Alû is one of the Utukku, vengeful spirits in the lore of the ancient Assyrians.
Description
According to Pamela Allardice, they were feared more greatly than death itself. She describes Alû as "a horrid phantom of a leprous man with an arm and a leg missing." The clutch, or even the merest touch of Alû would give one the disease.
Powers
Stephen Hubert Langdon cites a translation of a cuneiform script by H.J. Rawlinson. From from v Pl. 50, A, line 42: "Whom in his bed the wicked Alû covered,/Whom the wicked ghost by night overwhelmed". Langdon (364) states that Alû is androgynous and "attacks a man's breast".
Art/Fiction
Alû is Monster in My Pocket #113.
References
- Allardice, Pamela. Myths, Gods and Fantasy: A Sourcebook. Dorset, Prism Press, 1991.
- Langdon, Stephen Hubert. Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia. Vol. 4 (Semitic). ed. T.G. Pinches. London: British Museum, 1861-64, 1891.