#medievalbeasts
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Medieval squirrels were also known as "varius" and their fur was known as "vair". This plump squirrel is from a c1300-1325 version of "Der Naturen Bloeme". #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #squirrel #squirrels
A very short-legged and plump red-brown squirrel climbing a green hill towards the left. Its bushy tail is resting over its back. Image from British Library, Additional MS 11390 [Der Naturen Bloeme], folio 27v.
September 30, 2026 at 2:00 AM
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The medieval squirrel was said to use its upright tail as a sail when it wanted to cross water, although I haven't been able to find this illustrated. This squirrel is from a c1287 version of "Der Naturen Bloeme". #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #squirrel #squirrels
A red-brown squirrel seated on its hind-legs eating something, facing right. It has a very large bushy tail and unusually long forelegs. It is shown against a blue background inside a gilt frame on a manuscript page. Image from Lippische Landesbibliothek, Ms. 70 [Der Naturen Bloeme], folio 41v.
September 29, 2026 at 2:00 AM
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Our final medieval hare may be my favourite. This free-floating, baffled-looking hare is playing a set of bagpipes in the Rothschild Canticles, c1300. #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #hares #hare
A pale brown hare is seated on its hind legs with its tail resting on the sharp corner of a red lozenge with its head upright as it struggles to grasp a huge, male genitalia-shaped, set of outlined bagpipes. The hare looks rather confused. Image from Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, MS 404 [Rothschild Canticles], folio 180v.
April 23, 2026 at 2:00 AM
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The medieval squirrel was said to be a "petty" animal that climbed trees. This particularly lovely squirrel is from the Ormesby Psalter (13th-14th century). #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #squirrel #squirrels
A red-brown squirrel eating a nut facing left. It has a very upright bushy tail and surprisingly long forelegs. Its ears are also very long and very upright. Image from Bodleian Library, MS. Douce 366 [The Ormesby Psalter], folio 38r.
September 28, 2026 at 2:00 AM
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The medieval pheasant ("phasius") was also known as the "gallus silvester" (wild cock) as shown in the text below this image from a c1350 version of "Der Naturen Bloeme". #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #pheasant #pheasants
A fierce-looking red-brown bird with a rooster-like tail, crown and wattles against a gilt background with stylised trees. Below the red and blue, gilt-cornered frame, the text reads "Gallus silvester". Image from Koninklijke Bibliotheek, KB, KA 16 [Der Naturen Bloeme], folio 89v.
September 22, 2026 at 2:00 AM
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Our medieval beast this week is the bat. Medieval bats were considered to be birds with teeth that gave birth to live young which they fed with milk. This particular bat is from the Aberdeen Bestiary (c1200). #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #bat #bats
In an elaborate red and blue frame decorated with a white trellis, against a gilt background, a hairy brown-bodied creature with a very round head is show splayed against its outspread black membranous wings. Its upper arms form the frame of the wings with three long finger-like pointed extensions of bone. Its clawed feet appear to be supporting further parts of the wings and it seems to have a bony tail of bone holding out the bottom point where the wings join. It appears to have round ears and a smiling mouth full of teeth. Its very round lighter brown eyes appear to be looking sideways and it have a very derpy expression. Image from Aberdeen University Library, Univ. Lib. MS 24 (Aberdeen Bestiary), folio 51v.
November 17, 2025 at 2:00 AM
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Our last griffin for the week is something of a rarity in that it has the front legs and paws of a lion. The 13th century text names it is a "vespulione" (a wasp-lion) and says it is an ignoble creature which seems somewhat harsh. #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #beasts #griffin #griffins
A daintily stepping griffin stepping towards the left with a block of text on the right. It has the body, tail, legs and paws of a lion in a light fawn colour with the blue neck and head of an eagle. Its eagle-style wings are the same colour as the body. It has long blue ears and a pale grey curved beak. It has long claws and looks fierce. Its tufted tail is in an S-shaped curl above its back. Image from Bibliothèque Nationale de France, lat. 6838B, folio 26v.
October 2, 2025 at 2:00 AM
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This week's medieval beast is the pheasant which was named for its original home, the Greek island of Phasis. This lovely pheasant is from the Lutterell Psalter (c1325-1340). #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #pheasant #pheasants
A surprisingly accurate painting of a pheasant with a green head and long neck, a red-brown belly and very long tail and white-trimmed black wings folded over its back. Its legs and feet are painted white. It has a red-ringed eye and red wattles. The drawings on the reverse side of the page are visible like a watermark behind and around the drawing. Image from British Library, Additional MS 42130 [The Lutterell Psalter], folio 84v.
September 21, 2026 at 2:00 AM
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The swan is our medieval beast this week. According to medieval thought, a swan sung at its sweetest just before its death. This particular swan is from a Franco-Flemish bestiary dated to 1270. #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #swans #swan
A long-necked whitish bird is waddling towards the right on dark brown webbed feet against a gilt background in a decorated frame. Image from Ms. Ludwig XV 3 (83.MR.173), fol. 41.
January 5, 2026 at 2:00 AM
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This griffin is from a Suffolk (English) bestiary dated to around 1500. It shows an alternate spelling of "griffon" and adds ears to the beast as well as a chin-beard. I particularly love the size of its front feet. #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #beasts #griffin #griffins
A seated griffin with the brown haunches and body of a lion and the cream-coloured heavily feathered head, neck, legs and wings of an eagle. The front bird feet are huge with long blue claws. The back lion paws also have blue claws. Its long thin tail is curled over its back haunches and the tuft disappears out of the picture on the left. The eagle head has very long thin ears as well as a long curly chin-beard with a red band at its top. The curved beak is open and the beast has a very round eye looking out at the viewer. The word "griffon" appears above it. Image from Yale Center for British Art, Folio C 2014 4 (Helmingham Herbal and Bestiary), folio 18r.
October 1, 2025 at 2:00 AM
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This week's medieval beast is the lion. The lion was considered the king of beasts in medieval thought and as such was usually the first beast described in bestiaries. This image is from a 1460 version of "Liber Floridus". #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #lions #lion
A tawny-coloured lion is facing to the right on a manuscript page. It has an oddly flat face with large eyes and has a long curly mane that trails down its forelegs and over its back. It has a very long tufted tail curving between its back legs and folding over her nearer back leg. It has large paws with long claws. Its round ears look like an extra curl in its mane and its whiskers look like a moustache. There is a much smaller animal seated under its chin looking up at its with a pointed snout and a smile. The text says this is probably a pig. Image from Koninklijke Bibliotheek, KB, 72 A 23 (Liber Floridus), folio 44r.
December 1, 2025 at 2:00 AM
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Our final medieval badger is (except for the colour), our most realistic. It is from "Topographia Hibernica", c1196-1223. #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #badger #badgers
Walking to the right, shown in profile, is a blue backed quadruped with a white underside and legs. The legs are rather long for a badger as is its tail but it is otherwise more like a badger than the other beasts from this week. Image from Universiteitsbibliotheek Leiden, BPL 1283 [Herbarius / De medicamentis ex animalibus], folio 53r.
August 13, 2026 at 2:00 AM
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Medieval swans were associated with deception as their white feathers hid a black skin. This image the Worksop Bestiary, c1185. #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #swans #swan
A large white bird with a fish in its beak. The bird appears to be walking on water and has a long curved neck and a red-brown beak. It is shown on a gilt background over greenish-blue waves in an inner blue and outer red frame. The bird's head and tail feathers extend beyond the frames. Image from the Morgan Library, MS M.81, fol. 49v.
January 6, 2026 at 2:00 AM
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This particular illustrator from c1350 seemed to have reversed the front and back lengths. #medievalbeasts #medievalmanuscripts #medievalart #giraffe #giraffes
A hairy dark brown quadruped looking towards the right. It has cloven hooves and the front legs are noticeably shorter than the back legs so that it seems to be on a slant. It has a long maned neck like a horse with long upstanding ears and a narrow white-trimmed head. This particular beast looks cross. Image from Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, Ms. 1029 (Livre des propriétés des choses), folio 241v.
September 16, 2025 at 2:00 AM
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Although often shown very realistically, the medieval hedgehog was also shown in a more imaginative light as this image of what looks like spiky piglets from the Aberdeen Bestiary (c1200). #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #hedgehog #hedgehogs #aberdeenbestiary
On a gilt background in a red frame, beneath an incredibly stylised blue true with red fruit, a line of tiny brown piglet-like hedgehogs is gathering red round fruit on their spines. The hedgehogs are unusually long-legged and their spikes are rather thin and sparse. Image from Aberdeen University Library, Univ. Lib. MS 24 (Aberdeen Bestiary), folio 24r.
October 15, 2025 at 2:00 AM
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If their blood was drawn using a thistle, it was supposed to be able to cure snakebite. This bat is from the Lutterell Psalter (c1325-1340). #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #bat #bats
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November 19, 2025 at 2:00 AM
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The "Helmingham Herbal and Bestiary" from c1500 is fast becoming my favourite for its illustrations. This is its version of an ibex. #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #ibex
A rearing cream-coloured goat-like animal with cloven hooves. It has tufts of hair all over its body and front legs as well as long serrated horns curling downwards over its back. It also has tusks sticking up on either side of its muzzle and very long ears. It has a long tail with a spiky tuft. The red front legs of some other animal are visible on the right of the illustration. Image from Yale Center for British Art, Folio C 2014 4 [Helmingham Herbal and Bestiary], folio 17r.
June 17, 2026 at 2:00 AM
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Medieval swans were eaten, particularly as part of a Christmas feast. This swan is from a bestiary dated to 1226-1250. #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #swans #swan
A white swan is swimming towards the right with a fish in its red-brown beak. Its wings are half-raised and its legs are tucked beneath it and visible through the water. It has a dark almond-shaped eye, a long curving neck and a fierce expression. It is shown in a decorated red and blue frame against a gilt background with green-blue water beneath the bird. Image from MS. Bodley 764, Folio 65v.
January 8, 2026 at 2:00 AM
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This version of the zifius from a 13th century "Libera de natura rerum" has been drawn as a whale in response to the description of a sea monster unlike any other. #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #zifius
A very large black fish-like whale appearing to be vomiting up the green wave it is swimming on. The image is on a gilt-studded red background surrounded by a gilt frame on a manuscript page. Image from Bibliothèque Municipale de Valenciennes, MS 320 [Liber de natura rerum], folio 120v.
April 1, 2026 at 2:00 AM
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"Liber de natura rerum" contains beasts now considered mythical but even "real" beasts often seem unreal as in this c1280 illustration which is meant to be a giraffe. #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #liberdenaturarerum
An almost elephant-like quadruped with a trunk and tail which trail along the ground. It has a mane and appears to have cloven hooves. It is meant to be a giraffe. Image from Bibliothèque Municipale de Valenciennes, MS 320 [Liber de natura rerum], folio 51v.
July 2, 2026 at 2:00 AM
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The medieval pheasant was described as being a very beautiful and colourful bird. This pheasant is from the Alphonso Psalter (c1284). #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #pheasant #pheasants
A somewhat alarmed-looking bird with a red head, green throat, white belly and folded brown wings perched on a red flower within a decorative blue and red element on a manuscript page. Image from British Library, Additional MS 24686 [Alphonso Psalter], folio 18r.
September 24, 2026 at 2:00 AM
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Medieval weasels were said to signify people willing to hear the divine word without acting on it. This weasel sniffing at its Latin name is from a c1170 English bestiary. #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #weasel #weasels
A plump, long, dog-like quadruped with a flat long tail is reaching forward to sniff at the large red initial letter of "Mustela". It has pointed ears and a very marked brown. Image from British Library, Additional MS 11283 [Bestiary (Second Family)], folio 15r.
May 7, 2026 at 2:00 AM
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Medieval illustrators often used gilt (or white) to show the glow of a hercinia as in this lovely image from the Worksop Bestiary, c1185. #medievalbeasts #medievalmanuscripts #hercinia
A right-facing walking gilt bird with a crest in a circular lozenge on a page of text. The background of the lozenge is a solid red circle at the centre, a decorated blue ring and a red and cream border. Image from Morgan Library, MS M.81 [The Worksop Bestiary], folio 52v.
June 3, 2026 at 2:00 AM
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Medieval hedgehogs were said to harvest fruit (specifically grapes) by spearing fruit shaken off the tree/vine on their spines. This c1300 image shows one hedgehog in a tree doing the shaking and another hedgehog spearing the fruit. #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #hedgehog #hedgehogs
In the foreground, a spiky brown hedgehog in a tight ball is spearing red fruit on its spine tips on the ground. Behind it, another brown hedgehog is stretched at length in a green tree shaking the red fruit down. Its notable that the hedgehog in the tree has a pointed snout while the hedgehog on the ground has a much more pig-like head. Image from Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, MS 404 (Rothschild Canticles), folio 176r.
October 14, 2025 at 2:00 AM
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The illustrator of this medieval woodpecker from an Italian 13th century bestiary seems to have considered the woodpecker a bird of prey. #medievalbeasts #medievalmanuscripts #woodpecker #woodpeckers
A standing blue-bodied bird with manuscript-coloured wings is standing above some text leaning forward. It has a long neck and a curved beak like a bird of prey. It also has long feathered legs like a bird of prey. Image from Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Reg. lat. 1862 [Bestiary (Second Family)], folio 15r.
July 9, 2026 at 2:00 AM