Flustered Duck

A brown furry quadruped with a dog-like snout and pointed ears is pulling two bulls backwards by their tails. The animals are shown on green grass with a green plant at the rump of the cacus. A caption of "Cacus" is shown under the rear hooves of the bulls and there is text above, below and beside the cacus. Image from British Library, Additional MS 11390 [Der Naturen Bloeme], folio 10v.

The medieval cacus is possibly a misreading of the myth of Cacus, a flesh-eating shepherd who stole cattle from Hercules. This image is from a c1300-c1325 Dutch version of "Der Naturen Bloeme" by Jacob van Maerlant (c1200-c1272). #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #cacus

Finchity by Peter Dale Scott My thoughts are like these finches that flock to the six openings of my squirrel-proof steel birdfeeder that stands in our courtyard “with a lifetime guarantee” their gold now lusterless in this la…

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A round-eared blue beast is emerging from a hole in a brown hill and pulling two brown bulls by their tails backwards. The rear bull has its head up and seems to be smiling goofily. The near bull is looking at the blue beast with a very annoyed expression. The animals are shown on brown grass against a red background with large gilt dots in a gilt frame on a manuscript page surrounded by text. Image from Bibliothèque Municipale de Valenciennes, MS 320 [Liber de natura rerum], folio 56r.

Our medieval beast this week is the cacus which was said to be a monster that steals cattle. This image is from a French 13th century version of "Liber de natura rerum" by Thomas de Cantimpré (1201-c1272). #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #cacus

I Would Like to Describe by Zbigniew Herbert I would like to describe the simplest emotion joy or sadness but not as others do reaching for shafts of rain or sun I would like to describe a light which is being born in me but I know it does no…

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A short-haired fair man wearing round black-rimmed glasses listening intently to the phone headset he is holding to his ear. He is wearing a grey suit with a white shirt, silver patterned cufflinks and a red and grey patterned tie. He is seated at a desk with a green blotter with a black typewriter on the left. His non-phone hand is resting on a pad of white paper and is holding a lit cigarette. There is a red pencil, an ashtray and an envelope with a box of matches on it on the desk and a green-shaded hanging light above the typewriter. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

A portrait by Käthe Hoch (1873–1933) is today's writing prompt. Is this man a secretary? A detective? A doctor? Or something else? And what is he hearing on that phone? #writingprompts #writinglife #writingtips #artworks #käthehoch

I Can’t Help You by Ryszard Krynicki Poor moth, I can’t help you, I can only turn out the light. From: Date: 1981 (original in Polish); 2017 (translation in English) By: Ryszard Krynicki (1943- ) Translated by: Clare Cavanagh (1956- )…

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Book cover featuring a classic British scene of a train in a seaside landscape watched by a small family on a cliffside path.

"Tea on Sunday" by Lettice Cooper is a re-issue of a 1973 cozy crime mystery where the host of a tea party is found dead by her guests. #bookrecommendations #tbrlist #crime #mystery #cozymystery #teaonsunday #letticecooper

Blackthorn by Ciarán O’Rourke Impossible, your death—a dream I only part-remember, and cannot comprehend. You must be living somewhere still. On your wedding morn, you stunned the heart, as the integrally invisible photographer…

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A red-faced man with his mouth open is seated in a red chair fingering one of his ears with one hand while his other hand rests on a skull on a table at his side. He has dark short hair and muttonchops and is wearing a pancake-style nightcap, a white scarf, a striped top and a long drab robe as well as brown breeches/shorts and long white stockings with red slippers on his feet. The table at his side holds a skull, an open book, an extremely large corked bottle and what looks like medical items. There are wooden panels on the walls around him and a blue curtained window above the table. The painting seems somewhat exaggerated like a caricature. Image by Theodore Lane (1800-1828) from Wikimedia Commons.

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Image: Theodore Lane (1800-1828) #jumblepublishing #publishing #selfpublishing #editing #theodorelane #artworks

Hum by Tara Skurtu for Indré Are you aching? The poet held my hand at the edge of the world’s smallest village. Think of pain as a plane. She wanted me to forgive what I couldn’t forgive. Only the side door to the As…

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A winged white lion with a human face surrounded by a curly mane. The face has red cheeks and is looking out at the viewer with crossed-eyes. The harpy is sitting on a green ground and there is a dark-haired head with shut eyes at its front paws which might explain the harpy's confused expression. It is shown against a red background in a pale-coloured frame. Image from Bibliothèque Universitaire Historique de Médecine (Montpellier), H. 437 (L'Image du Monde / Bestiaire of Pierre de Beauvais), folio 207r.

The Bestiare of Pierre Beauvais showed harpies as winged lions with human faces in contrast to other bestiaries. This ?1340 version shows a lion-like harpy (and there is no explanation of why there is a head on the ground). #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #harpy #harpies

Smothered by Mahalia Charlotte The women in our family hold our trauma in our spines. Backs bodies breaking under burdens; matrilineal line of heightened hysterical hyper-aroused harpies. We claw at sleep, flapping; thundering h…

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A white-headed bearded harpy with pointed ears. The harpy has a brown bird body banded with grey and white-trimmed wings. The front wing is obviously attached to the leg but the rear wing appears to be attached to the neck and is shown in a very odd upright position. It is shown with some stylised trees which are bent as if in a strong wind. It has a quizzical expression on its face. Image from Koninklijke Bibliotheek, KB, KA 16 [Der Naturen Bloeme], folio 75r.

Although harpies in modern thought are usually associated with women, many medieval harpies were obviously male like this bearded harpy from a c1350 version of "Der Naturen Bloeme". #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #harpy #harpies

Girls Are Coming Out of the Woods by Tishani Doshi for Monika Girls are coming out of the woods, wrapped in cloaks and hoods, carrying iron bars and candles and a multitude of scars, collected on acres of premature grass and city buses, in temples …

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A harpy with a brown dog-like body, white and blue wings and a white bearded head is standing in front of a man in a blue gown with its paws in the figure's lap and one of its back paws on the man's black-clad foot. The man is resting against a green cushion and appears to be fainting. The harpy looks like it is peering into the man's face. Image from Private Library - Unknown Owner, ex-Phillipps MS 6739 (Bestiaire of Pierre de Beauvais, long version), folio 10r.

Medieval harpies were considered to be the personification of storm winds. This murky harpy has a winged dog-like body and is from the Bestiare of Pierre de Beauvais (late 13th century). #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #harpy #harpies

The True Story of a Sable Maid’s Appearance in the 18th Century by Jenny Mitchell My skin’s not black as night but close, yet I played Juliet. When chains were held towards my feet, I danced across the stage—a quadrille at a ball—and though his skin is white—not dove but tanned,…

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A generic brown bird with a white human head. The head is shown with a distinctive hairstyle of a rolled curl as a fringe and also at the neck. The bird's legs are only shown in white outline with the back leg appearing to be missing. The harpy is shown on a red-brown background with large gold dots in a gilt frame on a manuscript page. Image from Bibliothèque Municipale de Valenciennes, MS 320 [Liber de natura rerum], folio 86r.

Our medieval beast this week is the mythical harpy which was described as a fierce bird with a human head. This image is from a 13th century version of "Liber de natura rerum". #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #harpy #harpies

Jugged Hare by Jean Earle She mourned the long-ears Hung in the pantry, his shot fur Softly disheveled. She smoothed that, Before gutting – yet she would rather Sicken herself, than cheat my father Of his jugged hare. A ten…

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Not another one!

Against a dark cloudy sky with a sunrise/sunset beginning to colour the clouds, an elderly gentleman with a magnificent white beard and a bald pate fringed by grey/silver curls is leaning with a smile towards a naked chubby toddler-sized baby with short dark hair and a small set of white feathered wings attached to its back seated on a white fluffy cloud. The baby is holding a royal orb almost as big as it is and the elderly gentleman is holding a sceptre and is dressed very richly in velvets and embellished silks. His nose is slightly red as if he is either sunburnt or tipsy. Image by Guercino (Giovan Francesco Barbieri) (1591-1666) from Wikimedia Commons.

Today's writing prompt is a painting by Guercino (Giovan Francesco Barbieri) (1591-1666). Why does the baby have wings? Who is the elderly gentleman leaning towards it? And why are they holding the symbols of royalty? #writingprompts #writinglife #writingtips #guercino #giovanfrancescobarbieri

A Wales Coastal Path Blessing by Ifor ap Glyn May saltwind fill your sails at dawn of day; may your steps, like stars of dew stitch the seam of land and sea and the horizon lure you on. And tonight, as the crimson thread of sunset reels your j…

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Book cover showing a woman in Greek draperies against a background of a sea with a ship against a city skyline with a burning sky colouring the whole cover.

"The Wandering Queen" by Claire Heywood is a novel about the legendary Dido, Queen of Carthage, and details her life from her palace childhood to her relationship with Aeneas. #bookrecommendations #tbrlist #claireheywood #thewanderingqueen #retellings #historicalfiction

Love is an Outlaw by Lynette Roberts Love is an outlaw that cannot be held Within the small confines and laws of man: Rather it will turn, as a planet can, Man upside down, like a first line fabled In a notebook lightly pencilled upon…

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A woman in black is holding her forehead and hiding her face as she leans her arms on a table. A vase is set beside her elbow on the table and she seems to be sitting in front of a dark curtain over a very bright window with its light shining on her bowed head. Image by Maria Konstantinowna Bashkirtseff (1858-1884) from ARC (Art Renewal Center).

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Image: Maria Konstantinowna Bashkirtseff (1858-1884) #jumblepublishing #publishing #selfpublishing #editing #mariakonstantinownabaskirtseff #artworks

Jet Planes by David Gwyn Williams I’ve wished ill to the searing warplanes that parallel my horizon and my hedgerows I’ve learnt to estimate their line and cover my ears for when they tear a furrow of thunder between me and my neig…

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Running towards the right across some text, a delicately tinted, smiling stork. It has a long neck and long body, a drooping tail, a small head with a medium-length hooked beak and impressively sturdy feet with large clawed feet. Image from Kongelige Bibliotek, GKS 1633 4° [Bestiary of Ann Walsh], folio 34v.

Our final medieval stork is from the always delightful Bestiary of Ann Walsh (1400-1425). It is unusual in showing the bird running as most medieval storks are shown standing or sitting. #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #stork #storks

Inga an Olaf at the Lighteen by Harry Josephine Giles Inga at the helm, watchan fir lowes, fir shifts i the drifts o rouk; Olaf tentan the diacles, raedeens, airtan oot a trael o light tae a dinger, a payday, a fill hale. Thir crew o linesmen, halfins…

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An uncoloured drawing of a very shaggy bird with a long neck and short pointed beak (which seems to be smiling) and a long body with a drooping tail. It has long thin legs. It is set on a manuscript page within text of the same colour ink. Image from Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Reg. lat. 258, folio 36r.

This particular medieval stork is from a 13th century second family bestiary. Storks were thought to be companionable but were considered as the enemies of snakes. #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #stork #storks

The Refugee’s Roots by Hardeep Sabharwal If you ask me How many houses I have changed till now, I would not reply. But I can tell you About the comforts and discomforts I felt in each of those houses. About a day of loose motion In a hous…

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A cartoon-style drawing of two birds nesting in the opening of a brick turret-like chimney. The birds are white with black-trimmed wings. One is shown sitting on the nest and the other is shown standing behind it with its extremely large beak raised into the air. Image from Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, MS 404 [Rothschild Canticles], folio 121r.

Medieval storks were thought to brood on their nests so devotedly that they lost their feathers. This pair of storks is from the Rothschild Canticles (c1300). #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #stork #storks