Monster Encyclopedia - M

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mamau

See Bendith

manticore

"Thre huge grete teeth in his throte...the voys of a serpente in suche wyse that by his swete songe he draweth to hym the peple and deuoureth them."

This account of the Manticore in Bartholomaeus Anglicus' De proprietatibus rerum (Of the properties of things) describes the most frightening features of the manticore. Physically, the manticore was know as having the body of a red lion, human face, ears and blue eyes, three rows of teeth in each jaw, a fatal sting like a scorpion's in the end of his tail, and poisoned spines along the tail which could be shot, like arrows in any direction. The manticore was also attributed with having a voice that was the mixture of pipes and a trumpet. The beast is very swift and has very powerful leaps. The manticore is reputed to roam in the jungles of India, and is known to have an appetite for humans.

The earliest accounts seem to be from Persian legend. The name itself is from the old Persian martikhoras meaning 'man-eater'. The earliest accounts of the existence of the manticore come from the Persian courts in the fifth century B.C. documented by Ctesias, a Greek physician at the Persian court. Greek and Roman authors (Aristotle, Pliny) described the beast the same way the Persians had.

As early as the second century A.D., writers thought that the manticore was nothing more than a man-eating Indian tiger. The physical embellishments, either indicative of the fears the people had for the beast or anecdotal exaggeration or misinterpretations of Indian sculptures.

In the middle ages, the manticore was the emblem for the profit Jeremiah because the manticore lives in the depths of the earth and Jeremiah had been thrown into a dung pit. At the same time, the manticore became the symbol of tyranny, disparagement and envy, and ultimately the embodiment of evil. As late as the 1930s it was still considered by the peasants of Spain, to be a beast of ill omen.

A thirteenth century romance about Alexander the Great called Kyng Alisaunder, says that he lost 30 000 men to such beasts as adders, lions, bears, dragons, unicorns, and manticeros.

marakihan

The Marakihan is a large sea creature with the head of a man and the body of a fish. It is usually found around the islands of New Zealand. It has a long tubular tongue, and with it, draws canoes and small boats into its mouth and devours them.

medusa

See Gorgon.

mermecolion

The mermecolion is a lion. The special feature that sets him apart from other lions is the fact that his genitalia are backwards.

midgard serpent

The Midgard Serpent, also known as Jormangund, was a monster of Norse mythology. Jormangund was the second of three children of Loki and the giantess Angraboda. The first was Fenris, the third was Hel. The Midgard Serpent (sometimes called Midgardsorm) was said to circle the Norse world, with its tail in its mouth, an easily recognizable symbol of eternity. This serpent was an antagonistic figure in the myths. On a couple of occasions, Thor attempts to kill the serpent, and aids some sailors and fishermen when they get into trouble with the beast. The fact that The Thunder god Thor was great enemies with this beast plays prominetly into the Norse myth of Ragnorok, the twilight of the Gods -- the end of the world. In this gigantic battle, the Midgard Serpent comes from the ocean to join in the battle. The beast and Thor fight bitterly, finally the beast is killed, but not before the venom of the beast overcomes Thor and he dies.

minotaur

A half-man half-bull monster from Crete, it is the product of the Queen, Pasiphae and a bull sent by Poseidon. Her husband, Minos, commissioned that a labyrinth be built for this beast on Crete. The minotaur, usually pictured as having a human body and a bulls head, would be sent seven boys and seven girls yearly to be eaten. Eventually Theseus killed the minotaur in the labyrinth.

monoceros

A form of unicorn, the monoceros has the head of a stag, the body of a horse, the feet of an elephant and the tail of a boar.

mushussu

Identified with the constellation hydra, this creature is a three headed dragon, that served under Tiamat.

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