Jon Solo Sebastian 04/06/2024:

The Saytr is my monster of the week this week! I suppose I shouldn’t call it a monster, but cryptid of the week, or folktale of the week or creature feature don’t sound as catchy to me. I cannot recall where I heard the word Saytr recently, but my research senses tingled and off to the Google Search I went. The images in the search results reminded me of something I’d seen before, and then I saw the word “faun” and clicked on that.

What is a Saytr?

Mr. Tumnus started out as a bad guy, but ended up becoming a good friend to Lucy in the Narnia story; Saytr’s on the other hand, are a bit nasty and not friendly. Saytr comes from Greek Mythology, and are creatures of the wild. They are part man, part goat or horse, and are closely tied to Dionysus the god of wine and ecstasy. They have a goat tail, goat legs, ears, and horns. They have human facial features, long beards, receding hairline with long mangy hair, and like humans, they walk upright on their goat legs.

“Saytrs were often guilty of excessive sexual desires and overindulgence of wine. These shaggy and unruly creatures lived wild in the forests and symbolized the dangers of unrestraint. Saytrs are frequently depicted in ancient art, typically causing havoc by attacking women and performing lewd tricks with wine cups. They could be more industrious when Dionysus put them to work making wine.”

Aside from making wine and being total jerks, they’re extremely skilled musicians, highly intelligent, and have the mischievous behavior not unlike a Norse god I’ve mentioned in some of my other pieces. They are fascinating creatures, but I would prefer the Faun over the Saytr; only because if anything, Mr. Tumnus redeemed himself and chose to be good and nice.

Sightings

I’m always checking to see if there have been any reported sightings of the creatures I write about. I’d be liar if I said I didn’t want to find actual proof of any of these beasts existing. Maybe once I make my first billion (insert eye roll), I’ll become a monster hunter! Apparently a monster had been seen standing on top of a one hundred foot high railroad trestle in eastern Louisville, Kentucky. The railroad sets over Pope Lick Creek, and people have reported seeing the half man, half goat standing there over many years. This isn’t much to chew on, but it’s possible people were seeing the Saytr in Kentucky.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any other potential sightings to report on. If they exist, I imagine seeing one is as likely as walking through a wardrobe and entering Narnia.