Uploaded June 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
A rundown of the top ten strangest monsters in historic medieval European art. It was exceedingly difficult to narrow this list down to just ten.
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If you don’t know anything about Medieval art, you might reasonably assume old illustrated texts featured basic depictions of historical and religious figures. But medieval art is overflowing with absurdity — particularly when it comes to depictions of myth and monsters.
Beyond the legends of dragons and unicorns you might be familiar with is a truly insane world of lesser known ancient creatures which stretch the imagination with their utter bizarreness. So today, we’re going to take a look at the top ten strangest of these monsters:
0:00 Intro
0:47 10 – Monopod
1:14 9 – Bonnacon
1:41 8 – Sea Monk
2:06 7 – Salamander
2:37 6 – Amphisbaena
2:59 5 – Shurale
3:24 4 – Snail
4:00 3 – Blemmyes
4:27 2 – Vegetable Lamb
5:04 1 – Gryllus
5:30 Outro
Academic Sources:
Monopod Article - Marc Hartzman: weirdhistorian.com/monopod
Bonnacon Article - Abigail Ahlers: https://blogs.getty.edu/iris/the-bonnacon-laughing-stock-of-the-medieval-bestiary/
Sea Monk Article - Alicia Ault: smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/reports-sea-monster-looked-like-monk-wearing-fish-scales-horrified-renaissance-europe-180960885
Salamander Article - Lita Liepa: lithacreationsfrance.com/en-us/blogs/news/salamanders-can-they-walk-on-fire
Amphisbaena Article - Madam Mythos: https://web.pdx.edu/~tdehart/Madam%20Mythos/Countries/Med/Profiles/Amphibeana/amphi.html
Snail Article - Madeleine S. Killacky: theconversation.com/why-medieval-manuscripts-are-full-of-doodles-of-snail-fights-206255
Blemmyes Article - justhistoryposts: justhistoryposts.com/2020/04/22/mythical-creatures-the-headless-blemmyes
Vegetable Lamb Article - Matt Simon: wired.com/2014/04/fantastically-wrong-vegetable-lamb-tartary
Most images from Wikimedia Commons
♫ Music credit to Hooksounds ♫
#Monsters #History #Myth
A rundown of the top ten strangest monsters in historic medieval European art. It was exceedingly difficult to narrow this list down to just ten.
--
Curious Archive Social Media:
Twitter: twitter.com/Curious_Archive
Instagram: instagram.com/CuriousArchive
Facebook: facebook.com/CuriousArchiveYoutube
If you don’t know anything about Medieval art, you might reasonably assume old illustrated texts featured basic depictions of historical and religious figures. But medieval art is overflowing with absurdity — particularly when it comes to depictions of myth and monsters.
Beyond the legends of dragons and unicorns you might be familiar with is a truly insane world of lesser known ancient creatures which stretch the imagination with their utter bizarreness. So today, we’re going to take a look at the top ten strangest of these monsters:
0:00 Intro
0:47 10 – Monopod
1:14 9 – Bonnacon
1:41 8 – Sea Monk
2:06 7 – Salamander
2:37 6 – Amphisbaena
2:59 5 – Shurale
3:24 4 – Snail
4:00 3 – Blemmyes
4:27 2 – Vegetable Lamb
5:04 1 – Gryllus
5:30 Outro
Academic Sources:
Monopod Article - Marc Hartzman: weirdhistorian.com/monopod
Bonnacon Article - Abigail Ahlers: https://blogs.getty.edu/iris/the-bonnacon-laughing-stock-of-the-medieval-bestiary/
Sea Monk Article - Alicia Ault: smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/reports-sea-monster-looked-like-monk-wearing-fish-scales-horrified-renaissance-europe-180960885
Salamander Article - Lita Liepa: lithacreationsfrance.com/en-us/blogs/news/salamanders-can-they-walk-on-fire
Amphisbaena Article - Madam Mythos: https://web.pdx.edu/~tdehart/Madam%20Mythos/Countries/Med/Profiles/Amphibeana/amphi.html
Snail Article - Madeleine S. Killacky: theconversation.com/why-medieval-manuscripts-are-full-of-doodles-of-snail-fights-206255
Blemmyes Article - justhistoryposts: justhistoryposts.com/2020/04/22/mythical-creatures-the-headless-blemmyes
Vegetable Lamb Article - Matt Simon: wired.com/2014/04/fantastically-wrong-vegetable-lamb-tartary
Most images from Wikimedia Commons
♫ Music credit to Hooksounds ♫
#Monsters #History #Myth
