Print collection inspired by the Medieval Bestiaries.
Available from Hen's Teeth Prints.
The Crane
"And after they fall to the earth crying, for to rest, they ordain watches that they may rest the more surely, and the wakers stand upon one foot, and each of them holdeth a little stone in the other foot, high from the earth, that they may be waked by falling of the stone, if it hap that they sleep."
Bartholomaeus Anglicus,13th century CE
The Wolf
"The tail of the wolf contains a love potion in a small tuft of hair, which is only
effective if the tuft is plucked from the wolf while it is still alive; for this reason
a wolf when caught will shed the tuft of hair, rendering it worthless."
Pliny the Elder, 1st century CE
The Fox
"If it is hungry and cannot find anything to eat, it rolls in red earth, so that it seems as if it is spotted with blood, and lies on the ground holding its breath. The birds see that it is not breathing and think it is dead. They fly down to perch on it, and it seizes them and devours them."
MS Bodley 764, 13th century CE
The Stag
"When deer are ill or weak they draw snakes out of their dwellings with the breath
of their nostrils and eat them, overcoming their poison and thus renewing themselves."
Isidore of Seville, 7th century CE
The Dragon
"The Dragon is larger than all the rest of the serpents and than all other animals in the world. Not even the elephant with its huge body is safe from it. It lies concealed near the paths which elephants are in the habit of using, entangles their feet with its coils and suffocates them to death."
MS Bodley 764, 13th century CE