Mythical creatures of Europe

Abstract

The map of Mythical Creatures of Europe represents information on 213 mythical creatures of 68 types that are described in folk-lore of European countries. It is compiled from data collected by MSc students in Cartography at Vilnius University in Lithuania in 2011, totalling approximately 1200 man hours. Among numerous sources of information on mythical creatures, this map and database are unique as they contain geographic references and information on the living environment of so many creatures. Only the most reliable information has been included in the informative and visually attractive wall map. The project included planning, analysis of feasibility, data collection, verification, generalisation and filtering, classification of information on mythical creatures, building the GIS database, analysis of data, and cartographic visualisation. The map described in this paper was finalised in 2012 and designed with special focus on attractiveness for the user. The reference scale of the printed map is 1:7,200,000 and contains an inset of Greece at scale 1:4,000,000. The size of the map image is 62.5 × 83 cm. It is complemented by textual descriptions of each of 213 creatures. The relational database and exhaustive project documentation are available for further updates and development. © 2013 Giedrė Beconytė.