Drawn

The Medieval Bestiary is a website devoted to animals, both real and fictional, of the Middle Ages. The site reprints text and images from medieval bestiaries — books that used animals stories for allegorical teachings, like this Christlike pelican. Click on to ‘Beasts‘ to browse the various creatures, most of which have more than one accompanying illustration, which you can find by subsequently clicking on ‘Gallery’.

It’s interesting how often the illustrations look very little like, if not simply scientifically inaccurate to their real-life counterparts. I guess that’s what happens when you don’t have digital cameras or Google Image Search. Take for example, the self-castrating beaver that looks more like a dog.