The Dragonslayers 12
Apr24
on April 24, 2019
at 5:39 am
I apologize for the late update. I was away for the weekend and then forgot to update yesterday
The Green Knight
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I apologize for the late update. I was away for the weekend and then forgot to update yesterday
Did not see THAT coming.
Now you know. If you ever have a dragon in your backyard, order an egyptian mongoose! Guaranteed to work according to Medieval Bestiaries, and more manageable than a panther, which would only drive it away with it’s breath according to the same bestiaries
Learning all kinds of neat stuff here. I wonder why the ichneumon wasp was named after that thing, and how the name got so garbled up that a Latin translation of it got mangled into ‘cockatrice’
psst, fourth to past panel. answer*
My theory: Ichneumon means “tracker”. Descriptions of the Ichneumon from medieval and ancient bestiaries refer to the Egyptian Mongoose (AKA Pharaoh’s Rat). While “dragons” and “snakes” after often used interchangeably (I personally think “dragons” often refer to pythons, given the size and constriction). So I think descriptions of the Incheumon being the only predator to the Dragon in ancient bestiaries was people observing Egyptian mongooses tracking and killing snakes
now I wonder if the bug ichneumon preys on dragonflies. I don’t want to look it up in case that’s not true.
I like how the root word of dragon applies to monitor lizards, both named for, apparently, just looking around.