Aug. 6, 2026

Solar Eclipse 2026: Supernatural Folklore & Celestial Monsters | Thursday Thrills

Solar Eclipse 2026: Supernatural Folklore & Celestial Monsters | Thursday Thrills

Key Takeaways

  • On August 12, 2026, a total solar eclipse will sweep across parts of Greenland, Iceland, Spain, and beyond, plunging day into sudden darkness.
  • Exploring solar eclipse folklore reveals ancient fears and mythological creatures blamed for consuming the sun, including celestial dragons, Norse wolves, and even a ravenous black squirrel.
  • Across various global traditions, communities historically reacted to eclipses by making loud noises with drums, gongs, pots, and pans to frighten the solar predators away.
  • In Hindu mythology, the severed, deathless head known as Rahu endlessly chases the sun and moon, creating eclipses when he swallows the light.
  • While modern science fully understands the mechanics of eclipses, looking up during the 2026 event still requires proper certified eye protection to prevent permanent injury.

On August 12, 2026, daylight will vanish along a path crossing Greenland, Iceland, Spain, and beyond—and old stories say the Moon may not be the only thing responsible. In this Thursday Thrills episode, Henrique Couto follows the monsters once blamed for eating the sun: celestial dragons driven off by drums, the severed immortal head Rahu, the Norse wolves Sköll and Hati, a ravenous black squirrel, and the Eternal Bat that gnaws at the edge of the world.

It is a fun, eerie ride through solar eclipse folklore, ancient mythology, totality, strange animal behavior, doomsday legends, and the oldest fear in the sky: what if the sun does not come back? Plus, learn where the 2026 total solar eclipse will be visible and how to watch it safely without letting an actual eye injury become the scariest part of the day.

🎧 LISTEN NOW and subscribe for spine-tingling horror stories every week!

🎉 Unlock exclusive bonus episodes and support the show on Patreon!
👉 WeeklySpooky.com/Join

📬 Contact Us / Submit Your Horror Story!


🎵 Music by Ray Mattis 👉 Check out Ray’s incredible work here !
👨‍💼 Executive Producers: Rob Fields, Bobbletopia.com
🎥 Produced by: Daniel Wilder
🌐 Explore more terrifying tales at: WeeklySpooky.com

Frequently Asked Questions

When is the next total solar eclipse visible in Europe?

The next total solar eclipse will take place on August 12, 2026, crossing paths through Greenland, Iceland, Spain, and parts of Russia.

What does solar eclipse folklore say about why the sun disappears?

Solar eclipse folklore from various cultures suggests that celestial monsters—such as dragons, giant wolves, frogs, or even a black squirrel—are attempting to eat or gnaw at the sun.

How did ancient cultures try to stop a solar eclipse?

Many ancient societies believed that making loud noises by banging pots and pans, beating drums, and screaming would frighten the mythical creatures away and force them to release the sun.

Do you need special glasses to watch the 2026 total solar eclipse?

Yes, proper certified solar viewing glasses must be worn during all partial phases of the eclipse, as regular sunglasses are not safe.

WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.600 --> 00:00:07.759
Imagine yourself outside on an ordinary August afternoon. The sun

2
00:00:07.879 --> 00:00:13.640
is bright, the sky is clear. Then the light starts

3
00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:22.559
too thin, not fading like sunset, turning wrong. Colors flatten,

4
00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:29.399
shadows sharpen, the air cools against your skin. Birds settle

5
00:00:29.519 --> 00:00:34.759
down as if night has arrived early, and somewhere nearby

6
00:00:35.479 --> 00:00:41.679
a dog begins barking at the sky. Through your eclipse glasses,

7
00:00:42.159 --> 00:00:47.200
you see a black bite growing across the sun. Then

8
00:00:47.399 --> 00:00:53.520
the final sliver of daylight snaps out above you hangs

9
00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:59.280
a perfect black circle surrounded by white fire. Today we

10
00:00:59.399 --> 00:01:03.799
know this as the moon, but for most of human history,

11
00:01:04.280 --> 00:01:09.760
the more urgent explanation was much worse. Something had climbed

12
00:01:09.799 --> 00:01:18.439
into the sky and it was eating the sun. Thirstayrills.

13
00:01:21.560 --> 00:01:26.159
This is Thursday Thrills, a quick weekly ride into the

14
00:01:26.239 --> 00:01:32.680
creepy stories, haunted places, weird obsessions, and eerie little corners

15
00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:37.560
of the world worth talking about. I'm your host, Enrique Kuto.

16
00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:44.159
On Wednesday October twelfth, twoenty twenty six, the moon's shadow

17
00:01:44.599 --> 00:01:50.920
will sweep across the far North, crossing parts of Russia, Greenland, Iceland,

18
00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:56.959
the Atlantic, Spain, and a tiny corner of Portugal. Oddly enough,

19
00:01:57.200 --> 00:02:01.200
the part of Portugal my family is from, but I'm

20
00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:06.920
sure that's just a coincidence. People inside that narrow path

21
00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:13.199
will watch the sun disappear completely. Much of Europe, Canada,

22
00:02:13.400 --> 00:02:17.479
northern Africa, and parts of the northern United States will

23
00:02:17.520 --> 00:02:21.879
see at least a partial eclipse. For most people who

24
00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:26.840
get totality, the full blackout sun moment will last less

25
00:02:26.879 --> 00:02:33.319
than two minutes, and believe me, that is plenty. I

26
00:02:33.400 --> 00:02:36.800
saw one a couple years back here in Ohio, and

27
00:02:36.879 --> 00:02:41.960
it was bizarre hearing the birds stop singing and the

28
00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:47.560
insects start well their own songs. It really felt like

29
00:02:47.800 --> 00:02:53.240
night had just interrupted the day. An eclipse is not

30
00:02:53.479 --> 00:02:59.120
just something you see. It's something the whole landscape notices.

31
00:03:00.120 --> 00:03:05.639
The light turns odd, temperatures can drop. The crickets, as

32
00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:10.080
I said, will start up, birds quiet down, or they

33
00:03:10.120 --> 00:03:14.319
head toward their roosts. Bees have been observed returning to

34
00:03:14.360 --> 00:03:19.479
their hives. Your surroundings begin behaving as if somebody reached

35
00:03:19.520 --> 00:03:24.759
over and moved the clock without any warning. And your

36
00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:29.840
brain may understand exactly what's happening. But the older part

37
00:03:29.879 --> 00:03:35.039
of your brain, the lizard part, it doesn't. That part

38
00:03:35.080 --> 00:03:38.680
knows the sun is supposed to stay where it is.

39
00:03:39.560 --> 00:03:43.120
It can disappear behind clouds, it can sink at the

40
00:03:43.240 --> 00:03:46.560
end of the day, but it is not supposed to

41
00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:52.560
be bitten away in the middle of the afternoon. One

42
00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:59.520
quick real world warning before we release the monsters. Please

43
00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:04.719
you whose proper eclipse glasses or another safe solar viewer

44
00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:11.439
during every partial phase regular sunglasses they don't cut it.

45
00:04:11.639 --> 00:04:15.719
Only people inside the path of totality can look up

46
00:04:15.800 --> 00:04:19.480
without protection during the brief moment when the sun is

47
00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:26.839
completely covered there. My responsibility is good. Now the warning's

48
00:04:26.839 --> 00:04:29.480
been delivered, we can move on to the spooky stuff.

49
00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:34.680
So let's pretend nobody knows what the moon is doing,

50
00:04:35.279 --> 00:04:40.680
just for a moment, no forecast, no countdowns or live streams.

51
00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:44.680
You're working in a field, walking down a road, or

52
00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:50.399
sitting outside your home when somebody points upward and says,

53
00:04:51.800 --> 00:04:57.199
was the sun always shape like that? And the bite grows,

54
00:04:58.199 --> 00:05:04.399
the daylight weaken and every second introduces a new possibility.

55
00:05:05.560 --> 00:05:10.240
What if it doesn't stop? That question is at the

56
00:05:10.279 --> 00:05:18.560
heart of all folklore involving eclipses, not only what is happening,

57
00:05:18.680 --> 00:05:25.360
but how do we make it let go? In traditions

58
00:05:25.480 --> 00:05:31.800
recorded from ancient China. The answer was a celestial dragon.

59
00:05:32.839 --> 00:05:40.199
The sky was not empty space. It was alive with forces, spirits, warnings,

60
00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:46.240
and enormous creatures that human beings couldn't see until something

61
00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:51.759
went very wrong. Then a dark curve appeared on the

62
00:05:51.879 --> 00:05:55.920
edge of the sun. The dragon had opened its mouth.

63
00:05:56.800 --> 00:06:01.639
People responded the way you probably should respond when a giant,

64
00:06:01.959 --> 00:06:08.279
invisible reptile begins eating the most important object in existence.

65
00:06:09.560 --> 00:06:15.399
They made noise. Drums thundered, gongs rang, pots and metal

66
00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:21.439
objects crashed together. Voices rose into the darkening air, all

67
00:06:21.480 --> 00:06:25.680
of it aimed upward. All of it meant to frighten

68
00:06:25.759 --> 00:06:31.480
the creature away from its big meal. Try to hear

69
00:06:31.600 --> 00:06:36.720
that scene in your mind. Daylight is draining from the streets,

70
00:06:37.160 --> 00:06:42.240
children are crying, dogs barking, and entire village hammering on

71
00:06:42.639 --> 00:06:46.680
anything that could make a sound. While the dragon swallowed

72
00:06:46.680 --> 00:06:52.279
another piece of the sun. Then the darkness stops spreading,

73
00:06:52.720 --> 00:06:57.560
a thread of light begins to return. The sun begins

74
00:06:57.959 --> 00:07:02.839
sliding out of the monster's aw. Of course, that means

75
00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:10.319
the ritual worked. That is the beautiful trap hidden inside

76
00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:16.040
and eclipse legend. The sun always returns, which means whatever

77
00:07:16.120 --> 00:07:21.680
people did to save. It must have worked. The dragon

78
00:07:22.399 --> 00:07:28.120
was not defeated forever, It was only frightened away. And

79
00:07:28.279 --> 00:07:32.680
next time you'd better hit the drum that much harder

80
00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:38.480
if you know what's good for you. Then there is Rahu,

81
00:07:38.680 --> 00:07:43.720
the eclipse monster, with perhaps the most frustrating curse in

82
00:07:43.839 --> 00:07:49.000
all of mythology. In a famous Hindu story, gods and

83
00:07:49.120 --> 00:07:54.680
demons churn the cosmic ocean and produce Amrita, the nectar

84
00:07:55.439 --> 00:08:00.600
of immortality. A demon slips into the line into skies

85
00:08:01.160 --> 00:08:05.720
and manages to get a taste. The Sun and moon

86
00:08:05.879 --> 00:08:11.600
recognize him and expose the trick. Vishnu strikes, cutting the

87
00:08:11.639 --> 00:08:17.240
demon in two, but the nectar has already touched him.

88
00:08:17.720 --> 00:08:22.839
The head cannot die. It becomes Rahu. In many tellings,

89
00:08:23.399 --> 00:08:28.959
the body becomes k Tu, and Rahu remembers exactly who

90
00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:33.679
betrayed him. So the severed, deathless head hunts the Sun

91
00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:39.840
and moon across the sky. Every so often he catches one,

92
00:08:40.720 --> 00:08:48.480
opens an enormous mouth, and swallows the light. The world

93
00:08:48.759 --> 00:08:55.840
darkens inside a demon's head. But Rahu has one problem.

94
00:08:56.440 --> 00:09:03.919
You see no body, no stone, no closed throat. The

95
00:09:03.960 --> 00:09:08.600
Sun or moon simply passes through the opening where his

96
00:09:08.799 --> 00:09:14.159
neck should be, and escapes back into the sky. It's

97
00:09:14.200 --> 00:09:20.480
almost funny until you really imagine it. An immortal head

98
00:09:20.600 --> 00:09:26.039
drifting above the world, eyes fixed on the sun, mouth

99
00:09:26.279 --> 00:09:33.639
opening wider than the horizon, Forever, hungry, forever, furious, forever,

100
00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:39.200
unable to keep what it catches. And eclipse is not

101
00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:44.559
a random attack. It is more of an ancient grudge

102
00:09:45.200 --> 00:09:51.600
briefly catching up farther north. The things chasing the sun

103
00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:58.480
had fur. In Norse mythology, the Sun is soul moving

104
00:09:58.519 --> 00:10:03.279
through the sky while a wolf named Skull races behind her.

105
00:10:04.039 --> 00:10:09.120
The moon has a pursuer, too, Hati. Every day is

106
00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:15.840
a chase. Every sunrise means the jaws have not quite closed,

107
00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:22.039
but the wolves are patient because they're tied to Ragnarok,

108
00:10:22.600 --> 00:10:28.639
the collapse of the Old World. When that ending finally arrives,

109
00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:34.120
the chase ends, The celestial prey is caught, The familiar

110
00:10:34.320 --> 00:10:42.799
lights disappear, the earth shakes, the world people understand comes apart.

111
00:10:43.679 --> 00:10:48.720
The old sources don't give us one neat rule saying

112
00:10:49.240 --> 00:10:54.799
every solar eclipse was definitely Skull taking a bite, because

113
00:10:54.840 --> 00:10:59.440
folklore is rarely that neat and tidy. But if you

114
00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:03.600
lived with the story of a wolf forever pursuing the sun.

115
00:11:04.559 --> 00:11:09.000
What else could an eclipse feel like? For a few

116
00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:14.440
awful moments, the distance closes, a dark jaw moves across

117
00:11:14.480 --> 00:11:21.320
the Sun's face, the temperature drops, daylight drains from the world.

118
00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:29.200
Maybe this isn't the end. Maybe it's only practice, and

119
00:11:29.360 --> 00:11:34.879
that makes the wolf especially creepy. The dragon can be

120
00:11:34.919 --> 00:11:38.919
frightened away by noise, but Rahu is doomed to lose

121
00:11:38.919 --> 00:11:44.320
his meal. Skull is not scared of your pots and pans.

122
00:11:44.759 --> 00:11:48.559
He is simply waiting for the day when he's finally

123
00:11:49.399 --> 00:11:54.720
allowed to win. Now, before we keep staring into the

124
00:11:54.759 --> 00:11:59.799
black sun, make sure you're subscribed to Weakly Spooky, because

125
00:11:59.840 --> 00:12:04.039
every Thursday we bring you a new thrill. And make

126
00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:06.879
sure you send this episode to a person who would

127
00:12:06.919 --> 00:12:10.879
absolutely like to bring a wooden spoon to an eclipse,

128
00:12:11.879 --> 00:12:17.240
just in case. The best monsters still travel by word

129
00:12:17.320 --> 00:12:26.480
of mouth. Not every creature accused of eating the sun

130
00:12:26.840 --> 00:12:34.320
was enormous. One historical account attributed to Choctaw tradition, describes

131
00:12:34.360 --> 00:12:40.879
a small black squirrel gnawing at the sun. Honestly knowing squirrels,

132
00:12:41.159 --> 00:12:45.639
it sounds accurate at first, It seems like the cute version,

133
00:12:45.799 --> 00:12:51.919
but it's really not imagine discovering that daylight is so fragile.

134
00:12:52.480 --> 00:12:56.360
It doesn't take a dragon, a god, or a world

135
00:12:56.519 --> 00:13:00.919
ending wolf to destroy it. It only takes one small,

136
00:13:01.440 --> 00:13:06.320
ravenous animal with sharp teeth and some time on their little,

137
00:13:06.919 --> 00:13:13.960
nonopposable thumb hands. In the recorded story, people shouted and shrieked,

138
00:13:14.320 --> 00:13:19.279
children banged pots, men fired rifles, all to scare the

139
00:13:19.320 --> 00:13:23.360
squirrel away. A whole community fought the end of the

140
00:13:23.399 --> 00:13:30.759
world with kitchenware, and once again, the sun returned. The

141
00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:37.840
squirrel had been driven off for now. And honestly, I

142
00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:41.879
love this one because a giant monster gives the sun

143
00:13:42.519 --> 00:13:48.039
some dignity. A squirrel makes the universe feel badly maintained.

144
00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:51.360
I mean, sunlight isn't just your only source of warmth.

145
00:13:51.399 --> 00:13:56.120
It grows the food you eat. That's pretty scary when

146
00:13:56.159 --> 00:14:02.440
it becomes the food that a ravenous little Scurrillus carolinius craves.

147
00:14:04.240 --> 00:14:09.679
Once you start collecting eclipse stories, you almost immediately notice something.

148
00:14:10.600 --> 00:14:14.279
Humanity looked at the same black shape crossing the sun

149
00:14:14.919 --> 00:14:20.600
and imagined an astonishing number of mouths. Stories from Vietnam

150
00:14:20.840 --> 00:14:27.360
tell of a giant frog swallowing the sun. In Javanese mythology,

151
00:14:28.200 --> 00:14:36.200
Batara Kala, a power associated with darkness and destruction, devours

152
00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:42.440
it while people beat drums and make offerings. An Andean tradition,

153
00:14:42.679 --> 00:14:46.279
a puma attacks the sun and must be frightened away

154
00:14:46.399 --> 00:14:52.360
by screaming children and crying animals. A Pomo story describes

155
00:14:52.440 --> 00:14:55.840
the sun getting into a fight with a bear along

156
00:14:55.919 --> 00:15:02.519
the Milky Way. Elsewhere, the Sun is trapped, wounded, sick, abandoned,

157
00:15:02.679 --> 00:15:09.799
or being punished. Different places, different creatures, same awful sight.

158
00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:16.120
The light above everything begins disappearing. And here's the part

159
00:15:16.200 --> 00:15:21.799
that really gets under my skin. So many traditions didn't

160
00:15:22.120 --> 00:15:29.759
imagine the sun simply switching off. They imagine something consuming it.

161
00:15:29.879 --> 00:15:36.240
Teeth make the darkness extra personal. A shadow, well, that's

162
00:15:36.360 --> 00:15:42.279
just a shadow. A mouth, it's hungry, and thank goodness,

163
00:15:42.960 --> 00:15:46.480
everyone thought the same thing at once. The one concept

164
00:15:46.519 --> 00:15:52.039
that truly brings humanity together, when something scares you, scream

165
00:15:52.120 --> 00:15:55.559
at it. I gotta love that. I gotta love that.

166
00:15:55.600 --> 00:16:00.000
I get behind that one, all right. Here's another true

167
00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:05.919
addition collected among the Apa Po Couva Qua raw Nie

168
00:16:06.440 --> 00:16:10.159
of South America. And did that one pretty good? In

169
00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:16.600
the recorded story, an eternal bat or sometimes a celestial jaguar,

170
00:16:17.320 --> 00:16:23.159
gnaws at the sun or moon, not necessarily swallowing it,

171
00:16:24.120 --> 00:16:29.639
gnawing at it. That word kind of adjusts the whole image.

172
00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:36.360
It feels slower, patient, like something outside the ordinary world

173
00:16:36.440 --> 00:16:39.720
has found the edge of the sun and is testing

174
00:16:39.759 --> 00:16:44.840
it with its teeth. The account connects the creature with

175
00:16:44.919 --> 00:16:49.360
an expectation that the present world will not last forever.

176
00:16:50.120 --> 00:16:54.919
Fire will come, cosmic beasts will be released the stars,

177
00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:59.840
and humanity will face destruction. So an eclipse is not

178
00:17:00.200 --> 00:17:07.519
merely a strange afternoon its evidence the things waiting beyond

179
00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:14.319
the light are still there. The eternal bat didn't vanish,

180
00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:25.240
It only stopped it's chewing. Today we understand eclipses. We

181
00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:29.480
can calculate them years in advance. We draw the path

182
00:17:29.559 --> 00:17:33.680
on maps and then book hotels beneath it. We buy

183
00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:38.559
special glasses, check the weather, charge our phones, and wait

184
00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:44.119
for the moon's shadow like it's a touring attraction. But

185
00:17:44.279 --> 00:17:49.880
knowledge doesn't make the moment ordinary. On August twelfth, people

186
00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:54.079
in Iceland will watch darkness arrive in the late afternoon.

187
00:17:54.799 --> 00:17:58.960
In Spain, totality will happen low in the evening sky,

188
00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:04.799
long before sunset across much of Europe, the sun will

189
00:18:04.839 --> 00:18:10.640
become a thin, damaged shape hanging over the western horizon,

190
00:18:11.319 --> 00:18:15.599
and for a moment, the sky will break one of

191
00:18:15.640 --> 00:18:21.559
its oldest promises. The sun is supposed to stay there,

192
00:18:22.519 --> 00:18:27.920
even behind clouds, even through storms, even through the longest night.

193
00:18:28.799 --> 00:18:34.480
We know it will come back, and eclipse lets us

194
00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:41.599
watch that certainty being covered by something black. So when

195
00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:47.640
the light begins to weaken, remember the old explanations. Maybe

196
00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:52.200
a dragon has wrapped its jaws around the sun. Maybe

197
00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:58.599
Rahu has finally caught his enemy. Maybe skull has closed

198
00:18:58.599 --> 00:19:03.519
the distance. Maybe a little black squirrel is chewing much

199
00:19:03.640 --> 00:19:12.000
faster than anyone expected. Or maybe beyond the last bright edge,

200
00:19:12.200 --> 00:19:18.599
the eternal bat has woken up, and boy is it hungry.

201
00:19:20.039 --> 00:19:23.960
We know the moon will keep on moving. We know

202
00:19:24.759 --> 00:19:30.519
the light will return, it always has. Still I would

203
00:19:30.680 --> 00:19:34.799
keep a pot and a wooden spoon nearby, because every

204
00:19:34.839 --> 00:19:39.519
eclipse in human history has ended, and I would hate

205
00:19:39.559 --> 00:19:43.680
for us to be the first to forget how to

206
00:19:43.799 --> 00:19:51.119
scare the monster away. I'm Enrique Kuto, and this has

207
00:19:51.240 --> 00:19:56.319
been Thursday. Thrills. Now stay safe out there, keep your

208
00:19:56.359 --> 00:20:01.000
headlights on protect your eyes on August twelfth, and remember,

209
00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:06.240
when the sun goes black, do not assume the moon

210
00:20:07.200 --> 00:20:14.480
is the only thing up there. Come back tomorrow for

211
00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:22.960
more fear. Until then, lock your doors, as if that

212
00:20:23.160 --> 00:20:23.920
will help you