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2012-06-01T08:41:44Z

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2012-06-01T08:24:21Z

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Petition of the Gray Horse, Auld Dunbar

2012-05-23T21:23:56Z

Jargogle: Created page with "'''The Petition of the Gray Horse, Auld Dunbar''' is an eleven 6-line stanza poem, with a 2 line refrain, by William Dunbar. Dunbar's persona complains in the petition to "be an ..."

'''The Petition of the Gray Horse, Auld Dunbar''' is an eleven 6-line stanza poem, with a 2 line refrain, by William Dunbar. Dunbar's persona complains in the petition to "be an Yowllis yald", a holiday horse put out to pasture. The expression appears to have meant someone not dressed for the occasion; Dunbar plays with the literal meaning. The response by the king - criticism is uncertain whether it was James IV's response, or rather, a further joke by Dunbar - is to dress him "lyk ane bischopis muille", a bishop's mule, who were typically garbed in an expensive fashion.

The text is taken from ''William Dunbar: The Complete Works'', ed. John W. Conlee (Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Publications, 2004), 109-111.

==Text==

Schir, lat it never in toune be tald

That I suld be ane Yowllis yald.

Suppois I war ane ald jaid aver,

Schott furth our clewch to squische the clever,

And hed the strenthis of all Strenever,

I wald at Youll be housit and stald:

Schir, lat it never in toune be tald

That I suld be ane Yowllis yald.

I am ane auld hors, as ye knaw,

That ever in duill dois drug and draw.

Gryt court hors puttis me fra the staw,

To fang the fog be firthe and fald.

Schir, lat it never in toune be tald

That I suld be ane Yowllis yald.

I heff run lang furth in the field

On pastouris that ar plane and peld.

I mycht be now tein in for eild,

My bekis ar spruning, he and bald.

Schir, lat it never in toune be tald

That I suld be ane Yowllis yald.

My maine is turned into quhyt,

And thairof ye heff all the wyt.

Quhen uthair hors hed brane to byt,

I gat bot gris, grype giff I wald.

Schir, lat it never in towne be tald

That I suld be ane Yowllis yald.

I was never dautit into stabell.

My lyff hes bein so miserabell,

My hyd to offer I am abell

For evill schoud strae that I reiv wald.

Schir, lat it never in towne be tald

That I suld be ane Yowllis yald.

And yett, suppois my thrift be thyne,

Gif that I die your aucht within

Lat nevir the soutteris have my skin,

With uglie gumes to be gnawin.

Schir, lat it nevir in toun be tald

That I sould be ane Yuillis yald.

The court hes done my curage cuill

And maid me ane forriddin muill.

Yett to weir trapperis at the Yuill,

I wald be spurrit at everie spald.

Schir, lett it nevir in toun be tald

That I sould be ane Yuillis yald.

Now lufferis cummis with larges lowd.

Quhy sould not palfrayis thane be prowd,

Quhen gillettis wil be schomd and schroud

That riddin ar baith with lord and lawd?

Schir, lett it nevir in toun be tald

That I sould be ane Yuillis yald.

Quhen I was young and into ply

And wald cast gammaldis to the sky,

I had beine bocht in realmes by,

Had I consentit to be sauld.

Schir, lett it nevir in toun be tauld

That I sould be ane Yuillis yald.

With gentill hors quhen I wald knyp,

Thane is thair laid on me ane quhip.

To colleveris than man I skip

That scabbit ar, hes cruik and cald.

Schir, lett it nevir in toun be tald

That I sould be ane Yuillis yald.

Thocht in the stall I be not clappit,

As cursouris that in silk beine trappit,

With ane new hous I wald be happit

Aganis this Crysthinmes for the cald.

Schir, lett it nevir in toun be tald

That I sould be ane Yuillis yald.

''Respontio Regis''

Efter our wrettingis, thesaurer,

Tak in this gray hors, auld Dumbar,

Quhilk in my aucht with service trew

In lyart changeit is his hew.

Gar hows him new aganis this Yuill

And busk him lyk ane bischopis muill,

For with my hand I have indost

To pay quhatevir his trappouris cost.

Eryr Pengwern

2012-05-23T19:38:10Z

Jargogle: bracket correction

'''Eryr Pengwern''' is the name given to stanzas 40-44 of '''Canu Heledd''', a saga from the ninth century.

The text is from ''Canu Llywarch Hen'', ed. Ifor Williams (Caedydd [Cardiff]: Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru, 1945), 38. The translation is from ''Welsh Poems: Sixth Century to 1600'', tr. Gwyn Williams (Berkeley, CA: University of California, 1974), 21.

==Text==

Eryr Penngwern penngarn llwyt [heno]

::Aruchel y atle[i]s,

:Eidic am gic [a gereis].

Eryr Penngwern penngarn llwyt [heno]

::Aruchel y euan.

:Eidic am gic Kynndylan.

Eryr Penngwern pengarn llwyt [heno]

::Aruchel y adaf.

:Eidic am gic a garaf.

Eryr Penngwern, pell galwawt heno

::Ar waet gwyr gwyla[w]t.

:Ry gelwir Trenn tref difawt.

Eryr Penngwern, pell gelwit heno

::Ar waet gwyr gwelit.

:Ry gelwir Trenn tref lethrit.

==Translation==

Eagle of Pengwern, grey-crested, tonight

::its shriek is high,

::eager for flesh I loved.

Eagle of Pengwern, grey-crested, tonight

::its call is high,

:eager for Cynddylan's flesh.

Eagle of Pengwern, grey-crested, tonight

::its claw is high,

:eager for flesh I love.

Eagle of Pengwern, it called far tonight,

::it kept watch on men's blood;

:Trenn shall be called a luckless town.

Eagle of Pengwern, it calls far tonight,

::it feasts on men's blood;

:Trenn shall be called a shining town.

Int én bec

2012-05-23T17:48:17Z

Jargogle: Created page with "Ninth century Irish poem, found in Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, Book of Ballymote, 295.5, and Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, Book of Uí Maine 136v, col. 2 l, 45. ==Text== [From '..."

Ninth century Irish poem, found in Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, Book of Ballymote, 295.5, and Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, Book of Uí Maine 136v, col. 2 l, 45.

==Text==
[From ''Early Irish Lyrics, Eighth to Twelfth Century'', ed. Gerald Murphy (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1956), 6.]

Int én bec

ro léic feit

do rinn guip

:glanbuidi:

fo-ceird faíd

ós Loch Laíg,

lon do chraíb

:charnbuidi.

==Murphy Translation==

The little bird which has whistled from the end of a bright-yellow bill: it utters a note above Belfast Lough – a blackbird from a yellow-heaped branch. [Murphy, 7]

==Seamus Heaney Translation==

The small bird

chirp-chirruped:

yellow neb,

:a note-spurt.

Blackbird over

Lagan water.

Clumps of yellow

:whin-burst!

[from http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SeamusHeaneyCentreforPoetry/]

Caladrius

2012-05-23T10:01:39Z

Jargogle: Created page with "A pure white bird who was deemed able to determine, by turning its head, whether a man would recover from mortal sickness. From the Aberdeen Bestiary (Aberdeen University Library..."

A pure white bird who was deemed able to determine, by turning its head, whether a man would recover from mortal sickness. From the Aberdeen Bestiary (Aberdeen University Library MS 24), c. 1200:

''Caladrius sicut dicit Phisiologus totus est albus nullam partem habens nigram. Cuius interior fimus oculorum caliginem curat. Hic in atriis regum invenitur. Siquis est in egritudine ex hoc caladrio cognoscitur, si vivat an moriatur. Si ergo est infirmitas hominis ad mortem, mox ut vi derit infirmum avertit faciem suam ab eo et omnes cognoscunt quia moriturus est. Si autem infirmitas eius pertinuerit ad vitam, intendit in faciem et assumit omnem egritudinem hominis intra se, et volat in aera contra solem, et comburit infirmitatem eius et dispergit eam, et sanatur infirmus.''(The bird called caladrius, as Physiologus tells us, is white all over; it has no black parts. Its excrement cures cataract in the eyes. It is to be found in royal residences. If anyone is sick, he will learn from the caladrius if he is to live or die. If, therefore, a man’s illness is fatal, the caladrius will turn its head away from the sick man as soon as it sees him, and everyone knows the man is going to die. But if the man’s sickness is one from which he will recover, the bird looks him in the face and takes the entire illness upon itself; it flies up into the air, towards the sun, burns off the sickness and scatters it, and the sick man is cured)

The same entry provides an elucidation:

''Caladrius habet personam salvatoris nostri. Totus est candidus dominus noster nullam habens nigredinem, qui peccatum non fecit nec inventus est dolus in ore eius. Veniens autem dominus de excelsis avertit faciem suam a Judeis propter incredulitatem illorum, et convertit se ad nos gentes tollens infirmitates nostras, et peccata nostra portans, exaltatus in lignum crucis et ascendens in altum captivam duxit captivitatem dedit dona hominibus. Sed et cotidie predictus caladrius infirmitates nostras visitat, mentem per confessionem considerat, et eos sanat, quibus gratiam penitendi prestat. Ab illis vero faciem avertit, quorum cor impenitens novit. Istos respuit, sed illos in quos faciem intendit, sanos reddit.'' (The caladrius represents our Saviour. Our Lord is pure white without a trace of black, ‘who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth’. The Lord, moreover, coming from on high, turned his face from the Jews, because they did not believe, and turned to us, Gentiles, taking away our weakness and carrying our sins; raised up on the wood of the cross and ascending on high, ‘he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men’. Each day Christ, like the caladrius, attends us in our sickness, examines our mind when we confess, and heals those to whom he shows the grace of repentance. But he turns his face away from those whose heart he knows to be unrepentant. These he casts off; but those whom he turns his face, he makes whole again.)

For a discussion of other entries in English bestiaries, and the theme of anti-Semitism, see Debra Higgs Strickland, 'The Jews, Leviticus, and the Unclean in Medieval English Bestiaries', in ''Beyond the Yellow Badge: Anti-Judaism and Antisemitism in Medieval and Early Modern Visual Culture'', ed. Mitchell B. Merback (Leiden: Brill, 2007), 203-232 (206-209). For the Aberdeen Bestiary, see http://www.abdn.ac.uk/bestiary/translat/56v.hti.

Y Cyffylog

2012-05-23T09:57:59Z

Jargogle: Created page with "'''Y Cyffylog'' (The Woodcock) is a poem by Dafydd ap Gwilym. The text and translation is taken from http://www.dafyddapgwilym.net, published by the Welsh Department of Swansea U..."

'''Y Cyffylog'' (The Woodcock) is a poem by Dafydd ap Gwilym. The text and translation is taken from http://www.dafyddapgwilym.net, published by the Welsh Department of Swansea University. Details regarding the manuscripts can be found at the same website.

==Text==
Y Cyffylog

A fu ddim, ddamwain breiddfyw,

Mor elyn i serchddyn syw

Â'r gaeaf, oeraf eiryoed,

Hirddu cas yn hyrddio coed?

Aruthr ei grwydr rhwng dwydref,

Oer o was, tad eiry yw ef.

Ni bu un na bai anawdd

Gantho–ai hawdd cuddio cawdd?–

Mewn eiry ermyn aros,

Y rhyn ôd, a rhew ar nos.

:Haws oedd mewn castell celli

Ar hafnos ei haros hi

Gan glywed digrifed tôn

Y gog las ddigoeg leision.

Annhebig mewn coedwig Mai,

A chyffur oedd o chaffai,

I rodio, tro treigl anûn,

Tan fargod to tŷ f'eurgun.

Perhôn drannoeth, anoethraid,

Ym ei chael, amau o chaid,

I dyddyn gweirdy diddos,

Ofn oedd yng ngaeaf, y nos,

Na ddigonai, chwai chwedlfreg,

Engyn ar y dynyn deg.

:Glân ymddiddan ydd oeddem,

Glud gŵyn, mi a gloywdeg em.

Gwnaeth fraw, frychleidr anghyfrwys,

A dychryn i'm gloywddyn glwys,

Col gylfinferf goferfwyd,

Y cyffylog llidiog llwyd.

Edn brych, dilewych o liw,

O adar gaeaf ydiw.

Modd y gwnaeth, nid maeth fy myd,

Wrth ben bagl wrthban bawglud,

Cychwyn yn braff ei drafferth,

Adain bôl, odd dan y berth

A neitio hyd pan ytoedd

Mewn perth ddu. Nid o'm porth oedd.

Gan faint trwstgrwydr ar lwydrew

Dwy ffilog y taeog tew,

Tygesym ddwyn, ddeugwyn ddig,

Trist oeddem, mae trwst Eiddig,

Golesg frys rhwng llys a llwyn,

Gwylltruthr peisfrych gwahelldrwyn.

Treiddiai yn ffrom wrth domawg,

Trwyddew tail a rhew yrhawg.

Aruthr ei chwedl hocedlaes

A mul ger buarthdail maes.

Ni ŵyr yn llon ar fron fry

Na llais aml na lles ymy,

Na cherddau, medd gwych ordderch,

Drwy nen y llwyn er mwyn merch

Ond arwain, durwaith meinffrom,

Y bêr du a bawr y dom.

:Yr edn brych â'r adain brudd,

Bribiwr a'i fagl, heb rybudd

Y caffo, tro treigl gochfrych,

Bolltod braff, mab alltud brych.

==Translation==
The Woodcock

Was there ever anything, half–dead condition,

so inimical to a merry lover

as long black grim winter shaking the trees,

coldest tryst in the snow?

His path between two towns is terrible,

cold lad, he is the father of snow.

There was never anyone who did not find it hard

(is it easy to hide tribulation?)

to wait in snow for [a girl dressed in] white fur,

this freezing snow, and ice at night.

It was easier to wait for her

in the woodland castle on a summer night

hearing how sweet the tune

of the grey cuckoo with its unassuming tones.

Being in the woods of May

(and that's how one would have it)

is very different to roaming, sleepless wandering,

under the eaves of my bright lady's house.

Should it happen the next day [= after the summer],

by some miracle, that I should get her,

though it's hardly likely, in a snug haybarn,

I'd be afraid that on a winter night

this lad wouldn't be able to satisfy the fair lass,

there'd soon be reproach about inadequacy.

We were having a nice conversation,

me and the gorgeous jewel, lasting regret.

The clumsy speckled thief

gave my lovely bright girl a shock and a fright,

useless spiky beak dripping with food,

the fierce grey woodcock.

Speckled dull–coloured creature,

it's one of the birds of winter.

What it did, it's no friend of my darling,

the filthy cloak on sticks,

was to rush out from under the bush

with a great commotion, battered wings,

and jump around until it reached

another dark bush. It was no help to me at all.

The fat churl's two wings

made such a racket on the frosty ground

that we were convinced, both lamenting bitterly,

we were so annoyed, that the noise was made by the Jealous One,

scurrying pathetically between house and woods,

wild rush of one in a speckled coat with a nose like a spike.

It would stab viciously at a dung heap,

like an auger always in filth and ice.

Its long cunning call is dreadful to hear

and silly by cow pats in field.

It can't make merry chatter up on the hillside,

nor do me any good at all,

nor songs, says the fine sweetheart,

through the treetops for a girl's sake,

but can only wield that thin vicious steel instrument,

a black spike that grazes dung.

That brindled bird with sombre wings,

scoundrel with its snare, may it get

without any warning, tawny wanderer,

a good hard arrow shot, the speckled alien.

Ymddiddan â'r Cyffylog

2012-05-23T09:51:36Z

Jargogle: Created page with "'''Ymddiddan â'r Cyffylog''' (Conversing with the Woodcock) is a poem by Dafydd ap Gwilym. The text and translation is taken from http://www.dafyddapgwilym.net, published by the..."

'''Ymddiddan â'r Cyffylog''' (Conversing with the Woodcock) is a poem by Dafydd ap Gwilym. The text and translation is taken from http://www.dafyddapgwilym.net, published by the Welsh Department of Swansea University. Details regarding the manuscripts can be found at the same website.

==Text==
Ymddiddan â'r Cyffylog

'Tydy ehediad tewdwrf,

Taer gyffylog, lidiog lwrf,

Manag, edn mynog adain,

Mae dy chwŷl; mad wyd a chain.'

:'Ffest a glew y mae'n rhewi,

Ffo ydd wyf, myn fy ffydd i,

Ar hynt o'r lle bûm yr haf,

Ar guert rhag eiry gaeaf.

Rhyw gof dig, rhew gaeaf du

A'i luwch ni'm gad i lechu.'

:'Edn, yt hiroedl ni edir,

Ederyn hardd duryn hir.

Dyred, na ddywed ddeuair,

Lle mae a garaf, lliw Mair,

Lle gofrwysg gerllaw gofron,

Lle claer tes, lle clywir ton,

I ochel awel aeaf,

O ras hir, i aros haf.

:'O thry i'th ogylch, iaith ddrud,

Treiglwr, chwibanwr traglud,

Â bollt benfras a bwa,

A'th weled, ŵr, i'th wâl da,

Na chudd er ei lais, na chae

Dy lygad dan dy loywgae.

Eheda, brysia rhag brad

A thwyll ef o'th ddull hoywfad

O-berth-i-berth, drafferth drwch,

O-lwyn-i-lwyn anialwch.

Glân dy dro, o glŷn dy droed

I mewn magl ym min meigoed,

Na fydd, dilonydd dy lam,

Wrth gryngae, groglath gringam.

Tor yn lew i am d'ewin

Â'th dduryn cryf wyth rawn crin;

Trist big, hen goedwig a gâr,

Trwyddau adwyau daear.

:'Disgyn heddiw ger rhiwallt

Is tŷ gwen, ys teg ei gwallt,

A gwybydd, er delw Gybi,

Ger rhiw, a yw gywir hi.

Gŵyl ei thro, gwylia a thrig

Yno, ederyn unig.'

:'Bai reitiaf dy rybuddiaw,

Tydi, fab teg arab: taw!

Rhywyr, mau ofn y rhewynt,

Y gwylir hi, gwael yw'r hynt;

Eres hyd y bu'n oeri,

Aeth arall hoywgall â hi.'

:'Os gwir, edn, mau ehednwyf

Is gil serch, ysgeulus wyf,

Gwir a gant, gwarant gwiwras,

Y rhai gynt am y rhyw gas:

"Pren yng nghoed"—mawroed yw'r mau—

"Arall â bwyall biau."'

==Translation==
Conversing with the Woodcock

'You, bird of loud commotion,

eager woodcock, with an angry way,

tell [me], bird of noble wing,

where are you going; you're good and fair.'

'It's freezing hard and fast,

I'm fleeing, by my faith,

on a journey from where I was in the summer,

to shelter from the winter snow.

Some harsh memory, the ice of black winter

and its snowdrift won't let me stay.'

'Bird, you have not been granted a long life,

fine bird with a long beak.

Come (don't say two words)

to where is the one I love, of the colour of Mary,

a merry place by a gentle slope,

a fine place with warm weather, where a wave is heard,

to shelter from the winter breeze,

by a long blessing, to wait for summer.

'If there comes close to you (bold language)

a wanderer, a very persistent whistler,

with a broad-headed arrow and a bow,

and he sees you, man, in your fine lair,

don't hide because of his voice, don't close

your eye under your clear barring.

Fly, hurry from treachery,

and deceive him in your lively and good way,

from hedge to hedge, unfortunate trouble,

from copse to copse in wasteland.

Fair is your movement, if your foot should stick

in a trap at the edge of small trees,

don't yield, restless your movement,

to a cockshoot (?), bent and withered snare.

Cut strongly from around your claw

with your strong beak eight brittle horsehair twine;

sad beak, he loves old woods,

augur of the earth's breaches.

'Land today by a wooded slope

below the girl's house, fair is her hair,

and find out, by Cybi's image,

by the slope, whether she is faithful.

Watch her movements, watch and wait

there, lonely bird.'

'It's best to warn you,

you, fair talkative lad: be quiet!

It's too late (I fear the icy wind)

to watch her, the doing is poor;

it's strange how long she/it has been getting colder,

another lively and clever man has taken her.'

'If it is true, bird (I have a passion that flies

after love), [that] I am abandoned,

it is true what (warrant of good grace)

they of olden times sang of such bad situations as this:

"A tree in the wood"—I have great longing—

"It's the other man with the axe who owns it."'

Y Gog

2012-05-23T09:35:37Z

Jargogle: inserted linebreaks

'''Y Gog''' (The Cuckoo) is a poem by Dafydd ap Gwilym. The text and translation is taken from http://www.dafyddapgwilym.net, published by the Welsh Department of Swansea University. Details regarding the manuscripts can be found at the same website.

==Text==
Y Gog

'Dydd da yt, y gog serchogfwyn

Ei llais ar ganghenfrig llwyn,

Cloc y dail, clicied aelaw,

Cloch aberth y drawsberth draw.

P'le buost, edn diwednlais?

Pa wlad bell? Plu yw dy bais.'

:'Bûm ynglŷn megis dyn dall

Bedeiroes mewn byd arall.

Claf fûm a gwan o anun,

Collais fy harddlais fy hun.

Sefyll dan yr irgyll 'rwyd,

Myn Pedr, ni wn pwy ydwyd.'

:'Myfi yw'r bardd digrifair

Mawrserch fryd, myn mawlbryd Mair,

A'th yrrodd, ni'm gwahoddes,

Wtla o'r tir, at eiliw'r tes.'

:'Henwa, ddyn ffraeth hiraethnych,

Henw'r Gymraes walltlaes wych.'

:'Hawdd y medrwn, gwn ganclwyf,

Henwi gwen, dihunog wyf:

Es ac Ef a llythr hefyd,

En ac A, dwg hynny i gyd.'

:'Erchis gwen, eurchwys ei gwallt,

D'annerch dan frig bedwenallt.'

:'Moes arwydd — drwg y'm llwyddwyd,

Madws oedd, ai mudes wyd? —

Y ddyn, llawer annerch a ddwg,

Fain oedd ŵyl, fwynaidd olwg.'

:'Hir y byddwn, gwn gellwair,

Ar frig llwyn yn gorllwyn gair,

Oni ddoeth, byd hagrnoeth hyll,

Od tew a gaeaf tywyll.

Euthum gan oerwynt trumnoeth

Gyda'r dail, gwiw awdur doeth.'

:'Mae'r arwydd o'r mawr arail,

Y gog adeiniog o'r dail?'

:'Cyffylog anserchogfwyn,

Coch westai, addawsai'i ddwyn

Pan oedd — och arwain pìn iâ! —

Du y dom, yn dywod yma.'

:'Pa bryd y doeth, gyw noethfrych?'

:'Gŵyl y Grog i gil y gwrych.'

:'Ynfyd fu â'i anfad fêr,

Ysgeulus edn ysgeler.

Gwn ei ladd, llid ergydnerth,

Gŵr â bollt dan gwr y berth.

Dwg hediad, deg ei hadain,

Dos eilwaith at f'anrhaith fain.

Dwg hi dan frig coedwig cyll,

Disgyn dan ledu d'esgyll.

Lateies, dwg gae Esyllt,

Loywlais wawd, ferch liwlas wyllt.

Dyro, a hed ar fedwlwyn,

Lythr i'r ferch lathrair fwyn.

Dywaid erchi, f'enaid ferch,

Ohonof fi ei hannerch.

Sŵn cloc mewn perth, ni'th werthir,

Swyddoges gwŷdd hafddydd hir.

Anwybod wyd, gog lwydfain,

A neawdr wyd yn y drain.

Hed o fedwen ganghenlas

Ar bren plan garbron y plas.

Mwyn o drebl, myn di rybudd

I'r eurloer deg ar liw'r dydd,

A dwg wen eurwallt bennoeth

Allan i 'mddiddan, em ddoeth.

O berth i berth anferthol

Minnau a ddo' hyd yno'n d'ôl.

Drwy dy nerth di a'r Rhiain,

Dygwn y ferch deg wen fain.'

==Translation==
The Cuckoo

'Good day, cuckoo whose voice is gentle and lovely

upon a grove branch,

the leaves' clock, a persistent latch,

sacring–bell of the sturdy thicket yonder.

Where have you been, mild-voiced bird?

In which distant land? Your coat is made of feathers.'

'I've been stuck like a blind man

for four lifetimes in another world.

I was sick and weak from sleeplessness,

I lost my own sweet voice.

You're standing beneath the green hazels,

by Peter, I don't know who you are.'

'I'm the poet of witty speech,

intent on great love, by Mary's lauded beauty,

who sent you (she did not invite me,

an outlaw from that land) to the sun–bright maid.'

'You eloquent man who's sick with longing,

say the name of the fine Welsh maid with the flowing hair.'

'It would be easy for me (I have a hundred wounds)

to name the girl, I cannot sleep:

S and E and another letter too,

N and A, bring those together.'

'The girl, with hair like droplets of gold,

asked me to greet you beneath the branches of a birch grove.'

'Give me the sign – I've prospered badly,

it's about time, are you a mute? —

of the slender maid (she brings many greetings)

who was gentle, she of pleasant aspect.'

'I was a long time (I know mockery)

on the crest of a grove awaiting a word,

until there came (desolate, haggard world)

thick snow and dark winter.

I went, because of a bleak chill wind,

along with the leaves, wise and worthy author.'

'Where's the sign from that long watch,

winged cuckoo of the leaves?'

'An unkindly woodcock,

mottled red visitor, promised to bring it

when he — alas that he bore a pin of ice! —

was coming here, black [bird] of the dunghill.'

'When did he come, the bare speckled chick?'

'On the Feast of the Cross to the corner of the hedge.'

'He was foolish, he and his evil spear,

that negligent, wicked bird.

I know that a man with a bolt (with all the fury of a blow's force)

killed him beneath the thicket's edge.

Take flight, fair–winged bird,

return once more to my slender darling.

Bring her below the branches of a hazel grove,

alight and spread your wings.

Messenger of love, take Esyllt's garland

(a bright–voiced song), wild blue grey girl.

Give (and fly upon a birch grove)

a letter to the gentle girl of dazzling speech.

Say that I (my darling soul)

am requesting to greet her.

Sound of a clock in a thicket, you won't be sold,

officer of the trees on a long summer day.

You are unknowing, slim grey cuckoo,

and amongst the briars you are neutral.

Fly from a green–branched birch

onto a planted tree beside the mansion.

A pleasant treble, be sure to warn

the fair golden moon in the light of day,

and bring the bare–headed girl with the golden hair

outside to converse, wise gem.

From one great bush to another

I'll follow you there.

Through your power and that of the Virgin,

we'll capture that beautiful, slim, fair–skinned girl.'

Yr Wylan

2012-05-23T09:17:04Z

Jargogle:

'''Yr Wylan'''(The Gull) is a poem by Dafydd ap Gwilym. The text and translation is taken from http://www.dafyddapgwilym.net, published by the Welsh Department of Swansea University. Details regarding the manuscripts can be found at the same website.

==Text==

Yr Wylan

Yr wylan deg ar lanw, dioer,

Unlliw ag eiry neu wenlloer,

Dilwch yw dy degwch di,

Darn fal haul, dyrnfol heli.

Ysgafn ar don eigion wyd,

Esgudfalch edn bysgodfwyd.

Yngo'r aud wrth yr angor

Lawlaw â mi, lili môr.

Llythr unwaith lle'th ariannwyd,

Lleian ym mrig llanw môr wyd.

:Cyweirglod bun, cai'r glod bell,

Cyrch ystum caer a chastell.

Edrych a welych, wylan,

Eigr o liw ar y gaer lân.

Dywaid fy ngeiriau dyun,

Dewised fi, dos hyd fun.

Byddai'i hun, beiddia'i hannerch,

Bydd fedrus wrth fwythus ferch

Er budd; dywaid na byddaf,

Fwynwas coeth, fyw onis caf.

Ei charu'r wyf, gwbl nwyf nawdd,

Och wŷr, erioed ni charawdd

Na Merddin wenithfin iach,

Na Thaliesin ei thlysach.

Siprys dyn giprys dan gopr,

Rhagorbryd rhy gyweirbropr.

:Och wylan, o chai weled

Grudd y ddyn lanaf o Gred,

Oni chaf fwynaf annerch,

Fy nihenydd fydd y ferch.

==Translation==

The Gull

Fair gull on the tide, indeed,

of the same hue as snow or the white moon,

your beauty is without blemish,

a piece like the sun, gauntlet of the brine.

You are light on the ocean wave,

swift proud fish-eating bird.

You'd go close by the anchor

hand-in-hand with me, sea lily.

Just like a letter you are painted silver,

you're a nun on the crest of the sea tide.

Perfect praise of a girl, you are praised afar,

make for the curve of fortress and castle.

Gull, look for one

of the colour of Eigr on the lovely fortress.

Say my ardent words,

may she choose me, go to the girl.

If she's alone, make bold to greet her,

be courteous to the dainty maid

for gain; say I will not live,

noble refined youth, unless I have her.

I love her, strength of complete passion,

oh men, neither Myrddin

with his fine wheaten lips

nor Taliesin ever loved a fairer one.

A sought-after girl [dressed in] fine linen under copper [hair],

exquisite visage perfectly formed.

Ah gull, if you get to see

the cheek of the fairest girl in Christendom,

unless I get a most gentle response

the girl will be the death of me.

Pangur Bán

2012-05-23T00:15:16Z

Jargogle: Created page with "An Old Irish poem concerning a cat, written by a monk in the Reichenau Primer. (9th Century). Text and translation printed in ''Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus: A Collection of Old-Ir..."

An Old Irish poem concerning a cat, written by a monk in the Reichenau Primer. (9th Century). Text and translation printed in ''Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus: A Collection of Old-Irish Glosses Scholia Prose and Verse'' ed. Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. 2 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1903), 293-294.

==Text==

Messe ''ocus'' Pangur Bán • cechtar nathar fria saindan

bíth a menmasam fri seilgg • mu menma céin im saincheirdd.

Caraimse fos ferr cach clú • oc mu lebran leir ingnu

ni foirmtech frimm Pangur Bán • caraid cesin a maccdán.

Orubiam scél cen scís • innar tegdais ar noendís

taithiunn dichrichide clius • ni fristardda''m'' arnáthius.

Gnáth huaraib ar gressaib gal • glenaid luch inna línsam

os mé dufuit im lín chéin • dliged ndoraid cu ndronchéill.

Fuachaidsem fri frega fál • a rosc anglése comlán

fuachim''m'' chein fri fegi fis • mu rosc reil cesu imdis.

Faelidsem cu ndene dul • hinglen luch inna gerchrub

hi tucu cheist nodoraid ndil • os me chene am faelid

Cia beimmi amin nach ré • ni derban cách a chele

maith la cechtar nár a dán • subaigthius a óenurán.

He fesin as choimsid dáu • in muid dungní cach oenláu

du thabairt doraid de glé • for mu mud cein am messe.

==Translation==

I and Pangur Bán, each of us two at his special art:

his mind is at hunting (mice), my own mind is my special craft.

I love to rest - better than any fame - at my booklet with diligent science:

not envious of me is Pangur Bán: he himself loves his childish art.

When we are - tale without tedium - in our house, we two alone,

we have - unlimited (is) feat-sport - something to which to apply our acuteness.

It is customary at times by feats of valour, that a mouse sticks in his net,

and for me there falls into my net a difficult dictum with hard meaning.

His eye, this glancing full one, he points against the wall-fence:

I myself against the keenness of science point my clear eye, though it is very feeble.

He is joyous with speedy going where a mouse sticks in his sharp claw:

I too am joyous, where I understand a difficult dear question.

Though we are thus always, neither hinders the other:

each of us two likes his art, amuses himself alone.

He himself is master of the work which he does every day:

while I am at my own work, (which is) two bring difficulty to clearness.

Bookworm

2012-05-22T23:47:39Z

Jargogle: Created page with "==Text== From Skeats' ''Anglo-Saxon Reader'', rev. C. T. Onions (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1933), 167. ''M''oððe word fræt; ''m''ē þæt þūhte ''w''rǣt''t''licu ''w''yrd,..."

==Text==
From Skeats' ''Anglo-Saxon Reader'', rev. C. T. Onions (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1933), 167.

''M''oððe word fræt; ''m''ē þæt þūhte

''w''rǣt''t''licu ''w''yrd, þā ic þæt ''w''undor gefrægn,

þæt se ''w''yrm forswealg ''w''era gied''d'' sumes,

þēof in ''þ''ȳstro ''þ''rym''m''fæstne cwide

and þæs ''st''rangan ''sta''þol: ''st''ælgiest ne wæs

''w''ihte þȳ glēawra þe hē þām ''w''ordum swealg.

==Translation==

From ''The Anglo-Saxon World'', tr. Kevin Crossley-Holland (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), 247.

A moth devoured words. When I heard

of that wonder it sruck me as a strange event

that a worm should swallow the song of some man,

a thief gorge in the darkness on a great man's

speech of distinction. The thievish stranger

was not a whit the wiser for swallowing words.

Charm against rats

2012-05-22T23:14:43Z

Jargogle: correcting Furnivall

'I comawnde alle þe ratones þat are here abowte' is a charm from Bodleian MS Rawlinson C. 288, f. 113, in what Sisam describes as "15th-century writing, blurred". The text is from ''Fourteenth Century Verse & Prose'', ed. Kenneth Sisam (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1955, repr. 1962), 170; an earlier printed version appears in ''Political, Religious, and Love Poems'' edited by F. J Furnivall (Early English Text Society, 1866, repr. 1903), 43.

==Text==

I comawnde alle þe ratones þat are here abowte,

þat non dwelle in þis place, withinne ne withowte,

Thorgh þe vertu of Iesu Crist, þat Mary bare abowte

þat alle creatures owyn for to lowte,

And thorgh þe vertu of Mark, Mathew, Luke, and Ion, -

Alle foure Awangelys corden corden into on, -

Thorgh þe vertu of Sent Geretrude, þat mayde clene,

:: God graunte þat grace

:: þat <non> raton dwelle in þe place

þat here namis were nemeled in;

And thorgh þe vertu of Sent Kasi.

þat holy man, þat prayed to God Almyty

:: For skathes þat þei deden

:: Hys medyn

Be dayes and be nyȝt,

God bad hem flen and gon out of euery manesse syȝt.

''Dominus Deus Saboat!'' Emanuel, þe gret Godes name!

I betweche þes place from ratones and from alle oþer schame.

God saue þis place fro all oþer wykked wytes,

Boþe be dayes and be nytes! ''et in nomine Patris et Filii,'' &c.

==Notes==
skathes] t ''altered'' from f (?) in the MS [Sisam]

St. Gertrude of Nivelles, like St. Kakukilla, was invoked against rats.

St Kasi; does not appear elsewhere in Middle English texts; since St. Nicasius of Rheims is invokeds against rats and mice elsewhere in Europe, this saint has been suggested. See Bruce Dickens and R. M. Wilson, 'Sent Kasi', ''Leeds Studies in English and Kindred Languages'' 6 (1937): 67-73.

I have a gentil cok

2012-05-22T13:59:42Z

Jargogle: Added reference

Lyric from MS. London BL Sloane 2593; taken from ''Medieval English Lyrics 1200-1400'', ed. Thomas G. Duncan (Harmonsdworth: Penguin Books, 1995), 168-169.

==Text==

I have a gentil cok,

:crowëth me the day;

He doth me risen erly,

:my matins for to say.

I have a gentil cok,

:comen he is of gret;

His comb is of red corel,

:his tayil is of jet.

I have a gentil cok,

:comen he is of kinde;

His comb is red corel,

:his tayil is of inde.

His leggës ben of asur,

:so gentil and so smale;

His spurës arn of sylver white

:into the wortëwale.

His eyen arn of cristal,

:loken al in aumber;

And every night he perchëth him

:in myn ladies chaumber.

==Criticism==
Baird-Lange, Lorrayne Y. 'Symbolic Ambivalence in "I haue a gentil cock', ''Fifteenth-Century Studies'' 11 (1985): 1-5

Bird

2012-05-22T13:53:05Z

Jargogle:

Type 
*[[Caladrius]]

Texts 
*[[Eryr Pengwern]] (The Eagle of Pengwern)
*[[I have a gentil cok]]
*[[Int én bec]], Irish blackbird poem
*[[Y Cyffylog]] (The Woodcock) by Dafydd ap Gwilym
*[[Y Gog]] (The Cuckoo) by Dafydd ap Gwilym
*[[Ymddiddan â'r Cyffylog]] (Conversing with the Woodcock) by Dafydd ap Gwilym
*[[Yr Wylan]] (The Gull) by Dafydd ap Gwilym

Helmeted Cock Mounted on a Piglet

2012-05-22T13:41:20Z

Jargogle: adding categories

The Vatican manuscript of ''Le Viandier'' contains a description of an 'entertainment' dish (an ''entremets'') of a helmeted cock mounted on a piglet.

''Coqz heaumez. Mettez cochons rostir, et poulaille comme coqz et vielles poulles, et quant le cochon sera rosty d’une part et la poulaille d’autre convient farsir la poullaille – sans escorcher, qui veult; et la convient farsir de paste batue aux oeuf; et quant ell’est doree la convient mettre a chevauchons sur le cochon, et fault ung heaume de papier collé et une lance fichié a la poittrine de la dicte poullaille, et les fault couvrir de fueil d’or ou d’argent pour les seigneurs, ou de feul d’estain blanc, vermeil ou vert.'' (''The Viandier of Taillevent'', ed. Terence Scully (University of Ottawa Press, 1998), 250)

For more on ''entremets'', see Terence Scully, ''The Art of Cookery in the Middle Ages'' (Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2005), 107-110.

[[category:recipe]]
[[category:14th century]]

Beetle, a.k.a. Inger

2012-05-22T13:35:30Z

Jargogle: Created page with "==Churchman Passing Judgment on Ingers== "In explaining the reasons for the visitations of insect pests," writes Weiss ('The Criminal Prosecution of Insects',''Journal of the Ne..."

==Churchman Passing Judgment on Ingers==

"In explaining the reasons for the visitations of insect pests," writes Weiss ('The Criminal Prosecution of Insects',''Journal of the New York Entomological Society'' 45. 2 (1937): 251-258 (251)), "the Church sometimes said that they were sent by Satan, and at other times by God for the punishment of man’s sins. In either case, relief was to be had only through the action of the Church.” For example:

''Du vnvernünfftige vnvollkommne Creatur mit nammen Inger vnd nenne dich darumb vnvollkommen dann deines geschlechts ist nit geseyn in der Arch Noe in der Zeit der vergifftung vng plag des Wassergusses. Nun hast du mit deinem anhang grossen schaden gethan im Erdtrich vnd auff dem Erdtrich ein mercklichen abbruch zeitlicher nahrung der Menschen vnd vnvernüfftigen thiere. Vnd von des nun sömlicher und dergleichen durch euch vnd euweren anhang nit mehr beshäch so hat mir mein gnädiger Herr vnd Bischoff zu Losann gebotten in seinem nammen euch zeermannen zeweichen vnd abzestahn. Vnd also von seiner Gnaden gebotts wegen vnd auch in seinem nammen als obstaht vnd bey krafft vnd verdienen des Menschen-geschlechts Erlösers vnsers behalters Jesu Christi vnd bey krafft vnd gehorsamkeit der heiligen Kirchen gebieten vnd ermannen ich euch in 6. Nächsten tagen zeweichen all vnd jegliche besonders auss allen Matten Ackeren Gärten Feldern Weiden Bäumen Krüteren vnd von allen örteren an denen wachsend vnd entspringend nahrungen der Menschen vnd der Thieren vnd an die ort vnd stätt euch fügend dass ihr mit ewerem anhang nimmer kein schaden vollbringen mögen den früchten vnd nahrungen der Menschen vnd Thieren Heimlich noch offentlich. Were aber sach dass ihr dieser ermannungen vnd gebott nit nachgiengend oder nachfolgeten vnd meinten vrsach haben das nit zeerfüllen so ermannen ich euch alsvor vnd laden vnd citieren euch bey krafft vnd gehorsamkeit der heiligen Kirchen am 6. Tag nach diser execution so es eins schlecht nach mitten tag gen Wifflispurg euch zu verantworten oder durch eweren Fürsprechen antwort zu geben vor meinem gnädigen Herren von Losann oder seinem Vicario vnd statthaltern vnd wird drauff mein gnädiger Herr von Losann oder sein statthalter fürer nach ordnungen des rechten wider euch mit verflüchen vnd beschweerungen handeln alss sich dann in solchem gebürt nach form vnd gestalt des rechten. Lieben Kind ich begären von ewerem jeglichen zu batten mit andacht auff ewerem knyen 4 Paternoster vnd Ave Maria, der hochen heiligen Dreyfaltigkeit zu lob vnd her anzerüffen vnd zebitten ihr gnad vnd hilff zesenden damit die Inger vertiben werdind.'' (Quoted in E. P. Evans, ''The Criminal Prosecution and Capital Punishment of Animals'' (London: Heinemann, 1906), 309-310)

Cat Rescuing Kitten Carved in Stone

2012-05-22T13:28:09Z

Jargogle: Created page with "Cat Rescuing Kitten Carved in Stone F. Edward Hulme's ''The Town, College, and Neighbourhood of Marlborough'' (London: Stanford, 1881), contains the following entry (p. 24):..."

[[Cat Rescuing Kitten Carved in Stone]]

F. Edward Hulme's ''The Town, College, and Neighbourhood of Marlborough'' (London: Stanford, 1881), contains the following entry (p. 24):

"Over the southern porch of St. Mary’s church [in Marlborough, Wiltshire] is a rude carving, scarcely now discernible, but which is said to represent a cat with a kitten in its mouth. The local legend is to the effect that, during the fire that consumed the church, a cat who had domesticated herself in the tower, brought down one by one her young ones, and each time with increasing danger from the advancing flames, until at length she fell a victim to her maternal devotion, and lost her life, but gained, in the new-built church, this monument to her memory. The old carvers show so often so complete a sympathy to their works that we hesitate to consign Pussy to the region of myths, but would rather think the story true from beginning to end, and that the brave devotion of the little mother touched a chord in some true human heart and earned her this memorial.”

Animalwiki:txt ot t1 r1p2

2012-05-22T13:24:19Z

Jargogle: Replaced content with "Caladrius"

[[Caladrius]]

Animalwiki:txt re t1 r2p2

2012-05-22T13:18:10Z

Jargogle: Replaced content with "Helmeted Cock Mounted on a Piglet"

[[Helmeted Cock Mounted on a Piglet]]

Introduction to Medieval Animals

2012-05-21T17:10:37Z

Walker: Created page with "== Animals in the Middle Ages == == Introduction == The Medieval period is an exceptional moment for the study of human-animal relationships. Many aspects of the political, ..."

== Animals in the Middle Ages ==

== Introduction ==

The Medieval period is an exceptional moment for the study of human-animal relationships. Many aspects of the political, economical and symbolic realms from medieval societies cannot, in fact, be fully understood without taking animals into consideration. The Spanish sheep economy exemplified by the Mesta would be one such case in point. 
[[Image:El rey de los animales.jpg|thumb|left]]

Animals were present in practically every aspect of material life in the Middle Ages, including diet, trade, husbandry, fishing and hunting, industry, trade and transport, warfare, and everyday matters. At the same time, animals were prominent items in various aspects of non material life, including mentality, symbolism, magic, literature and art. 

As the Middle Ages lasted for more than a millennium, and encompassed societies of different cultural backgrounds, perceptions concerning animals and their interactions with people were often anything but homogeneous. Space interacted with culture and time to complicate matters further. Such facts notwithstanding, it is true that Christianity did provide an encompassing mentality of sorts - a belief system of shared values- that shaped human attitudes towards animals in Europe to this day. One should nevertheless stress that Medieval societies occasionally held opposite views to those expressed by the Church when it came to valuing animals from a moral standpoint. This was the case of dogs and horses, animals with an often negative symbolic connotation for the Christian religion, that feudalism enthroned as the most appreciated beasts of Medieval times. 

A central aspect for understanding human-animal relationships and attitudes towards animals during this period is that Nature was rarely under the control of men, constituting a permanent menace for their life, crops and goods. The fact that large wild animals were far more numerous then than nowadays may partly explain the fear towards Nature but often pests and animal-borne diseases played a more prominent role, in particular during the second half of the Middle Ages. 

Information about medieval animals (i.e., “zoohistory”) can be gathered from a wealth of sources. Documentary data are often dispersed and literally buried within texts dealing with other matters. Data often appear on all kinds of literary genders – Bestiaries being a Middle Ages’ favorite - and also in iconographies, but legal texts are a source not to be neglected. When it comes to physical evidence, archaeozoology offers a unique and innovative venue that allows one to deal with aspects often overlooked by the literature, such as the transformation of the environment, and also to contrast documentary data with the material record. 

Medieval scholars elaborated different systems of zoological taxonomy, mostly based on the classical sources and often with a more practical than scientific outlook yet some of these paved the way for the scientific classifications that were to follow during the ensuing Modern Age. 

Bestiaries, also in their iconographic versions (e.g., in art, iniatures, etc.) constitute the paradigm of symbolic zoology. Here animals were used for the purpose of illustrating religious dogma and moral values. Within such context, faunas served a didactic purpose that taught an essentially illiterate population to imitate good acts and avoid evil ones. 

The Medieval World is full of iconic animals. Many of these derive from Christian symbols such as the lamb, the fish and the dove. Others, like the aforementioned dogs and horses, were highly esteemed from feudal times onwards, the later also among the Arabs. Eagles and lions were all time-favorites in armories. Cats and birds, and also dogs, were favored as pets in the Christian lands, where bear and wild boar constituted two of the most popular hunting icons. The Medieval World witnessed the importance given to exotic animals –such as elephants and monkeys - that often became part of an exchange system among kings and noblemen, and who were responsible for the rise of the menageries, the root of our present-day zoos. 

== Bibliography ==

* Le Goff, J.(2009): “Los Animales” in Una Edad Media en Imágenes.Paidós. Barcelona.: 182-205.

* Nogales Rincón, D: "El reino animal como gobierno utópico en la Castilla bajomedieval (siglos XIII-XV)", Medievo Utópico. Sueños, ideales y utopías en el imaginario medieval, coord. Martín Alvira Cabrer y Jorge Díaz Ibáñez, Madrid: Sílex Ediciones [en prensa], : 67-86.

* Morales Muñiz, D.C.(1999): “Los animales en el mundo medieval cristiano-occidental: actitud y mentalidad”. Espacio, Tiempo y Forma, III 11 :307-29.

* Morales Muñiz, D.C. (2000): “La Fauna Exótica en la Península Ibérica: apuntes para el estudio del coleccionismo animal en el medievo hispánico” . Espacio, Tiempo y Forma, III, 13: 233-270

* Resl, B.(Ed.)(2007): A cultural History of Animals in the Medieval Age.Berg.Oxford-New York.

* Salisbury, J.E. (1994): The Beast Within. Animals in the Middle Ages. Routledge. Nueva York-Londres.

 

Author 

Dolores Carmen Morales Muñiz

Pig in San Isidoro de León, Spain

2012-05-16T21:20:28Z

WikiSysop:

== Pig ==

Pig. The Slaughter of the Pig (representation of the month of november in a romanesque calendar). Panteón Real (Royal Collegiate Church of San Isidoro, León, Spain). In situ. ca. 1100. Wall painting (fresco). 

== Description ==

In a largely agricultural and cattle raising society like the one in the Early Middle Ages, the system most commonly used to show the calculation (passing) of time was through the use of images depicting the labors of the month. In the case of the Royal Pantheon at San Isidoro, these appear in twelve independent medallions which form the intrados decoration in one of the main arches of the enclosure. [[Image:SAN ISIDORO Panteon Calendario (noviembre).JPG|thumb|left]] In those times, pork was the main source of protein for the peasants therefore the social significance of the act of slaughtering the animal, an event usually carried out between November and December, depending on the weather. In León, the animal is slaughtered in November. The body is worked in shades of ocher, to which brushstrokes of white have been added to give sheens to the image and insinuate muscle detail, as happens with a row of short black strokes on the back, referring to the bristles of the animal, trying to provide same realism to the work. For the same reason, the painter took the trouble of indicating that the pig had cloven hooves, flat snout and small triangular ears that serve the farmer to hold it tightly, while immobilizing the animal with one leg just before hitting the mortal blow with the ax. To ensure that the animal had gained enough weight, in the previous medallion, corresponding to the month of October, same farmer appears feeding it with acorns that fall from a tree placed in front of them. 

 

== Bibliography ==

*Viñayo, A., Pintura románica. Panteón Real de San Isidoro-León. León, 1971.
*Wettstein. J., La fresque romane: Italie-France-Espagne. Études comparatives. Ginebra, 1971.
*Viñayo, A., San Isidoro de León. Panteón de Reyes. Albores románicos: arquitectura, escultura, pintura. León, 1995.
*Grau Lobo, L. A., La pintura románica en Castilla y León. Valladolid, 1996.
*Walker, R., “The Wall Paintings in the Panteón de los Reyes at León: A Cycle of Intercession”, The Art Bulletin, LXXXII/2 (2000), pp. 200-225.
*Viñayo González, A., “Real Colegiata de San Isidoro”, Enciclopedia del Románico en Castilla y León. León. Aguilar de Campoo, 2002, pp. 533-566.

 

Author 

Marta Poza Yagüe

Aeldred of Rievaulx

2011-10-16T19:59:47Z

Jargogle:

Aelred of Rievaulx, De Bello Standardi. When the fragility of their scottish [sic] lances had been mocked by the solidity of iron and wood, they tried to content face to face with their swords drawn. But the southern gadflies, boiling up out of the hollow quivers and flying around like heavy rain, violently attacked the breasts, faces, and eyes of every one in their way, greatly hindering their effort. You might see a Galwegian stuck all around by arrows like the spines of a hedgehog, but shaking his sword nonetheless, now rushing forward to slaughter the enemy as if in a blind madness, now beating the empty air with futile blows. At last, completely terrified, they melted away in flight. Then the illustrious youth, the king's son, coming forward with his own line, hurled himself against the wing opposite him with the savagery of a lion, and when he had broken the part of the southern throng like a spider's web, he went ahead of the king's ensign to kill everyone in his way.[1] 

[1] Aelred of Rievaulx: The Historical Works, tr. Jane Patricia Freeland (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 2005), 266. The Latin appears in PL 195, 710-711. Ubi vero ferri lignique soliditate Scoticarum lancerum est delusa fragilitas, eductis gladiis cominus decertare tentabant. Sed australes muscæ de cavernis pharetrarum ebullientes, et instar denissimæ pluviæ convolantes, et in obstantium pectora, vultum, oculos quoque importunius irruentes, conatum illorum plurimum retardabant. Videres ut hericium spinis ita Galwensem sagittis undique circumseptum, nihilominus vibrare gladium, et cæca quadam amentia proruentem nunc hostem cædere, nunc inanem aerem cassis ictibus verberare. Et jamjam percussi pavore extremi quique dissolvebantur in fugam, cum inclytus adolescens filius regis cum sua superveniens acie in adversum sibi cornu leonina se ferocitate proripuit, ipsaque globi australis parte instar cassis araneæ dissipata, obstantes quosque cædendo ultra regium signum progressus est, ratusque reliquum exercitum secutum iri, et hostibus fugæ præsidium toleret, equorum stationem invasit, dispersit, ac retro usque ad duo stadia redire coegit.

 Aelred of Rievaulx (1110-1167) concerning the Battle of the Standard (1138), in which William of Aumale halted David I of Scotland’s advance into ‘Anglo-Norman’ England. As with the Genealogia regum Anglorum, it was composed around 1153-1154, at the closing of the Anarchy, prior to the death of King Stephen, for his successor Henry of Anjou. Both texts articulate a desire for a peaceful and just ruler (while, in the case of DBS, charting the deeds of Walter Espec, the patron of Rievaulx Abbey). * * * The spider’s web I can think of no comparisons – Bruce’s spider is a Walterscottism. Am curious to see if there are any other motifs. The rest are quite common, albeit not so close to each other in a single text. Regarding the hedgehog/arrows comparison, this appears in Abbo of Fleury’s Vita s. Edmundi: The palace is surrounded, Edmund stands before Inguar as Christ before Pilate. After being mocked and beaten, he is tied to a tree and lashed. Following this he is used as target-practice with arrows until he looks like a hedgehog.[1] There is also this dream of a deacon in one of the lives of Becket, though without arrows; it is an embellishment of Isaiah 34. The king of England was hunting in Wabridge forest with all his archbishops, bishops, barons, nobles, priors and abbots, when a hedgehog sprang out in front of them, roused by the clamour of the hunters. When they saw it they all began to chase it, harrying it with shouts and mockery. But the hedgehog outran the throng and hastened to the sea, not in a straight line but in a more winding path, carrying on his back the book entitled The Acts of the Apostles. None of those who followed was without a bodily flaw, but seemed either blind, one-eyed or lame, or to have mutilated lips or nose. And when eventually the hedgehog came back to the sea, it plunged and it did not emerge again. Seeing this, those who had been in pursuit turned back. And behold a thick dark cloud arose and covered the face of the earth, and a shower of blood fell. The king then turned aside to the royal hall set up in that place, and he sat in it, after he had put on a long white robe of linen, and placed around his head wolves’ tails as a garland. But the blood did not cease from spilling down upon him, because the house, being in a deserted place, did not have a waterproof roof, and through the wolves’ tails hanging down it flowed into his garment. And when it had filled his garment and its winding folds, it began to flow out, and as it overflowed it filled even his mouth.[2]

But I think in the De bello standardii it’s a purely visual image, rather than any religious connotation, since the audience (Henry) is meant to feel no sympathy for the Galwegians; rather, the Scottish David, whom Aelred was highly sympathetic to (owing to a ten year court service, and apparent in his eulogy Vita Davidis Scotorum regis, which is typically attached to Genealogia regum Anglorum) receives criticism from Aelred for employing soldiers responsible for massacres, murders, rapes, etc etc. The lion is widespread symbol of kingship. There is a very interesting article on a piece of church sculptor including Samson overcoming the lion that was made during the German Investiture contest, which presents itself a symbol of the Church overcoming and controlling the kings.[3]And there is the famous and much discussed scene of the Cid taming an escaped lion, while the useless Infantes cower away.[4]But since DBS is a product of the Normans, a brief look at them is suffice. They were clearly taken by the image. There is of course Henry I’s use of the lion image, and the belief in propagated in Henry II’s court that the Conqueror conquered England under the banner of golden lions.[5] In an earlier case of Norman history writing, in Dudo’s Historia Normannorum (c. 1015-1030), the Viking Hasting is described as such in his frenzied attacks on the Franks in the 9th century, in a comparison that compares his behaviour to a wolf and a lion.[6] In comparison, William of Jumièges Gesta Normannorum Ducum (prior to 1060) uses the wolf/lion comparison more sharply. The pagan Rollo and his son William get baptised: Rollo, who keeps his pagan ways, “emerges from the font “a ravening wolf” [et exit rapacissmus lupis]” and so “attracts lupine allusions” as his “pagan pack steals into the sheepfold of Christ, burning down churches, leading women captive, slaughtering the people” – the “twilight wolves (lupi vespere) of Zephaniah 3.3 – while Rollo’s Christian son William Longsword is introduced as a lion.[7] During the Crusades, there’s a ‘Frankinization’ of the armed pilgrims in the Frank-orientated sources.[8]So there is Godfrey, who in battle becomes like a lion,[9]and similarly, Bohemond.[10] 

[1] Quoted in Marco Mostert, The Political Theology of Abbo of Fleury (Hilversum: Verloren, 1987), 42. I haven’t located the PL 139.

[2] Michael Staunton, Thomas Becket and his Biographers (Woodbridge: Boydell, 2006) 164. The Latin is in Materials for the History of Thomas Becket, vol. 1, 41-42. The online version has recently been taken down.

[3] "Finally, there is the representation of Samson rending the lion (fig. 5, upper panel), which is unrelated to the main cycle and yet summarizes its message. The meaning of this scene has been clarified by Tosco, who traced exegetical sources from Isidore of Seville in the seventh century to the Glossa Ordinaria in the twelfth, and showed that the submission of the lion to Samson was often understood symbolically as the submission of the kings of the earth to the Church". Anat Tcherikover, 'Reflections of the Investiture Controversy at Nonantola and Modena, Zeitschrift fur Kunstgeschichte, 60. 2 (1997), 158

[4] Paul R. Olson, ‘Symbolic Hierarchy in the Lion Episode of the Cantar de Mio Cid,’ MLN 77. 5 (1962): 499-511. David Hook, ‘Some Observations upon the Episode of the Cid’s Lion,’ MLR 71. 3 (1976): 553-564. E. Michael Gerli, ‘The Ordo Commendationis Animae and the Cid Poet,’ MLN 95. 2 (1980): 436-441.

[5] For a brief discussion, see David Crouch, The Normans: The History of a Dynasty (London: Hambledon, 2007), 291.

[6] “Round the walls of strongholds, he roars as the wolf round the folds of the sheep. He scorns the Franks, fearfully withdrawn behind their fortifications. He persecutes all men, as the lion the deer.” Dudo of St. Quentin, History of the Normans, tr. Eric Christiansen (Boydell: Woodbridge, 1998) 17.

[7] All this is from Emily Albu, The Normans in their Histories: Propaganda, Myth and Subversion (Woodbridge: Boydell, 2001), 63-64.

[8] C.f. Plumtree’s Budapest MA thesis, featuring lions (briefly).

[9] “Godfrey was handsome, of lordly bearing, eloquent, of distinguished character, and so lenient with his soldiers as to give the impression of being a monk rather than a soldier. However when he realised that his enemy was at hand and battle imminent, his courage became abundantly evident and like a roaring lion he feared the attack of no man. What breastplate or shield could withstand the thrust of his sword?” Carol Sweetenham, Robert the Monk’s History of the First Crusade: Historia Iherosolimitana (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006), 84. Godefrido, qui erat Eustachii Boloniensis comitis filius, sed officio dignitatis dux erat Teuthonicus. Hic vultu elegans, statura procerus, dulcis eloquio, moribus egregious, et in tantum militibus lenis, ut magis in se monachum quam militem figuraret. Hic tamen quum hostem sentiebat adesse et imminere prælium, tunc audaci mente concipiebat animum, et, quasi leo frendens, ad nullius pavebat occursum. Et quæ lorica vel clypeus sustinere poterat impetum mucronis illius? Recuil des Historiens des Croisades: Historiens Occidentaux 3 (Paris: Imprimerie Impériale, 1886), 731-732.

[10] Fuit itaque ille, undique signo crucis munitus, qualiter leo perpessus famem per tres aut quatuor dies, qui exiens a suis cauernis, rugiens ac sitiens sanguinem pecudum sicut improuide ruit inter agmina gregum, dilanians oues fugientes huc et illuc; ita agebat iste inter agmina Turcorum. Rosalind Hill, Gesta Francorum: Deeds of the Franks and Other Pilgrims to Jerusalem (1962; reprint, New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), 36.

Calves at the capitel in the cloister of the Franciscan monastery in Dubrovnik

2011-09-10T16:28:04Z

WikiSysop:

[[Image:Calves1.png|thumb|300px|Photo by the author]]

The depiction of the heads of calves at the capitel of the double column in the cloister of the Franciscan monastery in Dubrovnik. The rich animal, human and plant motives decorating the capitels of columns have been sculpted in the late 14th century by Mihoje Brajkov from the city of Bar (present day Monetengro).

Cows at the capitel in the cloister of the Franciscan monastery in Dubrovnik

2011-09-10T16:24:20Z

WikiSysop:

[[Image:Cows1.jpg|thumb|300px|Photo by the author]]

The depiction of cows at the capitel of the double column in the cloister of the Franciscan monastery in Dubrovnik. The rich animal, human and plant motives decorating the capitels of columns have been sculpted in the late 14th century by Mihoje Brajkov from the city of Bar (present day Monetengro).

Dragons at the capitel in the cloister of the Franciscan monastery in Dubrovnik

2011-09-10T16:18:21Z

WikiSysop:

[[Image:Dragons1.jpg|thumb|300px|Photo by the author]]

The depiction of dragons at the capitel of the double column in the cloister of the Franciscan monastery in Dubrovnik. The rich animal, human and plant motives decorating the capitels of columns have been sculpted in the late 14th century by Mihoje Brajkov from the city of Bar (present day Monetengro).

Dogs2.png

2011-09-06T13:18:56Z

Lkuncevic: Created page with "File:Dogs2.jpg"

[[File:Dogs2.jpg]]

Dogs1.png

2011-09-06T13:01:17Z

Lkuncevic: moved Dogs1.png to Dogsfranciscans.jpg

[[File:Dogs1.JPG]]

Dogs at the capitel in the cloister of the Franciscan monastery in DUbrovnik

2011-09-06T12:59:01Z

Lkuncevic:

[[File:Dogsfranciscans.jpg]]

The depiction of dogs at the capitel of the double column in the cloister of the Franciscan monastery in Dubrovnik. The rich animal, human and plant motives decorating the capitels of columns have been sculpted in the late 14th century by Mihoje Brajkov from the city of Bar (present day Monetengro).

Dragon battling a warrior at the Rector's Palace in Dubrovnik

2011-09-06T12:43:02Z

Lkuncevic:

[[File:dragon.jpg]]

The depiction of a warrior battling a dragon on a capitel in the porch of the Rector's palace in Dubrovnik. Most likely this scultpure was made in the 1460s or 1470s during the restoration of the building. The author is unknown, perhaps a local master.

Literature:

Igor Fisković, Reljef renesansnog Dubrovnika (The Relief of Renaissance Dubrovnik). Dubrovnik: Matica hrvatska, Ogranak Dubrovnik, 1993.

Radovan Ivančević, Umjetničko blago Hrvatske (The Artistic Treasure of Croatia). Motovun, 1993

Vladimir Marković and Milan Prelog, eds. Zlatno doba Dubrovnika XV. i XVI. Stoljeće (Golden Age of Dubrovnik: 15th and 16th centuries). Zagreb-Dubrovnik: Muzejski prostor i Dubrovački muzej, 1987.

Dogs on the Rector's Palace in Dubrovnik

2011-09-06T12:14:06Z

Lkuncevic:

[[File:dogs rectors palace.jpg]]

The depiction of a man with two dogs one of which is chained to a wall. The relief is located on the capitel in the porch of the Rector's palace in Dubrovnik. It was most likely carved in 1460s during the restoration of the Rector's Palace by an anyonmous local master.

Literature:

Igor Fisković, Reljef renesansnog Dubrovnika (The Relief of Renaissance Dubrovnik). Dubrovnik: Matica hrvatska, Ogranak Dubrovnik, 1993.

Vladimir Marković and Milan Prelog, eds. Zlatno doba Dubrovnika XV. i XVI. Stoljeće (Golden Age of Dubrovnik: 15th and 16th centuries). Zagreb-Dubrovnik: Muzejski prostor i Dubrovački muzej, 1987.

Fish on the public fountain in Dubrovnik

2011-09-01T08:38:14Z

Lkuncevic:

[[File:fountain onofrio.jpg|thumb|200px|Photo by the author]][[Image:fishonofrio.jpg|thumb|200px|Photo by the author]] The fish (dolphins?) are carved at the top of the public fountain on the main square in Dubrovnik. The fountain was erected in 1438 by the Neapolitan architect Onofrio della Cava, while the sculptural decoration was made by the Milanese sculptor Pietro di Martino.

Literature:

Radovan Ivančević, Umjetničko blago Hrvatske (The Artistic Treasure of Croatia). Motovun, 1993

Vladimir Marković and Milan Prelog, eds. Zlatno doba Dubrovnika XV. i XVI. Stoljeće (Golden Age of Dubrovnik: 15th and 16th centuries). Zagreb-Dubrovnik: Muzejski prostor i Dubrovački muzej, 1987.

Animalwiki:img sc t1 r6p3

2011-08-31T16:42:07Z

Lkuncevic:

[[Calves at the capitel in the cloister of the Franciscan monastery in Dubrovnik]]

Wild boar in San Pedro de Caracena, Spain

2011-01-23T13:44:59Z

Walker:

== Wild boar ==

[[Image:Jabali Abside Caracena.JPG|thumb|400px|Wild boar in San Pedro in Caracena, Spain. End of the 12th century.]]

Wild Boar. 
Apse of San Pedro de Caracena (Exterior view). 
End of the 12th century. 
Carved stone. 
Soria (Spain). 

== Description ==

This corbel belongs to the apse of the church and it is placed on the southern part. A single Wild Boar is depicted in a frontal position, and it does not interact with any other figures. It is part of a complex hunting scene made up of five consecutive corbels with a hunter with a lance playing the olifant, a dog, the wild boar, another dog and a second hunter carrying another lance.

We can consider these figures as a simplification of the hunting scene that we can see in one of the capitals of this church’s open gallery; although the conservation of these corbels is worse than the ones on the apse.

The symbolism is very similar to the sister scene that we can find in the nearby church of Santa María de Tiermes (Soria); furthermore, both scenes were probably made by the same workshop. This scene could be interpreted as a psychomachic combat against evil or sin, as well as a scene of daily life, depicting the defensive hunting that the inhabitants of that area used to practice. Nevertheless, it is interesting to note the fact of the reiteration of the topic in the decoration of this church.

== Bibliography ==
*GAYA NUÑO, Juan Antonio, El románico en la provincia de Soria. Madrid: CSIC, 1946.
*HERNANDO GARRIDO, José Luis, “Apuntes sobre la caza en el arte medieval hispano”, Codex Aqvilarensis, 19 (2003), 102-126.
*PALOMERO ARAGÓN, Félix, “Breves apuntes sobre la escultura monumental de San Pedro de Caracena (Soria): relaciones con otros monumentos y Escuela Silense”, Boletín del Seminario de Estudios de Arte y Arqueología: BSAA, 56 (1990), 351-363.
*RODRÍGUEZ MONTAÑÉS, José Manuel, “Caracena” en GARCÍA GUINEA, Miguel Ángel y PÉREZ GONZÁLEZ, José María (dir.), Enciclopedia del Románico en Castilla y León. Soria I. Aguilar de Campoo: Fundación Santa María la Real – Centro de estudios del Románico, 2002.
*URIA RIU, Juan, “La caza de la montería en León y Castilla en la Edad Media, Clavileño, 35 (1955), 1-14.

Author

Diana Olivares Martínez

Wild boar hunt in Santa Maria de Tiermes, Spain

2011-01-23T13:25:01Z

Walker:

== Wild boar ==

[[Image:Tiermes1.JPG|thumb|400px|Wild boar hunt in the gallery of Santa Maria de Tiermes, Spain. End of the 12th century.]]

Wild Boar hunt. 
Gallery of Santa María de Tiermes. 
End of the 12th century. 
Carved stone. 
Soria (Spain). 

== Description ==

The capital shows a wild boar attacked by a hunter armed with a lance and a dog which is over the back of its prey. This dog is biting the head of the wild boar to immobilize it while the hunter pierces its size. The size of the wild boar is more or less accurate, as well as its anatomy, something that makes the animal recognizable.

[[Image:Tiermes lateral1.JPG|left|thumb|200px|Capital with a hunter playing an olifant. Gallery of Santa Maria de Tiermes, Spain. End of the 12th century.]]

This capital belongs to an open gallery and it is placed in the south side of the east entrance to the gallery and three of its faces have been carved. This hunting scene continues in the other two sides of the capital with a hunter playing an olifant and a third man carrying another lance, besides some vegetable elements in both sides. This wild boar hunt could be interpreted as a psychomachic combat against evil or sin, as well as a scene of daily life, depicting the defensive hunting that the inhabitants of that area used to practice.

[[Image:Tiermes lateral2.JPG|thumb|200px|Hunter with spear in the gallery of Santa Maria de Tiermes, Spain. End of the 12th century]]

== Bibliography ==

*GAYA NUÑO, Juan Antonio, El románico en la provincia de Soria. Madrid: CSIC, 1946.
*HERNANDO GARRIDO, José Luis, “Apuntes sobre la caza en el arte medieval hispano”, Codex Aqvilarensis, 19 (2003), 102-126.
*PALOMERO ARAGÓN, Félix, “Aproximación a la escultura románica monumental de la ermita de Santa María de Tiermes”, Celtiberia, 73 (1987), 21-67.
*RODRÍGUEZ MONTAÑÉS, José Manuel, “Montejo de Tiermes” en GARCÍA GUINEA, Miguel Ángel y PÉREZ GONZÁLEZ, José María (dir.), Enciclopedia del Románico en Castilla y León. Soria II. Aguilar de Campoo: Fundación Santa María la Real – Centro de estudios del Románico, 2002.
*URIA RIU, Juan, “La caza de la montería en León y Castilla en la Edad Media, Clavileño, 35 (1955), 1-14.

Author 

Diana Olivares Martínez

Snake

2011-01-23T12:52:38Z

WikiSysop:

*[[Snake in Nuestra Senora del Rivero, San Esteban de Gormaz, Spain]]

Snake in Nuestra SeÃ±ora del Rivero, San Esteban de Gormaz, Spain

2011-01-23T12:51:05Z

WikiSysop: moved Snake in Nuestra SeÃ±ora del Rivero, San Esteban de Gormaz, Spain to Snake in Nuestra Senora del Rivero, San Esteban de Gormaz, Spain

== Snake ==

[[Image:Snake San Esteban Rivero.JPG|thumb|400px|Snake in the right capital of the main portal, beginning of the 12th century.]]

Snake. 
Right Capital of the Main Portal,Nuestra Señora del Rivero, San Esteban de Gormaz, Spain. 
Beginning of the 12th century. 
Carved stone. 
Soria (Spain). 

== Description ==

This snake is located in a capital from the main portal, placed in the south side of the temple. In contrast to the sculpture from the open gallery, which is dated towards the middle of the 12th century, these figures are said to be dated from the beginning of that century. 

The animal is a pearly reptile which is rather well carved; in fact, it even has a great bulkiness. The snake is intertwined around a bird that is being seized on the snake's mouth, in addition there is an eagle located in the opposite capital from the same main portal. 

Here we can interpret the snake, as it occurs in almost every Romanesque artwork, as a symbol of the Devil. This is because traditionally this animal has been considered as its demoniacal incarnation; therefore, a symbol of evil and sin. It is possible that the presence of Evil in the entrance of the temple would be related to a warning message for the worshipers. 

== Bibliography ==

* ÁLVAREZ TERÁN, Concepción y GONZÁLEZ TEJERINA, Mercedes, “Las iglesias románicas de San Esteban de Gormaz”, Boletín del Seminario de Estudios de Arte y Arqueología, III (1935), 299-330.
*ARTIGAS Y COROMINAS, Pelayo, “Por tierras de Gesta. San Esteban de Gormaz. I. Breve noticia histórica”, Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Excursiones, XXXIX (1931), 139-154.
*________,“Por tierras de Gesta. San Esteban de Gormaz. Iii. Idea de sus monumentos y de sus principales fundaciones”, Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Excursiones, XI (1932), 221-235.
*GAYA NUÑO, Juan Antonio, El románico en la provincia de Soria. Madrid: CSIC, 1946.
*ORTEGO Y FRÍAS, Teógenes, “En torno al románico de San Esteban de Gormaz. Una fecha y dos artífices desconocidos”, Celtiberia, 13 (1957), 79-103.
*HERNANDO GARRIDO, José Luis, “San Esteban de Gormaz” en GARCÍA GUINEA, Miguel Ángel y PÉREZ GONZÁLEZ, José María (dir.), Enciclopedia del Románico en Castilla y León. Soria II. Aguilar de Campoo: Fundación Santa María la Real – Centro de estudios del Románico, 2002.

Author

Diana Olivares Martínez

Hrabanus Maurus on Lynx

2011-01-09T14:52:31Z

Dobcheva ivana:

''' ''Patrologia Latina Cursus Completus'' LXIII, 222B – 222C''' Linx dictus, quia in luporum genere numeratur, bestia maculis terga disctincta, ut pardus, sed similis lupo. Hujus urinam convertere se in #222C# duritiam lapidis pretiosi dicunt, qui ligurius appellatur : quod et ipsos lynces sentire hoc documento probatur. Nam egestum liquorem arenis, inquantum potuerint, contegunt, invidia quadam naturali, ne talis egestio transeat in usum humanum. Lynces dicit Plinius secundus extra unum non admittere fetum. Similiter et ista bestia typum tenet invidorum hominum atque dolosorum, qui magis cupiunt nocere quam prodesse, et terrenis cupiditatibus intenti ea quæ superflua sibi sunt, et cæteris prodesse poterant, inutiliter servant.
----
'''Paraphrase and commentary''' 
::''The lynx is so called because it is counted among the specie of the wolf. It is a beast with spots on its back just as the pard but it looks like a wolf. They say that their urine is transformed into hard pretious stone, which are called ligurius (literary “urine of a lynx”).i The fact that the lynxes themselves understand that [that it is pretious] is proven by this evidence. For, when they poor down the liquid on the sand, they conseal it as much as they can driven by some natural envy, so that the liquid will not pass in the possession of a man.ii Pliny says that lynces do not receive more than one bearing.''
::''In the same manner this animal has the character of invidious and deceitful people who want to inflict injury more than they want to help. Drivven by earthly desires they are aiming at and keeping things which are of no use for them, but which could benefit others.''
----
'''Footnotes'''
 i Pliny also mentioned this legend adding that it has a red colour (igneo colore). See Pliny, ''Natural History'', book 8, 57. This description inclined people to believe that this urine-stone is probably the one that we call now amber.
 ii For example see the illumination in [http://www.kb.dk/permalink/2006/manus/221/eng/6+recto/ MS Copenhagen, Kongelige Bibliotek, Gl. kgl. S. 1633 4º, fol. 6r.] (Bestiary of Ann Walsh, 15th century, England).

Hrabanus Maurus on Chameleon

2011-01-09T14:37:52Z

Dobcheva ivana:

''' ''Patrologia Latina Cursus Completus'' LXIII, 222B''' Camaeleon non habet unum colorem, sed diversa est varietate conspersus, ut pardus. Dictus autem ita, quod hujus cameleontis corpusculum ad colores, quos videt, facillima conversione variatur, quod aliorum animalium non est ita ad conversionem facilis corpulentia.
----
'''Paraphrase and commentary''' Hrabanus account for the chameleon is a exact copy of Isidore's account in ''Etymologies'', book 8, 18. Strangely, in this case Hrabanus did not add any mystical explanation about the animal although it is mentioned in the Bible and even ranked among the unclean animals.i
::''The chameleon has not one colour but is coloured differently like the pard. It is called like that becauseii the body of the chameleon can very easily change its colouring in respect to the colours it sees. It is not so easy for the body of other animals to change its colours.''
----
'''Footnotes''' i See Lev. 11:29-30
:29These also shall be unclean unto you among the creeping things that creep upon the earth; the weasel, and the mouse, and the tortoise after his kind,
:30And the ferret, and the chameleon, and the lizard, and the snail, and the mole.
 ii Most probably there is a lacuna already in the text of Isidore's ''Etymologies'' which Hrabanus used for this record. Following the same logic implied for the camelopardus, the text now lost stated that the chameleon got its name from its likeness to both camel and leon. It is possible however that the etymology was closer to the now accepted one, namely that it originates from the Greek χαμαιλέων (literary "ground lion" or "dwarf lion").

Hrabanus Maurus on Giraffe

2011-01-09T14:28:04Z

Dobcheva ivana:

''' ''Patrologia Latina Cursus Completus'' LXIII, 222B''' 
Cameleopardus dictus, quod dum sit, ut pardus, albis maculis aspersus, collo equo similis, pedibus bubulis, capite tamen camelo est similis. Hunc Æthiopia gignit. Nec ab re est, quod bestiarum harum color et factura ad significationem variorum errorum atque vitiorum transferatur, si alicubi in scripturis illius mentio fuerit reperta.
----
'''Paraphrase and commentary''' As one can suppose medieval authors had difficulties when they had to describe an animal that they had never seen with their own eyes. Such is the case with the giraffe. Romans in the imperial Rome knew how giraffe looked like and Pliny was able to give a fare description of the animal stating that it had neck of a horse, the legs and feet of the ox and the head of a camel. In addition Pliny remarked that it has a red coloured fur decorated with white spots.i In comparison to Pliny's and Isidore's account which he rendered almost word-for-word, Hrabanus also added the mystical explanation of mentioning the beast in the Bible.
::''The camelopard (i.e. giraffe) is called like that for, while it has a fur with white spots like the leopard, it has the neck of the horse, the feet of an ox, but its head is like that of the camel. Its birthplace is Ethiopia. Nor is it irrelevant [to notice] that the colour of these beasts and the stature refers to the various sins and vices, if it should be mention anywhere in the Scripture.
----
'''Footnotes''' i Pliny stated that in the time of Cesar's dictatorship in the ''ludi circenses'' Romans saw giraffes for the first time (Pliny, ''Natural History'', book 8, 27).

Hrabanus Maurus on Panther

2011-01-09T11:45:05Z

Dobcheva ivana:

''' ''Patrologia Latina Cursus Completus'' LXIII, 219C – 220A''' Panther dictus sive quod omnium animalium #219D# sit amicus, excepto dracone: sive quia et sui generis societate gaudet, et ad eamdem similitudinem, quidquid accipit, reddit. Pan enim Græce omne dicitur: bestia minutis orbiculis superpicta, ita ut oculatis ex fulvo circulis nigra vel alba distinguatur varietate. Hæc semel omnino parturit. Cujus causæ ratio manifesta est. Nam cum in utero matris coaluerint catuli, maturisque ad nascendum viribus pollent, odiunt temporum moras. Itaque oneratam fetibus vulvam, tanquam obstantem partui, unguibus lacerant. Effundit illa partum seu potius dimittit, dolore cogente. Ita postea corruptis et cicatricosis sedibus genitale semen infusum non erit acceptum, sed irritum resilit. Nam Plinius dicit #220A# animalia cum acutis unguibus frequenter parere non posse; vitiantur enim intrinsecus se moventibus catulis.

----

'''Paraphrase and commentary''' Hrabanus Maurus started the account with the etymological explanation of the name of the panther following almost word-for-word Isidore of Seville' ''Etymologies'', book XII, 2, 8-9.i
::''The panther is called like that because it is a friend of all the animals apart from the dragon; or because it delights in the company of its kind, and it gives back in correspondence to whatever it receives. In fact ''pan'' in Greek means everything. The beast is sprinkled with tiny spots resembling the circles of yellowish brow eyes; it is distinguished for the black or white colouring.''ii
 Another often remarked fact about the panther is their inability to give more than once. This fact is also mentioned by Isidore.
::''The panther gives birth altogether once. There is a clear reason for that. For, when the cubs grow together in their mother’s womb, they get vigorous as their strength mature near the time they have to be born, and they detest the delay of time. And so they tear with their claws the womb burdened with the foetuses, just as it gives birth to the cub obstructing it. The mother pour the new born or rather send it away driven by the pain. So that afterwards due to the damaged and covered with scars rump the genitals do not accept the laid semen but throws it away in vain. Indeed Pliny says that animals with sharp claws often cannot give birth, for they are being injured by cubs the moving inside them.''ii
----
'''Footnotes'''
 i The actual etymology of the word is not certain. Some believe to be of Sanskrit origin meaning "the yellowish animal". See [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=panther Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper. Retrieved 2007-11-12]. ii For example see the illumination in [http://prodigi.bl.uk/illcat/ILLUMIN.ASP?Size=mid&IllID=22708 MS London, British Library, Harley 4751, fol. 4r.] ii This refers to Pliny, Natural History, book 8, 17. Pliny transmitted the general belief about the cubs tearing their mother's womb, but also transmitted Aristotle's account on the topic, saying that the female panther during the first litter gives birth to five cubs and then with each time reduces the number till she becomes sterile. Hrabanus Maurus however following closely Isidore who maybe did not have direct access to Pliny transmitted only partially the latter's account.

Hrabanus Maurus on Pardus

2011-01-09T09:25:42Z

Dobcheva ivana:

''' ''Patrologia Latina Cursus Completus'' LXIII, 220A – 220B''' Pardus secundus post panteram, genus est varium ac velocissimum, et præceps ad sanguinem; saltu enim ad mortem ruit. Pardus autem mystice significat Diabolum diversis vitiis plenissimum, vel peccatorem quemlibet maculis scelerum et diversorum errorum aspersum. Unde dicit propheta: ''Æthiops non mutavit pellem, et pardus varietatem suam'' (Jer. XIII). Item pardus Antichristus malitiæ varietate aspersus, ut in Apocalipsi: ''Et bestia, quæ ascendebat de mari, similis erat pardo'' (Apoc. XIII) ; de illis dicit, qui in nigredine peccatorum et varietate perseverant. Alibi tamen scriptum est: ''Habitabit lupus cum agno, et pardus cum hædo cubabit'' (Isa. XI). #220B# Quod in adventu Christi completum est, quando illi, qui antea feroces fuerunt, cum innocentibus vitam ducunt, et qui errorum maculis polluti erant, pœnitentiam agentes ad veritatem fidei convertuntur. Leopardus ex adulterio leæne et pardi nascitur, et tertiam originem efficit: sicut et Plinius in naturali Historia dicit, leonem cum pardo aut pardum cum leæna concumbere, et ex utroque coitu degeneres partus creari, ut mulus ex equo et asina.

----

'''Paraphrase and commentary''' As Hrabanus provided little information about the physical appearance of this animal it is not certain if he had in mind the cheetah. The clues that confirm this supposition is the spotted pelt of the animal, its swiftness and way of killing its pray (with a leap) and the mentioning that the leopard is a beast having mixed characteristics between those of the cheetah (as for the spotted pelt) and the lion (as for the stature).i
::''Second after the panther is the pard, an extremely fast spotted animal. Yearning for blood it kills its pray with a leap.''
::''In a mystical sense the pard can signify the devil with his various vices or the sinner who is marked with the stains of misdeed and different sins. Therefore the prophet says:'' The Ethiopian do not change his skin and the leopard his spots.i ''Next the leopard (also signifies) the Antichrist marked with the spots of evil as in the Revelation [where it is said that] the beast that rised out of the sea was like the leopard.ii In another place it is written:'' The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid'' (Isa. 11:6). That shall be accomplished when Christ come, for then those who were fierce before will live together with the innocents and those who were defiled with the stains of sins by being penitent will convert to the truth of faith.''
::''The leopard is born out of the adultery between a lioness and a pard, so that a third specie is created. So says and Pliny in the Natural History that, when a lion mate with a pard or a pard with a lioness, the outcome of both these mating is a cross-breading, like the mule being a mongrel of a horse and an ass.''
----
'''Footnotes'''
 i See for example the illumination in [http://prodigi.bl.uk/illcat/ILLUMIN.ASP?Size=mid&IllID=16570 MS London, British Library, Harley 4751, fol. 6r.] (Bestiary from the 13th c.)
 ii Originally a conditional clause: ''si mutare potest Aethiops pellem suam aut pardus varietates suas et vos poteritis bene facere cum didiceritis malum''(Jer. 13:23). King James' version: Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?
 iii Not an exact quotation combining two verses from Revelation 13:1,2
:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
:2And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

Hrabanus Maurus on Griffins

2011-01-08T10:33:09Z

Dobcheva ivana:

''' '' Patrologia Latina Cursus Completus'' LXIII, 222A'''
 Griphes vocatur, quod sit animal pennatum et quadrupes. Hoc genus in Hyperboreis nascitur montibus. Omni parte corporis leones sunt, alis et facie aquilis similes, equis vehementer infesti. Nam et homines vivos discerpunt. Hi possunt significare ferocitatem persecutorum, et elationem superborum, qui infesti sunt hominibus, qui simplicitatem Christianam sequuntur et rationabiliter vivunt.
----
'''Paraphrase and commentary'''

::''The griffin takes its name from the fact that it is a feathered quadruped animal. This type of animals is born in the Hyperborean mountains. In every part of their body they are like lions, [but] with the wings and face of birds. They are hostile to horses, and they can tear humans in pieces. They signify the atrocity of persecutors and the pride of the haughty men that are dangerous to Christians.''i

 The Griffins were imaginary beasts, usually represented having the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. The etymology of their name comes from the Greek word γρύψ, gen. γρῡπός – griffin which referred to the hooked beak of the creature (the Greek verb γρῡπτω – become bent; thus the adjective γρῡπός – hook-nosed). They were popular in ancient Greaco-Roman mythology representing the unification of phisical strenght of the lion as king of the animals and the eagle as king of the birds.
 Griffins are not mentioned anywhere in the Bible. Hrabanus Maurus followed here Isidore of Seville account of the physical description of the griffin (Isidore of Seville, ''Etymologies'', book XII, 2:17), adding to it the symbolic meaning of the creature symbolizing the atrocity of persecution. Bede also mentioned griffins saying that unclean spirits molest the virtue of man in the shape of griffins (Bede, ''Explanatio Apocalypsis'', book III, ch. 21).

 Despite this rather negative image of the griffins they are greatly used as heraldic symbols.
----
'''Footnotes'''
 i See for example the illumination in [http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/viewer/viewer.html?http://prodigi.bl.uk/illcat/ILLUMIN.ASP?Size=mid&IllID=669luxfiathttp://prodigi.bl.uk/Illimages/iBase/components/253/25316_2.jpgluxfiat577luxfiat768 MS London, British Library, Harley 4751, fol. 7v.] (Bestiary from the 13th c. drawing from Isidore’s Etymologies)

Hrabanus Maurus on Elephants

2011-01-07T11:16:19Z

Dobcheva ivana:

''' ''Patrologia Latina Cursus Completus'' LXIII, 221C – 222A''' Elephantem Græci a magnitudine corporis vocatum putant, quod forma montis proferat. Græcem enim mons lophos dicitur. Apud Indos autem a voce barrus vocatur. Unde et vox ejus barritus et dentes ebur. Rostrum autem promuscis dicitur, quoniam illo pabulum ori admovet, et est angui similis vallo munitus eburneo. Hi boves lucas dicti ab antiquis Romanis: boves, quia nullum #221D# animal grandius videbant : lucas, quia in Lucania illos primos Pyrrhus in prælio objecit Romanis. Nam hoc genus animantis in rebus bellicis aptum est. In eis enim Persæ et Indi ligneis turribus collocatis tanquam de muro jaculis dimicant. Intellectu autem et memoria multa vigent : gregatim incedunt : motu, quo valent, salutant, murem fugiunt, aversi coeunt. Quando autem parturiunt, in aquis vel in insulis dimittunt fetus propter dracones, quia inimici sunt, et ab eis implicati necantur. Biennio autem portant fetus, nec amplius quam semel gignunt, nec plures, sed tantum unum. Vivunt autem trecentos annos. Apud solam Africam et Indiam elephanti prius nascebantur : nunc sola India eos #222A# gignit. Elephas autem significat peccatorem immanem sceleribus, et facinorum deformitate squalidum : attamen tales sæpe ad Christum convertuntur. Unde scriptum est in libro Regum, quod adducerentur ad Solomonem simiæ et elephanti (III. Reg. x), quia, ipse est pax nostra, qui fecit utraque unum (Eph. II), et in sanguine suo mundavit conscientiam nostram ab operibus mortuorum.

----

'''Paraphrase and commentary'''
 The account of the physical appearance and behavior of elephants is almost word-for-word borrowed from Isidore of Seville’s ''Etymologies'' Book XII, 2, 14. The description as usual starts with the etymology of the name of the beast, its snout and tusk.
::''The Greeks are of the opinion that elephants are named like that in connection to their huge body, which resembles mountain. For indeed Greek word for mauntain is λόφος. In India however it is called barrus for its voice is like a war-cry (barritus) and its horns are made of ivory (ebur). Its snout is called promuscis, because it brings food to its mouth and it resembles a snake; it is protected by an ivory rampart (the tusk). They were called Lucanian oxen by the ancient Romans: oxen – because they have seen no animal bigger than oxen; Lucanian – because in Lucania for a first time Phyrrhus used them in battle against the Romans. For these kind of beasts can be used in war. In fact the Persians and Indians place wooden towers on top of them and fight with javelins from there as if from a wall.i''
 Reference is made to the usage of war-trained elephants in battle. The explanation of the term boves lucas can be found also in Lucretius, ''De rerum natura'', book V, vv. 1302-4, where Lucretius mentioned the elephants with their ‘towered’ bodies, trained by the Phoenicians to endure war wounds. In the same passage Lucretius also called the beast “anguimanus” literary meaning “with serpent hand” because of the quick serpent-like motion of the trunk of the elephant. For the same reason Isidore, and thus Hrabanus, compared the trunk to a snake.
::''They are reputed for their huge intellect and memory. They move about in herds and salute with such a gesture which they are capable of. They avoid mouses and are not prompt to mate. But when they are pregnant, they bare their offsprint in water or on an island because of the dragons, for they are the elephant’s foes and they kill elephants by clasping them.ii Elephants are being pregnant for two years, they give birth only once, and not to many but only to one offspring. But they live for threehundret years. Before, elephants were being born in Africa and India; now, only in India.''
 Elephants were often praised for their sexual abstinency and thus givven as an example for human behavior. Hrabanus, however, offered a different allegorical explanation equating the elephants with sinners, perhaps connecting the huge body of the beast with a huge sinnful deed.
::''The elephant signifies immense sinners, wretched by the hedeousness of their deeds: yet such people often turn to Christ. In connection to this matter it is written in the book of Kings that apes and elephants were brought to Salomon, for he is our peace, who hath made both one (Ephesians 2:14) , and with His blood purified our conscence from the deed which belong to the realm of death.''

----
'''Footnotes'''
 i See for example the illumination in [http://prodigi.bl.uk/illcat/ILLUMIN.ASP?Size=mid&IllID=16571 MS London, British Library, Harley 4751, fol. 8](Bestiary from the 13th c. drawing from Isidore’s Etymologies).
 ii See for example the illumination in [http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/viewer/viewer.html?http://prodigi.bl.uk/illcat/ILLUMINBig.ASP?size=big&IllID=47205 MS London, British Library, Harley 4751, fol. 58v.] (Bestiary from the 13th c. drawing from Isidore’s Etymologies).

Hrabanus Maurus on Rhinoceros

2010-12-18T15:55:25Z

Dobcheva ivana:

''' '' Patrologia Latina Cursus Completus'' LXIII, 220B-221C '''
 Rinocerota græce vocatus, latine interpretatur, in nare cornu. Idem et monoceros, id est, unicornis, eo quod unum cornu in media fronte habeat pedum quatuor, ita acutum et validum, ut quidquid impetierit, aut ventilet aut perforet. Nam et cum elephante semper certamen habet, et in ventre #220C# vulneratum prosternit. Tantæ autem fortitudinis esse dicitur, ut nulla venantium virtute capiatur : sed, sicut ut hi asserunt, qui describendis naturis animalium laboriosa investigatione sudaverunt, virgo ei puella proponitur, quo venienti illa sinum aperit, in quo ille, omni ferocitate postposita, caput deponit, sique soporatus, ab eis, a quibus capi quæritur, repente velut inermis invenitur. Buxei quoque coloris esse describitur. Qui etiam cum elephantis quando certamen aggreditur, eo cornu, quod in nare singulariter gestat, ventrem adversantium ferire perhibetut, ut cum ea, quæ molliora sunt vulnerat, impugnantes se facile sternat. Potest ergo per hunc rinocerotem vel monocerotem scilicet unicornem ille populus intellegi, qui dum de accepta lege non opera, #220D# sed solam inter cunctos homines elationem sumpsit, quasi inter cæteras bestias cornu singulare gestavit. Unde passionem suam Dominus, Propheta canente, pronuntians ait: ''Libera me de ore leonis, et a cornibus unicornium humilitatem meam'' (Psal. XXI). Tot quippe in illa gente unicornes vel certe rinocerotes exstiterunt, quot contra prædicamenta veritatis de legis operibus singulari et fatua elatione confisi sunt. Beato igitur Job sanctæ Ecclesiæ typum tenenti dicitur: Nunquid volet rhinoceros servire tibi ''Nunquid volet rhinoceros servire tibi'' (Job. XXXIX). Ac si apertius dicatur: Nunquid illum populum, quem superbire in nece fidelium stulta sua elatione consideras, sub jure tuæ prædicationis inclinas? subaudis, ut ego, qui et contra me illum singu- #221A# lari cornu extolli conspicio, et tamen mihi, cum voluero, protinus subdo. Rhinocerotem ergo Paulo Apostolo per similitudinem comparare possumus, qui prius persecutor et blasphemus exstitit, sicut de eo scriptum est: ''Saulus adhuc spirans minarum et cædis in discipulos Domini, accessit ad principem sacerdotum, et petiit ab eo epistolas in Damascum ad sinagogas: ut si quos invenisset hujus viæ viros ac mulieres, vinctos perduceret in Jerusalem'' (Act. IX). Qui divinæ legis eruditione præditus dum aliorum ingluviem redarguit, cornu elephantis in ventrem ferit. In ventrem quippe elephantos percusserat, cum dicebat: ''Multi ambulant, quos sæpe dicebam vobis, nunc autem et flens dico, inimicos crucis Christi, quorum finis interitus, quorum deus venter est, et gloria in confusione ipsorum'' (Phil. III). Et rursum : Hujusmodi, inquit, #221B# Christo Domino non serviunt, sed suo ventri (Ibid.). Cornu suo igitur rhinoceros iste non jam homines sed bestias percutit, quando illo Paulus doctrinæ suæ fortitudine nequaquam perimendos humiles petiti, sed superbos ventris cultores occidit. Quæ ergo in Paulo scripta cognovimus, superest, ut facta et in aliis credamus. Multa quippe ad humilitatis gratiam ex illius populi elatione conversi sunt, quorum sævitiam Dominus dum sub jugo inspirati timoris edomuit, nimirum rhinocerotis sibi fortitudinem subegit. Rhinoceros Christus Dominus potest intellegi propter invictam fortitudinem, ut in Deuteronomio : ''Cujus fortitudo similis est rhinocerotis'' (Deut. XXXIII). Rhinoceros, ut supra diximus, fortes quoque sive potestates sæculi hujus in Job: ''Nunquid'' #221C# ''volet rhinocerus servire tibi?'' (Job. XXXIX) Monoceros, hoc est, unicornis, Christus est, ut in psalmo: ''Et dilectus sicut filius unicornium'' (Psal. XXVIII), id est, singularis potentiæ, et unum sanctorum regnum. Unicornis superbi vel unum habentes testamentum, ut in psalmo: ''Et a cornibus unicornium humilitatem meam'' (Psal. XXI).

----
''' Paraphrase and commentary '''

Hrabanus’ usual source, Isidore of Seville, provided much more concise account about the rhinoceros, which corresponds to the first section of Hrabanus’ text giving the etymological explanation of the name and mentioning their proneness for fighting elephants and the difficulty in catching the beast. For the second section which reflects more clearly Hrabanus’ plan of presenting exegetical information about people, animals, things or ideas mentioned in the Bible. For this purpose he turned to and borrowed large sections from Gregory the Great’s ''Moralia in Job'' (PL 76, 589D) where the latter offered allegorical and mystical interpretation on a particular section of the Book of Job (39:9), namely the verse:
:9Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib?
:10Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?
:11Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great? or wilt thou leave thy labour to him?
:12Wilt thou believe him, that he will bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy barn?i

As many (if not even most) other authors before him Hrabanus Maurus also combined the account of the rhinoceros with that of the unicorn. Thus, we find on first place an etymological explanation of the word and the general description of a quadruped beast with a horn on its forehead:
 
::''The Greek word for rhinoceros ‘rhinocerota’ literally means in Latin ‘with a horn on the nose’. It is also called ‘monoceros’ meaning ‘unicorn’ one-horned, as it is quadruped beast with one horn on the top of its forehead; a horn that is so sharp and sturdy that it [enables] the rhinoceros to attacks its enemy by either tossing it or piercing it through. It also has constant fights with the elephant which this beast (rhinoceros/unicorn) throws on the ground after wounding it in the belly.''

 
The description follows that of Isidore of Seville in ''Etymologies'', Book 12, 2:12-13 almost verbatim. In contrast, Pliny the Elder’s account adds more details in the phisical description of the beast, saying that it is not only quadruped but has the body of a horse, the head of a stag, the feet of an elephant, the tail of a boar (Natural History, Book 8, 31). The idea that the unicorn (or here rather rhinoceros) fights often with elephants is also widely used. The beast is characterized as the most fearsome of all animals, one that is impossible to be captured unless using a trick:
 
::''It is said that it posses such strength that it cannot be captured by any hunting valour. But as those who laboured over the tiresome investigation in describing the nature of animals have stated, if a virgin girl is placed in front of the beast and if she offers to the beast her lap, it places its head there denouncing all ferocity and if it falls asleep, then those who seek to capture it will suddenly find it defenceless.ii''
 
The account then continues with further information on the fighting tactics of the unicorn/rhinoceros, which when attacking elephants aims at their belly, where the body of the elephant is most soft and thus can be wounded easily.
 
::''It is described as being of box colour. When it enters into a battle with the elephant, it strikes with its single horn, located on it nose, the belly of its enemy, so that after it wounds these parts which are softer, it throws it on the ground easier by attack.''
 What follows is the mystical interpretation of rhinoceros given by Gregory the Great and repeated faithfully by Hrabanus:
 
::''So by ‘rhinoceros’ or ‘monoceros’ (that is ‘unicorn’) are meant such people, who took from the accepted Law not the deeds but mere pride among all men, just as in between other animals the unicorn carries a singular horn.''
 
Further the reader is provided with series of examples from the Bible where one encounters ‘rhinoceros’ or ‘unicorn’ as in:
 
:Ps. 22:21: ''Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.''
 
Symbolized by unicorns or rhinoceros are therefore people who against the preaching of the truth, with singular and foolish pride were assured in the works of the Law.
Another example, this time carrying out a positive connotation, is given in the person of the Apostle Paul who is compared with the rhinoceros. For just as the beast pierces the belly of the elephant so did Paul equipped with the knowledge of the divine Law refute the gluttony of people, as for example in: Phil. 3:18-19:
 
::''For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.''
 
Another comparison is drawn between the rhinoceros and Christ for the latter has invincible strength as it is said in the Bible ''he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn'' (Numbers 24:8). The monoceros, or unicorn, symbolizes Christ also in Ps. 28/29:6 where the Lord is compared to a young unicorn, which according to Hrabanus referres to His singular power and the one heavenly kingdom.

[[category: Book of Nature]]
[[category: Rhinoceros]]
[[category: Hrabanus Maurus]]

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'''Footnotes:'''

i The Biblical quotations follow King James version of the Holy Bible
 ii An example of illustration of this trick can be seen in [http://prodigi.bl.uk/illcat/ILLUMIN.ASP?Size=mid&IllID=23539 MS London, BL Harley 3244, f. 38] (bestiary from the 13th c., England.) and [http://www.kb.dk/permalink/2006/manus/221/eng/5+verso/?var=1 MS Copenhagen, Kongelige Bibliotek, Gl. kgl. S. 1633 4º, fol. 5v.] (Bestiary of Ann Walsh, 15th century, England).

Hrabanus Maurus

2010-12-18T15:54:27Z

Dobcheva ivana:

'''Hrabanus Maurus''' (also known as Rabanus Maurus Magnetius) lived in the late eight till the first half of the ninth century (c. 780 – 856). Born in Mainz he studied first at Fulda where he was ordained deacon in 801. He continued his studies at Tours, where he was one of the illustrious students of Alcuin himself. When he returned to Fulda he was put in charge of the school there. In 822 he was elected abbot of the monastery and in 847 he became also archbischop of Mainz.
 ''' ''De universo'' '''
 As he wrote in the preface to his encylopaedic work ''De universo'' (also referred to as "De universo libri xxii, sive etymologiarum opus'' or simply ''De rerum naturis''), Hrabanus composed theological treaties and commentaries on different books of the Scriptures. The ''De universo'' fitted also his exegetical program as its purpose was to explain the typological, historical and mystical meaning of things (proper names of people, places, objects) mentioned in the Bible. The twentytwo books of the work cover topics often presented in works bearing the title “On the nature of things”. A quick comparison between the ''De universo'' and the ''Etymologies'' of Isidore of Seville shows that Hrabanus used (and in most instances actually copied word-for-word) Isidore’s work. The novelty in the ''De universe'', however, is Hrabanus’ idea to introduce the reader not only to the so-called historical but also to the mystical and allegorical explanation of the topics discussed. In this way the reader was able to gather information on the physical description of the subject (etymology, appearance, behavior etc.) and the allegorical meaning that was needed for the true understanding of the complex text of the Scriptures. A short section from the preface of the ''De universo'' demonstrates Hrabanus' intention:
::''Sunt enim in eo plura exposita de rerum naturis, et verborum proprietatibus, nec non etiam de mystica rerum significatione. Quod idcirco ita ordinandum æstimavi, ut lector prudens continuatim positam inveniret historicam et mysticam singularum rerum explanationem : et sic satisfacere quodammodo posset suo desiderio, in quo et historiæ et allegoriæ inveniret manifestationem.'' (''PL'',LXIII 10B-10C).
 For the mystical and allegorical explanation Hrabanus used sometimes works of patristic authors (as for example Gregory the Great’s ''Moralia in Job'' for the account of the rhinoceros).i
 '''Structure'''
 The work has the character of encyclopaedia. It is divided by Hrabanus himself in twentytwo books ordered in a hierarchical way first starting with Trinity, and then continuing with the celestial and terrestrial creatures discussing their nature, influence and mystical significance in relation to humans. Hrabanus explained also the allegorical meaning of names of people and places mentioned in the Bible and elaborated on the true catholic faith in opposition to the pagan superstition and heretical beliefs. The encylopedia includes also section on the human, animals, stones, trees and herbs, the arts and others.
 The eight book of the ''De universo'' is devoted to animals. It is divided into seven chapters:
1. De bestiis
2. De minutis animantibus
3. De serpentibus
4. De vermibus
5. De piscibus
6. De avibus
7. De minutis avibus
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'''1. De bestiis.'''
 The book starts with a short preface explaining the which animals are considered ''bestiae'' and how in short they can be characterized.

::Bestiarum vocabulum proprie convenit leonibus, pardis, tigribus, lupis, vulpibus, canibusque, et simiis, et ceteris quæ vel ore vel unguibus sæviunt, exceptis serpentibus. Bestiæ dictæ a vi, qua sæviunt: feræ apellatæ, eo quod naturali utantur libertate et desiderio suo ferantur. Sunt enim liberæ eorum voluntates, et huc atque illuc vagantur, et quo animus duxerit, eo feruntur.ii

::''The word beasts includes lions, pards, tigers, wolfs, foxes, dogs and the like, and other animals which either with mouth or with claws inflict wounds, with the exception of the reptiles. They are named ‘beasts’ due to the force with which they injure: ‘wild’ they are called because by nature they are accustomed to freedom and are subject to their own will. For their wishes are at liberty, they wander here and there; where their spirit leads them, there they go.''iii
 Many of the animals described by Hrabanus were clearly unfamiliar to him and he simply took for granted the information in the sources he used.

[[Hrabanus Maurus on Rhinoceros]]

[[Hrabanus Maurus on Elephants]]

[[Hrabanus Maurus on Griffins]]

[[Hrabanus Maurus on Panther]]

[[Hrabanus Maurus on Pardus]]

[[Hrabanus Maurus on Chameleon]]

[[Hrabanus Maurus on Giraffe]]

[[Hrabanus Maurus on Lynx]]
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'''Footnotes'''
 i On Hrabanus’ use of patristic and ancient pagan autors see Maria Rissel, ''Rezeption antiker und patristischer Wissenschaft bei Hrabanus Maurus: Studien zur karolingischen Geistesgeschichte'' (Bern: Herbert Lang, 1976) and Elisabeth Heyse, ''Hrabanus Maurus Enzyklopädie "De rerum naturis". Untersuchungen zu den Quellen und zur Methode der Kompilation'' (München: 1969; Series: Münchener Beiträge zur Mediävistik und Renaissance-Forschung 4).
 ii The Latin text is copied from ''Patrologia Latina Cursus Completus'', LXIII. A new critical edition is suppose to be published in the series ''Corpus Christianorum, Continuatio Medievalis,''(Turnhout: Brepols).
 iii The English translation where provided is mine. It is NOT an exact translation, but a paraphrase of the Latin text. For a translation of the ''De universo'' see Priscilla Throop, trans., ''Hrabanus Maurus: De Universo: The Peculiar Properties of Words and Their Mystical Significance,'' 2 vols. (Charlotte, VT: MedievalMS, 2009).

 
Article created and edited by Ivana Dobcheva

Bear from San Baudelio de Berlanga, Spain

2010-09-29T00:57:01Z

Walker:

'''Bear'''

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Bear. 
Hermitage of San Baudelio (Casillas de Berlanga, Soria, Spain). 
ca. 1125. 
Wall painting (fresco). 
Museo Nacional del Prado (Madrid, Spain). 

[[Image:BERLANGA oso.jpg|left|thumb|300px|Detail of Bear in the Hermitage of San Baudelio de Berlanga (Spain), ca. 1125.]]
== Description ==

The animal is placed in a rectangular panel that modifies its bottom to adapt to an arch. Represented in an unnatural way, paying no attention neither to anatomy nor to particular details such as eyes, ears, nose or hair, it appears as a red stain on a whitish background. This fact is not casual (at the time at which it was painted, not too far from the chapel bears existed that could have served as a model for the painter), but intentional. Through formal outlining the artist wanted to transmit a message whose audience were the monks who lived in the hermitage: the need to flee from temptation and sin and, according to some medieval ecclesiastical writers' identifications, the bear represented the devil itself ("ursus diabolus est" according to Melito of Sardis). As with a great part of Romanesque mural paintings, we are facing a great example of mental picture where what matters is the concept and symbolism, beyond the beauty or correctness of forms.

== Bibliography ==
* W. W. S. Cook, “Romanesque Spanish Mural Painting (II). San Baudelio de Berlanga”, The Art Bulletin, XII/1, 1930, pp. 21-42.
* J. Camón Aznar, “Pinturas mozárabes de San Baudelio de Berlanga”, Goya, 26, 1958, pp. 76-80.
* F. J. Sánchez Cantón, “Seis fragmentos de la decoración mural de San Baudelio de Berlanga en el Museo del Prado”, Celtiberia, 18, 1959, pp. 163-170.
* M. S. Frinta, “The Frescoes From San Baudelio De Berlanga”, Gesta, 1-2, 1964, pp. 9-13.
* M. Guardia Pons, Las pinturas bajas de la ermita de San Baudelio de Berlanga (Soria), Soria, 1982.
* J. D. Dodds, “Wall paintings. Hermitage of San Baudelio de Berlanga (Soria)”, en The Art of Medieval Spain, a.D. 500-1200, Nueva York, 1993, pp. 223-228.
* J. J. Dodds, “Hunting for Identity”, en Imágenes y promotores en el arte medieval. Miscelánea en homenaje a Joaquín Yarza Luaces, Bellaterra, 2001, pp. 153-165.
* M. Guardia, “Relire les espaces liturgiques à travers de la peinture murale: le programme iconographique de San Baudelio de Berlanga (Sòria)”, Cahiers de Saint-Michel de Cuxa, XXXIV, 2003, pp. 79-97.
* A. de Ávila Juárez, “San Baudelio de Berlanga: fuente sellada del Paraíso en el desierto del Duero”, Cuadernos de Arte e Iconografía, XII, 26, 2004, pp. 333-395.
* M. Poza Yagüe, “San Baudelio de Berlanga, cien años después. Balance historiográfico y nuevas interpretaciones”, Goya, nº 322 (2008), pp. 3-22.

Author

Marta Poza Yagüe

Wildcats in the forest

2010-06-15T14:59:24Z

Walker:

== Cat ==

[[Image:WildcatsPhebus1.jpg|thumb|400px|Wildcats in the forest. The Hunting Book of Gaston Phébus, ca. 1407.]]

Wildcats in the forest. 
The Hungting Book of Gaston Phébus. 
Written by Gaston Phébus, count of Foix and viscount of Béarn, ca. 1387-1389. 
Commissioned by Jean sans Peur, Duke of Burgundy (?) in ca. 1407. 
Parchment, 370 x 280 mm. 
Ms. Français 616, fol. 36. 
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France. 

== Description ==
[[Image:WildcatsPhebus3.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Detail of wildcats in the forest. The Hunting Book of Gaston Phébus, ca. 1407.]]

The Hunting Book of Gaston Phébus not only described the different stages of hunting and how to hunt different animals, but it also described animal behaviour, and among the animals that were described are the wildcats. The scene in Ms. Français 616, fol. 36 represents several wild cats in the forest in different attitudes very familiar for felines: some of them are hidden among the foliage or cracks on the ground; a cat is perched on a tree while another one is climbing the tree to get to it; others are seated or laying on the ground, or hunting rats, and there is even a she-cat with three suckling kitties. The majority of the cats are brown or gray with stripes or spots, the latter one probably trying to imitate the lynx. During the times of Gaston Phébus (1331-1391) there were many wild cats in the French forests and they were known to be bigger than the common cat. It was also a known fact that at the turn of the 14th century, the indigenous lynx was almost extinct and it was necessary to find specimens from other places to repopulate the forests.
 
 
== Bibliography ==

[[Image:WildcatsPhebus2.jpg|thumb|300px|Detail of wildcats in the forest. The Hunting Book of Gaston Phébus, ca. 1407.]]
*Anthenaise, Claude de. ''Le Livre de Chasse de Gaston Phébus''. Paris : Bibliothèque de l’image, Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, 2002.
*Phébus, Gaston. ''The Hunting Book of Gaston Phebus: Manuscript Français 616, Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France''. London: Harvey Miller Publishers, 1998. Facsimile of the 1405-1410 edition.
*Walther, Ingo F., and Norbert Wolf. ''Codices Illustres: Los manuscritos iluminados más bellos del mundo desde 400 hasta 1600''. Tr. Pablo Álvarez Ellacuría. London: Taschen, 2003.

Author

Mónica Ann Walker Vadillo

Bear in the Cathedral of Tudela, Spain

2010-06-15T09:06:00Z

Walker:

== Bear ==
[[Image:Oso Tudela.jpg|thumb|400px|Detail of the bear in the cloister of the Cathedral of Tudela, Spain. End of the 12th century.]]

Bear hunt 
Cloister of the cathedral of Tudela, end of the 12th century. 
Carved stone 
Navarre (Spain) 

== Description ==

The capital shows a bear attacked by two hunters armed with a spear and an axe. A hunting dog bites the bear’s ear while the prey breaks the spear with its jaws. The bear is depicted smaller than natural size, but the artist captured the robustness of the animal, emphasized by its short canon. The capital belongs to the cloister’s west gallery, whose iconography has been characterized as mainly exemplary and allegorical. In this sense, the hunting scene could be interpreted as a psychomachic combat against evil or sin represented by the bear.

== Bibliography ==

* Egry, Anne de, “La escultura del claustro de la catedral de Tudela (Navarra)”, in Príncipe de Viana, 74-75, 1959, pp. 63-107.
* Melero Moneo, María Luisa, Escultura románica y del primer gótico de Tudela. (Segunda mitad del siglo XII y primer cuarto del XIII), Tudela, Centro Cultural Castel Ruiz, 1997.
* Melero Moneo, María Luisa, “Escultura monumental. Portadas y claustro”, in La catedral de Tudela, Pamplona, Gobierno de Navarra, 2006, pp. 191-223.

Author

Francisco de Asís García García

Bear in the Cathedral of Jaca, Spain

2010-06-15T08:58:07Z

Walker:

== Bear ==

[[Image:Oso Jaca.jpg|thumb|400px|Detail of the bear in the tympanum of the West Portal of the Cathedral of Jaca, Spain. End of the 11th century.]]

Bear trampled by a lion 
West portal of the cathedral of Jaca, tympanum, end of the 11th century 
Carved stone 
Aragon (Spain) 

== Description ==

A bear accompanied by a basilisk is trampled by the right forepaw of a lion that walks all over them. Although the depiction of the bear suffers from a certain lack of naturalism regarding its morphology, the artist has attached importance to the liveliness of the face -with open eyes and round ears- and has reflected some distinctive features of the animal like its short neck, its thick coat, and the sturdiness of its back legs.
The bear is underfoot of the powerful lion, whose size is considerably bigger to show its superiority. An inscription above the group clarifies the meaning of the scene: IMP(er)IVM MORTIS CONCVLCANS E(st) LEO FORTiS (the lion, -which stands for Christ- triumphs over the realm of death). So the bear, as well as the basilisk, belongs to evil forces, and it can be interpreted as a symbol of the Devil and sin. That meaning, which has its roots in the Bible (I Kings, 17:37) was pointed out by authors like Saint Augustine, who emphasized the negative nature of the animal.
The bear, which has been interpreted as a leontophonos by C. Kendall, is located in the right side of the tympanum, close to a Christogram and opposite to a group dominated by another Christ-lion that spares a prostrated man.

== Bibliography ==

* Gaillard, Georges, “Notes sur les tympans aragonais”, in Bulletin Hispanique, XXX (1928), pp. 193-203.
* Kendall, Calvin B., “The Verse Inscriptions of the Tympanum of Jaca and the Pax Anagram”, in Mediaevalia, 19, 1996, pp. 405-434.
* Ocón Alonso, Dulce, Tímpanos románicos españoles: reinos de Aragón y Navarra, I, Madrid, Universidad Complutense, 1987.
* Simon, David L., “El tímpano de la catedral de Jaca”, in Jaca en la Corona de Aragón (siglos XII-XVIII). XV Congreso de Historia de la Corona de Aragón, III, Zaragoza, Diputación General de Aragón, 1994, pp. 405-419.
* Weisbach, Werner, Religiöse Reform und mittelalterliche Kunst, Einsiedeln-Zürich, 1945.

Author

Francisco de Asís García García

Cat

2010-06-08T09:55:30Z

Jargogle: Added Pangur Bán

Terms: 

Texts: 
*[[Pangur Bán]]

Images: 
*[[Domestic cat playing with a mouse]] 
*[[Wildcats in the forest]]
*[[Cat Rescuing Kitten Carved in Stone]]