Hyena, Rochester Bestiary, c.1230
The hyena was an animal often associated with negatives qualities such as deceit, treachery and untrustworthiness in Medieval Christianity and symbolism. Owing to its scavenging habits, its eerie laughter and feeding on corpses, the hyena was often a metaphor for the devil or demonic forces that tempt humans to divert them from their faith.
This beast also represented the submission to luxury and wealth and was compared to the Sons of Israel who strayed from their faith in God, thus starting to believe in false idols in the name of mammon.
In the Bible, hyenas are mentioned along with other animals such as jackals, ostriches and demonic mythical creatures whenever there is a prophet’s promise of doom. When they howl, castles will collapse. In Isaiah 13:22: “The hyenas will howl in their citadels, and jackals in their pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged.”, the prophet is announcing the wrath of God towards the people of Babylon, and when the city has fallen, hyenas will make their laughing cry from the ruins of Babylon.
Transcription
Translation
habitans. eosque vescens. Cuius natura est ut aliquan-
do masculus sit; aliquando femina. et ideo inmun-
dum est animal. Cui cum spina riget; continua(changed to continuo) uni- tate flecti nequit. nisi toto corporis circumictu;
Solinus multa mira de ea refert. Primum; quod sequitur
stabula pastorum. et circuit domos per noctem et assi-
duo auditu addiscit vocamen quod ex primere possit
vocem imitationis humane. ut in homine astu acci-
tum nocte seviat. Vomitusque mentitur humanos. fal-
sisque singultibus sic sollicitatos canes devorat. Qui forte
si venantes umbram eiusdem dum sequitur contigerit;
latrare nequeunt voce perdita. Eadem yena inquisi-
tione corporum sepultorum bustam eruit. Huic
assimilantur filii isrel qui ab initio deo vivo servie-
runt. postea divitiis et luxurie dediti; ydola colue-
runt. Ideo propheta comparavit sinagogam imundo ani-
mali dicens. Facta est mi hereditas mea quasi spelun-
ca yene. Quicumque ergo inter nos luxurie et avaricie
inserviunt; huic belue comparantur. cum nec viri
nec femine sint. idest nec fideles nec perfidi. Sed sunt
sine dubio de quibus ait salomon. Vir duplex animo;
in constans est in omnibus viis suis. De quibus et dominus;
Non potestis deo servire et mammone. Hec belua
lapidem in oculis tenet; nomine hyenam. Quam
The hyena is an animal that dwells around the tombs of the dead and feeds on corpses. Its nature is such that sometimes it is male, sometimes female; therefore, it is an unclean animal. Since its spine is rigid, it cannot turn unless it moves its entire body. Solinus recounts many wonderful things about this animal. Firstly, it follows the flocks of shepherds and circles their houses at night; by listening carefully, it learns human speech so it can mimic it, so that it can cunningly lure people at night by calling them towards itself. It mimics human vomiting and, with fake sounds of retching, devours the dogs it has enticed. Should dogs accidentally touch the shadow of the hyena whilst chasing it, they lose their voices and cannot bark. The hyena itself, in its search for buried bodies, digs up graves.
The hyena is likened to the Sons of Israel who served the living God at the beginning but worshipped idols afterwards, for they yielded to wealth and luxury. Therefore, the prophet compared the synagogue to the unclean animal, saying, 'My heritage has become to me like the lair of the hyena.' Therefore, those among us who submit to luxury and avarice are compared to this beast, being neither male nor female, neither faithful nor faithless. Undoubtedly, they are what Solomon describes as: 'A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways' , of whom the Lord says, 'You cannot serve God and mammon.' This beast has a stone in its eyes, called hўaenĭa (gem).
creditur. Unde yena quodcum animal ter lustrave-
rit; movere se non potest. Quapropter magicam ei scien-
ciam in esse pronuntiaverunt. In ethiopie partes coit
cum leena. Unde nascitur monstrum erasure cui crocote no-
men est. Voces hominum et ipsa pariter affectat. Numquam
orbium commutatio eis inest. In erasure ore hyene nulla nulla gin-
giva est. Dens unus atque perpetuus. qui ut numquam
retundatur naturaliter capsularum modo clau-
ditur.
If anyone holds this stone under their tongues, they are believed to predict the future. Hence, if the hyena circles a prey thrice, the prey cannot move. Therefore, the hyena is believed to possess magical abilities. In the Ethiopian regions, it mates with a lioness, giving birth to a creature called crocotta. Like the hyena, it mimics human voices and actions. It never tries to change the direction of its glance but manages to see without changing it. It has no gums in its mouth, only one continuous tooth that closes naturally like a casket and is never blunted.
Bibliography
David Badke, The Bestiary Blog: Animals in the Middle Ages, Hyena, November 6 2023, https://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast153.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 Gaius Julius Solinus was a Latin grammarian, geographer and compiler known for his De Mirabilibus Mundi (About The Wonders of The World) and Collectanea Rerum Memorabilium ("Collection of Curiosities").
2 Jeremiah (c. 650 – c. 570 BC) also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible.
3 Jeremiah 12:9: “Is my heritage to me like a hyena’s lair? Are the birds of prey against her all around? Go, assemble all the wild beasts; bring them to devour.”
4 James 1:8 AMP: “being a double-minded man, unstable and restless in all his ways [in everything he thinks, feels, or decides]”.
5 Matthew 6:24: “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
In the New Testament, mammon means money, material wealth or any evil entity that promises wealth.
6 Pliny the Elder, in his work Natural History (VIII.72 and 107), variously described the crocotta as a combination between dog and wolf or between hyena and lioness: “When crossed with this race of animals the Ethiopian lioness gives birth to the corocotta that mimics the voices of men and cattle in a similar way. It has an unbroken ridge of bone in each jaw, forming a continuous tooth without any gum.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crocotta