Today's Friday Fantasy creature is a fillyloo. A strange name for what seems to be a legendary lizard living in the Ozark mountains of the United States.

Said to be at least 20 feet long (and therefore rather hard to miss!), with boar-like tusks, sightings of this unusual creature have been as recently as the 1950's.

There isn't a lot of documentation on the fillyloo, other than it has a history in the folklore of the tribes in the region. 

In complete contrast to what seems to be a fierce dragon-like creature, a fillyloo (or phillyloo) is also the name of a mythological crane that flies upside down. Aside from its unusual method of getting around, it has longer legs than a normal crane and is apparently featherless.

Djinn are the genies of Arab stories, and Islamic teachings. They are mentioned in the Qur'an frequently, and are, like humans, good and bad. They are unpredictable, and while magicians and women are known to be able to have power over Djinns, consider yourself warned: Djinn do not take kindly on being wronged.

They are supposedly made from fire and can take several forms, including a human-esk form, an animal, or a creature with wings. Some believe that everyone is assigned their own Djinn, who act as a devil on your shoulder, encouraging your evil thoughts.

So next time you do something bad, like steal your friend's pen because you know you love it, just blame your Djinn!

Meet Cerberus, today's Fantasy Friday creature.

This three headed dog guards the gates of the underworld, and oddly, is not merely a mutated dog. He is the offspring of a half woman half snake...

He feeds only on live meat, so don't get too close! Even if you tried to capture him for the newest member of San Diago Zoo, his heads can see the past, present and future, so he'll probably see you coming!

Today's Friday Fantasy creature is a banshee. 

Isn't she creepy looking? Banshees are apparently connected to certain families, and they foretell the death of a family member with an eerie cry. Obviously all this wailing means that they don't look the best (how many people actually look good crying?), and banshees are known to take the form of a mourning woman, or an old hag.  Her wail can be so piercing, that it can even shatter glass!
While a banshee is a creature of Irish legends, in Irish and in other cultures, women have the role of crying like a banshee during funerals.

Banshees traditionally have pale hair, which they brush with a silver or gold comb. If you ever see a comb lying on the ground, don't pick it up! It could be a banshee's trick to lure you away (or, if you are near water, the comb could be a mermaid's, who also have a reputation for stealing human's away using a comb). 

If in doubt, use a brush...

Lately I've been doing a lot of research into mythological fantasy creatures for my current WIP. Rather than keeping it all to myself, I thought I'd start sharing it every Friday with a new creature.

Today's Friday Fantasy creature is Arion, an immortal horse who was supposedly sired by Poseidon and Demeter when they were in some form of a horse. A little odd perhaps (but aren't most Greek myths and legends?), but the idea of an immortal horse in an interesting one.

Apparently, Arion was not only immortal, but extremely swift, and impossible to catch, and he even had the gift of speech (a talking horse!). At one point he was owned by Heracles (aka Hercules), amongst other Greek heros of legend.

Homer also mentions Arion in the Iliad: "there is no man that shall catch thee by a burst of speed, neither pass thee by, nay, not though in pursuit he were driving goodly Arion, the swift horse of Adrastus, that was of heavenly stock".

Other accounts say that Arion's hooves resembled human feet and that he had eagle wings growing from his back (Pegasus anyone?).