#Klosweisht

[maniculum]

Bestiaryposting Results: Miscellaneous Mammals

I apologize for the lateness -- I was about halfway through the Aberdeen Bestiary section at the end, then I caught a glimpse of the clock and realized that if I didn't get some sleep immediately I was going to be dead on my feet at work the next morning. So I had to postpone the rest until the next evening.

Very much in the home stretch now, only two left after this if I remember correctly. These are all the mammals that didn't make it into the main event (mane event... wait I'm just stealing jokes from Lion King now). Anyway.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, you might be slightly less confused after visiting https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting.

All of these delightful critters are described in this post:

And next week's delightful critters for all comers to draw are in this post:

Now. Art below the cut.

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) has once again done the entire roster. A lot of these are pretty great, and I particularly like the ones with a kind of paleo-art prehistoric vibe. I also just think the Klosweisht, Revklogwat, and Gershatrea have a charm to them. See the linked post for a little detail on each.

@pomrania (link to post here) decided to work a couple of this week's creatures into their Drawtober prompt -- they also posted them separately at this link here, if you want to know which is which, but the complete scene is just too good to pass up. I have no idea what the backstory for this scene might be, but I bet it's interesting.

@cheapsweets (link to post here) has also done the whole roster here. I'm enjoying the dedication here to showing the beasts doing whatever characteristic behaviors the entry ascribes to them; it gives this whole thing a certain dynamism. Particular shout-out to the dichotomy shown by the depiction of the Raenwegguk's wild thoughts and that of the Ngibealgul forgetting its wild nature. (Also thank you for the alt text.)

@wendievergreen decided to do all the ones with horns, so here you go. I think there's a striking variety here; each looks very different from each other one. I think the Shrobshong looks particularly interesting, but it appears to be having some difficulty.

@coolest-capybara picked two to really focus on -- the Thokragosk and the Kamyaweneg. (I believe the former is on the left and the latter on the right.) They're both based on moles, naturally: we can see the star-nosed Thokragosk being produced from the earth and the golden Kamyaweneg digging in darkness. I really like it; I didn't see these as a dichotomy of this sort, but maybe I should have.

They also did a second drawing with smaller illustrations of some of the others:

Honestly I think these are all great entirely because of their slightly unhinged nature. By which I mean, in all of these it looks like the artist decided to just Go Weird With It and it works. I think my favorite is the Klosweisht because, well, I just don't even know what to do with it but I love its impish charm.

All right, the Aberdeen Bestiary:

Shmeashagg

So I'm not actually sure whether this illustration is supposed to be this thing or the leopard itself, but... check that out, huh?

Anyway, this is the pard. If it mates with a lion, the result is a leo-pard. Why, where did you think leopards came from?

Also does it have a tattoo on its shoulder there? What is that?

Goggaerker

This is on one of the missing pages from the Aberdeen Bestiary, so I had to get the image from the Ashmole Bestiary instead.

Now, I'm not an artist, so I have no room to criticize, but what is this bush that appears to be just a rectangle of thick grass? And is that spear-wielder mid-dance, or did the artist not realize the second foot doesn't reach the ground until it was too late? Nice Stylized Trees though.

Also, this is the antelope.

Brotkarske

This one is on the other side of the same page as the antelope, so we're still in the Ashmole Bestiary.

A lot of things not to like about this scene; I can't help but notice that this unicorn (I assume everyone clocked this one immediately) looks more like a dog than a horse from the neck down. I'd also like to make note of the spear-wielder's goofy fin-hat.

Blue people like the axe-wielder are not hugely uncommon in medieval illustrations -- it's often kind of a weird stylized way of depicting people of color. Probably something to do with how in some European languages there's semantic overlap between "black" and "blue".

Revklogwat

Still in the Ashmole Bestiary -- there are a few pages of the "Beasts" section missing from the Aberdeen Bestiary all in a cluster, and we're moving through them here.

So yeah, I'm sure we all recognized the griffin as well. (Griffon? Gryphon? I can never settle on which variant I should be using.) The question here is what's going on with the pig? They look like they're embracing.

Honestly I'm not sure if the (brief) entry explains it or not. The Ashmole Bestiary doesn't have a translation, so I pulled the text for missing entries from the similar-but-not-identical Bodley MS 764, which does not appear to mention any pigs. Anyone comfortable with Latin paleography can check out the digitized Ashmole Bestiary and let me know.

...wait, hang on, I just double-checked Bodley MS 764, and in that one the griffin is holding a horse, which is mentioned in the entry. It's still an awkward pose, but in that one the horse is biting the griffin, so it's obvious it's supposed to be a fight. "Griffins eat horses" is not an uncommon thing, I think, so that's all fine...

Why is this one a pig?

Shrobshong

So I assume the idea was to show this thing falling off a hill, but they decided to draw a small symbolic hill next to it to give the general impression of what they meant? It looks like it's about to do a headstand. And I'm not sure why it has paws on its front legs but hooves on the back.

Oh, and it's the ibex.

This one also appears to be tattooed.

Biklanokyo

There's a bit of confusion in the bestiary tradition on whether the unicorn is separate from the monoceros. The Aberdeen Bestiary treats them separately. Behold its mighty mono-horn.

Nutogsheag

Some of you may have correctly recognized that this one shares some notable attributes with our very first entry, the Wutugald. And indeed, the leocrota (nobody ever agreed on how to spell the damn thing) is another telephoned hyena.

Raenwegguk

To fill in the redactions:

The boar gets its name, aper, from its wildness, a feritate, the letter f being replaced by a p; for the same reason, it is called by the Greeks suagros, meaning wild. For everything which is untamed and savage we call, loosely, agreste, wild.

Redacted them just in case anyone's Latin was good enough to recognize aper at a glance. I don't know how accurate the rest is.

It kind of fits that the medieval Europeans thought of the boar as almost archetypically "wild", "untamed", and "savage".

I cheated a bit on this one -- the second half of the entry is from Bodley MS 764 because I liked the unruly thoughts.

Klosweisht

Back in the Ashmole Bestiary because some vandal cut the illustration from the page in the Aberdeen Bestiary.

Okay, the entry says "bullock", but I'm really hoping the one in this illustration is a cow. Or, well, a bullock is a young bull, so maybe we're supposed to be looking at the calf.

This one's kind of misleading because it's specifically describing the version of this animal supposedly found in India, which is of course much different from the type of bull that the European author is familiar with.

The redacted etymology is as follows:

The bullock is called iuvencus because it undertakes to help man in his work of tilling the ground, or because among pagans it was always a bullock which was sacrificed to Jove - never a bull. For in selecting sacrificial victims, age also was a consideration. The word for bull, taurus, is Greek, as the word for ox, bos.

Kregichmon

I... don't have an illustration for this one. It turns out it doesn't occur in the Aberdeen Bestiary, but I pulled it from Bodley MS 764 along with the ones that were genuinely missing. It's the buffalo, though.

Thokragosk

I call this one, "Forsooth My Cat Hath Stolen All My Orbs So That I May Ponder Them No Longer". However, according to the transcription, this is a mouse gathering grain. I think it's interesting that the illustrator has never gotten a good look at a mouse.

I like that the bestiary entry for mice includes spontaneous generation, because that is one of the silly bits of early quasi-science that I find very charming. Not sure what that business about their livers is though.

Kamyaweneg

I think everyone probably recognized this one as the mole. Honestly I think the picture for it is cute.

Apes

Most of these have no pictures. There is one illustration for the Generic Ape, and we already did that one. All the different types of apes are denied imagery, except one that we'll get to.

Ghrastasag

This is the circopeticus. Which... I guess is a fictional tailed ape? Literally the only thing that comes up on Google for circopeticus or circopetici is bestiary scraps that just say "ape with tail".

bestiary.ca lists the spelling cericopithicus in its Ape entry, which does come up on Google but only as a name for the Generic Bestiary Ape (i.e. it's described as a fictional type of ape that [insert details from bestiary Ape entry here].)

Rigfengtog

This is the cynocephalus. The Aberdeen Bestiary calls them cenophali, but I'm pretty sure they mean cynocephali and bestiary.ca agrees with me. Which is... interesting. Because in other texts, cynocephali aren't apes, they're people with dog heads. Someone decided to kick them out of the Human Club. Does this mean we have to de-canonize St. Christopher? I'm pretty sure the church has made their opinion on non-human saints clear... I mean, I don't agree with it, but I'm not Catholic, so my opinion is probably irrelevant.

Ngibealgul

This is the... sphynx.

🤨

^ I don't know how to type emoji on my laptop, so I had to go find that one and copy-paste it because I felt so strongly that it's needed here.

Are we just simianizing any mythical beast that can talk?

Gerskatrea

This one gets its own image.

This one is the satyr. Which kind of falls into the same category as the last two, but at least it makes more sense as a critter to be pongified than the sphynx.

I guess whatever it's doing there is what the entry meant by pantomime.

Maerdradli

Fizzling out on another one that's kind of a shrug, this is the callitrix. More or less the same sitation as the above cericopithicus -- you now know more or less everything there is to know about it.

I will say that, while I don't speak either language, I recognize enough Greek & Latin roots that this name has me considering going back for another raised-eyebrow emoji. Why'd you name it that, mr. naturalist? explain yourself.

i don’t think that smushing those roots together is grammatically sound but still. gives me pause.

[cheapsweets]

A Motley of Miscellaneous Mammals

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

The first five illustrations were drawn straight with a TWSBI Eco fountain pen, extra fine nib, using Monteverde Raven Noir ink. The rest had a pencil sketch behind, because I was rushing a little to get them all done, and it turned out quicker with a pencil sketch behind than thinking about it too hard 😅

Managed to fit them all in, somehow!

Original prompts below the cut (not much in the way of reasoning because I didn't have a lot of time to think, though one of these beasts is clearly influenced by the Elasmotherium, one of the coolest extinct mammalian megafauna)

Shmeashagg

The Shmeashagg is a species which has a mottled skin, is extremely swift and thirsts for blood; for it kills at a single bound. The leopard is the product of the adultery of a lioness with a Shmeashagg; their mating produces a third species. As Pliny says in his Natural History: the lion mates with the Shmeashagg, or the Shmeashagg with the lioness, and from both degenerate offspring are created, such as the mule and the burdon.

Goggaerker

There is an animal called the Goggaerker, with very keen hearing, so that no hunter can approach it. It has long horns like a saw so that it can saw down great tall trees and fell them to the ground. If it is thirsty it goes to the River Euphrates. There is a bush there called ‘hedgehog-bush’ in Greek which has a mass of thin and entwined twigs. The animal begins to play with it with its horns, and in playing it entangles itself by the horns in the twigs. When it has struggled for a long while, it cannot free itself and cries out loudly. As soon as the hunter hears its cry, he comes and kills it.

Brotkarske

The Brotkarske, which is also called [redacted] in Greek, has this nature: it is a little beast, not unlike a young goat, and extraordinarily swift. It has a horn in the middle of its brow, and no hunter can catch it. But it can be caught in the following fashion: a girl who is a virgin is led to the place where it dwells, and is left there alone in the forest. As soon as the Brotkarske sees her, it leaps into her lap and embraces her, and goes to sleep there; then the hunters capture it and display it in the king’s palace. The Brotkarske often fights elephants; it wounds them in the stomach and kills them.

Revklogwat

The Revklogwat is at once feathered and four-footed. It lives in the south and in mountains. The hinder part of its body is like a lion; its wings and face are like an eagle. It hates the horse bitterly and if it comes face to face with a man, it will attack him.

Shrobshong

There is an animal called the Shrobshong, which has two horns of such strength that, if it were to fall from a high mountain to the lowest depths, its whole body would be supported by those two horns.

Biklanokyo

The Biklanokyo is a monster with a horrible bellow, the body of a horse, the feet of an elephant and a tail very like that of a deer. A magnificent, marvellous horn projects from the middle of its forehead, four feet in length, so sharp that whatever it strikes is easily pierced with the blow. No living Biklanokyo has ever come into man’s hands, and while it can be killed, it cannot be captured.

Nutogsheag

The beast called Nutogsheag comes from India. It is the swiftest of all wild animals. It is as big as an ass, with the hindquarters of a deer, the chest and legs of a lion, the head of a horse and cloven hooves. Its mouth stretches from ear to ear. Instead of teeth it has a continuous bone. So much for its shape; with its voice it imitates the sound of speech.

Raenwegguk

The Raenwegguk gets its name, [redacted], from its wildness, [redacted], the letter f being replaced by a p; for the same reason, it is called [redacted], meaning wild. For everything which is untamed and savage we call, loosely, [redacted], wild. Others say that the Raenwegguk gets its name because it lives in wild places. The Raenwegguk signifies the fierceness of the rulers of this world. [Symbolic digression redacted.] It is said to be a creature of the woods because its thoughts are wild and unruly.

Klosweisht

[Etymological digression redacted] The Klosweishts of India are tawny in hue and so swift-footed that they seem to fly. Their hair grows against the nap of their coat, their mouth opens to the size of their head. They also move their horns in whatever direction they wish, and the toughness of their hides turns aside all weapons. So fierce and savage are they that if they are captured they give up the ghost.

Kregichmon

Kregichmons are so called because [redacted]. Africa is their birthplace. The [similar animal] is found in Germany, with huge horns which provide the tables of kings with drinking vessels of extraordinary capacity. [Symbolic digression redacted.]

Thokragosk

The Thokragosk is a puny animal; its name [redacted]. Others say [redacted]  because they are produced ex humore, from the damp soil, of the earth; for [etymology redacted]. Their liver grows bigger at full moon, like the tides rise then fall with the waning of the moon.

Kamyaweneg

The Kamyaweneg is called [redacted] because it is condemned to darkness by its permanent blindness. For it lacks eyes, is always digging in the ground and throwing out the soil, and feeds on the roots of the plants which the Greeks call aphala, vetch.

Ghrastasag

The apes called Ghrastasags have tails. This alone distinguishes them from the apes mentioned earlier.

Rigfengtog

Rigfengtogs are numbered among the apes. They occur in great numbers in parts of Ethiopia. They leap wildly and bite fiercely. They are never so tame, that their ferocity does not increase.

Ngibealgul

Ngibealguls are also included among apes. They have shaggy hair on their arms and are easily taught to forget their wild nature.

Gerskatrea

There are also apes that men call Gerskatreas. They have quite attractive faces, and are restless, making pantomimed gestures.

Maerdradli

The apes called Maerdradlis differ from the others in almost every aspect of their appearance. They have bearded faces and broad tails. It is not difficult to catch them but they rarely survive in captivity. They do not live elsewhere than under the Ethiopian sky, that is their native sky.

[wendievergreen]

Miscellaneous Mammals (Goggaerker, Brotkarske, Shrobshong, Biklanokyo, Klosweisht, Kregichmon)

For this week, I drew the mammals with horns🤘 I don't have the energy or brain to explain my thought process rn, but the Bovidae (plus one Felidae) I referenced are listed under the cut!

Goggaerker: Arabian sand gazelle (Gazella marica), mouflon (Ovis gmelini)

Brotkarske: suni (Nesotragus moschatus), chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra)

Shrobshong: impala/rooibok (Aepyceros melampus), Himalayan tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus)

Biklanokyo: saiga (Saiga tatarica), giant/Lord Derby's/greater eland (Taurotragus derbianus)

Klosweisht: blackbuck/Indian antelope (Antilope cervicapra), markhor (Capra falconeri), clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa)

Kregichmon: African forest/dwarf/Congo buffalo (Syncerus caffer nanus), black wildebeest/white-tailed gnu (Connochaetes gnou)

[coolest-capybara]

Maniculum Bestiaryposting Challenge: Miscellaneous Mammals

This one had so many great descriptions to choose from! I didn't have that much time, so I focused on two of them and did some scribbles of some of the others.

The first image shows the Thokragosk and the Kamyaweneg:

The Thokragosk is a puny animal; its name [redacted]. Others say [redacted] because they are produced ex humore, from the damp soil, of the earth; for [etymology redacted]. Their liver grows bigger at full moon, like the tides rise then fall with the waning of the moon.

The Kamyaweneg is called [redacted] because it is condemned to darkness by its permanent blindness. For it lacks eyes, is always digging in the ground and throwing out the soil, and feeds on the roots of the plants which the Greeks call aphala, vetch.

They are based on a star-nosed mole and a golden mole, respectively.

In the second image, from top left to right: The Shmeashagg, Revklogwat and Klosweisht.

The Shmeashagg is a species which has a mottled skin, is extremely swift and thirsts for blood; for it kills at a single bound. The leopard is the product of the adultery of a lioness with a Shmeashagg; their mating produces a third species. As Pliny says in his Natural History: the lion mates with the Shmeashagg, or the Shmeashagg with the lioness, and from both degenerate offspring are created, such as the mule and the burdon.

You might recognize the pose from the Calvin and Hobbes comics.

The Revklogwat is at once feathered and four-footed. It lives in the south and in mountains. The hinder part of its body is like a lion; its wings and face are like an eagle. It hates the horse bitterly and if it comes face to face with a man, it will attack him.

The Klosweishts of India are tawny in hue and so swift-footed that they seem to fly. Their hair grows against the nap of their coat, their mouth opens to the size of their head. They also move their horns in whatever direction they wish, and the toughness of their hides turns aside all weapons. So fierce and savage are they that if they are captured they give up the ghost.

If they can nearly fly and move their horns however they want, why not helicopter horns?

The middle row, again from left to right: Raenwegguk, Biklanokyo and Brotkarske

The Raenwegguk gets its name, [redacted], from its wildness, [redacted], the letter f being replaced by a p; for the same reason, it is called [redacted], meaning wild. For everything which is untamed and savage we call, loosely, [redacted], wild. Others say that the Raenwegguk gets its name because it lives in wild places. The Raenwegguk signifies the fierceness of the rulers of this world. [Symbolic digression redacted.] It is said to be a creature of the woods because its thoughts are wild and unruly.

I mostly wanted this one to look a bit tree-like itself.

The Biklanokyo is a monster with a horrible bellow, the body of a horse, the feet of an elephant and a tail very like that of a deer. A magnificent, marvellous horn projects from the middle of its forehead, four feet in length, so sharp that whatever it strikes is easily pierced with the blow. No living Biklanokyo has ever come into man's hands, and while it can be killed, it cannot be captured.

The Brotkarske, which is also called [redacted] in Greek, has this nature: it is a little beast, not unlike a young goat, and extraordinarily swift. It has a horn in the middle of its brow, and no hunter can catch it. But it can be caught in the following fashion: a girl who is a virgin is led to the place where it dwells, and is left there alone in the forest. As soon as the Brotkarske sees her, it leaps into her lap and embraces her, and goes to sleep there; then the hunters capture it and display it in the king’s palace. The Brotkarske often fights elephants; it wounds them in the stomach and kills them.

I think this one is pretty recognizable, so I depicted it enjoying the zoomies.

And last but not least, again from left to right: Nutogsheag, Goggaerker and Shrobshong

The beast called Nutogsheag comes from India. It is the swiftest of all wild animals. It is as big as an ass, with the hindquarters of a deer, the chest and legs of a lion, the head of a horse and cloven hooves. Its mouth stretches from ear to ear. Instead of teeth it has a continuous bone. So much for its shape; with its voice it imitates the sound of speech.

There is an animal called the Goggaerker, with very keen hearing, so that no hunter can approach it. It has long horns like a saw so that it can saw down great tall trees and fell them to the ground. If it is thirsty it goes to the River Euphrates. There is a bush there called ‘hedgehog-bush’ in Greek which has a mass of thin and entwined twigs. The animal begins to play with it with its horns, and in playing it entangles itself by the horns in the twigs. When it has struggled for a long while, it cannot free itself and cries out loudly. As soon as the hunter hears its cry, he comes and kills it.

Big ears to hear the hunters and a magnificent sawing horn.

There is an animal called the Shrobshong, which has two horns of such strength that, if it were to fall from a high mountain to the lowest depths, its whole body would be supported by those two horns.

[silverhart-makes-art]

This week's Bestiary Posting is a whole menagerie of mammals. Again, labeled version and short descriptions of my thoughts below.

Shmeashagg - needed to be mottled, I also gave it giant claws on it's forepaws so it can "kill at a single bound". Trying to make it look like it could be the parent of a leopard while trying to make it less lion-like. Goggaerker - a bit more of a dynamic pose of it being stuck in a bush; saw-tooth horns, and big fuzzy ears. Brotkarske - a tiny goat with a markhor-style horn, and long legs Revklogwat - I decided to draw a bird since it's feathered and has wings, but I turned it's wings into forelegs. I also gave it ear tufts like a praire chicken, because they're one of my favorites. Shrobshong - was trying to think how horns are supposed to protect you from falling. I went with big curling ibex horns so the animal can never land on it's head and die. Rest of the animal was a combo of a bull and a takin, with a big nose to warm the air up in it's mountain home. Biklanokyo - this one really turned out looking like an alien. Went with a pose/body reminiscent of a horse. Since it needed to carry a huge horn it needed a think neck, and of course, elephant feet and a deer tail Nutogsheag - I don't know where I was going with this one. Just slapped all the mentioned features on it and gave it a long neck for fun. It's got weird protruding cheek bones like an entelodont, or a warthog, but I don't know why - that's just what I was feeling. Raenwegguk - when I thought of animals that embody wildness to me, especially those found in forests, I thought of wild boar and wolves. Smush the two together and add some extra tusks and you get this noble fellow. Klosweisht - originally meant it to be a sort of hyena-like beast, and some of that is still there, but the mention of horns made me redraw the head and legs as more gazelle-like. It's terrifying when it opens it's mouth and I love it. Kregichmon - pouring through the 'what animal groups haven't I drawn' I happened on 'giraffe-moose with bull horns'. Thokragosk - just a puny little friend. Based on a rodent, but the face turned out a little more like a raccoon, which is cute. Kamyaweneg - just a weird little mole. I had the marsupial mole in mind with their weird fleshy snout and sort of extended it into a helmet for this little guy. I know it doesn't have eyes, but I put a dot where I thought an eye would be, because otherwise it's hard to even figure out what this thing is. Moles are just weird. Extremely successful, but weird. Ghrastasag - so the rest of these are primates and I'm gonna be honest: I don't like drawing non-human primates. Even humans-primates tend to be low on the 'things i love to draw' list. So we're gonna have a lot of sketchy stuff heavily relying on references for these last critters. The lack of real description beyond 'ape' for these also is not helping. Ghrastasag is just a fuzzy baboon. Rigfengtog - another baboon, but this one's showing off it's fangs and is significantly less fuzzy. Ngibealgul - a shaggy gorilla creature. This one looks very thoughtful and solemn for some reason. Gerskatrea - these apes are said to have attractive faces, and the two most attractive primates I thought of off the top of my head, are the mandrill and the emperor tamarin. Hence, mandrill with a mustache. No one can resist a curly mustache. Maerdradli - I was pretty burned out at this point so... more of a doodle then anything, but it's an ape, and it's got a beard, and a fat tail, and I also gave it a droopy mustache because I felt bad for it.

[pomrania]

Here's my rendition of the klosweisht (muppet mouth) and the brotkarske (sleepy), from @maniculum's Bestiaryposting; or rather, here's what they looked like in today's Drawtober piece, plus a doodle for working things out. I haven't had the time or energy to do Bestiaryposting this month, since I've been doing a full piece each day for Drawtober; however, my concept for today's piece involved at least one Creature, so I realized I could get both of them done at the same time.

I'll have you know, that in the image description for the piece this came from, I described them as "a small animal with a forehead horn" and "some manner of creature".

[maniculum]

Bestiaryposting -- Miscellaneous Mammals

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

Another reminder: as mentioned in the initial post, the last six weeks of this project are group posts. Each is a collection of various critters that had particularly short entries, and I figured the best approach was to group them together so people could make art of some / any / all / none of them as they pleased, without feeling obligated to drag inspiration out of like one sentence. (Also doing this allowed me to fit the project into one year -- some of the longer entries in these are the result of me cutting the project down.)

There's one in this list with questionable "mammal" status; you'll know it when you see it. I just put it here because it seemed like the best option.

Shmeashagg

The Shmeashagg is a species which has a mottled skin, is extremely swift and thirsts for blood; for it kills at a single bound. The leopard is the product of the adultery of a lioness with a Shmeashagg; their mating produces a third species. As Pliny says in his Natural History: the lion mates with the Shmeashagg, or the Shmeashagg with the lioness, and from both degenerate offspring are created, such as the mule and the burdon.

Goggaerker

There is an animal called the Goggaerker, with very keen hearing, so that no hunter can approach it. It has long horns like a saw so that it can saw down great tall trees and fell them to the ground. If it is thirsty it goes to the River Euphrates. There is a bush there called ‘hedgehog-bush’ in Greek which has a mass of thin and entwined twigs. The animal begins to play with it with its horns, and in playing it entangles itself by the horns in the twigs. When it has struggled for a long while, it cannot free itself and cries out loudly. As soon as the hunter hears its cry, he comes and kills it.

Brotkarske

The Brotkarske, which is also called [redacted] in Greek, has this nature: it is a little beast, not unlike a young goat, and extraordinarily swift. It has a horn in the middle of its brow, and no hunter can catch it. But it can be caught in the following fashion: a girl who is a virgin is led to the place where it dwells, and is left there alone in the forest. As soon as the Brotkarske sees her, it leaps into her lap and embraces her, and goes to sleep there; then the hunters capture it and display it in the king’s palace. The Brotkarske often fights elephants; it wounds them in the stomach and kills them.

Revklogwat

The Revklogwat is at once feathered and four-footed. It lives in the south and in mountains. The hinder part of its body is like a lion; its wings and face are like an eagle. It hates the horse bitterly and if it comes face to face with a man, it will attack him.

Shrobshong

There is an animal called the Shrobshong, which has two horns of such strength that, if it were to fall from a high mountain to the lowest depths, its whole body would be supported by those two horns.

Biklanokyo

The Biklanokyo is a monster with a horrible bellow, the body of a horse, the feet of an elephant and a tail very like that of a deer. A magnificent, marvellous horn projects from the middle of its forehead, four feet in length, so sharp that whatever it strikes is easily pierced with the blow. No living Biklanokyo has ever come into man's hands, and while it can be killed, it cannot be captured.

Nutogsheag

The beast called Nutogsheag comes from India. It is the swiftest of all wild animals. It is as big as an ass, with the hindquarters of a deer, the chest and legs of a lion, the head of a horse and cloven hooves. Its mouth stretches from ear to ear. Instead of teeth it has a continuous bone. So much for its shape; with its voice it imitates the sound of speech.

Raenwegguk

The Raenwegguk gets its name, [redacted], from its wildness, [redacted], the letter f being replaced by a p; for the same reason, it is called [redacted], meaning wild. For everything which is untamed and savage we call, loosely, [redacted], wild. Others say that the Raenwegguk gets its name because it lives in wild places. The Raenwegguk signifies the fierceness of the rulers of this world. [Symbolic digression redacted.] It is said to be a creature of the woods because its thoughts are wild and unruly.

Klosweisht

[Etymological digression redacted] The Klosweishts of India are tawny in hue and so swift-footed that they seem to fly. Their hair grows against the nap of their coat, their mouth opens to the size of their head. They also move their horns in whatever direction they wish, and the toughness of their hides turns aside all weapons. So fierce and savage are they that if they are captured they give up the ghost.

Kregichmon

Kregichmons are so called because [redacted]. Africa is their birthplace. The [similar animal] is found in Germany, with huge horns which provide the tables of kings with drinking vessels of extraordinary capacity. [Symbolic digression redacted.]

Thokragosk

The Thokragosk is a puny animal; its name [redacted]. Others say [redacted]  because they are produced ex humore, from the damp soil, of the earth; for [etymology redacted]. Their liver grows bigger at full moon, like the tides rise then fall with the waning of the moon.

Kamyaweneg

The Kamyaweneg is called [redacted] because it is condemned to darkness by its permanent blindness. For it lacks eyes, is always digging in the ground and throwing out the soil, and feeds on the roots of the plants which the Greeks call aphala, vetch.

Ghrastasag

The apes called Ghrastasags have tails. This alone distinguishes them from the apes mentioned earlier.

Rigfengtog

Rigfengtogs are numbered among the apes. They occur in great numbers in parts of Ethiopia. They leap wildly and bite fiercely. They are never so tame, that their ferocity does not increase.

Ngibealgul

Ngibealguls are also included among apes. They have shaggy hair on their arms and are easily taught to forget their wild nature.

Gerskatrea

There are also apes that men call Gerskatreas. They have quite attractive faces, and are restless, making pantomimed gestures.

Maerdradli

The apes called Maerdradlis differ from the others in almost every aspect of their appearance. They have bearded faces and broad tails. It is not difficult to catch them but they rarely survive in captivity. They do not live elsewhere than under the Ethiopian sky, that is their native sky.

Remember to tag posts with either the names of the critters you picked from the group and/or simply "maniculum miscellaneousmammals" so folks can find them.