List of megafauna in mythology and folklore

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For giant animals in science and history, see Megafauna.
A Hydra. The 16th-century German illustration.

A giant animal in

mythology is unusually large, either for their species or in relation to humans. The term giant carries some ambiguity; however, in mythology, definitions of what constitutes 'large' vary, with definitions ranging from 40 kg (88 lb) upwards.[1] At the upper end of this scale, they may be further subdivided into small (250–500 kg (550–1,100 lb)), medium (500–1,000 kg (1,100–2,200 lb)) and large (over 1,000 kg (2,200 lb)). Megafauna often form one of the mythemes of a story. The narrative may revolve around a real animal or a primordial archetype of a gigantic creature, such as a dragon, sea monsters,[2] or the Midgard snake
.

Examples of megafauna

Numerous myths and folklore exist depicting giant animals, including Australian,[3][4] Greek,[5] Native American,[6][7] among others.

References

  1. ISBN 978-0-226-43298-4
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  2. PMID 31891944
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  3. ^ Spriggs, Matthew; Blench, R, eds. (1997). Archaeology and Language: Theoretical and methodological orientations. Routledge. pp. 357–358.
  4. ISBN 9781394150939
    .
  5. ISBN 9780393249309
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  6. ISBN 9781682752418
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  7. ISBN 978-1-85109-538-4
    .
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