Grindylow

A creature used to frighten children away from pools, ponds and marshes so that they wouldn’t drown. The creature itself is depicted as having a scaly green complexion with sharp claws and teeth, long wiry arms with even longer fingers at the end of their diminutive humanoid forms.

In essence they look creepy.

The reason for the Grindylow, however, is more sinister. Our waters on the British Isles are… Cold. And more than one unwary children and dogs have gone headfirst into the bodies of water headfirst and have never reappeared. So the English invented the Grindylow.

A small story…

Two little boys were playing near a green covered pond one warm day. And overcome from the heat decided they would step into the waters. Just their feet. 

Their grandmother upon seeing them take their socks and shoes off and heading towards the water rushed towards them, screaming their names at the top of her lungs. Her eyes were wild and her voice shrill. But the boys couldn’t hear her.

The water before them was inviting and they stepped in, despite the green duckweed nearby.

Before the grandmother could do anything, a creature rose up out of the shallows and snathced both boys in its claws. They screamed. It was the last sound the grandmother would hear them make as the Grindylow took them underneath the still pond. Never to be seen again…

This tale is normally told to those who have no common sense around water. Which is mainly young children as their imaginations fill the gaps for the scary creature beneath the ponds, or shallow waters.

Thanks for reading,

S.McC

P.s want to see some watery creatures? Read the rest of the Elements series here… WATER will be out soon.