The Monstrefact: Of Knots and Monsters

in Knots and Not Lore back in nineteen fifty. Just as the use of knots extends back through prehistoric human times, so too does the idea that we might work magic with the various intricate knots that we tie. They observe that ancient peoples attempted to control the weather, biology, reproduction, death, and various supernatural entities via the working of knots. Not

Magic was sometimes maleficent and other times beneficial. It could be an intentional magical effect or something invoked by accident. It might be said to work at close range, across vast distances, and across various stretches of time. After all, what is the knot but the joining and the binding of things, the creation of something, the creation of a new complexity in the process, And of course the topic is closely aligned with all manner of fabric arts and

even hair breeds. As not so easily become the subject of magical thinking, they inevitably touched the world of monsters. Among the many anti vampire traditions, we find the notion that one may leave a complex array of knots out for the creature, which will then occupy its time trying to unravel them and figure them out till the sun rises once again. They are also other related tactics that don't involve knots at all, such as leaving out poppy

seeds that the vampire will feel compelled to count. Unnatural complexity overpowers the undead senses, it would seem, But as with the fabled rat King, there are also some myths and legends of knotted creatures. The account of Heracles and Coccus is notable. While in some depictions Coccus is merely presented as a fire breathing giant, or even just a large muscular man that Heracles wrestles. Other times, he is described as a sort of giant spider, except with three

fire breathing human heads atop a long neck. In order to slay the monster, Heracles ties its neck in a knot. Dragon iconography often involves knots, as does serpentine iconography, and the knotting of tail or neck may be presented as a means of defeating the creature or as a self coiling behavior. In the natural world, climbing snakes have been observed to use lasso locomotion to scale trees and poles in search of prey, a configuration that indeed appears to

be a simple knot. Elsewhere, hagfish, when agitated, will twist themselves into a traveling overhand knot to squeeze off excess slide. Tune in for additional episodes of The Monster Fact each week. As always, you can email us at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com.