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December 14 – Cerberus

Cerberus, the ‘hound of Hades’, is a three headed dog with the tail of a serpent, which according to mythology, guards the gates of the underworld. Cerberus appears in many works of classical literature by Homer,…

December 11 – Hippogriff

Probably most well known now as a character in Harry Potter, the hippogriff is a legendary creature which is half eagle and half horse. This depiction is from Ludovico Ariosto’s poem, Orlando furioso, which first…

December 10 – Griffin

The griffin, griffen or gryphon has the body, legs and tail of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. As the lion is the king of the beasts and the eagle the king of the birds, griffins were considered powerful…

December 9 – Nessie

No compendium of mythical creatures would be complete without Scotland’s own creature of myth – the Loch Ness monster. Nessie is said to live in Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. Sightings of Nessie date back to the…

December 8 – Sea-centaurs

Ichthyocentaurs are winged creatures, half-fish and half-horse. Depicted in classical Greek art, they are also referred to as sea-centaurs. This illustration of an ichthyocentaur, playing a lute, is featured on a map…

December 7 – Satyr

In Greek mythology, Satyrs are attendants to the god Bacchus, residing in woods and mountains. In the middle ages they are often illustrated as possessing a mixture of human and goat-like features. Satyrs were often…