History of Monsters 325

...caruncles hang down, mimicking the appearance of a beard. From the upper neck and the rump, which are green, blue feathers decorated with white quills hang downward. The wings are of quite diverse colors: the primary feathers are a dark green, arranged in such a way that they seem to form small scales, with a white line running through the middle of them. The feathers that follow are a very intense green but are white at the tips; three of the lower ones, however, are blue, though greenish around the edges. Finally, the outer flight feathers are yellow, and the ribs of all of them are white. The lower part of the wings is a bluish color tending toward green, while the upper part is rose-colored, and all the ribs are likewise white. The tail is double: the first is small and composed of only five feathers, which are reddish and very short compared to the second tail. The second tail consists of nine very long feathers of varying lengths and colors. The larger ones are rust-colored, made of very thin, long, dark filaments hanging here and there; at their tips, they bear oval "eyes" that are reddish and surrounded by blue. The feet are red with three distinct toes, and the claws and heel are white.

Thus, "monsters" properly so called will be those we discuss first in this present work, though we shall soon speak of others as well. These are living creatures that possess something human yet are vastly different from their parents and occur only rarely—such as three-handed men, offspring that are half-woman and half-dog, and similar beings that display an unusual structure.

SYNONYMS AND ETYMOLOGY

Monsters, in the opinion of Isidore, are so named because by "demonstrating" (*monstrando*) something about the future, they "warn" (*moneat*) mankind. For this reason, some led by this logic call a monster a *monestrum*, either because by warning it premonstrates some mystery of divine vengeance, or because it is observed by individuals as something singular and is pointed out with a finger (*digito monstretur*) in admiration. This last etymology may be the most pleasing, as the first one offered by Isidore does not entirely fit. Firstly, this is because many monsters are born in many regions from which no prophecy can be drawn. We can certainly attest that the supreme God can sometimes indicate a future calamity to men through these things; nevertheless, He generally does not use these "monsters properly so called" for that purpose, as we read of no monster of this kind being created by God in the Holy Scriptures, even though He performed many other wonders. Furthermore, authors assert that such monsters are born in the wilds of Africa, where no men wander to be warned. Otherwise, monsters are called by others "physical miracles," which occur whenever Nature does not operate according to her usual law in the formation of offspring.

Others have called a monster an *Ostentum* (a show or display), as this name encompasses much more than "monster" does. Indeed, an *ostentum* is anything born outside the order of nature, such as a three-footed or one-handed offspring; furthermore, it includes all those prodigious things that the Greeks call *phasmata*. In another sense, a monster is also called a *Portentum* (portent) by some because, according to the primary etymology, it "portends" (*portendat*) something to come. By some, the monster is referred to by the name "prodigy" (*prodigium*); for a monster is, as it were, a *porrodigium*, because it speaks of things "further off" (*porro dicat*) and signifies something in the future—a meaning they seem to derive from the practice of augury. Nevertheless, these names are very frequently confused, and one is used for the other by various authors. For this reason, Cicero wrote excellently in the first book of *On Divination* that they are called *monstra*, *ostenta*, *portenta*, and *prodigia* because they demonstrate (*monstrent*), show (*ostendant*), portend (*portentant*), and predict (*praedicent*).

If we turn our attention to the Greeks, we fall into a similar confusion of names. Indeed, Aristotle sometimes called them *terata* (*τὰ τέρατα*), "the errors of nature" (*hamartemata tes physeos*), which Theodorus Gaza rendered as "portents"—and perhaps not without reason, since *teras* (*τέρας*), that is, "monster," is derived from *teron* (*τῆρον*), a messenger, as if a monster were a sign by which the supreme God, to announce something