A river horse is a massive, thick-skinned herbivore that lives in rivers or other bodies of water. These unusual barrel-shaped creatures live in Africa and are called hippos. It is the third largest land animal, after the elephant and rhinoceros. Slightly smaller, but heavier than the white rhinoceros, the weight of this giant can reach 1800 kg.

Why is the hippopotamus called the “river horse”?

The hippopotamus has a short thick neck and small ears. Despite the fact that this amazing animal is translated as “river horse,” numerous genetic studies have shown that the hippopotamus is closer to whales and dolphins than to any artiodactyls. Their vegetarian diet usually includes fallen fruits, leaves, grass, corn, and so on.

Why is the hippopotamus called the “river horse”? In fact, its name consists of two Greek words for “river” and “horse”. They are well adapted for long stays in water. Hippos prefer rivers with deep water and nearby some species live in salty waters near river mouths. On the top of the head there are ears and nostrils, which close automatically as soon as the animal enters the water.

Herbivorous giants

These animals prefer to stay in the water all day, coming onto land only at night in order to get food for themselves. Sometimes the search for food can take them a considerable distance (7-8 km) inland, so they mark their path generously so that later they can easily find their way home before dawn. In one night, these bulky mammals can consume up to 100 kilograms of vegetation.

Adults can consume huge quantities of grass, capturing it with their wide lips rather than with their teeth, like most other herbivores. The so-called river horse has almost smooth, hairless and very sensitive skin, from which the pores exude a red oily liquid that acts as a sunscreen, keeping the skin moisturized and protected when the animal is on land. Because of this interesting feature, it was erroneously assumed that hippos sweat blood.

Hippopotamuses have large tusks (incisors) and fangs, the growth of which does not stop throughout their lives. These tusks are considered more valuable than elephant tusks because they do not turn yellow with age. The river horse has the widest mouth of any living land mammal, and when this herbivorous giant opens its mouth to yawn, the distance between the jaws can be up to 60 cm!

herd animal

Despite its large size and volume, the hippopotamus is a fairly fast mammal that can easily overtake a person. Hippos can be quite grumpy animals, and two males can fight each other for long periods of time, sometimes causing serious injury.

A herd usually consists of ten to fifteen animals, including one dominant male, several subordinate males and females, as well as growing young animals. The female's pregnancy usually lasts about 230 days. Childbirth usually occurs in water, as does breeding itself, during months of heavy rainfall, but can also occur at other times of the year. Young hippos are very attached to their mothers and often spend time basking on their broad backs.

Habitat

The natural habitat of these large mammals is limited to Africa, mainly south of the Sahara Desert. In ancient times, hippos were also found in the north, in the Nile Delta, and their images were quite common in ancient Egyptian art. Currently, the habitat of hippopotamuses is the lakes, rivers and swamps of East and Central Africa.

Hippos see underwater

An interesting feature of hippos is the presence of special biological glasses - a transparent membrane covering their eyes for protection, and at the same time allowing them to see under water. During a dive, their nostrils close and they can hold their breath for five minutes or more. Hippos can even sleep underwater, using a reflex that allows them to shake their heads in such a way that they can inhale and sink down without ever waking up.

However, despite all these adaptations for life in water, this animal (“river horse”) cannot swim. Their bodies are too dense for swimming, hippos move in circles, pushing off from the river bottom or simply walking along the riverbed at a leisurely gallop, lightly touching the bottom with their slightly webbed toes.

Hippos live on average 40-50 years; there is a known case when one representative of their family lived 61 years, albeit in captivity. Surprisingly, this massive herbivore uses its enormous size only for defense and fighting with its own kind.

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water horse- a fictional creature characteristic of the mythologies of Northern Europe. Researchers of anomalous phenomena are confident that under various descriptions of “water horses” in various fairy tales and legends, real so-called lake monsters are hidden. These are cryptids (animals whose existence has not been proven by science), which are considered dinosaurs that have survived to this day.

Kelpie

Most often, when the “water horse” is mentioned, it is the Scottish Kelpie that comes to mind. It is also known in Cornwall, where it is called Shawnee. According to legends and fairy tales, this is a fairy spirit living in water.

Sometimes he can take the form of a man or even a seal, but most often he appears in the form of a white horse, whose mane resembles the crests of waves. The presence of kelpies in a nearby body of water can be determined by their loud howl before a storm.

In human form, the kelpie emerges from the water as a hairy half-human with seaweed hair. He hides in the bushes, waiting for a rider passing by, and jumps out onto the road in front of the unexpecting man. The kelpie grabs the victim with its hairy arms and pulls him off the horse until the person loses control of it.

The kelpie chases a frightened horse along the shore until it gets tired of this game, then jumps into the water again. Another appearance in which the kelpie appears on river banks is that of a magnificent young horse in a bridle. Anyone who has the unfortunate idea of ​​riding a Kelpie is immediately carried to the deep end, risking drowning before the unlucky rider is allowed to disembark.

A person who knows the habits of a kelpie can take an ordinary bridle with him on the road. If he spots a horse-shaped kelpie, he can mount it, then quickly replace the bridle the animal is wearing with his own.

If all goes well, the kelpie can be forced to serve a human, however, according to legend, a captured kelpie should not be forced to work too hard or held for too long, otherwise it will curse the person who captured it and all his descendants.

Some people believe that the Kelpie eats people, but this is not the habit of the Kelpie, but of another Scottish waterhorse. Predatory water horses were called ech ushkya and they lived in lakes. They appeared on the banks in the form of small ponies, and as soon as a person climbed onto the ear, he discovered that he could not get down to the ground.

Then the water horse rushed into the deepest part of the lake, carrying the victim under the water. Sometimes, some time after this, some part of the victim’s body appeared on the surface of the water.

Ech ushkya (each-uisge)

This Highland waterhorse is the most ferocious and dangerous of all the waterhorses, but the Cabillus is not far removed from it. Ech aelies inhabit the sea and lakes of Scotland, and the kinder kelpie, also found in the highlands of Scotland, lives in running water.

Ech ushkya usually appears in the form of a well-groomed horse offering to ride it; however, there are cases when he takes the form of a huge bird or a handsome youth.

When this creature takes the form of a horse and a person sits on it, he “sticks” - he becomes completely helpless and cannot dismount. Then the ech ushkya with a rider on its back rushes straight into the lake, where it devours the person, leaving only the liver.

The glastine or glashtin, native to the Isle of Man, is similar to the ech ear. This creature can take the form of a person - a handsome dark-haired man with curly hair and sparkling eyes. The only thing that gives him away is his ears, which resemble those of a horse.

Cabbyl ushtey

The Cabill Usti is another waterhorse known to the Isle of Man. This pale gray creature was as dangerous and as fond of human flesh as the Highland ech ear.

There are few legends recorded about the Kabyll Ushti. One of them tells of a creature that visited Kera Clough for some time on the Dark River and then disappeared.

Aghiski

The Aghiska or Aghiscas of Celtic legend were once so common that they often emerged from the sea to gallop across the sands and fields. This happened mainly in November. If someone managed to lure one of these water horses from the sands and sea, throw a bridle on it and saddle it, the aghiska would make a wonderful steed.

However, he could not be allowed to even catch a glimpse of salt water, otherwise he would quickly plunge deep into the sea, taking the rider with him, and there he would swallow him. It was also said that wild Aghiskas devoured cattle during their forays onto the shore.

Irish fart

The Irish pooka belonged to the fairy kingdom and looked like a person capable of taking the form of a horse, which makes it possible to classify it as one of the types of centaurs.

Quite a few geographical features in Ireland still bear names associated with puka: Paxton, Puck Fair, Pukas Ford. The waterfalls on the River Liffey near Beddimore Eustace are called Pool-a-Puka (translated as Pooka's Pit); in County Cork there are the ruins of Carrig-a-Pooka Castle (Pooka Cliff), and not far from Dublin there is a castle called Pax Castle.

The Irish can still occasionally encounter pukas in remote, secluded areas, especially on moors. They believe that meeting this creature is a bad omen. Many who met him were foolish enough to mount him and experience the terror of his mad ride before the puka allowed him or her to descend to the ground.

Noggle

The people of the Shetland Islands know a creature called noggle (nuggle or nigel). When it appeared, it was always not far from the water, in appearance it looked like a gray horse with a bridle and saddle, its tail curled up over its back.

He was not usually a danger to people, but he had two bad habits. If the mill worked at night, he stopped the water wheel.

If someone sat astride a noggla, he also rushed into the water along with the rider. When he came out of the water, he disappeared into blue flames. Sometimes people called him shupilty, a name he shared with the Sea People.

Nokke

Danish legends tell of the nokk or nek, a water spirit that can live in both fresh and salt water. Nokke are only male, they have a human head, chest and arms and a horse body, which is usually hidden under water. This creature has the face of an attractive young man, framed by golden curls, and wears a red cap on his head.

On warm summer nights he likes to sit near the surface of the water and play his golden harp. Sometimes the nokke takes the form of a bearded old man and sits on the rocky shore of the sea, wringing out his beard. There are legends about how nokke fell in love with ordinary women; This creature is always polite and attentive, but still dangerous, since he takes the object of his adoration with him under the water, and no one ever sees her again.

Like other Sea Creatures, the Nokke can be repelled by metal, especially steel or iron. Fishermen and those who have to travel on water protect themselves from nokke by placing a knife or nail on the bottom of the boat.

Agishki or water horse belongs to the category of supernatural creatures of the middle order. Agishki lives in sea bays with a rocky bottom. It is similar in size and appearance to ordinary land horses, differing in a more luxuriant mane and lighter color. It feeds on algae and fish. The type of breathing is unknown. It comes ashore in November to give birth to its young. The underwater part of life is poorly understood. Presumably able to survive without seawater for up to several days.

Agishkas are most often found in calm waters of lakes, although they are also found on sea shores prancing along the edge of the surf at the threshold time of Samhain. Outwardly, he is almost indistinguishable from an ordinary horse: a magnificent, strong stallion of motley or black color with a flowing mane and a beautiful long tail, sometimes a shaggy pony, but also dark in color. The only thing that betrays his supernatural nature is his excessive friendliness and affability towards the stranger. With his whole appearance, he definitely invites a person to ride on his powerful horse’s back. But if the unlucky rider succumbs to temptation, he will instantly be captured by the bloodthirsty werewolf. The rider’s legs and arms will surely grow to the shiny velvety skin of the horse, and it will rush headlong into its native element of water and tear the rider into pieces, greedily devouring human flesh.

However, if his natural form of a horse turns out to be not seductive and suitable enough, there are many other forms in the agishka’s arsenal, and not even necessarily living and spiritual ones. So, it can take the form of a lonely ship moored to the shore or a boat under sail, a piece of woolen yarn or a wedding ring. In human form, he prefers the image of a beautiful and seductive youth, in which he seduces young girls, also luring them to death. And, sometimes, the only thing that reveals that he has turned into an agishka is the tufts of sea grass tangled in his hair.

However, it is possible to tame the wayward water horse Agishka. If the brave man
it will be possible to throw a special bridle on the face of the magic horse, which will restrain
her indomitable temperament and magical power - agishki will become a faithful tame animal and no one in the entire area will have a riding stallion as hardy and graceful. But only until the bridled werewolf gets close enough to his native pond that he can smell it. If this happens, no force will be able to hold the agishka, like an arrow it will rush into the abyss of water, dragging its former owner with it to its inexorable fate. And only the heart and liver of the one who once owned this wonderful horse will float on the waves, reminding people of the formidable nature of the water horse.

An agishka can also feed in a more harmless way: it happens that he simply steals livestock from peasants or tears up graves in a cemetery, devouring freshly buried corpses. However, this behavior of the carnivorous underwater resident also does not please the inhabitants of Irish villages, and therefore from time to time there are brave men who undertake to put an end to the annoying neighborhood. The body of the murdered agishka remains lying on the shore only until sunrise, after which it turns into a gelatinous mass, which local residents consider to be the light of a fallen star.

Eh-Ushge

Each Uisge is a variant spelling of the name Ekh-Ushge in Latin, literally “water horse”

Ech-Ooshkya - variant spelling of the name Ekh-Ushge in Latin

Ekh-Uishge - a variant of the Russian spelling of the name Ekh-Ushge

“This water horse of the Scottish Highlands is probably the most ferocious and dangerous of all water horses, although it is not far behind it. It differs from it in that it is found in the sea and in lochs, while it is found only in running water. Eh-ushge also, apparently, transforms more readily. His most common appearance is that of a slender and beautiful horse, which seems to be asking to give a ride to a person, but if that person is smart enough to saddle him, eh-ushge rushes him headlong into the water, where he devours him. All that is left of the person is the liver, which floats to the surface. They say that his skin is sticky, and a person cannot detach himself from it. Sometimes eh-ushge appears in the form of a giant bird, and sometimes in the form of a handsome young man. (see ".) J.F. Campbell dedicates eh-ushge several pages in Popular Tales of West Scotland (Vol. IV, pp. 304-7). If we talk about eh-ushge in the guise of a horse, it is difficult to choose one of the many stories about him. Everywhere they tell a tale about him, originally, perhaps, serving as a warning about how eh-ushge takes away several little girls. One of the options tells about a small basin near Aberfeldy. Seven girls and a boy went for a walk on Sunday morning, and suddenly they saw a cute little pony grazing near a lake. One of the girls climbed onto his back, then another, and all seven girls ended up on the pony. The boy turned out to have a better eye, and he noticed that the pony’s back was getting longer with each new rider. The boy hid between high stones on the shore of the lake. Suddenly the pony turned his head and noticed him. “Come on, you little bastard,” he growled, “get on my back!” The boy did not come out of his hiding place, and the pony rushed after him, and the girls on his back squealed in fear, but could not take their hands off the pony's skin. The pony chased the boy between the rocks for a long time, but finally got tired and rushed into the water along with his prey. The next morning, the livers of seven children were washed ashore by a wave.

MacKay's Other Tales of West Scotland (Vol. II) tells how a water horse was killed. Once upon a time there lived a blacksmith in Raasay. He had a herd, and his family tended it themselves. One night his daughter did not return home, and the next morning her heart and lungs were found on the shore of a sucker, in which, as everyone knew, there was eh-ushge. The blacksmith grieved for a long time and finally decided to destroy the monster. He set up a forge on the bank of the loch, and he and his son began to forge large iron hooks on it, heating them red-hot in the fire. They roasted a sheep, and the smell of roasted meat floated over the water. The fog rose, and a water horse emerged from the lake, looking like a shaggy, ugly foal. He attacked the sheep, and then the blacksmith and his son attacked him with their hooks and killed him. But in the morning they found neither bones nor skin on the shore, but only a bunch of starlight (Starlight in those places is the mucus that sometimes comes across on the shore - most likely, the remains of jellyfish washed ashore; but the Scots believe that this is all , what remains of a fallen star.). Thus came the end of the Water Horse of Raasei. Walter Gill tells a similar story about "

finally the most famous

Kelpie

Glashtyn is the name of the Kelpie on the Isle of Man.

Kelpie - English spelling of the name Kelpie

Gleyshtn - Russian spelling of the name Kelpie on the Isle of Man

Kelpie - a variant of the Russian spelling of the name Kelpie

Kelpi - a variant of the Russian spelling of the name Kelpi

“In Scottish lower mythology, a water spirit that lives in many rivers and lakes. Kelpie mostly hostile to people. They appear in the form of a horse grazing by the water, offering its back to the traveler and then dragging him into the water." This water demon, native to England and Ireland, can take many forms, although it most often appears as a horse with a mane of reeds.

The name Kelpie is most likely related to Irish. calpach, "bull", "foal", another variant etymology of the word: probably from "kelp" - seaweed, possibly from Gaelic cailpcach (cowhide, cowhide).

Other name kelpie on the Isle of Man - glashtyn. Gleyshtn described as often emerging from the water and similar to the Isle of Man. Like kelpie , glacier appears as a horse—more precisely, as a gray colt. It can often be seen on the shores of lakes, and only at night.

The gloomy and majestic figure of this river horse, however, is covered with less sad glory than the bloody image of its lake brother. Unlike the insatiable agishka, the kelpie does not always kill its prey: many manage to get away with only a slight fright with their clothes soaked to the skin, when, it would seem, such a tame and obedient horse, with a smooth, cold to the touch skin, more like the skin of a seal , affectionately inviting the person to climb onto his back, dives into the river waves and, cutting the surface of the water with his tail, with a sound like a clap of thunder, disappears in a flash of blinding light.

In addition, the kelpie can be easily distinguished from an ordinary horse by its wet mane, from which water constantly flows. Moreover, the kelpie retains this sign in human form. Unlike the agishka, the kelpie often takes the form of not only a man, but also a woman. Being a girl, the kelpie almost always wears a green dress, but either out of stupidity and ignorance, or due to some natural oddities of the hidden people, she puts it on inside out. In a female form, the kelpie is just as wonderfully beautiful and seductive as in its natural horse skin. Which she often uses to lure men into a trap. But the male appearance is more difficult for him. Or he simply uses it for other purposes: not to seduce and lure, but to scare him half to death or strangle him in the grip of his iron grip. This is exactly what the shaggy freak of a kelpie likes to do, jumping out from behind the coastal bushes right onto the back of a random passerby.

Sometimes they see kelpies in the guise of a terrible half-man, half-horse, with two horse legs, powerful three-fingered hands, an ugly horse head and a predatory grin of a fanged mouth. Some believe that this is precisely his true appearance, and that only the skillful mastery of the spell of illusion helps the kelpie make people see him as a beautiful horse or a gentle maiden.

It is interesting that this cruel and treacherous fairy has an irrepressible passion for both earthly women and ordinary mares. Kelpies often steal young girls and make them their underwater wives and mothers of their children, and also cross with tame horses, producing incredibly strong and fleet-footed offspring. Very rarely, but it still happens that a kelpie in love renounces his magical essence for the right to be the husband of a mortal woman.

The Irish also hear the howling and moaning of kelpies on the eve of storms, but no one knows for sure whether his voice foreshadows an approaching storm or calls for it in rage, having been abandoned by his earthly beloved.

They say that kelpies are able to jump on the surface of the water as if on land. A similar horse was described by Andre Norton in her book Three Against the Witch World. The only difference was that the horse she described did not strive for water, but, on the contrary, carried its rider further into the mountains. But, like the kelpie, he did not let him get down, thereby condemning him to a multi-hour jump and the danger of dying in the first abyss.

Methods for catching kelpies
To deal with a Kelpie, you need to lure it with oats and throw a bridle over its head, while casting a Placement Spell that will make it submissive and helpless. The best time to catch kelpies is winter. In this case, there is a chance that after catching the demon overnight, the ice hole from which it emerged will freeze and the kelpie will not be able to leave its owner until spring. Until the ice on the river melts.

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Kabill-ushti
Cabyll-Ushtey
The Manx water horse, pale gray in color, sometimes piebald, is no less dangerous and bloodthirsty than the Scottish Ears, although not so much is said about him.
Walter Gill, in the Manx Notebook, gives the story of a Cabill-ushti who was found for a short time at Kerru Cloch on the Black River.

One day, a certain farmer's wife discovered one of her calves missing - and there were no traces except scraps of wool; the next day, the farmer saw a monster come out of the river, grab one of the calves and tear it to pieces. The owners drove the cattle away from the river, but they had to suffer an even more severe loss, because after a few days their only daughter disappeared and was never heard from again. Kabil-Ushti did not touch them anymore. Despite its cute appearance, it is a very evil and dangerous creature.

Shupilti
Shoopiltee
There are tiny water horses in the folklore of the Shetland Islanders. Like other water horses, their favorite prank is to jump into the water with their rider, disappearing, leaving the unlucky rider in the middle of the lake. It cannot be said that Shupilti are cruel and bloodthirsty, like their relatives Kelpie or Eh-ears, but they drink the blood of drowned people. In character, Shupilti are more similar to Noggle from the Orkney Islands.

One day people managed to catch Shupilti and chained him to a stone between two lakes. But the horse was madly eager for freedom and, in the end, he managed to free himself. Evidence of this incident can be found in scratches from a chain on the stone to which Shupilti was chained.

In Scottish folklore, water horses are treacherous and dangerous. Sometimes they turn into beautiful young men or giant birds. Eh-ear in the form of a person can be recognized by the algae in his hair. Introducing itself as a horse, the eh-ear seems to invite you to sit on itself, but whoever dares to do so faces a tragic end: the horse jumps into the water and devours its rider, and then the waves throw the victim’s liver ashore.

Unlike kelpies, which live in running water, ech-ears live in seas and lakes. A ride on an ech-ear is safe until the monster senses the proximity of water.

Noggle
Noggle, Nuggle or Nygel
In the folklore of the Shetland Islanders there is a water horse. As a rule, the noggle appears on land under the guise of a wonderful bay horse, saddled and bridled. Noggle is not as dangerous as the Kelpie, but he never refuses to pull one or the other of his two favorite jokes. If at night he sees work in full swing at the water mill, he grabs the wheel and stops it.

You can drive it away by showing a knife or sticking a burning branch out the window. He also likes to pester travelers. As soon as someone sits on it, the noggle rushes into the water. However, apart from swimming, nothing threatens the rider: once in the water, the noggle disappears with a flash of blue flame. To avoid confusing a noggle with a horse, you should look at the tail: the noggle's tail curls over its back.
According to later legends, only Finmen could ride Noggles - men from a tribe of sorcerers and shapeshifters, unsurpassed masters of boat rowing.

Which animal did the ancient Greeks call "river horse" and received the best answer?

Answer from VN[guru]
The hippopotamus, or hippopotamus, weighing more than 3000 kg, is the world's largest river inhabitant. Despite its name, which translates from Latin as "amphibious river horse", it has nothing in common with the horse, except that both are herbivores. This is one of the most remarkable mammals on earth. We have all seen the hippopotamus in zoos, but few people know that it is much more widely and variedly adapted to its habitat than one might assume when seeing it in captivity.
The true habitat of this giant animal is difficult to determine because it is represented by two opposing environments. We think that hippopotamuses live mainly in water and only from time to time raise their heads above the surface so that, after pouring water from their ears and sniffing air through their nostrils, they look around. Some of them, with their short legs tucked under them, bask in the sun on the sandbanks along the shores. The hippopotamus is not a very good swimmer; immersed in shallow water just a few meters, it walks along the bottom rather than floats, not feeling its weight, thanks to the buoyant force of the water. After being underwater for three or four minutes, he rises to the surface to catch his breath, then dives again.

Answer from User deleted[guru]
Hippopotamus is mine, that is, hippopotamus. Which in Greek means river horse.

Answer from Olga Osipova[guru]
Hippopotamus.
Regarding hippos, people often think that it is difficult to find more clumsy and passive animals in the African animal environment, but this is not at all true. Despite the fact that the Greeks called the hippopotamus a river horse, and the Egyptians were not at all shy in their expressions and dubbed the beast a water pig, the hippopotamus is not so simple and harmless.

Answer from Olga Nikolaeva[guru]
The hippopotamus, or hippopotamus, which means "river horse", as the ancient Greeks called this creature, is one of the trinity of the largest animals.
Despite the name, there is nothing about it that resembles a horse, only the ability to move quickly. His monstrous body, which would be quite suitable for some gigantic pig, rests on short pedestal legs. The body of the hippopotamus reaches 4 meters in length, 1.5 m in height, and weighs up to 3.5 tons. The impressive head is decorated with small ears and eyes, in which evil lights often wander. Hippos were once widespread throughout Africa. Reservoirs were infested with them. Ruthless extermination led to a sharp reduction in the number of these animals. Now they are preserved only in Central and Southern Africa.

Answer from Misha Arsenyev[guru]
Hippopotamus or hippopotamus. In Greek hippos means "horse" and potamos means "river". Although the hippopotamus is not at all like a horse, except that it snorts the same way. The Arabs call it "river buffalo", "river pig" or "rer" - "walling animal".

Answer from Li Ka[guru]