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When I was younger, one of my most cherished possession was a copy of Alice in Wonderland on DVD—a wonderful movie that kept my little hyperactive 7-year-old mind entertained for hours and hours in my grandparents' small living room. I loved looking at the kaleidoscope of colors and the interesting, bubbly characters, and I always saw myself as similar to Alice. And just like Alice, I was also fascinated with the little White Rabbit that would run around Wonderland, always looking at his humorously large clock and pressed for time—something that we can all relate to now as adults with looming deadlines, exams, work, and jobs.
Of course, it is fitting now that I model my website themed around the rabbit, an animal that I always found cautious, yet curious, of the world. So, while reading the Bodley Bestiary (Barber trans.), the animal that caught my interest was the hare due to its resemblance to rabbits. Though considered different species, the hare and rabbit reside in the same family called Leporidae, but, within the bestiary, the hare is not distinguished by genetic differences to other animals, but rather by conceptual ideas.
A quick description: in the Bodley Bestiary, the hare is described to be a "light-footed" creature who is "fairly timid." Their long legs allow them to be swift and quick, giving them an advantage when escaping from their enemies. Their Latin name "Lepus" derives from the Latin word "levipes"—which means "light-footed"—to describe their swiftness and agility. In addition to its swiftness, the hare has been described in other bestiaries with the ability to change genders at will, allowing it to switch between the male or female genders to reproduce.
MESSAGE BEHIND THE TEXT
MESSAGE BEHIND THE TEXT
The Bodley Bestiary explores the idea behind the hare as a creature representing the virtue of faith and fear in God, and, as a creature that represents Moses: "The hare represents men who fear God, and who put their trust not in themselves but in the Creator...For the rock is Christ. It is written of Moses that he, the hare of the Lords, shall stand in the cleft of the rock, because he hoped for salvation through the passion of our Redeemer..." (Barber, 66-67). The bestiary goes on to reference 2 passages from the bible to support this allegory: "The hares are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in rocks," (Proverb 30:26) and "The high hills are refuge for the hedgehogs; and the rocks for the hares." (Proverb 104:18).
Within this allegory, the vehicle is the hare's timid and fearful nature, causing them to hide behind rocks, while the tenor are men who fear God, as well as Moses and his faith to Christ, who stood by the rocks for his Redeemer. By describing the hare, the bestiary expresses how humans should rely on Christ to save themselves and have faith in God to shelter them. Since the hare is considered "feeble folk," the text makes a statement about human's inherent weak mentality, which is susceptible to the devil's seductions. But the counter of "yet make they their houses in rocks" also presents hares as being wise enough to protect themselves with rocks from predators, and by extension, showing how humans will be wise to protect themselves by following God. The bestiary advises the reader to act like the hare—to seek refuge behind the rock of Christ—so they can be protected from the devil's temptations.
ILLUMINARY CONTEXT
ILLUMINARY CONTEXT
This illumination from the Bodley Bestiary depicts 4 hares arranged circle within a circumference of red and blue pigment and a gold-gilded circle. Swirly foliage adorns the left and right side, framing the image, and all within a border of red and green. The hares resemble real-life ones with their long ears, legs, and bodies—a prominent figure with other illustrated animals as well.
Perhaps displaying their more divine representation of Moses within the text, the incorporation of halo-like circles and colorful floral swirls demonstrate their holy connection to God, drawing the audience's attention to the hares as the main focal-point. But it does not completely position the hare in the center like it does with the lion's illuminations, but rather around in a circle, probably to give enough context that the hare is an important symbolic animal but not as important as an animal who represents Christ. Additionally, this is the only image of the hare while some animals with more complex morals receive more than one picture.
Their shared ears and the combination of red and blue at the center of the picture could represent their anamorphic ability, which is not something stated in the Bodley text explicitly but perhaps alluded to through the image. This duality in presenting the hare as male and female can symbolize the hare's positive association with God, but also perhaps sinful lust in their urge to mate (demonstrated with real-life hares and mentioned in the Old Testament). By connecting this negative concept of lust with the female side of the hare, it shows the oppressing gender dynamics and more negative views of women during medieval times, with men holding more authority and power over women. The presentation of this in the illumination and scripture conveys that this idea is innate, something natural and expected from God, rather than something that was a social construction by their society.
The image may also convey the swiftness of the hare by depicting 4 hares in a circle rather than just 1 hare, showing how they are is quick enough to be anywhere at once. For me, it reminds me of how someone can leave an afterimage if they move fast enough.
This depiction of the hare is also similar to the one depicted in the Bodley Bestiary, with its long ears and long legs springing mid-jump. Though similar, this hare has sharp claws rather than the rounded paws shown above. This minor detail suggests a more aggressive and threatening aspect of the hare, raising a discrepancy between its timid and feeble characterization.
BESTIARY HISTORY AND SOURCES
BESTIARY HISTORY AND SOURCES
Many medieval manuscripts similar to the Bodely Bestiary were created by skilled hands, as shown by the handwritten font, lining of the pages, and pricking of images in these bestiaries, often copied from multiple other works. Elegant Latin scrawl fill the parchments and illuminations made from gold and a variety of pigments adorn the text, providing a visual means to understand it, perhaps even as a way for the illiterate to understand these passages as well. The creation of these manuscripts was often costly and time-intensive due to the vast amount of materials needed, but they served as entertainment for the rich and as a mode of information for all kinds of animals.
Though not scientifically accurate, these bestiaries served as a dictionary-like source filled with animals for moral and allegorical lessons, defined and categorized by their matriarchal organization, anthropocentric content, and symbolic nature. The animals are mainly organized based on a hierarchal order, with land animals being first, animals belonging to the sky second, and animals in the sea being third. And in each category, each animal is organized based on their power and religious importance. Many included animals were never actually witnessed personally by the priests who created these manuscripts, but often times the information originated from older scriptures and previous bestiaries. Primarily, the main sources for these bestiaries were usually from The Physiologus (2nd century CE, Greek) and Isidore of Seville's Etymologies (7th century CE, Latin). The moralizations of animals in bestiaries spawned from the former source while the latter focused more on the descriptions of the animals and did not have moralizations.
With the Bodley Bestiary, the hare shows up more towards the end of the entries for creatures of the land, which supports their lack of power compared to bigger and stronger animals and their standing in holy representation. The hare's innate swiftness and speed comes directly from their descriptions in the Etymologies: "The hare (lepus) is so called from levipes (light foot), because it runs fast. It is a timid animal." (Etymologies, Book 12, 1:23). The hare's ability to switch genders probably originated from Pliny the Elder's Natural History, which gained its knowledge from The Physiologus:"...that it is a hermaphrodite that can reproduce without a mate." (Natural History, Book 8, 81).
St. Isidore of Seville (1655), depicted by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
Panther, Bern Physiologus, 9th century
THE HARE: PAST AND NOW?
THE HARE: PAST AND NOW?
In modern times, we are able to define the hare given its biological and genetic traits, instincts, and behavior, but before scientific advancement the medieval people defined the hare with bestiaries and scriptures. These sources influenced social perceptions of what a hare is and what they represent, reflecting what their social-cultural climate was at the time. Within different texts and mediums, their purpose was not always to provide an accurate truth and they were always susceptible to the creator's own ideologies and beliefs. That is why the hare and other animals usually took on multiple types of definitions and ideas in these sources. As stated earlier, through the Bodley Bestiary, the hare came to represent the idea of man's trust and faith in their creator, God, as a means of salvation. However, this positive representation of the hare is undercut by the reinforcement of gender roles during this era, alluding to females in a negative light by referencing lust. Man is believed to be weak minded, easily seduced and swayed by sin from women and the devil.
With the internet and advancing technology, the ability to share and access knowledge and information has become quick and easy—way faster than creating an entire bestiary by hand. On top of modern textual sources, like blogs, online articles, websites, etc. there are many more visual sources, like movies and videos, and even recorded audio, like songs and music. My childhood movie, Alice in Wonderland, can be used as a modern-day example of a movie where animals are portrayed and personified, like the White Rabbit, the Caterpillar, and the March Hare. Though animals can be defined scientifically now, perhaps people in the future will analyze what animals represented to us culturally from the content we create today. But for now, all I know is this: my White Rabbit has truly brought me down an interesting rabbit hole this time.
REFLECTION
REFLECTION
With this website being my first ever academic writing platform, it is exciting to see my work being shared to the public and my peers, even if it only reaches one or two people or only to my professors. I've had experience creating websites for class projects before, but never one that hosted my own writings. Personally, there is a higher expectation for my writing on this website, but this is something that can be used to communicate personally with an audience like how people post on social media. It's just with a different tone, less casual than social media and more formal, but not as formal as writing an academic paper. It feels like I'm able to blurb out my thoughts, stream-of-consciousness style (don't worry, of course I will revise and edit it so it is more comprehendible than a garbled bunch of ideas). With this more laxed space, I'm able to communicate my thoughts and ideas with my own creativity and flare, from the construction of my analyses to the kinds of images and videos I include. There are also a lot of benefits in documenting my progress—being able to reflect back on my writing by the end of the year and seeing the progress and growth in my journey. I'm excited to see how I'll fare in the future of this website and in HumCore.
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