What were Woodwoses/Satyrs?

[Laisrean]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodwose
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satyrs

Whatever they are, or were, they seem to have disappeared from European forests during the middle-ages...

My theory? I don't think it is impossible that small pockets of Neanderthals persisted in European forests until quite recently. Anyone seen the movie "The 13th Warrior"? :viking:

[PoisonIvy]

It's been awhile,but I've seen 13th Warrior.

[SageofThyme]

Well there is some doubt as to if Neanderthals actually lived in Europe (the skeleton found dosn't seem old enough according to modern day tests)

But i do believe some "creatures" are folk memory of early mankind

[Trithemius]

Well there is some doubt as to if Neanderthals actually lived in Europe (the skeleton found dosn't seem old enough according to modern day tests)

Huh? Neanderthal remains have been found all over Europe. There's no doubt they lived there. The only debate about the Neanderthals that I'm aware of is how much overlap and contact they may have had with modern humans.

Regarding the woodwose, it's possible that they could have been a leftover Neanderthal population. Some people think that's exactly what the Almas of Central Asia are, and there have been reports of sightings of them well into the 20th century.

The satyrs are kind of a strange case. People have reported seeing "goatmen" that match the classical description of the satyr - upper torso of a man, legs and horns of a goat, sometimes playing panpipes. One account I read, from the late 70's or early 80's, was about a woman who as a girl saw a smallish goatman a number of times during her childhood. She stated that when she told the mother of a friend, the mother was surprised and said that she had also seen this figure during her childhood. Each woman described independently the song the "goatman" played on his pipes, and the descriptions were identical. This incident took place in New Mexico, I think.

[Laisrean]

Well there is some doubt as to if Neanderthals actually lived in Europe (the skeleton found dosn't seem old enough according to modern day tests)

You might be confusing Neanderthals with Homo Florensis which was the "Hobbit" species recently discovered in Indonesia last year.

Neanderthals were all over Europe, the middle-east, and parts of central asia (I think). They supposedly died out about 250,000 years ago. They are named after the Neander valley in Germany where the first skeleton was discovered.

Anyway, the fact that the bones of an entirely unknown hominid species were discovered just last year means that there could be so much more out there that we don't know about.

I doubt Neanderthals could still exist, but what is unreasonable about believing they could have existed into the middle-ages? It may be only a matter of time before a Neanderthal skeleton dated to just 2,000 years ago turns up. That would be a truly amazing discovery.

Edit: Anyone familiar with the Sumerian legend of Enkidu and Gilgamesh? Enkidu sounds suspiciously like he could be a Neanderthal. And we do know that Neanderthals did exist in the area at one time.

[Laisrean]

The satyrs are kind of a strange case. People have reported seeing "goatmen" that match the classical description of the satyr - upper torso of a man, legs and horns of a goat, sometimes playing panpipes. One account I read, from the late 70's or early 80's, was about a woman who as a girl saw a smallish goatman a number of times during her childhood. She stated that when she told the mother of a friend, the mother was surprised and said that she had also seen this figure during her childhood. Each woman described independently the song the "goatman" played on his pipes, and the descriptions were identical. This incident took place in New Mexico, I think.

Yeah, I think it might have been a mistake for me to have lumped Satyrs and woodwoses together as I did. I apologize for that.

Perhaps the Satyrs are spiritual beings and the Woodwoses are something more physical? That would be my guess. Goat's hooves are not a hominid trait so I doubt we can explain Satyrs away as physical creatures so easily.

[WokeUpDead]

My guess would be an urban legend like Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster