The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures: The Ultimate A–Z of Fantastic Beings from Myth and Magic. John Matthews
kind live underground and are occupied with trying to undermine the world tree Yggdrasil which supports the universe. Every year towards Christmas and during the twelve intercalary days between the Old and New Year, they are free to roam about, but while they are absent, the world tree grows sufficiently to make good their damage. During their days of freedom, they whirl about the Earth at night, creating chaos, carrying off women, dancing with strangers, but any home from which fire can be seen is safe from their depredations. On the island of Chios, it is believed that any child born during the twelve days of Christmas may become a Callicantzaros (singular) and has to be branded upon the heel to avoid this occurrence.
CALLITRICE
In the lore of medieval Europe, the Callitrice was a kind of satyr with a great beard and long, thick tail. It was a shy creature, avoiding the company of human beings and was rarely seen. According to a 12th-century bestiary, the Callitrice was believed to live in the remote regions of Ethiopia, where it may exist to this day, so steep and secluded are the mountains of that land.
CALOPUS
In the folklore of medieval Europe, the Calopus was the name given to a beast with the body of a horned wolf whose head and body sported spines like a porcupine. Because of these copious spines, it frequently became caught in undergrowth, thus enabling the unwary traveller to run off before it could kill or maim with its horns. Although the Calopus was believed to live along the banks of the Euphrates in what is now Iran, the only place it is most commonly seen today is upon the armorial bearings of heralds.
CALYDONIAN BOAR
Also known as the Aetolian Boar in Greek mythology, the Calydonian boar was sent as a punishment to the king of Calydon for having neglected to make sacrifice to Artemis. The boar made a wasteland of the countryside, destroying crops and human habitations. It was finally overcome when the king’s son, Meleager, called upon all Greek heroes to hunt it. It was finally shot by Atalanta and killed by Meleager himself. After its death, it continued to make trouble for each of the heroes wanted a trophy from its body to distinguish the feat of its heroic death. Such was the dissention over the apportioning of these trophies that even more destruction and death ensued.
CALYGREYHOUND
This animal is most often found in the books of heralds as a fantastic animal that supports the armorial bearings of titled individuals. It has the head and body of an antelope, with eagle’s talons upon its front legs and the hooves of an ox upon its rear legs. The Calygreyhound is often chosen for a heraldic supporter because it represents swift motion.
CAMAHEUTO
Off the coast of Chile, the people of the Chiloé Islands speak of a sea monster in the form of a sea horse or sea bull that is born in the upper estuaries and inlets and makes its way down to the open sea as it matures. It leaves little wildlife left in its wake, voraciously consuming all the birds and animals on its way to the sea. The Camaheuto has clawed feet with which it gouges out gullies and coves in the cliffs. Here it lurks, ready to consume any human beings who are shipwrecked or cast overboard while out fishing.
CAMAZOTL
In Mayan mythology, the bat god Camazotl was defeated after the creation of human beings. He was one of the four great winged beings who attacked the wooden bodies created by Gucumatz and Tepeu that were intended to become the first living humans. They each attacked a different part of the body to prevent the pollution of the primordial world. The others were Camazotz, Tecumbalam and Xecotcovach.
CAMELEOPARD
In Sumerian and Egyptian myths, the Cameleopard was a composite creature with the skin of a leopard and the appearance of a giraffe, with two long horns that curved backwards. It was believed that the giraffe, which this description seems to fit, was the offspring of a camel and a leopard. The name was used first by the Romans. Cameleopards still besport themselves as supporters of heraldic shields.
CAMOODI
Among the people of Guiana in South America, the Camoodi is a gigantic serpent which lives deep in the jungle. Its presence might have been unknown to any outside this region, but in 1896 a hunting party came across a great fallen tree crossing their path. While they were thinking how to by-pass this obstacle, the hunters were appalled to see that the tree was actually a serpent too vast to comprehend, as it began to slither off. The scouts with the hunters told them that they had been privileged and very lucky to escape the Camoodi, protector of the jungle.
CAMPACTI
In Mexico, this dragon was the primordial beast from which the Earth itself was formed.
CAMPE
In Greek mythology, the Campe was the monster who guarded the realms of Tartarus where the Hecatoncheires and the Cyclops lived.
CAMPHURCII
According to a 16th-century document, the Camphurcii was an amphibious creature with the body and forelegs of a deer while its rear legs were those of a goose. It had a 3-ft horn sticking from its forehead like the Unicorn. The Camphurcii lived only on the Island of Molucca, where it blamelessly fed on fish. It is doubtful whether many now remain, since its fabulous horn was believed to be a remedy against poison.
CANOPIC ANIMALS
The Canopic Animals are the guardians of the dead in the mummification process of Egypt, where the internal organs of the deceased were placed in canopic jars, each of which was stoppered by one human and three animal-headed deities. These animals were called the Sons of Horus and the ‘Friends of the King’. They help the monarch ascend into the eastern skies by means of ropes and wooden ladders. In the Old Kingdom, the canopic guardians were regarded as the souls of Horus. Each of the guardians is responsible for holding the internal organs of the deceased. Imsety is the human guardian, under the protection of the goddess Isis, who guards the liver; Hapy is the baboon, under the protection of the goddess Nephthys, who guards the lungs; Duamutef is the jackal, under the protection of the goddess Neith, who guards the stomach; and Qebehsenuef is the hawk, under the protection of the goddess Serket, who guards the intestines.
CAOINTEACH
In Scots Gaelic tradition, the Caointeach is a small, white-capped woman with a green shawl who wails when there is to be a death in the Western Highlands of Argyle. Her name merely means ‘the keener’ or ‘the mourner’. The practice of keening or wailing the dead was a professional task in ancient Gaelic tradition. A chorus of keeners would attend the corpse of the deceased and set up a wailing and singing of the attributes of the dead person in such a way that enabled the bereaved to mourn properly. (See Banshee and Cyhyraeth.)
CAPRICORNUS
According to Greek myth, Amalthea was a nymph or the goat of that name who suckled Zeus. The horns of the goat flowed with nectar and ambrosia. Ovid tells how one of the horns broke off and that nymphs filled it with fruit for Zeus, which is the origin of the term ‘cornucopia’ or ‘a horn of plenty’ (see Achelous). Amalthea was turned into the constellation Capricorn (Latin for ‘goat’s