European legendary creatures

A fairy (also fay or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, and French folklore), a form of spirit, often with magical, metaphysical, supernatural, or preternatural qualities.

In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshift into a wolf or therianthropic hybrid wolf–humanlike creature, either voluntarily or involuntarily due to a curse or other affliction. In modern fiction, especially film, transformations are often depicted as triggered by the full moon and transmitted by a bite or scratch from another werewolf. Early sources for belief in this ability or affliction, called lycanthropy, are Petronius (27–66) and Gervase of Tilbury (1150–1228).

The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (; Classical Latin: gryps or grypus; Late and Medieval Latin: gryphes, grypho etc.; Old French: griffon) is a legendary creature with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion, and the head and wings of an eagle with its talons on the front legs.

thumb|right|A dragon-like ouroboros in a 1478 drawing in an alchemical tract

A goblin is a diminutive, grotesque, and often malevolent humanoid creature prominent in European folklore, typically characterized by its mischievous or demonic nature, small stature (around 30 cm in some traditions), furry or leathery appearance, and ability to shapeshift. Goblins are believed to dwell in subterranean areas or households, where they engage in acts ranging from pranks to murder. Their etymology derives from Old French gobelin (late 12th century), possibly linked to Medieval Latin gobelinus or Greek kobalos (meaning rogue or sprite), though some scholars trace it to earlier do

thumb|upright=1.2|Der Wechselbalg by Henry Fuseli, 1781

thumbnail|upright=1.3|Melusine's secret discovered, from Le Roman de Mélusine by Jean d'Arras, . Bibliothèque nationale de France.

right|thumb|Undine Rising From the Waters, by Chauncey Bradley Ives thumb|Rococo set of [[personification figurines of the Four Elements, 1760s, Chelsea porcelain]] An elemental is a mythic supernatural being that is described in occult and alchemical works from around the time of the European Renaissance, and particularly elaborated in the 16th century works of Paracelsus. According to Paracelsus and his subsequent followers, there are four categories of elementals, which are gnomes, undines, sylphs, and salamanders. These correspond to the four Empedoclean elements of antiquity: earth, wate

A merman (: mermen; also merlad or merboy in youth), the male counterpart of the mythical female mermaid, is a legendary creature which is human from the waist up and fish-like from the waist down, but may assume normal human shape. Sometimes mermen are described as hideous and other times as handsome.

thumb|Goddess Hel (being)|Hel and the hellhound [[Garmr by Johannes Gehrts, 1889]] A hellhound is a mythological hound that embodies a guardian or a servant of hell, the devil, or the underworld. Hellhounds occur in mythologies around the world, with the best-known examples being Cerberus from Greek mythology, Garmr from Norse mythology, the black dogs of English folklore, and the fairy hounds of Celtic mythology. Physical characteristics vary, but they are commonly black, anomalously overgrown, supernaturally strong, and often have red eyes or are accompanied by flames. The behaviors of a He

archetype in myth

fairy-like creatures from mythology and folklore (for sprites from a work of fiction see Q30318085)

thumb|1920 Arthur Rackham illustration for the Irish fairytale The Hag of the Mill. "Now the Hag of the Mill was a bony, thin pole of a hag with odd feet."

thumb|Licho by Marek Hapon Likho, liho, lykho (, , , ) is an embodiment of evil fate and misfortune in Slavic mythology. A creature with one eye who is often depicted as an old, skinny woman in black (Лихо одноглазое, One-eyed Likho) or as an evil male goblin of forests. Rather than being included in the major canon of the Slavic belief system, the Likho is traditionally found in fairy tales.

fairy creature from European mythology

thumb|Late 16th-century Demogorgon woodcut by Hendrick Goltzius Demogorgon is a deity or demon associated with the underworld. Although often ascribed to Greek mythology, the name probably arises from an unknown copyist's misreading of a commentary by a fourth-century scholar, Lactantius Placidus. The concept itself can be traced back to the original misread term demiurge.

Yuxa (Latin: Yuxa Yilan, Cyrillic: Юха елан, Old Turkic: 𐰖𐰆𐰎𐰀; ), or Yuha, is a legendary creature in Turkic mythology. According to popular beliefs, every 100-year-old snake is transformed into Yuxa. In fairy tales, Yuxa is described as a beautiful damsel who would marry men to beget offspring.

Mythical, magical or otherwise suspect animals mentioned in Systema Naturae

thumb|Fossegrim playing a harp in a waterfall under the statue to the violinist Ole Bull in [[Bergen]] thumb| ("The Stream Man") by Swedish painter Ernst Josephson, 1884 Fossegrim, also known simply as the grim (Norwegian) or Strömkarlen (Swedish), is a water spirit or troll in Scandinavian folklore. He is often depicted as a handsome, nude man playing the fiddle in and . Fossegrim has been associated with a mill spirit (kvernknurr) and is related to the water spirit (nokken) and is sometimes also called näcken in Sweden.

thumb|Schrat as Carnival costume. The Schrat () or Schratt, also Schraz or Waldschrat (forest Schrat), is a rather diverse German and Slavic legendary creature with aspects of either a wood sprite, domestic sprite and/or a nightmare demon. In other languages it is further known as Skrat.

legendary reindeer-like creature with chameleon properties

A gancanagh () () is a male fairy from the mythology of Ireland, known for seducing women.