The Aberdeen Bestiary’s Whale and Sea Creatures
- Date of account
- Early 13th century, c. 1200–1210
- Location
- England, manuscript production
- Source
- model_recalled_reference
- Record updated
- 2026-10-10
Record summary
The Aberdeen Bestiary contains illustrated and moralized accounts of animals, including whales and other marine beings, drawing on earlier Latin bestiary traditions. It is a useful lead because its images and descriptions demonstrate how medieval “natural history” combined observation, classical authorities, biblical interpretation and symbolic meaning. Some creatures may resemble reports later treated as cryptids, but the manuscript is not a catalog of contemporary encounters. Comparison with the Physiologus, Isidore and other bestiaries can clarify borrowing, iconographic convention and textual transformation.
Investigate related details with Anomaly Graph’s account-based search, or read how matching and provenance work.