Tse-Nin-Ahal- Navajo CreatureCreature · Monster"Monster Bird"
Also known as: Tsé Ninááháłééh
Description
A monstrous eagle nesting atop the rock spire of Shiprock, Tse-Nin-Ahal snatched travelers in massive talons and carried them to its hungry young — until Monster Slayer allowed himself to be captured, reached the nest, and struck the creature down with lightning arrows.
Mythology & Lore
The Nest on Shiprock
Tse-Nin-Ahal nested atop the rock spire now called Shiprock (Tsé Bitʼaʼí, "rock with wings") in northwestern New Mexico. The volcanic neck rises from the plain like a broken fin, visible for miles. From this height the Monster Eagle watched the country below, and nothing that moved escaped its eyes. It swooped down on travelers, seized them in its talons, and carried them back to its hungry young. No one could reach the nest. No one could fight what struck from above.
Monster Slayer's Victory
In the account recorded by Washington Matthews, Monster Slayer (Naayééʼ Neizghání) let the eagle take him. The talons closed around his body and the ground fell away. The monster carried him to the nest at the top of the spire and dropped him among its young. Monster Slayer was alive. He had the lightning arrows the Sun had given him.
He killed the adult Tse-Nin-Ahal. The young birds pleaded for their lives. Monster Slayer did not kill them. He changed them: one into an eagle, one into an owl. They would hunt rabbits and mice, not people. The eagles and owls that fly over Navajo country today descend from those two spared nestlings.
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