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Lady Rokujo

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Tradition / Region: Japan (Heian-period court literature)
Alternate Names: Rokujo no Miyasudokoro, Miyasudokoro
Category: Vengeful spirit / living ghost

The Myth

Lady Rokujo was a noblewoman of great refinement, the daughter of a minister and once the wife of the Crown Prince. Widowed at a young age, she later became the lover of Hikaru Genji. Though dignified and proud of her rank, she suffered deeply from jealousy and humiliation, especially as Genji’s affections shifted toward younger women. These unspoken emotions slowly twisted within her.

During the events recorded in The Tale of Genji, her resentment grew so powerful that her spirit began to leave her body without her conscious will. At the Kamo Festival, after being humiliated in a carriage dispute involving Genji’s lawful wife, Lady Aoi, Lady Rokujo’s spirit fully manifested. Invisible yet deadly, it began to torment Lady Aoi, who was pregnant at the time.

Lady Aoi suffered greatly. After a long and painful labor, she gave birth to a son, but her condition suddenly worsened, and she died only days later. Meanwhile, Lady Rokujo realized that her spirit had wandered when she noticed the smell of ritual mustard seeds clinging to her own clothing. Genji himself witnessed her spirit while tending to Lady Aoi. Horrified by what she had become, Lady Rokujo resolved to sever her ties with him.

She left the capital, parting from Genji at Nonomiya, and traveled to Ise with her daughter, who served as a sacred princess. Yet even distance could not quiet her heart. After returning to Kyoto, Lady Rokujo fell ill and died, entrusting her daughter to Genji’s care. Death, however, did not end her suffering.

Her spirit continued to appear, driven by lingering obsession. It haunted Lady Murasaki and later the Third Princess, afflicting them with sickness and terror. Through these hauntings, her bitterness toward Genji was made known again and again.

Only after memorial rites were performed, urged by Genji and carried out for her troubled soul, was it hoped that Lady Rokujo might finally find release. Until then, she endured as one of the most feared figures of courtly legend — a woman whose restrained emotions became so powerful that even death could not contain them.

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Näcken

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Tradition / Region: Swedish Mythology
Alternate Names: Strömkarlen, Bäckamannen, Kvarngubbe, Kvarnrå, Forskarlen, Dammapågen
Category: Water spirit

The Myth

In Swedish folklore, Näcken dwelled in lakes, rivers, streams, and mill waters, haunting places where the current moved quietly or gathered strength beneath the surface. He was not a single spirit but a powerful water-being known by many names, feared and respected wherever people lived close to water.

Näcken most often appeared as a naked man, sometimes young and slender, sometimes old and bearded, seated upon a rock or at the water’s edge. His hair was said to be green or woven with foliage, as if grown from the river itself. In his hands he held an instrument, most often a violin, though he was also known to play horns, flutes, or other melodies. His music was said to be irresistibly beautiful. Those who heard it felt drawn toward the sound, their feet carrying them closer to the water without their will.

Näcken was a master of deception. Though water might seem shallow and harmless, he could seize a person’s footing, locking their legs in place and pulling them beneath the surface. Many drownings were blamed on him, and children were warned never to trust the calm of a stream or the beauty of music drifting across the water at dusk.

At times, Näcken took other forms. He could appear as animals — a black or white horse, a bull, a dog, or a cat — and these shapes often bore a subtle wrongness, such as having three legs instead of four. He could also disguise himself as floating objects or tempting treasures, lying in wait for the unwary.

Näcken was not merely a minor spirit, but a powerful force of the natural world, sometimes spoken of as nearly divine. He embodied the danger of water itself: beautiful, life-giving, and deadly. To encounter him was to be reminded that rivers and lakes were alive, watching, and never fully under human control.

Marcus Attilius

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Era / Region: Roman Imperial Period, Italy
Lifespan: Unknown (active mid–1st century CE)
Primary Role(s): Gladiator
Alternate Names / Titles: —

The Life

Marcus Attilius is known through surviving graffiti discovered near the Nucerian Gate at Pompeii. These inscriptions record gladiatorial contests held at Nola and preserve the names and outcomes of several fighters. Unlike most gladiators named in the graffiti, Marcus Attilius bears both a praenomen and a gens name, identifying him as a free-born Roman citizen rather than a slave.

Attilius entered the arena as a voluntary gladiator, enrolling in a gladiatorial school by contract. By doing so, he temporarily surrendered his legal rights and social standing for the duration of his service. He fought as a murmillo, a heavily armed gladiator equipped with a gladius, a large rectangular shield, a crested helmet, and protective shin guards.

The graffiti records that the games at Nola marked Attilius’s first appearance in the arena. Despite being a tiro, or novice, he was matched against Hilarus, an experienced gladiator who had fought fourteen times and won twelve victories and who was associated with the household of Emperor Nero. In this contest, Marcus Attilius forced Hilarus to surrender and was declared the victor.

Attilius fought a second bout shortly thereafter against another veteran gladiator, Lucius Raecius Felix, who had also achieved twelve victories in previous contests. Attilius won this fight as well.

Because Hilarus was associated with the household of Emperor Nero, Marcus Attilius’s activity can be placed within the reign of Nero, between 54 and 68 CE.

These victories were recorded by spectators in painted inscriptions, showing Attilius armed as a murmillo and listing his opponents and results. The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE buried Pompeii and preserved these graffiti, ensuring that Marcus Attilius’s career survived in the archaeological record.

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Americas of Altejas

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Era / Region: High Middle Ages, Western Europe and the Levant
Lifespan: Unknown
Primary Role(s): Nun; religious founder
Alternate Names / Titles: Americas of Althejas

The Life

Americas was a nun from Altejas whose life is known only through brief ecclesiastical references. She lived during the period of the First Crusade, when calls for religious action and pilgrimage were issued by the papacy.

Following the direction of Pope Urban II, Americas sought to take part in the Christian effort in the Holy Land. She went to her bishop to request his blessing and approval to establish a hospice for the poor in Jerusalem. The purpose of the hospice was to provide shelter and care for pilgrims and the needy in the region.

No further details of her life, the outcome of her request, or the later history of the hospice are recorded in surviving sources. Her appearance in the historical record reflects the participation of religious women in charitable and devotional projects connected to the early crusading movement.

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Thomas Derrick

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Era / Region: Elizabethan Era, England
Lifespan: fl. 1596 – c. 1610
Primary Role(s): Sailor; executioner
Alternate Names / Titles: —

The Life

Thomas Derrick first appears in the historical record in the 1590s. He served as a sailor in the Royal Navy during the Anglo-Spanish War and was part of the English fleet under the command of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex. In 1596, Derrick took part in the capture of Cádiz during the English assault on the Spanish port.

After the sack of the city, Derrick was among twenty-four sailors accused of raping local women. The men were tried and sentenced to death by hanging. When no soldier or officer was willing to carry out the executions, the Earl of Essex offered Derrick a pardon on the condition that he execute the other condemned sailors. Derrick accepted and carried out the hangings aboard one of the fleet’s ships, using blocks and rigging to suspend the men from the spar.

Following the fleet’s return to England, Derrick became an official executioner. He was assigned to Tyburn, the principal site of public executions in London. Over the course of his career, he carried out more than 3,000 executions, a role that placed him outside ordinary social life due to the stigma and danger associated with the profession.

In 1601, Derrick executed his former commander and pardoner, the Earl of Essex, after Essex was convicted of treason. As a nobleman, Essex was permitted to choose beheading rather than hanging. Derrick, accustomed to the noose rather than the axe, required three strokes to sever Essex’s head.

During his years as an executioner, Derrick introduced mechanical innovations to the gallows. He replaced the traditional rope-over-beam method with a system using a beam, topping lift, and pulleys. Around 1610, he constructed a gallows capable of hanging more than a dozen people at the same time.

Derrick’s name became associated with the structure from which hangmen suspended their nooses. From this usage, the word “derrick” entered the English language as a term for lifting frames and, later, cranes. He was also the first executioner known to have been the subject of a ballad in the English-speaking world.

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Florine of Burgundy

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Era / Region: High Middle Ages, Western Europe and Anatolia
Lifespan: 1083–1097
Primary Role(s): Crusader noblewoman
Alternate Names / Titles: Florina of Burgundy

The Life

Florine of Burgundy was born in 1083 into the ruling house of Burgundy, the daughter of Duke Odo I of Burgundy and Sybilla of Burgundy. She was raised within the political and military culture of the Burgundian nobility, where warfare, dynastic alliances, and religious obligation shaped aristocratic life.

According to later tradition, Florine married Sweyn the Crusader, a Danish prince who had taken the cross during the First Crusade. Together, they joined the movement of armed pilgrims traveling east toward the Holy Land, intending to reach Jerusalem.

Florine and Sweyn are said to have led a force of approximately 1,500 Danish knights across Anatolia. While passing through Cappadocia, near Philomelium in modern-day Turkey, their army was ambushed by Turkish forces. The crusaders were heavily outnumbered, and the encounter ended in defeat.

One account states that Florine fought alongside her husband until she was killed by multiple arrows during the battle. Another version claims she was captured alive, brought before a Turkish ruler, and executed. Both Florine and Sweyn died in 1097, and their force was destroyed.

Her death occurred during the early phase of the First Crusade, a period marked by severe losses among crusading armies attempting to cross Anatolia.

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Błędne ogniki

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Tradition / Region: Polish Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Flame

The Myth

In marshes, swamps, and peat bogs, people spoke of small lights that appeared at night, hovering just above the wet ground. These wandering flames were known as Błędne ogniki. They flickered softly, drifting without clear purpose, and were most often seen where the land was treacherous and paths were uncertain.

According to Polish and wider Slavic belief, Błędne ogniki were the souls of the dead. They were commonly said to be the spirits of wicked or dishonest people, especially unjust landowners and fraudulent surveyors who had cheated others during their lives. After death, they were condemned to wander endlessly, glowing faintly as a sign of their unrest and repentance.

The lights were feared by travelers. It was said that Błędne ogniki could lead people astray, drawing them off safe paths and deeper into bogs where they might become lost or perish. To follow the lights was dangerous, and their appearance was usually taken as a bad omen.

In some regions, however, the lights were also linked to hidden treasures buried beneath the earth. In these tales, the glow was believed to come from the lanterns of underground beings guarding their riches. Even so, such encounters were risky, for those who chased the promise of wealth often met misfortune instead.

Thus Błędne ogniki were remembered as restless lights of the night — spirits bound to the land, warning travelers that not every guiding flame leads to safety.

Ba-kujira-tata

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Tradition / Region: Japanese Mythology
Alternate Names: Monster Whale Curse
Category: Whale, Ghost

The Myth

During his years working as a kamishibai artist, Mizuki Shigeru once created a paper-theater story called Monster Whale. The tale told of a man who ate nothing but whale meat. Over time, his body began to change, and he slowly came to resemble a whale himself. As the story neared its end, the man was struck by a severe fever. Even after consulting a doctor, no cause for the illness could be found.

While performing this story repeatedly, Mizuki himself fell ill with an unexplained fever. Medical treatment brought no answers, and the sickness lingered. Eventually, he decided to stop performing Monster Whale. Soon after, his fever disappeared as suddenly as it had come.

Mizuki laughed it off at the time, calling it the curse of the monster whale. Yet as years passed, he reconsidered the experience. He came to feel that the story may have touched on something unseen, something that did not reveal itself openly. As the tale of the monster whale concludes in his later writings, collected in works such as Nihon Yokai Taizen, it leaves a quiet warning: though nothing may seem to be happening, there is always something mysterious moving just beyond human sight.

Sources

TYZ Yokai Blog contributors. (n.d.). Bake-kujira (鯨骨霊 / バクジラ). In TYZ Yokai Blog, from https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1077754091.html

Zhu Yan

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Tradition / Region: Ancient China
Alternate Names: —
Category: Omen beast / monstrous ape

The Myth

In the ancient text Classic of Mountains and Seas, it is said that in the Western Mountains there exists a strange beast called Zhu Yan. Its form is like that of a powerful ape, but its head is white and its feet are red. It possesses immense strength and an unsettling presence.

Zhu Yan does not wander without consequence. When it appears in the world, its coming is taken as a sign of catastrophe. The sighting of this beast foretells the outbreak of great war, bringing violence and upheaval wherever its presence is known. Thus, Zhu Yan is remembered not for deeds it performs, but for the disaster that follows in its wake.

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Huldra

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Tradition / Region: Norwegian Mythology, Swedish Mythology
Alternate Names: Skogsrå, Tallemaja, Ulda, Hulder
Category: Fox, Forest dweller

The Myth

Deep within the Scandinavian forests, people spoke of the Huldra, a hidden woman who ruled the woods and the spaces between trees. She appeared as a beautiful young woman, dressed like a farmer’s daughter or forest maiden, her voice gentle and her manner inviting. Those who met her often believed they had encountered an ordinary human, for she moved easily among people and spoke their language. Yet the Huldra was never entirely what she seemed.

Those who looked too closely, or who followed her too far into the forest, might glimpse what she concealed. Beneath her skirt could be seen the tail of an animal, often that of a cow or fox, or her legs might be covered in coarse hair. Some said that if she turned her back, it was hollow like the inside of a rotting tree. For this reason she wore long clothing and kept her secrets well hidden, revealing them only to the careless or the doomed.

The Huldra was one of the rå, the wardens of the natural world, spirits who governed forests, waters, and mountains. As skogsrå, she claimed dominion over the woods and all who worked within them. Charcoal burners, who labored day and night tending their kilns, were said to be especially favored by her. While they slept from exhaustion, the Huldra would watch over the burning charcoal, waking them if danger threatened. In return, the men left food for her in a hidden place, knowing that respect earned protection.

Yet her kindness was matched by danger. Men who mocked her, tried to expose her secret, or followed her seduction without respect often lost their way in the forest, fell ill, or were never seen again. Some tales tell of men who were lured into marriage with a Huldra, only to discover her true nature too late. Others say that if she were treated well, baptized, or brought fully into the human world, her tail would fall away and she could live as a woman, though the forest would mourn her loss.

Thus the Huldra remained a presence both alluring and feared — a reminder that the forest was alive, watchful, and governed by powers older than humanity, rewarding respect and punishing arrogance in equal measure.