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Devourer

A devourer, in a religious/mythological context, is an entity of immense destructive power who in one way or another is associated with death, destruction, or even the end of the world.

Egyptian Mythology

A soul being judged before Osiris with Ammit the Devourer waiting beneath the scale, waiting to see if the verdict if guilty

Apophis Egyptain god of Evil, Chaos, Darkness, and Destruction

There are several devourer entities in Egyptian mythos, but the most well known would be Apophis (or Apep). Apophis is the God of Darkness, Chaos, Evil and Destruction who was the brother of Ra. Every night, Ra would descend into the underworld to start the cycle for the next day. During this time, Apophis would attempt to devour him, thus preventing the sun from rising the next day, and destroying the world. In this story, Apophis is clearly seen as a devourer entity as he devourers the sun and ends the world. Another devourer in the Egyptian mythos is Ammit the Devourer. Ammit is different in that she does not seek to destroy the world, but instead is used as way to judge the dead. When people die they are brought before Osiris where their life would be weighed against the feather of Ma’at. Should their evil actions in life outweigh their good actions, then Ammit would devour their heart, granting them a ‘second death’ of sorts. In this instance, Ammit is not an agent of evil, but punishment for the guilty dead.

Greek Mythology

Theseus slaying the Minotaur in the Labyrinth

Charbdis eating sailers along side Scylla

In Greek mythology, there are a plethora of hungry monsters and vengeful gods, an example of which being the Minotaur. The Minotaur (which roughly translates to Bull of Minos) was the son of the Cretan queen Pasiphae and a bull. When the Minotaur was no longer satisfied with the nursing of his mother, it was found that he was very fond of eating human flesh. So Minos, the king of Crete and the Minotaur's step-father, ordered the great architect Daedalus to build a great labyrinth for his step-son. With the Minotaur imprisoned in the labyrinth, Minos demanded that Athens send seven maidens and seven youths to be sacrificed to his monstrous son every nine years. After several years of this the son of the king of Athens, Theseus, was eventually chosen to be sacrificed to the Minotaur, who he swore to slay. When he succeeded in slaying the Minotaur he returned home with one of the princess of Crete, Phaedra, he was crowned king after his father had killed himself in grief believing his son to be dead. In this story the Minotaur was a literal devourer of mankind, similar to another monster from Greek myths Charybdis. Charybdis, before she became a monster, was the the daughter of Poseidon and Gaea, and served her father well in his eternal war with Zeus. For she would flood large swaths of land and claim the it for her father. Eventually Zeus became so angry over how Charybdis would take so much of his land he cursed her to eat only sea water until the end of time, thus creating endless whirlpools. He then placed her opposite of a cliff which held Scylla a monster with several dog heads on long tendrils, which she used to snatch sailors off their ship. With Charybdis, one could say she was a monster from the beginning due to her flooding large patches of land and more than likely drowning a lot of people in the process. But one could also argue that she was a loyal daughter who was but a victim of war.

Norse Mythology

Nidhoggr gnawing at the roots of Yggdrasil

Hati and Skoll pursuing Sól and Máni

Within Norse mythology, there are many devourers who hungered for several things: from the end of all creation, to freedom from an arguably unjust punishment. On one end of the scale, there is Nidhoggr, a great dragon who lies beneath the roots of the great ash tree Yggdrasil, who’s branches and roots touch all nine realms of existence: Midgard (Earth), Vanaheimr, Asgard, jotunheimr, Alfheimr, Nidavellir, Svartalfar, Niflheim, Muspelheim, and Hel. According to legend, Nidhoggr gnaws at the roots of Yggdrasil and will one day chew through them all, toppling the world tree and bringing about Ragnarok: the end of everything. Once again we have a serpent figure who seeks to start the end of the world. On the opposite end of the spectrum we have Hati and Skoll, the twin sons of Fenrir (or Fenris). When their father Fenrir was chained to a boulder, the twin wolves rushed out to avenge their father, but they too were captured. Seeing a use for them, The Allfather Odin cast them into the heavens to nip at the heels of the Sun and Moon. Before Odin cast Hati and Skoll to the heavens, the godess of the sun Sól and god of the moon Máni were lazy and would often stop their movement in the heavens to watch the mortals below. With this, Hati and Skoll would chase the Sun and Moon, unless the they were doing their job in which case the brothers could do whatever they wanted until the sun and moon lazed once again, until they finally devour the Sun and Moon and reunite with their father on the battle fields of Ragnarok.

Shinto Mythology

Susano-o cutting Yamata-no-Orochi to pieces

Izanami (left) and Izanagi (right) creating the landmasses which would become Japan

Among the many legends of Japan, from yokai (japanese demons), to vengeful spirits, to even the gods themselves, the stories of Japan are vast and varied. One of these stories is the tale of Yamata-no-Orochi. Yamata-no-Orochi was an eight headed serpent whose body stretched over hills and filled valleys. He was responsible for the deaths for seven of the eight daughters of an elderly couple who’s eighth daughter, Kushinada-hime, went on to become the wife of Susano-o the God of the seas. Susano-o slew Orochi when the serpent sought to devour Kushinada-hime as well. Yamata-no-Orochi was a monster of epic proportions that took a god to kill it, but what if a god was a devourer as well. Izanami-no-Mikoto was the goddess of Creation and Death, she along with her husband Izanagi were the ones to create the landmasses which would become Japan. When Izanami gave birth to her second child Kagutsuchi, the god of fire, she was so horribly burned that she was sent to Yomi the land of the dead. When a grief-stricken Izanami ventured in to Yomi to find her, he was horrified to find his once beautiful wife rotting and covered in maggots for she had eaten the food of the dead. As Izanami fled through the entrance to Yomi, pursued by Izanami, he slammed a boulder in front of the entrance sealing it forever. Izanami said that if he (Izanagi) left her than she would kill one thousand of his creations every day, to which Izanagi said that he would simply create one thousand five hundred things every day before leaving. Some could argue that Izanagi was petty to leave his wife simply because she was ugly, while other would say that it’s cruel to kill one thousand things every day simply because your husband left you.