Crocodile, Rochester Bestiary, c.1230
According to Bartholomaeus Anglicus[1], crocodiles would shed tears to lure their preys before swallowing them and the expression crocodile tears seems to derive from this.
This symbolised deceit and the behaviour of individuals who concealed their true, often malicious, intentions. In this context, the crocodile served as a cautionary symbol against the dangers of deception and the importance of discerning true intentions.
The crocodile’s tears symbolised the call for Christians to cry for their own sins and to repent in order to be saved. The text below associates crocodiles to hypocrites, who are greedy, proud, corrupted, lascivious, praise luxury and are obsessed with evil and pretend to submit to the law and pose as righteous.
Transcription
Translation
in nilo flumine. Animal quadrupes. in ter-
ra et aqua valens. longitudine plerumque .xx. cubi-
torum. dentium et unguium imanitate armatum.
Hominibus infestum. Tantaque est. duricia cutis. ut etiam
imanissimis lapidibus in tergore percussum; non
sentiat. Nocte in aquis. die; in humo quiescit. Ova
in terra fovet. Masculus et femina vices servant.
Hunc pisces quidam serratam habentes cristam; te-
nera ventrium desecantes; interimunt. Est et in nilo
delphinum genus dorso serrato. qui hoc idem faciunt. Co-
codrillos quidam putant esse pisces eoque in aquis nove-
rint manere. Alii dicunt alias beluas; eoque in terris no-
the name crocodile is ascribed to its saffron colour . It is born in the Nile River. This animal is a quadruped, powerful both on land and in water and is mostly about twenty cubits in length. It is equipped with huge teeth and claws and is hostile to humans. Its skin is so hard that, even when hit with huge stones on its back, it does not feel it. It rests in the water by night and on land by day. It broods the eggs on land. The male and female take turns. There is a type of fish, such as the hydrus, that can cut open a crocodile’s tender belly and kill it. In the Nile, a type of dolphin with a dorsal fin as sharp as a saw can also kill a crocodile. Some believe crocodiles are fish and thus remain in the water. Others say they are different beasts and therefore, they remain
superiora oris movet. inferiora autem imota tenet. Ster-
cus eius sit unquentum unde vetule et rugose mere-
trices facies suas perungunt. fiuntque pulre(corrected to pulcre); donec sudor
defluens lavet. Cocodrillus qui est animal dure cu-
tis. et malitiosum et luto pascitur; luxuriam invetera-
tam significat. Un in levitico inter imunda animalia
que comedi non debent; numerantur. Cuius etiam figu-
ram portant ypocrite sive luxuriosi atque avari.
qui quamvis visco superbie inflentur; tabo luxurie ma-
culentur. avaricie morbo obsidentur. tamen rigidi
et velut sanctissimi in iustificationibus suis(dots underneath) legis coram
hominibus sese ostendunt incedere. Nocte in aquis. die in
humo quiescit. Quia ypocrite quamvis luxurie vivant;
tamen sancte et iuste vivere dici delectantur. Cons-
cii sue malicie corda plangunt. licet usu semper retra-
hat consuetudo ad perpetrata. Superiora oris movet;
quia hii sanctorum patrum exempla. verborumque copiam
aliis in verbo ostendunt. cum minime ea que dicunt
in se ostendunt. De stercore eius unguentum fit; quia
plerumque mali ab imperitis laudantur; de perpetrato
malo. ac velud huius mundi favoribus excelluntur. Sed cum
on land. In comparison with all the other animals, only the crocodile can move the upper part of its mouth; the lower part of the mouth remains motionless. Its dung seems to be a kind of ointment, whereon old and wrinkled harlots rub their faces. They become beautiful until the sweat drains the ointment off. The crocodile, which is an animal with tough skin, malicious, and feeds on mud, signifies inveterate luxury. In Leviticus, they are regarded as unclean animals and therefore, they should not be eaten. The hypocrites, the lascivious and the greedy carry its image. These people are beguiled by pride, are corrupted by luxury and plagued by the scourge of greed. They appear unbending and honest and pose as righteous men before other men. The crocodile rests in the water by night and on land by day. Hypocrites delight in being called holy and righteous, although they live in luxury. Their hearts bleed, for they are aware of their malicious conscience, but they are accustomed to drawing back from their deeds. The crocodile moving the upper part of its mouth means that the hypocrites follow the examples of the holy fathers and their mouths are filled with someone else’s words when they speak: their words and actions do not match in the least. The ointment being made from the crocodile’s dung means that evil deeds are generally praised by the ignorant, who are besotted with their mundane ambitions and do wrong. But when
riendum promovet; tunc omnis decor ille laudis;
velut fumus evanescit.
a judge, compelled to punish the culprits on account of their perpetrated evil deeds, vents his anger towards them, then all the beauty of praise vanishes like smoke.
Bibliography
David Badke, The Bestiary Blog: Animals in the Middle Ages, Crocodile, November 6 2023, https://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast146.htm
Josh Goldenberg (BA 2012) and Matt Shanahan (BA 2014), Logeion, November 2022, https://logeion.uchicago.edu/
Castiglioni, L. and Mariotti, S. (1996). Vocabolario della Lingua Latina: Latino-Italiano Italiano-Latino. Terza Edizione. Loescher Torino
Matthews, J. and Matthews C., (2010), The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures, HarperCollins UK, London
Curley, M. J., Physiologus: A Medieval Book of Nature Lore (University of Chicago edition 2009)
Rackham, H., M.A., Pliny Natural History Volume III, Libri VIII-XI (London: William Heinemann Ltd, 1949)
Collins, A. H., M.A., Symbolism of Animals and Birds (New York: McBride, Nast & Company, 1913)
Henderson, C., The Book of Barely Imagined Beings (London: University of Chicago Press, 2013)
White, T. H., The Bestiary: A Book of Beasts (New York: G.P Putnam’s Sons, 1960)
Barney, S. A., Lewis, W. J., Beach A., Berghof O., The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006)
Footnotes
1 A Franciscan monk born in Suffolk in the thirteenth century. He studied natural sciences and theology at Oxford.
2 In reality, crocodiles are not saffron-coloured. The writer of the bestiary might be referring to the fact that κρόκος/ krókos means saffron in Greek.