While visiting the Museum of the Rockies (MOR) in Bozeman, Montana, I was amazed to see mythical creatures filling one of their halls. Kudos to whomever had the great idea to create and display life-sized representations of creatures that have existed in our imaginations for years.

Large-scale mythical creatures

A colorful 17-foot long dragon guards one of the entrances. These are mythical creatures, but they resemble lizards, snakes, and dinosaurs.

Near the other entrance, a unicorn points the way ahead. Modern tales of this creature depict it as white with a single long horn. However, older stories describe them with the body of a goat and a short, colored horn.

This Chinese dragon hangs from the ceiling. In East Asian cultures, dragons have the power to breath clouds, move the seasons, and control the waters of rivers, lakes, and oceans. They have been featured in East Asian legends for more than 4,000 years.

This Barong Ket always has its eyes on you. In Bali, they represent a lion and performers bring them to life in dramas where Barong Ket battles the demon queen Rangda. One dancer moves the head and clacks the teeth, another wiggles the long, golden tail.

An enormous, golden griffin rears up near a doorway. When I was a kid, this was my favorite mythical creature. Depictions of griffins appear in ancient Greek and European artwork.

Pegasus, the flying horse from Greek mythology, glides over fluffy clouds. Bellerophon, a mortal, rode him to kill a fire-breathing Chimera. Afterwards, he thought of himself as equal to the gods and rode Pegasus to Mount Olympus. The angered gods killed Bellerophon and Pegasus spent the rest of his days carrying Zeus’ lightning bolts on his back.

A long, tentacled leg of a kraken crashes through the floor. They were once thought of as imaginary creatures created by European sailors of old. However, recent discoveries of giant squid prove their may be a factual basis to these tales.

Smaller-scale creatures

This Bunyip may look friendly, but Australian Aborigines told tales of this sharp-tusked creature eating people. Over time, the bunyip became known as a plant eater and is a favorite character in popular children’s books.

These small sculptures show representations of Sedna, a creature of the Arctic regions of Canada and Greenland. The Inuit tell a story of a woman thrown overboard by her own father. She is said to have created whales, seals, and walruses, food sources for Native peoples. In modern times, Sedna is often depicted as a mermaid.

This impressive traveling exhibition features Creatures of Power, the Sky, the Deep, and the Earth. Since I’m into mythology, as a reader and writer, I was happy to see an exhibition showing large- and small-scale depictions of so many mythical creatures. WOW!

The Dragons, Unicorns, and Mermaids: Mythic Creatures exhibition is at MOR from May 24, 2024 to January 5, 2025.

Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (FOWC) – Create