The Questing Beast is one of those critters who seem to only exist in literature—but it starts with Q so . . . . . It appears in Arthurian legend as a dragon-like creature with the head of a snake, the body of a leopard and the haunches of a hart. Its bite is poisonous with no antidote save intervention by one who knows the ancient religion. The curing spell requires a sacrifice of a life to save […]
Monthly Archives: April 2016
23 posts
Most of the creatures we’ll look at during this A-Z blog have their roots in ancient history. Except this one. According to the story, an Arab sheik released a Djinn sometime in the 1970s. The sheik planned to use the Jinn to take vengeance on the sheik’s neighbors, but Djinns being Djinns and sheiks being sheiks, nothing worked out as planned. The Djinn escaped from the sheik’s power, but continued to wreak havoc. Popobawa is a fairly local phenomena, causing […]
A short and sweet post today. Exciting Times are coming to Sorchia’s Universe after this April Blog Challenge. Stay Tuned. Giants, ogres, and trolls have certain things in common. They are large, not too bright, and have a penchant for eating children. Orcus was an Estruscan and later a Roman god of the underworld—not the main god, just a lesser one. He was also the god of broken oaths. From Orcus, one theory goes, came the word ogre and, in Tolkein’s […]
Those of you who frequent Sorchia’s Universe—I like to call you Sorchialites––know that I am obsessed with Scotland and all things Scottish, not least, the beverage known as Scotch. And you will not be surprised that I am compelled during this Things That Go Bump in the Night series to mention the Loch Ness Monster. As it happens, a new development hit the headlines only a few days ago. Breaking News—Loch Ness Monster FOUND April 13, 2016. Kongsberg Maritime, a […]
According to oral tradition in southern France, a matagot is a cat who can bring evil or riches to its owner. If you stumble across a matagot, offer it a chicken to lure it to your home. Carry it home without ever looking back. Then give the cat the first bite of every meal and keep it well-fed and happy. In return, the cat will bring you riches. Failure to meet these requirements will have the opposite effect and if you should […]
Sometime in the Middle Ages, we have a lazy lout of boy named John Lambton, treasured son and heir to the Lambton Estate in County Durham, England. One fine Sunday, our John chooses to skip church and go fishing instead. Needless to say, this decision leads to turmoil and death. While fishing, he catches a squiggly, small white worm. He doesn’t like the looks of it, tosses it in a handy well on the way home, and forgets all about […]