Swallow.

The portrait of the swallow depicts the bird quite accurately with a forked tail, dark back and red breast.

The portrait of the swallow depicts the bird quite accurately with a forked tail, dark back and red breast.

Text Translation:

Of the swallow ‘The turtle-dove and the stork and the swallow observe the time of their coming. But my people know not the judgment of the Lord’ (see Jeremiah, 8:7). We have talked of the turtle-dove; that leaves the swallow and after it the stork to be discussed.

Isidore says this about it: ‘The swallow is so called because it does not feed on the ground but catches its food and eats it in the air. It is a twittering bird that flies in twisting, turning loops and circuits, is highly skilled in building its nest and rearing its young, and has also a kind of foresight because it lets you know when buildings are about to fall by refusing to nest on their tops. In addition, it is not harrassed by birds of prey nor is it ever their victim. It flies across the sea and winters there.’ The swallow is a tiny bird but of an eminently pious nature; lacking in everything, it constructs nests which are more valuable than gold because it builds them wisely. For the nest of wisdom is more precious than gold. And what is wiser than to have, as the swallow does, the capacity to fly where it likes and to entrust its nest and its young to the houses of men, where none will attack them. For there is something attractive in the way that the swallow accustoms its young from their earliest days to the company of people and keeps them safe from the attacks of hostile bird.

Then remarkably, the swallow creates a regularly-proportioned home for itself without any assistance, like a skilled craftsman. For it gathers bits of straw in its mouth and smears them with mud so that they stick together; but because it cannot carry the mud in its claws, it dips the tips of its wings in water, so that dust sticks to them easily and turns into slime, with which to gather to itself bits of straw or tiny twigs, a few at a time, and makes them stick. It makes the whole fabric of the nest in this fashion, in order that its young can live safely as if on a solid floor in houses on the ground, lest any of them insert a foot between the small gaps in the woven fabric or the cold should get to the very young. This conscientiousness is fairly common among most birds, yet what is distinctive about the swallow is its special loving care, shrewd intelligence and the extraordinary quality of its understanding.

Then there is its skill in the arts of healing: if its young are infected by blindness or pricked in the eye, it has some kind of healing power with which it can restore their vision. The swallow, as this example proves, can be taken to represent, in some cases, pride of mind; in others, the repentance of the afflicted heart. That the swallow signifies pride is illustrated by Tobit: When he lay down beside a wall, says Tobit, and fell asleep, it happened that warm excrement fell on his eyes from a swallows’ nest as he slept and he became blind (see Tobit, 2:10).

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Kite, Parrot, Ibis.

A portrait of the kite in a roundel. Both the Aberdeen and Ashmole Bestiaries have a good depiction of this bird whose forked tail suggests that it is a red kite.

A portrait of the kite in a roundel. Both the Aberdeen and Ashmole Bestiaries have a good depiction of this bird whose forked tail suggests that it is a red kite.

The parrot has a hard beak and a tough skull. The ibis regurgitates snakes' eggs and carrion to feed its young. The parrot is correctly painted in green and red, perched on a branch. The Indian rose-ringed parakeet was the only member of the parrot family known in Europe in the middle ages.

The parrot has a hard beak and a tough skull. The ibis regurgitates snakes’ eggs and carrion to feed its young. The parrot is correctly painted in green and red, perched on a branch. The Indian rose-ringed parakeet was the only member of the parrot family known in Europe in the middle ages.

The ibis regurgitates snakes' eggs and carrion to feed its young.

The ibis regurgitates snakes’ eggs and carrion to feed its young.

Text Translation:

Behold how, through the nature of birds, we can teach the nature of the religious life. Of the kite It is weak in strength and in flight – a puny bird, mollis avis, from which it gets its name, milvus. It is, however, a bird of prey, always preying on domestic birds. As we read in the book of Etymologies of Isidore: ‘The kite, milvus, derives its name from mollis volatu, weak in flight. For the kite is a weakly bird.’ The kite signifies those who are tempted by effete pleasures. It feeds on corpses, as pleasure-seekers take delight in carnal desires. It constantly hovers around kitchens and meat-markets so that if pieces of raw meat are thrown out from them, it can seize them quickly. In this the kite represents to us those who are motivated by concern for their stomach. Those who are of this world, therefore, seek pleasure, frequent meat-markets and gaze with longing at kitchens. The kite is timid in big matters, bold in small. It dares not seize wild birds but customarily preys on domestic ones. It lies in wait to seize their young and when it encounters unwary youngsters, it kills them quickly. In the same way, the effete and pleasure-seeking seize infants of tender years, in the sense that they teach the more simple and undiscerning their own habits and lead them into perversion. As kites deceive the unwary by flying over them slowly, the pleasure-seekers lead the young astray by flattering them with sweet words. See how birds who lack the capacity of rational thought instruct through examples of evil conduct men who are experienced and intelligent.

Of the parrot India alone produces the bird called the parrot, green in colour, with a deep-red neck and a large tongue, broader than those of other birds, with which it utters distinct words; so that if you did not see it, you would think it was a man talking. Characteristically, it greets you by saying in Latin or Greek: ‘Ave’ or ‘Kere!’ – ‘Hail!’ It will learn other words if you teach it. Which explains the lines: ‘Like a parrot, I will learn other people’s names from you, but this I have learned by myself to say: Hail, Caesar!’ (Martial, Epigrams, 14, 73). The parrot’s beak is of such hardness that if it falls from a height on to a rock, it takes the impact on its mouth, using it as base of uncommon toughness. Its skull is so thick, that if ever you have to admonish it with blows to learn – for it tries hard to speak like men – you should beat it with an iron rod. For when it is young, up to two years of age, it learns what it is told very quickly and keeps it firmly in mind; when it is a little older, it is forgetful and is difficult to teach.

Of the ibis There is a bird called the ibis; it purges its stomach with its beak. It feeds on the eggs of snakes and on carrion, and from them carries back food to its young, which they eat with great pleasure. Yet it fears to go into water, because it does not know how to swim, but walks about near the shore day and night, looking for dead fish of a small size or corpses which have been washed up. The ibis signifies carnal men who feed, as it were, on deadly deeds, on which they nourish themselves to the condemnation of their wretched souls. But you, a Christian, reborn by water and the holy spirit, enter the spiritual waters of the mysteries of God and thereafter eat the purest of food of which the apostle spoke, saying: ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace longsuffering etc’ (see Galatians, 5:22). If the sun and moon did not send forth their rays, they would give no light. If birds did not spread their wings, they could not fly. Thus, you, O man, if you do not protect yourself with the sign of the cross, and spread the wings of twofold love, you will not be able to pass through the tempests of this world to that most peaceful haven of the heavenly land. ‘And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed’ (Exodus, 17:11).

Folio 46v – the cranes, continued. De milvo; Of the kite. De psitaco; Of the parrot.

Cranes.

This refers to the text on f.46r which says cranes keep watch in turn at night, holding a pebble in their claw to ward off sleep.

Of cranes. Cranes take their name, grues, from the sound of their own particular call. or such is the low, muttering sound they make. It is interesting to recall how cranes organise their journeys. They go to some extent in military formation, and in case the wind should be against them on their way to their chosen land, they eat sand and ballast themselves to a reasonable weight by picking up small stones. Then they fly as high as they can, so that a from higher vantage point they can look out for the lands they seek. As they fly swiftly on their way, they follow one of their number in a V-shaped formation. Confident in its navigation, it leads the flocks. It scolds the laggards and keeps the formation together with its calls. When it grows hoarse, another takes over. Cranes are united in their concern for those who tire, to such an extent that if any drop out, they all surround the exhausted birds and support them until their strength is restored by this period of rest. At night cranes keep careful watch. You can see the sentinels at their posts; while the other members of the flock sleep, others do the rounds and check lest they should be ambushed from any quarter; with their tireless energy, they ensure total vigilance. When the crane’s turn on watch is over and its duty is done, it settles down to sleep, first giving a cry to wake one of those already asleep, whose turn it is to be on duty. The new guard take up its allotted task willingly, not refusing, as we do, gracelessly, because we want to go on sleeping; instead, rousing itself readily from its resting-place, it takes its turn and repays the service it has received with equal attention to duty. Cranes do not desert the flock, because they are devoted by nature. They keep a safe watch, because they do it of their own free will. They divide the watches at night and take them in turns, according to a roster, holding small stones in their claws to ward off sleep. They give a cry when there is cause for alarm. Their colouring shows their age, for as they grow older, it grows darker.

We can take the sentinel cranes to mean those discerning brothers who provide temporal goods for their brethren in common and have a special concern for each one of the community. They watch over the obedience of their brothers, as far as they can, protecting them prudently from the assaults of devils and the incursions of this world. The cranes who are chosen to watch over the others hold a small stone in their claw, which is raised off the ground, fearing lest any of them fall asleep, in which case the stone will slip from their claw and fall; if it falls, the crane wakes up and cries out. The stone is Christ; the claw, the disposition of the mind. For as anyone goes on foot, so the mind strives with its dispositions for its desires, as if on foot. If, therefore, anyone stands guard over himself or his brethren, let him carry a stone in his claw, that is, keep Christ in his mind; or let him be very careful lest, if he sleeps in sin, the stone should fall from his claw, that is, Christ depart from his mind. If, however, the stone has fallen, let him cry out by means of confession, that he may awake those who sleep, that is, let him urge his brethren to watch out attentively as much for him as for their own faults. The colouring of the cranes reveals their age, for it grows darker as they grow older. This colour in old age refers to the elderly when they weep for their sins. For when the elderly remember their faults, they change colour in their latter years. For the old change their love of former pleasures into the sadness of repentance.

Folio 45v – the vulture, continued. De [gruibus]; Of cranes.

Vulture.

Two fierce birds oppose each other in a circle. The Bestiary illustrators did not know vultures, so the bird tends to look similar to the eagle.

Text Translation:

Of vultures.  The vulture, it is thought, gets its name because it flies slowly. The fact is, it cannot fly swiftly because of the large size of its body. Vultures, like eagles, perceive corpses even beyond the sea. Indeed, flying at a great height, they see from on high many things which are hidden by the shadows of the mountains. It is said that vultures do not indulge in copulation and and are not united with the other sex in the conjugal act of marriage; that the females conceive without the male seed and give birth without union with the male; and that their offspring live to a great age, so that the course of their life extends to one hundred years, and that an early death does not readily overtake them.

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Ostrich.

One ostrich looks at a star in the margin while the other buries eggs in the sand with its beak.

Text Translation:

Of the ostrich There is an animal called assida which the Greeks call stratocamelon, but Latin-speakers strucio, the ostrich. It has wings but does not fly, and its feet are like those of the camel. When the time comes for it to lay eggs, it raises its eyes to the sky and looks to see if the star called Vergiliae, the Pleiades, has appeared, for it will not lay its eggs until that star has risen. When the ostrich sees the star, around the month of June, it digs in the ground, deposits its eggs in the hole it has made and covers them with sand. When it gets up from the hole, it immediately forgets the eggs and never returns to them. The effect of the calm, mild air seems to be that the sand in the summer heat hatches the eggs, bringing forth the chicks.

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De Gallo.

Pardon the title, this was to avoid ‘Cock’. Most below the fold, because this does go on. And on.

Koninklijke Bibliotheek, KB, KA 16, Folio 88v.

Text Translation:

Of the cock The cock, gallus, gets its name from the act of castration. For alone among other birds its testicles are removed, and the ancients called castrated men galli. As from the lion the lioness gets her name leena, and the she-dragon dracena from the dragon draco, so the hen gets her name gallina from the cock. People say that the cock’s limbs, if mixed with liquid gold, are consumed by it. The crowing of the cock at night is a pleasant sound, and not only pleasant but useful; like a good partner, the cock wakes you when are asleep, encourages you if you are worried, comforts you if you are on the road, marking with its melodious call the progress of the night. With the crowing of the cock, the robber calls off his ambush; the morning star itself is awakened, rises and lights up the sky; the anxious sailor sets aside his cares, and very often each tempest and storm whipped up by evening winds moderates.

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Raven.

Portrait of a black raven.

Text Translation:

Of the raven The raven gets its name, corvus or corax, from the sound it makes in its throat, because it utters a croak. It is said that when its young have been hatched, this bird does not feed them fully until it sees that they have black feathers similar to its own. But after it has seen that they are of dark plumage, and has recognised them as of its own species, it feeds them more generously. When this bird feeds off corpses, it goes for the eyes first. In the Scriptures, the raven is perceived in a variety of ways; it is sometimes taken to mean a preacher, sometimes a sinner, sometimes the Devil.

In his book of Etymologies, Isidore says that the raven picks out the eyes in corpses first, as the Devil destroys the capacity for judgement in carnal men, and proceeds to extract the brain through the eye. The raven extracts the brain through the eye, as the Devil, when it has destroyed our capacity for judgement, destroys our mental faculties.

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Night-Owl.

The bird is illustrated by its portrait in a roundel.

The bird is illustrated by its portrait in a roundel.

 

Morgan Library, MS M.81, Folio 62r, The kind of owl called nictocorax, the night-raven.

Morgan Library, MS M.81, Folio 62r, The kind of owl called nictocorax, the night-raven.

Text Translation:

Of the night-owl ‘I am like the night-owl in its dwelling-place’ (BSV, Psalmi, 101:7; NEB, Psalms, 102:6). The night-owl is a bird that loves the darkness of the night. It lives in decaying walls because it sets up house in the ruins of roofless dwellings. It shuns the light, flying at night in search of food. In a mystic sense, the night-owl signifies Christ. Christ loves the darkness of night because he does not want sinners – who are represented by darkness – to die but to be converted and live (see Ezekiel, 18:32). For God the father so loved the world that he gave his son to death for the redemption of the world (see John, 3:16-17). That sinners are called ‘darkness’, is borne out by the apostle, saying: ‘For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord’ (Ephesians, 5:8). The night-owl lives in the cracks in walls, as Christ wished to be born one of the Jewish people, saying: ‘I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel’ (Matthew, 15:24). But Christ is crushed in the cracks of the walls, because he is killed by the Jews. Christ shuns the light in the sense that he detests and hates vainglory. For when he cared for a leper, in order to give us a lesson in humility, he said to the leper: ‘See thou tell no man’ (Matthew, 8:4). Of this light it is said: ‘And from the wicked their light is witholden’ (Job, 38:15), that is, the glory of present life. He himself is the light inaccessible ‘which lighteth every man’ (John, 1:9). The light, therefore, shuns the light, that is, the truth shuns the vanity of worldly glory.

The night-owl flies at night in search of food, as Christ converts sinners into the body of the Church by preaching. In a moral sense, moreover, the night-owl signifies to us not just any righteous man, but rather one who lives among other men yet hides from their view as much as possible. He flees from the light, in the sense that he does not look for the glory of human praise. It is said of this light: ‘Will the light of the wicked not be put out, and the spark of his fire not shine?’ (see Job, 17:5). ‘Light’ here signifies the prosperity of present life. The light of the wicked is extinguished, in the sense that the prosperity of our fleeting life ends with life itself. Will the flame of his fire not shine? ‘Fire’ here is the passion of temporal desires. Its flame is the splendour or outward show of power which comes from its inner fire. But it will not shine because on the day of death all outward splendour and power will perish. The night-owl keeps watch in the night, as when the righteous man, alert to the darkness of sinners, avoids their errors. It lives in the cracks of walls, in the sense that he considers the weakness of the world and awaits its downfall. It seeks food by night, as when he reflects upon the life of sinners and uses their example to nourish the mind of the righteous.

The owl is not visited until Folio 50, which also sees the Hoopoe and Night Owl written about again.

Folio 35v – the pelican, continued. De nicticorace; the night owl.

Pelican.

The narrative is divided into three scenes showing the babies attacking their parent, the parents killing the babies and the mother piercing her side to resurrect her offspring. Possibly the idea of mother pouring sustenance over her babies comes from the birds’ habit of regurgitation.

Text Translation:

Of the pelican ‘I am like pelican of the wilderness’ (Psalms, 102:6). The pelican is a bird of Egypt, living in the wilderness of the River Nile, from which it gets its name. For Egypt is known as Canopos. It is devoted to its young. When it gives birth and the young begin to grow, they strike their parents in the face. But their parents, striking back, kill them. On the third day, however, the mother-bird, with a blow to her flank, opens up her side and lies on her young and lets her blood pour over the bodies of the dead, and so raises them from the dead. In a mystic sense, the pelican signifies Christ; Egypt, the world.

The pelican lives in solitude, as Christ alone condescended to be born of a virgin without intercourse with a man. It is solitary, because it is free from sin, as also is the life of Christ. It kills its young with its beak as preaching the word of God converts the unbelievers. It weeps ceaselessly for its young, as Christ wept with pity when he raised Lazarus. Thus after three days, it revives its young with its blood, as Christ saves us, whom he has redeemed with his own blood. In a moral sense, we can understand by the pelican not the righteous man, but anyone who distances himself far from carnal desire. By Egypt is meant our life, shrouded in the darkness of ignorance. For Egiptus can be translated as ‘darkness’. In Egypt, therefore, we make a wilderness (see Joel, 3:19), when we are far from the preoccupations and desires of this world. Thus the righteous man creates solitude for himself in the city, when he keeps himself free from sin, as far as human frailty allows. The pelican kills its young with its beak because the righteous man considers and rejects his sinful thoughts and deeds out of his own mouth, saying: ‘I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin’ (Psalms, 32:5). It weeps for its young for three days: this teaches us that whatever we have done wrong by thought, word or deed, is expunged by tears. It revives its young by sprinkling them with its blood, as when we concern ourselves less with matters of flesh and blood and concentrate on spiritual acts, by conducting ourselves virtuously. It is also a characteristic of this bird, they say, that it always suffers from thinness, and that whatever it swallows, it digests immediately, because its stomach has no separate pocket in which to retain food. Food does not fatten its body, therefore, but only sustains it and gives it strength. Indeed, the life of a hermit is modelled on the pelican, in that he lives on bread but does not seek to fill his stomach; he does not live to eat but eats to live.

Folio 34v – cedars, continued. De pellicano; Of the pelican.

Cedar.

A woman holding a dove stands in a vesica with six doves in its border. She wears a red tunic, a blue mantel and has a brown hood. The whole scene is surrounded by an exquisite frame. There is extensive commentary on this image.

Text Translation:

Of the cedar and the sparrows that nest in its branches When the words ‘cedar’ and ‘Lebanon’ are placed together, it is in a good sense. As Solomon says in the Song of Songs: ‘his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars’ (5:15). Lebanon is a mountain of Phoenicia at the northern limit of Judaea. Its trees surpass the timber of other trees in height, appearance and strength. By Mount Lebanon we can doubtless understand excellence in virtues. It stands at the northern limit of Judaea, to prevent the Devil from entering by means of temptation the minds of those who are sincerely praising the Lord. Its trees surpass others in height, appearance and strength, as every faithful soul surpasses others in the exalted nature of its desire, the splendour of its chastity and the strength of its constancy. By the cedar we understand Christ. He is the tall cedar of Lebanon, similar in form to the hyssop which, although it grew tall, was made humble.

Sparrows are preachers. Their fledglings are those born of the word as it is preached. Their nest is a place where there is peace of mind. Build your nest in the cedar, therefore, if you are one of those who, by living at peace, have not given up hope of eternal bliss. There are those cedars of Lebanon which the Lord planted. They represent the rich of the world. Sparrows represent the heads of monasteries; fledglings are their disciples. The nest represents convent buildings. Sparrows nest in these cedars, because spiritual rulers place their convents on the estates of the rich. There the sparrows call ceaselessly, seeking food from God. Let all those who wish to be filled with the word of God as with food, seek their nourishment from him. Day and night the sparrows call out, like those who pray with all their heart to God on behalf of their benefactors. Their minds at peace in the midst of the world, they care for their wings, the wings of contemplation, on which they seek to fly to the cedar as swiftly as they can. They fly around the trees of Lebanon, because they wish to know of the life and behaviour of spiritually eminent men. From this timber of Lebanon we read that Solomon made himself a chariot (see Song of Songs, 3:9), as the Church was made from illustrious and untiring men. Again of the cedar There are those cedars which the Lord did not plant. He did not plant them of his own will, he did not extend their number out of desire. ‘Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up’ (Matthew, 15:13)

These cedars of Lebanon are the rich and proud. Gyrfalcons and hawks nest in them that is, birds of prey. They make nests there as robbers build strongholds on the estates of the rich. Their fledglings are their accomplices or henchmen. These birds hide in the the cedars in order to catch their prey, as robbers are empowered to commit crimes by evil rulers. But ‘the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon’ (Psalms, 29:5), that is, he will destroy the rich of the world, some by repentance, some by vengeance. The Lord will break some by repentance as he will humble the calf of Lebanon. He will humble them like the calf of Lebanon (see BSV, Psalmi, 28:6; NEB, Psalms, 29:6), in imitation of the life of Christ, making of each rich man a calf fit for sacrifice, who will mortify his flesh and carry his cross with Christ. He will break others by vengeance because they will be kept for eternal fire. Many profit from the felling of the aforesaid cedar, as when Christ with his death redeemed the world. ‘Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit’ (John, 12:24). Therefore the felling of the cedar represents the death of Christ. Truly, many benefitted from the death of Christ; by descending into hell, rising from the dead and ascending into heaven, he gave to the dying the hope of resurrection. For what good is there in living afflicted by distress and in dying at the end, if hope of resurrection does not follow? And what good is resurrection unless it is agreed that immortal man lives on without endless punishment? Likewise, when the cedar which the Lord planted is felled, it is of great profit, because it is transferred to the dwelling-place of eternal bliss. But if the cedar which the Lord did not plant is felled, it, too, will be of no little use, because the tree which bore no fruit in Lebanon, that is, in this secular world, may, when it is felled, support the weight of the building in a temple of the spirit. What I have said applies only if you cut down the pride of the cedar with repentance. If, however, you cut it down with vengeance, you consign it to the fires of Gehenna to be reduced forever to ashes.

Folio 33v – the palm tree, continued.De cedro; Of cedars.