MarcoP > 26-02-2017, 10:27 AM
(26-02-2017, 02:26 AM)-JKP- Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Haha! I just checked the following page and there it is... ad morsum serpentis. So, the critters are directly related to the use of the plant.
In medieval herbals, many, many plants are "prescribed" for snake bite or dog bite.
-JKP- > 26-02-2017, 11:51 AM
Koen G > 26-02-2017, 12:04 PM
davidjackson > 26-02-2017, 02:25 PM
Koen G > 26-02-2017, 04:30 PM
Koen G > 26-02-2017, 04:33 PM
MarcoP > 26-02-2017, 07:22 PM
(26-02-2017, 11:51 AM)-JKP- Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Marco, I can remember occasionally seeing medieval images of critters eating plants but I can't remember off the top of my head if they were in herbal manuscripts or other kinds of manuscripts. There are many images of pigs eating acorns, but those are usually associated with month's labors (the task is to knock down the acorns in the fall to fatten up the pigs for slaughter).
Since the context is important to the understanding of the animal's relationship to the plant, I'll try to keep my eyes open in case I see them again (or have examples in my files), with preference for those where the plant is the main focal point.
davidjackson > 26-02-2017, 07:43 PM
Quote:The three dragons that appear in these illustrations seem to be illustrating plants that cure snake bite: nothing more specific than that, as far as I can tell.Great stuff Marco. However, I would suggest that they aren't dragons being depicted, but snakes - what the English called wyrms. The second example cited specifically mentions serpientes - snakes.
MarcoP > 26-02-2017, 07:51 PM
(26-02-2017, 07:43 PM)davidjackson Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Quote:The three dragons that appear in these illustrations seem to be illustrating plants that cure snake bite: nothing more specific than that, as far as I can tell.Great stuff Marco. However, I would suggest that they aren't dragons being depicted, but snakes - what the English called wyrms. The second example cited specifically mentions serpientes - snakes.
davidjackson > 26-02-2017, 08:25 PM
Quote:So, all dragons are snakes (but of course not all snakes are dragons).
Quote:The dragon is the enemy of the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., and hides near paths where elephants walk so that it can catch them with its tail and kill them by suffocation. It is because of the threat of the dragon that elephants give birth in the water.The reason is biblical. Elephants were associated with Adam and Eve; the dragon with the devil who attacked them. (Elephants were also said by the bestiary tradition to need the mandrake to conceive).