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Legendary creature - Thor and Indra

Keyword: Thunder

In my previous blogs I have introduced some serpent looks characters both in east and west legend, as Fuxi, Cecrops, Echidna, Hydra and so on, today I would like to list some groups consist of legendary hunters and their preys, which also relates to serpent.

As the success of Marvel film THOR, people over world have meet this hero who fight with aliens and save the world, actually in North mythology, Thor is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing, healing and fertility. The cognate deity in wider Germanic mythology and paganism was known in Old English as Þunor and in Old High German as Donar, stemming from a Common Germanic *Þunraz (meaning "thunder").

One of Thor's most important heroic deeds is, fighting with Jormungand. In Norse mythology, Jormungand also known as the Midgard Serpent, or World Serpent, is a sea serpent, the middle child of the giantess Angrboða and Loki. According to the Prose Edda, Odin took Loki's three children by Angrboða, the wolf Fenrir, Hel and Jormungand, and tossed Jormungand into the great ocean that encircles Midgard. The serpent grew so large that he was able to surround the earth and grasp his own tail. As a result, he received the name of the Midgard Serpent or World Serpent. When he lets go, the world will end. 

There are three preserved myths detailing Thor's encounters with Jormungand, however in the final battle, when Jormungand came out of the ocean and poisoned the sky, Thor killed Jormungand and then walked nine paces before falling dead, having been poisoned by the serpent's venom. Both sides end in death.

Another serpent monster killer is Indra, from Vedic myth of Hinduism, who is the god of the atmosphere, storms, rain, and battle. Indra is the most celebrated Vedic god, with more than 250 hymns addressed to him. Ancient legends depict him as the most powerful foe of various demonic powers preventing the rain and the dew from nourishing the earth. In later Hinduism, Indra is subordinate to the gods Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu. He is depicted as penitent, somewhat dull-witted, and often perplexed by more popular gods and heroes. In Hindu art Indra is frequently represented as having four arms: one hand holds a thunderbolt, the second wields a spear, the third holds a quiver of arrows, and the fourth carries a net of illusions and a hook for entrapping foes.

in the Rig Veda, which is a collection of antique Hindu hymns, Indra is described as the king of the gods. He has authority over the sky and the power to make rain using his weapon the thunderbolt. Indra is depicted as a man with four long arms riding a white elephant. Indra is the god of battle. Before each battle, he drinks a vast quantity of soma which makes his belly enormous. The soma is a divine juice. It is said that this juice empowers him to accomplish his heroic missions. His strength defeated the serpent Vritra who had swallowed all the waters of the world bringing a tremendous drought. Indra split the belly of the serpent with his thunderbolt, releasing the waters and generating life. By killing the serpent, Indra separated land from ocean, and caused the sun to rise.

The interesting thing is, Thor and Indra have much in common. 1, they are both god of thunder, and once their leadership position is very high. 2, Both of them have powerful weapons which are Thor Hammer and Vajra, and their weapons are a symbol of thunder, can be used for throwing, also have been used as amulets for posterity. 3, Vritra killed by Indra blocked headwaters in the world, whereas Jormungand killed by Thor blocked the entire earth.

Besides these two heros, there are more serpent hunters in different legends, like Hou Yi (Ancient China), Yu the Great(Ancient China), Heracles (Ancient Greek), Thraetaona (Persia), Michael (Bible), Susanowo (Japan)...  

Before I end this topic, let's have some more related extension content. In Chinese mythology, Lei Gong or Lei Shen, is the Chinese traditional religious and Taoist deity, who is the lord of thunder as well. In Taoism, when so ordered by heaven, punishes both earthly mortals guilty of secret crimes and evil spirits who have used their knowledge of Taoism to harm human beings. Lei Gong carries a drum and mallet to produce thunder, and a chisel to punish evildoers. He rides a chariot driven by a young boy named A Xiang.

Lei Gong is depicted as a fearsome creature with claws, bat wings, and a blue face with a bird's beak who wears only a loincloth. Temples dedicated to him are rare, but some people honor him in the hope that he will take revenge on their personal enemies.

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B6rmungandr

http://www.unicorngarden.com/midgard.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indra

http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~jorg/research/indra/What_is_Indra.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lei_Gong

Nice picture illustrates Battle of Zhuolu

Legendary creature - Chiyou and Hathor

Keyword: Bull(cow) head

In very ancient China, there are two emperors have high leading level in their own tribes but stand on opponent sides' position. One is Yellow Emperor, the other one is Chiyou, today I am going to talk about Chiyou, due to its peculiar appearance.  

According to the Song dynasty history book Lushi, Chi You's surname was Jiang, and he was a descendant of Yandi.

According to legend, Chi You had a bronze head with metal foreheads. He had 4 eyes and 6 arms, wielding terrible sharp weapons in every hand. In some sources, Chi You had certain features associated with various mythological bovines: his head was that of a bull with two horns, although the body was that of a human. He is said to have been unbelievably fierce, and to have had 81 brothers. Historical sources often described him as 'cruel and greedy', as well as 'tyrannical'. Some sources have asserted that the figure 81 should rather be associated with 81 clans in his kingdom.

In addition, I have to mention Battle of Zhuolu before end the story of Chiyou, according to the Chinese mythological account Shan Hai Jing, Chiyou, with the Giants, Guryeos and evil spirits, rebelled against Yellow Emperor at Zhuolu plains. Both sides used magical powers, but Chiyou had the advantage of forged swords and halberds. Using his powers, Chiyou covered the battlefield in thick fog. Only with the help of a magical compass chariot could Yellow Emperor's troops find their way through the mist. He also used his daughter Nǚbá, the Drought Demon, to harm Chiyou's troops. Later on, Chiyou suffered more defeats and was captured. Only Yinglong, the winged dragon, being a brave servant of the Yellow Emperor, dared to slay him. Chiyou's chains were transformed into oak trees, while Yinglong was cursed to remain on earth forever.

Turn to Egyptian mythology, I find a legendary character with cow head as well, Hathor, is an Ancient Egyptian goddess who personified the principles of joy, feminine love, and motherhood. She was one of the most important and popular deities throughout the history of Ancient Egypt. Hathor was worshiped by Royalty and common people alike in whose tombs she is depicted as "Mistress of the West" welcoming the dead into the next life. In other roles she was a goddess of music, dance, foreign lands and fertility who helped women in childbirth, as well as the patron goddess of miners.

The cult of Hathor predates the historic period, and the roots of devotion to her are therefore difficult to trace, though it may be a development of predynastic cults which venerated fertility, and nature in general, represented by cows.

Hathor is commonly depicted as a cow goddess with horns in which is set a sun disk with Uraeus. Twin feathers are also sometimes shown in later periods as well as a menat necklace. Hathor may be the cow goddess who is depicted from an early date on the Narmer Palette and on a stone urn dating from the 1st dynasty that suggests a role as sky-goddess and a relationship to Horus who, as a sun god, is "housed" in her.

(Hathor and Horus)

The last one of today's topic is Minotaur, the monster in Greek mythology, was a creature with the head of a bull on the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, "part man and part bull". He dwelt at the center of the Cretan Labyrinth, which was an elaborate maze-like construction designed by the architect Daedalus and his son Icarus, on the command of King Minos of Crete. The Minotaur was eventually killed by the Athenian hero Theseus.

Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi_You
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hathor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Zhuolu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minotaur

Legendary creature - Xiangliu and Hydra

Keyword: 9 Heads

As we have seen some great characters with serpent body yesterday, today I would like to share two villains also related to snake with you.

Xiangliu is a nine-headed snake monster encountered in old Chinese mythology, which is an ancient demon, eating countless people wherever it went, and always to make flood. Water spit out from its mouth is more harmful than flood, which is bitter and spicy, anyone would be killed if drink it, so there is no other beasts can survive around its habitat. 

According to the Shan Hai Jing, Xiangliu was a minister of Gong Gong (a water god in Chinese legend). Later Xiangliu was killed by Yu the Great (a real character in ancient China). Xiangliu's blood stank and no grasses would grow where it spolled. An oral version of the Xiangliu myth was collected as late from Sichuan as late as 1983, in which Xiangliu is depicted as a nine-headed dragon, responsible for floods and other harm.

Another one is Hydra, which is an ancient Greek mythical beast that was mentioned in the tale of the twelve labors of Hercules (also called Heracles). The hydra has many heads (possibly 7, 8 or 9), the number of head varies from different versions of the legend, however, more accounts agree on nine. It was said that the middle one was immortal and it has very poisonous venom and breath.

If the heads are cut off, the heads would grow back. One head cut-off would result to two heads growing back in its place. The Hydra was believed to have lived in the Lernean marsh which is located near Argolis, the region around Argos, Greece. Others say that the Hydra lived in Cave in the Swamp of Lerna.

The serpent-woman Echidna and the hundred headed Typhon are the Hydra’s parents. His siblings include the Nemean lion, Cerberus, Chimera and Ladon. The Hydra guards the entrance to the Underworld and from the murky swamps of the Lake of Lerna the monstrous serpent would rise and terrorize the city. The Hydra was finally killed by Hercules during his second labor.

(Ἔχιδνα)

Reference:

http://books.google.nl/books?id=Z2wNUanKAAkC&pg=PA125&lpg=PA125&dq=xiangliu+chinese+legend&source=bl&ots=QX9Y5uKmR9&sig=Pyzj1Vr_0habXUkurBzLPq7cJfQ&hl=zh-CN&sa=X&ei=fJBdU_6zG8z-PMWzgdAO&ved=0CFMQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=xiangliu%20chinese%20legend&f=false

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiangliu

http://www.mythicalcreaturesguide.com/page/Hydra

http://theochem.chem.rug.nl/resources/mythica.html

Legendary creature - Nuwa, Fuxi and Cecrops

Keyword: Serpent

Chinese mythology says Nuwa, the original ancestor of the Chinese nation, had the body of a snake, a human head and the virtue of a divine being. She is the goddess who separated heaven from the earth, creating the Divine Land (China).

Peace-loving Nuwa delighted in making things. She molded figures from the yellow earth and gave them life and the ability to bear children, creating humanity. According to the legend, later, demons fought a terrible war and broke the pillars which held up heaven. The sky cracked and the human world was put in mortal peril. In order to save the lives of those she had created, Nuwa melted the five-colored stones and worked unceasingly to mend the breach. Finally, the sky was whole again, but exhausted Nuwa collapsed and was transformed into a vast mountain range, nurturing the growth of the Chinese nation by providing a rich and fertile land.

Legend also says Nuwa was the younger sister and wife of Emperor Fuxi, who also had a human face and a snake body. Murals showing Nuwa and Fu Xi having snake-like tails interlocked were unearthed in ancient tombs where husband and wife were buried together as a symbol of undying love.

Fu Xi was the first ruler of this world in the Chinese myth legend. He was demigod. He lived among the people and taught life skills to early humans. These skills include using fire, fishing, hunting, writing, and fortunetelling. Some scholars believe he is an actual monarch who lived sometime remote ancient times.

While in the other side of world, in the Greek mythology, I find a character that was depicted as a man with a serpent's-tail in place of legs as well, Cecrops, who was an early earth-born king of Attika and founder of the city of Athens. 

Cecrops was the first man to offer sacrifices to the goddess Athena following her birth from the head of Zeus, and he established the ancient Akropolis shrine. When Poseidon later disputed her claim to the city, Cecrops was asked to adjudicate and found in her favour. He was succeeded on the throne by Athena's foster-son, the earth-born man Erikthonios.

What is more, in Hinduism and Buddhism, we can take a look at naga(Sanskrit: “serpent”), a member of a class of semidivine beings, half human and half serpentine. They are considered to be a strong, handsome race who can assume either human or wholly serpentine form. They are regarded as being potentially dangerous but in some ways are superior to humans.

Reference:
http://www.mysteriouschina.com/chinese-myth-legend-1-fu-xi-legend/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fu_Xi#cite_note-flp1-1
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2013-02/06/content_16206209.htm
http://www.theoi.com/Heros/Kekrops.html
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/401527/naga

Legendary creature - Xiezhi and Unicorn

Keyword: Horn

Xiezhi (Chinese: 獬豸)or Haetae ( Haetae, often spelled Haitai or Haechi) is a legendary creature in Chinese and Korean mythology. In Chinese literature it can be traced back to the Han Dynasty(206 BC-220 AD), where it is described by the scholar Yang Fu as a "righteous beast, which rams the wrong party when it sees a fight, and bites the wrong party when it hears an argument". It is also described in the Shuowen Jiezi(《说文解字》) as being "a cattle-like beast with one horn; in ancient times, it settled disputes by ramming the party at fault".
As an inherently just beast, the Xiezhi was used as a symbol of justice and law. The Censorate of the Ming and Qing eras, who were responsible for the monitoring of the civil service, wore the Xiezhi as a badge of office. Similarly, military policemen of the Republic of China wear badges bearing the Xiezhi, and it is engraved on the gavels in the law courts of the People's Republic of China.

According to Korean records, Haetae's body is shaped like a lion and has a horn on its forehead. It has a bell in its neck, and the body is covered with scales. It lives in the frontier areas of Manchuria. In ancient Korea, Haetae sculptures were used in architecture during the early Joseon dynasty, as their image was trusted to be able to protect Hanyang (now Seoul) from natural disasters and to give law and order among the populace. Seoul city has officially used Haechi (origin of Haetae) as the symbol of Seoul since 2009.

In English, it is called "the Unicorn-lion" or "an omniscient mythical beast".
Whereas in the West culture the unicorn is a legendary animal that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead. The unicorn was depicted in ancient seals of the Indus Valley Civilization and was mentioned by the ancient Greeks in accounts of natural history by various writers, including Ctesias, Strabo, Pliny the Younger, and Aelian. The Bible also describes an animal, the re'em, which some translations have rendered with the word unicorn.

In European folklore, the unicorn is often depicted as a white horselike or goatlike animal with a long horn and cloven hooves (sometimes a goat's beard). In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, it was commonly described as an extremely wild woodland creature, a symbol of purity and grace, which could only be captured by a virgin. In the encyclopedias its horn was said to have the power to render poisoned water potable and to heal sickness. In medieval and Renaissance times, the horn of the narwhal was sometimes sold as unicorn horn.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiezhi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicorn

http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/2013-11/26/content_30711101.htm

http://www.cultural-china.com/chinaWH/html/en/25Arts1424.html