Since ancient times, these gigantic animals have caused awe among people. In the old days, all sea monsters were called whales, which were striking in their huge size. In ancient legends telling about the structure of the world, whales are assigned the main role.
Whales - the support of the Earth
The ancient Slavs argued that our Earth, floating among the endless water surface, has a flat shape. According to legend, three huge whales hold her on them, and thirty more small brothers help them to carry their heavy burden.
According to other, earlier versions, the Earth was initially held on their backs by seven whales, but over time, their burden became heavy from the sinful acts that people committed. Unable to bear the heavy weight, the four whales swam away into the bottomless abyss. The three remaining animals, no matter how hard they tried, were unable to prevent the flooding of most of the land. It is for this reason that the famous World Biblical Flood arose. According to another version, there were initially only four whales. After the death of one of them, almost all of the land went under water. It is believed that if the remaining whales die, then the end of the world will come.
Legends of the northern latitudes
The peoples of the north, such as the Icelanders and Norwegians, admired whales like no other. In medieval Norway, a small booklet was even published with the title "The Royal Mirror", where all the whales were divided into good and evil. Kind and peace-loving whales always come in difficult moments of a storm or a shipwreck, rescuing a drowning crew, while evil whales deliberately sink ships and devour people. It is the evil whales that most often become the main characters of the Icelandic epic, for example, there are narwhal, whale-horse, red whale and whale-pig. All evil whales were necessarily aggressive and greedy. All their lives they have been surfing the oceans in search of lost ships. At the sight of its prey, the evil whale suddenly jumps high from the depths of the sea and falls from above onto the ship, instantly crushing it into small fragments.
Very often, seafarers perceived huge whales as islands in the ocean. According to one of the legends, an Irish Benedictine monk rushed to look for the Promised Land. Sailing on his sailing ship across the Atlantic Ocean, he suddenly noticed a mysterious island on the left side, which was in fact the back of a peacefully sleeping whale. The monk and his crew landed on dry land. After giving a prayer of thanks to God and having a little rest, they returned to the ship and continued their journey. But the most interesting thing is that the sleeping whale did not even feel the uninvited guests walking on its own back.
In Islam, this animal lives in the Muslim paradise, and among Christians, the whale is considered the messenger of the devil himself.
