Elephant, Rochester Bestiary, c.1230
In Christian symbolism, the elephant represented Adam and Eve. When the elephants want to mate, they go to the East where there is a plant, the mandrake, from which the female elephant eats and then seduces the male into eating the plant too. She then becomes pregnant and they are expelled from Paradise.
Before mating, the elephants were in a state of bliss the same as Adam and Eve before they were tempted by the snake. They were also associated with chastity owing to the fact that they do not have lust for sexual intercourse.
Since elephants are faithful to their mates, they also symbolised self-control and temperance, fidelity and loyalty as an allegory for Christians to have devotion and dedication to the Church and God.
Elephants are lovable, compassionate and patient: the Bible encourages Christians to observe these qualities. They are also a metaphor for tolerance and calmness.
Transcription
Translation
magnitudine corporis vocatum putant. quod for-
mam montis preferat. Grece enim mons eliphon dici-
tur. Apud indos autem a voce; barbaro vocatur. Unde et vox eius barbaritus. et dentes eius ebur. Rostrum autem promuscida dicitur. qm illo pabu-
la ori admovet. et est agno similis. Vallo muni-
tur eburneo. Nullum animal grandius videtur. In eis enim perse et indi. turribus ligneis collocati; tan-
quam de muro iaculis dimicant. Intellectu et me-
moria multa vigent. gregatim incedunt. fu-
giunt murem. Aversi coeunt. Biennio autem par-
turiunt. nec amplius quam semel gignunt. nec plu-
res; sed tantum unum. Vivunt autem annos trecen-
tos. Si autem voluerit filios facere; vadit ad ori-
entem prope paradisum. et est ibi arbor que
vocatur mandragora. et vadit cum femina
sua. que prius accipit de arbore et dat in mascu-
lo suo et seducit eum donec manducet. statimque
in utero concipit. Cum vero tempus pariendi ve-
The elephant is an animal that has no lust for sexual intercourse. The Greeks call it elephant from the size of its body, which they believe resembles a mountain. In Greek, a mountain was nicknamed eliphon2. Among the Indians, the word for elephant sounds incomprehensible to us. The trumpet of the animal sounds barbaric and its teeth are made of ivory. Its trunk is called proboscis wherewith it brings food to its mouth, and it is similar to a lamb. Ivory tusks protect the elephant. No animal seems larger. Persians and Indians place elephants on wooden towers and fight with their javelins therefrom. These animals excel in intelligence and memory. They move around in herds, flee from mice, and mate back-to-back. They give birth every two years and do not give birth more than once: only one offspring. They live for three hundred years. If an elephant wants to have offspring, it goes to the east near Paradise3, where there is a tree called mandrake. It goes there with its female mate, which first takes something from the tree and then gives it to the male, seducing him until he eats. Immediately, she conceives in her womb. When the time of giving birth comes, she goes to a pond, and the water reaches her udder.
[12v]
matris. Elephans autem custodit eam parturientem; quia
draco est inimicus elephanti. Si autem invenerit serpentem;
conculcat eum donec moriatur. Est autem formidabilis
tauris; elephans. tamen murem timet. Est hec natura
eius. Si ceciderit; non potest resurgere. Cadit autem cum
se inclinat ad arborem ut dormiat. Non enim habet iunc-
turas geniculorum. Venator autem incidit arborem modi-
cum. ut elephans cum se inclinaverit; similiter cum
arbore cadat. Cadens clamat fortiter. et statim magnus
elephans exit. et non potest eum levare. Tunc clamant
ambo. et veniunt duodecim elephantes et non possunt
eum levare; qui cecidit; Deinde clamant omnes. et statim
venit pusillus elephans et mittit os suum cum promusci-
da; subtus magnum elephantem. et elevat eum; Habet enim pusillus hanc naturam; ut ubi incen-
sum fuerit de capillis et ossibus eius; neque mali ali-
quid incidet; neque draco; adam et eve. Cum enim carne essent placentes
The male elephant guards her while she is in labour because the snake is the enemy of the elephant. If it finds a serpent, it tramples it until it dies. The elephant, however, is terrifying to bulls, yet it fears mice. This is its nature. If it falls to the ground, it struggles to rise to its feet. It falls when it leans against a tree in order to sleep, for it does not have knee joints. A hunter cuts down the tree slightly so that when the elephant leans, it falls along with the tree. When it falls, the elephant trumpets loudly, and immediately a large elephant comes to its rescue but it cannot lift it. Then they both trumpet, and twelve elephants come, but they cannot lift the one that fell down. Finally, they all trumpet, and immediately a small elephant comes, puts its mouth with the proboscis under the large elephant and lifts it. The small elephant has the following characteristic: when its hair and bones are burned, neither evil nor snake can harm it.
The large elephant and its female represent Adam and Eve. When they were pleasing
[13r]
necque intelligentiam peccati habebant. Quando autem mu-
lier manducavit de ligno; hoc est intelligibilem mandra-
goram dedit viro suo; deinde pregnans facta est. propter
quod exierunt de paradiso. Quamdiu enim fuerint in pa-
radiso; non cognovit eam adam. Scriptum est enim. Cogno-
vit adam uxorem suam et concipiens peperit caym super
vituperabiles aquas De quibus ait propheta. Salvum me fac
deus quoniam intraverunt usque ad animam meam. Et statim
draco1 subvertit eos. et alienos fecit eos ab arce sua. hoc
est non placere deo. Tunc venit magnus elephans. hoc
est lex. et non eum levat. quomodo nec sacerdos eum qui in-
cidit in latrones. nec duodecim elephantes elevaverunt
eum. idest chorus prophetarum. Sicut nec levita illum
vulneratum de quo diximus. Sed intelligibilis elephans
idest dominus noster iesus christus cum omnibus maior sit. omni-
um pusillus factus est. Quia humiliavit semet ipsum
factus pro nobis obediens usque ad mortem; ut hominem
elevaret. Intelligibilis samaritanus qui imposu-
it super iumentum. Ipse enim vulneratus tulit infirmi-
tates nostras. et peccata nostra portavit. Interpretatur
to God in flesh before their sin, they did not know how to mate, nor did they have an understanding of sin. When the woman ate from the tree, that is, she gave the mandrake of knowledge to her man, then she became pregnant, and they were expelled from paradise. For as long as they were in paradise, Adam did not know her. In fact, it was written: 'Adam knew his wife and she conceived', (Genesis, 4:1) and she gave birth on the waters of guilt. Of this, the prophet says: 'Save me, O God, for the waters are come in unto my soul.'(Psalms, 69:1). Immediately, the snake deceived them by estranging them from God’s heart, that is, they became unpleasing to God. Then comes the large elephant, that is, the law, and it does not raise up Man, any more than the priests raised the man who fell among thieves; nor did the twelve elephants, that is, the group of prophets, raise him up. Similarly, the Levite4 did not raise the wounded of whom we spoke. However, the intelligible elephant, that is, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the greatest of all, he became the smallest of all, for he humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death that he might raise up mankind. The intelligible Samaritan himself, who placed the wounded on a beast of burden, was wounded, carried our illnesses and bore our sins. The Samaritan
[13v]
ens parvulos dominus. Ubi autem est dominus presens; neque dia-
bolus appropinquare poterit. Elephantes vero promusci-
da sua quicquid involuerint frangunt. pede vero quicquid
compresserint; velut quodam lapsu ingentis ruine
examinant. propter feminas numquam dimicant. Nul-
la enim noverunt adulteria. Inest illis clementie bonum. Quippe si per desertum vagabundum hominem forte vi-
derint; ductus usque ad notas vias prebent. Vel si con-
sertis pecoribus occursitent; itinera sibi blanda et pla-
cida manu faciunt. ne qua tela obvium animal inte-
rimant. Conflictis fortuito si quando pugnatur; non me-
diocrem curam habent sauciorum. Nam fessos vulnera-
tosque in medium receptant.
symbolises the guardian, of whom David says, 'The Lord watches over the children'5 But where the Lord is present, the devil cannot approach. However, elephants break whatever they wrap around with their trunks, and with their foot, they crush anything they trample, sounding like the collapse of ruins. They never fight over females, for they know no adultery. They possess the quality of mercifulness. Indeed, if by chance they see a wandering man in the desert, they lead him to familiar paths or if they encounter herds of cattle, they make their way carefully and peacefully lest their tusks kill any animal in their way. If by chance, a fight breaks out, they do not neglect the care of the wounded. In fact, they pull the tired and the wounded to themselves into their midst.
Bibliography
David Badke, The Bestiary Blog: Animals in the Middle Ages, November 6 2023, https://bestiary.ca/beasts.htm
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Castiglioni, L. and Mariotti, S. (1996). Vocabolario della Lingua Latina: Latino-Italiano Italiano-Latino. Terza Edizione. Loescher Torino
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., Wikipedia: The Elephant, 28 November 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant
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)
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Footnotes
1 Drăco means both dragon and snake in Latin.
2 Eliphon might be a typing or transcription mistake. There is no evidence that mountains were nicknamed eliphon. The Ancient Greek word for mountain was ὄρος/óros and for elephant was ἐλέφας/eléfas. There exists the word ἐλέφαν/eléfan (vocative form) used to personify an elephant. There might be a possibility that a new word was created as a nickname.
3 The Garden of Eden. Possible locations might be the Persian Gulf, in southern Mesopotamia where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers run into the sea and in Armenia
4 The Levite was member of a group of clans of religious functionaries in ancient Israel who apparently were given a special religious status, conjecturally for slaughtering idolaters of the golden calf during the time of Moses (Ex. 32:25–29).
The text is referring to the Parable of the Good Samaritan found in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 10:25-37), in which a man is beaten, robbed, and left for dead on the side of the road. A priest and a Levite, both religious figures, pass by without helping him. It is a Samaritan, traditionally considered a social and religious outsider, who stops to care for the wounded man.
5 It might be referring to Psalms 116:6 “The Lord protects the simple and the childlike…”