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Bagan

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Tradition / Region: Belarusian mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Cow, Spirit, Sheep

The Myth

In old times, when a family’s survival depended on the strength of its fields and the health of its animals, there lived a spirit known as the Bagan. This being watched over cattle with tireless care, guarding herds from wolves, bears, and all other dangers that crept from forest and night.

The Bagan knew when an animal fell ill and would bring relief or healing. When cows went into labor, it was said the spirit stood unseen nearby, guiding the birth so that both calf and mother lived. As long as the Bagan remained close, the herd thrived and the farm prospered.

The spirit asked for little—only a modest offering, a share of food, or a gesture of thanks. Such acts were enough to show respect and keep its goodwill. When honored, the Bagan remained gentle and vigilant, protecting the animals as if they were its own.

But when forgotten or ignored, the Bagan changed. The same spirit that once guarded the herd could turn harsh, bringing sickness, misfortune, and loss to the cattle it had once protected.

Thus the people believed that care and gratitude sustained not only animals, but the unseen forces that watched over them.

Gallery

Sources

Dervlyansky, P. (n.d.). Belarusian folks legends. p. 257.

Bestiary.us. (n.d.). Bagan. from https://www.bestiary.us/bagan

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Babe

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Tradition / Region: American Mythology
Alternate Names: Babe the Blue Ox
Category: Cow

The Myth

Babe the Blue Ox was the faithful companion of Paul Bunyan, the greatest lumberjack the world had ever known.

During the legendary Winter of Blue Snow, when cold gripped the land more fiercely than ever before, Paul Bunyan found a small ox calf trapped and close to freezing in the wilderness. He lifted the calf in his arms and carried it back to his camp, warming it by the fire until it survived. Though the cold left its body, it never left its hide, and the calf remained forever blue. Because of this, Bunyan named him Babe.

Babe grew with astonishing speed. Before long he became so large that his height was said to equal forty-two axe handles stacked end to end. His horns stretched so far apart that a crow would take an entire day to fly from one tip to the other.

Wherever Paul Bunyan went, Babe followed. Together they hauled entire forests, dragged logs across continents, and reshaped the land itself. It is said that their travels carved the Black Hills and that their labors tore open the earth to form the Grand Canyon. Babe moved steadily at Bunyan’s side, silent and immense, his blue form standing out against the open sky.

Thus Babe the Blue Ox became part of the legend of the land itself—a symbol of enormous strength, endless work, and the vast scale of the American frontier, where even animals could grow as large as the stories told about them.

Gallery

Sources

Dixon-Kennedy, M. (1996). Native American Myth & Legend: An A–Z of People and Places. p. 35.

Encyclopedia Mythica. (n.d.). Babe. Retrieved from https://pantheon.org/articles/b/babe.html

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Aykaska’s Calf

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Tradition / Region: Turkish mythology
Alternate Names: Golden Horn
Category: Cow

The Myth

There was once a poor villager who owned a cow named Aykaska. One year she gave birth to a calf whose horns shone like pure gold. Though the family had little, they rejoiced greatly, held a small feast, and tied the calf in the place of honor within their home. They named it Golden Horn and cared for it with devotion.

People came from far and wide to see the calf. All who looked upon it marveled at its beauty and said it was blessed, certain to bring fortune. Golden Horn grew strong and well-fed, knowing neither hunger nor hardship.

When autumn came, the calf had grown into a young heifer. One day it followed its mother to a lake to drink. There, in the water’s surface, it saw its reflection. Admiring its shining horns and graceful form, it then looked at the other cattle and found them ugly and coarse. Pride filled its heart. Ashamed to live among them, it decided that only horses were worthy companions and left the herd to join them.

The owner searched everywhere but could not find the calf. At last he said that a creature born with golden horns must have vanished by the will of God.

Winter came early and cruel. The horses broke the snow with their hooves and fed with ease, but Golden Horn did not know their ways. It went hungry, slept on frozen ground, and grew thin and weak.

One morning wolves appeared. The horses gathered tightly together, but when Golden Horn tried to join them, they drove it away. Cornered by the wolves, the calf backed in terror and fell from a high stone. A wolf leapt after it, but herdsmen arrived and scared the beast away. Golden Horn survived the fall by landing in deep snow, but its golden horns shattered at the base.

Bleeding and exhausted, the calf wandered back toward the village. At the lake it found its mother, who licked it gently. Looking once more at its reflection, Golden Horn scarcely recognized itself. The horns were gone, its body was ruined, and its beauty had vanished.

Only then did the calf understand its pride and ingratitude. It returned to its owner and lived the rest of its life as an ordinary ox, working faithfully and giving its strength in service, never again boasting of what it once had been.

Gallery

Sources

SAGEN.at contributors. (n.d.). Aykaska’s Kalb. In SAGEN.at – Märchen aus der Türkei, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/maerchen/maerchen_tuerkei/kalb.htm

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Auðumbla

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Tradition / Region: Norwegian mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Cow

The Myth

In the beginning there was only Ginnungagap, the great empty void stretched between two extremes. To the north lay Niflheim, a realm of ice, mist, and bitter cold. To the south burned Muspelheim, a world of fire and sparks. Where cold met heat, the ice began to melt, and from the dripping rime the first life emerged.

From this mingling was born Ymir, the primordial frost giant, vast and ancient. But Ymir did not survive alone. From the same melting ice came a great cow named Auðumbla.

Auðumbla fed Ymir with the milk that flowed from her four teats, sustaining him in the age before land, sky, or gods existed. While Ymir drank, Auðumbla wandered the void, licking the salt-covered ice stones formed by ancient frost.

As she licked, the ice began to change.

On the first day, a man’s hair appeared within the frozen stone. On the second day, a head emerged. On the third day, the ice released a complete being, alive and whole. His name was Búri.

Búri became the ancestor of the gods. From him came Borr, and from Borr were born Odin, Vili, and Vé. These sons would one day slay Ymir and shape the world from his body, forming earth, sea, sky, and stars.

Thus Auðumbla stands at the dawn of creation. She nourished the first giant and uncovered the first god, bridging chaos and order. Through her milk and her patient licking of ice, the foundations of the cosmos were laid.

Gallery

Sources

Sturluson, S., Nordal, S., & Young, J. (1954). The prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson : tales from the Norse mythology. In University of California Press eBooks. http://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BA79942020

Wikipedia contributors. (2025b, October 6). Auðumbla. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Au%C3%B0umbla#Name

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Arenal Lake Beast

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Tradition / Region: Costa Rican mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Lake dweller, Cow, Snake

The Myth

Beneath the dark waters of Lake Arenal, it is said that an enormous creature lies hidden. Few have seen it clearly, for it dwells in the depths and rises only briefly, as if unwilling to be known.

Those who glimpse it speak of a beast with the head of a cow, crowned with curving horns, joined to a long, serpentine body that moves through the lake with silent power. When it shifts below, the water above trembles, rippling as though something immense has turned in its sleep.

The creature is said to surface only at certain moments—at dawn or dusk, or when storms draw near and the lake grows uneasy. In those times, a dark shape may break the surface, a horned head may rise for a breath and sink again, and the waters quickly return to calm.

No trace of the beast remains once it vanishes. No proof can be held, only stories carried by fishermen and villagers who know the lake too well to believe it is empty.

Thus the people say that Lake Arenal is never truly still, for deep below its surface coils a horned, cow-headed serpent, unseen yet always present.

Gallery

Sources

LakeLubbers contributors. (n.d.). Lake Arenal, Alajuela & Guanacaste, Costa Rica. In LakeLubbers.com, from https://lakelubbers.com/lake/lake-arenal-alajuela-costa-rica/

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Apis

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Tradition / Region: Egyptian mythology
Alternate Names: Hapis; Hapi-ankh
Category: Cow

The Myth

In ancient Egypt, the gods did not always speak through thunder or visions. Sometimes, they walked the earth in living form. One such presence was Apis, the sacred bull of Memphis.

Apis was born when a ray of divine light struck a cow, filling her womb with the power of the heavens. From this miracle came a calf unlike any other, marked from birth as holy. His black body bore signs placed by the gods themselves, and through these signs the people knew that a divine will now walked among them.

Apis lived in a temple, tended with great care. He was not worshipped as an animal alone, but as a bridge between worlds. Through his movements, his moods, and his behavior, the gods revealed their intentions. When Apis was calm, the land prospered. When he grew restless, people feared change was coming.

He was bound to great gods. In life, he carried the presence of Ptah, the shaper of the world. In death, he became one with Osiris, lord of rebirth and the underworld. Thus Apis embodied the cycle of existence itself: birth, power, death, and return.

When Apis died, he was mourned as a king. His body was laid to rest with ceremony and reverence, and the people waited for his return, knowing another Apis would be born. Each new bull was not a replacement, but a continuation—the same divine force entering the world again in living flesh.

Through Apis, the Egyptians believed the gods remained close. He was strength made visible, fertility given form, and the promise that life, even in death, never truly ends.

Gallery

Sources

Herodotus. (1921). The Histories, Book 3, Section 28 (A. D. Godley, Trans.). Loeb Classical Library, Vol. II. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Apis (deity). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved May 28, 2025, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apis_(deity)

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Aoyin

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Tradition / Region: Chinese mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Cow, Mountain dweller

The Myth

Far to the west, beyond the reach of familiar roads, rises Three-Dangers Mountain, a place long feared by travelers. The mountain spans a hundred li around, and its three peaks are known to shelter beings both strange and deadly.

There lives a monster called Aoyin.

Its body is shaped like that of an ox, yet its hide is white as bone. Four horns rise from its head, and its body is covered in long, coarse hair like straw woven into rain capes. Though it bears the form of cattle, Aoyin is no gentle beast. It feeds on human flesh, preying on those who cross the mountain or linger too long beneath its peaks.

Three Green Birds are also said to dwell upon Three-Dangers Mountain. In later times they would be known as divine messengers, but here they share the heights with the man-eating Aoyin, marking the mountain as a place where sacred forces and mortal peril exist side by side.

Some say that Three-Dangers Mountain was also a land of exile. After rebelling against the ancient ruler Shun, the Three-Sprouts People were driven there and cast out to the edge of the world. Surrounded by barren land and deadly creatures, they disappeared from history.

Thus Aoyin became the living terror of Three-Dangers Mountain—a white, four-horned ox-beast that devours humans, standing as a warning that not all creatures shaped like cattle are meant to sustain life.

Gallery

Sources

Strassberg, R. E. (2002). A Chinese bestiary: Strange Creatures from the Guideways Through Mountains and Seas. Univ of California Press, p. 112.

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Akshit

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Tradition / Region: Egyptian mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Cow, Goddess

The Myth

In the city of Oxyrhynchus there was honored a quiet goddess named Akshit, a sacred cow whose destiny was bound to the gods themselves. From her body was born Apis, the holy bull, chosen to walk among humans as a living sign of divine power.

Akshit nurtured her son knowing he was more than a calf. Within him lived fertility, strength, and the will of the gods. As Apis grew, he became the center of reverence: temples rose for him, offerings were brought, and the people watched his movements for meaning. Through him, the gods spoke without words.

Akshit remained in the background of this sacred life, yet everything depended on her. Without her care, the divine bull could not exist. As his mother, she guarded the passage by which divine force entered the world in living form.

Thus Akshit was remembered not for command or spectacle, but for creation itself—the sacred mother who gave the gods a body through which they could dwell among humankind.

Gallery

Sources


Budge, E. A. W. (1920). An Egyptian hieroglyphic dictionary : with an index of English words, king list and geological list with indexes, list of hieroglyphic characters, coptic and semitic alphabets, etc. (p. 95) J. Murray.

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Akabeko

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Tradition / Region: Japanese mythology
Alternate Names: Red Cow
Category: Cow

The Myth

Long ago, during the early ninth century, monks were building Enzō-ji temple in the town of Yanaizu. The work was heavy, and the task of carrying stone and timber up to the site was exhausting. One day, a powerful red ox appeared and began helping the monk Tokuitsu Daishi, hauling construction materials tirelessly as if it understood the sacred purpose of the work.

The red ox labored until the temple was complete. When the final stone was set, it did not return to the wild. Some say it turned to stone on the temple grounds; others say it simply chose to remain there forever, watching over the place it had helped create. From then on, it was known as Akabeko—the Red Cow.

Generations later, people remembered Akabeko not only for its strength, but for its devotion. Small figures of the red cow were made in its image, and it was said that Akabeko protected children from sickness and misfortune. Its red color was believed to drive illness away, just as the living cow had once driven fatigue and hardship from the builders of the temple.

To this day, Akabeko endures as a gentle guardian. Those who visit its likeness at Enzō-ji rub it for luck, honoring the red cow that gave its strength freely and chose to remain behind as a silent protector of the faithful.

Gallery

Sources

TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia. (2021, March 3). 赤べこ (Akabeko), from https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1078437861.html

Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Akabeko. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akabeko

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Ahtin Taikahärkä

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Tradition / Region: Finnish mythology
Alternate Names: Ahti’s Magic Bull
Category: Cow

The Myth

By the will of Ahti, King of the Islands, a wondrous creature was brought fully into the world. It was no spirit or illusion, but a living bull of immense size and strength. Its horns shone like gold and silver, and its body pressed heavily upon the earth as though the land itself struggled to bear it.

The bull wandered in quiet majesty. When it came upon a small lake, it lowered its great head and drank deeply, lingering at the water’s edge as if bound to that place. Its breath was slow and powerful, and the world seemed to pause around it.

Far away in the northern land of Pohjola, its ruler became aware of the bull’s existence. In response, he created a wolf—lean, fierce, and driven by a single purpose—and sent it forth to hunt the magical beast.

In time, bull and wolf met.

Their clash was brief and violent, and the outcome was already woven into fate. The wolf brought the bull’s life to an end, and the creature with horns of gold and silver vanished from the world.

What remained was only the memory of its creation: a life summoned by divine power, brilliant and real, yet destined to endure only for a moment before being reclaimed by the forces set against it.

Gallery

Sources


Kalevala: The Epic Poem of Finland: RUNE XXVII, the Unwelcome Guest
(J. M. Crawford, Trans.). (1888).

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