Creature Feature: Harpies

In this column I talk about some of the more unusual fantasy creatures and/or creatures it would be cool to see in books.

"Harpy". Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harpy.PNG#mediaviewer/File:Harpy.PNG

I'm starting this series with a greatly underused creature from Greek myth.  

Harpies are:

“Huge predatory birds with the faces of women and the talons of eagles, used by the gods to punish or torment humans.” (Encyclopedia of Things That Never Were by Michael Page & Robert Ingpen, p.195)

Their name comes from the Greek word ‘snatchers’, which aptly describes what they do.  They scream as they fall upon their prey and their stench is overpowering. 

Sound cool, don’t they?