Wyld Kingdom: bonnacons

Of the bonnacon: In Asia an animal is found which men call bonnacon. It has the head of a bull, and thereafter its whole body is of the size of a bull’s with the maned neck of a horse. Its horns are convoluted, curling back on themselves in such a way that if anyone comes up against it, he is not harmed.

A Bonnacon

But the protection which its forehead denies this monster is furnished by its bowels. For when it turns to flee, it discharges fumes from the excrement of its belly over a distance of three acres, the heat of which sets fire to anything it touches. In this way, it drives off its pursuers with its harmful excrement.

Strange yet True.

A Bonnacon, about 1250 - 1260, English
Digital images courtesy of the Getty’s Open Content Program
Text on this page from translation of Aberdeen Bestiary, copyright 1995, Aberdeen University

~ this page pub. 19 December 2013 ~
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