Mysterious Creatures : A Guide to Cryptozoology

Food consists of raw game, including squirrels,
deer, lizards, tortoises, and crocodiles. Said to
disembowel their game (as well as their enemies)
with their long nails.
Distribution: The Yala National Park area in
southeastern Sri Lanka.
Present status: Exterminated at the end of the
eighteenth century by the Veddas, who rounded
up the last of these creatures, moved them into
a cave, and set a fire at the cave’s entrance for
three days, asphyxiating them.
Possible explanations:
(1) A conjectured short-statured race of
people related to the Semang of Malaysia,
the Negritos of the Philippines, or the
Andamanese.
(2) Surviving Homo erectus, which could
have reached the island when it was
attached to India several times prior to 5000
B.C. An isolated population might have
produced a race of smaller stature.
(3) The Hoolock gibbon (Hylobates hoolock)
of northern India is barely 3 feet tall when
it walks upright, and it is primarily a
vegetarian, except for eating birds’ eggs and
spiders.
(4) The Sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) of Sri
Lanka has black fur, rarely stands upright,
and is primarily vegetarian.
Sources: Hugh Nevill, “The Nittaewo of
Ceylon,” The Taprobanian 1, no. 3 (February
1886): 66–68; Frederick Lewis, “Notes on
Animal and Plant Life in the Vedda Country,”
Spolia Zeylanica 10 (1915): 119, 128–130;
Richard L. Spittel, “Leanama, Land of the
Nittaewo,” Loris 1 (1936): 37–46; William C.
Osman Hill, “Nittaewo, an Unsolved Problem
of Ceylon,” Loris 4 (1945): 251–262; Bernard
Heuvelmans, On the Track of Unknown
Animals (New York: Hill and Wang, 1958), pp.
87–107; Richard L. Spittel, “Legend of the
Nittaewo,” Loris 10 (June 1964): 19–22; A. T.
Rambukwella, “The Nittaewo of Mahalenama,”
Loris 10 (December 1966): 367–370.
Nix
MERBEING of Northern Europe.
Etymology: German, “water-man.” Nixe (for
the female); plural, Nixen. Possibly derived from
Hnikarr, an alternative name for the Teutonic
god Odinn in his guise as sea-sprite.
Variant names: Aanycke (Danish), Lorelei
(Old German, “rock lurker”), Merenneito
(Finnish), Merineitsi (Estonian), Näcken
(Swedish), Näk (Swedish), Näkineiu (Estonian
for the female), Näkinneito (Finnish for the female),
Näkki (Finnish), Neck (Dutch), Nek
(Estonian), Nichus (Old High German), Nicker
(medieval Dutch), Nicor (Old English), Nik,
Nikkisen (Manx), Nixie, Nixy, Nök (Danish),
Nökk (Estonian), Nokke (Danish), Nykk,
NYKUR (Icelandic), River man, River woman,
Stromkarl, Wassernix (German).
Physical description: In human form, a male
being of varying age—from a boy to an elder.
Often looks like either an old man with green
eyes, big ears, green teeth, and a full beard, or a
handsome man above water and a horse below.
Sometimes has an enormous mouth. The female
is a young girl, sometimes with a fish’s tail.
When it comes ashore, it can only be recognized
by its wet skirt or apron.
In animal form, the Nix resembles a snake,
bird, bull, ox, calf, pig, cat, fish, or (most commonly)
a horse. Some legend themes describe
the Nökk as a haystack, half a boat, a log, a silver
dish, or a string of pearls.
Behavior: Amphibious. Appears both on the
shore and in the water. The female sits near the
water and combs its hair with a golden comb.
Can change shape and features at will. Usually
naked but sometimes clothed. Often wears a red
cap. Said to drag humans underwater, especially
children. Shouts and sighs. Said to be an excellent
singer and fiddle or harp player. Owns a
herd of cattle that live in the water (see WATER
BULL). Alleged to be the spirit of a drowned
human.
Habitat: Lakes, rivers, streams, waterfalls;
often under bridges or near mills.
Distribution: Norway; Sweden; Denmark;
Iceland; Scotland; Germany; Estonia; Finland.
Possible explanations:
(1) A mythological method for marking
physical and social boundaries in
agricultural societies, according to Jochum
Stattin.
NIX 389