Creatures of myth Wiki
Advertisement
Kelpie

By Cyclone62

Name: Kelpie

Country of Origin: Scotland

Description:

The Kelpie is the Scottish version of the Celtic legend of the shapeshifting water horse that exists quite heavily in European folklore under multiple different names. It's usually described as a black or white horse that lures anyone who dares ride it to their watery grave as it drowns them beneath the loch where it lives. In some stories, it can appear as a perso,n but not as a perfect disguise as it retains its hooves upon transforming.

While Kelpies are mostly seen as a evil force not to be reckoned with, there is the occasional story of people taming them with a holster and bridle adorned with the holy cross to exorcize the demon. In some stories,the horse is already wearing tack which can be removed to stop the beast. In other stories, it can be defeated with a silver bullet or heated iron.

Trivia:

  • Robert Burns poem "Address to the Devil" written in 1786 references the Kelpie

"When those dissolve the snowy herd

An' float the jinglin icy boord

Then, water-kelpies haunt the foord

By ur direction

An' nighted travellers are a'lured

To their destruction."

  • Sir Walter Scott's poem "The Lady of the Lake" (1810) also references a kelpie like creature

"He watched the wheeling eddies boil,

Till from their foam his dazzled eyes

Beheld the River Demon rise"

He also called a location in his Novel " The Bride of Lammermoor" (1818) "Kelpie's Flow" after the same myth.

  • Two kelpies appeared in the Animated Disney show "Ducktales" from 2018
  • The Helix, a park Located between Falkirk and Grangemouth, has the largest equine sculptures in the world and calls itself the home of the kelpies.
  • Kelpie is also the name of a breed of dog originating from Australia.
  • There is a book written about this creature called "The Kelpie's Pearls" by Mollie Hunter


Advertisement