Grouping | Legendary creature |
---|---|
Country | United States |
In American folklore, the Gumberoo is a fearsome critter with hide so tough that bullets bounce off of it.
The gumberoo was described by early lumberjacks to be larger than a bear with a tough, shiny, black hide [1] that nothing could pierce. The only way to kill it was said to be fire, which caused the creatures to explode. [2] [3]
In Welsh mythology and folklore, Cŵn Annwn (Welsh pronunciation: [kuːn ˈanʊn], "hounds of Annwn"; singular Ci Annwn were the spectral hounds of Annwn, the otherworld of Welsh myth. They were associated with a form of the Wild Hunt, presided over by either Arawn, king of Annwn in Pwyll Pendefig Dyfed, the First Branch of the Mabinogi and alluded to in Math fab Mathonwy the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi, or by Gwyn ap Nudd as the underworld king and king of the fair folk is named in later medieval lore.
A snipe hunt is a type of practical joke or fool's errand, in existence in North America as early as the 1840s, in which an unsuspecting newcomer is duped into trying to catch an elusive, nonexistent animal called a snipe. Although snipe are an actual family of birds, a snipe hunt is a quest for an imaginary creature whose description varies.
In South Jersey and Philadelphia folklore in the United States, the Jersey Devil is a legendary creature said to inhabit the forests of the Pine Barrens in South Jersey. The creature is often described as a flying biped with hooves, but there are many variations. The common description is that of a bipedal kangaroo-like or wyvern-like creature with a horse- or goat-like head, leathery bat-like wings, horns, small arms with clawed hands, legs with cloven hooves, and a forked or pointed tail. It has been reported to move quickly and is often described as emitting a high-pitched "blood-curdling scream".
The Bogeyman is a type of mythic creature used by adults to frighten children into good behavior. Bogeymen have no specific appearance and conceptions vary drastically by household and culture, but they are most commonly depicted as masculine or androgynous monsters that punish children for misbehavior. The Bogeyman or conceptually similar monsters can be found in many cultures around the world. Bogeymen may target a specific act or general misbehaviour, depending on what purpose needs serving, often on the basis of a warning from the child's authority figure. The term is sometimes used as a non-specific personification or metonym for terror, and in some cases, the Devil.
The hoop snake is a legendary creature of the United States, Canada, and Australia. It appears in the Pecos Bill stories; although his description of hoop snakes is the one with which people are most familiar, stories of the creature predate those fictional tales considerably. Several sightings of the hoop snake have been alleged along the Minnesota-Wisconsin border in the St. Croix River valley, Wake County in North Carolina, Prince Edward Island, and Kamloops, British Columbia.
The Knocker, Knacker, or Tommyknocker (US) is a mythical, subterranean, gnome-like creature in Cornish and Devon folklore. The Welsh counterparts are coblynau. It is closely related to the Irish leprechaun, Kentish kloker and the English and Scottish brownie. The Cornish described the creature as a little person 2 ft 0 in (0.61 m) tall, with a disproportionately large head, long arms, wrinkled skin, and white whiskers. It wears a tiny version of standard miner's garb and commits random mischief, such as stealing miners' unattended tools and food.
In American folklore, the snallygaster is a bird-reptile chimera originating in the superstitions of early German immigrants later combined with sensationalistic newspaper reports of the monster. Early sightings associate the snallygaster with Frederick County, Maryland, especially the areas of South Mountain and the Middletown Valley. Later reports would expand on sightings encompassing an area to include Central Maryland and the Washington, DC, metro area.
Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods, With a Few Desert and Mountain Beasts is a 1910 fantasy field guide by William Thomas Cox (1878–1961), Minnesota’s first State Forester and Commissioner of Conservation, with illustrations by Coert du Bois and Latin classifications by George Bishop Sudworth The text is a noteworthy resource on folklore, as a century after its initial publication Fearsome Creatures remains one of the principal sources on legendary creatures of the United States and Canada.
The splintercat is a legendary fearsome critter in the folklore of the United States.
In North American folklore, fearsome critters were tall tale animals jokingly said to inhabit the wilderness in or around logging camps, especially in the Great Lakes region. Today, the term may also be applied to similar fabulous beasts.
The Agropelter is a mythical fearsome critter said to inhabit hollow trees of the conifer woods from Maine to Oregon. From this vantage point, the creature would await an unwary person and hurl wooden splinters and branches at the intruder. Some have described the creature as being so quick that it has never been seen. One reference describes the creature as having a "slender, wirely body, the villainous face of an ape, and arms like muscular whiplashes, with which it can snap off dead branches and hurl them through the air like shells from a six inch gun."
In American folklore, the axehandle hound is a "fearsome critter" of Minnesota and Wisconsin. The animal resembles a dog with a body axe-like in shape. It has a head shaped like an axe blade, hence the name, complemented by a handle-shaped body atop short stubby legs. It subsists on a diet consisting entirely on the handles of axes which have been left unattended. A nocturnal creature, the axehandle hound travels from camp to camp searching for its next meal. In Minnesota, there is a canoe-access campground named Ax-Handle Hound after the folklore creature. It can be found on the Little Fork River near Voyageurs National Park and very near the town of Linden Grove.
The Camahueto is a legendary bull found in Chilote mythology. Originating in the Chiloé Archipelago, the bull was said to have a single horn on its forehead, similar to a unicorn's.
In folklore and fantasy, an enchanted forest is a forest under, or containing, enchantments. Such forests are described in the oldest folklore from regions where forests are common, and occur throughout the centuries to modern works of fantasy. They represent places unknown to the characters, and situations of liminality and transformation. The forest can feature as a place of threatening danger, or one of refuge, or a chance at adventure.
The Hidebehind is a nocturnal fearsome critter from American folklore that preys upon humans that wander the woods, and was blamed for the disappearances of early loggers when they failed to return to camp. As its name suggests, the Hidebehind is said to be able to conceal itself. When an observer attempts to look directly at it, the creature quickly hides behind an object or behind the observer and therefore cannot be directly seen. The Hidebehind supposedly uses this ability to stalk human prey without being observed and to attack them without warning. Said victims, including lumberjacks and others who frequent the forests, are then dragged back to the creature's lair to be devoured. The creature subsists chiefly upon the intestines of its victim and has a severe aversion to alcohol, which is therefore considered a sufficient repellent. Tales of the hidebehind may have been used as an explanation of strange noises in the forest at night. Early accounts describe Hidebehinds as large, powerful animals, despite the fact that no one was able to see them.
The glawackus is one of the fearsome critters, a group of legendary creatures in the folklore and traditions of lumberjacks during the 19th and early 20th centuries in North America. The glawackus is described as looking something between a bear, a panther, and a lion. The glawackus is also known as the northern devil cat. It is known for its fearsome screech that compares to the cackle of a hyena. The creature is blind and uses its sense of smell as well as sound waves. Looking into the creature's eyes is said to wipe the victim's memory. It was seen in 1939 in Glastonbury, Connecticut.
A legendary creature is a type of fictional entity, typically a hybrid, that has not been proven and that is described in folklore, but may be featured in historical accounts before modernity.
In folklore, the Michigan Dogman was allegedly witnessed in 1887 in Wexford County, Michigan, United States. The creature is described as a seven-foot tall, blue-eyed, or amber-eyed bipedal canine-like animal with the torso of a man and a fearsome howl that sounds like a human scream. According to legends, the Michigan Dogman appears in a ten-year cycle that falls on years ending in 7. Sightings have been reported in several locations throughout Michigan, primarily in the northwestern quadrant of the Lower Peninsula. In 1987, the legend of the Michigan Dogman gained popularity when disc jockey Steve Cook at WTCM-FM recorded a song about the creature and its reported sightings.
The Goofus bird is a mythical, backwards-flying bird, originating in lumberjack folklore in North America. It is also known variously as the Filla-ma-loo bird or the Flu-fly bird.
In American folklore, the hugag is a fearsome critter similar to a moose with an extensive upper-lip, preventing it from grazing, and joint-less legs preventing it from lying down.
gumberoo.