uh, Nope.
Dear God, not zombies!
I only like the Disney version of The Little Mermaid and even she became human; (the fish half bothers me).
[Are the seven just above mythological? Let’s call them that for now.]
However, we can go to more modern ideas ‘mythological’, i.e. Santa Claus. Gosh, I love Santa Claus! My oldest son and his nephew, (my grandson), were very put-out when they found out the truth about him. In fact, they were mad at the deception inflicted upon them. I was simply sad that he wasn’t real.
The Easter Bunny was a fun guy. Of course, I never saw him, but he knew what candy each of us liked, and sometimes left a stuffed animal or a small toy. While he was at it, he took the time to hide the eggs we had colored that day. As I said, fun guy!
My mother sang “Here Comes the Sandman” to my nieces when they were little. I did not remember the song, until suddenly, a very latent memory returned. I recalled lying in my bed, picturing tiny elven/fairy men climbing small ladders to get to us to put ‘Sleepy Sand” in our eyes. For whatever reason, my mother had said that he had “Helpers”, and I pictured them all coming with him. I have no idea why. (I was told that the Santa Clauses at the stores were Helpers, and not the real-deal.) Apparently I had been bothered and I many asked questions about how he did what he did and how he got in.The song had the opposite effect and not work as a lullaby for me. My mother had to stop singing it to me to get me to relax and fall asleep.
[ Here is a close version to my mother’s with just a few word variations :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2nfOgwdgNE&t=2s]
I also liked the Tooth Fairy. She didn’t leave a lot of money, but since I rarely had any of my own, a quarter was a small fortune. Sometimes she’d leave something special, like a little trinket, as well. I remember being quite young and quite thrilled with a simple key tab; it was a short chain attached to a metal-rimmed cardboard circle, which on one side had the most beautiful purple pansy sticker. (I was easy to please!)
In the paranormal romance anthology “Faeries Gone Wild”, author Michele Hauf has the cutest, if a bit adult, story about a beautiful tooth fairy, and a sandman, ( there are a number of each, according to this version). Handsome as this particular sandman is, he is subject to ‘premature dusting’ where, when things get cozy, he loses control and sand is released…he puts the female fairies to sleep before things get any cozier.
The characters are likeable enough that I didn’t mind nor did it cause me to lose affection for what is still in my mind, the ‘real’ Tooth Fairy.
Did I stretch the idea of ‘mythical’?
Do you have a favorite among these?
Angela Schroeder
Patricia Kiyono
Elaine Cantrell
Jeff Salter
Joselyn
Tonette Joyce
Four Foxes, One Hound 
Santa Claus is a favorite in our house. Wyatt used to insist that Santa’s little helpers came to our house and stayed for a few weeks from Thanksgiving to the second week in December. They were his friends and needed a break from all the work at the North Pole so they came to our house because we were always having fun watching movies, playing games, baking, and just enjoying each other. Last year they were only here for a short while so I wonder if they will make an appearance this year. My kids have never had their picture done with Santa but they do love the idea of him.
The tooth fairy made a recent visit here. I don’t think we’ve ever talked much about the Sandman.
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Well now we know where the elves are just before Christmas-I just love this!
If I have not mentioned this before to you, you can get free personalized video emails from Santa Claus from http://www.packagefromsanta.com.( You can pay and get upgrades). I have not done it for my grandkids in a number of years,(and embarrassed my grandson by doing it way too long!) Santa and the elves show you around his house, the workshop or the stanles, (depending o the year).You can upload pictures of the child for them to add to Santa’s letter. You fill out a form so that Santa can say the chikld’s name (and face),where the child lives,if a child has been very good, pretty good or really needs to work to get on the ‘Good’ list. He will say WHAT they need to improve or how they have been good, etc.(For the free version, they used to let you upload more pictures.I am not sure how much they let you do now, because they had cut back a few years ago.)
Check it out; I think Wyatt would love it.
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LOL — maybe you didn’t stretch “mythological” too far… but you certainly tweaked it by including the original historical individuals upon which fantasy figures and mass commercialization have developed. [like the original Klaus character].
As kids (my family), we were never told much about the sandman. Not sure why. In my wife’s family, that creature was rather prevalent. I’m sad to note that most of these figures — such as the Sandman — have since been made into horrible slasher-type movies… to the point that the mere mention of that name must send shivers into anyone who’s actually watched the whole film.
I’ve often tried to remember when I first learned that SAnta was just a bunch of daddies in red suits… but I honestly do not recall a point at which I believed the jolly magical elf himself actually lived in the North Pole and drove the sleigh. I do know that when I was in kindergarten – aged 4.5 to 5.5 that my sister, younger by 3 years, had already publicly called out my Dad. I should explain. Dad was the Asst. Pastor at Vineville Bapt. Church in Macon GA at that point and he was dressed up in the red suit and white beard, handing out little gifts to the kids in the younger levels of Sun. Sch. My big brother and I certainly knew by that point that SAnta was not real… and here’s my litle sister, age two, screaming, “Daddy!” when SANTA made his grand entrance into the throng of kids.
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Oh, gee, and your dad went to all that trouble! Poor little kids!
I still think that my first grade teacher was a Nazi. We learned, darn, we LEARNED! But among the horrors was her proclamation to the class that of course Santa Claus was not real and anyone who was stupid enough to believe in one was an idiot, or words very close to those. I was seven and had figured it out a couple of years before, but there were a number of kids choking back tears. They usually claimed that they had known, but it was sad to hear.
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thoughtless of that teacher to take upon him/her self to burst the bubbles of those kids. It was for their parents to decide when to “reveal” that info… even if they already knew by that point.
Horribly mean-spirited, too.
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I had a number of those teachers. That school seemed to attract them. I won’t even go into horror of a principal we had.
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those type negative teachers were likely attracted to that school because the principal wanted those type people around her/him.
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SHE was a tyrant. It was a very strict school all the way around.Of course, there were 27-33 students per room, one teacher, no aides. I understand many of the rules, but some, and the punishments for minor infractions, were severe. When I see ‘political correctness’ getting out of hand, I remember the day and age of lack of tolerance the poor kids, the chronically ill, the ones with learning disabilities, (such as bright kids with dyslexia),the Greek kids, and the veiled threat my mother once got when they were unhappy with her by throwing her Italian last name on a correspondence, I cool down quickly.
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The words mythical beasts definitely didn’t make me think of Santa Claus, Frosty, and The Tooth Fairy. But yes, these characters are a lot easier to handle than most of the Greek and Roman versions.
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HAHAHA! Yeah, The Tooth Fairy is no problem compared to a Medusa. “Release the Sandman!” just doesn’t have the same ring, does it? Frosty the Minotaur…nope.
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I didn’t even think about Santa Clause or I would have used him as my favorite. I adored old Santa as a child. I still like him today too.
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I rather made a reach, Elaine. I don’t find any mythical BEASTS anything that I would embrace even figuratively. I had to look for something likeable. I can’t imagine anyone who is even remotely Christian who doesn’t like Santa. I even had a Jewish neighbor who liked him very much!
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I don’t think of Santa’s helpers etc when thinking of “mythical creatures”, but when I think about it, I’m not entirely sure why!
My favorites include Centaurs and Griffins, both of which I developed an attachment for while reading C.S. Lewis’ “Chronicles of Narnia” as a kid. They were the “good guys”, and I liked reading about them whupping up on the White Witch’s army and the Telmarines, etc
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It’s true that Centaurs are generally portrayed as The Good Guys.I suppose Griffins are, as well.They were certainly used on may banners and coats-of-arms to stand for strength and honor. Thanks for bringing those to my attention.
And many thanks for stopping in , plus taking the time to comment!
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yes, Jacob. It’s fun to root for “good guy” monsters. Using “monsters” in the sense of critters who are super-normal.
Somehow, I never read any of those Narnia stories, though they were quite popular with my young nieces.
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I love the Narnia series! The writing is great. Also, they’ve been made into an amazing set of audiobooks using great British actors like Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi, Patrick Stewart, and others.
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My husband has been after me to read them for never-mind-how-many years.It took me forever to get to the Tolkien LOTR books. You have just given me the nudge to Narnia. I may go with the audiobooks soon. Thanks. Feel free to drop in any time, JC.
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Oh good! I believe you will enjoy it immensely. ( I recommend starting with “The Magicians’s Nephew”. This is the first book in the series, although it’s not the first one that was written. Both the written book and the Kenneth Branagh narrated audiobook are masterpieces as far as I am concerned:)
Thank you! I was introduced to this blog by JL, and I have been enjoying the posts.
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