Hi there, Iām Mike Rugnetta, this is Crashcourse
Mythology and today is the first of a few episodes focused on one of the greatest aspects
of myths-in-general: Mythical cvreatures. More specifically: monsters. And today: one, terrible, international monster
in particular. But donāt worry Thoth, Iāll protect you. Uuhhā¦ as long as you also promise to protect
me. HEY! WHERE YOU GOING? NO WE DEFINITELY SHOULD NOT āSPLIT UP TO
COVER MORE GROUNDā INTRO
What do we mean by the word āmonsterā? Well, quite a lot! In English we use āmonsterā to describe
something or someone outside the bounds of acceptable form or behavior. Monster comes from the Latin word that means
āto show,ā and we see its root in words like demonstrate. But, monsters donāt just act monstrously,
their monstrosity is usually pretty visible without much action. Almost any mythical creature could technically
qualify as a monster, but from our studies you probably get a sense itās trickier than
that. Unicorns, for instance, are way outside normal
appearance and behavior... but no one calls them monsters. The sphinx provides another way to think through
this. There are actually a number of sphinxes ā but
most applicable here are the Egyptian Androsphinxes, with a male head... like the Great Sphinx
at Giza, and the Greek Sphinx, with a female head. The Egyptian Sphinx was mighty, and powerful
- but mostly considered benevolent, guarding entrances to temples and pyramids. While the Greek Sphinx was considered FEROCIOUS
ā¦ and would mercilessly eat those who were not able to answer her riddle. So we might ask - in that duo - which is the
creature? and whichā¦ is the monst er? Beyond some naturalistic boundary, to get
labeled a āmonster,ā a mythical creature usually has to transgress some kind of social
boundary, as well. If you consider it from a psychological perspective,
particular brands of monstrosity often embody particular human fears. Shapeshifters arenāt automatically āmonstrousā
simply because they change formsāthink of Professor McGonagall, or even The Doctorābut
because often that ability can be used to DECEIVEāthink Mystiqueāor lead to UNCONTROLLABLE
URGES, like with werewolves. Vampires are another example: they may be
a human-bat comboā¦ but thatās not REALLY why theyāre monstrous. Vampires are bad because of their thirst for
human blood - which is a pretty serious transgression of social norms. Often some naturalistic transgression is simply
an outward sign of what makes monsters TRULY evil: what anthropology professor David Gilmore
calls, an āunmotivated wickedness towards humans.ā This can take ... different forms. The most common version is: monsters eat people. But sometimes that wickedness is more complicated,
and has more to do with the person who is afraid than the thing doing the scaring. But why do monsters even exist? Well, lots of reasons! Monsters are often sent by gods to punish
humans for some transgression. One of the most common images of a monster
in western art for example, is the sea monster sent by Poseidon to devour Andromeda. Why? Because her mother Cassiopeia had bragged
that she was more beautiful than the Nereids. Humans, just... donāt brag when gods are
around. It never goes well. Luckily, Andromeda was saved by Perseus. And hey, thatās another reason to have some
monsters around: you gotta give heroes something to fight! Our friend Joseph Campbell, among otshers,
has identified the basic pattern of hero vs monster stories. Itās a three-part, repetitive cycle where
the monster mysteriously appears from a dark shadow world to menace some previously-peaceful
locale. After the monster brings death and destruction,
the besieged community calls upon a hero who saves them. The community rejoices, only to have the monster,
or one of the monsterās kin, return and re-start the cycle. A classic example of this is Beowulf. Grendel shows up, Beowulf defeats him, and
just when he thinks heās all done, Grendelās MOM shows up, and Beowulf has to get all heroic
all over again. Today, however, we have a monster even more
terrifying than Grendelās super mad momma. This incredibly frightening monster comes
fromā¦ Canada. Sorry, Thoughtbubble: this oneās for you,
eh. Once upon a time in the late 19th century,
a first nations group is living in a camp on the Berens River. One day, a hunter is driven by hunger and
leaves camp to go trapping. A few days later, people in the camp hear
the trapper screaming and howling in the woods. Everyone knows whatās happening. The trapper has become a Wendigo, a terrifying,
man-eating ogre. But wait. It gets worse. A brave group goes to look for the trapper
and find his family, all dead. And hey, worse still, half eaten. They return and tell their story, and panic
runs through the camp. The people know that soon the Wendigo will
come for them, and they donāt feel like being eaten. So they call a council. At the council an intrepid young warrior named
Rotten Log stands up and volunteers to fight the Wendigo. That night they go to the forest and build
a fire. Sure enough, a huge monster arrives, Thisā¦
is almost certainly the Wendigo. The Wendigo attacks Rotten Log, trying to
slash his throat and eat him, but Rotten Log has a guardian spirit he calls on to save
him. The spirit gives Rotten Log supernatural strength,
and after a long battle, he finally defeats the Wendigo. The hunters bring the creature back to the
camp and the people rejoice. But the Wendigo isnāt dead. Not yet. The only way to kill a Wendigo is to melt
its icy heart. So the peoplethrow him on a raging fire. The flames heat the beast, his heart defrosts,
and the Wendigo finally dies. Thank you Thoughtbubble. Yeah, as far as ogres go, I think I prefer
Shrek. As I mentioned that this story was from Canada,
but there are countless others. According to Gilmore, the Wendigo has the
distinction of being the monster whose mythology has the greatest geographical reach in the
world. Wendigo stories, and the hysteria that accompanies
them, have been reported all across Canada and as far south as...North Dakota. They are common among most of the Algonquian-speaking
native tribes, but especially the Ojibwa and Salteaux Manitoba. The Wendigo is, in many ways, the quintessential
monster. Itās big, it has superhuman strength, and
itās really mean to people. Wendigos are humanoid in appearance, with
two legs, but almost everything else about them is misshapen and grotesque. Their hands are paws with twelve inch long
claws, and their feet, each a yard long, have a single toe with one long, sharp nail. Wendigos have huge yellow eyes, like an owl,
and a giant mouth and no lips, because their cannibalistic hunger causes them to devour
THEIR own flesh. Their breath is so powerful and loud that
it seems like a windstorm, and their howling sends those who hear it into a panic. Think you can hide from a Wendigo? Maybe in the river? Nope. They can walk on water or swim beneath it
like a seal. They can subsist on mushrooms, rotting wood,
moss... basically anything you find on the forest floor. But their favorite food is people, and THATā¦
really, is what makes them MONSTERS. There are both male and female Wendigos and
when a male and female meet, they fight until one of them dies. But ā¦ if male and female Wendigos would
rather fight than breed, then where do new Wendigos come from? A monster stork maybe? As the story makes clear, they come from us,
the ranks of the desperate and hungry. Ordinary humans, often driven by hunger, can
become possessed by the spirit of the Wendigo and turn to cannibalism. These metamorphoses are often brought on by
the starvation that can occur in cold winter months. In many of the stories, this Wendigo possession
is accompanied by incredible physical changes. A person who has āgone Wendigoā will grow
in size and their appearance will become coarse and wild. As the Wendigoās heart freezes, the urge
to eat human flesh grows, eventually becoming irresistible. This idea that anyone can transform into a
Wendigo is found in the most typical Wendigo origin story. That very first, ancient Wendigo was a Native
North American who was transformed into a monster by overpowering hunger. This story is so real to many who hear it
that it has caused actual Wendigo panics in Canada up through the twentieth century. How do we understand the endurance of the
Wendigo legend? Well, I think just about all of us can agree
that cannibalism is a pretty terrifying and taboo thing. The Wendigo represents a fear of cannibalism
and a fear that we might lose control of ourselves and violate, perhaps violently, some set of
social norms, likeā¦ not eating your neighbor. People usually donāt grow three-foot monster
toes, but they do sometimes lose their grip. Which is to say, the āmonster legendā
is alive and well... although maybe more as a metaphor than as a real yellow-eyed creature. All humans have the capacity to become monstrous. Even me... and maybe even... Thoth. Thanks for watching. Weāll see you next weekā¦ unless this guy
sees you first.
It's at 2:29 for those who are wondering.