(‘Beast with the Black Head’), that lives in the Irish Sea. It was a scourge of fisherman, who were forever fearful of the beast raising its head above the waters.
BEITHIR
According to Scots Highland tradition, the Beithir was a huge monster, very like a wingless dragon or serpent, with a long thick tail. It haunts the corries and mighty mountains of Glen Coe. It is now spoken of as a kind of Fuath.
BELI
This Norse Hrimthursar or Frost Giant will fight with the god Freyr on the day of Ragnarok when the world ends. Freyr has to fight him without any weapon save an antler and will afterwards be given the title, Beli’s Killer. Beli may be the brother of the giantess Gerthr.
BEN VARREY
This is the name for the mermaid in the Manx language of the Isle of Man. Her male counterpart is the Dinny-Mara or merman.
Tales speak of the two natures of the Ben Varrey who can enchant fisherman into dangerous waters with her singing, or can help them find lost treasure.
A young man called Evan was tending his croft while his brothers set out fishing. He heard a melodious voice calling him and saw a Ben Varrey seated upon the rocks with her fish-tail a-swishing. She asked kindly after his old father who had recently fallen sick. Evan ran home to ask his father how he came to know a mermaid. His father related that he had met her many years ago and that she was fond of apples, a bag of which he always took to give to her. Since he had fallen sick, he had not given her any and this was why their prosperity was waning. He told Evan to take some apples to the Ben Varrey who was delighted to receive again what she called ‘sweet-land eggs’. Things began to look up for the family and Evan spent more time with the Ben Varrey, delighting in her conversation. He planted an apple tree on the cliff above her bay where the apples could drop right into the sea when it grew big enough. Although his intention was good, the Ben Varrey began to lose interest in the family because the apple tree was slow to mature.
BENDITH Y MAMAU
Literally ‘the Blessing of the Mothers’, the Bendith y Mamau is the name given to the fairies in Glamorganshire, South Wales. This euphemistic title was used to prevent the fairies stealing children away, but it also connects them back to earlier Celtic beliefs. From the Romano-British era onwards, in the depiction of native deities, we find the Triple Mothers, goddesses who are frequently accompanied by smaller beings attired in a hooded cloak, usually called genii cucullati (‘hooded spirits’). These are the Bendith y Mamau who come and go at the bidding of the Triple Mothers, whose blessing they bear. It is as well to be careful when speaking of them, for they cannot tolerate any disrespect towards themselves or the goddesses whom they serve. Instead of bringing a blessing, they may actively remove those things and people we love.
BENNU
The Egyptian Bennu is a bird. In the age of the pyramids, it was represented as a yellow wagtail, but it later became very like a heron with red legs and two long feathers growing from its head. Its name comes from the verb weben meaning ‘to shine’ or ‘to rise brilliantly’. A papyrus of the 21st dynasty says of the Bennu that it is ‘the one who came into being by itself’. It symbolizes the anticipated rebirth of the soul in the Underworld and was carved onto the backs of scarab amulets buried with mummified bodies. This ensures that the heart does not fail the test of the deceased’s past deeds in the Judgement Hall of the Two Truths. It is also a symbol of the sun god Ra, celebrating the sun’s rebirth every dawn. According to legend, the Bennu arises from a burning tree, singing such a melodious song that the gods are transported by its sound. Its legend informs the legend of the Phoenix, as related by Herodotus who visited Egypt in the 5th century BC. He wrote of the sacred bird of Heliopolis which, every 500 years, carries its dead predecessor from Arabia to the sun god’s temple.
BERCHT/PERCHT
Throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Bercht is the old hag with the distaff who lives in the mountains. She has always been interested in the needs of children. Like Berfana, she leaves gifts for them at Christmas, but she is also the one to whom the souls of miscarried or unbaptized children go. She rides upon the winds of Twelfth Night (6 January), gathering up their souls as she goes. As a young woman, she heralds the growing season, but she also acts as a punisher of those who do not tend their yards, fields or spinning, visiting plagues on those who are disorderly or neglectful. Her appearance as a death omen occurs when she comes as a White Lady. Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo was said to have been presaged by such an appearance.
BERGFOLK
In Norse myth, the Bergfolk were those who fell out of heaven in the wake of the angels led by Lucifer but who never entered hell. Some of these peoples became Fairies, Brownies or Nisse, while the other displaced peoples became Bergfolk, inhabiting mounds and banks. They were largely invisible and could change shape. They rode upon three-legged horses and were auxiliary troops in battle but would only fire their arrows when a Christian had done so first. Bergfolk had long noses with which they stirred their morning porridge. Like Trolls, they could steal corn and ale and borrow clothing.
BES
This dwarf is an Egyptian god whose chief function is to act as a protector during childbirth. He wears a lion’s mane and ears and carries a lion’s tail or wears a panther skin, and wields a sword over his head. Clay tablets bearing his image were placed on the crown of the labouring mother if she encountered difficulties. Bes brought good luck to married people and their families, and his image was commonly incorporated into the household where his flourished sword defended all within from attack or threat of scorpions and snakes. He has a merry nature when he is not on watch.
BETIKHAN
In Indian folklore, the Betikhan is a kind of faun with a human head and arms but the body of a deer. It lives in the woods and hills, hunting animals for its prey.
BHAINSASURA
In Hindu myth, Bhainsasura is a great elephantine creature with the head of a water buffalo. It spends its time destroying crops and terrorizing villages and can only be appeased with the offering of a pig. It makes its appearance during the rice harvest, expecting to be properly propitiated with sacrifice; if it does not receive offerings, it will reappear during the wheat harvest and roll upon the ripening crops, crushing the grain.
BHIMA
In Hindu myth, Bhima was a giant with a great appetite. His given title is Vrikodara (‘Wolf’s Belly’). As the son of the wind god Vayu he was a strong and implacable warrior. Because of an incident in his early youth, he became a champion of victims. His cousin tried to poison him and dispose of his body in the Ganges, but the serpents of the sacred river recognized and rescued him. Subsequently, he himself rescued the Pandava brothers and killed those responsible for the attempted rape of Draupadi. His primary function in Hindu myth is the suppression
