List of avian humanoids

Huitzilopochtli, Aztec god of Tenochtitlan.

Avian humanoids (people with the characteristics of birds) are a common motif in folklore and popular fiction.

Myth

A winged human-headed Apkallu holding a bucket and a pine cone. From Nimrud, Iraq. 883-859 BCE. Ancient Orient Museum, Istanbul

Angels in all Abrahamic religions, though mainly in artistic depictions.
Alkonost, Gamayun, and Sirin from Russian mythology
The winged gods Anzu/Zu, Siris, and Lammasu/Shedu from Mesopotamian mythology
The Ekek in Philippine mythology is depicted as a humanoid with bird wings and a beak
The Faravahar of Zoroastrianism
The Garuda, eagle-man mount of Vishnu in Hindu mythology, was pluralized into a class of bird-like beings in Buddhist mythology.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Horus with the head of a falcon

The gods Horus and Thoth from Ancient Egyptian mythology were often depicted as humans with the heads of a falcon^[4] and an ibis,^[5] respectively.
Huitzilopochtli, the "left-handed hummingbird"; god of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan
The Kinnara and Kinnari in South-east Asia, are two of the most beloved mythological characters, who are benevolent half-human, half-bird creatures.
Karura in Japanese folklore
Lei Gong, a Chinese thunder god, often depicted as a bird man^[6]
The second people of the world in Southern Sierra Miwok mythology^[7]
Hermes and its counterpart Mercury in Greek and Roman mythology are usually depicted with sandals and a helm with wings on it, and sometimes also with bird-like wings
Icarus legend from Greek mythology
Wayland the Smith legend from Germanic mythology
Nike, Boreas, Eros and the Gorgon sisters from Greek mythology are all depicted with birdlike wings. Also the Sirens and Harpies were often represented as half-human half-bird.^[8]
Tangata manu of Easter Island,^[9] often depicted as a frigate bird/human hybrid
Valkyries, possibly connected with Freyja of Norse mythology

Folklore

The Swan maidens in the folktales of cultures such as Sweden, Germany, Romania, Serbia, Japan, and Pakistan^[10]
The Tengu of Japanese folklore, monstrous forest and mountain dwelling humanoids often possessing the wings, claws, and sometimes the beak of a bird.^[11]
Nightingale the Robber in Slavic folklore, who is killed by the hero Ilya Muromets^[12]

Fiction

The winged people of Normnbdsgrsutt in Robert Paltock's utopian fantasy Peter Wilkins (1750), including Youwarkee, whom Peter marries.^[13]
The Flock from James Patterson's Maximum Ride novel series.
The bird people of Brontitall, led by The Wise Old Bird, in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy are depicted by Douglas Adams as evolving from humans who are so sick of buying shoes that they become bird-like creatures and never set foot on the ground again (see Shoe Event Horizon).
The race of garuda in fantasy author China Miéville's world Bas-Lag as featured in Perdido Street Station.^[14]
In J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, a race of magical creatures called Veela appear as extraordinarily beautiful women, but turn into frightening bird-like creatures when angered.

References

↑ Robert E. Buswell Jr.; Donald S. Lopez Jr. (2013). The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton University Press. pp. 314–315. ISBN 978-1-4008-4805-8.
↑ Roshen Dalal (2010). Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide. Penguin Books. p. 145. ISBN 978-0-14-341421-6.
↑ Helmuth von Glasenapp (1999). Jainism: An Indian Religion of Salvation. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 532. ISBN 978-81-208-1376-2.
↑ Wilkinson, Richard H. (2003). The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson. p. 202.
↑ Budge, E. A. Wallis. The Gods of the Egyptians Volume 1 of 2. New York: Dover Publications, 1969 (original in 1904). Vol. 1 p. 401
↑ "China: 'Master Thunder (Lei Gong)', a Ming Dynasty hanging silk scroll from 1542, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York". AKG Images. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
↑ S. A. Barrett (1919-03-27). "Myths of the Southern Sierra Miwok". University of California Publications in American Archeology and Ethnology. 16 (1): 1&ndash, 28.
↑ Bestia Mortale (1999). "Death Is In the Air: Egyptian Sirens Came to Ancient Greece to Ease Souls' Path to Persephone". Widdershins. 5 (5).
↑ Routledge, Scoresby, Mrs; Routledge, Katherine (1917). "The Bird Cult of Easter Island". Folklore. 28 (4): 337–355. JSTOR 1255484. An "iviatua," a divinely-gifted individual, dreamed that a certain man was favoured by the gods, so that if he entered for the race he would be a winner, or, in technical parlance, become a bird-man or " tangata manu"; it was also ordained that he should then take a new name, which formed part of the revelation, and this bird-name was given to the year in which victory was achieved, thus forming an easily remembered system of chronology.
↑ Ashliman, D. L. (2008). "Swan Maidens | Folktales of Type 400". Retrieved 5 October 2018. The myth of the Swan Maiden is one of the most widely distributed and at the same time one of the most beautiful stories ever evolved from the mind of man. -- Edwin Sidney Hartland
↑ de Visser, M. W. (1908). "The Tengu". Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan. 36 (2): 25–99.
↑ Bailey, James; Ivanova, Tatyana (1998). An Anthology of Russian Folk Epics. M.E. Sharpe. p. 27. ISBN 978-0873326414.
↑ Paltock, R.; Bullen, A.H. (1884). The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins. The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins. Reeves & Turner. p. xvi and passim. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
↑ "Perdido Street Station By China Miéville". Penguin Random House. Retrieved 5 October 2018.

External links

Cathy S. Mosley. ""The Princess of the Bird People" a retelling of "Manora, the Bird Woman," from Thailand". H-NILAS: Stories for the Seasons. Retrieved October 31, 2005. — This cites Toth, Marian Davis (1971). Tales From Thailand. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle. .
Zerah'el Dancing Grouse. "The Story of the Bird People". Free Cherokee. Retrieved October 31, 2005. — a story from a story teller of the Bird Clan of East Central Alabama that parallels the evolution of birds from dinosaurs

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[Lopez314-1] Robert E. Buswell Jr.; Donald S. Lopez Jr. (2013). The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton University Press. pp. 314–315. ISBN 978-1-4008-4805-8.

[Dalal2010p145-2] Roshen Dalal (2010). Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide. Penguin Books. p. 145. ISBN 978-0-14-341421-6.

[Glasenapp1999p532-3] Helmuth von Glasenapp (1999). Jainism: An Indian Religion of Salvation. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 532. ISBN 978-81-208-1376-2.

[4] Wilkinson, Richard H. (2003). The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson. p. 202.

[Budge_401-5] Budge, E. A. Wallis. The Gods of the Egyptians Volume 1 of 2. New York: Dover Publications, 1969 (original in 1904). Vol. 1 p. 401

[6] "China: 'Master Thunder (Lei Gong)', a Ming Dynasty hanging silk scroll from 1542, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York". AKG Images. Retrieved 5 October 2018.

[7] S. A. Barrett (1919-03-27). "Myths of the Southern Sierra Miwok". University of California Publications in American Archeology and Ethnology. 16 (1): 1&ndash, 28.

[8] Bestia Mortale (1999). "Death Is In the Air: Egyptian Sirens Came to Ancient Greece to Ease Souls' Path to Persephone". Widdershins. 5 (5).

[9] Routledge, Scoresby, Mrs; Routledge, Katherine (1917). "The Bird Cult of Easter Island". Folklore. 28 (4): 337–355. JSTOR 1255484. An "iviatua," a divinely-gifted individual, dreamed that a certain man was favoured by the gods, so that if he entered for the race he would be a winner, or, in technical parlance, become a bird-man or " tangata manu"; it was also ordained that he should then take a new name, which formed part of the revelation, and this bird-name was given to the year in which victory was achieved, thus forming an easily remembered system of chronology.

[10] Ashliman, D. L. (2008). "Swan Maidens | Folktales of Type 400". Retrieved 5 October 2018. The myth of the Swan Maiden is one of the most widely distributed and at the same time one of the most beautiful stories ever evolved from the mind of man. -- Edwin Sidney Hartland

[11] Visser, M. W. (1908). "The Tengu". Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan. 36 (2): 25–99.

[12] Bailey, James; Ivanova, Tatyana (1998). An Anthology of Russian Folk Epics. M.E. Sharpe. p. 27. ISBN 978-0873326414.

[Paltock_Bullen_1884-13] Paltock, R.; Bullen, A.H. (1884). The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins. The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins. Reeves & Turner. p. xvi and passim. Retrieved 5 October 2018.

[14] "Perdido Street Station By China Miéville". Penguin Random House. Retrieved 5 October 2018.