Basilisk

Basilisk

A basilisk is not a very common mythical creature yet it's used in multiple books as either good or evil. In most, if not all, parts of this myth, the basilisk is a small serpent-like creature that can kill anyone just by looking at it or even it's breath may kill someone. In detail, it has a dragon's body, wings, and a serpent's head. There are two ongoing legends about this creature, that being there are two types of basilisks, one similar to a dragon with its fiery breath. The other being how it may kill any living thing with just a glance, giving reasoning as to what I had explained above.

This legend holds many ideas of how to kill this beast, some of the ways would include; holding a mirror up to its face without looking it simultaneously or having a rooster crow at it. For that very reasoning, long ago, travellers would keep roosters and weasels with them as a precautionary measure towards the basilisks. 

Originally, this myth began around the 1100's in ancient Greece and Rome or in Northern Africa dependent on where and how you may look for information on this creature. Be that as it may, there is one account of a sighting of this creature that still may be held accountable today. In 1587, Poland, there was a man in some mirror covered armour had captured a basilisk after it had slain a nursemaid and two young girls. The basilisk is referred to in Romeo and Juliet and Richard III by Shakespeare. This creature was also referred to in Chaucer's and Spenser's writings. Due to this, the basilisk is considered to be one of the most poisonous creatures to have ever existed. 

This is one of the stranger myths due to varying conflicting information on the topic, regardless, though it is a creature that has been around for centuries. I hope y'all found this helpful in any way possible- Caio-