Nuckelavee: Scotland’s Skinless Evil Monstrosity | Monstrum

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This horse-like horror of Scottish folklore emerges from the sea bringing death and disease. On land this gruesome creature takes the form of a fleshless horse with a single glowing red eye and an equally fleshless human torso fused to its back.

With origins in Orcadian folklore this demonic creature was blamed for plagues, drought, and death in equal measure. This episode explores how the history of the Orkney Islands, the influence of Norse mythology, a real equine disease, and the kelp trade crafted a terrifying, skinless monster. #nuckelavee #scotland #MonstrumPBS

Written and Hosted by: Dr. Emily Zarka
Director: David Schulte
Executive Producer: Amanda Fox
Producer: Stephanie Noone
Illustrator: Samuel Allen
Editor: Sara Roma
Produced by Spotzen for PBS Digital Studios.

The world is full of monsters, myths, and legends and Monstrum isn’t afraid to take a closer look. The show, hosted by Emily Zarka, Ph.D., takes us on a journey to discover a new monster in each new episode. Monstrum looks at humans' unique drive to create and shape monster mythology through oral storytelling, literature, and film and digs deep into the history of those mythologies.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Bane, Theresa. Encyclopedia of the Fairies in World Folklore and Mythology. McFarland & Company, Inc., 2013.

Briggs, Katharine. “Nuckelavee.” An Encyclopedia of Fairies, 1976.

Dennison, W. Traill.“Nuckelavee. ” The Scottish antiquary, or, Northern notes and queries. Edinburgh: T. and A. Constable, 1891, vol. V, pp. 131-33.

Douglas, Sir George. “Tales of the Scottish Peasantry.” From ‘Weekly Evening Meeting January 29, 1892’ in Proceedings. London: Royal Institution of Great Britain, pp. 489-497.
Encyclopaedia, Britannica, Inc.. Encyclopedia of World Religions, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Incorporated, 2006.

Harris, Jason Marc. “Perilous Shores: The Unfathomable Supernaturalism of Water in 19th-century Scottish Folklore.” Mythlore, Vol. 28, Iss. 107/108, 2009, pp. 5-25.

Hothersall, Sue. “The Scottish kelp industry and its archaeology.” Historic Argyll, 2012, pp. 32-36.

“Kelp Burning in the Hebrides.” Scientific American, Vol. 83, No. 12, 1900, p. 184.

Kenicer, Gregory, et al. “The Ebb and Flow of Scottish Seaweed Use.” Botanical Journal of Scotland, vol. 52, no. 2, Sept. 2000, p. 119-148.

Landolt, Gabriele A., and Thomas M. Chambers. “The clinical features, pathobiology, and epidemiology of influenza infections in horses.” Animal Influenza, edited by David E. Swayne, John Wiley & Sons, 2016, pp. 505-523.

Lindow, John. Norse Mythology : A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs, Oxford University Press USA - OSO, 2002.

Mackinlay, James M. Folklore of Scottish Lochs and Springs, Glasglow: William Hodge & Co., 1893.

Marwick, Ernest W. The Folklore of Orkney and Shetland, 1975.

Raeburn, Gordon D. “Death, superstition, and common society following the Scottish Reformation.” Mortality, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 36-51.

The Lore of Scotland A Guide to Scottish Legends. Jennifer Beatrice Westwood, Sophia Kingshill, The Estate of Jennifer Westwood ·

Theodoratus, Robert. “Orcadians.” Encyclopedia of World Cultures, Vol. 4, 1996.

Thorpe, Benjamin. Northern Mythology, Comprising the Principal Popular Traditions and Superstitions of Scandinavia, North Germany and the Netherlands: Compiled from Original and Other Sources. In Three Volumes. Scandinavian Popular Traditions and Superstitions, Volume 2. Lumley, 1851.

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Greece: makes centaurs
Scotland: cool! Can we try?
Greece: sure
Scotland:

[GregoryTheGrster]

One-of-a-kind monsters are what we call "boss characters" in video games.

[Bigfoot_With_Internet_Access]

I'm glad we bigfoots don't have to worry about that creature in the North American woods

[otakuribo]

Fallout centaurs: *scary fleshy man-beast abominations
the Nuckelavee: i swear, kids these days...

[BBP]

That is possibly the coolest/most horrible creature yet shown on this program. Love it.

[Thoralmir]

Remember: If a wet pony offers you a ride to the next hole on a golf course, _don't take it._

[grapeshot]

Gives a whole new meaning to beauty is only skin deep but ugly is to the Bone.

[ireallyneedtherapy]

“Mom says it’s my turn with the skin.”

[CtrlAltDlt]

I love the Monstrum episodes that cover more obscure creatures like this one. I had never heard of it before!

[RagdollFairy]

wow. so it's a real folklore creature, not just an SCP.

[DefaultSeaTurtle]

Dr. Zarka: So this is a skinless man affixed to a one-eyed skinless horse with fins that spreads plague.

Also Dr. Zarka: Look at this porg I made isn't he cute?

[yojannieverromerosifuentes]

I'm mexican and i love scottish lore. Hi scotland people have a nice day 💗

[ihcfn]

To my mind saltwater would be it's nemesis, no skin? Damn that's gonna sting!

[VampiraVonGhoulscout]

I'm laughing at myself here listening to Americans being like, "Sounds strange? You have no idea" and then there's me, a Scottish person, sitting here unphased like, *sniff* "sounds about right".

[ryantwombly]

1. Perfect timing! I needed a strange beast for NaNoWriMo.
2. “No benevolent water horses exist.” should be on a tee shirt.
3. Nice porg.

[aaronylaya]

SCP-3456 The Orcadian Horsemen...Now I know where the inspiration came from. Awesome

[james_sabin]

In some folklore just saying the name of it can mark you as a victim, which is why I’ve heard some people just call him the “NOPE” horse. I thought that was funny

[gabrielt.]

A really charming and enchanting creature, for sure. Who wouldn't like to come across it during a calming stroll on the beach?

[NightmareLoveForever]

What an absolutely horrific creature! This is what I'm stoked about-- Monstrum bringing forward creatures I've never heard, and bringing insight to those I have!

God bless. Ireland and Scotland don't mess around.

[CommanderNixon]

This channel is low-key one of the best resources I've ever found for making monsters for table-top games.