A silvery bestiary

I have for along time been interested in medieval maps (see Hereford Mappa Mundi above) and monsters - the hidden creatures in manuscripts and churches that the modern world seems to have forgotten. Why is it that the mosters from Greek myths are so well know throughout the world, yet the monsters that are so much part of our western european mythical heritage are virtually unknown? I have been recently trying to address this with my children's television and book series Map Monsters, but I thought that for today I would just list my favourite few monstrous races.

Blemmyae:

Blemmyaes are basically headless beings with faces in their chests. They often carry a large club and are very muscular and fierce.

Sciopod:

One of my favourites, the Sciopod looks relatively human until you realise he just has one huge foot. However this does anything but hinder them - for some reason in enables them to run very fast (I've always seen it as a bit of a seven league boot equivalent, enabling giant leaps) and it can also be handily used as a parasol - they are often shown in this pose and I like the idea that it somehow recharges them for more leaping - as if there were solar panels on the soles of their feet!

Astomi:

Perhaps the most mystical and enigmatic of all medieval monsters, the Astomi has no mouth and consequently lives off smells. They cannot speak so it has been suggested they were almost telepathic. They are particularly fond of the smell of apples, causing them to be sometimes referred to as "apple smellers". But while nice smells are their bread and butter they can also die if exposed to bad smells... There are other related monsters such as straw drinkers who can only digest liquid food through a straw through a small hole in their face.

Cynocephalus:

Possibly the most fearsome of the monstrous races Cynocephali are also known as Dog-heads, though the head is usually that of a wolf-like creature rather than a pet! They have fiercesome mood swings and are great fighters. The picture I've posted here is particularly interesting as it appears to have been converted to Christianity, bringing me to the point that these creatures often got caught up in Crusade propaganda - it was easy to gain support for the Holy Wars if the infidels were monsters rather than human. Hence how in crusade literature people are often generically referred to as Saracens and Ethiopians. This had not so much to do with where they were from (Ethiopia was a mythical kingdom rather than an exact geographical location), but is sometimes rather a breed of mythical creatures not any less fantastical in the eyes of the average person hearing stories, than a blemmyae of a sciopod! Religion is a complicated issue with medieval monsters as it brings in the issue of physiognomy which at the time meant that if you had not heard the word of god then it was likely you would take on a monstrous form. Your physical appearance could also be changed by where you lived - the climate hugely affecting the four humors that influence how you were as a person, but also location determined whether it was possible for you to be human - for example on old maps, monsters often inhabit the antipodes, as there was supposedly a wall of fire detaching them from the rest of the world and as the word of god couldn't have spread through this, it was thought unlikely that anything human could live beyond it.

Panotii:

Perhaps the most endearing monster the Panotii has giant ears a bit like an elephant which some thought enabled them to fly. They were quite shy for monsters though and sometimes wrapped their ears around themselves like a blanket. However they were obviously evil in medieval eyes as their giant ears enabled them to hear things from a long distance, and this made them prone to listening to gossip.