Monster Encyclopedia - R

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redcap

A malevolent goblin, redcaps are easily distinguishable for their namesake red hat and fiery red eyes. Their caps are red because they dip them in the blood of their human victims. Redcaps wears iron boots, but are swift on their feet. They reside in castles and watchtowers along the English-Scottish border, however, they move their residence often to avoid detection. Redcaps have sharp eagle's talons with which they kill humans. Short and stock, redcaps have long white beards and look like old men. Like any goblin, all that is needed to repel them is the use of holy words.

roc

All feathered things yet ever knowne to men,
From the huge Rucke, unto the little Wren;
From Forrest, Fields, from Rivers and from Pons,
All that have webs, or cloven-footed ones;
To the Grand Arke, together friendly came,
Whose severall species were too long to name.

-- Michael Drayton

This poem, written in the 1500s indicates an absolute belief in the real existence of the roc (Rucke). In fact, legends and stories form all over the world have contained stories of a fabulous huge bird, capable of carrying groups of children, up to three elephants and even Sinbad himself. Our knowledge of the roc (sometimes spelled Rukh) comes from Arabia and China, through the Arabian Nights and the Travels of Marco Polo. The bird, as it appears in Arabian Nights, is described by Sinbad as, "A bird of enormous size, bulky body and wide wings, flying in the air; and it was this that concealed the body of the sun and veiled it from the sun." In the account of Marko Polo the wingspan of the roc was 16 yards and the feathers 8 yards. The bird is usually described as being white. The egg of the roc is said to be over 50 yards in circumference. When Sinbad first saw the egg of the roc, he mistook it for a large domed building. There are four stories about the roc in the Arabian Nights, two involving Abd al-Rahman, and two involving Sinbad. In one story involving Sinbad, the roc unkowingly carries Sinbad to safety after a shipwreck. In the other, and in one of the Abd al-Rahman stories rocs destroy ships by dropping boulders on them. Both of these occurrences were in retaliation for killing a roc chick.

Marko Polo describes rocs in Madagascar, and in fact envoys from Madagascar present the great Khan of Cathay with a roc feather. In fact Madagascar was the home of a gigantic bird the Aepyornis maximus or elephant bird. This bird may not have become extinct until the sixteenth century. While huge like the roc, this bird was not able to fly.

Another interesting possible interpretation for the powers of the roc is that primitive man may have 'invented' a giant bird that could drop giant boulders as an explanation for meteorite showers.

The story of the roc is found in numerous places, and has parallels in many more for example, Anka of Arabia, the Simurgh of Persia, the Garuda of India, to the Phoenix and even the Thunderbird of Native American legend.

rompo

Being made up of many parts, this creature had the head of a hare, the ears of a man, a long body and tail, with the fore feet of a badger and the hind feet of a bear. They are scavenger beasts from Africa and India.

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