Word Search...Things From Beyond

I like to do word search puzzles, and enjoy when the words in the list are on a theme. The puzzle I did last night was titled “Things from Beyond”

I’d have thought I knew the names and meanings of many mythical and magical creatures. I was wrong, some on the list were new to me, some familiar, and yet I might have been hard pressed if asked to give a clear definition.

The one that caught my eye was REVENANT. I’ve been seeing the trailers for the new movie of the same name and didn’t know what the word meant, curious; I had been meaning to look it up. The puzzle last night gave me the impetus to look at the words and meanings from the list.

I realized my knowledge of magical creatures was limited to the more friendly type, such as fairies and unicorns, or the Shrek style ogre.

The list included some common words, like ghosts, spooks and spirits. Then there were the ghouls (evil spirit associated with graveyards and consuming human flesh), phantoms and specters. A revenant is a person who has returned, supposedly from the dead.

The mythical creatures on the list were neither human or spirit, but a combination. Like a centaur (half horse, half man) or a lamia (a serpent turned into a woman). A kelpie is a shape shifting water horse and a sylph is an imaginary spirit of the air.

A golem is from Jewish folklore, a creature made by magic, usually of clay or stone. And then there are the gremlins, those pesky little monsters made famous in a movie of the same name.

I was surprised to see bugbear on the list, not sure exactly why as I couldn’t have given you a meaning for it. It’s one of those words you might hear or read, and you have enough of an idea what it means to understand its use. A bugbear is the cause of an obsessive fear, irritation or loathing.

When I was looking these words up, using the internet rather than a dictionary, I realized the list in the word search was only a small portion of the total list of magical and mythical creatures through the ages.

Left you a link to some of them.

http://www.listal.com/list/mythical-creatures-dianad

At least now, if I go to the movies to see The Revanant, I’ll have an idea what it might be about.