February 18th: In 1849, the Examiner quotes a story by Captain Adams of the schooner Lucy and Nancy, where he and his crew saw a sea serpent in the mouth of the St. Johns River. It looked like a snake, described as brown, and estimated to be 90ft long.
If Behemoth’s domain is the land, then Leviathan is the supreme monster of the sea from the Old Testament. In Jewish lore, both creatures will be slain by the might of God at the end of time and their bodies will be used to provide sustenance and shelter for the righteous.
“Who can open the doors of his face? His teeth are terrible round about. His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal. One is so near to another, that no air can come between them. They are joined one to another, they stick together, that they cannot be sundered. By his neesings a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning. Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out.” (Job 41: 14-19 KJV)
The King of Herrings is the worlds longest species of bony fish. The average length is 6-9 metres but the largest specimen recorded was an incredible 17 metres long. These deep sea fish are very rarely seen and are named for a prominent red crown and dorsal fin.
ohh look at that it’s monstermay AND mermay! so why not bring the two together? here is an oc i’ve had for a while, but haven’t gotten around to properly drawing until now.
risodonth is an ancient, dragon-like entity that lives in a vast, ruined city beneath the surface of the deep ocean. it is believed that he was once the ruler of the fabled city of atlantis, but that’s merely speculation among monster fanatics. nobody knows if he truly exists.. or at least that was so until an unfortunate deep water expedition team uncovered a strange temple, one still filled with air and riches.. and an unhappy elder beast.
Magic the Gathering: Blue Creatures (Big Fish, Drakes, Sea Serpents, Vizzerdrix) v1.00. D&D 5e Monster Stats
Yet another MTG set! The blue creatures this time; all about sea monsters, flying monsters, and rampant magic. The sea serpent and drakes were the most iconic of the blue creatures I think, though as the original sea serpent card was never reprinted with new art (limiting the quality of picture I could get for the page) and decided to go with the newer Frilled Sea Serpent for imagery.
In the Ravnica Guide they describe Wind Drakes as being human sized creatures and giving them pteranodon. Look at the art of the Wind Drake, does that creature look medium sized to you? Look how much bigger it is than the humans next to it. It was this weird “Let’s not make new stats for these creatures and just pass it off as another animal in the book” that led me to want to make these stats in the first place (Yes, Wind Drake was technically the first one I made stats for of all these 5-creature sets).
I also included the Ancient Carp because I noticed 5e D&D didn’t really have a good monstrous fish to eat people, and the Vizzerdrix purely because it’s one of my favorites (kinda surprised they didn’t bring it back in any way for the Simic Combine in the Ravnica sets).
In Norse mythology, Jormungandr or “Midgardsormen” was a sea serpent so long that it encircled the entire world, Midgard. Some stories report of sailors mistaking its back for a chain of islands. The midgardsorm was also child of the Norse god Loki and his mistress the jotun woman Angerboda. Sea serpents also appear frequently in later Scandinavian folklore, particularly in that of Norway.
In Swedish write Olaus Magnus’ Carta marina, many marine monsters of varied form appear, including an immense sea serpent. Moreover, in his 1555 work History of the Northern Peoples, Magnus gives the following description of a Norwegian sea serpent:
“Those who sail up along the coast of Norway to trade or to fish, all tell the remarkable story of how a serpent of fearsome size, 200 feet long and 20 feet wide, resides in rifts and caves outside Bergen. On bright summer nights this serpent leaves the caves to eat calves, lambs and pigs, or it fares out to the sea and feeds on sea nettles, crabs and similar marine animals. it has ell-long hair hanging from its neck, sharp black scales and flaming red eyes. It attacks vessels, grabs and swallows people, as it lifts itself up like a column from the water.”
Sea Serpents are also specifically referenced in the Bible. These creatures are named Leviathan and Rehab, and Jehovah God himself speaks of them. In Isaiah 27:1, it says:
“In that day Jehovah, with his hard and great and strong sword, will turn his attention to le-vi'a-than, the gliding serpent, even to le-vi'a-than, the crooked serpent, and he will certainly kill the sea monster that is in the sea.”
Job 26:11-13 reads as follows:
“The very pillars of heaven shake, And they are amazed because of his rebuke. By his power he has stirred up the sea, And by his understanding he has broken up the stormer to pieces. By his wind he has polished up heaven itself, His hand has pierced the gliding serpent.”
“Cetus and Andromeda” (#8 in my “Quest for the Gorgon Head” series)
part8: Having successfully acquired his prize, Perseus flies over the sea for home. But along a foreign coast, he hears cries. A young woman, Andromeda, chained to a rock as a sacrifice, with a vicious sea beast approaching. (Andromeda’s mother, Queen Cassiopia, had bragged that her daughter’s beauty was greater than even the sea nymph Nereids. The nymphs were outraged as such hubris, and Poseidon sent a flood and sea creature to ravage the kingdom. Ammon the oracle prophesied the kingdom would be spared if Andromeda were offered as sacrifice). When young Perseus laid eyes upon the helpless girl, he fell in love, and vowed to fight the Sea serpent. Upon defeating the beast, Andromeda marries Perseus and they fly away together.
Perseus and Andromeda later go on to have many children and are the founder of the Mycenae kingdom, from which the Greek kings Agamemnon and Menelaus from the Iliad hail. Upon her death, Andromeda was placed in the sky as a constellation in honor by Athena.
There are other fascinating examples of the god’s punishing mortals for their hubris. The king Salmoneus was struck down by Zeus for comparing himself to the king of gods. Tantalus, attempting to trick the gods by serving them the meat of his own son, was condemned to everlasting punishment in the underworld, “tantalized” by hunger and thirst with fruit and water always moving out of reach. The Roman poet Ovid writes of Arachne, who boasted of her weaving being better than Athena, and was turned into a spider by the goddess, cursed to weave forever.
Can you think of other examples where the gods punished mortals for their prideful transgressions?
Coming next…Perseus returns to find some drama at home with his mother and king Polydectes!!!
If you wish to see more of my Greek Myth art, please click on my linktree (instagram, etsy prints, etc) xoxo https://linktr.ee/tylermileslockett
June 8th: In 1877, workers along Monument Point along Great Salt Lake in Kelton, Utah saw a large creature thrashing about in the water, causing them to run away. When they returned, they discovered their tents flattened and large tracks around their campsite.
Cryptid of the Day: Charles of Provincetown Sea Serpent
Description: On July 5th, 1833, at around 10:00am, officers and crew aboard the Charles of Provincetown reported seeing a sea serpent off the coast of Massachusetts, near Nahant. Another ship, the Connecticut, reported similar creatures 3 miles apart.
Commissioned by the Author Logan T Stark to create Artwork to promote his most recent book - ‘The Emperor of Dragons’, Here is one of the paintings based on a scene in the books where a Sea Serpent Attacks. Check out His work - http://www.logantstark.com
