"Ridiculous Mythical Critters Dreamed Up by 19th ..." Topic

…Century Lumberjacks.

"America has the most ridiculous mythical creatures the world has ever known. Hands down. Nowhere else has a mythology formed so beautifully in a perfect amalgam of too much whiskey, too little sleep, and perhaps some accidentally consumed magic mushrooms.

These are America's little-known "fearsome critters," which came principally from lumberjack lore. Consider the Funeral Mountain terrashot, a walking casket that blows up when it stumbles into a searing desert. Or the tripodero, which has telescoping legs for seeing over bushes and a mouth that fires dried clay at its victims. Or the hidebehind, a lumberjack-hunter that you can't see because—conveniently enough for the myth—when you look its way it ducks behind a tree. Also, it hates alcohol, so the only way to make sure it doesn't eat you is to be drunk all the time. Ah, America.

Perhaps the most fascinating monsters of American lore, though, are the ones that serve to explain the phenomena we encountered as we headed west. That's no different than any other folklore, really. In the absence of solid science, we humans will come up with any spectacular theory that will do—usually to serve as some sort of moral lesson or strategy for avoiding bodily harm…"
Full article here
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Amicalement
Armand

Alright, sculptors— get to work!

Manly Wade Wellman used a lot of American mythological creatures in his Silver John stories, but I don't know if many/any were from lumberjack tales, although he had the Behinder, which sounds something like the Hidebehind.

"Then I knew why nobody's supposed to see one. To this day I can see it, as plain as a fence at noon, and forever I will be able to see it. But talking about it is another matter. Thank you, I won't try." – "The Desrick on Yandro" 1952

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Man, there' a LOT of awesome material there for RPG critters! GREAT find Tango!

-Will

Happy you enjoyed it my friend!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand