Oh No! There's a Gorgon in My Soup Quiz

Answer: The gargoyle

Greek mythology tells us of the three Gorgon sisters Stheno, Euryale and Medusa. The first two of these were immortal, but the Medusa could be slain - if one found a way to overcome her most terrifying power, the ability to turn anyone who saw her face to stone. Perseus managed to kill her by never looking directly at her but instead using the reflection from his shield to locate the creature and aim the blows of his sword.

Her severed head obviously wound up in this soup. Three of the diners could not say much anymore, but since a gargoyle is already made of stone, he was able to warn the other patrons and prevent a greater disaster by quickly covering the bowl again.

Answer: A minotaur

Deeply rooted in Greek myth, minotaurs are a hybrid of man and bull with the man's body carrying the bull's head. The legends themselves tell only the story of one minotaur - born as the offspring of a divinely created bull and King Minos' wife - but at the same time, there is no indication in the story that the creature was the only one of its kind. Bulls created by the gods, usually with the intent that the recipient would sacrifice them back to their creators, appear in several Greek legends and with almost the same regularity, the so favored did not repay the debt, instead betraying the god, usually with disastrous consequences.

Answer: A wail that would mean someone's death

Banshee (also spelled as Bean sidhe) are rooted in Gaelic mythology. Usually depicted as a female spirit clad in dreary, grey garb, the Banshee gives a wail when someone is about to die. Depending on the exact source, this wail can be anything from a pleasant, soothing chant to an ear-splitting cry.

Modern fantasy literature usually emphasizes the latter aspect of the Banshee, sometimes distorting the legend to make the Banshee's cry not just the indication but rather the reason for someone's death, thus creating a terrifying weapon.

Answer: Gilles from France, "wings"

The dragon myth exists almost worldwide and almost all depictions agree that the creature is of reptilian build with scales and powerful, clawed legs and strong teeth. However, the interpretation that dragons are always winged creatures with powerful flight capabilities is a uniquely European one - dragons in other cultures often have only very small or no wings at all and non-flying dragons are more common than their flying counterparts.

Answer: A tall, nature-loving forest dweller with pointed ears

Elves appear in various shapes in Germanic and Nordic mythology. In the earliest Norse records, they appear as one of three classes of supranatural being, the other two being Aesir (the greater gods of the Edda) and Vanir. In this mythology, they are also closely related to dwarves which are in some works described as dark or black elves.

In old English mythology, elves are close in character to the way they are depicted in the "Harry Potter" series, with a penchant for mischief, but are sometimes also shown as winged, fairy-like beings.

In German myth, they do not have consistent physical features, but are also mischievous in nature and somewhat dark as they can bring bad dreams (the German word "Alptraum", meaning nightmare, literally translates as "Elf-dream").

The elves we see in most modern fantasy settings, however, are based on Victorian-era folklore and essentially appear in their modern shape for the first time in J.R.R. Tolkien's works.

Answer: An elephant

The Egyptian pantheon was full of animal-headed divinities that might well be considered "beasts". Often, they were even composed of multiple animals, like Tawaret, whose hippopotamus head went with lion paws, a crocodile back and the torso of a pregnant woman. Khepri, the creation god, had a complete scarab as his head on an otherwise human body and Anubis, god of embalming, was mostly depicted as a jackal-headed male.

Answer: Silver bullets

The classic werewolf myth involves otherwise normal human beings who turn into raging, feral beasts on the night of a full moon. Other animal transformations also occasionally appear in literature, but the wolf form is the most frequent form of lycanthropy as this type of affliction is called. Going mad or berserk under the full moon also appears in other mythical contexts - a fact still remembered in the word "lunatic".

Answer: A balam

The four balam are jaguars from Mexican mythology. They are guardians of nature. The other three are at least part bird - the roc is a giant Arabian bird of legend while the harpy and tengu are human-bird mixtures from Greek and Japanese mythology.

Answer: A merrow

Merrow are rather similar to mermaids - humanoid beings with a fish tail. There are males and females of this species. Selkies are also aquatic half-human, usually female, beings, but their marine part is rather that of a seal. A puca or phooka is a goblinoid creature often appearing shape-shifted into a goat or horse. A dullahan, finally, is one of the many types of faerie.

Answer: A vampire

These four creature types, today all staple undead of fantasy, actually come from very different cultures: The ghoul has its origin in Arabian myth, the zombie in African and Hawaiian voodoo, "wight" is an old English word originally simply meaning "man" and vampires are most prominently rooted in Central European culture. Of these four, only the vampire is a strictly nocturnal creature - all others can be active in daylight.