Cinnamon bird
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Thecinnamon bird,also known asCinnamologus,Cinomolgus,orCynnamolgusis amythicalcreature described in variousbestiariesas a giantbirdthat collectedcinnamonto build its nests.
According to Herodotus
[edit]According toHerodotusin hisThe History,the cinnamon bird inhabitedArabia,the only country known to produce cinnamon at the time. The giant cinnamon birds collected the cinnamon sticks from an unknown land where the cinnamon trees grew, and used them to construct their nests, fastened to sheercliffs.The Arabians employed a trick to obtain the cinnamon. They cutoxenand otherbeasts of burdeninto pieces, laid them near the birds' nests and withdrew to a distance; the birds were then tempted down to carry the chunks of meat back to their nests, where the weight of the carcasses broke them from the cliffs, leaving the Arabians to collect the fallen cinnamon.
According to Aristotle
[edit]InAristotle'sHistoria Animalium(History of Animals), one of his works of natural history, he explains that the cinnamon bird brought the cinnamon from unknown locations to build its nest on the slender branches in the tops of high trees. The inhabitants of the bird's home attached leaden weights to their arrow tips to topple the nests, collecting the cinnamon sticks within. Aristotle referred to the bird askinnamômon orneon.
According to Pliny the Elder
[edit]Pliny the Elderadopted a more skeptical view of the cinnamon bird, erroneously namedcinnamolgus.He discredited Herodotus specifically and antiquity in general in hisNaturalis historia(Natural History) by asserting that the tales were invented by the natives to raise the price of their commodities.
Other appearances in classical literature
[edit]- De Natura Animalium(On Animals) byClaudius Aelianus
- Solinus'Collectanea Rerum Memorabilium(Collection of Remarkable Facts)
- Physiologus,a collection of moralized animal tales expanded upon over 1000 years
- ALatinprose bestiary from the 12th century with Aristotle's version of the cinnamon bird
- How We Visited the Land of SatinfromGargantua and PantagruelbyFrançois Rabelais,referred to ascinnamologi
References
[edit]- Nigg, Joseph.The Book of Fabulous Beasts: A Treasury of Writings from Ancient Times to the Present.Oxford University Press, 1999.
- Françoise Lecocq,
- « L’œuf du phénix. Myrrhe, encens et cannelle dans le mythe du phénix »,L’animal et le savoir, de l’Antiquité à la Renaissance,2009, Presses univ. de Caen; preprint on line:"Archived copy"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2011-06-06.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link),p. 107-130.Archived copyArchived2011-06-06 at theWayback Machine - «Kinnamômon ornéonou phénix? L’oiseau, la viande et la cannelle »,Prédateurs dans tous leurs états. Evolution, biodiversité, interactions, mythes, symboles,XXXIe Rencontre Internationale d'Archéologie et d'Histoire d’Antibes, dir. J.-P. Brugal, A. Gardeisen, A. Zucker, Éditions APDCA, Antibes, 2011, p. 409–420.
- « L’œuf du phénix. Myrrhe, encens et cannelle dans le mythe du phénix »,L’animal et le savoir, de l’Antiquité à la Renaissance,2009, Presses univ. de Caen; preprint on line:"Archived copy"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2011-06-06.