December 14 – Cerberus
Cerberus, the ‘hound of Hades’, is a three headed dog with the tail of a serpent, which according to mythology, guards the gates of the underworld. Cerberus appears in many […]
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December 13 – Dragons in manuscripts
From our wonderful manuscripts, we have four depictions of dragons to share with you. A dragon in our 17th-18th century manuscript copy of “The Book of Wonders of the Age” […]
December 12 – Dragons in print
The dragon is perhaps the most iconic of the fantastic beasts. This winged legendary creature, known for its fire breathing abilities is common to most cultures around the world, and […]
December 11 – Hippogriff
Probably most well known now as a character in Harry Potter, the hippogriff is a legendary creature which is half eagle and half horse. This depiction is from Ludovico Ariosto’s […]
December 10 – Griffin
The griffin, griffen or gryphon has the body, legs and tail of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. As the lion is the king of the […]
December 9 – Nessie
No compendium of mythical creatures would be complete without Scotland’s own creature of myth – the Loch Ness monster. Nessie is said to live in Loch Ness in the Scottish […]
December 8 – Sea-centaurs
Ichthyocentaurs are winged creatures, half-fish and half-horse. Depicted in classical Greek art, they are also referred to as sea-centaurs. This illustration of an ichthyocentaur, playing a lute, is featured on […]
December 7 – Satyr
In Greek mythology, Satyrs are attendants to the god Bacchus, residing in woods and mountains. In the middle ages they are often illustrated as possessing a mixture of human and goat-like […]
December 6 – Merfolk
Mermaids and mermen are mythological sea creatures, usually with bodies that are half human and half fish. Often sighted by sailors, the mythology of mermaids is common to many cultures. The […]
D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson and his mathematical friendships
Following on from last year’s project with Alice and Indre, interns from the School of Mathematics, this year we had two more interns working with us, again under the supervision […]