Mythology

Jiliang

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Tradition / Region: Chinese Mythology
Alternative name: Jiliang, Jiliang Horse, Jisi’s Chariot
Category: Horse

The Myth

Jiliang is a divine horse described in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. It has a white or spotted white body, a red mane, golden eyes, and a long neck ending in feathers that resemble a rooster’s tail.

The horse is said to live in the Kingdom of Quanfeng. It is regarded as a supernatural steed whose greatest power is the gift of longevity. Anyone who rides Jiliang is granted a lifespan of one thousand years, making it one of the most auspicious mythical horses in Chinese mythology.

Sources

Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). 吉量. In 维基百科，自由的百科全书. Retrieved June 29, 2026, from https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%90%89%E9%87%8F

Thorgeir’s Bull

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Tradition / Region: Icelandic Mythology
Alternative Name: –
Category: Cow

The Myth

Thorgeir’s Bull was a powerful magical creature created by the Icelandic sorcerer Thorgeir the Wizard. To make it, Thorgeir flayed the hide from a newborn calf while it was still alive. He then placed inside the hide the bones or essence of eight different creatures—a bird, a man, a dog, a cat, a mouse, and two kinds of sea beasts, together with the calf itself—giving the Bull the combined nature of nine beings. Because of this, it could travel on land, in the sea, or through the air, and could appear in whatever form suited it best.

Thorgeir intended the Bull to help him win a feud with a woman named Gudrun after she rejected him. The Bull relentlessly hunted her, making her life miserable. Even when she fled between farms with armed escorts, it continued to pursue her. It tormented her so severely that she eventually died, and afterward her ghost was said to haunt the place where she had suffered.

After Gudrun’s death, the Bull remained devoted to Thorgeir and carried out his commands. It was used to stampede other people’s cattle, scatter horses, and perform acts of destruction. However, it also became increasingly dangerous to its own master. Whenever Thorgeir ordered it to perform some task, it would later return and attack him in revenge. Even Thorgeir, despite his magical knowledge, struggled to defend himself from the creature.

One day the Bull tried to kill Thorgeir. He fled into his house while his wife held their infant child. Believing the Bull wanted a sacrifice, she begged him to offer one of their heifers instead. Thorgeir released the animal, and the Bull tore it to pieces, sparing the family.

The Bull could also change shape. It sometimes appeared as a man, a dog, a grey cat, or even a black puppy, but most often it took the form of a gigantic horned bull draped in a flayed hide. Its appearance was so terrifying that anyone who saw it was filled with fear.

According to tradition, the Bull remained with Thorgeir until his death, and some claimed it was seen crouching upon his chest as he lay dying before vanishing forever.

Sources

Simpson, J. (Comp.). (1972). Icelandic folktales and legends. University of California Press.

Nauthveli

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Tradition / Region: Icelandic Mythology
Alternative Name: –
Category: Whale, Cow

The Myth

The Nauthveli, also called the Ox-Whale, is one of Iceland’s feared illhveli (“evil whales”) and is said to be the second largest of these monstrous sea creatures. Like the other evil whales, it is considered inedible, and tradition warns that merely speaking its name aloud can summon it.

The Nauthveli is a massive toothed whale with a black-and-white body resembling a cow. Its enormous head resembles that of a bull, bearing two large nodules, while its long body narrows into a worm-like tail without fins.

Its most terrifying feature is its voice. When hungry, the Nauthveli lets out an immense bull-like bellow that echoes across the sea and coastline. The sound resembles the roar of enraged cattle and can be heard over great distances. Its vibrations shake the ground and are powerful enough to knock oars from sailors’ hands. Whenever its bellow is heard, people refuse to sail.

Like all evil whales, the Nauthveli attacks boats and delights in killing people, but it has a particular craving for cattle. Its supernatural bellow hypnotizes cows and bulls, compelling them to run over cliffs and plunge into the sea. Once they reach the water, the whale toys with them like a cat playing with a mouse before biting them in half and devouring them.

The creature is also drawn to cattle carried aboard ships. One legend tells of a Nauthveli that relentlessly pursued a vessel near Grímsey until the sailors released the single cow they were transporting. The animal immediately leapt into the sea, satisfying the monster.

After the Nauthveli has been heard, cattle are traditionally kept locked away for several days until its enchantment fades. In areas where the monster was believed to roam, herding cattle near the coast was discouraged. According to tradition, sacrificing a single bull or cow would appease the Nauthveli, making the sea safe once more.

Sources

Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Fylgja. In Wikipedia. Retrieved June 29, 2026, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fylgja

Fylgja

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Tradition / Region: Norse Mythology
Alternative Name: –
Category: Spirit

The Myth

A Fylgja is a supernatural spirit that accompanies a person throughout life and is closely connected to their fate and fortune. Although its name means “follower,” it often appears ahead of its owner, foreshadowing important events. As death approaches, however, it stays close to the person.

A Fylgja most commonly appears in one of two forms: an animal or a woman.

In its animal form, the Fylgja reflects the nature of the person it belongs to. Gentle or dependable individuals might be accompanied by an ox, goat, or boar, while fierce or cunning people could have a wolf, fox, bear, eagle, falcon, serpent, deer, lion, or other powerful animal as their spirit companion. The animal often appears in dreams as an omen, foretelling future events or the owner’s destiny. In some sagas, the Fylgja is also linked to shape-shifting, with warriors taking on the forms of bears or wolves in battle.

In its female form, the Fylgja appears as a mysterious woman, especially in dreams. She acts as a guardian spirit for an individual or an entire family, warning of danger or revealing a person’s fate. Some heroes are visited by both a benevolent and a malevolent dream-woman, representing opposing destinies or influences.

Seeing one’s own Fylgja while awake is considered a grave omen, often foretelling the person’s imminent death. The sagas describe several warriors and poets who recognized their Fylgja shortly before they died.

According to one traditional belief, the Fylgja originates at birth. It may take the form of the first animal that consumes a newborn’s afterbirth, linking that animal to the child’s life. Because of this connection, the Fylgja is regarded not merely as a guardian but as a person’s spiritual double, sharing their life and ultimately perishing when they die.

Sources

Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Fylgja. In Wikipedia. Retrieved June 29, 2026, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fylgja

Vætt

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Tradition / Region: Icelandic Mythology
Alternative Name: –
Category: Spirit

The Myth

A Vætt is the guardian spirit of a particular place, such as a hill, waterfall, burial mound, or settlement. Most are believed to be female, although they can take many different forms. According to tradition, sailors removed the carved dragon heads from their ships before approaching land so they would not frighten the local landvættir (land spirits).

Over time, Vættir came to be seen as spirits of nature and the household. They can be helpful or troublesome depending on how people treat them. When offended, they may play pranks such as tangling hair, spoiling food, stealing milk or cream, making pigs grunt, or causing general disorder. When treated with respect, they care for children, watch over livestock, feed animals, keep the house tidy, and even bring water.

They are described as having long gray beards, deep-set eyes, round bodies, thin legs, rough voices, and wearing old-fashioned peasant clothing or red jackets with red stockings while carrying birch staffs.

In a broader sense, the Old Norse word vætt can refer to almost any supernatural being, including elves, dwarfs, trolls, jötnar, and even the Æsir and Vanir.

Sources

Bestiary.us. (n.d.). Vette. In New Bestiary: Encyclopedia of Imaginary Beings. Retrieved June 29, 2026, from https://www.bestiary.us/vette

Zhiburinis

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Tradition / Region: Lithuanian Mythology
Alternative name: –
Category: Skeleton

The Myth

Zhiburinis is a terrifying forest spirit in Lithuanian folklore. It appears as a glowing human figure, a phosphorescent skeleton, or a human-shaped shell with a burning candle where its heart should be.

Anyone who sees Zhiburinis is believed to die almost instantly from overwhelming terror or suffer a fatal heart attack. A small flame is said to appear on the victim’s body near the heart.

The spirit is also known for taking revenge on those who offend it. According to one well-known legend, a man once shot at the glowing silhouette of Zhiburinis in the forest. The following night, the spirit returned disguised as a woman. While the man slept, she embraced him from head to toe, and by morning he was found dead.

Zhiburinis is therefore feared as a deadly forest apparition whose supernatural glow brings terror, sudden death, and vengeance upon those who dare attack or disrespect it.

Sources

Bestiary.us. (n.d.). Zhiburinis. In New Bestiary: Encyclopedia of Imaginary Beings. Retrieved June 29, 2026, from https://www.bestiary.us/zhiburinis

Elnias Devyniaragis

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Tradition / Region: Lithuanian Mythology
Alternative name: Nine-Horned Deer
Category: Deer

The Myth

Elnias Devyniaragis, the Nine-Horned Deer, is an ancient Lithuanian mythological deer that carries the celestial bodies—most often the Moon, but sometimes the Sun—upon its antlers.

Its name refers to the nine days between the new moon and the full moon, and it frequently appears in archaic Lithuanian songs as a symbol of the movements of the heavens.

According to tradition, a white deer disappears at the winter solstice and returns at Christmas. The winter solstice festival itself was sometimes known as the Festival of the Nine-Horned Deer. In some songs, the deer carries the Sun upon its antlers, while in others it bears new antlers that are forged by divine blacksmiths.

The Nine-Horned Deer was likely revered as a sacred totem. Lithuanians believed deer were servants of God, capable of warding off disease and protecting people from floods, and that they were guarded in the mountains. In older Eurasian hunting mythology, the deer symbolized the Universe, the sky, and the Moon, making Elnias Devyniaragis a powerful embodiment of the cosmic order.

Sources

Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Elnias devyniaragis. In Vikipedija. Retrieved June 29, 2026, from https://lt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elnias_devyniaragis

Aitvaras

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Tradition / Region: Lithuanian Mythology
Alternative names: Aitvar, Ajtwaros, Aitvaros
Category: Dragon

The Myth

The Aitvaras is a supernatural flying spirit that most often appears as a fiery serpent or dragon, though it may also take the form of a black rooster, crow, heron, cat, or a streak of fire crossing the night sky. It is believed to bring wealth to its master by stealing grain, money, milk, honey, butter, sausages, and other goods from neighboring households.

According to older traditions, the Aitvaras was also viewed as an incubus-like spirit that visited women at night. It was said to press upon sleeping people, seduce young women, and could even enter locked houses through the keyhole. Medieval Prussian chronicles describe these spirits as punishments sent by the old gods after the Christianization of Prussia. Appearing in human form, they tempted people into sin, drove some to madness, and lured others to drown themselves or commit terrible crimes until frightened villagers returned to the pagan priests for protection.

The Aitvaras delighted in braiding horses’ manes and sending nightmares. At night it appeared as a blazing fireball racing across the sky. One legend tells of villagers who trapped one by sticking a knife into the ground between their feet. The fiery creature landed on an alder tree, causing even its highest leaves to tremble, but the terrified men quickly released it.

Many stories tell how people deliberately obtained an Aitvaras to gain riches. One common method was to keep a black rooster for seven years. In the eighth year the rooster laid an egg, from which the Aitvaras hatched. Others claimed one could buy an Aitvaras at the market in Riga, or receive one from the Devil in exchange for a human soul.

Once acquired, the spirit secretly filled its master’s home with stolen goods. In one tale, glowing embers mysteriously appeared inside a poor couple’s house. Had the woman picked them up, they would have turned into money, but she threw them away, and the miracles ceased. In another story, a man unknowingly carried an Aitvaras home hidden inside a pin. From that day his horses flourished, his cattle multiplied, and prosperity came to his farm. When another person accidentally removed the enchanted pin, the wealth vanished overnight.

Although the Aitvaras could make its owner enormously wealthy, it remained a dangerous and unpredictable being. Folklore warns that getting rid of one was extremely difficult, for simply driving it away or killing it could cause a destructive fire.

Sources

Bestiary.us. (n.d.). Ajtvaras. In New Bestiary: Encyclopedia of Imaginary Beings. Retrieved June 29, 2026, from https://www.bestiary.us/ajtvaras

Vilkatis

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Tradition / Region: Lithuanian Mythology, Latvian Mythology
Alternative names: —
Category: Wolf

The Myth

The Vilkatis is the werewolf of Lithuanian and Latvian mythology. It is a human capable of transforming into a wolf.

Sources

Baigutov, K. (2023). Kazachų ir lietuvių mitologijos lyginamoji analizė mene [Comparative Analysis of Kazakh and Lithuanian Mythology in Art]. Logos, 2023(15). https://doi.org/10.24101/logos.2023.15

Marcopoli

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Tradition / Region: Lithuanian Mythology
Alternative names: Markopols, Marcopets
Category: Gnome

The Myth

The Marcopoli are subterranean earth spirits in Prussian and Lithuanian mythology. They belong to a higher class of underground gnomes and serve Puškaitis, the god of the earth. Living beneath trees and inside the earth, they receive offerings of bread, beer, cheese, butter, and grain, which help them protect the harvest and ensure abundance.

According to one Prussian legend, the Marcopoli dwell in burrows beneath cliffs. They are described as squealing humanoid creatures with snouts like pigs or monkeys, and are said to possess a single evil eye. People were warned never to catch or steal one of their eyes.

Another legend tells that people cursed by the gods became different underground beings. Those whose inner fire was taken away became the wild, hairy Marcopoli, wandering forests and hiding in the earth, while others shrank into the smaller Barzduki, living beneath stones and underground.

Sources

Bestiary.us. (n.d.). Markopoli. In New Bestiary: Encyclopedia of Imaginary Beings. Retrieved June 29, 2026, from https://www.bestiary.us/markopoli