Tag: mythology

Listening to Lore today made me wonder: Do you have any thoughts on why horses seem so commonly associated with water in mythology? Poseidon’s horses, the kelpies, the phouka, the miscellaneous other lake monsters (like Champ) often described as “horse-like”…horses and water wouldn’t be my first mental connection, but it seems common across several cultures. If there IS really a lake monster species out there that’s “horse-like,” any conjecture what sort of creature it might be?

drferox:

I think horses are monster enough, but I think their consistent association with water and the ocean is because their sweat foams with friction.

Ancient people didn’t exactly have bubble baths and dishwashing detergent to compare to, so the thing that looks most like these foaming, wet, working horses is probably just sea foam.

So logically, that must be what these creatures are made from. And then the story just gets adapted to the local landscape over time.