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Humababa/Huwawa/Kumbaba
Humbaba is from Sumerian, Mesopotamian, Assyrian, and Babylonian mythology. He was appointed by the god Enlil to guard the cedar trees in the world of the living. He was dangerous to any who entered his forest. He was a large humanoid with a lion head and dragon teeth whose roar was like a storm. His breathe was like death and he could breathe fire. Covered in plate-like scales, he had talons like a vulture and a tail that had a snake head at the end of it. He personified natural elements and was protected by seven mystical auras. No one ever escaped his wrath. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, which…
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Hugag
The Hugag is a creature from Lumberjack Folklore. They’re thought to be prehistoric looking creatures that live in lake states. They are roughly the size of and shape of a moose, with leathery heads, necks lacking hair, incredibly long upper lips that hangs low and prevents them from grazing, long tails, ragged, uneven floppy ears, and bushy coats. They have no ankle or knee joints, and four toed feet. They are constantly moving and wobble as they move. They eat leaves and tree bark. When they sleep, they lean against trees to keep themselves stable. Citations: Bane, Theresa. Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore. United States,…
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Hoop Snake
The Hoop Snake is a dangerous southern snake from Lumberjack Folklore. They may be black or multicolored. They can grow to 8 feet long but are very thin. They have a stinger 1-5 inches in length at the end of their tails. They can grab their stingers in their mouths making themselves into large hoops. If a person is injected with venom from this stinger they will die within minutes. They can’t chase people uphill by rolling but they still can slither, though they get tired of this very quickly. If you are being chased by a hoop snake, you can also jump through its hoop to confuse it, making…
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Hone-Onna
The Hone-Onna is an undead Yokai from Japanese myth. The name translates to “bone woman.” They often linger in dark streets, down alleyways, and graveyards. They are believed to be women who die and return from death due to love, rather than anger. They return to their partner in life to continue living a life with them, appearing at night and leaving during the day. They appear as they did in life, though their true form is that of a rotting skeletal woman. The strength of their illusion grows stronger as they continue to further rot. The only ones who could see this form are those unaffected by love and…
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Hodag/Black Hodag
The Hodag is a well known creature from Lumberjack Folklore. They live in the swamps of West Virginia and Wisconsin. They have horns and spikes on their bodies and are often depicted with a crazed grin. Sometimes they have the head of a bull with a human face, short legs, clawed feet, a humped back like a dinosaur, and a prehensile serpentine tail ending in an arrowhead. Some describe them as chimerical hybrids of a frog, lizard, and mammoth. They eat wildlife, often feed on turtles, snakes, and muskrats from nearby swamps, and sometimes also eat humans. They smell so bad that people have been known to faint when they…
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Hinqumemen/Engulfer
The Hinqumemen is a creature from the myth of the Coeur d’Alene Native Americans. It is a living sentient lake. If any take water from the lake, it will follow them back to their village in an amorphous form. It engulfs its victims in water and drags them back to the lake. Once back, it drowns them. Citations: Bane, Theresa. Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore. United States, McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers, 2016.
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Hidebehind
The Hidebehind is a creature from Lumberjack Folklore. It is incredibly dangerous and is often responsible for men disappearing in the woods. It will follow behind a person, and no matter how quickly they turn around, it will immediately hide behind something. At the right moment it will ambush them and drag them away. Citations: Bane, Theresa. Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore. United States, McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers, 2016. Matthews, John, and Matthews, Caitlin. The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures: The Ultimate A-Z of Fantastic Beings from Myth and Magic. United Kingdom, Harper Element, 2009.
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Hi-Hi-Aka-La-La-Hai
Hi-Hi-Aka-La-La-Hai was a strong and handsome man who tried to court the Hawaiian goddess Poliahu. She agreed to give him an answer if he scaled a cliff at night and reached the top before dawn. He failed this task, so she transformed him into the first Hau Tree. This tree grew large before it was uprooted and relocated by a strong windstorm. It grew even larger there, until it was broken into five pieces by a flash flood. These pieces spread throughout the island and formed the large amounts of these trees present today. The lines on the leaf of this tree represent this mountain, and the five main rivers…
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Hellidad
The Hellidad is a creature from Lumberjack Folklore. They resemble crosses between ostriches and zebras. They are known to lick bald people’s heads while they sleep. They are recounted in stories of Pecos Bill. Citations: Bowman, James Cloyd. Pecos Bill: The Greatest Cowboy of All Time. United States, Albert Whitman, 2017. Fantasy: Shapes of Things Unknown. United States, Scott, Foresman, 1974.
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Hedammu
Hedammu was a giant sea serpent from Mesopotamian myth. It was thought to remain in deep waters and could drag down entire ships and consume its crew. It would attack ships non-stop as it was constantly hungry. Hedammu was thought to be the child of a man named Kumarbi and a daughter of the sea god. It was also seen as a challenger to the storm gods. To deal with the Hedammu, the gods sent Ishtar to seduce it. Citations: Maberry, Jonathan. Vampire Universe: The Dark World of Supernatural Beings That Haunt Us, Hunt Us, and Hunger for Us. United States, Kensington Publishing Corporation, 2006. Wandering Myths: Transcultural Uses of…
