253 – Yeti Stories You’ve Never Heard Before – with Eric Mortensen

You’ve probably heard lots of yeti stories but often the ones that make it through the filter of newspapers, documentaries, and books shave off the weirdest (and sometimes most important) aspects of these tales. Can you really understand the Yeti if you don’t even get the full story?  We’re joined by Eric Mortensen who relates some stories he’s collected first-hand in his research and they will likely surprise you.  From invisible cities to magic armpit stones, this isn’t the yeti from MonsterQuest. 

I wasn’t sure how to write out some of the names Eric uses and here’s some guidance he sent:

“The creature’s name, in Tibetan, is: nags myi rgod (Chinese: yeren). The local pronunciation (in Gyalthang) is close to: na nay gö. I hesitate to offer an “English” rendering (other than, perhaps, “wild people”), but if one had to phoneticize it, it might be something akin to: na-nay-gu (na nay gö is better). It is the same thing some folks render as: migö.”

and as for the Flying Yeti?

Something like “Shershang dudu.”

Read more about Eric’s work (and there’s even a chapter by me!) in this volume:

Eric D. Mortensen. “Of Monsters and Invisible Villages: Nags myi rgod Tales of the Tibetans of Gyalthang,” in Natasha L. Mikles & Joseph P. Laycock, eds. Religion, Culture, and the Monstrous: Of Gods and Monsters. New York: Lexington Books. 2021. pp. 97-115.

Loxton and Prothero’s Abominable Science warrants  another mention!

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer  

The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas (1957)