Top Five Tuesday 5/14/19

 

Top Five Tuesday was created by Bionic Book Worm.  You can find the topics on the blog I just linked.

 

This week’s prompt is top five magical creatures.  I thought this would be hard, and it was.  Not because I couldn’t come up with five, but because it was hard to narrow down to five.  I hope these all count as magical.  They’re definitely mythical creatures.

 

*All photos taken from bing and are not mine.*

 

Kitsune:  Japanese word for fox.  Stories depict them as intelligent beings and as possessing paranormal abilities that increase with their age and wisdom. According to Yōkai folklore, all foxes have the ability to shapeshift into human form. While some folktales speak of kitsune employing this ability to trick others—as foxes in folklore often do—other stories portray them as faithful guardians, friends, lovers, and wives.

 

 

Mermaids:  In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish.  I also like Sirens, too, which are darker and deadly.

 

 

Dragons:  A dragon is a large, serpent-like legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures around the world. Beliefs about dragons vary drastically by region, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as winged, horned, four-legged, and capable of breathing fire

 

 

Gorgons:  The term commonly refers to any of three sisters who had hair made of living, venomous snakes, as well as a horrifying visage that turned those who beheld her to stone. Traditionally, while two of the Gorgons were immortal, Stheno and Euryale, their sister Medusa was not and she was slain by the demigod and hero Perseus.

 

 

Cerberus:  Cerberus, often called the “hound of Hades”, is a multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld to prevent the dead from leaving. Cerberus was the offspring of the monsters Echidna and Typhon, and usually is described as having three heads, a serpent for a tail, and snakes protruding from parts of his body.

 

 

I figured mermaids and dragons will show up on a lot of lists, but I’m curious if the other three will.  What magical/mythical creatures do you like?