Nuckelavee

Uncommon card · No. 90523

The nuckelavee ( ) or nuckalavee is a horse-like demon from Orcadian folklore that combines equine and human elements. If one was looking casually, or under the cover of shadow in the night, it was thought to have the silhouette of a normal horseman. However, upon further inspection, it resembles a fleshless horse which sports one eye and fins on its legs, with a fleshless human head, torso, and arms longer than normal sprouting out the horse's back. British folklorist Katharine Briggs called it "the nastiest" of all the demons of Scotland's Northern Isles. The nuckelavee's breath was thought to wilt crops and sicken livestock and the creature was held responsible for droughts and epidemics on land despite being predominantly a sea-dweller. A graphic description of the nuckelavee as it appears on land was given by an islander who claimed to have had a confrontation with it, but accounts describing the details of the creature's appearance are inconsistent. In common with many other sea monsters...

Read on Wikipedia · Image James Torrance 1859-1916, illustrator, Public domain