The Bonnacon appears in various medieval bestiaries, which were popular in Europe between the 12th and 14th centuries. These books aimed to describe animals and plants, often assigning moral or religious lessons to their behavior. In these texts, the Bonnacon’s dung was portrayed not just as a physical defense but also a symbol of divine prote

The Bonnacon is one of the more curious and bizarre creatures from medieval bestiaries—those illustrated compendiums of animals mixing natural history with myth, folklore, and allegory. Though now largely forgotten, the Bonnacon captivated medieval imaginations for centuries with its strange defense mechanism: it supposedly repelled hunters and e

By the Renaissance, natural philosophy began to separate myth from science, but the Manticore remained a popular figure in literature, heraldry, and art. It often symbolized untamed wilderness and monstrous danger lurking beyond the bounds of civilization. In modern fantasy literature, the Manticore continues to be a popular monster, frequently

The Greek historian Ctesias (5th century BCE), who served at the Persian court, was among the first Western writers to describe the Manticore. In his work Indica, Ctesias gave detailed accounts of the wild beasts in India and Persia, including the Manticore. He described it as a creature with a human face, red eyes, a lion’s body, and a tail tipp