The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures: The Ultimate A–Z of Fantastic Beings from Myth and Magic. John Matthews
were sighted over the English Channel. Perhaps this is a case of evolutionary progression over the ages, so that Coranyeidd have become Gremlins.
CORC-CHLUASAK
In the Gaelic lore of Scotland and Ireland, the Corc-Chluasak was the calf of the Tarbh Uisge or water bull. The way to tell between an ordinary calf and a Corc-Chuluasak is to note that the fairy beast has split ears and are much larger than ordinary calves. They also have velvety coats. Although they are not as dangerous as the grown-up Tarbh Uisge, they must be guarded against if they join a herd, for they are troublemakers whose coming heralds disaster.
CORNU
In Irish legend, this is the monstrous black bird which was banished by St Patrick to the waters of Lough Derg to live upon the miserable and penitential island that is known as St Patrick’s Purgatory. Hundreds of pilgrims come to this island every year to pray outside in the rain, endure cold winds and undergo a complete fast in order to purge their sins. Whether they encounter the Cornu is not reported, though after three days of only water to drink, it would not be surprising if their inner sight was stimulated to see any number of magical creatures.
COROCOTTA
In European legend, the Corocotta was reported by travellers as a lion-sized beast with a wolf’s head. The creature had an unmoving stare, for its eyes did not swivel in their sockets. Instead of teeth, it had a series of bones that crushed whatever it fed upon, so that it might swallow it whole. It was cunningly able to imitate the calls of other animals so that others of their kind might be lured into its vicinity. The Corocotta was believed to be an inhabitant of the wilds of Ethiopia, and is related to the Leucrotta.
COTTUS
One of the Hecatoncheires, or hundred-handed giants who were the offspring of the Earth goddess Gaia and Uranus in Greek mythology. With his brothers, Briareus and Gyges, Cottus helped the Olympian gods in their war against the Titans.
COTZBALAM
In Mayan mythology, Cotzbalam was one of the four great birds who attacked the wooden bodies 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 Gucumatz.
COW
The domestication of the cow was a significant development in the history of civilization. The central place of the cow as the sustainer and provider of people is widely acclaimed in world mythology and folk belief.
Marital customs show how central the cow is both as an emblem of fertility and as a unit of wealth – our word ‘pecuniary’ derives from the Latin pecu meaning ‘cattle’. In rural cultures, the cow has traditionally been part of a girl’s dowry, making her a good marital prospect. In Greek culture, girl’s names included Polyboia (‘worth many cows’) and Phereoia (‘bringing many cattle’). At Roman weddings, the bride’s vows at the altar included the words, ‘Where you are the bull, then I am the cow.’ In Hindu culture, cattle accompany bride and groom to the bride’s village when she returns after the wedding to visit her father’s house. On the return journey, back to her new house, the bride’s dowry cows are encouraged to dance over an egg which they eventually break in order to mark the bride’s change of state from virgin daughter to married woman, and to help her overcome the separation from her family and home village.
In ancient times, the connection between the Milky Way and the cow is reflected throughout world legend. The Gaelic words for the Milky Way, Na Bó Finne, translate as ‘the cow’s run’, while the medieval pilgrimage routes to the shrines of St James of Compostella in north-west Spain and to Our Lady of Walsingham in Norfolk, England, are both called ‘the Milky Way’ (see Celestial Animals).
The god Krishna who is Lord of the Cowherds encountered the gopis (female cow-herders) while they were splashing naked in the river Jumna. He hid their saris and laughed at their embarrassment when they emerged naked from the river. They fled back to the modest safety of the waters when they heard him. He refused to give them back their clothes until they joined hands and danced about him in a supplicatory dance. They fell in love with the exquisite god and he multiplied his arms to show them how to dance the Rasalila dance. So beautiful was this dance that peacocks standing nearby incorporated these movements into their own courtship dance. In another version of the story, all the gopis fled except Radha, who asked for her sari back and eventually married the god of the cowherds.
Among the Dinka of the Sudan in Africa, young women who are eligible to be courted carry cow’s horns, while the young men lead the ‘song bulls’ to them, especially pampered oxen, in a rite that combines human courtship with bovine fertility and virility. In India, the cow is sacred and must never be harmed because the primordial mother of life, Aditi, is the provider of all. Even among those who eat meat, no Hindu will eat beef. The sacred syllable ‘Aum’ is chanted by the pious – and understood to consist of three colours: the red cow of dawn, the white cow of the day and the black cow of dusk – in a chant which encompasses life from beginning to end.
Buddha used the metaphor of the products of the cow to signify the four different kinds of people in the world, these being: he who has neither struggled for his own welfare nor that of others, he who has striven for others but not for himself, he who has striven for his own welfare but not for that of others, and he who has striven for both himself and others.
‘For just as milk comes from the cow, and from the milk cream, and from the cream butter, and from the butter ghee, so that is reckoned the best of all, and he who has striven both for himself and for others is the highest and most supreme.’
During the Sung dynasty, a Zen Buddhist teacher called Seikyo drew a series of pictures relating cow-herding to the spiritual path: a lost cow represents the loss of way; finding traces of the cow represent the finding of the teachings which the seeker does not yet fully understand; catching sight of the cow represents the seeker remembering what is most important; catching the cow is the possession of spiritual practice which still needs discipline; herding the cow is a daily process of keeping watch on the self-deceptive and confused mind; and coming home on the cow’s back represents a one-ness with the spiritual teaching. This tradition is related to the taming of the unruly passions and is found in the image of the Chinese sage Lao Tse riding a cow buffalo.
There are more than 100 words relating to the cow in Gaelic which is an indication of the importance of these animals in the Celtic world. Among the Celtic people, the cow was the standard unit of currency, and many famous stories – such as the Tain bo Cuailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley) are concerned with the theft of famous cattle, which invariably gave rise to a war, with one side or the other fighting for possession of the animals. In the Tain, there is a description of the two semi-mythical bulls; the Brown Bull of Cuailnge was described as follows:
dark brown dire haughty with young health horrific overwhelming ferocious full of craft furiousfieryflanksnarrow
bravebrutalthickbreasted curly browed head cocked highgrowling and
eyes glaring
(trans. Thomas Kinsella)
Both cows and bulls represented plenty to the Celts and it is not surprising to find accounts of the sacred origin of such beasts. In Ireland, three wondrous cows arose from the sea – a white (bo-finn), a red (bo-ruadh) and a black (bo-dhubh), very similar to the three cow-syllables of the Hindu chant of Aum. The Crodh Sidhe are the cows belonging to the