#Hraetnug

[cheapsweets]

The Xerocolous Hraetnug

My response to this week’s BestiaryPosting challenge, from @maniculum

Pencil sketch, then lines in Pentel brush pen. Originally meant to be a single image, but didn't work with the cropping...

Reasoning below the cut…

"It has wings but does not fly, and its feet are like those of the camel. When the time comes for it to lay eggs, it raises its eyes to the sky and looks to see if the star called Vergiliae, the Pleiades, has appeared, for it will not lay its eggs until that star has risen. When the Hraetnug sees the star, around the month of June, it digs in the ground, deposits its eggs in the hole it has made and covers them with sand. When it gets up from the hole, it immediately forgets the eggs and never returns to them. The effect of the calm, mild air seems to be that the sand in the summer heat hatches the eggs, bringing forth the young."

Honestly, it's been a week, so just a quick one this time. I genuinely had no idea what creature this this prompt related to, until last night I was lying in bed trying to sleep, and suddenly it seemed So Obvious… Curious if I've guessed this one right!

I ended up taking this one pretty literally. I was originally planning on drawing some manner of Beast, but the wings AND the egg-laying made me lean away from this. Rather than a bird, I ended up going for a fairly generic dragon (with That Head which keeps on coming up for some reason on the most unlikely creatures); many dragon illustrations don't look like they could fly anyway, so maybe the wings are more for balance (or cooling, perhaps?). The feet are taken pretty much directly from camels (including the pad underneath that is just visible on the raised foot); this along with the sand makes me think this is a desert dwelling creature.

I genuinely can't work out what Vergiliae relates to, but we also have the Pleiades in the sky.

I'm never going to miss the opportunity to draw cute baby animals, so have a trio of baby Hraetnugs clawing their way out of the sand once they have hatched :)

I think it ended up looking a bit like something from the Moomins...

[maniculum]

Bestiaryposting -- Hraetnug

As a reminder, all previous entries in this series can be found at https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting .

It has wings but does not fly, and its feet are like those of the camel. When the time comes for it to lay eggs, it raises its eyes to the sky and looks to see if the star called Vergiliae, the Pleiades, has appeared, for it will not lay its eggs until that star has risen. When the Hraetnug sees the star, around the month of June, it digs in the ground, deposits its eggs in the hole it has made and covers them with sand. When it gets up from the hole, it immediately forgets the eggs and never returns to them. The effect of the calm, mild air seems to be that the sand in the summer heat hatches the eggs, bringing forth the young.

Remember to tag posts with #hraetnug so folks can find them.

[ectocs]

The Hraetnug

This was a fun one! And as you can tell my tablet is once again working. At long last (like a week), I can draw!

As usual, stuff below the cut ! No doodles this time :( I kinda freehanded everything in one take this time around.

Has wings but does not fly made me initially think of flightless birds -- ostriches, then penguins. But I didn't really want to just draw a bird. Maybe something that looks like it has wings? Like a sea turtle's fins? That would also work for laying eggs in sand and leaving them.

Alas, the animal in question has feet "like that of a camel," which a sea turtle obviously does not have. That detail made me think of tortoises, which are also shelled beasts, but they're equipped with definite feet.

A tortoise, however, has nothing resembling wings, on account of it being a tortoise and having no need to fly or swim anywhere. I played around with the idea of giving it some hybrid fin-foot thing, like if a sea turtle also had legs, but that looked awkward. Now they're kinda normal legs, if a bit thick, with pseudo-fin-things on them. I dunno, it seemed fun. And I was right.

Still need wings. I did recall several species of turtles with spiky scutes. There's Graptemys nigrinoda, or the black-knobbed map turtle, for one. Though a few in Graptemys apparently have that notable ridge and spiny edges too.

Tried out some different shapes -- boring process, trust me, no interesting sketches to share there -- and decided that editing the shell would be a good way to kinda get that wing thing going.

I wanted to keep it looking like a turtle/tortoise to some extent, so I didn't want to go full nodosauridae, though making long spiky parts definitely made me think of them. In particular, borealopelta and sauropelta. So I channeled a bit of that armored tank into the shell design.

Besides all that, though, I mean. 'Tis a tortoise.

[silverhart-makes-art]

This week's Bestiary Posting I had an idea for the composition before I knew what the creature was going to look like, which was just a bird-thing with big feet looking up at the stars. So I sketched that first and then sort of found the creature along the way.

The Hraetnug is described as having wings but is unable to fly. So my thought went to flightless birds, like the kiwi and the penguin. Since it's described as laying eggs in the sand I thought it might be a shorebird, so I decided to take inspiration from the extinct Great auk, but I was also thinking about non-avian dinosaurs while drawing (for no other reason than I had a dino show on while drawing), particularly Deinocheirus, and the lovely silhouette of their head seemed like something fun and unique to incorporate. Coloring wasn't really based on any bird in particular, but of course they have to have a classic black and white found in the auk family.

Fun piece to work on. Ah, to be a hraetnug, gazing at the stars, digging in the sand, and never having to put up with any kids. Truly living the dream. I especially like how her stubby little wings look. She's trying so hard to look majestic, with her fat little tummy and her stumpy wings and goofy beak. I love this dumb imaginary bird.

Can't say how accurate my rendition of the Pleiades is, but I looked at some photos, and I know they are the Seven Sisters, so tried to make sure I got at least seven in there. I also looked up when they're visible in June which is around dawn, so I tried to reflect that in my piece with just a hint of sunlight peeking over the horizon. Alas, astronomy is not my strong suit - I blame light pollution. That is one thing I really envy about people in the past - they could just look up at the night sky and see all the stars they wanted. They even knew what time of year it was or how to navigate based on them! I certainly can't do that. It makes me feel kind of dumb in comparison. But at least I can enjoy drawing this silly bird living out my star-gazing dreams.

[sweetlyfez]

Very quick hraetnug for the bestiary posting challenge.

I mainly considered what sort of animals leave their eggs for ambient warmth to hatch them, and what'd be fun to put between the described wings and camel feet.

Thus, a jaunty snakey guy, just about ready to spot vergiliae

[coolest-capybara]

This week in the Maniculum Bestiaryposting Challenge, we meet the Hraetnug. It's a short entry, so I will just copy it here:

"It has wings but does not fly, and its feet are like those of the camel. When the time comes for it to lay eggs, it raises its eyes to the sky and looks to see if the star called Vergiliae, the Pleiades, has appeared, for it will not lay its eggs until that star has risen. When the Hraetnug sees the star, around the month of June, it digs in the ground, deposits its eggs in the hole it has made and covers them with sand. When it gets up from the hole, it immediately forgets the eggs and never returns to them. The effect of the calm, mild air seems to be that the sand in the summer heat hatches the eggs, bringing forth the young."

An animal burying eggs in the sand and then leaving made me think of sea turtles. If you squint a bit, sea turtle flippers look sort of like wings without feathers. Of course, the camelid legs are a bit unusual, but we have seen many strange hybrid creatures in this challenge. So here it is, a forgetful amphibious camelid turtle specimen!

[wendievergreen]

Hraetnug

I've been reading @maniculum's bestiaryposting to my siblings for a while and now that we've caught up I could not resist the urge to participate! I literally made a tumblr just to post this, maybe I will also use it for other things :O

I'm 99% certain I know what the original animal is, and it was really fun trying to make my beast look as unlike it as possible! I used elements of the dromedary camel (feet, hump, general head shape), leatherback sea turtle (shell, lays eggs in sand), and the Egyptian goose (wings, beak, general coloring). There are seven eggs and stars because the Pleiades are called the seven sisters and they're rainbow because June is pride month. The toenails are pink because why not!

I didn't finish a full drawing last week, but I have some sketches of the Rabyeang I might post if anyone wants to see them :)

EDIT 6/16/24 just realized I spelled the name wrong😭 fixing now

[strixcattus]

The Hraetnug

Had a lot of fun drawing the feathers on this one. I feel like there might be a chance I'm not exactly straying from the real animal here... oh well. It's not as though I'm trying to draw one of the several actual flightless birds with this general body plan.

The Hraetnug

The Hraetnug is a flightless bird found in grasslands and sand dune ecosystems in North America. It is three to four feet in height, and has long brown feathers speckled with white.

The diet of the Hraetnug is varied, and they will happily consume almost anything they encounter, from leafy plants and fruits to insects to human trash. They are also capable hunters of small animals, and will make use of their long necks to snap live rodents and reptiles off the ground, or of their sturdy, thick-skinned feet to pin down snakes.

Both male and female Hraetnugs have long tail feathers, which they can fan out behind them during mating displays. Hraetnugs who put on particularly impressive displays can often pull multiple mates, of both sexes, and many Hraetnugs live as a group with their mates for several years or for life.

Female Hraetnugs build their nests on the ground, scraping a burrow in the soil and partially burying their eggs. Sandy or dry soil seems to be their preferred environment for such a nest. They (and their mate or mated group, if they have such a long-term relationship) will remain in the area to watch over their eggs, but seldom approach the nest directly to avoid drawing the attention of predators to their defenseless young. Instead, they will bring attention to themselves by acting injured and, once the would-be egg-eater has been drawn away from the nest, sprint away at a speed potentially exceeding forty miles per hour.

Hraetnug chicks develop rapidly once hatched, and are able to survive on their own approximately a month after hatching. They reach their full adult size at six months old, and may take temporary mates before the end of their first year of life.

[afoxysunny]

hey, I’m ectocs! You should totally draw a guy like my tortoisething. It was for a drawing challenge, if you’d rather do that?:

https://maniculum.tumblr.com/post/752303317221326848/bestiaryposting-hraetnug

Maybe it’s a bit random to send an ask but i think everyone should make more creatures! Beasts! Animals! Follow your dreams

Maybe it is random but who cares, i think this is super lovely of you to do!

I am still in LOVE with the creature you drew and honestly even a little starstruck when i saw your ask bc it was That inspiring to me >~>

I looked at the link to the challenge you sent in your ask and then combined that given info with the inspo from your piece so it's very similar imo

I looooove making Calorum Fauna (aka food themed animals) so ofc i also had to make it a food item

So here is my take on the The Hraetnug

It now is a tortoise like creature that lives in the Great Dunes of Grain in Ceresia. They have large grains covering their head so the "sand" doesn't get into their eyes so easily. But they also use the stars to navigate, so seeing them star gazing for long periods of time is very normal at the rare occasions you may spot these rare and gentle giants.

They are said to always walk and only very rarely sleep or even pause. They have huge wing like, grain shaped appendages between their hind and front legs to fan away the grains underneath them if they were to ever get stuck. It is said to rarely happen tho, as the more they walk the more grains they gather on them for more stability and they may even use them as a food source.

They are very mysterious and not well known animals. Depending on who you ask they might even say the Hraetnug is just a myth.

I feel so bad for only posting this now! I've had it done for a while now bc @modifiedyincision 's drawing and ask really really inspired me but then i just kept forgetting to post it! My B! Hope y'all still enjoy it

[pomrania]

Here's my rendition of the hraetnug, from @maniculum's Bestiaryposting. I wasn't INTENDING to draw Big Bird, I started off with "vaguely a kiwi, let's see where we go from there", but then I added a long neck (because those are fun), and large eyes for "no thoughts head empty", and I realized I'd mostly drawn Big Bird. The colour scheme is based off a pigeon, as much as I could do from memory and while using the default colour palette, because I was blanking on "ways to colour a bird that aren't yellow" and that's the only thing an came to mind in the moment.

Not specifically related to this image, but from the description, I may not know much about astronomy but even I know that the Pleiades are a constellation, not a star, so what's up with that? ...actually, I thought of a possible explanation while writing that sentence. I'm mildly nearsighted, and I only really wear my prescription lenses if I want to look at the stars; and it's only wearing glasses that I was able to SEE that the Pleiades were a collection of stars, instead of a single star. And I don't know how much vision correction was available in England when this bestiary was written, but it wouldn't have been common; so it's entirely possible an the person who wrote it, thought "Pleiades" was a single star, because that's what they could see. Or maybe this is a poetic form, or a typo; it doesn't really matter, but that's never stopped me from rambling.

[maniculum]

Bestiaryposting Results: Hraetnug

We've got a good variety of results here, so I'm just going to run through the usual stuff and get to them.

If anyone isn't sure what this "bestiaryposting" thing is about, you can find an explanation and previous entries at https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting.

All of the art below is based on this entry:

If you want to participate, next week's bestiaryposting will be based on this entry:

And the art is below the cut:

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) decided something with wings that doesn't fly might well be a flightless bird, and has drawn a very good penguin/auk/thing. I really like how it's posed against the starry sky; it's evocative. For additional details, check the linked post.

@ectocs (link to post here) thought of sea turtles instead -- which I can totally see. I've had the good fortune to witness a few sea turtle hatchings, and the description of the eggs in the sand absolutely tracks. However, there's the issue that the idea of wing-shaped fins is not compatible with "its feet are like those of a camel" -- hence the very cool shell design. I like it; it's quite clever. The linked post contains some additional discussion of the thoughts and inspirations behind this design, go look at it. (Also, thank you for providing alt text.)

@cheapsweets (link to post here) has taught me a new word with this post -- xerocolous. Also, we have a medieval-style dragon here, complete with that ubiquitous wavy-eared head -- it does fully fit the description, too. Always appreciate a little medieval styling; those damned ears made me smile. There's additional explanation in the linked post -- also, thank you for providing alt text.

@sweetlyfez (link to post here) has laid out a brief but excellent explanation of their design process. It seems to have gone like this:

"What animals do this with their eggs?" "Snakes do that." "But snakes don't have wings or camel-like feet." "This one does."

Brilliant. Love it. No notes. (Also thank you for providing alt text.)

@pomrania (link to post here) also went with "flightless bird" and admits the inadvertent resemblance of their design to Big Bird -- it does have a certain Muppet-like quality, I must say. For additional information, please see the linked post. I particularly like the note that giving it a "no thoughts head empty" facial expression was fully intentional.

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) also thought of sea turtles and then questioned how this could be compatible with the camel feet. Their solution, which I think came out extremely well here, was to simply draw a camel/turtle hybrid. I kind of love this design -- and, of course, the stylized art.

@strixcattus (link to post here) has drawn a very charming flightless bird. I really like the sort of shaggy design, which I assume is indicative of kiwi-style feathers. As is normally the case, Strixcattus has also included a modern naturalist-style interpretation of the animal, which I, as usual, recommend reading via the linked post.

To the Aberdeen Bestiary...

Once again, this is basically the same bird we see in a bunch of these, with the exception of its (surprisingly accurate) camel-like feet. However, this is in fact the ostrich. (I have no idea why one of them appears to be eating the eggs.)

I honestly don't have a lot to add here. Bit surprising to see a different set of myths about the ostrich rather than the "head in the sand" thing.

[maniculum]

sea turtle?

(This is in reference to the Hraetnug entry) Now that the post is up, I can say that you are not alone in that interpretation, but it is also not the creature being described.

[maniculum]

Posted slightly after I put this up, and I didn't notice it until now:

@wendievergreen (link to post here) has done this excellent camel / turtle / goose combination. I like the decision to just give it some neat-looking wings -- I assume they serve some purpose other than flying for this creature -- and then also a beak. The style of this drawing is also very nice; I enjoy the general look a lot. Wendievergreen notes in the linked post that the eggs are rainbow because June is Pride Month -- now I'm trying to remember whether I intentionally moved this one so it posted in June or if that's just a coincidence.

Bestiaryposting Results: Hraetnug

We've got a good variety of results here, so I'm just going to run through the usual stuff and get to them.

If anyone isn't sure what this "bestiaryposting" thing is about, you can find an explanation and previous entries at https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting.

All of the art below is based on this entry:

If you want to participate, next week's bestiaryposting will be based on this entry:

And the art is below the cut:

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) decided something with wings that doesn't fly might well be a flightless bird, and has drawn a very good penguin/auk/thing. I really like how it's posed against the starry sky; it's evocative. For additional details, check the linked post.

@ectocs (link to post here) thought of sea turtles instead -- which I can totally see. I've had the good fortune to witness a few sea turtle hatchings, and the description of the eggs in the sand absolutely tracks. However, there's the issue that the idea of wing-shaped fins is not compatible with "its feet are like those of a camel" -- hence the very cool shell design. I like it; it's quite clever. The linked post contains some additional discussion of the thoughts and inspirations behind this design, go look at it. (Also, thank you for providing alt text.)

@cheapsweets (link to post here) has taught me a new word with this post -- xerocolous. Also, we have a medieval-style dragon here, complete with that ubiquitous wavy-eared head -- it does fully fit the description, too. Always appreciate a little medieval styling; those damned ears made me smile. There's additional explanation in the linked post -- also, thank you for providing alt text.

@sweetlyfez (link to post here) has laid out a brief but excellent explanation of their design process. It seems to have gone like this:

"What animals do this with their eggs?" "Snakes do that." "But snakes don't have wings or camel-like feet." "This one does."

Brilliant. Love it. No notes. (Also thank you for providing alt text.)

@pomrania (link to post here) also went with "flightless bird" and admits the inadvertent resemblance of their design to Big Bird -- it does have a certain Muppet-like quality, I must say. For additional information, please see the linked post. I particularly like the note that giving it a "no thoughts head empty" facial expression was fully intentional.

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) also thought of sea turtles and then questioned how this could be compatible with the camel feet. Their solution, which I think came out extremely well here, was to simply draw a camel/turtle hybrid. I kind of love this design -- and, of course, the stylized art.

@strixcattus (link to post here) has drawn a very charming flightless bird. I really like the sort of shaggy design, which I assume is indicative of kiwi-style feathers. As is normally the case, Strixcattus has also included a modern naturalist-style interpretation of the animal, which I, as usual, recommend reading via the linked post.

To the Aberdeen Bestiary...

Once again, this is basically the same bird we see in a bunch of these, with the exception of its (surprisingly accurate) camel-like feet. However, this is in fact the ostrich. (I have no idea why one of them appears to be eating the eggs.)

I honestly don't have a lot to add here. Bit surprising to see a different set of myths about the ostrich rather than the "head in the sand" thing.

[cheapsweets]

So, to be a bestiary artist, I must master the art of drawing one bird very well... 🤔

Nice variety of cool (and cute) critters this week. Plus, I managed to guess what it was (after I'd done the drawing, though) - surprisingly not a bad description of the creature, all told!

Bestiaryposting Results: Hraetnug

We've got a good variety of results here, so I'm just going to run through the usual stuff and get to them.

If anyone isn't sure what this "bestiaryposting" thing is about, you can find an explanation and previous entries at https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting.

All of the art below is based on this entry:

If you want to participate, next week's bestiaryposting will be based on this entry:

And the art is below the cut:

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) decided something with wings that doesn't fly might well be a flightless bird, and has drawn a very good penguin/auk/thing. I really like how it's posed against the starry sky; it's evocative. For additional details, check the linked post.

@ectocs (link to post here) thought of sea turtles instead -- which I can totally see. I've had the good fortune to witness a few sea turtle hatchings, and the description of the eggs in the sand absolutely tracks. However, there's the issue that the idea of wing-shaped fins is not compatible with "its feet are like those of a camel" -- hence the very cool shell design. I like it; it's quite clever. The linked post contains some additional discussion of the thoughts and inspirations behind this design, go look at it. (Also, thank you for providing alt text.)

@cheapsweets (link to post here) has taught me a new word with this post -- xerocolous. Also, we have a medieval-style dragon here, complete with that ubiquitous wavy-eared head -- it does fully fit the description, too. Always appreciate a little medieval styling; those damned ears made me smile. There's additional explanation in the linked post -- also, thank you for providing alt text.

@sweetlyfez (link to post here) has laid out a brief but excellent explanation of their design process. It seems to have gone like this:

"What animals do this with their eggs?" "Snakes do that." "But snakes don't have wings or camel-like feet." "This one does."

Brilliant. Love it. No notes. (Also thank you for providing alt text.)

@pomrania (link to post here) also went with "flightless bird" and admits the inadvertent resemblance of their design to Big Bird -- it does have a certain Muppet-like quality, I must say. For additional information, please see the linked post. I particularly like the note that giving it a "no thoughts head empty" facial expression was fully intentional.

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) also thought of sea turtles and then questioned how this could be compatible with the camel feet. Their solution, which I think came out extremely well here, was to simply draw a camel/turtle hybrid. I kind of love this design -- and, of course, the stylized art.

@strixcattus (link to post here) has drawn a very charming flightless bird. I really like the sort of shaggy design, which I assume is indicative of kiwi-style feathers. As is normally the case, Strixcattus has also included a modern naturalist-style interpretation of the animal, which I, as usual, recommend reading via the linked post.

To the Aberdeen Bestiary...

Once again, this is basically the same bird we see in a bunch of these, with the exception of its (surprisingly accurate) camel-like feet. However, this is in fact the ostrich. (I have no idea why one of them appears to be eating the eggs.)

I honestly don't have a lot to add here. Bit surprising to see a different set of myths about the ostrich rather than the "head in the sand" thing.