Marie Jaros
@mariejaros.bsky.social
1K followers 372 following 170 posts
Medievalist, PostDoc, curiously looking towards the early modern period, currently working on historical whales, but also Kingdom of Sicily, Italy and charters @humboldtuni.bsky.social
!["The whale likes to bask at the surface and sometimes stays there long enough for sand to accumulate on its back. Sailors mistake the whale for an island and try to land on it, with disastrous results. Usually the sailors are doing something to the whale (starting a fire on its back, attaching an anchor, etc.) but it this case they are just gesturing enigmatically. The whale is catching fish by open its mouth and emiting a sweet odor, which causes fish to swim right in."
"Allegory/Moral: The whale who deceives sailors and drags them down to their deaths signifies the devil, who deceives those he drags down to hell. Those of weak faith who give in to the sweet odor of worldly desires will be swallowed up by the devil."
- explanation via https://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast282.htm
[image description: Miniature from a medieval illuminated manuscript depicting a version of the whale's usual bestiary story. From The Ashmole Bestiary with the usual gold leaf background.]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:l5pcfqdnvtivhxufycjnvzui/bafkreic6jtvgdz3vyacwpxsetinwuep2yoejqmdndpv2lguovkfylewmku)
