Snallygaster

Snallygaster

Origin: American Folklore

Description

In American folklore, the snallygaster is a dragon-like beast described by hill communities of German immigrants in the forests of northern Maryland and southern Pennsylvania, who knew it as a monster called a Schnelle Geist, meaning "quick ghost" in German. The Snallygaster was described as one-eyed, reptilian, ghoul-like creature, with leathery bat-like wings, a metallic beak lined with razor-sharp teeth, and octopus-like tentacles. It swoops silently from the sky to pick up and carry off its victims. The earliest stories claim that this monster sucked the blood of its victims. Seven-pointed stars, which reputedly kept the snallygaster at bay, can still be seen painted on local barns.

Keeper Notes

• Alternative_theory. (source)

Associated Mythos Elements

• setting: Folk Mythos

References

• Fiction: Manly Wade Wellman's "The Desrick on Yandro (fiction)"