tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2688079707543352822.post8373553269615547725..comments2024-03-22T02:46:36.248-07:00Comments on Playing at the World: A Fantastic BestiaryJon Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09824427209908111302noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2688079707543352822.post-63870628322825105522014-09-01T07:47:52.400-07:002014-09-01T07:47:52.400-07:00http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catoblepas for one. ...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catoblepas for one. Don't remember which book I was working from. The Strategic Review has been out of print for a long time.Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00219023897626648057noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2688079707543352822.post-36771694245735452212014-07-30T14:25:20.628-07:002014-07-30T14:25:20.628-07:00Be interested to hear more about those! Do you rem...Be interested to hear more about those! Do you remember which books, or which monsters?Jon Petersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09824427209908111302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2688079707543352822.post-40436854627854853712014-07-30T11:29:43.962-07:002014-07-30T11:29:43.962-07:00My post did not post.
Some of the early monsters...My post did not post. <br /><br />Some of the early monsters I did came straight from medieval bestiaries in the BYU library, FYI. Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00219023897626648057noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2688079707543352822.post-61934753114340237862014-02-18T11:50:50.841-08:002014-02-18T11:50:50.841-08:00Yep; blame Topsell. Most of his work was translate...Yep; blame Topsell. Most of his work was translated from Conrad Gesner's Historia Animalium; not sure about this specific case, although I can see the Catablepon/fera Libyca in a later edition of Gesner (and yet more fun with names, of course...).<br /><br />If your Elizabethan English requires a tangential workout<br />=> <br />http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/harami2000/EPSON002_zps6b944135.jpg<br />http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/harami2000/EPSON003_zps123e2ffc.jpg<br />http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/harami2000/EPSON004_zpsaec9e925.jpg<br />http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/harami2000/EPSON005_zpsd3eef5cc.jpg<br />(later copy of Topsell, slightly shorter text than the original edition)<br /><br />*g* I'm going to end up buying Wilk's "Medusa: Solving the Mystery of the Gorgon" at this rate...<br />irbyzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10193584357850337816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2688079707543352822.post-51066487053338668382014-02-17T08:25:57.933-08:002014-02-17T08:25:57.933-08:00Excellent post on the literary side of things! Don...Excellent post on the literary side of things! Don't forget the influence of cheap purchases at Woolworth's on Dave Arneson, though! :)<br /><br />-chirinechirine ba kalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15089801259918671141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2688079707543352822.post-3509453170775605092014-02-16T14:51:11.852-08:002014-02-16T14:51:11.852-08:00The Lehners' don't cite White, no. Their i...The Lehners' don't cite White, no. Their image of the Gorgon is from Topsell, as is White's - Topsell is a pretty famous 17th century bestiary source. That illustration could have been found in either - but the exact turn of phrase "An iron-clad bull[ish] monster" is not from White (see p266 of White for his text about it).Jon Petersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09824427209908111302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2688079707543352822.post-89547966948222696912014-02-16T14:44:49.686-08:002014-02-16T14:44:49.686-08:00Interesting! I mention White (actually it was pub...Interesting! I mention White (actually it was published as "A Book Of Beasts") because that's where I first saw the idea of the "iron bull" Gorgon.<br /><br />Of course, the whole question of whether the Lehners were influenced by White lurks there too! (I suspect they went through a whole bucketful of books. Does their volume have a biblography?)<br /><br /> (Okay, if we're not careful that tangent could take over!)Michael (Gronan) Mornardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09581843850302136770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2688079707543352822.post-69624207695486060142014-02-16T14:39:07.285-08:002014-02-16T14:39:07.285-08:00White's "Bestiary" is cited in PatW ...White's "Bestiary" is cited in PatW as a source for D&D, yes, but the textual correspondence of the Lehners' "Fantastic Bestiary" to the EW monsters, and to things like the Gorgon text, make it far more directly traceable as a source. The other book that clearly exerted an influence on the Monster Manual was Borges's "Book of Imaginary Beings," but we'll leave that for another day...Jon Petersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09824427209908111302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2688079707543352822.post-39997730831948852642014-02-16T14:35:36.614-08:002014-02-16T14:35:36.614-08:00Have you checked out T.H. White's "Fantas...Have you checked out T.H. White's "Fantastic Bestiary"? It was first published in 1954, and I know it has the Gorgon, at least, in it. I have a copy somewhere.Michael (Gronan) Mornardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09581843850302136770noreply@blogger.com