Frogs and toads have a surprisingly strong presence in folklore - they've been everything from gods and monsters to miracle cures. Let's take a look at...
- Sapo Fuerzo, the Strong Toad of Chile
- Anti-Toxic Toadstones
- The Loveland Frog
- Llamhigyn y Dŵr, the Water Leaper
- The People Kin to Frogs
- Familiars and Frog Toes
- Agalibému
- Tiddalik
- The Coquí Frog's Call
- The Legend Behind Bun Bang Fai Festival
- Frogs in Pharmaceutical Folklore
- Frog Weddings (and Divorces)
- Heqet and the Ogdoads
- How the Cockatrice and Basilisk Were Incubated
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| A figure of mythic power? (Robert Zunikoff) |
1. Sapo Fuerzo, the Strong Toad of Chile
2. Anti-Toxic Toadstones
The modern world has plenty of antidotes to toxins (though admittedly, not to all of them) but centuries ago people had to find other ways to protect themselves. One solution was to possess a toadstone, a rock-like object said to grow in the head of a toad and to protect the wearer from poison.
Toadstones (sometimes called a crapaud-stone or bufonite) were said to grow inside the head of a toad. Tough many must simply have been found, Edward Topsell's 17th century book "The History of Four-footed Beasts and Serpents" offers the following method for acquiring a toadstone: place the living toad on a scarlet cloth, which apparently delights the toad and causes it to stretch and releases the stone from its head. The cloth must have a hole through which the stone can fall (preferably into a bucket of cold water that the amphibian will avoid) or else the toad will immediately swallow it again!
Toadstones were often worn as part of a ring, and were said to sweat, change color or even burn the skin in the presence of poison. They could also neutralize poison or treat diseased viscera (internal organs.) They've also been found on the Reliquary of St. Maurus and on a crown made in 1349 for Charles IV of Bohemia.
As it turns out, toadstones have nothing to do with actual toads - they've turned out to be the fossilized teeth of Lepidotus maximus (now reclassified as Scheenstia maximus) an extinct fish from the Jurassic and Cretaceous. The teeth of these fish were rounded and blunt, ideal for crushing shells... and for making into "jewels."
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| You'd be equally annoyed if someone wanted you to cough up a bone... (Laura Seaman) |
3. The Loveland FrogThere's a fairly modern cryptid with a froggy theme - the Loveland Frog, first sighted in 1955. The story goes that a businessman driving near the river saw three figures, each 3-4ft tall, green and scaly - and that when they realized they'd been seen, they leapt into the water and vanished.
Two local policemen would have separate encounters in the 1970s. The first claimed to observed the figure waving some kind of spark-emitting wand above its head. The second saw a strange figure scuttling across the road (which he shot.) The body turned out to be that of a large iguana minus its tail.
In 2016 a couple playing Pokémon Go saw a strange shape in the river - they even managed to snap a picture, but the image is incredibly indistinct - simply a shadow and some bright lights. Still, it fueled rumors that the Loveland Frog was real.
It seems the the residents of Loveland Ohio have decided to take the story and run with it - the Loveland Frogman has been appointed as a city mascot!
4. Llamhigyn y Dŵr, the Water Leaper
Jumping out of the folklore of Wales comes the Llamhigyn y Dŵr or water-leaper. An account of the creature claimed that it frequented the waters of ILyn Gwynan, where it would interfere with attempts to fish (and in some cases, steal bait from the line.) |
| Some speculated that the water-leaper was responsible for missing sheep... (Zdeněk Macháček) |
5. The People Kin to Frogs
The Ugandan Abitira sub-clan of the Banyankole people have an unusual belief - their traditions claim that they share a common ancestor with frogs, and as such have a totemic bond with the amphibians. Many consider themselves forbidden from doing anything to harm a frog.
There's also the origin story of the Wa people of Myanmar and China. The story goes that the Wa came from two female ancestors (Ya Htawm and Ya Htai) who spent their early years as tadpoles in Nawng Hkaeo - a hidden lake on the border of the two countries.
6. Familiars and Frog Toes
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| Frogs hoarding water seems to be a common theme... (Grace Evans) |
7. Agalibému
The mythology of the Native American Penobscot (part of the Wabanaki Confederacy) features the tale of Agalibému (spellings vary wildly) which was an enormous frog dwelling near Chesuncook Lake.
The story goes that Agalibému caused a drought by swallowing massive amounts of water. The situation was resolved when the legendary hero Gluskabe (sometimes Glooscap or Gluskap) slew the greedy amphibian - and the released waters filled the Penobscot River.
Some versions of the tale say that people rushed into the released water, and were turned into fish and other aquatic creatures as a result!
Curiously, frogs hoarding water seems to be a recurring theme in Native American folklore. In each case the actions of the frog tend to result in droughts, which are often resolved by the actions of a human or animal hero.
8. Tiddalik
In a fascinating parallel, the Aboriginal folklore of Australia also contains a drought-causing thirsty frog.
Despite being small, Tiddalik the frog awoke one morning with a terrible thirst. First, he drank the waterhole dry... then the creeks... then the rivers... you can see the pattern. As he drank, Tiddalik grew until he resembled a massive green blob.
Drought soon struck the land, and the thirsty animals came up with a plan - make Tiddalik laugh, and he would surely spill the water back into the world. The animals put on a comedy show, and eventually Tiddalik burst out laughing at the gymnastic antics of a snake who tied herself in a knot. Sure enough, the water gushed from the frog and Tiddalik shrunk back down to his own size!
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| Glug! (David Clode) |
9. The Coquí Frog's Call
The coquí frog (so named for its co-kee call) of Puerto Rico is part of a love story between a goddess and a chieftain's son named Coquí. The story goes that a the goddess fell in love with this mortal and quietly helped him - whenever he went out to fish, he'd find a huge catch. Coquí was aware of the source of his fortune and would sing his gratitude to her.
One evening, the goddess took the form of a woman and spent the night with Coquí, promising to return the next moonrise... but she had been observed by another goddess, who sent a storm to snatch away the mortal.
The forlorn divinity is said to have either created or given a voice to the coquí frog, so they could act as a living memorial to her lost love.
10. The Legend Behind Bun Bang Fai Festival
The Bun Bang Fai festival in Thailand blends Buddhism with even older folklore and the rain god Phaya Thaen. It's a surprisingly blunt idea - farmers fire rockets into the air, "reminding" those concerned that they need to send rain.So what's this got to do with frogs? Well, it boils down to a heavenly rival Phaya Khankhak, the Toad King. One version of the tale sees Phaya Khankhak become beautiful thanks to having followed Buddhist teachings, drawing everyone's attention (and thus worship) away from Phaya Thaen. In retaliation, the rain god prevented precipitation from falling for seven years, seven months and seven days.
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| There was even such a thing as a toad doctor... (Mike Erskine) |
11. Frogs in Pharmaceutical Folklore
Some practitioners of folk medicine even specialized in amphibian-based cures, such as the "Toad Doctor" Dr Buckland from Pelham. His usual method was to hang living toads beneath the clothing of his patients, with which he claimed to cure conditions like Scrofula (a tubercular infection of the lymph nodes in the neck.) The condition was sometimes called "The King's Evil" as one cure was for the sovereign to touch the afflicted... but Dr Buckland held large fairs at Pulham each year, presumably providing easier access to a "cure."
12. Frog Weddings (and Divorces)
There's a belief in India that rain can be requested by marrying two frogs. In 2019, one such marriage was arranged in the hope that it would please Lord Indra, the Hindu god of storms - and that he would send rains to the drought stricken Bhopal region.
Ironically, the rite seems to have worked rather too well. Bhopal was the subject of excessive rain, so much so that areas were flooding. Around two months after the marriage, it was decided that the two frogs would have to get a divorce!
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| The egg of a rooster incubated by a toad could produce a deadly cockatrice... (Nick Fewings) |
13. Heqet and the OgdoadsThe Egyptian goddess Heqet could be depicted as a frog or as a chimera of frog and woman. Her spheres included regeneration and fertility - possibly thanks to the multitude of frogs that emerged before each flooding of the Nile.
Heqet was sometimes partnered with Khnum - he would create the bodies for the living on a potter's wheel, then Heqet would breath life into them before they were born.
There were also the Ogdoad, eight primeval deities split into four male-female pairs. Each pair looked after a concept - the primeval waters, eternity, darkness or air. The male members were typically represented as men with the heads of frogs, while female members were women with the head of snakes!
Interestingly, the Egyptian number hufnu (100,000) was represented by a frog - possibly a reference to the teeming masses of amphibians that would emerge from the Nile!
14. How the Cockatrice and Basilisk Were Incubated
Coming from ancient Greek myth is the legend of the basilisk, the king of serpents. Initially described as an incredibly venomous snake, the creature changed as it propagated through Europe - not only did rooster-like characteristics get added, a fanciful origin story involving roosters and toads was added to the mix.
Both the basilisk and cockatrice (a very similar legendary creature inspired by it) were said to be born from the egg of a rooster (yes, the male bird - and it might interest you to know that hens can sometimes develop characteristics that make them look male, but keep the ability to lay eggs) incubated by amphibians or sometimes serpents. The idea seems to have been that the toxic nature of their stepparent would influence the already strange egg, resulting in these hybrid creatures that could kill with a glance or their venomous presence alone!