Magical Musical Monsters

         This little collection of musical creatures begins with a bird, which might not seem particularly magical.  There are certainly plenty of birds with exceptional songs throughout folklore, and some of them are even magical, but this bird doesn’t just sing birdsong like all those others.  No, it sports a human head and arms with which it plays an instrument.  Frankly, it seems like kind of a waste to force a bird to resort to human means to produce its music, but this creature makes music so heavenly that one can never tire of hearing it, so I guess it’s not complaining.  It’s called karyōbinga in Japanese (from kalavinca in Sanskrit), and it lives in the Buddhist paradise Gokuraku jōdo.  (I should apologize for implying by the title of this post that it’s a monster.  I just couldn’t resist the alliteration.)  This wood block print by Hokusai is masterful, with wonderful details on the wings and on the flowing robes that morph into tail plumes.

        We turn now to a creature that is just as musical but certainly very far from exemplifying celestial beauty.  There are several strange monsters in this wood block print from a book of emblems.  The emblem illustrated “The four passions of man,” although I confess I can’t quite figure out what four passions those might be, and which monster represents which.  So forget all that and just concentrate on the funny little guy in the lower right.  I think he’s actually adorable, a sort of animate bagpipe playing his own nose.  Particularly when you compare him with the other monsters, I think I’d definitely prefer whatever passion he’s representing!  Maybe it’s the passion for music.

        Finally I had to add one more fabulous creature with a musical nose, even though I can’t find any wood block prints of these.  The final two illustrations depict the siranis, a creature that can be found in The Wonders of Creation, by 13th century Iranian cosmographer Zakariya al-Qazwini.  According to him, the siranis has twelve holes along its snout, and when it breathes it makes beautiful music.  This music is so beautiful that animals gather around, and the siranis can then catch and eat whatever it wants.  On a fun etymological note, the name siranis actually derives from Greek seiren, the sea nymph who lures sailors with her song.  Obviously something went rather astray along the journey as this magical creature travelled from Greece to Iran!  These depictions of it are quite charming, and while the second one is by a more masterful hand that gives it a lithe grace, you really can’t beat the adorably goofy poodle hairdo on the first!

        Music is such a powerful force that it’s no surprise that mythical creatures from the sublime to the ridiculous produce it as part of their magic.  Obviously the best one to hear would be the first, but I can’t help feeling very curious indeed to hear the others.

[Pictures: Karyōbinga, color wood block print by Hokusai, ca. 1820-33 (Image from The Met);

Emblema. LXVI, wood block print from Emblematum Tyrocinia by Matthäus Holtzwart, 1581 (Image from Münchener DigitalisierungsZentrum);

Siranis, illumination from The Wonders of Creation by Qazvini, early 15th century (Image from Smithsonian Freer Gallery);

Siranis, illumination from The Wonders of Creation by Qazwini,1280 (Image from Bavarian State Library).]