List of female monsters in literature

This is a list of female monsters in literature:

Before 1900

Antiquity (until fifth century AD)

• Greek mythology
• Amphitrite, an oceanid or nereid and wife of Poseidon
• Callirrhoe, an oceanid and wife of Poseidon
• Doris, an oceanid and mother of the Nereids
• Echidna, half-woman and half-snake
• Electra, an oceanid and mother of the Harpies
• Eurynome, an oceanid and the third wife of Zeus
• The three Gorgon sisters (Medusa, Euryale, and Stheno), with hair made of venomous snakes, turn anyone who looks at them to stone
• The Harpies, birds with the heads of women
• Lamia, a child-eating, disfigured monster
• Metis, an oceanid and first wife of Zeus
• The Nereids, oceanids
• Scylla and Charybdis, sea monsters living on opposite sides of a narrow strait
• The Sirens, women combined with birds, whose songs lured sailors to wreck their ships
• The Sphinx, the head of a woman and the body of a lion, said to have guarded the entrance to the city of Thebes
• Styx, an oceanid and wife of Pallas

Middle Ages

• Beowulf (c. 700–1000): Grendel's mother, a monster-woman
• Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson (c. 1220): The Valkyries, female creatures (often depicted as winged) of Norse mythology, who choose which fighters live and die in battle
• Roman de Mélusine by Jean d'Arras (1392–94): Mélusine, a water spirit of European folklore

Early modern period

• Paradise Lost by John Milton (1667): Sin, an allegorical character with the tail of a fish

Nineteenth century

• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818): Female version of the creature created by Victor Frankenstein – he destroys it before it can be brought to life
• The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen (1837): The title character is a mermaid
• The Succubus by Honoré de Balzac (1837): A succubus disguised as a woman
• Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu (1871–2): Carmilla, a vampire who preys upon young women
• The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells (1896): Half-finished puma-woman created by Dr Moreau, who eventually fights and kills him
• The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen (1894): Helen, the child of the character Mary and the Greek god Pan

Twentieth century

1950s

• The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien (1954): Shelob is a gigantic female spider

1960s

• Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey (1967–2012): Ramoth and --Ruth--(note: Ruth is actually a male dragon), dragons
• Vampirella comic book series, created by Forrest J Ackerman (1969–83): Vampirella, a vampire

1970s

• Lila the Werewolf by Peter S. Beagle (1974): Lila, a young female werewolf living in New York City

1980s

• The Belgariad series by David Eddings (1982–4): Dryads, female human-like creatures, bound to oak trees
• Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter (1984): Fevvers, a circus performer claims to be part-swan
• Vampire Princess Miyu by Toshiki Hirano (1989–2002): Miyu, half-human and half-vampire

1990s

• Tehanu and The Other Wind by Ursula K. Le Guin (1990, 2001): Tehanu, part-human and part-dragon
• ' series by Laurell K. Hamilton (1993–present): Many female are vampires, shapeshifters, and other creatures. In the later books, Anita Blake becomes a succubus.
• Animorphs series by K. A. Applegate and Michael Grant (1996–2001): Rachel and Cassie, can transform into any animal they touch
• Aprilhäxan by Majgull Axelsson (1997): Desirée, 'the April witch', a shape-shifting monster