The Adventurers’ Pocket Guide to Mythical Creatures

Simurgh: an exciting combo of peacock, dog and lion in Persian mythology 
Thanks to Sadruddin Aga Khan Collection 

Title: The Adventurers’ Pocket Guide to Mythical Creatures 

Author: not known 

Publisher: not known 

Source book: A Stroke of the Pen by Terry Pratchett 

The Adventurers’ Pocket Guide to Mythical Creatures features in The Search for the Keys, one of the short stories in A Stroke of the Pen.

Kron, a not very bright action hero, sort of, whips out his Pocket Guide to Mythical Creatures to check whether the totally tied up little man he’s found behind a rock is a goblin, a dwarf or an elf? It sounds just like a tree identification book (I have lots) but instead of leaf shapes and whether the shoots are alternate or opposite, you can check for length of beard or hat colour. No, apparently he’s a gnome. So his hat is the wrong colour for him to be a goblin.

How you check what you have found if your mythical creature has left his hat at home today we do not know. And do flying lions, dragons or centaurs wear hats anyway? Well, maybe. But silly me. You check for wings or hoofs.

See also the Observer Book of British Demons.

Lamassu: a winged lion from Sumerian mythology 
Thanks to the Louvre