VViews > 05-01-2017, 02:11 PM
Oocephalus > 05-01-2017, 04:18 PM
(05-01-2017, 11:46 AM)Koen Gh. Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Might the "shell" just be a folded wing? That does leave the sea horse like head and the "fin" that connects the back and the tail.
Sam G > 05-01-2017, 04:32 PM
(05-01-2017, 02:11 PM)VViews Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.The seahorse hypothesis is appealing to modern eyes because we base it on actual seahorses we have seen, such as the one in the photo above in this thread.
The problem is that in medieval times the representation of seahorses is elusive, and when the seahorse/hippocampus is depicted it tends to be as a rather literal horse of the sea.
Koen G > 05-01-2017, 05:41 PM
(05-01-2017, 04:32 PM)Sam G Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Okay, but does that rule out the possibility that someone managed to somehow see and draw an actual seahorse? (Obviously I think the VMS is mostly derived from older and foreign sources anyway and should not be expected to follow the same conventions as other medieval books.)
VViews > 05-01-2017, 06:06 PM
davidjackson > 05-01-2017, 06:15 PM
Sam G > 05-01-2017, 07:03 PM
(05-01-2017, 06:06 PM)VViews Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Perhaps you will be luckier than me, but I could find only one more or less realistic representation of a seahorse:
Cordoba, Spain, mosaic from the Alcazar gardens.
This mosaic dates back to Roman times (2nd or 3rd C). It is visible in the Alcazar gardens today BUT was placed there in the 20thC. I don't know if/how/where it was visible during the middle ages.
Koen G > 05-01-2017, 07:59 PM
(05-01-2017, 07:03 PM)Sam G Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Maybe it is just an unusual dragon, but it does seem that many illustrations in the VMS look like something they "shouldn't" look like more than they look like the thing they are supposedly based on.
-JKP- > 05-01-2017, 10:04 PM