Ellen Lloyd - AncientPages.com - The Iroquois have an interesting legend about a horrifying flying that terrorized people for no apparent reason. This was no ordinary head of a normal person. The head was huge, about four times larger than the size of a man. This bodyless creature had great wings protruding from its cheeks.
Lurking in the forest the monster was coated in thick black hair and its mouth was filled with fangs. It ate everything that was alive, including humans.
What is interesting and slightly unusual about this Native American monster is that it seems to have vanished into thin air. The flying head was seen by many but then it simply disappeared, and no one knows what happened to it.
In Native American mythology, there are many accounts of dangerous flying animals. The legendary thunderbird was admired and feared by the Indians. There are different legends about the thunderbird, but most tribes say that the powerful and magnificent Thunderbird was sent by the Gods to protect humans from evil. When this huge, eagle-like bird soared the skies, one could hear its mighty wings beat with the sound of rolling thunder. Its eyes were burning like fire and caused lighting.
In myths of Penobscot people of Maine, the thunderbird is known as Pamola. In ancient beliefs of these people, Pamola (means: "he curses on the mountain") is said to be the god of Thunder and guardian of Mt Katahdin (“The Greatest Mountain”), the highest mountain in the U.S. state of Maine at 5,267 feet (1,605 m).
We should also not forget about the mysterious Piasa bird, a dragonlike creature that according to natives, existed thousands of moons before the pale face came.
The story of the flying head of the Iroquois is different because there were very few sightings of this dangerous creature.
Legends tell one day a man spotted the flying head soaring through treetops. It seemed to be nothing more than a shadow but it was glowing brightly. He hurried back to the village and told everyone to leave as fast as they could. Everyone left, except for a woman who stayed there with her baby.
“The woman sat beside the hearth and built the fire up into a great blaze, then heated some stones to a red-hot glow. Suddenly the Flying Head appeared, its horrible mouth slavering as it looked into the longhouse from the far end. Not giving any sign that she noticed it, the young woman began to pretend she was eating a meal. She picked up the red-hot rocks with a forked stick and pretended to put them in her mouth. With each “bite,” she said how good it tasted, what a wonderful meal it was.
Flying Head defeated by woman roasting acorns. Copy of a traditional Iroquois painting. - Alexander, Hartley Burr. The Mythology of All Races, Vol. Ten: North American. Boston: Marshall Jones, 1916. Credit: Public Domain
The monster watched, growing hungrier and hungrier, his horrid mouth drooling until he could wait no longer. He stuck his head far into the longhouse and swallowed the entire heap of burning rocks. A horrible scream pierced the night, and another, and the monster frantically beat its wings and flew off into the dark, screaming in agony and rage. He screamed so loud that the trees he flew past all trembled.
People scattered here and there in the forest fell to the ground, covering their ears. The monster kept screaming as he flew farther and farther away from the longhouse, until his screams could be heard no longer, and the people rose up from the ground and went home, finally safe.” 1
The origin of the flying head remains a mystery. Some think the head belongs to a murder victim. According to other Native American beliefs, a human is transformed into a flying head after committing an act of cannibalism.
According to both Iroquois and Wyandot mythology, flying heads are ravenous spirits, that are cursed with an insatiable hunger. Sometimes flying heads are also associated with whirlwinds.
As previously mentioned the flying head that terrorized the Iroquois came and vanished without a trace. What happened to it is unknown. Some think it died, thought it unlikely if it was a spirit. Another option is that is it still, as some of the Iroquois think went to the sea. Perhaps it is now hunting creatures that reside underwater.
Written by Ellen Lloyd – AncientPages.com
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