Monday, April 2, 2012

Basilisk

 Basilisk , know as King of all Serpents.   The venom of a basilisk can rot fruit and pollute water.  One look into a basilisks eyes and you're dead.  A power shared with Medusa.
The most recent face of the basilisk appears in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.  (The skeleton of the basilisk is shown in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt 2).Other forms of the Basilisk has a human face, a cockerel's head and Dragon wings.

68 comments:

  1. I never heard of it as a mythological creature...fun information!

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  2. Loving your theme so far Konstanz. Dare I hope for Gargoyles in the future?

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    1. Thank you! I had not planned on writing about Gargoyles. They are on the list of maybes so I don't know. . . we'll see. :)

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  3. Interesting creature-- and fun to learn about!!

    Cheers, Jenn
    http://www.wine-n-chat.com

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    1. Thank you, thank you! I had hoped to do something completely unexpected! I guess it was a good idea. :)

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  4. great information, as an artist i especially love the scripted letters you are using at the beginning. :)

    Amanda,
    http://paintundermynails.blogspot.com

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    1. Thank you. I hope to put these into a book for publication and I thought it would be very fun to do it for the book. While putting the posts together I figured 'Why not do it with the posts as well?' And I did!

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  5. Ahh basilisks... I have one in my most recent MS. Good times, what with the stone-making and fruit-rotting... :D

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    1. Thanks for the laughs! I have one in my MS as well. Which is why I began studying them to begin with.

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  6. Loving the info coming out of this blog. As an Expat living in Athens, the info here so far is great! Love Medusa.

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  7. I am loving where you are heading on this theme... I am learning plenty.

    Great start... to the challenge "B" is for Brilliant!
    Jeremy [Retro-Zombie]
    A to Z Co-Host
    IZOMBIE: Visit the Madness

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    1. Thank you. I worked hard coming up with a theme. Guess it was worth it!

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  8. I am liking the theme that you are going with for the A-Z challenge..:) I have been learning from your posts. It is just an added bonus of the challenge.

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    1. Thank you very much! I'm glad I went with this theme then.

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  9. I love the theme you have chosen for this challenge - you have put my efforts in the shade lol!!

    I look forward to reading more of your writing. Can't wait to see what "C" brings :)

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    1. Thank you. I didn't mean to do that. I just wanted to do something completely unexpected! It's part of the reason I kept my theme a secret until April 1st!

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  10. People keep saying my topic for today rhymes with Basilisk, and it almost does! Great topic.

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  11. Stopping by for the challenge. Love the choice of Basilisk for B. :)

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  12. I love the Basilisk scene on the second HP book and the reference to using his tooth to kill the Horcrux in the final book.

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    1. That scene (in the second one) always creeped me out! (Of course I was 9 at the time)

      I love the last two films.

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  13. I was wondering when I'd find a Harry Potter related post. Awesome. Best monster from the books.

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    1. I am trying to reference something each creature I write about to something people will know about. Harry Potter was the easiest reference to find! :)

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  14. Sweet. A creature to be reckoned with.

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  15. Yeah, Harry Potter sure made the basilisk famous. :)

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    1. It did. Didn't create it, and not the first time it has been mentioned it. But for sure but it recognizable.

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  16. For some reason, I've just always loved the sound of the word 'Basilisk'. But, I would truly hate to run into one!

    Love your theme & you have a beautiful-to-look-at blog too! Will be back!

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    1. I like that word too. And I wouldn't mind having one as a pet as long as it could control it's ability to kill me with one look. (And who says looks can't kill?)

      Thank you and thank you! It means a lot!

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  17. And it made for a nasty D&D creature.

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    1. Heard of it, never played it. I'm not a video game person.

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  18. Lol...only place I knew about a Basilisk from is Harry Potter :)

    Blessings to you!

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    1. The Basilisk is much older than Harry Potter.

      Thank you!

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  19. Informative post.

    http://sulekharawat.com/2012/04/02/best-friend/

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  20. Great post! Such a cuddly little fella that basilisk, he'd make a nice pet for a blind person. :)

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    1. LOL indeed. Until it decided to bite the blind person. Than it wouldn't be such a great person. :)

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  21. Great post. I knew about the Basilisk from Harry Potter and Universal Studios in Orlando.

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  22. I need one of these sleeping by the door when my ex comes by... ;)

    *~MAJK~*
    Safireblade.com
    A to Z Challenge

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  23. I knew nothing about Basilisk until today!

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  24. A fascinating choice of words.

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  25. I like your theme for the A to Z challenge. :)

    ~Blog Hopping from A to A Challenge~
    http://monkeyangelasblog.blogspot.com

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  26. Ha! Just a few blogs up the B was batholith. I immediately thought of Basilisk, and here it is! I just signed on to the A-Z challenge, nearly at the last minute, but I'm trying to visit every blog at least once.

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    1. That's too funny! Good luck with visiting all the blogs participating! I am trying to do that as well.

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  27. Love your theme! We have lots of basilisks in Costa Rica. Fortunately I haven't had to look one directly in the eye. ;-)

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    1. Thank you. Yeah, don't look at them directly in the eyes. :)

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  28. That's another one of those monsters from mythology I love. Good post. ANOTHER good post.

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  29. sounds hellish---thanks for the warning

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  30. I like this one!

    Basilisks were featured in the first edition of Warhammer Fantasy Role Play--think Dungeons and Dragons, or D&D for short, as an analog--the tabletop, pen and paper version. Basilisks did not make the bestiary of the second edition (unknown if the third edition got the creature). Of course D&D of old has the Basilisk, describing by third edition (and Pathfinder) at least 5 variants on the common Basilisk.

    WFRP 1e and Pathfinder both describe the "King of Serpents" near alike, if differing only in the words used:

    "The basilisk, often called the “King of Serpents,” is in fact not a serpent at all, but rather an eight-legged reptile with a nasty disposition and the ability to turn creatures to stone with its gaze. Folklore holds that, much like the cockatrice, the first basilisks hatched from eggs laid by snakes and incubated by roosters, but little in the basilisk's physiology lends any credence to this claim."

    Tim
    Another Caffeinated Day--d100 cups of coffee
    www.anothercaffeinatedday.com

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    1. Thank you for sharing! That was a load of information! I do believe that the creature you mention with eight legs and all is actually the Basilic (But I don't know for sure. I will have to look that up again)

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    2. Possibly. There is a 17th century woodcut depicting a basilisk with 8 legs. However, I will concede that RPGs take creative license to unprecedented levels. Most depictions appear to be serpents though.

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    3. I looked it up and indeed I was correct. The serpent has no legs and is called a Basilisk. If it has legs it is called a Basilic.

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  31. It was intersting to read about Basilisk, since we have a lot of Serpent Gods and Godesses in India too!

    Nice post.

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  32. I love that you are blogging about mythical creatures! They are a passion of mine too, including the little known pendragon. I didn't realize there were three kinds of sphinxes - thx! I'm a new follower and a fellow A-Z blogger.

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    1. Thank you! Dragons are my all time favorite!

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  33. Quite interesting! Enjoying learning about these mythical creatures. Happy Tuesday! ☺

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  34. That's cool! I did basilisk yesterday too. :-)

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  35. also, the basilisk killed my imaginary boyfriend in book seven. stupid basilisk. ; )

    love the blog!

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