Mythology

Bodachan Sabhail

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Tradition: Scottish Mythology
Alternative Names: Little Old Man of the Barn
Category: House dweller

The Myth

Bodachan Sabhail is a Scottish Highland brownie associated with barns and agricultural work. Known by the nickname “Little Old Man of the Barn,” he is a helpful supernatural being who takes pity on elderly men and assists them with threshing. His role connects him to traditional farming life, particularly the labour of separating grain from its stalks after harvesting.

Unlike malevolent spirits that trouble people, Bodachan Sabhail is remembered for his compassion towards those who struggle with their work. He helps old men with threshing, easing the burden of demanding agricultural labour. His presence in the barn reflects the belief that supernatural helpers could assist people with everyday tasks, especially when age or weakness made those tasks difficult.

Bodachan Sabhail is also mentioned in a Scottish poem that evokes the arrival of night and the end of the day’s work. As the peat fire turns grey and shadows deepen, the Little Old Man of the Barn is imagined threshing in the darkness, continuing his labour when the old man Galium is asleep. This portrayal reinforces his association with tireless work and his quiet presence in the agricultural world of the Scottish Highlands.

Sources

“Botukan Sovil.” New Bestiary (Bestiary.us). https://www.bestiary.us/botukan-sovil/en

Alel

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Tradition: Ket Mythology, Siberian Mythology, Russian Mythology
Alternative Names: Alelas (plural)
Category: House dweller

The Myth

Alel is a female household spirit in Ket mythology, the patron and guardian of the home, family, and hearth. She protects the household against troubles, illnesses, and evil spirits, helping to preserve the family’s health, wealth, and well-being. Alel is considered an indispensable companion of every Ket family, and traditional beliefs hold that a family cannot exist without her.

Alel is usually represented as a small wooden female figure dressed in animal skins, rags, or traditional clothing. She may be depicted as a wooden humanoid doll with a large head, arms, legs, and eyes made of beads, buttons, or seed heads. Her face and body are carefully carved from a single piece of wood. Some figures wear simple garments, while others are dressed in traditional clothing made from cloth and reindeer skin, sometimes decorated with fur or beadwork.

Every Ket family traditionally keeps one or more Alelas inside the house. These figures are carefully preserved and passed down from one generation to the next. If the family line is broken, the Alel may lose its image. The figures are dressed and cared for because they are believed to protect the household and help its members in everyday life. They assist with household work, protect family wealth and health, and help care for children and livestock, including reindeer and dogs.

Alel figures are often placed in a special birch-bark container inside the house. When a family moves, the Alelas are carried in sledges containing household goods. They are treated with particular care, and their clothing is regularly maintained. Their fur garments may be decorated with bead embroidery, and they can wear beaded headbands, necklaces, and boots. Some traditions prescribe rubbing their mouths with fish oil and reindeer blood. Neglecting these figures is believed to leave the family without constant, dependable helpers and may bring misfortune.

Alel is also associated with Ket shamanic rituals. Shamans may use the figures in practices connected with fortune-telling, while the functions of the shaman and the Alel as human and supernatural guardians overlap. Both are understood to help protect people from misfortune and maintain the well-being of the community. Through their enduring presence in the home, the Alelas represent the close relationship between family life, ancestral tradition, and spiritual protection in Ket culture.

Sources

“Aljel.” New Bestiary (Bestiary.us). https://www.bestiary.us/aljel

Anryūji Bōzu

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: 安隆寺坊主, Anryūji Monk
Category: Whale

The Myth

The Anryūji Bōzu is a black whale said to have appeared on the coast near Sakata, at the mouth of the Mogami River in Ushu, Japan. It measured approximately 12–13 ken in length and had the large characters “Anryūji” written across its back. Inside its belly were human feet wearing straw sandals and various Buddhist ritual implements.

The discovery puzzled the local people until they learned that Anryūji was the name of a temple in Sakata. Three years earlier, its priest, a greedy and immoral man who had lived without restraint, had drowned when a ship travelling towards Tsuruga in Echizen was wrecked. He had been over fifty years old.

Believing that the whale was the transformed priest, the villagers refused to eat its flesh or extract its oil. The carcass was left abandoned on the shore.

Sources

“Anryuji.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1010655087.html

Namungumi

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Tradition: Malawi Mythology, Mozambique Mythology
Alternative Names: Nalumgumi, Whale
Category: Whale

The Myth

The Namungumi is a supernatural creature from the traditions of the Yao people of Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania. Despite being described as a whale, it has four limbs, ornamental webbing between them, prominent tusks around its head, and a complex grid pattern covering its body. Its neck and tail are marked by distinctive knobs where they meet the limbs.

The Namungumi lives in Lake Malawi and sometimes surfaces near a village. People can carve chunks of meat from its enormous body without causing it pain, and the wounds heal immediately. The meat tastes different depending on where it is taken, with some parts considered delicacies and others practically inedible.

The Namungumi features in Yao initiation ceremonies, known as inyago, where it represents water and kinship.

Sources

“Namungumi.” A Book of Creatures, April 30, 2021. https://abookofcreatures.com/2021/04/30/namungumi/

Taumafiskur

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Tradition: Icelandic Mythology
Alternative Names: Bridle Fish, Big Shorthorn
Category: Whale

The Myth

The Taumafiskur is a monstrous whale from Icelandic folklore, slightly larger than the Stökkull. Its body is raven-black, with white or pink stripes extending from its eyes to its mouth and outward, resembling a bridle. In the East Fjords, it is known as the “big shorthorn,” distinguishing it from the smaller minke whale, called the “little shorthorn.”

One of the most feared illhveli, or evil whales, the Taumafiskur has inedible flesh, and speaking its name at sea is believed to attract it. It is cruel, destructive, and spiteful, with an exceptional memory that allows it to pursue those who escape its attacks. It overturns boats, tears them apart with its teeth, strikes them with its tail, and can swim beneath a vessel crosswise to fold it in half.

A minister from Fáskrúðsfjörður once survived an attack by clinging to his wrecked boat, but the Taumafiskur continued pursuing him whenever he returned to sea. In another tale, the crew of a Danish fishing boat encountered one near Snæfellsnes. Their captain, skilled in the dark arts, jumped overboard carrying a small bag. When he returned, he assured the crew that the whale would leave them alone, and it was not seen again that day.

Various substances were believed to repel the Taumafiskur, including chewed angelica, rotting baitfish, bilge-water, cod-liver oil, juniper, manure, sulfur, and yarrow. Burning these substances before throwing them overboard was thought to increase their effectiveness. The whale could also be distracted by loud noises or barrels thrown into the water, while sailing towards the sun could dazzle it and end the pursuit.

Sources

“Taumafiskur.” A Book of Creatures, November 16, 2015. https://abookofcreatures.com/2015/11/16/taumafiskur/

Tsemaus

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Tradition: Canadian Mythology
Alternative Names: Narhnarem-Tsemaus, Wi’git, Weegyet, Snag, Supernatural Snag
Category: Whale

The Myth

The Tsemaus is a supernatural creature from the folklore of the Pacific Northwest, particularly among the Tsimshian and Haida peoples around the mouth of the Skeena River. It personifies river snags, floating logs, and other hazards of the water. Its appearance varies, but it usually has a snag-like dorsal fin or takes the form of a snag itself. It may resemble a dead log with a swimming tail, a sea lion, a grizzly bear, a frog covered in seaweed, or a hybrid of a bear, raven, and killer whale. Some accounts even describe it as a canoe or schooner.

The Tsemaus uses its dorsal fin to destroy boats and can swim upstream through log jams. When angered, it leaps onto canoes and smashes them apart or creates enormous waves that capsize vessels. It drowns people, who then become killer whales.

The creature is associated with Raven the trickster, and the name Wi’git or Weegyet connects it to one of Raven’s many forms. The creator and trickster Nanki’islas also assumed the form of a Tsemaus. The creature appears as a crest on the totem poles of coastal clans.

Sources

“Tsemaus.” A Book of Creatures, October 16, 2015. https://abookofcreatures.com/2015/10/16/tsemaus/

Skötumóðir

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Tradition: Icelandic Mythology
Alternative Names: Skate Mother
Category: Whale

The Myth

The Skötumóðir is an enormous, poisonous creature resembling a skate or ray. Like other Icelandic fish mothers, it is not always described as a skate itself; some accounts portray it as an evil whale resembling one. It has a back like a mud-covered island and nine tails. Unlike ordinary skates, it can appear inland, in freshwater, and even on dry land.

A swarm of skates always swims around a Skötumóðir. When fishermen catch these smaller fish, the sea appears to grow shallower as the Skate Mother rises towards the surface. It eventually hooks its wings over the sides of the fishing boat and drags it beneath the waves. To escape, the fishermen must immediately cut off the creature’s wings with a sharp implement.

An enormous skate believed to be a Skötumóðir was one of three monsters that terrorised travellers around Lagarfljót, where it waited near ferry crossings. A powerful sorcerer pinned it to the bottom of the river, where it was said to remain unless it had escaped.

Sources

“Skötumóðir.” A Book of Creatures, September 18, 2016. https://abookofcreatures.com/2016/09/18/skotumodir/

Trolual

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Tradition: Norwegian Mythology
Alternative Names: Devil Whale
Category: Whale

The Myth

The Trolual is an enormous whale depicted on ancient ocean maps, particularly in the northern Atlantic around Scandinavia. It has prominent tusks, frills, paws, and large scales covering its body. These whales are said to be as large as mountains, with vegetation sometimes growing on their backs.

When a Trolual sleeps on the surface of the ocean, it resembles a small island. Unwary sailors may land on its back, walk around, or even build a fire before the whale awakens and dives beneath the waves, drowning anyone who remains aboard. Troluals also attack ships directly, crushing and overturning them.

Sailors can distract a Trolual by sounding trumpets, whose noise startles and confuses it, or by throwing barrels into the sea. While the whale plays with the objects, the ship can escape. Despite their enormous size, Troluals are exploited by humans, and according to Münster, Icelanders use their bones to build houses.

The Trolual appears in the tale of Alector, where one emerges off the coast of the Asian Tangut Empire and ravages harbours every full moon. It is eventually defeated and killed with the help of a magical flying hippopotamus.

Sources

“Trolual.” A Book of Creatures, June 8, 2015. https://abookofcreatures.com/2015/06/08/trolual/

Sverðhvalur

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Tradition: Icelandic Mythology
Alternative Names: Sverðfiskur, Swordwhale, Swordfish, Brúnfiskur
Category: Whale

The Myth

The Sverðhvalur is a monstrous whale from Icelandic folklore, roughly the size of a sperm whale. Its most distinctive feature is a sharp, bony dorsal fin measuring between 1.5 and 6 metres tall. It has an owl-like face, a pointed snout, a large mouth filled with vicious teeth, and short, heavy spouts. Its colour is described as either brown or grey. It swims rapidly and strikes the water with its fin when agitated.

One of the illhveli, or evil whales, the Sverðhvalur is a dangerous predator whose bladed fin can cut open the bellies of other whales. It swims beneath them, making crisscrossing slashes, and its attacks can drive whales to beach themselves to escape. It feeds only on the tongues of its cetacean prey, leaving the rest of their bodies to rot. It attacks boats in a similar manner, piercing hulls with its dorsal fin or slicing through smaller vessels and their crews. The blue whale, or steypireyður, is its mortal enemy.

The Sverðhvalur is sometimes accompanied by a smaller whale that swims beneath its pectoral fin and feeds on its leftovers. However, larger ships can also injure or frighten it. One trading vessel travelling from eastern Iceland to Copenhagen discovered a large fish’s tusk embedded in its hull after feeling a powerful tug beneath the water. In another encounter off Eyjafjörður, a Sverðfiskur pursued a boat until a gun was fired into its open mouth, causing it to abandon the chase.

The creature is believed to have originated from accounts of the killer whale, which, like the Sverðhvalur, has been associated with attacks on whales and ships using its fins. The names Sverðfiskur and Sverðfiskr have also been used for swordfish, sawfish, and killer whales.

Sources

“Sverðhvalur.” A Book of Creatures, February 12, 2016. https://abookofcreatures.com/2016/02/12/sverdhvalur/

Bakekujira

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Hone Kujira, Bone Whale
Category: Whale

The Myth

The Bakekujira is a gigantic whale skeleton that swims near the surface of the sea, rising as it did in life to breathe. It appears on rainy nights near coastal whaling villages in the Sea of Japan and is accompanied by eerie birds and strange fish.

According to legend, the souls of whales killed by humans become Bakekujira, seeking revenge against those who took their lives. Anyone who witnesses one is afflicted with a terrible curse that they carry back to their village. The curse brings famine, plague, fires, and other disasters.

One rainy night, fishermen on the Shimane Peninsula spotted an enormous white shape swimming offshore. Believing it to be a whale, they gathered the villagers, armed themselves with spears and harpoons, and sailed out to hunt it. However, none of their weapons struck the creature. Looking closer, they realised that it was a gigantic skeleton without any flesh.

Suddenly, the sea filled with strange fish, while unfamiliar birds swarmed across the sky. The skeletal whale turned out to sea and disappeared into the current, taking the strange creatures with it. The terrified villagers recognised it as a Bakekujira, a vengeful ghost whale. Although it was never seen again, other villages in Shimane suffered its curse, experiencing devastating fires and infectious diseases.

Sources

“Bake Kujira.” Yokai.com. https://yokai.com/bakekujira/