June 02, 2004

The Medieval Bestiary: animals in the middle ages. The illustrations of beasts and the accompanying text on illustrations of bests and accompanying text on this site are compiled from from various medieval sources, and are not taken from any single manuscript. From such selections, it's possible to savour the 'beasts', even as the medieval scholar and scribes surely did.

This, of course, is my favorite of the illustrations. Those who relish misinformation should be sure to look for the sections from Pliny the Elder, as in this on the peacock.

posted by beeswacky 20 years ago
  • Undoubtedly, the joy of Bestiary is never lost on the Britons, the Kiwis, or their sheep.
  • Banana! Strange mixture of prosaic passages with delirious-sounding nonsense ('at the new moon, they urinate seven times' - er, come again, squire? )
  • Cool! Check out the picture of the crocodile.
  • See here, this just makes me wanna get another tattoo. Maybe this stretched across my back.
  • [this is good]
  • Very nice link, Bees. Tool: You've got to promise to get Danger Vilde Kow! tattooed across the top of your butt.
  • Good idea, Blue. Tell you what: you get my wife to go for it, and it shall be done. Not that she'd go for the super-bonnacon-ninja-ass-of-death pic betwixt my shoulder blades.
  • I see that this post was later cited here, with a long list of other interesting bestiary links.
  • I've always loved this post.
  • Oxen birth bees!