The Icelandic Physiologus is a translation of the 2nd Century Greek manuscript, adapted from a later Latin version and generally attributed to having been circulated in the 13th Century. It follows the general structure of its counterparts, combining short profiles of different animals, birds and mythical creatures with allegorical moralizations of a Christian nature. Most entries are accompanied by illustrations with ranging accuracy, some that even represented being of the best interpretations of the time, and others showing a clear misunderstanding.
Representing some of the oldest known literature preserved throughout Icelandic history, the Physiologus demonstrates its importance with the reach of its influence and other works of a similar, moralizing nature, which extended over much of Icelandic literature that followed. Arriving in Iceland at a time where the impact of Christianity had eclipsed paganism as an official religion, interest in Christian lore was high — especially due to the introduction of this allegorical moralization that had previously been largely absent from previously disseminated texts and documents in the Old Norse language.
Two fragments make up Iceland’s translation of the Physiologus, Fragment A consisting of five entries, and Fragment B with eighteen. They are as follows:
Fragment A: I. The Phoenix II. The Hoopoe III. The Siren IV. The Horsefly V. The Onocentaur
Fragment B: I. The Hydra II. The Goat III. The Wild Ass IV. The Monkey V. The Heron VI. The Coot VII. The Panther VIII. The Whale IX. The Partridge X. The Onocentaur XI. The Weasel XII. The Asp XIII. The Turtle Dove XIV. The Deer XV. The Salamander XVI. The Kite XVII. The Boar XVIII. The Night Heron XIX. The Elephant
Latin versions of the Physiologus often contained a myriad of entries that ranged from exotic quadrupeds to mythical beasts to birds, trees and stones. Entries in the Icelandic fragments are visibly more scarce in diversity, focusing most heavily on birds and common forest-dwelling animals, with the notable inclusions of the whale, the Siren, two instances of the Onocentaur, and the monkey. This scarcity could be present for a number of reasons, which range from the lack of Latin scholarship in Iceland that would likely have stifled translation efforts of the Physiologus’ more difficult passages, to the persistent issue regarding Iceland’s geography, whose tundra climate and high Northern location signify the physical absence of a great number of beasts that were present in other manifestations. Problems regarding geography may have prompted translators to leave out certain entries that were of the most confusion, since they may not have even heard of certain beasts, let alone seen them in person.
The most conspicuous absence in this case is of the lion, which appears as the first entry in a great number of European bestiaries of the time. Described in its profile as a Christ figure due to the heroic nature often assigned to it throughout ancient and medieval mythology, the first spot in the Icelandic manuscript is instead replaced by the phoenix, whose behaviors and moralization are of a similar nature. In regards to a reason why this change may be present, one could look at the fact that the majority of entries in the two fragments are of birds, a type of animal that Icelanders would often have seen. Despite the phoenix actually being a mythical beast, the lion was — in a sense — more mythical, given that the image of birds was more present than large, predatory quadrupeds in Iceland.
The whale stands out in the Icelandic Physiologus as the only animal to have two moralized behaviors, and an illustration that presents a close resemblance. Along with the appearances of the different birds that are documented in the two fragments, an argument could be made that the translators had made a conscious choice to include animals that Icelanders would have recognized, aside from the more fantastic beasts that appear. Encounters with whales are documented often in Icelandic literature; there were even laws in the country as far back as the mid-10th Century revolving around their function as crucial resources. The whale’s profile in the bestiary, however, mentions none of its importance to the lives of Icelanders, instead paralleling its description to other manuscripts of the time.
Iceland’s Physiologus also holds some of the same inconsistencies as other manuscripts of the time: the Hydra is often confused between being a bird or some kind of snake, and the odd behavior of the weasel that is often confused in translation — described in Old Norse that it conceives in its mouth and gives birth through its ear — is contrastingly reversed according to different legends. As it was with many of the beasts whose descriptions were distorted through broken translation, it seems to stay true that reaching a point in which the author could create a moralization for the entry held the most importance.