Ichneumon (medieval zoology)

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Egyptian mongoose, believed to be the ichneumon of medieval accounts. Herpestes ichneumon Egipetskii mangust, ili faraonova krysa, ili ikhnevmon.jpg
Egyptian mongoose, believed to be the ichneumon of medieval accounts.

In medieval literature, the ichneumon or echinemon was the enemy of the dragon. [1] When it sees a dragon, the ichneumon covers itself with mud, and closing its nostrils with its tail, attacks and kills the dragon. The ichneumon was also considered by some to be the enemy of the crocodile and the asp, and attack them in the same way. The name was used for the pharaoh's rat, mongoose, or Egyptian mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon), which attacks snakes; it can also mean otter . The ichneumon is shaped similarly to a ferret, although much slimmer in its shape, and the head is elongated. Also, it is an animal that can move swiftly and is able to jump a couple of yards with a single leap. [2]

Contents

Etymology

Ichneumon (ἰχνεύμων) means "tracker" in Greek. Cockatrice, a name for another mythical beast, derives from calcatrix, a Latin translation of "trample" or "tread on". [3]

Primary sources

References

  1. Patricia Cox Miller (2001). The Poetry of Thought in Late Antiquity: Essays in Imagination and Religion. Ashgate. ISBN   978-0-7546-1488-3.
  2. H.D.R, H.D.R (June 26, 1841). "The Ichneumon" . The Irish Penny Journal. 1 (52): 415–416. doi:10.2307/30001454. JSTOR   30001454.
  3. William Whitaker's Words https://latin-words.com/
  4. Pliny; Pliny; Bostock, John; Riley, Henry T. (1855). The natural history of Pliny. Vol. v.2 (1855). London: H. G. Bohn.
  5. "Strabo, Geography, BOOK XVII., CHAPTER I., section 39". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2025-04-04.
  6. Leonardo, da Vinci; Richter, Jean Paul (1883). The literary works of Leonardo da Vinci. Getty Research Institute. London, S. Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington.