Tradition: Czech Mythology
Alternative Names: Lomie, Los, Lossie
Category: Deer
The Myth
The Lomie is a strange beast said to inhabit the forests of Bohemia. It possesses a large, sac-like bladder beneath its neck, which it uses as a weapon against hunters.
When pursued by hunters, the Lomie runs to a nearby body of water and stops to drink. It fills the bladder beneath its neck with water before continuing its escape.
As it runs, the water inside the bladder becomes heated until it is boiling hot. When the hunters and their dogs eventually corner the creature, the Lomie vomits the boiling water over them. The scalding water burns the hunters and dogs, allowing the beast to escape.
Heylyn merely describes the water as boiling hot, but the Book of Marvels gives a more horrific account. According to this version, the water is extremely poisonous as well as boiling, producing incurable wounds and causing the skin and flesh of its victims to slough away.
The name Lomie appears to derive from the Polish łossie, the plural form of łoś, meaning moose or elk. The name was probably the result of a typographical error by Heylyn. Topsell lists Los and Lossie as names for the elk or moose and likewise attributes the strange ability to regurgitate scalding water to the animal.
Sources
Countess Sica. “Lomie.” A Book of Creatures. October 30, 2020. https://abookofcreatures.com/2020/10/30/lomie/