In Arab folklore, Nasnas (Arabic: نسناس, romanized: nasnās, plural nisānis) is a monstrous creature. According to Edward Lane, the 19th-century translator of One Thousand and One Nights, a nasnas is "half a human being; having half a head, half a body, one arm, one leg, with which it hops with much agility".
In Somali folklore there is a similar creature called xunguruuf (Somali pronunciation: [ħunguruːf]). It is believed it can kill a person by just touching them and the person would be fleshless in mere seconds.
It was believed to be the offspring of a jinn called a Shiqq (الشق) and a human being.
A character in "The Story of the Sage and the Scholar", a tale from the collection, is turned into a nasnas after a magician applies kohl to one of his eyes. The nasnas is mentioned in Gustave Flaubert's The Temptation of Saint Anthony.
See also[edit]
Sources[edit]
- Robert Irwin The Arabian Nights: a Companion (Penguin, 1994)
- Jorge Luis Borges The Book of Imaginary Beasts (Penguin, 1974)
Well, that’s interesting to know that Psilotum nudum are known as whisk ferns. Psilotum nudum is the commoner species of the two. While the P. flaccidum is a rare species and is found in the tropical islands. Both the species are usually epiphytic in habit and grow upon tree ferns. These species may also be terrestrial and grow in humus or in the crevices of the rocks.
View the detailed Guide of Psilotum nudum: Detailed Study Of Psilotum Nudum (Whisk Fern), Classification, Anatomy, Reproduction