Mythical Creatures [EDITING]

Enfield

An enfield is a chimeric creature. Chimeras are mythological creatures that are made up of body parts of (usually) real-life animals. For example, a griffin has the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion. Chimeras are often associated with Greek mythology, but are common to many cultures around the world. The ancient Egyptians, for example had gods that often had the head of an animal and body of a man. Then there is their famous Spinx, possibly the largest surviving statue of a chimera which has the opposite: the body of a lion and the head of a man. Often, each body part would have some meaning to the people in the culture that the creature originated in. The creature itself would also have some meaning and sometimes even a specific role in the local legends.

With the enfield it has the head of a fox, the chest of a greyhound, the body of a lion, the hindquarters and tail of a wolf, and forelegs like an eagle's talons. The enfield is a creature of Celtic culture and is most commonly found in England and Ireland. In those cultures, the head of the fox means craftiness or cleverness. The chest of a greyhound suggests swiftness and endurance. The body of a lion means royalty (lions are the 'king' of beasts after all) and bravery. The hindquarters of a wolf suggests fraternity and loyalty to family (wolves are pack animals with a strong sense of family). Finally, the forelegs of an eagle's talons suggests strength, nobility and hunting prowess (partly why the U.S.A. has an eagle as a symbol).

The enfield in total had a role in stories as being a guardian of chieftains or leaders who had fallen in battle. The Celts believed strongly in making sure that their honored members and loved ones received what they considered to be proper funeral rites so that their spirits could rest in peace. Enemies would try to carry away bodies, especially of enemy leaders, so that they could tear them apart and use them to demoralize the enemy and serve as a warning. This was distressing to Celtic peoples and they believed the spirit of people debased in this way would haunt the world of the living until they were avenged.

So, the enfield creatures would guard the bodies of leaders to try to prevent this from happening. The photo above is an excellent drawing of what an enfield might look like outside of the stylized look usually seen in heraldry.

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Information from hubpages.com

Image from dracopediaproject.blogspot.com