My sources and a how-to guide

[Sindran]

UPDATED: 8/6/2020

Newest pages at top of lists.

Alright, so I have a few resources and a how-to guide. I'll be adding to this list as I find more.

Websites. Some are only accessible through archive.org:


Religious history & mythology (Steppe culture)

Mythencyclopedia

Encyclopedia Chimerica

Inuit Mythology

Monsters

Polish Creatures (you need to translate this through google)

Fabulous Beasts

Mythology Dictionary

Spanish Wikipedia: Mythical creatures of Asturiana

Spanish Ogres

Spanish Mythology Wiki (translated)

Spanish Mythology (translated)

Basque Mythology

Sacred Texts (you have to do some searching)

Myth Museum (Philippine creatures)

Philippine Mythology

Mythical Creatures List (general encyclopedia)

Monstropedia

Theoi (Greek mythology, may have already been posted on here)

Patagonian Monsters (mostly cryptids)

Yokai (you've probably already heard of all of these)

More yokai

Malaysian ghosts

Karl Shuker (cryptids)

Fortean Times (cryptids, used to be free hence I'm using archive.org)

Frontiers of Zoology (cryptids)

The Trove (TONS of PDFs. Please be aware this is pirating (duh) and use precaution. No ads from what I can see but still be safe! They have Pathfinder bestiaries)


PDFs

Monsters of Myth and Legend Vol 1 (an RP bestiary, has some creatures I've never heard of)

Monsters of Myth and Legend vol 2

Wizard's Bestiary

A Chinese Bestiary

Web docs (content will change as I add to them)

Sami Mythology

Korean Mythology

Polish Mythology (WIP)

Madagascar Mythology

Aboriginal Mythology

Ok, so how do I find some of these critters? I use Google Books in some cases. Problem is, sometimes you find something interesting only for it to be hidden under the "Snippet view". I hate that. So let's use an example of how to hack it (to an extent). Simply copy the last sentence that's visible in snippet view (i.e, Unicorns are native to Africa, Asia and Europe). Now, paste that in the google books search bar and put quotes around it "Unicorns are native to Africa, Asia and Europe" that usually narrows it down to the book you're looking for. More often than not, you will get the next few sentences after that in the snippet view. Keep doing this until you get all the info you need, or it's simply not possible to go any further. I find that the reason for it not going further is an image is in the way of the next sentence and the snippet view can't navigate around that. Sometimes, you can click on the preview of the snippet and it will show you more of the sentence, but you have to manually type that in the search. This works in any language.

Sometimes it's nigh impossible to find a particular creature, especially if it's in another language other than English. Keep in mind regional dialects. For example, I ran into a dialect of Spanish that just needed the ending switched out (u gets replaced with o) and that helped me find the Bicho Amarillo (whereas it was Bichu Amarillu and couldn't be found anywhere). Some languages sadly are not yet translatable by Google, like Faroese. I don't know if they'll ever add that, but it's a shame. You could always find a dictionary and try that way, but good luck.

Use foreign language versions of Wikipedia when you can. Ditto.

Archive.org has many, many books available for free. Also ditto.

Use your local library. It saves you money for one thing. I'm very fortunate to have a good library loan system in my state. I understand some states don't have one. If possible and provided a library in my state has a book you're interested in, I can ask to get it on loan. Keep in mind I have a life too so I can't always get it right away and it may take some time. Don't bite me please

[WannabeDemonLord]

This is awesome! Your web docs, particularly the Polish creature one, are exceptionally nice! This is excellent work.

[Sindran]

Thanks! Yeah that Polish one is going to take a while. That book is huuuuge.

[Sindran]

Added steppes.proboards.com/board/21/religious-history-mythology to the list. There's a lot in there that needs to be combed though.