mythical beasts

Medieval descriptions of the Yale varied a lot. Some described the Yale as a hippopotamus, or bull-like creature the size of a horse; others said it was like an antelope.

It was said to have the tusks of a wild boar, the jaw and beard of a goat, and the tail of an elephant. The Yale’s colour ranged from black, brown, grey or beige, to green with red spots.

The strangest feature of the Yale was its horns. They were long and flexible and the Yale could move them independently of each other. The horns could be straight, curved, pointed sideways, downwards, or straight ahead. The Yale could attack with one horn pointed forwards, and defend itself with the other pointed behind it.

The Catoblepas was a similar mythical animal with breath so poisonous that other animals would suffer convulsions and die. It could kill with a single glance.

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All snake-like creatures were referred to as serpents in medieval times. The most powerful of the serpents was the Dragon. It was said to represent evil, and it could crush and suffocate any creature in its coils. The only enemy of the Dragon was the Ibis: although a Dragon would also run from the breath of a panther – which was said to be incredibly sweet – and run from the sight of a naked man!

Dragons would also drink the blood of elephants and could drain one dry. Dragons would apparently only fly at night, and “dragon’s water” dropping from the sky was blamed for causing diseases and plagues.

The Basilisk (made famous in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) was another powerful serpent, and was called the king of snakes. It was born from a rooster laying a shell-less yellow egg that was hatched by a toad. The Basilisk was said to have the head of a rooster, breath that could burn, and a hiss that could kill people.

Find out more about Serpents here.

The Unicorn is mentioned in the Bible and has been described by the ancient Romans, Greeks and Persians. It was said to be the size of a horse or goat, and to be white, or blue in colour, sometimes with a purple head. The Unicorn had cloven, or hoofed feet – like a goat or horse – and a long mane.

What made the Unicorn mythical was the single horn in the middle of its forehead. The horn was said to be white, green, striped, or shading from white to black, with a red tip. The horn was prized as an antidote to poison and thought to contain magical power.

The Unicorn was described as “shy and wary” or “ferocious and extremely swift”, and almost impossible to capture. Find out more about the Unicorn here.

First mentioned in Greek and Roman mythology, Satyrs were said to be half-beast and half-man, and red in colour. Their top-half was human, with a bearded human face, and horns. Their lower half was covered in hair, and goat-like with cloven hooves, but sometimes they had human feet with three toes. They had tails like those of horses. Satyrs lived in woods and mountains, herding cattle and hunting. They were easy to capture, but difficult to keep alive in captivity. They were often shown carrying a club or an axe. They were said to carry stores of food in bags under their chins.
Satyrs were also said to be followers of the Roman god of wine, Bacchus, and were often pictured holding wine cups, and playing reed pipes. Find out more in Questionable Creatures.

The story of the Phoenix comes from Ancient Egypt, where it is described as an Arabian bird. There is only ever one Phoenix at any one time. It was said to live for 500, or even 1,000 years.

When the Phoenix was reaching the end of its life span, it would collect twigs from sweet-smelling plants, and build itself a funeral pyre. The rays of the sun would set the pyre on fire, burning the Phoenix in the flames, until only ashes remained. From the ashes would emerge a new Phoenix.

Another version of this story has the Phoenix building itself a chrysalis of spices, like a caterpillar. It would then enter the chrysalis and die. A worm would then emerge from the chrysalis. It would grow wings, and become a new Phoenix.

The Phoenix is often used to symbolise resurrection and regeneration. Take a look at Questionable creatures : a bestiary to find out more.

In Medieval times, from the 11^th – 14^th centuries, people believed in mythical and magical beasts. Monks made books called bestiaries, describing all the animals in the world. These books had descriptions of real and mythical animals, but the medieval people thought all the animals described were real.

Bestiaries were written by monks in rooms called Scriptoriums. They used a quill pen and ink, and wrote on paper called papyrus from Egypt, and later, on parchment or vellum. These books also had drawings of the animals. The books could take between three months to a few years to finish. Some of these books can be seen today in university libraries, museums, and private collections.

Bestiaries often contained descriptions of animals such as the camel, manticore, horse, bonnacon, unicorn, gryphon, crocodile, wolf, mermaid, panther, yale, serpent, hyena, satyr, elephant, tiger, phoenix and lion.

In medieval times people believed that lions ate and drank on different days, that they slept with their eyes open and were not afraid of anything except fire, the sound of wheels and white cockerels. If a lion was pursued, they believed it would hide its tracks by sweeping the ground behind it with its tail.  

 Check out Questionable Creatures: a bestiary to find out more.

The Gryphon was said to have the body of a lion, and the top half and head of an eagle. It was believed to be bigger than eight lions, and to have the power of an hundred eagles. It was strong enough to carry a horse and its rider in its claws. The Gryphon would attack men and liked the taste of them.

The Gryphon hated horses, and fought off lions that came in hunt of the eggs it laid. It was believed to live in the mountainous caves of Southern India, and to hoard treasure in its cave lair.

Today the Gryphon represents valour and images of it can be seen in shields and emblems.