sansasquatch
asked:
I remember reading in several medieval works about ridiculous creatures called "unipeds." I never saw an illustration of one, but they were described to be a shiny, human-like being with one large foot, and they would sit with this foot flopped over their heads for shade. I specifically remember mentions of them in The Travels of Sir John Mandeville as well as in The Vinland Saga, which are two very different works. Ever seen any illustrations of those things?
answered:
I actually haven’t, which is surprising because you’d think they’d fit right in with the grotesques that were so popular in manuscripts. Humanoids and beasts don’t really show up in the same places, though, so I might have just missed them. I’ll keep an eye open in the future.
they’re also called monopods or sciapods and there are plenty of examples on wikimedia so i pulled some up for ya
from the nuremberg chronicle, 1493:
from the heures à l'usage des antonins, 15th century:
from sebastien munster’s cosmographia, 1544 (with bonus cyclops, conjoined twins, blemmye & furry)
and another one with a blemmye, from the livre des merveilles of ca 1410:
awesome, thank you! I knew there were some out there.