and a soft smooth skin, it waits for unwary pilgrims at the bottom of the Tower of Victory in Chitor. Pilgrims come to climb this tower, each level representing a further stage on the journey towards enlightenment. As the pilgrim climbs, the creature grows stronger, changing colour and shape, drawing the life force from the unsuspecting victim. Supposedly, the creature will only attain a final form, and be fully alive, when a pilgrim reaches the top of the tower. To date no one has been dedicated enough to do this. The A Bao a Qu is bound to the tower until such time as a truly enlightened seeker arrives and climbs to the top.
AARDVARK
In African folklore, the aardvark or ant-bear is much admired because of its diligent quest for food and its fearless response to soldier ants. Hausa magicians make a charm from the heart, skin, forehead and nails of the aardvark, which they pound together with the root of a certain tree. Wrapped in a piece of skin and worn on the chest this gives the owner the power to pass through walls or roofs at night. The charm is widely used by burglars and those seeking to visit young girls without their parents’ permission.
AATXE
In Basque mythology of Spain, Aatxe was a spirit in the form of a bull. He haunts the caves and gorges of the Pyrenees Mountains, coming forth at night, especially during stormy weather, to trouble wayfarers. The younger form of Aatxe is called Aatxegorri, who is a red steer.
ABABIL
A race of enormous birds described in the Koran as dropping red clay bricks on the army of elephants sent by the king of Yemen to attack the city of Mecca in the year (571) when the Prophet Mohammed was born.
ABADA
A type of small Unicorn reported to live in the lands of the African Congo. The Abada is seldom seen for it is a shy animal.
ABAIA
In the mythology of Melanesia, the Abaia is a gigantic eel-like monster that lives at the bottom of a lake. It considers all of the fish in the lake its children and protects them furiously against anyone attempting to catch them. Those foolish enough to try are immediately overwhelmed by a tidal wave caused by the Abaia swishing its enormous tail.
ABATH
Accounts of this animal were brought back by 16th-century European travellers to the Malay Peninsula. Described as female, with a single horn growing from its forehead, these were probably the result of a half-glimpsed Javan or Sumatran rhinoceros. Like the Unicorn, a powder made from the horn served both as an aphrodisiac and as an antidote to poison. However, since the Unicorn was invariably represented as male, and since there was only ever one in existence at any time, the Abath seems to have developed independently from the European myths of the one-horned creature. (See also Alicorn, Chio-Tuan, Ki-Lin.)
ABATWA
A race of tiny fairies who share the dwelling of the ants in parts of South Africa. They only occasionally reveal themselves – usually to children, wizards or pregnant women. To see one in the seventh month of pregnancy ensures the mother will give birth to a boy.
ABGAL
A kind of early form of the merman, the Abgal is mentioned in Sumerian mythology. It is one of a number of spirits, originally servants of Ea, the god of wisdom. Like the centaurs of Greek mythology who helped civilize humanity, the task of these beings was to teach the arts and sciences to humanity. They did this during the day while fasting, only stopping to eat at night. Early carved reliefs show them men above the waist, fish below.
ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN
The Abominable Snowman is a name given to the Yeti which lives in the Himalayas.
ACALICA
These weather-fairies from Bolivia have special influence over rain, hail and frost. They live underground in caves and are rarely seen. When they do appear they usually take the form of small, wizened men.
ACAMAS
One of the names of the Cyclops in Greek Mythology.
ACEPHALI
In Greek mythology, the Acephali were human beings whose features were situated in their chests. They had no heads at all. According to the accounts of Herodotus and Josephus, the Acephali lived in Libya. They are similar to the Blemyahs.
ACHELOUS
In Greek mythology, Achelous was a river god who took three different shapes when he chose. He could take the form of a bull, a speckled serpent or a bull-headed man, like the Minotaur. He wrestled with Hercules for the hand of Dejanira and, while in the latter form, lost a horn. The blood that fell to the ground from the horn became the Sirens, while the horn itself was discovered by Naiads who took and filled it with flowers and fruit. Classical myth tells us that Achelous’ horn was then presented to Plenty (Amalthea) who made it her cornucopia (the ‘horn of plenty’).
ACHIYALABOPA
Among the Pueblo peoples of North America, stories are told of this fabulous animal – a bird with rainbow-coloured wings and feathers like knives. It is a celestial creature and may at one time have been considered responsible for the whole of creation.
ACHLIS
The Achlis is one of a number of strange European beasts listed by the Roman writer Pliny the Elder (1st century BC). He described it as looking something like an elk, but it had a number of curious features. Its upper lip was so large that it had to graze backwards to avoid the lip falling forward and covering its mouth. A further problem was caused by the fact that its back legs had no joints – it was thus forced to sleep standing up, leaning against a tree. This enabled wily hunters to catch it by partially cutting through the tree to which the Achlis came at night. When it leaned against the tree both fell to the ground, and the Achlis could not regain its feet quickly enough to prevent itself being caught by the hunters.
ACIPENSER
In the 16th and 17th century, explorers sailing the northern seas gave this name to a giant fish whose scales were on backwards, opening towards the front instead of the rear. This caused it to swim much more slowly than other fish; yet it was so vast that no one seems to have attempted to capture one. Stories of this kind almost always seem to arise from sightings of whales or, in this case, possibly giant sturgeon, the fish from which caviar is extracted.
ACTAEON
In Greek myth, Actaeon is one of the eight horses
