Throughout history many tales have sprung up about legendary races of people. They often have attributes that make them different from humans whilst retaining humanoid qualities. This is a list of ten legendary races.
1. Abarimon
Abarimon is the name of a legendary race of people native to a country of the same name. The people of Abarimon had backwards feet, but in spite of this handicap were able to run at great speed. They lived side by side with wild animals and attempts to capture them failed because they were so savage.
They lived in a great valley of Mount Imaus (now called the Himalayan Mountains). There was a special quality of air which meant if it was breathed for a long period of time it would be impossible to breathe any other type of air and the inhabitants could never leave the valley alive.
The Abarimon people were first described by Pliny the Elder in his book, Natural History. A similar tale is recounted by Aulus Gellius in Attic Nights.
2. Abatwa
In Zulu mythology, Abatwa are said to be tiny humans said to be able to hide beneath a blade of grass and to be able to ride ants. They are said to live a nomadic lifestyle and continually on the hunt for game.
Legend states that if one happens to come across an Abatwa, one will typically be asked a question like, “From where did you first see me?” One must reply by saying one saw them from a mountain, or some far away area. They are said to be extremely sensitive about their size, and if one answers by saying that one only saw them right then for the first time, the Abatwa will try to kill them with poison arrows. Stepping on an Abatwa by accident is also said to be a death sentence.
Due to their shy nature, they will only tolerate being seen by the very young (said to be anyone under the age of 4), by magicians, and by pregnant women. If a pregnant woman in her seventh month of pregnancy sees a male Abatwa, it is said that she will give birth to a boy.
3. Anthropophagi
Creatures from English folklore with no heads and a mouth in their chests. Their diminutive brain was located in their groin, and their eyes on their shoulders. While they were made widely known by William Shakespeare in The Merry Wives of Windsor (1602) and Othello (1605), they were not created by Shakespeare, and indeed were mentioned as early as the 5th century BC in the Histories of Herodotus as “blemmyes”.
4. Basajaun
Basque mythology, the basajaun (plural: basajaunak) were an ancient human race of stout, hairy wild men who were megalith builders. Basajaun means “Lord of the Woods”. They once dwelled in the mountains of the Basque Pyrenees of northern Spain and southern France. They had knowledge of magic. The Basajaun was heavily built and about 2 to 3 meters tall. Dark reddish hair reached their knees. They were very agile, strong, hairy beings with animal characteristics. The Basajaun watch over the forests and all wild creatures. They are rural genies, also called the Wild Lords. They are also considered to be the protector of flocks. When comes a storm a Basajaun will shout warnings to the shepherds; and they prevent wolves from approaching flocks. They are the first to have cultivated the earth. Human beings obtained the right to cultivate the earth when a man won a bet with a Basajaun. He stole the seeds that the Basajun was sowing and he came back to his peoples to teach them how to produce food.
5. Dziwozony
Dziwozony is a race of tall, wild women found in the forests of Poland. They attack people and sometimes carry off young men to be their husbands. The Dziwozony throw their breasts over their shoulders to run more swiftly.
6. Ebu Gogo
Ebu Gogo is a human-like creature (or race of creatures) which appears in the mythology of the people of the island of Flores, Indonesia, of similar form to the leprechaun or elf. These “little people” are said to be about one meter tall, covered in hair, pot-bellied and with ears that stick out. They are held to walk somewhat awkwardly and are often said to be “murmuring” in what is assumed to be their own language. It is also said by the islanders that the Ebu Gogo can repeat what is said to them in parrot-like fashion.
7. Fir Bolg
In far antiquity the Fir Bolg were the rulers of Ireland (at the time called Ériu) immediately before the arrival of the Tuatha Dé Danann, who many interpret as the Gaelic gods. The King of the Tuatha Dé, Nuada, sued for half the island for his people, but the Fir Bolg king refused. At the ensuing Battle of Mag Tuired the Fir Bolg were all but conquered and their king slain by the goddess Morrigu, though the fierce efforts of their champion Sreng saved them from utter loss, and the Tuatha Dé were so touched by their nobility and spirit they gave them one quarter of the island as their own. They chose Connacht. After this, the Fir Bolg all but disappear from mythology.
8. Fomorian
In Irish mythology, the Fomorians, Fomors, or Fomori (Irish Fomóiri, Fomóraig) were a semi-divine race who inhabited Ireland in ancient times. They may have once been believed to be the beings who preceded the gods, similar to the Greek Titans. It has been suggested that they represent the gods of chaos and wild nature, as opposed to the Tuatha Dé Danann who represent the gods of human civilization. Alternatively, they may represent the gods of a proposed pre-Goidelic population of Ireland.
9. Giants
The mythology and legends of many different cultures include mythological creatures/monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. “Giant” is the English word commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.
In various Indo-European mythologies, gigantic peoples are featured as primeval creatures associated with chaos and the wild nature, and they are frequently in conflict with the gods, be they Olympian or Norse.
There are also other stories featuring giants in the Old Testament, perhaps most famously Goliath. Attributed to them are superhuman strength and physical proportions, a long lifespan, and thus a great deal of knowledge as well.
10. Salvaje
The Salvaje are described as wild men-like hairy creatures from the Venezuelan jungles and the Colombian Andes that, according to the local Amerindians, construct primitive huts and crude weapons. These beings are said to be extremely dangerous, ill-tempered and carnivorous, eating men but carrying off women for breeding purposes. Like the Abarimon, it is asserted that the Salvaje is easily recognized by the traces of its feet, the toes of which are turned backward.
Source: Article Text courtesy of Wikipedia
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Actually, I happen to be a dziwozony. Mystery over. =P
Kelsi: ah – that explains a lot
What about all the accounts of people that supposedly live in our hollow planet?
Adam W.: The Vril? They are not legendary – they were first written about in the 1800′s.
Have you forgotten the Hoppinsitters who, after having sat and hopped, did suddenly overhop? “…down the canyon, deep and dim, ’twas thus that we extincted him.”
JMartin: that is totally unfamiliar to me – where does it come from?
Hehe, when i read Legendary, I thought it as a good word, such as legendary rock star. I was expecting great men and wo-men of the Earth. (I must say; I also thought Why JFrater chose word Earth?
Özhan – why did choose the word Earth? To exclude Martians of course
I'm curious about the Anthropophagi. It says "Their diminutive brain was located in their groin, and their eyes on their shoulders." So, other than the misplaced eyes, they are no different from regular men? :-p
Actually, anthropophagi are also ‘cannibals’, eating human flesh as the main source of their food. They won’t eat ANYTHING else, actually.
The Hoppinsitters were a strange breed of person, sort of half-cow, half-bear (except for the antlers) that were totally mortalized in an obscure 1940′s poem of the same name.
JMartin: thanks for clearing that up – I couldn’t find anything about them on the net.
Mathilda: methinks someone is cruisin’ for a bruisin’
Regarding the Giants of the Old Testament, the critical detail that was omitted was that there is much more specificity in the bible, though not enough to be clear – look into the Nephilim, who were supposedly giants because humans had ***** with angels to make a type of superhuman, of which Goliath may have been one of the last.
Where’s golem ??elf ??
adit: elf would fit, but golem is an invention of JRR Tolkein, not a legendary creature from history.
I thought golems are a jew folklore. Resurection of their beloved ones into earth golems with sacred words? I watched in X-files
But still I think golems cant be considered as “people”
Oh oh, you meant Gollum?
Özhan -OH! I was confused by the spelling. Thanks for clearing that up
those guys with no heads are basically like Krum from AAHHH Real Monsters right? except he carried his eyes..
I haven’t seen Real Monsters – is that a cartoon?
Yes, a nickelodeon cartoon.
that was such a great show. thanks for reminding me of it!
I’m from Colombia and I’ve never heard of the Salvaje. I’ll see if I can find more information on them.
ebu gogo is a cryptid!
How about the Amazons? A race of hot, feisty warrior women should have surely made the top 10!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazons
The Amazons were human. They aren’t a legendary race, just a legendary society.
Ok, fair enough – Valkyries, then?
Didn’t they just find a skeleton of Hobbit like creatures on the island of flores? I didn’t hear anything about covered in hair though.
The giants are written about in every religion in the world. They were the offspring of the beings that came down from the heavens and gave us magic and technology, and human women. In the bible they are the Nephilim, in greek mythology they are the titans, or the demigods. They have actually found extremely large mummies in many places, like the grand canyon, but they always conveniently dissapear. Look at a satellit map of the grand canyon, there is a large chunk that is blocked out because they are excavating it.
The omission of elves from this list leads me to suspect that there is a list of the most famous elves or fairies on its way.
tamlin: elves are cryptids thats why their not on the list
in 6 that isnt ebu gogo. thats a chimpanzee. big difference.
26. SuaveBugger – January 8th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Ok, fair enough – Valkyries, then?
Valkyries were divine beings who carried the dead warriors towards Valhalla
i think salvaje and kapre(from the philippines) are the same, large hairy men who carry off women for breeding (except they smoke huge sticks of tobacco)
I think Kapre and Tikbalang (Half-man / half horse) both from Philippines are legendary
Salvaje?? I’m from colombia and i’ve never heard of that!!
maybe they are from somewhere else..
Commodore and Camilo. I’m from Colombia too, bogotano de pura cepa, the Salvajes is a ‘race’ saw in Tolima and Huila, too in Meta, Arauca, Boyacá and the frontier departaments with Venezuela. Los salvajes son opitas y llaneros, además hay información que dice que son venecos y se infiltraron por la frontera. Saludos a los colombianos que leen esta página y a los que me puedan entender.
Kapre is a Philippine mythical creature that could be characterized as a tree demon, but with more human characteristics. It is described as being a tall (7 to 9 ft), brown, hairy male with a beard. Kapres are normally described as smoking a big tobacco pipe, whose strong smell would attract human attention. The term kapre comes from the Arabic “kaffir” meaning a non-believer in Islam. The early Arabs and the Moors used it to refer to the non-Muslim Dravidians who were dark-skinned. The term was later brought to the Philippines by the Spanish who had previous contact with the Moors. Some historians speculate that the legend was propagated by the Spanish to prevent Filipinos from assisting any escaped African slaves. See Wikipedia…
some have been seenin our province…
the “awang kenit” – gnome like – malaysia
“badang” – the similar type of incredible hulk – malaysia
I think I’ve eaten an Abatwa before…
my girl-friend is from the philipines and when she was 10 saw a real giant it looked in her bedroom window when she was about nine. she thinks it may have had one eye they lived in a remote mountain region. im irish so i only have ghost stories
No. 6 is interesting because they recently discovered some short, hobbit-like human skeletons on the island of Flores.
In Brazil, there are stories about a little fella that has its feet pointing the other way, to confuse hunters and then kill them. Because he loves nature and stuff (way before the hippies).
The Dogon people of Mali believe that the Tellem, who lived in their area before they did, could fly, as they have left lots of structures in places that seem impossible to reach (the scientific theory is that there used to be giant vines reaching to those places, which seems like a bit of a stretch to me!) The Tellem were real people because wikipedia says so, although when I was living with the Dogon most of them thought they were just stories.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tellem
why no vampires, werewolves, or mermen… seems like they should all be in the top ten. (I just saw that the list is Ten Legendary Earth peoples not Top Ten Legendary Earth peoples , but I took the time to type this so I’m posting anyway.)
Thanks random list button!
I think it was several years ago that bones of a previously unknown humanoid species were discovered on Flores, named thereafter as Homo floresiensis. The size of these bones indicated that they belonged to diminutive individuals.
Not to say, of course, that these findings show that the Ebu Gogo had indeed existed. However, it makes for an thoughtful correlation.
Indeed further interviews with Flores villagers seem to indicate that the Ebu Gogos were not ancient legends in the minds of these people. At least, as far as these villagers are concerned.
Thank you so much for including the Basajaun and Ebu Gogo! I found the Basajaun incredibly fascinating; I am an anthropology major aspiring to study very ancient prehistoric mythology and found the correspondence between the descriptions of the Basajaun and what we know of the appearance of Neanderthals to be BEYOND awesome. They are to Neanderthals possibly what the Ebu Gogo is to Homo floresiensis.
The two Celtic races, the Fir Bolg and Fomorians, were interesting as well (I have an interest in those kinds of Indo-European stories, such as the Greek Titans, in which the Indo-European-derived gods supercede an earlier race, perhaps echoing the displacement/overtaking of the Pre-Indo-European peoples of those areas into which Indo-Europeans expanded).
I realize this was a really verbose comment, and no one’s gonna read it, but that’s okay.
<3
Em
im not columbian(mexican)
but
salvaje=salvage
Is it just me, or does the 1st and 10th of the list have a similar feature?
I’m irish, when we were in first and second class (think thats like 1st gradein the US) the Fir Bolg and Fomorians are mentioned in our history, I think the order goes Nemerian, Fomorian, Fir Bolg, Tuatha de Dannan, Celt. The story of the first four makes up the mythological/first cycle of Irelands History. Whats funny is that the Nemerians are hardly ever mentioned but the other races have a rich and detailed story
I thought the thing about the dziwozony abducting people to marry was pretty sweet until the breast thing.
Даа…. В этом блоге хоть комментаторы нормальные А то пишут обычно в коменты ерунду всякую.
За статью сенкс, все по делу, достаточно много кто это применяет
How about Alexandria’s Genesis?
I think you’ll find that the “Ebu Gogo” are quite possibly the remains of the Homo Floresiensis population of Flores – short, hominids that could be described as a mini version of our Homo Erectus cousins. So I don’t know if they deserve to be on this list as they most definitely existed in recent memory, though the stories are no doubt embellished.
What, no Bigfoot, or Abominable Snowmen?
Interesting article on supposedly “Blue People” from 1800′s America (and elsewhere):
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1272/is-there-really-a-race-of-blue-people
Update: Paul Karason of California, a real Blue Man (intentional):