According to the tradition of the ''

Physiologus The ''Physiologus'' () is a didactic Christian text written or compiled in Greek by an unknown author in Alexandria. Its composition has been traditionally dated to the 2nd century AD by readers who saw parallels with writings of Clement of Alexa ...

'' and medieval bestiaries, the aspidochelone is a fabled sea creature, variously described as a large

whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully Aquatic animal, aquatic placental mammal, placental marine mammals. As an informal and Colloquialism, colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea ...

or vast

sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerh ...

, and a giant

sea monster Sea monsters are beings from folklore believed to dwell in the sea and are often imagined to be of immense size. Marine monsters can take many forms, including sea dragons, sea serpents, or tentacled beasts. They can be slimy and scaly and are of ...

with huge spines on the ridge of its back. No matter what form it is, it is always described as being so huge that it is often mistaken for a rocky

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

covered with sand dunes and vegetation. The name ''aspidochelone'' appears to be a

compound word In linguistics, a compound is a lexeme (less precisely, a word or Sign language, sign) that consists of more than one Word stem, stem. Compounding, composition or nominal composition is the process of word formation that creates compound lexemes. C ...

combining

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

'' aspis'' (which means either " asp" or "

shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry like spears or long ranged projectiles suc ...

"), and ''chelone'', the

turtle Turtles are reptiles of the order (biology), order Testudines, characterized by a special turtle shell, shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Crypt ...

. It rises to the surface from the depths of the sea, and entices unwitting sailors with its island appearance to make landfall on its huge shell and then the whale is able to pull them under the ocean, ship and all the people, drowning them. It also emits a sweet smell that lures fish into its trap where it then devours them. In the moralistic

allegory As a List of narrative techniques, literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a wikt:narrative, narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political signi ...

of the ''Physiologus'' and bestiary tradition, the aspidochelone represents

Satan Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...

, who deceives those whom he seeks to devour.

Origins

The oldest version of the Aspidochelone legend is found in the ''

'' (2nd century AD) : :There is a monster in the sea which in Greek is called ''aspidochelone'', in Latin "asp-turtle"; it is a great whale, that has what appear to be beaches on its hide, like those from the sea-shore. This creature raises its back above the waves of the sea, so that sailors believe that it is just an island, so that when they see it, it appears to them to be a sandy beach such as is common along the sea-shore. Believing it to be an island, they beach their ship alongside it, and disembarking, they plant stakes and tie up the ships. Then, in order to cook a meal after this work, they make fires on the sand as if on land. But when the monster feels the heat of these fires, it immediately submerges into the water, and pulls the ship into the depths of the sea. The '' Alexander Romance'' includes the story of a "monster" confused as an island in the Alexander's letter to Aristotle: "After they landed on the so-called island and an hour passed, suddenly it proved to be no island, but a monster which plunged into the sea. We shouted and it disappeared, but some of my companions met a wretched death, among them my best friend." Another sea monster, which attacks Alexander and his companions, is identified as "a lobster" in the Armenian version of the Alexander Romance, or "beasts that are called crabs" by Leo Archpriest.

Qorha

In the

Babylonian Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewi ...

(Baba Batra 73a), Rabbah bar bar Hana states: "Once we were traveling on a ship and we saw a certain fish upon which sand had settled, and grass grew on it. We assumed that it was dry land and went up and baked and cooked on the back of the fish, but when its back grew hot it turned over. And were it not for the fact that the ship was close by, we would have drowned." This monster is called ''Qorha'' in a poem by Jewish scholar

Samuel ibn Naghrillah Shmuel ibn Naghrillah (; ), mainly known as Shmuel HaNagid () and Isma'il ibn Naghrilla (993–1056), was a Jewish statesman, military commander, scholar, linguist and poet in medieval al-Andalus. He served as grand vizier of the Taifa of Granada ...

Biblical whales

Sea monsters so great as islands appear in biblical commentaries.

Basil of Caesarea Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great (330 – 1 or 2 January 379) was an early Roman Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia from 370 until his death in 379. He was an influential theologian who suppor ...

in his '' Hexameron'' says the following about the "great whales" (Hebrew ''

tannin Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and Precipitation (chemistry), precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' is widel ...

'') mentioned in the fifth day of creation (Genesis 1:21): :Scripture gives them the name of great not because they are greater than a shrimp and a sprat, but because the size of their bodies equals that of great hills. Thus when they swim on the surface of the waters one often sees them appear like islands. But these monstrous creatures do not frequent our coasts and shores; they inhabit the Atlantic ocean. Such are these animals created to strike us with terror and awe. If now you hear say that the greatest vessels, sailing with full sails, are easily stopped by a very small fish, by the

remora The remora (), sometimes called suckerfish or sharksucker, is any of a family (Echeneidae) of ray-finned fish in the order Carangiformes. Depending on species, they grow to long. Their distinctive first dorsal fins take the form of a modified ...

, and so forcibly that the ship remains motionless for a long time, as if it had taken root in the middle of the sea, do you not see in this little creature a like proof of the power of the Creator? The Pseudo-Eustatius '' Commentary on the Hexameron'' connects this passage with Aspidochelone mentioned in the Physiologus. A related story is the

Jonah Jonah the son of Amittai or Jonas ( , ) is a Jewish prophet from Gath-hepher in the Northern Kingdom of Israel around the 8th century BCE according to the Hebrew Bible. He is the central figure of the Book of Jonah, one of the minor proph ...

's Whale legend.

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

's ''

Natural History Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

'' tells the story of a giant fish, which he names ''pristis'', of immense size. The

Lucian Lucian of Samosata (Λουκιανὸς ὁ Σαμοσατεύς, 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syrian satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer who is best known for his characteristic tongue-in-cheek style, with which he frequently ridi ...

's '' True History'' contains elements of both Jonah's Whale and Aspidochelone legends. The allegory of the Aspidochelone borrows from the account of whales in Saint

Isidore of Seville Isidore of Seville (; 4 April 636) was a Spania, Hispano-Roman scholar, theologian and Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seville, archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of the 19th-century historian Charles Forbes René de Montal ...

's ''

Etymologiae (Latin for 'Etymologies'), also known as the ('Origins'), usually abbreviated ''Orig.'', is an etymological encyclopedia compiled by the influential Christian bishop Isidore of Seville () towards the end of his life. Isidore was encouraged t ...

''. Isidore cites the prophet

; the

Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...

translation of the

Book of Jonah The Book of Jonah is one of the twelve minor prophets of the Nevi'im ("Prophets") in the Hebrew Bible, and an individual book in the Christian Old Testament where it has four chapters. The book tells of a Hebrew prophet named Jonah, son of Amitt ...

translates Jonah 2:2 as ''Exaudivit me de ventre inferni'': "He ( the Lord) heard me from the belly of Hell". He concludes that such whales must have bodies as large as mountains.

Saratan

The Arabic polymath

Al-Jahiz Abu Uthman Amr ibn Bahr al-Kinani al-Basri (; ), commonly known as al-Jahiz (), was an Arab polymath and author of works of literature (including theory and criticism), theology, zoology, philosophy, grammar, dialectics, rhetoric, philology, lin ...

, writer of ''

Kitāb al-Hayawān The ''Kitāb al-Ḥayawān'' (, ) is an Arabic translation of treatises (Arabic: , maqālāt) of Aristotle's: *'' Historia Animalium'': treatises 1–10 *'' De Partibus Animalium'': treatises 11–14 *'' De Generatione Animalium'': treatises 15� ...

'' (''The Book of Animals''), mentions three monsters that are supposed to live in the sea: the '' tanin'' (sea-dragon), the ''saratan'' (سرطان, or ''saraṭān'', "crab") and the ''bala'' (whale). About the saratan, he said the following: :As to the ''sarathan'', I have never yet met anybody who could assure me he had seen it with his own eyes. Of course, if we were to believe all that sailors tell ..for they claim that on occasions they have landed on certain islands having woods and valleys and fissures and have lit a great fire; and when the monster felt the fire on its back, it began to glide away with them and all the plants growing on it, so that only such as managed to flee were saved. This tale outdoes the most fabulous and preposterous of stories. This monster is also mentioned in '' The Wonders of Creation'', written by al-Qazwini, and in the first voyage of

Sinbad the Sailor Sinbad the Sailor (; or Sindbad) is a fictional mariner and the hero of a Literary cycle, story-cycle. He is described as hailing from Baghdad during the early Abbasid Caliphate (8th and 9th centuries A.D.). In the course of seven voyages thr ...

in ''

One Thousand and One Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' (, ), is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights'', from the first English-language edition ( ...

''. The saratan also appears in

Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo ( ; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator regarded as a key figure in Spanish literature, Spanish-language and international literatur ...

's work ''El Libro de Los Seres Imaginarios'' ('' The Book of Imaginary Beings''), where its name is spelled "zaratan," a spelling which readers of Borges have adopted in reference to this creature. Borges describes saratans as having long-life spans and incredible size, to the point where their shells can be mistaken easily enough as small islands. Borges cites Al-Jahiz and the ''

'' for this information, and notes Al-Jahiz's skepticism, which he contrasts with al-Qazwini's account. Borges also may be responsible for the now-common representation of the saratan as a giant turtle, rather than a crab. Under the name of zaratan, saratans also appear in some editions of the tabletop roleplaying game ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

''.

Jasconius

A similar monster appears in the ''Legend of Saint Brendan'', where it was called Jasconius. Because of its size, Brendan and his fellow voyagers mistake it for an island and land to make camp. They celebrate

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

on the sleeping giant's back, but awaken it when they light their campfire. They race to their ship, and Brendan explains that the moving island is really Jasconius, who labors unsuccessfully to put its tail in its mouth.

Fastitocalon

A similar tale is told by the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

poem "The Whale", where the monster appears under the name fastitocalon. The poem has an unknown author, and is one of three poems in the Old English Physiologus, also known as the Bestiary, in the

Exeter Book The Exeter Book, also known as the Codex Exoniensis or Exeter Cathedral Library MS 3501, is a large codex of Old English poetry, believed to have been produced in the late tenth century AD. It is one of the four major manuscripts of Old Englis ...

, folio 96b-97b, that are allegorical in nature, the other two being "The Panther" and "The Partridge". The Exeter book is now in the Exeter Cathedral library. The book has suffered from multiple mutilations and it is possible that some of the manuscript is missing. It is believed that the book had been used as a “beer mat”, a cutting board, and suffered other types of mutilation by its previous owners. The Physiologus has gone through many different translations into many different languages throughout the world. It is possible that the content has also been changed throughout the centuries. : : ::"This time I will with poetic art rehearse, by means of words and wit, a poem about a kind of fish, the great sea-monster which is often unwillingly met, terrible and cruel-hearted to seafarers, yea, to every man; this swimmer of the ocean-streams is known as the asp-turtle. ::His appearance is like that of a rough boulder, as if there were tossing by the shore a great ocean-reedbank begirt with sand-dunes, so that seamen imagine they are gazing upon an island, and moor their high-prowed ships with cables to that false land, make fast the ocean-coursers at the sea's end, and, bold of heart, climb up." The moral of the story remains the same: : ::"Such is the way of demons, the wont of devils: they spend their lives in outwitting men by their secret power, inciting them to the corruption of good deeds, misguiding." In '' The Adventures of Tom Bombadil'',

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

made a little verse that claimed the name "Fastitocalon" from ''The Whale'', and told a similar story: :Look, there is Fastitocalon!
An island good to land upon,
Although 'tis rather bare.
Come, leave the sea! And let us run,
Or dance, or lie down in the sun!
See, gulls are sitting there!
Beware! As such, Tolkien imported the traditional tale of the ''aspidochelone'' into the lore of his

Middle-earth Middle-earth is the Setting (narrative), setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the ''Midgard, Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf'' ...

Other appearances

In the

Icelandic Sagas The sagas of Icelanders (, ), also known as family sagas, are a subgenre, or text group, of Icelandic sagas. They are prose narratives primarily based on historical events that mostly took place in Iceland in the ninth, tenth, and early elev ...

, the aspidochelone is known by the names Hafgufa and Lyngbakr. In the folklore of the

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

, there was a similar monster called an Imap Umassoursa. It was a giant sea monster that often was mistaken for a vast and flat island. When the monster emerged from the water, it would tip sailors into freezing waters, causing their deaths. Whenever the waters seemed shallow, the sailors would tread carefully for fear of being over that dreadful creature. In the folklore of the Yamana people of the southernmost tip of

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, some local waters are occupied by lakúma, large water spirits which can lay flat on the surface of the water and whose bodies can be walked across. When they submerge themselves, they can sink anyone walking atop them. The usilosimapundu of Zulu folklore also bears some similarities to the aspidochelone. It is a creature so large that not only do plants and trees grow on its back, but one side of it experiences a different season than the other side. However, unlike the aspidochelone, the usilosimapundu is a land-dweller.

Recent natural science research

According to John McCarthy et al. (2023) the myth of Aspidochelone could be explained by cetacean trap feeding, a behaviour, for example, viewed in rorqual whales (Balaenopteridae). This research was also mentioned on March 28, 2024 in the German TV-quiz-show “Wer weiss denn sowas“ (minute 26:00 ff.).

In modern fiction

* Accounts of seafarers' encounters with gigantic fish appear in various other works including ''

The Adventures of Pinocchio ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' ( ; , i.e. "The Adventures of Pinocchio. Story of a Puppet"), commonly shortened to ''Pinocchio'', is an 1883 Children's literature, children's fantasy novel by Italian author Carlo Collodi. It is about the mischi ...

''. ** In the 2022 stop-motion adaptation by

Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born 9 October 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and artist. His work has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales, Gothic fiction, gothicism and horror fiction, horror often blending the genres ...

, the Terrible Dogfish directly references the Aspidochelone by having the part of its body that sticks out of the water being mistaken for an island while it sleeps. * Both '' The Adventures of Baron Munchausen'' and '' Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas'' have the heroes coming across an island that reveals to be a huge sea monster resembling an

anglerfish The anglerfish are ray-finned fish in the order Lophiiformes (). Both the order's common name, common and scientific name comes from the characteristic mode of predation, in which a modified dorsal Fish fin#Ray-fins, fin ray acts as a Aggressiv ...

. * In Tolkien's poem ''Fastitocalon'', the title is the name of an immense turtle (in the initial version a whale) which awaits victims to settle upon its shell, before plunging to the depths. * In ''

The NeverEnding Story ''The Neverending Story'' () is a fantasy novel by German writer Michael Ende, published in 1979. The first English translation, by Ralph Manheim, was published in 1983. It was later adapted into a film series and a television series. Plot T ...

'', the giant turtle Morla is an Island Turtle that lives in the Swamp of Sadness. * In

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

's '' The Dark Tower'', Jasconius is the name of the Fish guardian, one of the twelve who guard the beams that support the Tower. * The name Jasconius is used for the whale in the children's book ''The Adventures of Louey and Frank'' by Carolyn White. She attributes the name to having grown up with the legend of Brendan. * The popular '' Magic: The Gathering'' card game also features a card named Island Fish Jasconius, the art of which is a massive fish bearing tropical foliage on its back. * The ''

Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise consisting of List of Pokémon video games, video games, Pokémon (TV series), animated series and List of Pokémon films, films, Pokémon Trading Card Game, a trading card game, and other related media. The fran ...

'', Torterra, is based on the island turtle. * The film ''

Aladdin and the King of Thieves ''Aladdin and the King of Thieves'' (also known as ''Aladdin 3: The King of Thieves'') is a 1996 American direct-to-video animated musical fantasy adventure film produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. It is the second sequel to Disney's 19 ...

'' featured the Vanishing Isle that is a giant marble fortress on the back of a giant sea turtle that periodically rises from the ocean and goes back underwater. This is where the Hand of Midas was located. * In the video game '' The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask'', the player Link rides to the Great Bay Temple on the back of a giant sea turtle that resembles a small island. * In the (

MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

) ''

Final Fantasy XI also known as ''Final Fantasy XI Online'', is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), originally developed and published by Square (video game company), Square and then published by Square Enix as the eleventh main installme ...

'', Aspidochelone is a rare spawn of the monster Adamantoise both of which are giant turtles. * The ''

Digimon , short for "Digital Monsters" ( ''Dejitaru Monsutā''), is a Japanese media franchise, which encompasses virtual pet toys, anime, manga, video games, films, and a trading card game. The franchise focuses on the eponymous creatures who inhabit a ...

'' franchise had their own versions of the Aspidochelone in the form of Ebonwumon (a two-headed turtle Digimon Sovereign with a tree on its back), ElDradimon (who has a city on its back), and KingWhamon (who bares the Island Zone on the top of its head). * In ''

Yu-Gi-Oh! is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuki Takahashi. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' between September 1996 and March 2004, with its chapters collected in 38 volumes. The ...

'', the Island Turtle is a water creature. * The asp-turtle make an appearance in ''

Naruto ''Naruto'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. T ...

'', where Naruto Uzumaki goes to train before a big battle. This version of the asp-turtle is a little different. It does not lure the travelers to their death. It works with them so they are not discovered. It also floats in the sea and is constantly moving. However, it is a giant turtle with the appearance of an island. Killer B has a house on the Island Turtle and there are

ape Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a superfamily of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and Europe in prehistory, and counting humans are found global ...

s living there. * The series '' Avatar: The Last Airbender'' and its sequel series ''

The Legend of Korra ''The Legend of Korra'' (abbreviated as ''TLOK'' and also known as ''Avatar: The Legend of Korra'' or more rarely simply as ''Korra'') is an American animated Fantasy television, fantasy action drama television series created by Michael Dante ...

'' featured similar creatures called Lion-Turtles which were lion/turtle hybrids so large they carried entire ecosystems and even cities on their shells. * In the ''

One Piece ''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his crew, the Straw Hat Pirates, as he explores the Grand Line in search of the myt ...

'' film '' The Giant Mechanical Soldier of Karakuri Castle'', Mecha Island is a type of Island Turtle that awakens every thousand years to lay its eggs. * The multiplayer online role-playing game (

) ''

World of Warcraft ''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a 2004 massively multiplayer online role-playing (MMORPG) video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment for Windows and Mac OS X. Set in the '' Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of War ...

s fourth expansion pack '' Mists of Pandaria'' introduced a new zone The Wandering Isle, set on the back of a roaming giant turtle named Shen-zin Su, where pandaren player characters begin their adventure. The turtle's origins lie with the pandaren explorer Lui Lang, who was overcome with

wanderlust Wanderlust is a strong desire to wander or travel and explore the world. The term has its roots in German Romanticism. Etymology The first documented use of the term in English occurred in 1902 as a reflection of what was then seen as a chara ...

, a rare trait in the pandaren of that time. Because of this he departed the pandaren continent of Pandaria around 10,000 years ago, riding on the back of the then man-sized turtle, Shen-zin Su. Lui Lang later returned to his homeland a few times, and each time the turtle had become progressively bigger. By the time players encounter Shen-zin Su, the turtle has grown to the size of a small continent, complete with fertile farmlands, mountains, lakes and a thriving population of pandaren, animals and plant life. In addition to serving as a home and method of transportation for his inhabitants, Shen-zin Su is a fully sapient being and quite aware of the Wandering Isle pandaren that have been living on his back for generations. * The official lyric video for ''From Finner'' by ''

Of Monsters and Men Of Monsters and Men is an Icelandic indie folk/Folk rock, rock band formed in Garðabær in 2010. It consists of lead singer and guitarist Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, singer and guitarist Ragnar Þórhallsson, Ragnar "Raggi" Þórhallsson, ...

'' depicts a large whale-like creature swimming with a city on its back, with the lyrics hinting that the titular "Finner" could be the creature itself. * In '' Dragalia Lost'', it is the raid boss of the "Scars of the Syndicate" event. * In '' God of War Ragnarök'', '' Lyngbakr'' from ''

Sagas of Icelanders The sagas of Icelanders (, ), also known as family sagas, are a subgenre, or text group, of Icelandic Saga, sagas. They are prose narratives primarily based on historical events that mostly took place in Iceland in the ninth, tenth, and earl ...

'' makes an appearance. '' Kratos (God of War)'' first mistakes it for an island and upon discovering that it's a living whale in captivity, he helps free it from its shackles.

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

* The Old English poem "The Whale" is edited, annotated and linked to digital images of its manuscript pages, and translated, in the ''Old English Poetry in Facsimile Project'': https://oepoetryfacsimile.org/
"The Devil in the Deep Blue Sea"
by Hannah Stewart, Getty Museum. In the medieval bestiary, whales are a surprising symbol for the temptations of the devil.

Greek legendary creatures Medieval European legendary creatures Legendary fish Legendary turtles Fictional whales Sea monsters Maritime folklore Arabian mythology Arabian legendary creatures