List of Medieval and Ancient Monsters
(plural: Anthropophagi) Cannibal humanoids              thought to dwell in the East and in Africa.
Ant-Lion
(See Mermecolion)
Arimaspians:
a legendary one-eyed Scythian people who would attempt to steal gold from Griffins in order to adorn their              hair.
Aspidoceleon
(also spelled Aspidochelone)--a sea-monster,              much like a whale, but having a turtle-shell and a snake-like head.              Cf. Leviathan. In various translations, rendered cethegrande (Middle              English) Cetus (Latin for whale), a grande (literally a "large"),              and even a "sea-pig" by one homilist.
Ass Centaur
(alias Onocentaur) A creature with the body              of a donkey and the waist, arms, and head of a human placed where              the donkey's head should be. They were notorious for drunkeness and              debauchery. In one version of the Physiologus, they are used as a              symbol of hypocritical churchmen.
Astomi
Barnacle-Goose
(alias a carnard): Medieval bestiaries stated              that a species of goose existed that hatched out of barnacles. The              French word for a barnacle goose (canard) thus became a common              term for any false report.
Basilisk
(Compare with Cockatrice, below): A venomous              reptilian creature so lethal it had the power to turn people to stone.
Bean Sidh
(often spelled "Banshee," Irish              prophetic spirit)
Blemiyeh
(Headless men, also spelled Blemmyae)
Brownie 
Caladrius (also spelled Charadrius,              see below)
Callitrice
Canocephalus,
pl. Canocephali (also spelled Cynocephalus):              men with the heads of dogs. These dog-headed men were supposed to              live somewhere in the East. Purportedly, they sent a delegation to              the Pope in Avignon. In some accounts, they are carnivorous, and in              others they are vegetarians who model their lives on principles akin              to that of Beneditine monks. In many medieval legends, Saint Christopher              is a canocephalus.
Capricorn:
A fanciful beast with the body of a fish and              the head and forelimbs of a goat, precursor to the Zodiac symbol.              It may have originated in a Babylonian water-god, Ea, or the Indian              myth of the Makara.
Caristae
Demon (Judeo-Christian examples: Asmodeus, Belial, Mamman, Grizzel Greediguts,              Acheron, Mephistopholes)
Click here for Autumn Roger's bibliography on demons.
Dhampir (Serbian vampire)
*Djinni
(Arabic, also spelled genie) In the Arabian              Nights, lived in a rose-domed city called Shadukiam. The oldest              genie, by whom they swear, is named Kashkash. Ampharool is the genie              who can teach men the secret of flying, according to a medieval grimmoire              called The Book of Power.)
Djinniyeh
(Arabic, female djinn, see djinn)
Domovoi
*Dragon, Western
A fire-breathing reptile of unusual size and              ferocity, often with a varying number of legs, sometimes winged. In              most versions it either breathes fire, has a venomous bite, gives              off noxious fumes, or some combination of these three traits. In Norse              and Anglo-Saxon legends, dragons have a lust for gold and often sleep              on huge piles of treasure in burial mounds. They are often linked              to greed. For instance, the dragon Fafnir was originally a dwarf who              killed his brothers to gain access to their treasure, and then over              the years of guarding and hoarding his treasure turned into a dragon              until Siegmund kills him. In Beowulf ,              a dragon becomes enraged when a golden cup is stolen from his treasure              hoard and he goes on a rampage in King Beowulf's kingdom. In European              legends, the dragons often have a taste for the flesh of young virginal              princesses, and often have the loathsome habit of bathing in springs              or lakes and poisoning these waters with the pollution that comes              from their slimy bodies. Cf. Lung ,              the Oriental Dragon
Dragonhorse
(cf. Hamaryad, Greek)
*Dwarf (Norse)
Short, stalky beings that resemble European              craftsmen. In Norse legends, when the Frost Giant Ymir died, his body              turned into the various parts of the universe. The dwarves were the              pale maggots that rose from his flesh. They are associated with the              earth, both in the sense of hidden treasure or secrets and the sense              of decay and death. Any hero that gains a sword from the dwarves in              Norse legend is almost certainly going to find the weapon is cursed              in some way, and if dwarves discover or create a magical item, it              will almost certainly lead to murder.
 
Echeneis
(Greek, "ship-detaining")--a classical              and bestiary fish that can stop a ship going full sail by attaching              itself to the hull.
*Echidna,
the mother of Monsters (Greek)
*Elf, Irish Tuatha de Dannan, Seelie              and Unseelie varieties.
*Elf, Welsh
A bloodsucking ghost that resembles a pale              giant with a bull's head on its shoulders.
Ercinee
Bird of the Hercynian Forest, glows in the              dark.
Ettin (Norse)
Hippogriff (Renaissance invention in              Orlando Furioso)
Hippopodes
Hsien In Chinese mythology, angelic "feathered folk" with winged or feathered images appearing              in Chou art. The book of Chuang-Tzu pictures hsien as              white-skinned, delicate superhuman beings: "These are divine              persons dwelling there, whose flesh and skin resemble ice and snow,              soft and delicate like sequestered girl-children; they do not eat              the five cereals; they suck the wind and drink the dew; they mount              on clouds and vapors and drive the flying dragons--thus they rove              beyond the four seas" (quoted in Schafer 63). See Schafer,              Edward H. Ancient China. Great Ages of Man: A History of              the World's Cultures. NY: Time Life Books, 1967.
 
Click here for Michael Zibelman's student              bibliography on sea-monsters.
Lillith ,              Mother of Demons (Hebrew) Adam's first wife, before Eve in the              Hebrew Midrash tradition.
Click here for Catherine Anne Gunderson's student bibliography on Lillith.
Lilit (pl. Lilitu: Hebrew succubi, the daughters of Lillith
Click here for Catherine Anne Gunderson's student bibliography on Lillith.
Lindworm
Click here for Jeremiah Mattson's student              bibliography on Lung.
 
Magyr--ugly mermaids with webbed hands,              deformed faces, double-chins, and fishy tales reported by Vikings              around Greenland.
Malebranche Demon (Dante, Inferno)
Manticore (alias Manticora, Tiger-Lion)
Medusa-snake-haired Gorgon from Greek            mythology
Melusinae--Paracelsus' term for water            spirits. The name comes from Melusine, a fairy-woman who turned into            a half-dragon or a mermaid, depending upon version of the legend.
*Mermaid