Guess that Medieval Beast 2

         Now you know how to play the game, so here’s another illustration for you to identify.  This one comes from a manuscript of Der Naturen Bloeme dating to about 1450-1500, a relatively late copy of a work, an encyclopedia of natural history, that was written about 200 years earlier, based on another work even older than that.  Such is the way of medieval books.  What I like best about this creature is how very happy it is.  It looks just a little mischievous, but in the most good-natured possible way.  What creature is this cheerful fish-thing meant to be?  Make your guess, and then…

        Sea turtle!  When you think about it, it really makes perfect sense: something that swims in the ocean like a fish, but has four legs, and is covered with hard shields around its body.  Voila!

        I have included two more sea turtles for you.   The second turtle clearly follows the same model, although where the first was smiling, this is grimacing ferociously with all its un-turtle-like teeth.  The third is quite a different look, evoking the aspidochelone with what appears to be shrubbery growing on its shell, although perhaps it’s just roughly textured.  The feet are distinctly not flippers, and the face suggests that the artist was imagining this armored beast as being something like a hedgehog.  

All three of these turtles are from different copies of the same book, which is because the true bestiaries tend to be not much interested in sea creatures, with few descriptions and even fewer illustrations.  We have to look to the encyclopedias of natural history to find sea turtles, whether grouchy or happy.

[Pictures: Sea turtle, illumination from Der Naturen Bloeme (The Flower of Nature) by Jacob van Maerlant, c 1450-1500 (Image from Koninklijke Bibliotheek);

Sea turtle, illumination from Der naturen bloeme, c 1350 (Image from Koninklijke Bibliotheek);

Sea turtle, illumination from Der naturen bloeme, c 1300-1325 (Image from the British Library).]