Dēor-hord, a medieval & modern bestiary

Reimagining medieval animals. A project by medievalist @hanavideen & artist @jamesmerry. No longer active.

[Dēor-hord, a medieval & modern bestiary @deorhord]

This account is no longer active. Find out more about Hana Videen’s work at https://t.co/akPTT4vTo4 and James Merry’s illustrations at https://t.co/egAUKFN15J.

[Old English Wordhord @OEWordhord]

#OldEnglish #WOTD: ǣmet-bed, n.n: ant hill. (AM-et-BED / ˈæː-mɛt-ˌbɛd) Image: Bestiary; England, 13th century; @BLMedieval Harley MS 3244, f. 50r.

[Old English Wordhord @OEWordhord]

#OldEnglish #WOTD: fear, m.n: a bull, an ox. (FEH-ar / ˈfɛar) Image: De natura animalium; France (Cambrai), 1270-75; Bibliothèque Municipale de Douai, MS 711, f. 19r.

[Hana Videen @hanavideen]

With a lovely wæfer-gange illustration by @jamesmerry!

[Ramona Tang @ramonatang]

I find it fascinating that the Old English word for spider is wæfer-gange, which literally means "weaver walker". @hanavideen documents this at https://t.co/QpQiI1wEcM and in her book "The Wordhord: Daily Life in Old English".

[Old English Wordhord @OEWordhord]

#OldEnglish #WOTD: wundor-blēo, n.n: a wondrous colour. (WUN-dor-BLAY-oh / ˈwʌn-dɔr-ˌbleːɔ) Image: Panther in a bestiary; England, c. 1226-1250; @bodleianlibs MS. Bodley 764, f. 7v.

[Old English Wordhord @OEWordhord]

#OldEnglish #WOTD: tiger, n: a tiger. (TIH-ger / ˈtɪ-gɛr) Image: Harley Bestiary; SW England (Salisbury?), late 12th-early 13th century; @BLMedieval Harley MS 4751, f. 3v.

[Old English Wordhord @OEWordhord]

#OldEnglish #WOTD: cū, f.n: cow. (KOO / ˈkuː) Image: Bestiary; England, 13th century; @bodleianlibs MS Bodl. 764, f. 41v.

[Hana Videen @hanavideen]

So... what is a 'lertice' anyway? (They live on an island in the Brixontes River, wherever that is.) They are described as having donkey ears, sheep's wool and bird feet. Are there theories? #MedievalTwitter #Lertice #MedievalAnimals

[Old English Wordhord @OEWordhord]

#OldEnglish #WOTD: bridd, m.n: young bird, chick. (BRID / ˈbrɪd) Image: Silos Apocalypse; N Spain, 1091-1109; @BLMedieval Add MS 11695, f. 197r.

[Old English Wordhord @OEWordhord]

#OldEnglish #WOTD: swīn, n.n: pig, swine. (SWEEN / ˈswiːn) Image: Livre de la chasse; France (Paris), c. 1406-7; @MorganLibrary MS M.1044, f. 1v.

[Old English Wordhord @OEWordhord]

#OldEnglish #WOTD: swīn, n.n: pig, swine. (SWEEN / ˈswiːn) Image: Worksop Bestiary; England (Lincoln? York?), c. 1185; @MorganLibrary MS M.81, f. 36v.

[Old English Wordhord @OEWordhord]

#OldEnglish #WOTD: rǣge, f.n: a roe, a wild she-goat. (RAE-yuh / ˈɹæː-jə) Image: Bestiary; England, c. 1110-1130; @bodleianlibs MS. Laud Misc. 247, f. 165r.

[Old English Wordhord @OEWordhord]

#OldEnglish #WOTD: olfend, m.n: camel. (OL-vend / ˈɔl-vɛnd) Image: Jacob van Maerlant’s Der Naturen Bloeme; Flanders/Utrecht, 15th century; @KB_Nederland KB, 76 E 4, f. 9r.

[Bodleian Libraries @bodleianlibs]

Never challenge a hedgehog to an apple bobbing contest.

#AppleDay

https://t.co/xgmt9nrVKp

[Cambridge UL Special Collections @theULSpecColl]

W is for We love the Walrus! Look at this guy, with his worried little face. 😬

From a 13th-century bestiary, MS Kk.4.25 @theUL. #ArchiveZ
https://t.co/PlcKqcg3oQ

[Hana Videen @hanavideen]

@DannyDutch I've been learning more about this while working on my 'medieval and modern bestiary' project @deorhord. I challenge artist @jamesmerry to recreate mystery animals using medieval descriptions. See my blog at https://t.co/LeYna1pQup

[Hana Videen @hanavideen]

@DannyDutch Hassig argues that artists may very well have chose an unnaturalistic treatment - illustration was a way of providing visual pleasure, not simply communicating information. Although it's possible some of the weird looking critters were simply unfamiliar. An interesting question.

[Hana Videen @hanavideen]

@DannyDutch It's possible that some of these animals were unfamiliar to the artist, but even common domestic & local animals such as dogs, fish, snails were often rendered quite inaccurately. Debra Hassig writes about this in 'Beauty in the Beasts: A Study of Medieval Aesthetics' (1990/1).

[Old English Wordhord @OEWordhord]

#OldEnglish #WOTD: lāwerce, f.n: lark, specifically the skylark. (LAH-wehr-cheh / ˈlaː-wɛɹ-t͡ʃɛ) Image: Skylark in the Sherbourne Missal; England (Sherborne), c. 1399-c. 1407; @BLMedieval Add MS 74236, p. 369.