Realms of Fantasy and Myth: Week 32 - Lamia

Jul 8, 201017 min read

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Published: Jul 8, 2010

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Realms of Fantasy and Myth: Week 32 - Lamia

Welcome to the thirty-second issue of my weekly news article! I hope you enjoy it, and please, show the featured artists some love and recognition through pageviews,

's and

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If you like this article, please show support by clicking the heart icon on the left to add it to your favorites.  Thanks!

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This week's creature feature is: Lamia

Note:  This article will cover many creatures, variously described as Lamia, Naga, Medusa, etc.  While "Naga" seems to be the most popular name for these creatures, most actually look more like descriptions of Lamia.  Also, the descriptions in this article do not include the Nāga of Hindu and Buddhist mythology, as I generally try to avoid including contemporary mainstream religious figures in fantasy articles.

From Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamia_(m… and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamia_(D… :

In ancient Greek mythology, Lamia was a beautiful queen of Libya who became a child-eating daemon. While the word lamia literally means large shark in Greek, Aristophanes claimed her name derived from the Greek word for gullet (λαιμός; laimos), referring to her habit of devouring children.
Some accounts say she has a serpent's tail below the waist. This popular description of her is largely due to Lamia, a poem by John Keats published in 1819.
Mothers throughout Europe used to threaten their children with the story of Lamia. Leinweber states, "She became a kind of fairy-tale figure, used by mothers and nannies to induce good behavior among children."
The lamia was introduced to the D&D game in the first edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons… where it is described as having the upper torso, arms, and head of a human female, and the lower body of a beast, whose touch drains a creature's wisdom.
One type of rarer lamia is the lamia noble. These beings rule over other lamias and the locations they inhabit. Unlike normal lamias, they have the lower bodies of serpents. Males fight with curved swords and magic, while females only with magic. Lamia nobles are also capable of venturing further from their lairs than other lamias, and prefer to go into urbanized areas in the guise of a human to infiltrate human and demihuman societies. Lamia nobles are given to outbursts of senseless violence. They can speak all forms of human and demihuman language.

Now, for the features!  Works are featured from various categories, in no particular order:

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Dota fanart- Naga Siren v2 by yiyang1989

THE SACRED POOL -NAGA PAINTING by Imperess

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Did you get featured and want to pay it forward? Do you know of an artist with amazing fantasy art? Are YOU one?
Just leave a comment on this article with a link to your favorite deviation or deviant, and I'll pick out the ones that really stand out to me to feature on the appropriate week!
Also, do you have a favorite fantasy creature that I haven't covered yet? Leave a comment suggesting which ones you would like to see!

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Thank you so much for viewing, and come back next time for a different inhabitant of the Realms of Fantasy and Myth!