Jawnomicon

Al

The Al is a shaggy, fiery-eyed demon of Armenian, Persian, and wider Caucasus and Central Asian tradition that haunts damp, low ground and is most feared for attacking women in childbirth and newborn infants.

At a glance

Tradition
Persian mythology
Region
Persia (place of origin)Central Asia (place of origin)
Trait family
The Great-Thewed

Near this figure

Traits

Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.

Form

  • Wild unkempt hair and burning eyes
    why

    a shaggy or matted body, eyes described as fiery or glowing

  • Hybrid of multiple animals
    why

    The descriptions given for it are consistently unlovely — a shaggy or matted body, eyes described as fiery or glowing, and a form that mixes human and animal features rather than settling into either, which is where its "half-human" reputation comes from. Its defining activity is preying on the vulnerable moment of childbirth.

Behaviour

  • Preys on pregnant women
    why

    The Al is a shaggy, fiery-eyed demon of Armenian, Persian, and wider Caucasus and Central Asian tradition that haunts damp, low ground and is most feared for attacking women in childbirth and newborn infants. The Al is attested across a broad band of related traditions — Armenian material sits alongside cognate figures in Persian, Georgian, and other Caucasus and Central Asian folklore, with names and details that vary by community but describe recognizably the same threat.

Sight and sound

Curses

  • Child stealing
    why

    It is said to enter the room or shelter where a woman is giving birth, to attack mother or newborn, and in the more elaborate tellings to steal or consume an internal organ — most often the liver or lungs — as the mechanism behind stillbirth or fatal childbed fever.

Roles

Judged from the works' own entries, not from the description. Carries: the figure holds the role. Meets: the role is in its stories, held by something it meets.