15-02-2016, 02:06 PM
Thanks Marco P, that image is amazing!
Perhaps I should have made this a reply to JuergenW's paper, as my post was mainly aimed at providing a suggestion that in 14/15th C Serbia, the word for armored dog and dragon appears to have been the same, which may explain why the illustrator drew what looks like a dragon in a place where a dog would be expected.
JKP, I fully agree that the illustrator would have been capable of drawing a dog. I just wanted to suggest the possibility that, following the interesting "leashed dog" in JuergenW's posited mandrake iconography, if the artist was familiar with the homonymy of a certain breed of dogs and dragons as zmaj, it may explain why he/she drew one in the place of the other.
Also it appears that in Serbian epic poetry and folk songs, dragons living on clouds mating with nymphs are often the parents of heroes...
Anyway, regarding both the image on f25 and the beast on 80v, I was originally just hoping that perhaps a reader with knowledge of Serbian/Balkan mythology could tell me more.
If this post sparks discussion, I hope more images of comparable creatures will be posted, for both of them!
Perhaps I should have made this a reply to JuergenW's paper, as my post was mainly aimed at providing a suggestion that in 14/15th C Serbia, the word for armored dog and dragon appears to have been the same, which may explain why the illustrator drew what looks like a dragon in a place where a dog would be expected.
JKP, I fully agree that the illustrator would have been capable of drawing a dog. I just wanted to suggest the possibility that, following the interesting "leashed dog" in JuergenW's posited mandrake iconography, if the artist was familiar with the homonymy of a certain breed of dogs and dragons as zmaj, it may explain why he/she drew one in the place of the other.
Also it appears that in Serbian epic poetry and folk songs, dragons living on clouds mating with nymphs are often the parents of heroes...
Anyway, regarding both the image on f25 and the beast on 80v, I was originally just hoping that perhaps a reader with knowledge of Serbian/Balkan mythology could tell me more.
If this post sparks discussion, I hope more images of comparable creatures will be posted, for both of them!