| Bunyip | |
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Real Name |
Bunyip |
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First Appearance |
Aboriginal Mythology |
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Created by |
Aboriginal Mythology |
Origin[]
The bunyip is a creature from the aboriginal mythology of southeastern Australia, said to lurk in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes.
Illustration by H. J. Ford accompanying the tale "The Bunyip" in the Brown Fairy Book
The word bunyip first appeared in the Sydney Gazette in 1812 and is usually translated by Aboriginal Australians today as "devil" or "evil spirit". It was used by James Ives to describe "a large black animal like a seal, with a terrible voice which creates terror among the blacks". The origin of the word bunyip has been traced to the Wemba-Wemba or Wergaia language of the Aboriginal people of Victoria, in South-Eastern Australia.
Bunyips, according to Aboriginal mythology, can swim swiftly with fins or flippers, have a loud, roaring call, and feed on crayfish, though some legends portray them as bloodthirsty predators of humans, particularly women and children. As a result, Aboriginal People purposely avoided unfamiliar bodies of water lest there were bunyips lurking in the depths. Bunyip eggs are allegedly laid in platypus nests.
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- Aborigines of Victoria (1878)
- The Brown Fairy Book (1904)
- The Enchantment of Fairy Princess Wattle Blossom (1916)