La pantera, el unicornio y la sirena: la evolución de tres motivos zoológicos a través de la literatura inglesa del periodo medieval temprano

Abstract

This article provides the results of a research of the impact that a group of English works have had on the reception of the knowledge of exotic and fantastic animals in the literature and culture of the Early Middle Ages in Europe. For this purpose, a series of descriptions of mythical or imaginary animals and beings is analyzed through a selection of texts: on the one hand, the Physiologus in the versions found in the Exeter Book (Exeter, Cathedral Library, MS. 3501) and in Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 448; on other, Aldhelm’s Enigmata and the Liber monstrorum. In doing so, we examine, on the one hand, the idea of the exotic animal with the case of the panther and, on the other, the representation of fabulous creatures such as the unicorn or the mermaid in the early medieval period.