Plush Mythical Creatures

See, not all mythical creatures are scary monsters! According to legend, the virgin can tame the unicorn. Here it seems she's got that dragon under control too - he's just so cute breathing a small fire down there trying to look tough.

Not that these creatures couldn't be dangerous, hey even my littlest cat spits and growls menacingly on occasion! But plush toys of these wondrous animals are all fun.

And yes, the unicorns and dragons are my favorite - I have several plush versions of each myself!


Maiden with Unicorn and small Dragon
Buy at AllPosters.com

The unicorn is a horse, almost always white, with a single, spiral horn coming out of its forehead. Unicorns are generally considered to have supernatural abilities. According to myth and legend, their horns have healing powers and are able to neutralize poisons. Unicorns represent purity and innocence, and can only be tamed by a virgin.

Unicorns are very special, always portrayed as good, although they can do serious damage with that amazing horn! They are not a threat to humans, although they have been hunted and captured, sought for that special horn and its power.

Unicorn
Buy at Allposters.com

Pegasus is a majestic white horse with wings. He assisted the Greek hero Bellerophon in his heroic task of defeating the chimera by allowing him to fly on his back. When Bellerophon became too proud of himself and wanted to reach the heights of the gods, Pegasus rejected him and threw him off. As a reward, Pegasus was allowed to live on Mount Olympus in the stable of Zeus' horses.

So Pegasus is all good and noble, and looks amazing with huge wings flying up into the heavens!

Pegasus Flying Through Clouds
Buy at Allposters.com

OK, so dragons tend to be pretty fierce, menacing even, and they have a really scary look even before they breathe fire! And they have big talons to grab you and fly you away to their lair, where goodness knows what they do to you. Yeah, these are not really your cute pets!



Dragon's Dream
Buy at AllPosters.com

The mythical phoenix is a beautiful colorful bird that rises again from the ashes of the fire that consumes it when it dies. Thus it achieves immortality. I love the phoenix. It gives such a feeling of hope and power to overcome all adversities.

The phoenix plays an important role in the "Harry Potter" novels, not only making it into the title of one book ("Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"), but the tears of the phoenix save Harry's life after he has been mortally wounded by the evil basilisk.


Phoenix
Buy at AllPosters.com

Gnomes are funny little guys that seem to like dark places and gardens and have something to do with mushrooms! They are often portrayed as small, old men wearing pointed hats.

Gnomes don't seem to be dangerous: They mostly help plants and animals; sometimes help humans; some reclusive ones just stay underground or in dark forests, perhaps hoarding treasure; some interact mischievously with humans. They are said to move as easily through the earth as humans walk upon it. Gnomes are also known as environmentalists, fiercely guarding against any unnecessary damage to the earth and wildlife.


Gnome Mushroom Harvest
Buy at AllPosters.com

Trolls are notoriously ugly. Yes, ugly is the right word! They are also dangerous, and since they're pretty big that's not good. However, they are also stupid, and turn to stone if they stay out in the sun. Guess that's what happened to this one!

Mountain trolls really resemble stupid giants, even Neanderthal humans. They seem to represent that which is somewhat peculiar and different, yet hauntingly similar to ourselves. Perhaps if we're nice to them they can be kind to us?

Troll Figure
Buy at Allposters.com

Copyright © Jennifer P. Tanabe, 2009.
This page was created on November 23, 2009 and is the property of jptanabe (Jennifer P. Tanabe) and Squidoo, LLC. Please do not copy my material!