Awesome or Off-Putting is a weekly delve into cryptozoology, ufology, aliens, medical marvels, scientific wonders, secret societies, government conspiracies, cults, ghosts, EVPs, myths, ancient artifacts, religion, strange facts, odd sightings or just the plain unexplainable.
This week: Cryptozoology/Myths
The Clutchbone is the name of a seven-foot monster that used to stumble around Nordic countries in the 1800s. It had flames for a head, and used to kill its prey by burning and dismemberment. The legend particularly interests us as we've only known about it for just over a week. Not only that, but the internet has but little information on the creature – but what it does have we've assembled for you right here!
Because we want you all completely informed.
Here's a physical description of the Clutchbone as found on History mania!:
"…black in colour, between 190 and 230 cm tall and with leathery skin, the Clutchbone is said to have a head consisting of a lit torch positioned within a large, raised collar of material resembling rawhide. Other variations of the general description of the creature describe the collar as consisting of a sort of meshed black metal."
Clutchbone sightings were reported in England, The US, Finland and Sweden, and generally included the creature burning and dismembering its victims. We've found nowhere online that explains why specifically the creature allegedly killed, and we've come across absolutely no specific accounts of his murderous ways, but we did find this:
"Violent events featuring the Clutchbone often followed previous sightings of lightening balls created by severe weather conditions leading some to assume that such a creature might arrive into this dimension or world by way of these natural phenomena."
Its also been described that even while standing still the creature would bend, sway and bow constantly, perhaps implying the above mentioned inter-dimensional presence. Other than these scraps of information the general scarcity of documentation on the beasty makes us pretty dubious as to its historical presence – mythological or actual. But this lack of information has also been explained away:
"The chronology of accounts relating to the Clutchbone is uncertain at best, due to the largely oral nature of the legend."
For a horrible murderous creature to exist only orally in the 17 and 18 hundreds sounds pretty preposterous. The printing press was in full swing and people were glued to stories like Jack the Ripper and Spring Heeled Jack. Any account of a crazed-killer in this time frame, be it exaggerated, fictional or otherwise, would have moved tons of newspapers. Editors would have no reason not to print the tales.
What's more, Wikipedia had a Clutchbone article that was taken to some sort of in-house court to decide the story's validity. It was determined that the story lacked all merit, and it was removed completely.
So the Clutchbone's not even good enough for Wikipedia? That's interesting as the story of the three-foot alligator that's lived in our Aunt Clara's stomach for 20-something years has been posted since 2003.
We're just saying…
Read More:
Wikipedia : Articles For Deletion/The Clutchbone – Wikipedia
Madison says
So i was wondering if you could send me any links or refrence material??
THanx!!!
Alison (Talking Hairdo News Anchor) CBS says
Note: We did try to reach the Clutchbone’s agent for a comment on the various allegations. However, our calls were not returned.
C. Casey Gardiner says
When it comes to personal demons, I sure can pick ’em!
You’re going to love this. When I was in elementary school, about nine or ten years old, I had a horrible nightmare. It was one of the worst nightmares I have ever had in my entire thirty-year life, and so I still can recall it fairly vividly.
There was a monster in this nightmare, of course, and the monster was a tall, rocky, oily, leathery-looking creature with a spout of flame coming from his neck or head, which had a charred-yet-somehow-rotten appearance. The thing stalked around this landscape of decay and destruction with this unquenchable rage (which was reflected by the intensity of the flame that shot out of its head). Because it was a dream, I couldn’t close my eyes, or look away, and I was made to watch this thing storm around, and burn things, and break things, and kill things, while some droll English documentarian narrated what was going on in this mocking, humorous way, as if it were funny to watch, instead of being extremely terrifying, which it was.
This all went on for far too long, and might have been the worst part of the dream, except I “woke up” into another dream where I believed I was safe, and I told someone about what I had seen and been through, and they comforted me, and turned out the lights, and then, at the end of the darkened hallway, I saw the monster again, lurching toward me.
Naturally, I woke up screaming, and pissed my entire family off.
I tried to communicate to others just how scary this experience had been, and I even drew a picture, rendered in pre-teen graphic detail, but when I tried to put it into words or images, it just looked stupid and impotent.
Despite years of studying myths and legends from all over the world, I never found out about the Clutchbone until today, some twenty years later, when I went online to read some folklore articles for research for my first YA urban fantasy novel, “Rabbit! Rabbit! Rabbit” (which hopefully, you’ll be seeing online soon, in about a month.) The Clutchbone won’t be making an appearance in this book, it’s five hundred pages long, and already has its own monsters, but I have to say I am amazed at the similarities between this legend and the thing I saw in that nightmare over two decades ago.
I mean, wow.
Who knew my boogeyman was TWO HUNDRED YEARS old?
Thanks for the memories.
-C. Casey Gardiner