Cultural depictions of salamanders

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A salamander unharmed in the fire
(Bestiary, 14th century)

The salamander is an amphibian of the order Urodela which once, like many real creatures, often was suppositiously ascribed fantastic and sometimes occult qualities by pre-modern authors, as in the allegorical descriptions of animals in medieval bestiaries. The legendary salamander is often depicted as a typical salamander in shape, with a lizard-like form, but is usually ascribed an affinity with fire, sometimes specifically elemental fire.

## European lore

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This legendary creature embodies the fantastic qualities that ancient and medieval commentators ascribed to the natural salamander. Many of these qualities are rooted in verifiable traits of the natural creature but often exaggerated.[1] A large body of legend, mythology, and symbolism has developed around this creature over the centuries. Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae of 1758 established the scientific description of the salamander and noted[2] the chief characteristics described by the ancients: the reported ability to live in fire, and the oily exudates.

The salamander were discussed allegorically in the writings of Christian fathers as well as in the Physiologus and bestiaries.[3]

### Classical

[edit]

Aristotle, Pliny, Nicander, Aelian

The standard lore of the salamander as a creature enduring fire and extinguishing it was known by the Ancient Greeks, as far back as the 4th century BC, by Aristotle (384–322 BC) and his successor Theophrastus (c. 371–c. 287 BCE)[3] who gave such description of the σαλαμάνδρα (salamandra). The salamander's mastery over fire is described by Aristotle in his History of Animals,[4][5] while his Generation of Animals offers the explanation that since there are creatures belonging to the elements of earth, air and water, salamander must be such a creature that belongs to the element of fire.[6] Theophrastus refers to the salamander as a lizard ("saura") whose emergence is a sign of rain.[7]

The Ancient Greek physician Nicander (2nd century BC), in his Therica, provides another early source of the lore of fire-resistance.[3][9] In his Alexipharmaca, he describes the product of the salamander, referred to as the "sorcerer's lizard" (or "sorceress's lizard", φαρμακίδος σαύρη[a]) in the form of poisonous potion. The aftereffects of ingestion included symptoms of "inflammation of the tongue, chills, trembling of the joints, livid welts, and lack of mental lucidity".[11] A person who consumed this beverage ("draught") was thus enfeebled and reduced to crawling on all fours, as illustrated in the Paris manuscript of the work.[12][13] It is puzzling why people would so frequently ingest the debilitating salamander potion such as to merit a warning. One conjecture is that a person could have been secretly administered a dose of poison or charm by another.[14][b] Another possibility is the accidental introduction of it into food or drink.[16] Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD) warns of its effects of (detrimental) hair loss,[20] though other sources hint at its controlled use for the "removal of unwanted hairs".[21][22]

Pliny described the salamander "an animal like a lizard in shape and with a body specked all over; it never comes out except during heavy showers and goes away the moment the weather becomes clear."[c][17] Pliny's description of physical markings suggest possible identification with the fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra), perhaps one of its subspecies.[1][23][24][d] Pliny even made the important distinction between salamanders and lizards, which are similar in shape but different in other respects, which was not systematized until modern times, when biologists classified lizards as reptiles and salamanders as amphibians.

Pliny offers the frigidity of their bodies as an alternate explanation to why the salamander can extinguish fire, considered implausible.[26][1] Note that Pliny offers this explanation in one part of his work,[17] while elsewhere he disbelieves the premise that the salamander has such fire-quenching capability, pointing out that if such an idea were true, it should be easy to demonstrate.[19][27] Pliny also reports that his contemporary Sextius Niger denied the idea that salamanders could extinguish fire, though Sextius also believed honey-preserved salamander acted as an aphrodisiac when combined with food after it was properly de-headed, gutted, etc.[19]

Pliny also notes medicinal and poisonous properties, which are founded in fact on some level, since many species of salamander, including fire salamanders and alpine salamanders, excrete toxic, physiologically active substances. These substances are often excreted when the animal is threatened, which has the effect of deterring predators.[25] The extent of these properties is greatly exaggerated though, with a single salamander being regarded as so toxic that by twining around a tree it could poison the fruit and so kill any who ate them and by falling into a well could slay all who drank from it, and also infect bread baking on the kiln by touching the wood or stone underneath it.[e][19][18][29]

Roughly contemporary with Pliny is a bas-relief of a salamander straddling the cross-beam of a balance scale in an anvil-and-forge scene found in the ruins of the Roman town of Pompeii. Liliane Bodson identifies the animal as Salamandra salamandra, the familiar fire salamander, and suspects that it might have been a sign for a blacksmith's shop.[30]

Salamander in a copy of Dioscurides

―Vienna ms. 6th cent.

Dioscorides (c. 40–90 AD) in De materia medica also repeats the lore of the salamander extinguishing fire but refutes it. Miniature paintings of salamander engulfed in flame occurs in illuminated manuscript copies, such as the Vienna Dioscurides ms. (med. gr. 1, see fig. right) and Morgan Library ms. (M. 652).[13] The salamander purportedly had septic (or caustic and corrosive) abilities, allegedly useful in the treatment of leprosy.[31]

A few centuries later (late 2nd–early 3rd century AD), Greek-speaking Roman author Aelian describes salamanders as being drawn to the fires of forges and quenching them, to the annoyance of the blacksmiths. Aelian is also careful to note that the salamander is not born of fire itself, unlike the pyrausta.[32]

### Jewish and Early Christian

[edit]

Talmud, Augustine, Physiologus

The legendary salamandra (סָלָמַנְדְּרָה / סלמנדרה) mentioned in the Talmud[3] was a creature engendered in fire, and according to the Hagigah 27a, anyone smeared with its blood allegedly became immune to fire.[33][34] A fire salamander appears where a fire is sustained at a spot for seven days and seven nights according to the Midrash, but the fire needs be maintained 7 years according to Rashi (1040–1105), the primary commentator on the Talmud, describes the salamander as one which is produced by burning a fire in the same place for seven consecutive years.[34][35]

The Byzantine St. Gregory of Nazianzus (c. 329–390) referred to a creature that could dance in fire, which destroys other creatures, referring to the salamander, as indicated by his commentator Pseudo-Nonnus, who said it was the size of a lizard or a small crocodile, though land-dwelling.[13][f]

Saint Augustine (354–430) in the City of God based the discussion of the miraculous aspects of monsters (including the salamander in fire) largely on Pliny's Natural History.[37] Augustine then used the example of the salamander to argue for the plausibility of the Purgatory where humans being punished by being burned in eternal flame.[38][1]

A salamandra in a tub.

―MS Bern 318 (Latin Physiologus), fol. 17v

The Physiologus thought to have been originally written in Greek by an author in Alexandria was a treatise on animals in the Christian context, and the antecedent of the later medieval bestiaries. It is possible the inclusion of "salamander" reflects the author's familiarity with the author's native (African) fauna.[39] In the Physiologus the salamander was allegoric for the three men cast into Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace and survived.[3]

An early surviving illustrated example is the Bern Physiologus of the 9th century, with the illustration (fig. right) described as "a satyr-like creature in a circular wooden tub".[40]

### Early medieval Hermeticism

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Hieroglyphica The 5th century Hieroglyphica attributed to Horapollo (supposed original written in Coptic) also mentions the salamander entering the furnace and putting out its flames;[41] it is pointed out this work draws from Greek classical authors as well as the Physiologus.[42][43][44]

The entry occurs in Hieroglyphica, Book 2, Ch. LXII.[45][46][47] This "alleged hieroglyph" is probably dubious.[47][49] An editor of the text finds it "strange" that a "A Man Burned by Fire" is represented by the symbol of the salamander, which is incapable of being burnt.[45][47] As for the fragment saying it "destroys" with "each of its two heads" (ἑκατέρᾳ τῇ κεφαλῇ),[50] this is thought to be a contamination with the lore of the two-headed amphisbaena.[51]

### High Middle Ages

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Salamander depicted in bestiary (detail)

―MS Harley 3244, fol. 63r. c. 1236.

Bestiaries After the end of the Classical era, depictions of the salamander became more fantastic and stylized, often retaining little resemblance to the animal described by ancient authors.

The medieval European bestiaries contain fanciful pictorial depictions of salamanders. The oldest such illustration of the salamander, according to Florence McCulloch's treatise on bestiaries, occurs in the Bern 318 manuscript, but this actually the so-called Bern Physiologus of the 9th century, discussed above. Other iconographic examples come from bestiaries of the post-millennium, e.g., "a worm penetrating flames" (Bodleian 764, 12c.),[g] "a winged dog" ("GC", BnF fr. 1444. 13c.[h]), and "a small bird in flames" (BnF fr. 14970, 13c.[i]).[40]

The so-called second family group of bestiaries describe the salamander as not only impervious to fire, but the most poisonous of all poisonous creatures (or serpents). And (as Pliny had explained[53]) its presence in a tree infects all its apples,[54] and renders the water of the well poisonous to all who drink it. It dwells and survives in fire, and can extinguish fire as well.[52][55]

The bestiary of MS Bodley 764 (which is second family) has different incipit which reads "There is an animal called the dea, in Greek 'salamander' or 'stellio' in. Latin",[j] yet it still is followed by a separate chapter on the stellio newt. [56]

German polymath Albertus Magnus described the incombustible asbestos cloth as "salamander's plumage" (pluma salamandri) in his work.[57] (Cf. § Transmission of salamander-asbestos cloth lore below)

#### Love/anti-love symbolism

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Titurel There seems to be a confused use of the salamander, as the symbol of passionate love and its opposite, its dispassionate restraint. The salamander in Christian art represents "faith over passion", according to one critic,[58] or a symbol of chastity in religious art, a view by Duchalais seconded by Émile Mâle.[59][60] In the rose windows of Notre Dame de Paris, the figure of Chasity holds a shield depicting a salamander (though perhaps depicted rather bird-like).[60][k]

In medieval Arthurian literature, the salamander who dwells in the fire of Agrimont[l] is invoked by the character Tschinotulander (var. Schionatulander, Schoynatulander) in professing his love for Sigune.[62] Tschinotulander owns an oriental made shield,[63] which "contains a living salamander" whose "proper" fiery heat enhances the powers of the surrounding gemstones"[64] but, it is explained by Lady Aventiure, it is the heathens who take the salamander as a love symbol, when it fact, it represents the opposite, unminne or "un-love".[66][m]

In the poem by Petrarch (1304–1374),[68] the salamander is used to represent "infinite, burning desire".[69]

### Renaissance

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Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) wrote the following on the "salamãndra" : "This has no digestive organs, and gets no food but from the fire, in which it constantly renews its scaly skin. The salamander, which renews its scaly skin in the fire,―for virtue".[70][f]

Commentators in Europe still persisted in grouping "crawling things" (reptiles or reptilia in Latin) together and thus creatures in this group, which typically included salamanders (Latin salamandrae), dragons (Latin dracones or serpentes), and basilisks (Latin basilisci), were often associated, as in Conrad Lycosthenes' Prodigiorum ac ostentorum chronicon of 1557.[71]

Of all the traits ascribed to salamanders, the ones relating to fire have stood out most prominently. This connection probably originates from a behavior common to many species of salamander: hibernating in and under rotting logs. When wood was brought indoors and put on the fire, the creatures "mysteriously" appeared from the flames. The 16th-century Italian artist Benvenuto Cellini (1500–1571) famously recalled witnessing just such an appearance as a child in his autobiography.[72] Thomas Bulfinch in his commentary about Cellini's encounter explains that a salamander exudes a milky substance when frightened, which could plausibly protect it long enough to survive the fire as it scurried away.[72]

#### Paracelsus

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Sixteenth-century woodcut questionably identified as a depiction of a salamander by Manly P. Hall

Paracelsus (1493–1541) suggested that salamanders were the elementals of fire,[73][74][76] which has had substantial influence on the role of salamanders in the occult. Paracelsus, contrary to the prevalent belief at the time, considered salamanders to be not devils,[77] but similar to humans, only lacking a soul (along with giants, dwarves, mermaids, elves, and elemental spirits in human form).[78][79] Salamanders due to their fiery environs cannot interact with humans as other elements may be able to do,[80] so, whereas the undine/nymph can marry a human and will seek to do so, to gain an immortal soul,[81] it is rare for other elements to marry humans, though they may develop a bond and become a human's servant.[82]

Paracelsus also considered the will-o'-the-wisp to be "monsters" or the "misbegotten" of the salamander spirit.[84]

Salamander iconography associated with Paracelsus

Frequently reprinted as Paracelsus's "salamander" image[85][86][87][88] is the illustration of a salamander is presented in the (influential[89]) 20th-century occult work by Manly P. Hall which attributes the illustration to Paracelsus.[90] This illustration appears to originate in a 1527 anti-papal tract by Andreas Osiander and Hans Sachs, where it is identified as "the Pope as a monster".[91] Its association with Paracelsus derives from his Auslegung der Magischen Figuren im Carthäuser Kloster zu Nũrnberg in which the author presents explanations of some illustrations found in a Carthusian monastery in Nuremberg; the illustration in question he labels as "a salamander or abominable worm with a human head and crowned with a crown and a Pope's hat thereon",[92] which is later explained to represent the Pope.[93][n][o]

#### Later alchemical treatises

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A 16th-century image of a salamander from the Book of Lambspring

A later alchemical text, the Book of Lambspring [de] (Das Buch Lambspring, 1556), depicts a salamander as a white bird, being kept in fire by a man with a polearm. The text in German states the salamander while in fire exhibits an excellent color hue, while the Latin inscription connects this to the philosopher's stone (lapidis philosophorum).[96] But in the Book of Lambspring inserted into Lucas Jennis Musaeum Hermeticum (1625), an illustration with the same composition (man holding a polearm) depicts the salamander as a lizard-like animal with star-like markings (see right). The author is also styled Lamspring, and his Book bears the title Tractatus de lapide philosophorum with 15 pictures. The first 10 explains the Arabic alchemical process of extracting spirit/animus from the corpus, culminating in the crowned king and salamander.[97]

#### Gessner

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Two salamanders of Gessner

The more realistic "salamandra"

The more fanciful "salamandra"

―Conrad Gessner (1586) Historiæ animalium, Vol. 2, pp. 80–81

Conrad Gessner provided two illustrations of the salamander in his work, one realistically lifelike, the other fanciful (with mammal-like head), for comparison.[98][99][100] In the caption to the lower image, he explains that the upper image was drawn from life, whereas in the lower image someone supposed the salamandra to be the same as the stellio ("starred" newt), and based on book knowledge, drew literal stars down its back.[98][102]

#### Baconian

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Francis Bacon known for a more scientific approach, discusses in Sylva sylvarum (1626/1627) the possibility of the salamander's fire-resistance, stating that if one's hand is cloaked in a hermetic enough seal to shut out the fire, e.g., using egg whites, igniting the hand afterwards with alcohol will be endurable.[103]

Thomas Browne, a follower of Baconian principles, in his Pseudodoxia Epidemica (1646) also discusses the salamander at more length, including esoterica from the past, such as the salamander's use as hieroglyphic symbol.[47]

## In heraldry

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Salamander as the animal emblem of King Francis I of France

― Château d'Azay-le-Rideau, Vienne, France

Francis I's salamander device

―Francis I's palace, Château de Chambord

In European heraldry, the salamander is typically depicted as either a lizard or a dragon within a blazing fire. In some instance, the heraldic salamander resembles a fire-breathing dog.[104][105]

Francis I of France used a salamander as his personal emblem, as evidenced on the relief at the Château de Chambord. And the king's motto was "Nutrico et extinguo (I nurture, I extinguish)".[104][106] [107]

## Modern folklore

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In French folklore, it has been alleged that the salamander's highly toxic breath was enough to swell a person until their skin broke.[108] In Auvergne, the salamander was known by such names as soufflet (meaning 'bellows') or souffle ('breath') or enfleboeuf ("beef-puffer"), and was thought capable of killing cattle, and in Berry was the belief salamander could cause cattle to swell, even from a considerable distance.[109] There was also a supposed black and yellow lizard known as lebraude locally, with similar attached lore: it only breathed once every 24 hours, but the exhalation killed any humans or plants or trees.[109] In Auvergne, it was told that the only way to eradicate the lebraude was to keep it isolated in confined space for 24 hours, and let its breath kill itself.[108] In the 18th century, Bretons had a taboo against calling the salamander by its true name, for fear people would come to harm if the creature heard it.[110]

A legend from Lausitz recorded in German tells of a sorcerer who kept a salamander sealed in bottle but could be unleashed on his enemies. While the magician was staying at Lauban, the broom maid's daughter tampered with the bottle and released the salamander. The spirit announced his gratitude to the townsfolk, and thereafter would warn them of an outbreak of fire by flying above the house in danger in the guise of a pyramid and serpent, and came to be called Feuerpuhz, a name that alludes to blowing of air, or swooshing out of a bottle.[111]

## Asia

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Main articles: huoshu and huoshu § fire-laundered cloth

According to the sixteenth century Chinese pharmacopoeic treatise Bencao Gangmu, the Chinese "salamander" (actually the huoshu 火鼠 "fire-rat") grew long hair that could be woven into cloth which was unharmed by fire and could be cleaned by burning, hence called huo huan bu (火浣布 "cloths washed with fire" or "fire-laundered cloth").[112] The work is a compilation of past works, many ancient, and though its entry for the "fire rat" does not clarify its sources, similar description of the fire-laundered cloth could be found in Ge Hong's[p] Baopuzi (4th century): both works claim such fireproof cloth could be made from both animal hair and plant material.[113] Ge Hong's Chinese account of the "fire rat" is characterized as a "disguise of the classical salamander" by Berthold Laufer.[114]

### Transmission of salamander-asbestos cloth lore

[edit]

Laufer notes that Arab or Persian writers gave a mixed description of their versions of the salamandar, written samandal or samandar, sometimes as a bird or phoenix, but also as a marten-like animal, said to yield cloth which can be laundered in fire, similar to Chinese lore.[115] Such description of "samandar" as marten-like and yielding incombustible cloth was attested by the writer (Lutfullah Halimi,[116] d. 1516) cited by d'Herbelot[117] and (as "samandal") by al-Damiri (d. 1415).[118] As for the commingling of the creature with the bird-kind, the Yaqut al-Hamawi (d. 1229) recorded the popular belief that asbestos came from phoenix feathers,[119] and this is echoed by the European notion of asbestos as "salamander's plumage".[118]

Laufer was convinced such Arab lore had been transmitted into Europe in the 10th or 11th century, via Byzantium and Spain [120] (though the Arab literature he cited above did not date so far back). The earliest attestation in medieval Europe of associating the salamander with an unburnable cloth occurs in the Provençal Naturas d'alcus auzels (13th century) according to Laufer.[121] Also the German scholar Albertus Magnus had called the incombustible cloth pluma salamandri ("salamander's plumage") in his work.[122]

Some commentators also vaguely ascribe the introduction into Europe via early travellers to China[when?] were shown garments supposedly woven from such "salamander's" hair or wool. Such garments were, of course, actually made of asbestos cloth.[72][123]

According to T. H. White, Prester John had a robe made from it; the "Emperor of India" possessed a suit made from a thousand skins; and Pope Alexander III had a tunic which he valued highly.[29] William Caxton (1481) wrote: "This Salemandre berithe wulle, of which is made cloth and gyrdles that may not brenne in the fyre."[29]

Randle Holme III (1688) wrote: "...I have several times put [salamander hair] in the Fire and made it red hot and after taken it out, which being cold, yet remained perfect wool".[29][124]

An alternative interpretation was that this material was a kind of silk: A 12th-century letter supposedly from Prester John says, "Our realm yields the worm known as the salamander. Salamanders live in fire and make cocoons, which our court ladies spin and use to weave cloth and garments. To wash and clean these fabrics, they throw them into flames".[125] Marco Polo still employed the term "salamander" but recognized this was no creature, but rather an incombustible substance mined from earth, and had visited the production site.[57][124]

## Eponymy

[edit]

The beast's ability to withstand fire has led to its name being applied to a variety of heating devices, including space heaters, ovens and cooking and blacksmithing devices, dating back at least to the 17th century.[126][127]

## See also

[edit]

* Gnome
* Kumbhanda
* Lurchi
* Sylph
* Undine

## Explanatory notes

[edit]

1. ^ Also may simply mean "poisonous lizard" according to LSJ.[10]
2. ^ Conjecturally, the love potion described by Theocritus (3rd century BCE), Idyll 2.58 as requiring ground up lizard may also refer to the salamander, according to the thesis by Ella Faye Wallace.[15]
3. ^ Latin: "sicut salamandrae, animal lacertae figura, stellatum, numquam nisi magnis imbribus proveniens et serenitate desinens".
4. ^ Pliny also refers in the preceding chapter (XXIX.22) to "stellio" or "starred lizard" that provides antidote to scorpion venom; these "star-like markings" are consistent with the golden Alpine salamander (Salamandra atra aurorae) of Europe that has golden or yellow spots or blotches on its back[25]
5. ^ The salamandar seems to poison bread by touching the firewood ("wood upon which bread is baked") in the older translation,[19] but the modern translator corrects the omission giving "bread is placed upon wood or stone that has been touched by a salamander"[28] (original text: "quin immo si contacto ab ea ligno, lapidi crusta panis inponatur".[18]
6. ^ a b The Byzantine dictionary Suda (10th cent.) has an entry under "Scaled [creatures] (φολίδωτόν", which classifies lizard, tortoise, crocodile, and salamander as scaled.[36]
7. ^ MS Bodleian 764, fol. 55. Text edited by Barber.[52]
8. ^ GC=Guillaume le Clerc bestiary, originally written 1210–11. Bibliothèque nationale de France fr. 1444, fol. 253v.
9. ^ fol. BnF fr. 14970, 23v. 13th century
10. ^ "Latin: "Est animal quod dicitur dea. quod dicitur salamandra grece. latine uero stellio".
11. ^ In full color, it appears to be a yellow beast in red flames.[61]
12. ^ Agrimontin
13. ^ In this work, Ledobodantz von Gredimonte (var. Ledibodantz) not only wears a basilisk as a heraldic device (J. T. 3985), but carries a live basilisk, and it must be dealt with using a mirror.[67]
14. ^ According to one essay, the Pope's hat curved at the top in the illustration is of the Jewish style, consistent with Paracelsus view the cartoon represents a pope whose teachings are "less Christian but rather Heathen/Judaic (Denn nicht Christlichen sondern Jüdisch"/Heidnisch)".[94]
15. ^ Catholic Archbishop Raymund Netzhammer [de] (1862–1945) explained that the set of woodcuts was commissioned by Osiander based on some old "pope illustrations" found at the monastery, perhaps dating back to the time of Joachim of Fiore (d. 1202).[95]
16. ^ Ge Hong romanized as "Ko Hung" in the old style.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Byghan, Yowann (2020). "Salamander". Sacred and Mythological Animals: A Worldwide Taxonomy. London: McFarland. pp. 297–298\. ISBN 9781476679501.
2. ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae. Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Stockholm: Laurentius Salvius. p. 205.
3. ^ a b c d e Ragan, Mark A. (2023). Kingdoms, Empires, and Domains: The History of High-Level Biological Classification. Oxford University Press. p. 57\. ISBN 9780197643037.
4. ^ Cresswell, Richard tr. (1897) Aristotle's History of Animals: In Ten Books, Book V, Ch. XVII, Sec. 13. London: George Bell
5. ^ Hillman (2001), p. 94.
6. ^ Hillman (2001), pp. 93–94.
7. ^ Theophrastus; Hort, Arthur F. (1926). Enquiry into Plants, Volume II: Books 6-9. On Odours. Weather Signs. Loeb. p. 400.
8. ^ a b Wallace (2018), p. 34.
9. ^ Nicander, Therica 818.[8]
10. ^ Wallace (2018), p. 36.
11. ^ Nicander, Alexipharmaca 537–541 [8]
12. ^ Hillman (2001), p. 93.
13. ^ a b c Weitzmann, Kurt (2014). Greek Mythology in Byzantine Art. Princeton Legacy Library. pp. 27–28\. ISBN 9781400857425.
14. ^ Wallace (2018), pp. 50–51.
15. ^ Wallace (2018), p. 44.
16. ^ Hillman (2001), p. 94, quoting Aetius of Amida,  Iatricorum, Book 13 on the dangers of salamanders and caterpillars falling in the food or boiling water while journeying. Hillman considers this more likely possibility than the administration of some sort of medicine.
17. ^ a b c Pliny the Elder, The Natural History X.86 (66–67)), John Bostock and Henry Thomas Riley, eds., London: Taylor and Francis, 1855. Translation slightly modified.
18. ^ a b c Latin text corresp. to Eng. tr. 29.23: Karl Friedrich Theodor Mayhoff, ed. (1906). "Plin. Nat. 29.24". Lipsiae: Teubner. Archived from the original on 2017-01-07. Retrieved 2024-07-29.
19. ^ a b c d e Pliny the Elder, The Natural History XXIX.23), John Bostock and Henry Thomas Riley, eds., London: Taylor and Francis, 1856.
20. ^ Pliny states in one place that the spot that loses hair is left with leprous skin. (Book 10) [17] Elsewhere Pliny states that a mere touch of its saliva at one spot, even the soul of one's foot, could cause the loss of all body hair.[18][19]
21. ^ Martial; Bohn, Henry George ed. (1888) Epigrams II.66, London: George Bell & sons
22. ^ Hillman (2001), p. 94: "removal of unwanted hairs", with note 9 citing Martial's Epigrams 2.64 [sic.] and Petronius, Satyricon, chap. 107 sect. 15, etc.
23. ^ Hillman (2001), p. 95.
24. ^ Sergius L. Kuzmin (1999-10-06). "AmphibiaWeb: Salamandra salamandra".[permanent dead link]
25. ^ a b Arie van der Meijden (1999-12-30). "AmphibiaWeb: Salamandra atra".[permanent dead link] The salamander and the "stellio" (starred) newt are confounded in later times (cf. Bodley 764 below, and also § Gessner).
26. ^ Aristotle's "element" theory and Pliny constitute the two major explanations for fire resistance among some 90 references to the salamander in antiquity (Hillman (2001), p. 94). Cf. also his note 5 "74. Note that Pliny is adamantly opposed to this view.. if this belief were true it would have al- ready been demonstrated"
27. ^ As pointed out by Hillman (2001), p. 94, notes 5 (partially quoted above) and note 6.
28. ^ Caius Plinius Secundus (1963). "XXIII.23". Natural History. Loeb classical library. Vol. Libri XXVIII-XXXII. Translated by Harris Rackham. Harvard University Press. p. 222\. ISBN 9780434994182. `{{cite book}}`: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
29. ^ a b c d White, T. H., ed. (1988). The Book of Beasts: Being a Translation from a Latin Bestiary of the Twelfth Century. Dover. pp. 182–184\. ISBN 9780486246093.
30. ^ Bodson, Liliane (2002). "Amphibians and Reptiles". In Jashemski, Wilhelmina Feemster; Meyer, Frederick G. (eds.). The Natural History of Pompeii. Cambridge University Press. pp. 329–330\. ISBN 978-0-521-80054-9.
31. ^ Hillman (2001), p. 24.
32. ^ Aelian (1958). Scholfield, A.F. (ed.). De Natura Animalium. Loeb. p. Bk. 2, Sec. 30. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
33. ^ Jastrow, Marcus (1899). "salamandra" סָלָמַנְדְּרָה. A Dictionary of the Targumim: The Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi and the Midrashic Literature. Yerushalmi and the Midrashic Literature 11. London: Luzac & Company. p. 995.
34. ^ a b Singer, Isidore; Adler, Cyrus, eds. (1916). "salamander" סָלָמַנְדְּרָה. The Jewish Encyclopedia. London: Funk and Wagnalls. p. 646.
35. ^ Slifkin (2007), pp. 287–288.
36. ^ "*folidwto/n [φολίδωτόν]", Suda On Line, tr. David Whitehead. 4 October 2011
37. ^ Grant, Robert M. (2002). Early Christians and Animals. Routledge. pp. 110–111\. ISBN 9781134633753.
38. ^ Augustine of Hippo. Philip Schaff (ed.). St. Augustine's City of God and Christian Doctrine (in English and Latin). p. 454 (Book 21, Ch. 4).: "If, therefore, the salamander lives in fire, as naturalists have recorded, and if certain famous mountains of Sicily have been continually on fire from the remotest antiquity until now, and yet remain entire, these are sufficiently convincing examples that everything which burns is not consumed."
39. ^ Kay, Sarah (2017). Animal Skins and the Reading Self in Medieval Latin and French Bestiaries. University of Chicago Press. pp. 7–8\. ISBN 9780226436739.
40. ^ a b McCulloch, Florence (1962) [1960]. Mediaeval Latin and French Bestiaries (revised ed.). Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. pp. 161–162\. ISBN 9780807890332. `{{cite book}}`: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help); [ Reprint], C. N. Potter, 1976
41. ^ Laufer (1915), pp. 317–318.
42. ^ Beylage, Peter (2018). Middle Egyptian. Penn State Press. p. 6\. ISBN 9781646022021.
43. ^ Wildish, Mark (2017). "Preface". The Hieroglyphics of Horapollo Nilous: Hieroglyphic Semantics in Late Antiquity. Routledge. p. xiii. ISBN 9781351376532.
44. ^ Laufer however called Horapollo an "Egyptian priest" and presumed the contents must date to the 1st century, before Physiologus.
45. ^ a b c —— (2002) [1940]. "62. Πῶς ἄνθρωπον ὑπος (οὐ) καιόμενον". In Sbordone, Francesco (ed.). Hori Apollinis Hieroglyphica. Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag. pp. 175–176\. ISBN 9783487418858.
46. ^ Horapollo (1993) [1950]. "Book II, Chapter 62. Salamander". The Hieroglyphics of Horapollo. Translated by Boas, George. Foreword by Anthony T. Grafton. Princeton University Press. p. 84\. ISBN 9780691000923.
47. ^ a b c d Browne, Thomas. "Pseudodoxia Epidemica". Translated by James Eason, with notes. p. 314 and note 1. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
48. ^ Anthony T. Grafton, foreword, Horapollo (1993), p. xiv
49. ^ The Hieroglyphics overall is "combination of the fraudulent and the genuine".[48]
50. ^ Boas tr.: "For the salamander destroys with each of its heads"
51. ^ Sbordone's footnote,[45] citing Cornelius de Pauw's edition for the idea of a contamination with a second chapter lacking a beginning; and Conradus Leemans's edition for identifying the amphisbaena.
52. ^ a b Barber, Richard, ed. (1993). Bestiary: Being an English Version of the Bodleian Library, Oxford M.S. Bodley 764 : with All the Original Miniatures Reproduced in Facsimile. Boydell Press. pp. 116–119\. ISBN 9780851157535.
53. ^ Much literary material in the medieval bestiaries descend from Pliny, perhaps indirectly through Solinus from which the bestiaries drew on amply (Clark (2006), pp. 17, 36.
54. ^ Clark (2006), p. 217: "all soft fruits are called apples"
55. ^ Clark, Willene B. (2006). "105 Salamander". A Medieval Book of Beasts: The Second-family Bestiary : Commentary, Art, Text and Translation. Boydell Press. pp. 200–201\. ISBN 9780851156828.
56. ^ The MS Bodley 764 (unlike most 2nd family txts) omits "saura" that should follow "salamandra", so "stellio" comes immediately after. It also makes certain interpolations in the "stellio" chapter. (Clark (2006), p. 242).
57. ^ a b c Marco Polo (1921). "Ch. XLII. Of the Province of Chingintalas". The Book of Ser Marco Polo: The Venetian. Vol. 1\. Translated by Henry Yule. London: J. Murray. p. 216, n6.
58. ^ Apostolos-Cappadona, Diane (2020). A Guide to Christian Art. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 222\. ISBN 9780567685148.
59. ^ Duchalais, Alphonse (1848–1849). "Chasteté et luxure, noblesse et vilenie". Bibliothèque de l'École des Chartes: Revue d'érudition. iie série. 5: 31–44\. JSTOR 42997973.
60. ^ a b Mâle, Émile (1913). Religious Art in France, XIII Century: A Study in Mediaeval Iconography and Its Sources of Inspiration. Translated by Dora Nussey. London: J. M. Dent & sons. pp. 117–118, Fig. 58., from the French, 1st ed. (1898), p. 159, Fig. 41
61. ^ Denis Krieger. "Cathédrale Notre-Damede Paris §La rose occidentale". Mes vitraux favoris. Retrieved 2024-08-02.
62. ^ Albrecht von Scharfenberg (1842). Hahn, Karl August [in German] (ed.). Der jüngere Titurel. Quedlinburg: G. Basse. Stanza 751, p. 75.
63. ^ Volfing, Annette (2007). Medieval Literacy and Textuality in Middle High German: Reading and Writing in Albrecht's Jüngerer Titurel. Springer. Ch. 3, p. 55. ISBN 9780230607224.
64. ^ Volfing (2007), Ch. 2, p. 48
65. ^ Albrecht von Scharfenberg (1968). Wolf, Werner [in German]; Nyholm, Kurt (eds.). Albrechts von Scharfenberg Jüngerer Titurel. Akademie-Verlag. p. 520.
66. ^ Volfing (2007) Endnote 81 citing J. T. 4027–4029: "des taten nicht die haiden.. (4028).. salamander.. da mit dew weip durch minne.. (4029).. vnminne dew immer prennet".[65]
67. ^ Volfing (2007), pp. 49, 156.
68. ^ Petrarch, Canzone 207
69. ^ Andreani, Veronica (2016). "Gaspara Stampa as Salamander and Phoenix: Reshaping the Tradition of the Abandoned Woman". In Falkeid, Unn; Feng, Aileen (eds.). Rethinking Gaspara Stampa in the Canon of Renaissance Poetry. Routledge. p. 182\. ISBN 9781317064213.
70. ^ Leonardo Da Vinci (1883). "Book XX: Humorous Writings, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci". In Richter, Jean Paul (ed.). The Literary Works of Leonardo Da Vinci. Vol. 2\. London: Samson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington. p. 322.
71. ^ a b Lykosthenes, Konrad (1557). Prodigiorum ac ostentorum chronicon quae praeter naturae ordinem, motum, et operationem, et in superioribus & his inferioribus mundi regionibus, ab exordio mundi usque ad haec nostra tempora, acciderunt. Basel: Per Henricum Petri. p. 23.
72. ^ a b c Thomas Bulfinch (1913). Age of Fable: Vols. I & II: Stories of Gods and Heroes: XXXVI. e. The Salamander
73. ^ Theophrast von Hohenheim a.k.a. Paracelsus, Sämtliche Werke: Abt. 1, v. 14, sec. 7, Liber de nymphis, sylphis, pygmaeis et salamandris et de caeteris spiritibus. Karl Sudhoff and Wilh. Matthießen, eds. Munich:Oldenbourg, 1933.
74. ^ Paracelsus & Sigerist tr. (1941) "A Book on Nymphs, Sylphs, Pygmies, and Salamanders..", pp. 231–235 et passim.
75. ^ Hartmann, Franz (1902). "V. Pneumatology". The Life and the Doctrines of Paracelsus. New York: Theosophical Publishing Company. pp. 152–157.
76. ^ Hartmann (1902):[75] p. 151 "they have reason.. but no spiritual soul"; "they have children.. like themselves"; p. 152 "Their habits resemble those of men.. eat and drink and make their clothing"; p. 154 "Salamanders are long, lean, and dry" "Salamandars cannot associate with [human] on account of the fiery nature of the element wherein they live"; p. 155–156 "Undine may marry a man.. and her children will be human.. moreover, the Undine herself thereby receives the germ of immortality"; p. 156 "the spirits of the earth, the air, and fire seldom marry a human being.. but may become attached.. and enter his service"; p. 157 "the Elemental spirts of Nature are often alluded to as 'devils', a name which they do not deserve".
77. ^ Hartmann (1902), p. 157.
78. ^ Hartmann (1902), p. 151.
79. ^ Paracelsus (1941). Sigerist, H.E; Temkin, C.L. (eds.). Four Treatises of Theophrastus Von Hohenheim Called Paracelsus. The Johns Hopkins Press. p. 221 ff.
80. ^ Hartmann (1902), p. 154.
81. ^ Hartmann (1902), pp. 155–156.
82. ^ Hartmann (1902), p. 155.
83. ^ Handwörterbuch des Deutschen Aberglaubens, Walter de Gruyter (1974), s.v. "Paracelsus", pp. 13951398.
84. ^ Paracelsus & Sigerist tr. (1941), p. 221 Just as sirens were "monsters" (German: Mißgeburten[83]) of the water people (water spirit, undine), the giants of the sylphs (wind spirit), the dwarfs of the pygmies (earth spirit).
85. ^ "The TOLKIEN GALLERY: Balrogs and other Fire Spirits". Retrieved 1 October 2014.
86. ^ "Symbolic Art Gallery". University of Philosophical Research. Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
87. ^ Rubinas Dorsey, Romayne. "Later In France". Indiana public media. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
88. ^ This was also claimed in an early version of the present article.
89. ^ Sahagun, Louis. Master of the Mysteries: The Life of Manly Palmer Hall. Port Townsend, Washington: Process Media, 2008, page 52.
90. ^ Hall (1928), Chapter: "The Elements and Their Inhabitants", p. 105 and Fig. "A Salamander, according to Paracelsus". Web version (2009), pp. 319–320 and Figure
91. ^ Renate Freitag-Stadler; Erhard Schön (1976). Die Welt des Hans Sachs. City History Museum of Nuremberg, p. 24 (Kat. 25/15)
92. ^ "ein Salamander oder ein wüster Wurm/Mit einem Menschen Kopff/unnd gekrönet mit einer Kron/unnd ein Bapst Hut darinn"
93. ^ von Hohenheim (Paracelsus), Theophrastus (1603). "Ein Auslegung der Figuren So Zu Nürnberg Gefunden Sind Worden". Bücher und Schriften: Adiunctus est Index rerum et verborum accuratiß. Et copiosissimus. p. 375.
94. ^ **s (1845). "Paracelsus als Bekämpfer des Papstthums". Für christkatholisches Leben: Materialien zur Geschichte der christkatholischen Kirche. 1: 251.
95. ^ Netzhammer, Raymund (1900). Theophrastus Paracelsus: das wissenswerteste über leben, lehre und schriften des berühmten Einsiedler arztes. Benziger. p. 34\. ISBN 9785877313644. `{{cite book}}`: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
96. ^ "The Book of Lambspring". Compendium Naturalis. 31 May 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
97. ^ Principe, Lawrence M.; Haage, Bernard D.; Buntz, Herwig; Coudert, Allison P.; Caron, Richard (2019). "Alchemy III: 12th/13th - 15th century". The Brill Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism. Brill. p. 40.
98. ^ a b Gesner, Konrad (1586). "De Cordulo rursus ex bellnio". Conr. Gesneri... Historiae animalium liber II. ex officina typographica Ioannis Wecheli. pp. 80–81. copy @ Biodiversity Project.
99. ^ Baigrie, Brian Scott (1996). Picturing Knowledge: Historical and Philosophical Problems Concerning the Use of Art in Science. University of Toronto Press. p. 222\. ISBN 9780802074393.
100. ^ Sax, Boria (2017). Lizard. Reaktion Books. ISBN 9781780238722.
101. ^ Conrad Lycosthenes, Prodigiorum ac ostentorum chronicon, 1557 Archived 2007-04-18 at the Wayback Machine, p. 23
102. ^ Gesner's fanciful salamandra seems identical to the image in Conrad Lycosthenes (Conrad Wolffhart)'s work.[71][101]
103. ^ Bacon, Francis (1815) [1627]. "Salamander". Sylva sylvarum II. The Works of Francis Bacon 9. M. Jones. p. 49.
104. ^ a b Fox-Davies, Arthur (1909), A Complete Guide to Heraldry. London: T.C. and E.C. Jack, p 230.
105. ^ Cole, Herbert (1922). Heraldry and Floral Forms as Used in Decoration. London: J. M. Dent & Sons Limited. pp. 66–67.
106. ^ Richardson, Glenn. "Le roi-chevalier." History Today (May 2015) vol. 65, issue 5, pp. 39–45
107. ^ Cuminetto, Julien; Bonnet, Laurent (2023). "Chambord: le joyau de la rennaisance française". Rois et reines de France (in French). Illustré par Anne-Laure Varoutsikos. Marabout . p. 98\. ISBN 9782501186254.
108. ^ a b Brasey, Édouard (14 September 2007). La Petite Encyclopédie du merveilleux . Paris: Éditions le pré aux clercs. pp. 161–162\. ISBN 978-2842283216.
109. ^ a b Sébillot, Paul (1906). Le folk-lore de France: La faune et la flore (in French). Vol. 3\. Paris: E. Guilmoto. p. 270.
110. ^ Sébillot (1906), p. 267.
111. ^ Haupt, Karl [in German] (1862). "61. Der Feuerpuhz in Lauban". Sagenbuch der Lausitz: Das Geisterreich. Vol. 1\. Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann. pp. 61–62.
112. ^ Li Shizhen (2021b). "51-39-A07 Huo shu 火鼠 fire rat/mouse". Ben Cao Gang Mu, Volume IX: Fowls, Domestic and Wild Animals, Human Substances. Translated by Paul U. Unschuld. Univ of California Press. p. 870\. ISBN 9780520976993.
113. ^ Berthold Laufer tr., apud Needham (1959), p. 658
114. ^ Laufer (1915), pp. 312–314.
115. ^ Laufer (1915), pp. 318–322.
116. ^ d'Herbelot. Vol. 3 (1778) "Samandar [sic.]", p. 182
117. ^ Laufer (1915), pp. 318–319.
118. ^ a b Laufer (1915), p. 319.
119. ^ Laufer (1915), pp. 322, 328.
120. ^ Laufer (1915), p. 325.
121. ^ Laufer (1915), p. 324.
122. ^ Henry Yule's note.[57]
123. ^ Clare Browne, "Salamander's Wool: The Historical Evidence for Textiles Woven with Asbestos Fibre", Textile History, Volume 34, Number 1, May 2003, pp. 64–73(10) (abstract)
124. ^ a b Friar, Stephen (1987). A New Dictionary of Heraldry. London: Alphabooks/A & C Black. p. 300\. ISBN 978-0-906670-44-6.
125. ^ Borges, Jorge (1969) [1967; English language edition 1969]. El libro de los seres imaginarios [The Book of Imaginary Beings].
126. ^ A Way with Words:Dessert Stomach, US public radio, 12 May 2018 (audio)
127. ^ Forged Iron Salamander at Jas. Townsend and Son YouTube

## Bibliography

[edit]

* Hall, Manly P. (1928). "The Elements and Their Inhabitants". The Secret Teachings of All Ages: An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic and Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy. San Francisco: H. S. Crocker – via sacred-texts.com/Evinity Publishing.
* \-- (1928); edited for the web by Mario Lampié (2009), pp. 319ff via Internet Archive.
* Hillman, D. C. A. (2001). "The Salamander as a Drug in Nicander's Writings". Pharmacy in History. 43 (2/3): 93–96\. JSTOR 41112052.
* Laufer, Berthold (1915). "Asbestos and Salamander: An essay in Chinese and Hellenistic Folk-lore". T'oung Pao, ou Archives concernant l'histoire, les langues, la géographie et l'éthnographie de l'Asie orientale 通報. 16: 299–373.
* Needham, Joseph (1959). "Asbestos". Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 3, Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth. Cambridge University Press. pp. 655–. ISBN 9780521058018. `{{cite book}}`: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
* Paracelsus (1996) [1941]. "IV. A Book on Nymphs, Sylphs, Pygmies, and Salamanders, and on the Other Spirits". Four Treatises of Theophrastus Von Hohenheim Called Paracelsus. Translated by Sigerist, Henry. Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 213–255\. ISBN 9780801855238.
* Slifkin, Nosson (2007). Sacred Monsters: Mysterious and Mythical Creatures of Scripture, Talmud and Midrash. Zoo Torah. pp. 287–. ISBN 9781933143187.
* Wallace, Ella Faye (October 2018). The Sorcerer's Pharmacy (Ph. D.). New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University. p. 44. Retrieved 11 March 2021.

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