Mah Pihk (ม้าปีก)

Thai. ‘Winged Horse’. Name for a mythological creature, that consists of a horse with wings, and which is able to fly with great speed, similar to the flying horse Pegasus of Greek mythology. In Thai folklore, it lives in the mythical Himaphan Forest, but also occurs in other, unrelated myths, whilst in Buddhism, Kanthaka, the horse of Prince Siddhartha, that –according to legend– was born on the same day as it's master and died of sorrow after sending him off during the Great Departure, is usually also portrayed as flying through the air, yet has no wings (fig.). In Chinese mythology, winged horses are called Tian Mah (天马), literally ‘Sky-horse’, ‘Heavenly Horse’ or ‘Horse of Heaven’ (fig.), while long mah (龙马), which literally means ‘dragon-horse’, is a fabled winged horse with dragon scales, a creature that should not to be confused with Yulong Santaizi, the ‘white dragon-horse’ that occurs in Mahayana Buddhist related stories as the horse of the monk Xuanzang (fig.). Other mythical creatures that inherit this type of mix and that occur in Thai stories of Himaphan Forest, include Durong Paksin (ดุรงค์ปักษิณ), Hemarah Atsadon (เหมราอัสดร), and Atsadon Wihok (อัสดรวิหค). Also transliterated Ma Peek or Ma Peak. See also Uchchaisaravas and Balaha. 回