The Institute of Geological Sciences of the University of Wrocław is inviting participants to a program “Secrets of the Earth and the Universe”. On Saturday, November 23, Jolanta Muszer will deliver a lecture “Mythical beasts and fossils, or about a grain of truth”.

Who has not heard myths and legends about dangerous dragons, brave griffins, powerful giants or cyclops? Or stories about unicorn, devil nails, Tengu claws and many other beasts. In Poland, there were also beliefs about lightning stones and devil’s footprints.

The lecture will present examples of mythical creatures and deities from around the world. The lecturers will consider the origins of these stories and by what they could have been inspired. They will try to answer the question whether myths and legends are only the result of the wild imagination of travelers, or whether they are based on found fragments of fossils, whose presence could not be explained in the past.