Mythic creatures come to life through legend at MSU

Dragons, unicorns and mermaids are thought to be imaginary creatures... but they are coming to life through legend, at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman this fall.

YPR's Orlinda Worthington explains.

"It's really exciting to think of it going everywhere in the United States. It's so fun that it's coming to the Museum of the Rockies."

Adrienne Mayor is talking about the exhibit of the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman on Mythic Creatures. Mayor is an author and scholar in classics and the history of science at Stanford University. The traveling exhibit was based, in part, on her research.

"So my talk on Thursday is going to be looking at what sorts of mysterious things found in nature might have led prescientific people, people of antiquity, indigenous people, to believe that dragons, unicorns, sea monsters, Thunderbirds and other fantastic creatures of myth and legend were not just imaginary stories, but somehow real," Mayor said.

Mayor interviewed people on the Crow and Blackfeet reservations in Montana as part of her research. They shared stories handed down from their elders about the big bones, birds and reptiles found on their land long before scientists began studying dinosaurs.

"Native Americans had some very perceptive insights and interpretations that are very accurate in their concept. We'll see that those were very perceptive and actually played a role in the history of paleontology in In America, especially in the West," Mayor said.

You can hear more stories and research from Mayor Thursday, September 19 at the Museum of the Rockies. Visit their website for details. In Billings, I'm Orlinda Worthington.

Adrienne Mayor is a historian of ancient science and warfare, and a classical folklorist who investigates natural knowledge contained in pre-scientific myths and oral traditions.