Rukh

Hello and welcome back to Fab Figmentals!

I’m Lindsey Morse, your guide through the realm of curious creatures, magical monsters, and beautiful beasts. Each week on this podcast, we explore a different legendary creature by looking at its history and folklore. We start with a story, and then go on to take a look at the creature’s origins and how it’s been portrayed throughout the ages.

In today’s episode, we’re heading to the Middle East to visit the Rukh, a gigantic bird of prey big enough to block out the sun. 

Said to resemble an eagle, but much larger and stronger, the Rukh is believed to hail from the island of Madagscar, and is said to feast on elephants, giant snakes, and— sometimes— even men. It has a forked, snake-like tongue, and a sharp, pointy beak. 

For today’s story, we’re dipping into the classic collection of Middle Eastern folk tales known as One Thousand and One Nights— also sometimes known in English as Arabian Nights. The stories contained in this collection, which include Aladdin and the Magic Lamp, The Fisherman and the Jinni, and Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves, were collected and compiled over many centuries and first published back in the 1300's. Our story today is a relatively late addition, and first appeared in publications from the 17th and 18th centuries. It’s an excerpt from: The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor. 

Each of Sinbad’s seven voyages is told as a story, and again and again Sinbad sets out to sea for adventure but is marooned or shipwrecked. Each time, he faces great danger and loss, and in the course of his voyages encounters magical realms, monsters, and supernatural forces. However, each time, through a combination of resourcefulness and luck, he returns home with a great fortune.

Twice in his travels he comes across the Rukh, and today we’re going to explore these encounters. We first meet the Rukh during Sinbad’s second Voyage. 

Let’s set the scene:

Sinbad returns home to Baghdad from his first voyage with vast riches, and sets to work spending his money and building an estate. But he grows restless. He explains: “a time came when the wandering spirit seized me again and I longed for the sight, even for the perils, of other and unknown lands.” So, he sets out again for adventure on the high seas. And before long, his ship comes upon a lush, uninhabited island filled with brightly plumed birds, exotic fruits, and rare flowers. Sinbad leaves the ship to explore and meditate, and while he’s ashore his crew accidentally leaves him behind. 

We pick up the story here, with Sinbad exploring the island and trying to figure out how he’s going to get back to civilization: 

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I climbed to the top of a high tree, and, looking forth in every direction, saw only sky and sea and trees and watercourses. As I gazed, however, my eye reverted again and again to an object in a distant part of the island. It was round and white, and of enormous size. This aroused my curiosity and I resolved to find out what it was. Having marked its position I descended from the tree and made my way towards it. When I reached it I found to my astonishment that it was a gigantic dome, white and shining. My first thought was to walk round it to ascertain if there were some door or opening, but none could I find in its whole circumference, which was about fifty paces.

While I was meditating on some means to gain an entrance to this strange structure, behold, the sky darkened; and on looking towards the sinking sun, I saw it was hidden by a great black cloud,—an unwonted thing, as it was the summer season. While I continued to gaze the object drew rapidly nearer, and now I could discern in it the shape of a monstrous bird approaching swiftly through the air; and this it was that blotted out the sun.

Marvelling greatly I recalled a story told by travellers about certain islands where was found a bird of immense size called the rukh, which fed its young on elephants. It was then I knew that the great white dome I had discovered was one of this bird’s eggs,—at which, not the least of the Creator’s works, I wondered greatly. Then, while I so wondered, the giant bird alighted over the egg, and, crouching down, spread its wings and brooded over it, and composed itself to sleep.

Here, thought I, was a chance of escaping from the island. Unfolding my turban I twisted it into a rope, and bound one end of it tightly about my waist; then I approached the great bird cautiously, and fastened the other end securely to one of its feet; for thus, when it flew away, it might perchance bear me through the air to some inhabited region.

The whole night long I lay awake thinking of my projected flight, but it was not until morning that the bird awoke, and, with a loud cry, rose from the egg, bearing me aloft. Higher and higher it soared, until I thought it must reach the stars; then, gradually, in vast circles, it descended, and finally came to earth on a high table-land. In great fear lest the bird should discover my presence I made haste to loose the turban from its foot, and, having done so, I crept away, trembling in every limb. Then, as I watched the bird from a distance, I observed it pick something from the ground and soar away with it clutched in its talons; and I looked again and saw that it was an enormous serpent twisting and writhing in the grasp of the bird as it flew swiftly towards the sea. And at this strange thing I wondered greatly as I folded my turban.

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Sinbad discovers that he has landed in a valley inhabited by giant snakes, but also one carpeted with diamonds, and devises a plan to escape with as many gems as he can carry. Like Sinbad’s first voyage, this one ends in happiness and riches.

We next meet the Rukh during Sinbad’s 5th voyage. 

Again and again he has set out for adventure, faced adversity, and returned home with newfound riches. And in preparing fo his 5th voyage, he decides that he now has enough money to afford his own ship. So he purchases one,, hires himself a crew, and sets out on yet another voyage. 

We pick up the story here, right after Sinbad’s new ship has set sail on a trading route with nearby islands. 

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We worked our way outwards, calling at island after island, and doing the usual business that merchants find in those places, until one day we came to a large uninhabited island.

Here, while I was engaged in matters concerning the vessel, the merchants landed and, as I afterwards learned, they found there the great egg of a rukh, such as I had met with on a former voyage. Mistaking it for a deserted structure, and, failing to find an entrance, they had amused themselves by casting stones at it, so that it broke; whereupon a young rukh came forth from the shell. And they set upon this monstrous chicken in its helpless condition, and slew it, and brought great slabs of its flesh back to the ship.

When I heard what they had done I was sore afraid and reproached them for their rash action. “For, look you,” I said, “there is not a doubt the mother rukh will seek to revenge the loss of her young, and, seeing our ship, will attribute the deed to us, and attack us and destroy us.” But they neither heeded my warning nor repented of their rash action.

The vengeance of the rukh was sudden and dire. Scarce had I spoken when the sun was obscured from our sight, and, looking up, we beheld the gigantic bird descending upon the island. When it saw that its egg had been broken and its young one destroyed it flew above us, looking down at the ship and shrieking in a voice that filled the sky. On this it was joined by its mate, and the two circled round us, their hoarse cries of rage falling like thunder on the sea. In great fear I bade the master and the sailors hoist the sails and seek safety in flight.

Then, as soon as we began to draw off from the island, the rukhs left us and flew inland, so that we thought we had made good our escape. But soon they reappeared and came after us, each bearing in its talons a huge mass of rock. One of them flew above us and dropped the rock, so that we saw death descending upon us. But the great mass missed the ship by a narrow space, and, falling close astern, raised such a commotion of waves that the ship was flung up on a mountain of water and then hurled down against the bottom of the sea before little by little she came to rest on the level tide. Then the other rukh dropped the rock from its talons, and fate ordained that it struck the ship astern with a mighty crash. Amid cries of fear and despair we sank into the sea, and all seemed lost.

How I survived the shock and turmoil of that sudden shipwreck I cannot describe clearly, for I was like one stunned or wrenched from his mind apart. How I sought to save myself is gone from me by reason of the extreme peril. I can imagine only that I touched some wreckage and clung to it, for, when my mind returned to me, I found myself on the shore of an island sitting upon a plank, which, it seemed had borne me hither. That I had fought against wind and wave I knew, for I was well nigh exhausted. I could do nothing more than drag myself painfully to a sheltered spot, where I rested and slept.

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Despite this seeming despair, once again, Sinbad makes it home safely and with even more wealth in tow. And you’ll be glad to hear that his final two voyages also end well for him. Suffice it to say, he lives happily ever after. 

But I think that’s enough about Sinbad. Let’s now turn our attention to the Rukh. 

As we saw in today’s story, the Rukh is so enormous that Sinbad mistakes one of its eggs for a great domed building. We’re told it takes him 50 paces to walk around it, so let’s do some math. 50 paces roughly translates to about 200 feet, so we know the circumference of the egg is about 200 feet. With that in mind, we can calculate that the diameter of the egg is around 63 feet. For reference, your standard hot air balloon is about 50 feet in diameter, so— yeah— that’s pretty big. 

Of course, the Sinbad story has been around for a very long time, and it’s possible that the rukh got bigger and bigger over multiple retellings for increased dramatic impact. To be fair, other sources only give a full-grown rukh a 48-foot wingspan, which is quite a bit smaller. I think it’s safe to say a bird with a 48 foot wingspan couldn’t lay a 63 foot wide egg. 

Although the Rukh first appeared in stories and tales from the East, word of the great bird spread to the West in the 13th century when Marco Polo referred to it in accounts of his travels. Though he did not claim to see the bird for himself, he narrated tales he heard from Arab navigators who reportedly encountered it near Madagascar. 

He said:

“It was for all the world like an eagle, but one indeed of enormous size; so big in fact that its quills were twelve paces long and thick in proportion. And it is so strong that it will seize an elephant in its talons and carry him high into the air and drop him so that he is smashed to pieces; having so killed him, the bird swoops down on him and eats him at leisure.”

Thanks to Marco Polo word of the Rukh quickly expanded west, and by the 16th century many Europeans accepted its existence as a real— albeit exotic— animal. 

Michael Drayton, an English Elizabethan-era poet, known for his didactic verse and historical epics, included the Rukh in a 1604 poem that envisioned all the pairs of animals being loaded onto Noah’s ark. 

It reads: 

All feathered things yet ever knowne to men,

From the huge Rucke, unto the little Wren;

From Forrest, Fields, from Rivers and from Pons,

All that have webs, or cloven-footed ones;

To the Grand Arke, together friendly came,

Whose severall species were too long to name.

There are a couple of theories about how the legend of the Rukh came to be. The first is simply that a centuries-long game of telephone went off the rails: that rumors of the Rukh grew out of stories about hawks or eagles that were increasingly exaggerated over time. There are actual accounts of large eagles carrying off newborn lambs, and it’s not hard to see how this might give rise to stories about a bird large enough to carry off an elephant. 

But the other theory is my favorite. 

Some have blamed the ostrich. While certainly familiar to those living on the African continent, travelers from Europe and India would likely have been mystified by the large, flightless ostrich. It has been theorized that these travelers might have mistaken them as the young chicks of a much larger species. Which kind of makes sense. Their unusual appearance and inability to fly definitely back up this theory. And, for me, their bald heads conjure up images of baby birds who haven’t yet grown in their feathers. 

But, I think we should take a moment to thank our lucky stars that these travelers were wrong. Ostriches are sometimes aggressive, and— especially when provoked— have been known to deliver lethal kicks to lions and other predators with their strong legs. 

Just imagine the trouble we humans might be in if they grew up to be Rukh-sized. 

-closing music-

Thank you so much for tuning in to Fab Figmentals!

Research, writing, and sound editing are done by me, Lindsey Morse. Niall Cooper assists with writing and editing. Our theme music was created by the wonderfully talented Graeme Ronald. 

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