Kelpie
The Kelpie is a shape-shifting water spirit from Celtic folklore and is a parallel to the Nordic Bäckahäst and the Central American Wihwin.
The Kelpie is a shape-shifting water spirit from Celtic folklore and is a parallel to the Nordic Bäckahäst and the Central American Wihwin.
The word Kelpie may be derived from the Gaelic "calpa" or "calpeach" meaning "heifer" or "colt" [1].
It is described as a black horse that can shapeshift into a human but will however have to retain the hooves. This makes it easy to draw an association with the Christian representation of Satan [2].
The Kelpie may sometimes be depicted as having kelp as a replacement or simply entangled in the mane and tail.
The Wihwin is also portrayed as a sea-dwelling demon although during the summer months it was thought to wander the mountain ridges [3]. All of these iterations of the same beast are sometimes portrayed with sharp teeth to feast on the flesh of their victims [4]. It is believed that the Bäckahäst had urged you to get on its back and once you were riding the horse you could not get away as it leaped into the water drowning you [5].
Similar Myths
There are many similar creatures throughout the world. Although many of them might not look the same the message they provide is. These monsters were almost certainly used to scare people and in particular children away from bodies of water, especially at nighttime. In Norse and Germanic myth there is a figure in addition to the Bäckahäst called Näcken, Neck, or Nixie which is a humanoid creature with the same purpose of luring people into a watery death. The Bunyip from Australia is also a similar water spirit although portrayed as more of a dog-like creature [6-8].
There is even a similar creature in Aztec mythology called the ahuizotl. Like the bunyip, this creature is more compared to a dog.
Visually similar is also the Hippocampus from many Mediterranean myths such as Greek.
Sources:
[1]: "kelpie, n.1.", Oxford English Dictionary (online ed.), Oxford University Press, 2014, retrieved 4 May 2014
[3]: Bassett, Fletcher S. (1885), Legends and Superstitions of the Sea and of Sailors, Belford, Clarke and Co. p.93
[4]: Bell, Charles N. (1862), "Remarks on the Mosquito Territory", The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, 32: 254
[5]: "Nykurin býr í vøtnum, á botninum niðri í dýpinum hevur hann sítt tilhald, men haðan fer hann ofta á land, og honum er ikki gott at møta. Stundum er hann líkur einum vøkrum lítlum hesti, sum tykist at vera góður og spakur, og harvið lokkar hann fólk at nærkast til sín at klappa honum og strúka honum eftir baki. Men tá tey koma at nerta við halan, verða tey áføst við hann, og tá sleppur hann ongum, men dregur tey við sær til botns í vatninum. Stundum møtir hann fólki í manslíki sum ein prúður unglingi at lokka gentur við sær og lovar teimum gleði og gaman í síni høll, um tær vilja fylgja honum eftir. Men fáa tær illgruna um, hvør hann er, sum tær eru við at geva seg burtur til, so at tær fáa nevnt hann við rætta navni: "nykur", missir hann maktina yvir tær og má sleppa teimum og fara einsumallur í vatn sítt. Tað er sagt, at nykurin kann líkaleiðis umskapa seg líkan øllum ferføttum djórum, uttan stikulin av veðra- ella veðurlambshorni skal hann ikki kunna skapa á seg. Men rossi er hann líkur, tá ið hann ikki hevur broytt ham sín, og tað hevur borið monnum til at fáa vald yvir hann við at rista kross á baki á honum, og hava teir tá havt hann til at draga við halanum stórt grót oman úr fjøllum til gerðisgarðar ella hús, sum enn sæst í Húsavík í Sandoy og á Eiði í Eysturoy, og tað stóra grótið, ið har er saman komið, ber vitni um, hvussu sterkur hann er. Á Takmýrum í Sandoy liggur ein stórur klettur, sum teir vildu hava hann at draga til Húsavíkar, men har slitnaði halin, og steinurin stendur har. Ein partur av nykarhalanum, sum var áfastur við steinin, er sjónligur á honum enn." V. U. Hammershaimb, Færøsk Anthologi (Copenhagen, 1891).
[6]: Middleton, Nick (2012), Rivers: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-958867-1
[7]: Krūminienė, Jadvyga. "Audronė Gedžiūtė." mokslo darbai transactions (2010): 191.
[8]: Rosenstock, Gabriel. "SHORT STORY & POEMS." Irish Pages 5.2 (2008): 200-208.
