Delving Into The Supernatural | Teen Ink

Delving Into The Supernatural

September 26, 2014
By Anonymous

Monsters. Ghosts. Ghouls. Vampires. Werewolves. Everything supernatural. We heard the tales as kids; we were scared of the monsters under the bed, in the closet, wherever. This isn’t about whether they exist or not, I think I’m going to leave that to the experts. No, this about the myths and legends and the animals upon which they were based on.

The Kraken - An Old Norse legend, the Kraken is a legendary sea monster, which supposedly dwells off the coast of Norway and Greenland. Most often depicted as a giant octopus like creature, it is also said to have spikes on its tentacles. When the Kraken is around, the water purportedly bubbles, there are sudden, dangerous currents, and new islets, not unlike the traits of underwater volcanic activity near Iceland. Many people speculate that the Kraken is based on the Giant Squid, recently filmed in Japan by a group of scientists from Japan’s National Science Museum and colleagues from both NHK and the Discovery Channel. The largest giant squid ever recorded was 43 feet long, so it’s definitely not crazy to believe that it inspired the myth of the Kraken.

Loch Ness Monster - Ah, yes, I think we’re all very familiar with this one. In the Scottish Highlands, there is a large, deep, freshwater lake called the Loch Ness. For more than 1,500 years, people have claimed there is an incredibly large animal dwelling in the Loch Ness. Commonly referred to as Nessie, this unknown creature has sparked more than 4,000 (sober, level-headed) people to come forward with claims of sighting this mysterious beast. Although many choose to believe it is a prehistoric beast called the plesiosaur, in more recent years, scientists have begged to differ, saying that it is a fish called a giant sturgeon. (Indeed, according to the eyewitness accounts, it is huge.) And the biggest sturgeon ever caught? Twenty seven feet long. Yeah, I think it’s probably possible that Nessie is a sturgeon.

Unicorn - Yes, it’s the famed horned horse.  The mythical creature that is either depicted as sweet, cuddly, and puking rainbows or terrifying in horror stories, gutting people with sharp horns. Present in both Eastern and Western mythologies, Plinie, a Roman naturalist, described them as "a very ferocious beast, similar in the rest of its body to a horse, with the head of a deer, the feet of an elephant, the tail of a boar, a deep, bellowing voice, and a single black horn, two cubits in length, standing out in the middle of its forehead." Later, many said that only virgins (sitting, nude, by a tree) could attract unicorns, which are attracted to purity. The white coloring of the unicorn is supposedly a symbol for virginity, chastity and purity. The unicorn itself was a symbol of chivalry, as they are proud and untamable. Some believe that this horned horse was inspired by exaggerated accounts of either the Indian rhinoceros (who has only one horn), or the famed narwhal, a whale with a single tusk jutting from its forehead. Others believe that the mythical creature can be traced back to the desert antelope known as the Oryx.

Vampires - Bet you didn’t expect this to be on the list, did you? Well, it is. Vampires, depending on which perspective you choose to take, are either horrifying bloodsuckers, or glittering; slightly stalker-ish, not harmful at all suckers. (Twilight, anyone?) However, there is one vampire, who is, indisputably, the most famous of them all. Dracula. The vampire who hid in a cape, turned into a bat at will, and loved showing his fangs… And spoke with a very thick accent. This specific ‘vampire’ however, is based on Vlad the Impaler. Bram Stoker, a horror writer, based his villain upon this 15th century Wallachia ruler. Vlad not only killed and severed enemy soldiers with a wooden stake (yes, the old vampire legend that if you strike them through the heart with a wooden stake, they are killed… Get where that came from?) He then feasted upon his victims, dipping his bread in their blood. Ugh, now that is one real life monster to give your kids nightmares with.

Werewolves - C’mon, I had to, with vampires already on the list. These hairy killers (or muscled, not scary at all humans with the ability to shift) are actually quite easily explained.  Although myths are fueled by real wolves attacking humans, and are also a way of explaining what drove serial killers to murder, it also is far less pleasant to be a real life werewolf (or really just any ridiculously hairy creature). No, these aren’t turn into wolves and howl at the full moon werewolves. See, there is a rare disease (it’s not contagious, have no fear) called Ambras Syndrome. As there are only fifty cases globally, it’s definitely not too common, however, there is a fourteen-year-old girl from Thailand who is covered with hair, arms, legs, ears, face. It’s everywhere, and the hair is because of Ambras Syndrome. Poor girl! I feel even worse for the suckers in the Middle Ages though, because if they had Ambras, they were not only branded as were-wolves, but also persecuted- not as humans though, as were wolves.

In the end, I hope I’ve given you more information about major supernatural myths and the creatures or animals that inspired them. After all, isn’t that the point?



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