D&D General Which medieval monsters are different then their dnd equivalent?

[MGibster]

One of the difficulties we encounter is that very often mythological creatures weren't really categorized as we do animals in the modern age. Let's take the kobold, the creature from German folklore, might be what other areas called a goblin or hobgoblin (at least according to Wikipedia). In folklore, you had kobolds that lived in human homes and dressed like peasants, kobolds that haunted underground places like mines, and kobolds that lived in ships who dressed like sailors and smoked pipes. None of them resemble the dog like, or now dragon like, creatures from D&D.

 

[Quickleaf]

Forsooth, manticores be not like unto their visage in the Manual of Monsters!

They have square beards!

 

[Clint_L]

You mean "different to"? [grammar police]

It's a bit difficult to pin down which D&D monsters are medieval, most are based on much older myths.

Well, if we're going to grammar police it, "different than," "different from," and "different to" are all acceptable. "Different to" is seldom used in North America and sounds/reads wrong to me, though I understand it as a British variation (probably also Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, etc.).

So really, the title just has a typo, with "then" instead of "than." However, I think most North American English speakers would use "different from." Or maybe that's a Canadian thing? Do Americans prefer "different than"? It certainly sounds less odd to me than "different to," making me think it has more regional currency.

As far as the subject goes, they're all different! But so are all the various medieval (and earlier/later) versions of these creatures. There's no one medieval definition of a "dragon," for example. By and large, I prefer the D&D versions because I basically slept with my AD&D Monster Manual.

 

[Shades of Eternity]

Forsooth, manticores be not like unto their visage in the Manual of Monsters!

They have square beards!

we need a dapper manticore to become an iconic npc.

 

[Stormonu]

No one has mentioned the gorgon yet?

Kobolds are also nothing like their mythological counterparts. And we're all aware dwarves and elves are nabbed fro Tolkien, not their mythological depictions.

 

[Reynard]

https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2014/06/weird-and-wonderful-creatures-of-the-bestiary.html

10 Weird Medieval Beasts

Encyclopedias that described the natural world gained popularity in the Middle Ages. Their sections on animals, called “bestiaries,” are what we most often remember.

forwardtopast.wordpress.com

20 of the Most Bizarre Creatures From Medieval Folklore

The folklore of medieval Europe was a mixture of legends from various sources, such as ancient regional stories mixed with Judeo-Christian religious...

www.historyhit.com

tl;dr Medieval monsters are weird. Very weird.

 

[Laurefindel]

Quickleaf: "They have square beards!"

Personally, i can't get past its perfect gentleman's mustache!

 

[jmartkdr2]

Forsooth, manticores be not like unto their visage in the Manual of Monsters!

They have square beards!

Square. Beards.

 

[jmartkdr2]

Also the tarrasque was just a turtle dragon, and could have been a really big snapping turtle if those were a thing in France.

Tarasque - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Vaalingrade]

A hobgoblin was a house elf, typically depicted as a shapeshifter who was helpful but easily offended. "Hob" is just a nickname for Robert, so the name means "Bob goblin."

Ack-shu-ally

I'm certain the hobgoblin was Roderick Kingsley, having discovered a cache of Norman Osborne's (the originator of all Goblins except Maddy Pryor, the Goblin Queen) Green Goblin weaponry including a glider, who used it to make a name for himself in New York's underworld.

Or The Rose somehow. I never quite got how that was supposed to go.