K is for Kelpie, Knucker and Kahaku

K is for Kelpie from A Dark Alphabet designed by Julie and Becky's Note of Friendship blog.

The Kelpie is a mythological shape-shifting water demon in the shape of a horse from Scottish Celtic history that lures people, especially children, onto its back then takes them out into the water, where it kills and eats them.  It was believed that if you owned the Kelpie's bridle you could control it.  But who wants to get close enough to find out?

edit to add this link to some amazing sculptures of kelpies - The Kelpies

Funnily enough I couldn't find many cross stitch charts of kelpies, but I find some rather nicer Water Spirits.  

But there was this one in Etsy:

Unconventional X - Beneath the Ice

HAED - Water Spirit

Joan Elliott - Water Goddess

 Still on the subject of Water Creatures, we have the Knucker; a kind of Water Dragon found in the county of Sussex in England.  There are references to them in the epic poem Beowulf and also in the church in Lyminster where you can see the gravestone of the knight who slayed the great beast.  You can find out more about this story here Dragons and Serpents in Sussex

Enchanting Lair - Water Dragon

Jennifer Aikman-Smith - Water Dragon

Dragon Dreams also have a freebie Water Dragon along with Fire, Air, Earth and Spirit

I got completely stuck on a final K so did a little Googling and found this interesting list of "Legendary Creatures beginning with K".  Many of them seem to be Japanese, so here are a few I liked the sound of:

• Kahaku (Japanese) - Little people and water spirits

• Kamaitachi (Japanese) - Wind spirit
• Kanedama (Japanese) - Money spirit
• Katawa-guruma (Japanese) - Woman riding on a flaming wheel
• Katsura-otoko (Japanese) - Handsome man from the moon

• Kitsune-Tsuki (Japanese) - Person possessed by a fox spirit
• Kiyohime (Japanese) - Woman who transformed into a serpent-demon out of the rage of unrequited love

(I like how specific that last one is!)

 And here is a nice Japanese cross stitch to finish with:

Dimensions - Samurai

He does at least look like he could battle monsters for us!