A Cockatrice as portrayed in heraldry from Complete Guide to Heraldry by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies
The Cockatrice is a two-legged dragon that has the features of both a cockerel and a serpent. In modern fantasy, the cockatrice is often a small yet deadly creature that can turn anyone into stone with a glance, a characteristic shared with the basilisk as portrayed in modern fantasy.
The word has historically been a variant term for the basilisk, depictions of the basilisk with cockerel features in late medieval bestiaries being referred to as such. While the cockatrice had been attempted to have been made into its own creature with varying distinct features, the words cockatrice and basilisk were ultimately interchangeable.[1] Cases where varying degrees of the separation of the two creatures prior to the advent of fantasy media can be found in some British works and traditions, notably Heraldic artwork past the Tudor dynasty.[2]
Etymology[]
The word cockatrice is a deviation of the French Cocatris. The word Cocatris's usage in medieval texts is complex with the most common consensus being that the term is attributed to the mythical ichneumon in these texts. However, the word was used to describe other creatures, with the possibility of these instances being mistakes also meaning the use of the word to refer to what is thought to be the common consensus dubious at best.[3]The Latin Crocodillus (“Crocodile”) may have additionally played an influence in how the result as seen in English turned out.[1]
Word Usage[]
The first reported instance of the word being used was in the Wyclif's Bible of 1382, the word also being used in the text's followers. In the text, the word cockatrice replaces the Latin Basiliscus and Regalus, with one being a transliteration and the other a translation. In the King James Bible, the word cockatrice would come to be used to translate the same words as well as Latin Aspis.[3]
Folklore[]
In Welsh folklore, the cockatrice has, according to the older generations: “eyes in the back of its head as well as its front”. It also has a notable thirst for blood, said to have sucked the blood out of fowl, as well as a taste for cow’s milk and eggs. Children were often told that a cockatrice would come to suck their blood if they misbehaved.[4]
Wherwell[]
According to an English folktale, there was once a cockatrice that had once terrorized the village of Wherwell in Hampshire, England. Hatched from an egg incubated by a toad, the creature was reared as a pet before it revealed its true nature, where it then made its home in a cellar beneath the town while being a menace when it hunted for prey. The beast was eventually slain by Green, a servant well-versed in folklore, who showed the Cockatrice a sheet of metal that acted as a mirror. Upon seeing its own gaze, the Cockatrice attacks itself before dying from its own gaze reflected back at it.[5]
Alchemy[]
The Cockatrice in English Alchemy was both used as a code term and to represent a certain mythological figure. The alchemical cockatrice was thought to be heavily poisonous, to the point that its own self-inflicted poison had immunized it from death. Further, it was also thought to be associated with fire, this connection possibly having been due to the relation between the alchemical cockatrice and the alchemical salamander.[3]
Additionally, the alchemical cockatrice was an uroboros, a symbol more commonly associated with the dragon. This practice may have been formed from the conflation of the cockatrice and the winged dragon by alchemists.[3]
Heraldry[]
The creature that would later be known as the cockatrice would be adopted into British heraldry during the twelfth century, the rapid development of the system in the next century allowing the creature to have been further defined.[3] That being said, the cockatrice has been noted be a rarity. Outside of British heraldry, the cockatrice would’ve only been referred to as a dragon.[6]
British heraldry expert Arthur Charles Fox-Davis separates the basilisk and cockatrice, distinguishing that the basilisk had an additional dragon head at the end of its tail. This depiction of the Basilisk is even rarer then the cockatrice, with Arthur writing that he had never seen such a depiction.[6]
Similar Creatures[]
Crodrille[]
A Crodrille, as pictured by A Book of Creatures
The crodrille is a cockatrice-like dragon that is from Central French folklore that originated from the same etymological confusion as the cockatrice had. Unlike the cocaktrice or basilisk, the crodrille can grow to a large size in comparison to them. Like the crown of a basilisk, crodrilles carry a large gem on top of their heads. Crodrilles can kill a person just by looking at them, and they emit an aura of disease and plague. As it travels through the air it dims the sun, and disease follows in its path.[7]
The life cycle of a crodrille is complex. A crodrille hatches from a yolkless egg laid by a rooster that is heated by the sun or by manure. It starts out its life as a "string-like" snake before sprouting legs and appearing like a salamander after a while. At the end of seven years it grows wings and transforms into a large dragon before then proceeding to migrate to the Tower of Babylon, spreading disease on its way. Anyone who cracks open the said crodrille egg and sees the newborn crodrille dies instantly, however if they spot the creature first, it dies instead. This predicament remains throughout their juvenile stage until they reach adulthood. To prevent a crodrille egg from hatching, it is advised to plant sprigs in ash in places where crodrilles might be born. This must be done on the first day of May. In addition, having other roosters can help, as they will devour any offspring that hatches out crodrille eggs.[7]
Chickenosaurus[]
A Desert Chickenosaur by artist Hyrotrioskyan
The Chickenosaurus is a hypothetical dinosaur that paleontologist Jack Horner is currently trying to make a reality. Inspired by the Jurassic Park series, the goal is to manipulate the genetic DNA composed in chickens to potentially invoke physical traits of their predecessors, which could possibly span back to their non-avian ancestors. This physical traits such a creature would possess Jack Horner asserts would be the development of a long tail, a toothed and beakless head, and arms with fingers and claws instead of wings. A "toothy snout" is already possible, with ancient chicken embryos developed in a lab in a Harvard Medical School lab by Matthew Harris showing a capability of developing crocodilian teeth when matured. The ethics of this creation are disputed, however the advancements in genetic development required for this project could be advantageous in other areas. The project is currently mostly funded by George Lucas.[8]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Basilisk A Book of Creatures
- ↑ 13. Dragons and Fabolous Reptiles in Rodney Dennys (1975) The Heraldic Imagination Potter pp.184
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Laurence A. Briner (1979) The Career of the Cockatrice Isis Vol. 70 No. 1 pp.30-47 http://www.jstor.org/stable/230876
- ↑ Marie Trevelyan (1909) Folk-Lore and Folk-Stories of Wales E. Stock pp.170
- ↑ Karl Shuker (1995) Dragons: A Natural History Simon & Schuster pp. 98-99
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Arthur Charles Fox-Davies (1909) Complete Guide to Hearldry T.C. and E.C. Jack pp. 227
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Crodrille A Book of Creatures
- ↑ Jackson Landers (10 November 2014) Paleontologist Jack Horner is hard at work trying to turn a chicken into a dinosaur The Washington Post
External Links[]
- Cockatrice on Wikipedia