1 00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:09,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. Hi, 2 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:12,640 Speaker 1: my name is Robert Lamb and this is the Monster Fact, 3 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:15,360 Speaker 1: a short form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind, 4 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:20,160 Speaker 1: focusing in on mythical creatures, ideas, and monsters in time. 5 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:26,680 Speaker 1: My wife recently gave me a copy of the nineteen 6 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:31,160 Speaker 1: eighty five book Magical Beasts from the Time Life Enchanted 7 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:34,279 Speaker 1: World series. This is a volume I didn't have in 8 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:38,280 Speaker 1: my childhood set of the books, and as with other volumes, 9 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:42,640 Speaker 1: this one contains a rich collection of new and classic illustrations. 10 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:45,960 Speaker 1: Flipping through it for the first time, I encountered the 11 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:50,440 Speaker 1: expected array of satyrs, harpies, and unicorns. But then on 12 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 1: page one hundred and twenty two, I encountered a glorious 13 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:58,440 Speaker 1: illustration by none other than contemporary artist Wayne Anderson, whose 14 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:02,080 Speaker 1: book Flight of Dragon was the inspiration for the nineteen 15 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:05,199 Speaker 1: eighty two Rankin and Bass animated film of the same name, 16 00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:11,720 Speaker 1: recently featured on Weird House Cinema. Anderson's interpretation of the 17 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:15,880 Speaker 1: creature is a splendid, antelope like creature with a single 18 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:19,840 Speaker 1: curved horn. This horn does not spiral, but it does 19 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:24,399 Speaker 1: branch off into stunted hollow tubes. It gives the horn 20 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:28,640 Speaker 1: an appearance of both coral and a fluted musical instrument. 21 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:32,720 Speaker 1: It also reminded my wife of the Grinch's dog Max, 22 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:37,160 Speaker 1: once he was augmented with a crude antler. In the cartoon. 23 00:01:38,319 --> 00:01:41,679 Speaker 1: The text of Magical Beasts tells us that this is 24 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:46,120 Speaker 1: the Persian creature known as Shadhar, and when the wind 25 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:50,320 Speaker 1: passes over this horn and its apertures, sweet music is produced, 26 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:53,960 Speaker 1: music so sweet, in fact, that animals of the forest 27 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 1: will draw near. It is then that Shadhavar's predatory nature 28 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 1: is revealed, as the creature pounces on its enthralled prey, 29 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 1: kills it, and devours its flesh. Shadhavar is discussed in 30 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:11,080 Speaker 1: the nineteen fifty text The Unicorn Studies in Muslim Iconography 31 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:16,360 Speaker 1: by the late Islamic art historian Richard Ettinghausen. He writes that, 32 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:20,919 Speaker 1: according to Zakaria al Kuzwani in his thirteenth century book 33 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:24,160 Speaker 1: The Wonders of Creatures and the Marvels of Creation, the 34 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:28,560 Speaker 1: Shadhavar lives in remote regions of room, and its horn 35 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:33,399 Speaker 1: contains no less than forty two hollow branches. The fourteenth 36 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:37,400 Speaker 1: century writer al Damiri would increase that count to seventy two, 37 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 1: and it appears that historian Hamdalla Mustawafi contributed the predatory account, 38 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:48,680 Speaker 1: possibly grafting it on from another imaginary creature, the Serranus, 39 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:52,600 Speaker 1: which was originally described as a marine animal with musical 40 00:02:52,639 --> 00:02:55,960 Speaker 1: apertures on its snout and later as a land animal 41 00:02:56,160 --> 00:02:58,920 Speaker 1: with musical apertures on its snout. In either case, the 42 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:02,519 Speaker 1: Serranus was said to lure in prey with its song 43 00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:07,760 Speaker 1: as well. The excellent blog A Book of Creatures features 44 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:11,400 Speaker 1: a nice illustration of what this Syrianus might have been 45 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:14,360 Speaker 1: expected to look like, and mentions that the name of 46 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:17,840 Speaker 1: the creature may be a reference to a Byzantine musical 47 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:20,720 Speaker 1: instrument that was used, or said to be used to 48 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:24,679 Speaker 1: lure and capture animals. There may also be some connection 49 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:28,520 Speaker 1: here to the sirens of Greek tradition. At any rate, 50 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:31,720 Speaker 1: it's a wonderful, fantastic creature, and also a reminder that 51 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:35,600 Speaker 1: monsters of myth and legend are fluid. They may borrow 52 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:38,840 Speaker 1: their attributes from others of their kind, and of course 53 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:44,000 Speaker 1: they may lend attributes to other creatures as well. Tune 54 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:46,720 Speaker 1: in for additional episodes of the Monster fact or the 55 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:50,120 Speaker 1: Artifact each week. As always, you can email us at 56 00:03:50,160 --> 00:04:01,000 Speaker 1: contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. Stuff 57 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:03,640 Speaker 1: to Blow Your Mind is a production of iHeartRadio. For 58 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:06,520 Speaker 1: more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 59 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.