Legendary creature
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- For creatures that are fictional creations, see Category:Fictional species.
- For creatures whose existence is claimed by Cryptozoologists, see Category:Cryptids.
A legendary creature is a mythological or folkloric creature (often known as "fabulous creatures" in historical literature). Some — such as the dragon or the griffin — have their origin in traditional mythology and have at one time been believed to be real creatures. Others were based on real creatures, originating in garbled accounts of travellers' tales; such as the Vegetable Lamb of Tartary, which supposedly grew tethered to the earth (and was actually a type of fern). The traditional unicorn may have come from garbled stories about the rhinoceros and/or narwhal. Examples of the legendary creatures can be found in medieval bestiaries.
Conversely, some creatures downplayed as just storytelling, have been rediscovered and found to be real in recent times, such as the giant squid.
Often mythical creatures are chimeras, a combination of two or more animals. For example, a centaur is a combination of a man and horse, a minotaur of a man and bull. It should be noted that these were not always intended to be understood as literal juxtapositions of parts from disparate species. Lacking a common morphological vocabulary, classical and medieval scholars and travellers would attempt to describe unusual animals by comparing them point-for-point with familiar: the giraffe, for example, was called cameleopard, and thought of as a creature half-camel, and half-leopard.
Many legendary creatures appear prominently in fantasy fiction. These creatures are often claimed to have supernatural powers or knowledge or to guard some object of great value, which becomes critical to the plot of the story in which it is found.
Many legendary creatures have been incorporated into heraldry and architectural decoration. Legendary creatures have also been accepted into many facets of popular culture most notably in fantasy role playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons or Everquest, video games, Hollywood movies and power metal bands (such as DragonForce)).
[edit] See also
- Cryptozoology
- Monster
- List of fictional species
- List of legendary creatures
- Legendary creatures of the Argentine Northwest region
- An instinct for dragons, a hypothesis on the origin of several legendary creatures
- Book of Imaginary Beings
