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| Pard: Aberdeen Bestiary |
Because language
evolves over time, “Pard” and “Panther” has changed in meaning from the
Medieval Ages to modern times. “Panther”
today could indicate a jaguar, leopard, or puma. However in the Medieval Ages,
it had a different meaning altogether. Meanwhile during this time, “leopard” had the specific meaning of
“the offspring of the adultery between a lioness and a pard.” Today, the word “Pard”
is out of use.
According to various
Medieval Bestiaries, a Pard was a
cat-beast, “who can kill its prey in a single leap.” Other information
available about the Pard is that the
beast was swift and would mate with a lion. According to Homer, a Pard had a spotted coat. From this seemingly
lack of information, I surmised that the Pard
was an ordinary animal, not worthy of note. However, this cat-beast did do one
extraordinary thing – mate outside its species.
In contrast, the
writers of various Bestiaries compared the Panther
to Christ. The Bestiaries add that the
Panther
was a gentle cat-beast, who had a spotted coat with either “white or black
discs.” After feasting, this cat-beast would retire to a cave for three days.
When it emerged, the Panther would
roar giving off sweet perfumed breath. This sweet breath would draw animals to
the Panther much like Christ’s words
drew people to Him. The Panther was
a magical beast who could conquer Dragons,
which would hide when the Panther
was about. From the wealth of information about the Panther, I concluded that this was an extraordinary and magical
beast unlike the common Pard.
Moreover, the Panther did not mate
with another species, and could only bear one offspring in its lifetime.
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| Panther: Medieval Bestiary |
Works
Used
Armott, Michael, “The Aberdeen Bestiary,” Aberdeen
University Library, 1995, http://www.abdn.ac.uk/bestiary/bestiary.hti,
.
Badke, David, “Medieval Bestiary,” 15 Jan. 2011, http://bestiary.ca/index.html,
.
Chou, Peter, “Panther Mythology,” the Wisdom Portal,
15 Feb. 2007, http://www.wisdomportal.com/Poems2007/Panther-Mythology.html,
.
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