Bovid - Tumblr Posts

cheapsweets
4 months ago

This was another fun week :) I've always seen it depicted blowing fire from it's behind (like the picture from the Aberdeen Bestiary, but sometimes a bit more scatalogical, but the description implies more that it the noxious gasses from its belly creeping along the ground and slowly setting things alight... (I very much appreciate that second bestiary picture - noone looks happy!)

Bestiaryposting Results: Bawigrat

This one is kind of odd in general, but also notable in that it's a mythical creature that has not, to my knowledge, made its way into modern pop culture, but is kind of on one of the upper levels of the metaphorical iceberg for people interested in Medieval Bestiary Trivia just because of its... rather memorable ability. So let's get into it.

If you don't know what this is about, you can check out https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting for an explanation and previous installments.

The art you are about to see is all based on this entry here:

maniculum.tumblr.com
Bestiaryposting -- Bawigrat
As a reminder, all previous entries in this series can be found at https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting . In Asia an animal is found

And if you want to get in on this, the current entry up for interpretation is here:

maniculum.tumblr.com
Bestiaryposting -- Gerzlaem
As a reminder, all previous entries in this series can be found at https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting . There are said to be three

(bit of a long one there)

And without further ado, art for this week is below the cut:

A drawing of a bovine creature with curling horns. Its fur is brown, with white markings somewhat reminiscent of a skunk. It is posed facing away from the viewer, but with its head bent back to look at them and two hooves off the ground. Its tail is upright.

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) has given us a sort of bovine with recognizably skunk-like features. They note that they focused on giving it an appropriate pose (more details in the linked post), which I think they pulled off well -- I would absolutely believe that this creature is about to fire dung at the viewer.

A line drawing of a cow-like creature. It has a large head, and a dozy expression. It has a mane from its face to the middle of its back. Its horns curl away from the top of its head. It is raising its short, smooth tail and farting flame.

@sweetlyfez (link to post here) has a shaggier bovid here, with a notably calm expression. The peace of mind that comes from knowing you have a terrifying defense mechanism? Also we see that the emphasis here is on the fiery nature of their dung-based defense, as shown by the flames at the back there. (And thank you for including alt text.)

An ornate frame surrounds a digital drawing with a golden background. The drawing shows an animal craning its neck backwards as it shoots swirly flames out of its rear, incinerating a plant. Its head resembles a bull and it has the long, wavy mane, long neck and front legs of a horse. Its body is red. Its back parts and legs resemble those of a bug with blue striped and spotted wings.

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) has done a bit of malicious compliance here. Yes, it has the head and size of a bull, the maned neck of a horse, sure, but otherwise this is clearly a giant bombardier beetle. You know what, that's fair. I like it. I also appreciate that it is, to quote Coolest-Capybara, "seen here incinerating some Stylized Plants." (And thank you for including alt text.)

A digital drawing of a creature with a horse-like body, a bull-like head, and curling horns. Its belly is notably distended. In the top right is a sketch of the same creature with a flattened belly and white flames in a line behind it.

@pomrania (link to post here) has a bull/horse hybrid thing for us, but notes particularly the distended belly, saying that they figure that whatever kind of internal chemistry is going on here might have externally-visible effects. They also question the "acres" thing, as it seems to imply "a creature which can basically do sniper-range attacks with its poop".

I am thrilled to tell you that it's even worse than that. The phrasing of this entry aside, an acre is technically not a measure of distance, but of area. And this isn't a modern contrivance, it's always been area: the definition of "acre" that our medieval writers would be familiar with is "the amount of land that a man can expect to plow in a single day with the help of oxen". Three acres is, according to a quick conversion on Google, 130,680 square feet / 12,140.6 square meters). So it's not a sniper-like attack, it's blanketing an entire city block (or most of one, depending on your city) in burning fumes & poop.

Implications for the fertilizer industry are, I assume, still under investigation.

A pen and ink sketch of a creature that looks a lot like a bull, in three-quarters view facing forward and to the left. It has shaggy fur around its ankles, a wide belly, horns that curve up and then back, and a mane lying limply on its thick neck. It has its tail raised, and there are lines that indicate that it may be passing wind. It sits in a landscape of hills. On the leftmost hill is a stone hut with a thatched roof, on fire. There is a wooden fence leading down the hill that becomes obscured by the creature in the foreground. On the second hill from the left is a tree, also on fire. The rightmost hill is empty, but on the second hill from the right is a building and a tower in the far distance, both on fire. In the foreground is a hunched, hooded figure moving away from the creature. She has a stressed look on her face, and her hood is also on fire.

@cheapsweets (link to post here) apparently decided to roll with the "three acres" thing and has drawn their Bawigrat... um.. burninating the countryside. Which is very funny to me, as a person of a certain age who grew up on the Internet, but the rest of y'all will have to Google it. Reasons for domesticating the Bawigrat may expand from agricultural to military, though that does seem like a dangerous proposition. (And thank you for including alt text.)

A marker and gel pen drawing of a beetle shooting yellow-green fluid out of its rear on the left, and fire on the right. The beetle has a brown body and black eyes. Its bright yellow antenna are shaped like backward moose antlers. It has a lighter brown ridge behind its head. Its wing casing is golden yellow near the head, orange in the middle, and bright red at the end. On its back is a bright yellow cross topped with a triangle. The fluid is stylized in sunbeam-like rays. The fire is the same colors as the beetle's wings. The fluid-rays interlace with the flames. Near the beetle is a small yellow banana with brown spots.

@wendievergreen (link to post here) also decided to go with a bombardier beetle, as the animal with the most similar defense mechanism in real life. (This one is also giant; note the banana for scale.) They've made it more unambiguously insectoid, as the "horns" are clearly antennae and the "mane" is a sort of ridged plate. I really like the stylization here and the inclusion of the alchemical symbol. For more information, and a video that shows off the glittery ink used here, check the linked post. (Also thank you for including alt text.)

On to the Aberdeen Bestiary:

A medieval manuscript illustration with a decorative red-and-blue border and a gold-foil background. It depicts a brown bovine creature with curled horns under attack by a pair of knights, one of whom has speared the creature and the other of which is brandishing an axe. The creature is firing flames onto the knights from its rear end.

Yep, that beast is sure farting fire onto some knights. If you look for other medieval images of it, this is a pretty common way to show its defense mechanism. I think my favorite is this one:

A medieval manuscript illustration with a red border, blue corners, and a red background. It depicts a pale bovine creature with curling horns and two people in medieval garb in front of a stylized tree. The people are holding a shield between themselves and the beast and covering their faces with their free hands, clearly reacting to a bad smell. The creature's mouth is open and it is sticking its tongue out. It is looking back at the people with one eye slightly squinted and the other eyebrow raised.

(Bibliothèque Nationale de France, lat. 3630, folio 78r)

Tell me that doesn't look exactly like the face a creature with weaponized flatulence would make.

Anyway, this is the bonnacon.

As mentioned previously, this is a mythical beast that for obvious reasons failed to really catch on in modern pop culture, but remains a favorite in Bestiary Trivia -- any Internet listicle about obscure mythical creatures is almost certain to mention the bonnacon.

Beyond that, I really don't have much to add other than reiterating that I think it would be pretty funny to include attempts to domesticate the bonnacon in your fantasy worldbuilding.

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maniculum bestiaryposting bestiary posting Awesome art bestiary bovine bovid bonnacon mythical beasts
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