#scitalis

[fox-teeth]

Series 2 of my Medieval Illuminated Manuscript Stickers are now in stock!

Featuring a snail stag, dog-headed man, siren, manicule, scitalis, bat, salamander and a rabbit (murderous) inspired by medieval bestiaries and marginalia, made with real laminated risograph prints!

Available both as individual stickers for $3 and as a packaged set of all eight designs for $20.

And yes, I have plenty of individual stickers and sets of the series 1 stickers for sale too! You could stick so many medieval beafts all over your things.

(please order by 12/17 for best chance at Christmas delivery)

[briefbestiary]

A hot, shining-backed snake. The scitalis is known for having an arrangement of glittering scales upon its back, leaving its prey stunned from seeing the glistening creature.

[morwaldblog]

monsterin

Besides dinosaurs, other of my favorite topics are monsters, especially those from mythology

All of these are from different medieval illustrations, manuscripts, bestiaries, etc. I chose the strangest, least known or unusual depictions of known creatures; there are a couple that didn't had names, so I made them up

Not counting the hydra, I avoided drawing dragons, because I want to save them for a future drawing heh. It was a fun thing to draw, I think my favorite of the bunch is the winged salamander

[raingerr]

SCITALIS !

featuring the model and some animations. i really love how these turned out, esp the calling animation. all the serpents' models ive made are soo fun to work with

[drachenwiki]

Vita Carnis is pretty cool from a horror standpoint, but what I particularily loved about this episode is how it uses a traditional folkloric motiv that I've never seen in pop culture before.

The giant engorged meatsnake is described as smelling pleasantly like scrambled eggs. It also has not moved for a long time and seems to have fed on a lot of people in that time.

In many folktales and mythological stories, there's the idea that some snakes or dragons are able to draw their prey into their mouth with their breath, though it's not always clear if they suck it in or if they are just particularily good smelling. In the case of the Scitalis from ancient natural history and medieval bestiaries, its good looks is enough to draw its prey near.

This is probably related to the deadly gaze of the Basilisk, which continued in the belief of early European settlers in the Americas that rattlesnakes are able to hypnotize their prey. This idea was also discussed in 18th and 19th century science and most famously found its way into Rudyard Kiplings Jungle Book with the hynotizing snake Kaa.

[giada-rose]

Three Wise Women (2021)

"Sole of all serpents Scytale to shed / In vernal frosts his slough..."

- Lucan’s Pharsalia, on the Scitalis

[kardds-arts]

inktober day 30: slither!

featuring some of my favorite mythological snakes!

[dragon-discourse]

Scitalis

Name: Scitalis, Scytale

Type: Folklore

Culture of Origin: Medieval Europe

Description: A serpent with a brilliant skin.

Myth: N/A

Facts:

The Scitalis has such brilliant markings that it can stun its viewer, making them easier to catch.

The Scitalis needs to stun their prey because they’re slow moving.

The Scitalis’ skin produce so much heat that they shed their skin even in the winter.