Magical or Mythical Creatures

Magical and Mythical Creatures, Oh My!

There are many, many types of magical and mythical creatures. Magical and mythical creatures include the races of elves, dwarves, and gnomes. There are sprites, fairies and will-o-the-wisps. Then there are dragons, unicorns, and the pegasus. Giants, hobgoblins, and trolls. And any number of fantastic monsters and strange beasts. Some will be friendly, and others fearsome. Which will you include in your world?

What You Need To Do:

• A bestiary is a book full of pictures and desciptions of strange and unusual creatures. (Some might say monsters.) Spend some time looking at the beastiaries listed below. Learn about some of these fantastical creatures, and decide which you want to include in your world.
• Keep a list of the creatures you want to include, with notes about what each creature is like and what it looks like. You may find it helpful to draw a sketch of each creature. Make a note of where you found each one, so that you can go back and check on details later if you need to.

Resources:

• The Encyclopedia Mythica Bestiary
• The Medieval Bestiary: Animals in the Middle Ages
• Dave's Mythical Creatures and Places
• Gareth Long's Encyclopedia of Monsters, Mythical Creatures and Fabulous Beasts
• The Aberdeen Bestiary, from the University of Aberdeen
• The Glossary of Mythical Creatures
• The Encyclopedia Arda: A Reference Guide to the Works of J.R.R Tolkein
  (the left hand side is a table of contents, scroll down to the section on Races)
• An Early History of Dwarves (based on the Dragonlance series)
• The History of Elves
• The Real Gnome Lowdown: A Short History of Gnomes for Humans
• Goblins, Threat or Nuisance?
• What Is A Dragon?

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