Book of Imaginary Beings was written by Jorge Luis Borges, published in 1957 under the original Spanish title Manual de
zoología fantástica, and expanded in 1967 and 1969 to the final El
libro de los seres imaginarios. The English edition, created in
collaboration with translator Norman Thomas di Giovanni, contains descriptions of
120 mythical beasts from folklore and literature.
In the preface, Borges states that the book is to be read "as with
all miscellanies... not... straight through... Rather we would like the reader
to dip into the pages at random, just as one plays with the shifting patterns
of a kaleidoscope"; and that "legends of men
taking the shapes of animals" have been omitted.
Creatures
mentioned
A creature
that lives on the staircase of the Tower of Victory in Chittor. It may only move when a traveler climbs the
staircase, and it follows close at the person's heels. Its form becomes more
complete the closer it gets to the terrace at the tower's top. It can only
achieve this ultimate form if the traveler has obtained Nirvana, otherwise it finds itself unable to continue.
Abtu and Anet
Two
identical fish that according to Egyptian legend swam in front of the prow of the
sun god's ship on the lookout for danger.
A
two-headed snake, with one head being where its tail would normally be. It is
venomous and, if chopped in half, its two parts can reunite.
A small, flat animal with pure
white fur and bright red claws and teeth. Its head is feline, except for its
canine-like ears.
At the
time of its writing, some believed that planets and stars were actually living
beings, and that the movement of the heavenly bodies was voluntary.
According
to Siberian myth, these six-legged antelopes were far too fast for human beings
to catch. A divine huntsman, Tunk-poj, cut off the animal's rear-most legs to
make the animal easier for humans to hunt.
This
massive creature is said to stand in the middle of the ocean. It has three
legs, six eyes, nine mouths, and one golden horn.
A dog with
the face of an axe, with the normal body of a dog. Its diet consisted of axe
handles that are left unattended. It is a nocturnal creature that travels from
camp to camp.
A huge, measureless
fish which is often used to describe the spaces between heaven, earth, and
hell.
Also known
as Soon-Another, these creatures can assume many shapes. It appears to have
a human head and torso, the tail of a fish, the leg of a goat, and the wings and claws of a bird.
The
"woman of the fairies" does not have a distinct shape, but is instead
described by her keening wails
This
"animal" is actually a plant in the shape of a lamb with golden
fleece.
The
basilisk's appearance has changed over the ages, but it is most often
considered a chicken-like serpent with anywhere from four
to eight legs. It is extremely venomous, and its gaze can turn anyone into
stone.
Small
brown colored men that often visit homes while the inhabitants are asleep to
perform various chores.
A horse-like creature with long ears and the wings and tail of a peacock. It may also have a man's face.
Carbuncle
This
creature was alleged to be seen in Latin America. Legends say the Carbuncle
has some sort of jewel on its head.
Described
as a black buffalo with a boar's head, this creature's head is so heavy that it constantly hangs low
to the ground. It is also believed that, like the basilisk, looking into its
eyes will kill you instantly.
The
Celestial Cock, also known as the Cock of Dawn, has three legs and makes its
home in the Fu-sang tree, a mile-tall tree that grows in "the region of
dawn." It is said to crow three times each day: once at dawn, once at
midday and once when the sun sets.
No one has
ever seen a Celestial Stag. They live in underground mines, searching for the
light of day. They will attempt to bribe, speak to, and even torture miners in
their quest to reach the surface, where they turn into a deadly liquid form.
A
well-known beast with the torso of a man and the hindquarters of a horse. Most are portrayed as savage beasts, but others can be well learned in
many arts.
A sea monster. Once a beautiful naiad and the daughter of Poseidon and Gaia. She
takes form as a huge bladder of a creature whose face was all mouth and whose
arms and legs were flippers and who swallows huge amounts of water three times
a day before belching them back out again, creating whirlpools.
A rather
mischievous cat with a large, grinning face. It can also make itself invisible,
leaving behind only its disembodied smile.
Although
it may have several different forms, the chimera is most often described as a
three-headed beast. Sprouting from its back is the head of a goat, a lion's head at its front, and a snake's head as its tail.
Compared
to the Western Dragon, this dragon is considered divine and holy. It is often
seen with antler-like horns and protrusions running along its spine. The
Chinese dragon is often pictured with a pearl: the source of its power
These foxes appear like average foxes, but may sometimes be seen standing on
their hind legs to walk. They presumably live about a thousand years, and are
bad omens for their mischievous ways. They are known to shapeshift and are able
to see into the future.
Two basic
creatures are described as a symbol of eternal love: the male Feng and the
female Huang. They are described as very beautiful birds similar to a peacock,
have three legs, and live in the sun.
A mythical
bird from the Mapuche Religion and Chilean and Argentinian folklore. It has the
shape of a human head with feathers and talons; its ears, which are extremely
large, serve as wings for its flight on moonless nights.
A
legendary Chinese creature with a head both front and back.
This dragon-like creature is often known by two names. Like the chimera, it is made
of three heads: a bull's head at its front, a god's head at its middle, and a
lion's head at its rear.
The
Denizens of Ch'uan-T'ou
Creatures
with human heads, beaks, and bat wings.
A strange,
jointed insect consisting of a cylindrical body and many thin legs.
Crocotta and the Leucrocotta
The
crocotta is described as a hybrid of a dog and
a wolf, and may be able to imitate the voice of a person. The leucrocotta is
similar, but described as an antelope and hyena hybrid.
A
Crossbreed
An animal
described by Kafka in "Description of a
Struggle" that is half cat and
half lamb. Its fur is woolly and soft, yet it has a cat's face and claws. It does
not make any sounds, and refuses to chase after rats.
Also known
as the Double, the Doppelgänger is best described as a man's exact counterpart.
Quite
similar to the Chinese dragon of the same region, the Eastern dragon takes
roughly the same form, but may be lacking wings. The pearl is also the source
of its power, and they can make themselves invisible if they so wish.
Most
commonly associated with Egyptian myth, Ammit attends to the
"wicked". It is described as having the head of a crocodile, the
midsection of a lion, and the hindquarters of a hippo.
A massive
serpent with eight heads and eight tails. Its eyes are a deep red, and trees
are said to grow along its back.
A
white elephant with six tusks that appeared in
a dream to, as its namesake suggests, foretell the birth of Buddha.
In the
setting of H. G. Wells' The Time Machine, it is suggested that humans evolve (or devolve) into two distinct
species. The Eloi are thin and fragile artisans, living on fruits. The Morlocks
are blind laborers, living underground and rising to the surface on moonless
nights to feed on the Eloi.
Little is
known about the actual appearance of elves, but they seem to be very small
people, and are often portrayed as having pointed ears. They are known for
causing all sorts of mischief, such as tangling hair and stealing cattle.
A
mysterious creature that lives in the world of Bliss. Allegedly, all sounds,
sights, and smells to this creature are divine.
Fairies
are described as beautiful, tiny people that like to meddle in the affairs of
humans.
A massive
whale that many sailors often mistake for an island.
It was
believed that another world existed behind all mirrors, inhabited by a wide
amount of unknown and strange creatures. Luckily, our worlds are now cut off
from one another.
This beast
is the mount of the god Vishnu. It is half man and half vulture, with a white face, deep red wings,
and a golden body.
A fish ("about the size of a sunfish but much bigger") which
swims backwards to keep the water out of its eyes.
A bird
that builds its nest upside down and flies backwards.
Sprites of
the earth and hills, gnomes are often shown as bearded dwarves, often with
rough features. They often watch over treasure as well.
This
creature was created for the purpose of doing menial chores, and was controlled
by a magic tablet placed under its tongue. Normally apathetic and unaware, if
uncontrolled the creature enters a wild frenzy.
Sometimes
referred to as angels, these four beasts also possessed four faces: those of a
man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle. They also possessed four wings.
Haokah the Thunder God
He appears
as a man with large antlers, using the wind to beat his thunder drum.
Creatures
with a vulture's body, a woman's face, and an
insatiable hunger. They are described as having filthy genitalia and a foul
smell about them.
Also known
as the Bird of Dawn, this Chinese rooster has three legs and crows three times
a day, to signal dawn, noon, and dusk.
Hide
A strong,
nocturnal creature which feeds off the intestines of its prey. It captures and
hides from wayfarers in the woods by sucking in its body so that it can hide
behind the trunk of any tree, or the person trying to look at it. It is said
they have an aversion to alcohol.
A creature
invented by Ludovico Ariosto in the 16th century in
his epic Orlando Furioso, based on an expression of Virgil's denoting the impossible, "to cross griffons with horses";
the griffon [see above] being a cross between a lion and an eagle believed by
Virgil's commentator Servius to loathe horses.
A long-ago
bushman who stole the animals' gift of speech. Borges links this to Descartes' idea that monkeys stay silent to avoid having to work, and to a story
by Argentinian author Lugones about a chimpanzee killed by the strain of
learning to talk.
A headless
creature with eyes on its chest and its mouth on its belly.
An
amphibious sheep-like animal, which can mate with
cows to produce deformed offspring; if a pregnant woman sees one, her child
will also be deformed.
A giant in
the Assyrian epic Gilgamesh that guards mountain cedars, he is scaly, with vulture claws, lion
paws, bull's horns and a tail and penis with snakes' heads at the ends.
Men-scorpions from the poem, which guard the mountain Mashu, are also
mentioned.
The
hundred heads was said to be a gigantic fish with many heads, each one that of a different animal. Legend holds
that the fish was the reincarnated spirit of a monk who had often called others
"monkey-head" or something similar. The karma of these insults had
made him return as a monster.
A
multi-headed snake monster. When one of the Hydra's heads is cut off, two more
grow in its place.
From the
waist up, this creature has the form of a man, but below the waist they have
the fins and tail of a fish. Their forefeet are either in the form of a lion's
or a horse's.
Jewish
Demons
In Jewish
tradition the world between those of the body and spirit is that of angels and devils, densely populated and including
creatures from many other cultures. One of the devils is Keteb Mereri, Lord of the
Noontide and of Scorching Summers.
One of the
three kinds of intelligent creatures created by Allah in Muslim tradition, Jinn
are formed from smoke of fire, have five orders, can be good or evil and of
either sex and can appear as clouds or in various forms or be invisible. Borges
mentions various legends about them, as well as Victor Hugo's poem "Les Djinns", and the possible link between the
Latin genius and Jinn.
These cats
often fight with each other, devouring everything but the other's tail.
These were
beings formed completely of the constantly changing flames of fire.
A
giant bull with thousands of eyes, nostrils, mouths, and feet, which helps to
support the world (perched atop Bahamut).
There are
precisely thirty-six Lamed Wufniks in existence. It is said that, without
knowing it, they support the universe and affirm God. If one comes to realize
their purpose, they immediately die and are replaced by another unsuspecting
man.
Half woman
and half serpent, these creatures are said to have sprung from one of Zeus's
varied love interests. They are thought to be sorceresses, and although they
cannot speak they whistle sweetly.
The Lemuri
were the souls of the evil dead, created by Romulus to subdue the restless spirit of his brother Remus.
Reputed to
live on the planet Neptune, this creature is 10 times the size
of an elephant, and looks quite a bit like it. Its
most remarkable features are its conical legs (which are flat on the bottom).
Bricklayers employ the leveler to flatten hilly areas for construction
projects. It is herbivorous and has few enemies.
A woman
created before Eve, according to a Hebrew
document. Dante Gabriel Rossetti imagined her as a snake
in Eden Bower and the similarity of her name with the Hebrewlayil or night produced
the Middle Age idea of her as a creature of the night.
Ideas of
the shapes seen in the moon range include the English "man in the moon", the legend of Cain eternally carrying thorns there, and the Chinese legend of the
Lunar Hare: It jumped into a fire to feed the Buddha, who sent its soul to the
moon, where it mixes the elixir of life.
An ant/lion hybrid which inevitably starves because it cannot eat either meat
or grains, although its lion half craves the former and its ant half craves the
latter.
An extract
from Wang Tai-Hai describes a small creature with black fur and scarlet eyes that
sits by writers and drinks their leftover ink.
A giant,
taller than a mountain, with three mouths and all of Hell in his stomach, described in the Vision of Tundale.
A giant
tortoise made of water and fire, on whose shell is written the "Universal
Rule", a divine treatise.
A
four-winged serpent which makes sounds similar to those of the "Musical
Stone".
A half
human, half snake creature
This beast
is said to be a giant catfish that lives beneath the surface
of the earth, and causes earthquakes with its movements.
A creature
shaped like half a man, with one leg, one arm, one eye, and half a heart.
A creature
of medieval legend, "a dragon that was half beast and half fish".
Merman-like creatures of Chinese legend, who cause storms.
A type of
firebird.
A black
pig with a head at each end.
Has only
one wing, and flies in a continuous circle around the top of a mountain.
27-inch
dwarfs mentioned by Pliny and Aristotle who inhabited the mountains
beyond India, waging war on the cranes that attacked them for three months a
year. TheCarthaginians also had a god called Pygmy who was used as figurehead on warships.
People
with a single arm and three eyes, who build flying chariots.
The Rain
Bird
Also
called the shang yang, this bird creates rain by carrying water
from rivers in its beak.
A giant
bird.
An aquatic
horse, which sometimes surfaces to mate with land horses.
An animal
that sits upon its haunches like a dog, but
appears more like a horse. Its toes are camel-like and unable to produce its own milk, it raises its young by nursing
them on the milk of other animals. It has an entrancing call that sounds almost
like a glorious song.
Also
called the Tin Pig, this creature is heard rattling its chains on railroad
tracks by night, but is never seen.
A
riddle-giving monster with the head of a woman and the body of a lion.
Distinguished
from other toads by its turtle-like shell, the Strong Toad glows like a firefly, cannot be killed
except by burning, and can attract or repel anyone nearby with its stare.
The perfected
souls of the blessed and wise, living in a Heaven of ideal things, each
reflecting the perfection of this realm.
These are
people which, after dying, choose to go to hell rather than to heaven. They are
not happy there, but they are reputed to be more content in hell than they
would have been in heaven.
A bronze
giant.
A dog with
one (often monstrous) head attached to two bodies, which symbolizes the sins of gluttony and greed.
Entities
composed solely of heat, from an earlier stage of the world's creation.
A
faceless, supernatural bird with six feet and four wings.
Tigers who
rule over the four cardinal directions, with the Yellow Tiger
commanding them from the world's center.
Due to the
arrival of Christianity in Scandinavia, pagan giants were diminished into
small, malevolent, stupid, mountain-dwelling elves. The Elder Edda states that the giants would cross Bifröst,
a great rainbow, at the Twilight of the Gods, breaking it with their weight and so destroying the world. Trolls
figure in Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt as 'nationalist' creatures that view their squalour as luxury and
suggest putting out Peer Gynt's eyes so he can avoid seeing the
ugliness he is confronted with.
Condillac's sensitive statue
inhabited by a new-formed soul which becomes human through sensory perception
(starting with smell); a creature that can only sense the
outside world through a moveable feeler.
Flying
fish which nest in trees and fear water.
A tall
heavy serpent with claws and wings.
The
half-bird half-woman heroine of the 1751 novel "The Life and Adventure
Peter Wilkins a Cornish Man‘’ by Robert Paltock, Youwarkee is one of the winged glumms that inhabit an
Antarctic island. Peter Wilkins is a shipwrecked sailor who marries her and
converts them to Christianity.
A sea
creature of such immense size as to be confused for an island, attested to by
sources in Anglo-Saxon, Irish, Persian, and Greek literature and folklore,
among other cultures.
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