Mythical Creatures..?

I'm not entirely sure that this is in the right topic, so feel free to move it as necessary  

Could mythical creatures (ie. mermaids, griffins, ELVES, that sort) actually exist/have existed? Is there any evidence?

The giant squid was thought to be a myth until a specimen washed up on the beach some years ago. Is it possible that all - or many - myths and legends could have roots in fact?
Also, we've explored such a small percentage of the ocean - it seems rather presumptuous to say that we know everything there is to know, and to RULE OUT creatures of that kind.

Just curious. 

Im pretty sure Nature gave inspiration for creativity. You only have to watch a sci-fi film to see a resemblance between a bug or insect & an "Alien". I think quite a lot of films use Nature for ideas, Im sure writers do also, as well as Artists.   as to whether Mythical creatures roamed the Earth........why not ? Since i see no proof there wasnt, I still like to imagine there once were Dragons, not the T-Rex or Diplodocus sort but, the winged sort  

I mentioned somewhere recently the story about the battle an the faery who offered to fight for one side, got insulted intead, joined the other side and slew the King.

I love those- moments when real history and myth are entwined.

We know the battle happened, we know about the death because they built a cairn to mark the spot and its still there.
And all the accounts of the battle we draw the names and information from are the same sources that tell us there was a faery fighting on that day.

The only reason history doesn't include the faery bit is because history doesn't believe n faeries- but there is as much evidence for it as for anything else that happened in that battle.

I havent heard that story.

Well not my bloody fault you dont read all my posts woman!   


4th post on this page-

http://www.hobbitmovieforum.com/t952p255-freedom-3

how did they know it was a faerie?

I've just been reading a couple books on Captain Cook's death in Hawaii. He arrived during the annual celebration of the god Lono in one of his manifestations and was given many of the ceremonial honors of the god. There's a spirited academic debate on whether he was actually thought to be a god when he first arrived, or whether his myth grew over time.

At any rate, in the Hawaiian cosmology the sea and the heavens and the lands over the sea are somehow in the same place, which is also the place we go when we die and where gods come and go from. A dangerous place and probably not a place for normal mortals. I think the word Faery would fit very nicely here.

It makes me wonder if many faeries in the legends aren't old memories of ancient travelers, particularly ones with strange languages and strange ways who occasionally wash up on the shore, with an air of danger and magic about them.

I like to think so anyway.

Ones round here tend to be from the other world, which is often under this one, sort of, but not always.

Tolkien talked about myths being truths that are simply outside of our perception of reality. Reality is a prison, and it's our duty as intelligent beings to try and break free from the prison. And a prisoner knows that there is more to the world than the four walls of his cell.

Yeah there's the ceiling and floor too!   

i know that these are supposed to have been the inspiration for mermaids..

I prefer to think Faeries are magical creatures, not humans.

I dont know anyone know who believes in the faery folk- but I did as a kid, my grandmother did on my fathers side, and the shepherd on the farm I was lucky enough to spend many a glorious summer helping out on he talked about them as a matter of course. And people still lots of small things, like put bread out for the birds and the faery folk.

There once was a very strong belief in them and their other world right across Scotland and Ireland.
And they pop up ina few places in our history, like the battle I mentioned and the Macleod faery flag, given to mark the union between the mortal Chief of the Macleods and an immortal faery.
(The flag, what's left of it, still exists and is on display- examination of it would seem to sadly date it to the 1st Crusade and the Middle East however and not a faery otherworld afterall )

Of course you do, Mrs Figg. You're wired to be sensitive to such things. That's as it should be.

For we, when I walk through an ancient place I often feel an awareness of all the layers of people and history that have passed over the land like tides. For me, the thought of ancient travelers, all the way back into the stone age, resonates. Yet you rarely if ever find them mentioned in the old folklore. But you do find faeries who pass through briefly through the stories and do legendary things. It just makes me wonder.....

I do think you are on to something there Dave.

There is some elusive connection between mortality and faery immortality and as far as we can tell anything abou tthe religion of those who built the stone temples, and places like Skara Brae and the Great Barrow Mounds, that it was something to do with mortality and ancestor worship.

Faery legends are often associated with those ancient sites.
Some of the barrows go back to 5000bc, so even by the time of Christ what they were, who built them and why was already lost and had become a matter of legend and mystery.
Barrows became entrances to the faery realm and stone circles their meeting places.

But if this is only an older invention, or is vague recollection passed down of some original idea of a 'faery' from the days of the original Circle architects we will probably never know. But as late as 1598 they were getting credit for striking decisive blows in battles.