Eel

Hrökkáll

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Tradition / Region: Icelandic Mythology
Alternate Names: Coil-eel
Category: Fish, Eel, Zombie

The Myth

Long ago, a malicious wizard in Iceland defied the natural order. From polluted water he drew up a dead eel, half-rotted and foul, and by dark arts forced it back into motion. Thus was born the first Hrökkáll, the coil-eel—an unnatural thing animated by corruption and spite.

Though the wizard himself vanished with time, the creature did not. The Hrökkáll bred, and its descendants spread into stagnant ponds, still waters, and sluggish rivers, thriving wherever decay and filth gathered.

A Hrökkáll is about two feet long and shaped like an eel, but its body is armored with flexible scales as hard as iron. Along its sides run sharp, saw-toothed fins. Like many fearsome fishes of Iceland, it exudes a corrosive venom, and its flesh is deadly to eat. When captured, Hrökkálls have been known to melt through soil and stone alike, dissolving their escape and slipping back into the water.

They wait unseen beneath the surface until a person steps into their domain. Then the Hrökkáll strikes, coiling tightly around a leg. With crushing force and slicing edges, it cuts through flesh and bone, severing the limb entirely. Whether it is the acid of its venom, the blades of its fins, or both together that accomplish this horror is unknown.

Men and horses alike fall victim to the Hrökkáll, but sheep are spared, for their legs are too slender for the creature to grasp.

In later times, the name Hrökkáll passed into common speech, and came to be used for electric eels as well—but in old tales, it is remembered as a thing born of sorcery, rot, and water gone bad.

Gallery

Sources

A Book of Creatures contributors. (n.d.). Hrokkall. In A Book of Creatures, from https://abookofcreatures.com/2015/08/12/hrokkall/

Interpretive Lenses

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Buarach-bhaoi

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Tradition / Region: Scottish Mythology
Alternate Names: Buarach na Baoi; Buarach-bhaoi nan sùilean claon
Category: Fish, Eel

The Myth

The Buarach-bhaoi, whose name means “the wild shackle” or “the shackle of the furious one,” is a dangerous water creature believed to dwell in dark rivers, lochs, and fords. It is described as a leech- or eel-like being, lurking unseen beneath the surface.

When horses attempted to cross certain waters, the Buarach-bhaoi would suddenly coil itself around their legs like an iron shackle. Unable to free themselves, the animals would stumble, fall, and be dragged beneath the water, where they drowned. Afterward, the creature would suck their blood.

The Buarach-bhaoi is said to have nine eyes or holes along its head and back. Through these openings, the blood it consumed would seep out again. Because of this strange and unsettling feature, it was also called “the furious shackle of the squinting eyes.”

Stories place the Buarach-bhaoi in several regions. It was believed to haunt dangerous crossings, especially the dark waters of Loch Tummel, as well as rivers and lochs in Badenoch, Perthshire, and along the west coast of Argyllshire. Wherever the waters ran deep, fast, and shadowed, people feared it might be waiting.

The Buarach-bhaoi was not thought to hunt humans directly, but its presence made certain crossings deadly. Travelers learned to avoid suspicious fords, knowing that what looked like still water might conceal a living shackle beneath.

Gallery

Sources

Campbell, J. G. (2020). Superstitions of the Highlands & Islands of Scotland. Originally published 1900.

Interpretive Lenses

Religious Readings
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Abaia

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Tradition / Region: Melanesian Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Eel, Fish, Lake Dweller

The Myth

There is a deep lake in British New Guinea, rich with fish, and at its bottom dwells Abaia, a powerful and magical eel. Abaia is ancient and territorial, and like many great serpents and eels of Melanesian belief, it is bound to the forces of weather, storms, and floods. It does not tolerate disturbance.

One day, a man discovered Abaia’s lake and found that the fish within it were plentiful beyond measure. He caught many and returned to his village, telling the others of the endless bounty. Soon the people came together to the lake, casting their nets and hauling out fish in great numbers. In their greed, they took without restraint.

Among them, one woman caught Abaia himself in her net. The great eel struggled and escaped, slipping back into the depths of the lake.

That night, Abaia took revenge. Rain fell without pause. The lake swelled and overflowed its banks, and the floodwaters rose until the entire village was drowned. Men, women, and children were swept away by the storm.

Only one old woman survived. She had refused to eat the fish taken from the lake and climbed into a tree as the waters rose. When the flood receded, she alone remained, spared because she had not partaken in what belonged to Abaia.

Thus the people learned that the gifts of the water are not without guardians, and that greed awakens the wrath of those who dwell beneath the surface.

Gallery

Sources

Dixon, R. B. (1916) The Mythology of All Races v. IX: Oceanic. Marshall Jones Company, Boston.

A Book of Creatures contributors. (n.d.). Abaia. In A Book of Creatures, from https://abookofcreatures.com/2019/01/04/abaia/

Interpretive Lenses

Religious Readings
  • Christian Ascetic Deep Dive
Philosophical Readings
  • Nietzschean Deep Dive
Psychological Readings
  • Jungian Deep Dive
Esoteric Deep Dive
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Political / Social Readings
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Other
  • How to Invite The Abaia