Water monsters

[Koontz John E]

On Sun, 20 Jan 2002, Linda A Cumberland wrote:
> ... the "monster" bore no resemblance to an alligator - it was huge,
> snake-like, and had antlers!  ... Does anyone know of a tradition
> involving such an antlered monster?

Well, I think Chinese dragons are snake-like and have antlers.

I should probably clarify that I believe the explanation of watermonsters
in terms of alligators is not claimed to be direct in every case.  I
simply ran across the suggestion somewhere once.  I didn't get the
impression that alligators were supposed to have coincided at any point
with the later distribution of watermonster stores.  Lions and the like
figure prominently in Old World stories far outside their natural range,
even though those ranges were once greater than they are now. I think they
idea is that such stories are popular even in the absence of the original
creatures, and, of course, stories grow or at least vary with the telling
and the distance from the original inspiration.

Watermonsters evidently vary a great deal with the particular tradition.
If they have any similarities other than dwelling in water and being
associated with similar stories, I'm not aware of it.  I don't know of any
general studies of watermonsters and similar creatures of legend in North
America.

I think in the Omaha conception watermonsters are associated with
whirlpools or eddies in the Missouri.  In the Haxige stories they don't
seem to be particularly described, but I think it's Orphan who kills one
with seven heads.  This sounds a bit like it may have been influenced by
the Greek myth of Hercules and the Hydra.