Mythology!

Rashamen

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Tradition / Region: Japan (Edo period)
Alternate Names: Raschamen
Category: Sheep

The Myth

Rashamen was the name used for sheep brought to Japan by overseas ships. Because sheep were unfamiliar, people associated them with foreigners, and the name was said to come from rasha, the woolen clothing worn by Westerners.

In 1776, during the An’ei era, an animal called a raschamen was exhibited as a public spectacle in the districts of Ryōgoku and Asakusa in Edo. People paid to see it as a rare and strange creature from abroad. The animal on display was a sheep, with paint smeared over its body to make it look more unusual.

The spectacle became widely known. The sheep was taken around and shown to crowds, presented as something exotic rather than as an ordinary animal.

The event was later mentioned by Hiraga Gennai in his work Hoheiron Kohen, where he described the rashamen performance and noted that it was simply a painted sheep being displayed to the public.

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Vadzyany Byk

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Tradition / Region: Belarusian Mythology
Alternate Names: Water Bull, Vadzyany byk
Category: Cow

The Myth

In the lakes of the Ushachi Lakeland, people speak of a creature known as the Vadzyany Byk, the Water Bull. It is said to live beneath the surface of quiet waters, especially in lakes that appear shallow near the shore but suddenly drop into deep, rocky depths. At sunrise and sunset, its presence is announced by a deep, resonant roar that rolls across the water, described as a slow, echoing “woo-woo-woo.”

Those who claim to have encountered the Water Bull describe it as a medium-sized aquatic animal with a powerful body and a broad, spade-shaped tail. It is said to circle the lake endlessly, moving just below the surface. Fishermen tell of seeing ripples and feeling unseen movement beneath their boats, and some recall moments when they were too afraid to cast their lines, convinced that the creature could seize them and drag them into the depths.

The Vadzyany Byk is believed to inhabit dangerous waters filled with large stones and sudden drop-offs, places where drowning is easy and escape difficult. For this reason, it is sometimes called the master of the lake, a being that rules its waters and punishes carelessness. Though many admit they have never seen it clearly, its voice alone is enough to inspire fear and respect.

The Water Bull is also linked to similar beings known as swamp bulls, said to dwell in marshes and wetlands. Its legend appears beyond oral tradition as well, including in stories set in Belarusian landscapes, where such creatures are treated as ancient inhabitants of water and fog.

Rarely seen and never fully understood, the Vadzyany Byk endures as a presence felt more than witnessed — a roaring shadow beneath the surface, guarding the depths of the lake and reminding those nearby that the water is not empty.

Keledones

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Tradition / Region: Greek Mythology
Alternate Names: Celedones, Khryseiai Keledones (“Golden Charmers”)
Category: Object

The Myth

In the age when gods still shaped wonders with their own hands, the divine smith Hephaistos forged a set of miraculous beings for the temple of Apollon at Delphi. These were the Keledones, golden singers crafted not of flesh, but of shining metal, alive with sound and enchantment.

The Keledones were made entirely of gold and were said to sing with voices of supernatural power. Some described them as beautiful maidens, others as wryneck birds, and still others as strange bird-women, reminiscent of the Sirens. However they appeared, their song possessed a soothing and bewitching force, capable of charming all who heard it.

They were placed high upon the temple, above the pediment, where their voices rang out continuously. There, the Golden Charmers sang in honor of Apollon, their music filling the sacred space with an otherworldly harmony. Ancient poets spoke of them as wonders beyond human craft, comparing their song to that of the Sirens, though fashioned not to destroy but to enthrall.

Some later writers questioned whether such beings truly existed or whether they were poetic embellishments inspired by earlier myths. Yet the tradition endured: that once, at Delphi, golden singers adorned the god’s temple, their voices echoing across stone and air, forged by divine hands and animated by sacred song.

Thus the Keledones remained in memory as marvels of divine artifice — not born, but made; not living, yet singing — eternal symbols of beauty, craft, and the dangerous power of enchanted sound.

Laurentius Christophori Hornaeus

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Era / Region: Early Modern Period, Sweden
Lifespan: 1645 – April 27, 1719
Primary Role(s): Priest; parish vicar
Alternate Names / Titles: Lars Christophri Hornæus; Lars Christoffersson

The Life

Laurentius Christophori Hornaeus was born in 1645 in Härnösand, Sweden, under the name Lars Christoffersson. During his lifetime, it was common for Swedish students and clergy to adopt Latinized names, often derived from their place of origin. The name Hornaeus is generally understood to be a Latinized form of Härnösand.

He began theological studies in the 1660s and was enrolled at the University of Uppsala by 1667, where he studied alongside his brother Petrus. In 1672, Lars was ordained as a priest of the Church of Sweden.

Following his ordination, he was appointed assistant minister in Ytterlännäs, serving under Olaus Erici Rufinius, who held responsibility for the parish of Torsåker and its surrounding areas, including the annex parish in the Dal Hundred. Rufinius died later in 1672, and Lars succeeded him as assistant minister.

Hornaeus became parish vicar through the customary practice of widow conservation, by which a clergyman inherited a parish by marrying the widow or daughter of his predecessor. Since Rufinius had been widowed, Hornaeus married his daughter, Brita Olofsdotter Rufinia, in a ceremony held at the parsonage in Sunnanåker, within Ytterlännäs parish. The couple had a son, Lars Hornaeus, who later became a minister. Through his descendants, Hornaeus’s family remained active in the clergy for multiple generations.

In 1668, a wave of witchcraft accusations began spreading through Sweden. By 1674, the witch panic reached Torsåker. As parish vicar, Laurentius Christophori Hornaeus presided over the Torsåker witch trials, which became the largest witch trial episode in Swedish history.

Hornaeus continued his clerical duties until his death on April 27, 1719, in Nordanåker, Ytterlännäs parish. He was buried beneath the old church in Ytterlännäs, where his grave remains preserved beneath a hatch in the church floor between the altar and the sacristy entrance.

Following his death, his son Lars Larsson Hornaeus succeeded him as pastor and led the congregation until 1751.

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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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