Fictional Arab people South Arabian deities The roc is an enormous legendary bird of prey in the popular mythology of the Middle East.

The roc appears in Arab geographies and natural history, popularized in Arabian fairy tales and sailors' folklore.

According to art historian Rudolf Wittkower, the idea of the roc had its origins in the story of the fight between the Indian solar bird Garuda[3] and the chthonic serpent Nāga.

The mytheme of Garuda carrying off an elephant that was battling a crocodile appears in two Sanskrit epics, the Mahabharata (I.1353) and the Ramayana (III.39).

The Ath Kadha Lihini[4] (Warana) of Sri Lankan mythology, a large bird who hunted elephants and soared above casting a shadow as big as a cloud.

Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela reported a story reminiscent of the roc in which shipwrecked sailors escaped from a desert island by wrapping themselves in ox-hides and letting griffins carry them off as if they were cattle.

In the 13th century, Marco Polo (as quoted in Attenborough (1961: 32)) stated It was for all the world like an eagle, but one indeed of enormous size; so big in fact that its quills were twelve paces long and thick in proportion.

And it is so strong that it will seize an elephant in its talons and carry him high into the air and drop him so that he is smashed to pieces; having so killed him, the bird swoops down on him and eats him at leisure.Polo claimed that the roc flew to Mogadishu[7] "from the southern regions", and that the Great Khan sent messengers to the island who returned with a feather (likely a Raphia frond).

In the modern era, the roc, like many other mythological and folkloric creatures, has entered the bestiaries of some fantasy role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons.