Deer, Rochester Bestiary, c.1230
The deer was an animal whose right antler was used for medical purposes. According to Medieval medicine, eating deer or venison protected humans from fever and drinking a mixture made from its tears and heart cured from heart diseases and relived pain in the limbs.
Deer and stags were often associated with gentleness and innocence. Their graceful and docile nature contributed to the perception of these animals as symbols of virtue and purity.
They also symbolise renewal and regeneration: the shedding and regrowth of antlers were seen as a metaphor for this. This characteristic of stags was sometimes used to convey the idea of spiritual rebirth or the cyclical nature of life. They were also associated with the idea of resurrection. The deer's ability to regrow its antlers became a metaphor for Christ's resurrection, signifying victory over death and sin.
In Christian Symbolism, deer, particularly stags, were sometimes allegorically linked to Christ and the Christian soul. The stag was believed to represent the soul pursuing a longing for God. Just as the stag seeks pure streams, the Christian soul seeks spiritual purity and union with God.
The imagery of a stag being pursued by hunters symbolized the Christian's pursuit of virtue and the soul's struggle against sin and temptation. This theme emphasized the constant effort required to resist worldly temptations and remain on the path of righteousness.
enim grece cornua dicuntur. Hii serpentium
inimici. cum se gravatos infirmitate; spiritu narium
eos extrahunt; de cavernis. et superata pernicie veneni;
eorum pabulo reparantur. Dittanum1 herbam; ipsam pro-
diderunt. ea namque pasti; eitiunt acceptas sagit-
tas. Mirantur autem sibilum fistularum. Frectis2 auribus
acute audiunt. submissis; nichil. Cervi et hanc na-
Deer are called apóton ceráton (ἀπὸ τῶν κεράτων/apó tôn kerátōn)3, meaning from the horns, for cerata4 is the Greek word for horns. These beasts are the enemies of snakes: if afflicted by illness, they bring the snakes into the open from their lair through the exhalation of their nostrils, and once they have overcome the danger of poison, they feel restored after eating them. They discovered the dittany plant and after feeding on it, they became invulnerable to arrows. They marvel at the sound of reed pipes. When their ears are pricked, they hear distinctly, when lowered, they hear nothing. Deer also have this characteristic:
pascua sua. et se se vicarie sustentant. Si quando in-
mensa flumina vel maria transeant; capita clunibus
precedentium superponunt. Sic invicem succedentes;
nullum laborem ponderis sentiunt. Et quando loca
inmunda inveniunt; ea ne in eis coinquinentur citissime
transiliunt; Habent et aliam naturam quod post com-
estionem serpentis; ad fontem currunt. et ex eo biben-
tes; pilos et omnem vetustatem deponunt. Que nature;
in menibris(changed to menbris) sancte ecclesie videntur convenire; conpeten-
ti ratione. Quia dum patriam istam. idest mundum pro-
amore celestis patrie mutant; sese vicarie portant. idest
perfectiores minus perfectos exemplo et bonis operibus promovent
et sustentant. Et si locum peccandi inveniunt; statim transi-
liunt. et post vel per suggestionem. added above incorporationem diaboli. idest post pecca-
ta perpetrata; ad christum qui verus est fons; currunt con-
fessione. Et precepta eius haurientes. deposita peccati ve-
tustate; renovantur. Mares generis generis(dots underneath) huius cum
statutum tempus venerem incitant(corrected to incitat); seviunt amore vel in rabiem added li-
bidinis. Femine. licet prius consotienturvel conferantur added ; non con-
cipiunt (iactum semen dots underneath, ante arcturi sidus added above). Nec qualibet partus suos
out of love for another land, they change their pastures and mutually support one another. If they ever cross large rivers or vast seas, they place their heads on the buttocks of those ahead, thus following one upon the other, they do not feel hindered by their weight. When they find filthy places, they cross them quickly to avoid contamination. They have a second characteristic: after eating a snake, they run to a spring, and after drinking from it, they shed hair5 and their old age: they regain their youth. These characteristics seem to be peculiar to the members of the Holy Church, for, whilst changing this material world out of love for the heavenly world, they behave vicariously, that is, those who are more accomplished promote and sustain by example and good deeds those who are less. If there appears an opportunity for sin, they immediately surmount it. After the incarnation of the Devil, that is, after committing sins, they run to Christ, who is the true Source, through confession. Upon imbibing His commandments, they revive, after shedding the senectitude of their sins. Stags, when it is time to rut, rage in the grip of lust. Does, although they may have been inseminated previously, do not conceive before the star Arcturus appears nor do they raise their offspring just anywhere
ter profunda fruticum vel herbarum pedum verbere
castigant ad latendum. Cum aliquantulum creverunt
ad roburis maturitatem; per exercitium docent cursum
et assuescunt salire per abrupta. Acceptis canum la-
tratibus; secundo vento dirigunt. ut odor cum ipsis rece-
dat. Stupent omnia. propterea et facilius obvios se
prebent sagittantibus. Dextrum cornu efficatius est. ad
medelam. Si fugare angues gestias; utrum velis
ures. Dentes monstrant senectutem cum aut pau-
ci inveniuntur aut nulli. Ad dinoscendam viva-
citatem; alexander magnus torques plurimis cer-
vis innexuit. qui post annum centesimum capti; nec-
dum senectutis inditium preferebant. Hinnuli;
sunt filii cervorum. ab innuere; dicti. quod nu-
tu matris absconduntur. Adversus venena; mirifi-
cum est hinnuli coagulum occisi. matris sue ute-
ro patuit eos numquam febrescere. Quam ob causam
conserta ex medullis ipsorum unguenta. sedant
calores hominum languentium. Legimus plurimos ma-
tutinis diebus cervinam carnem degustare solitos;
but they hide them with tender care in thick bushes or grass and they beat them in order that they remain out of sight. Once they have grown a little and reached the maturity of strength, through exercise, they teach them to run and train them to leap over precipices. Upon hearing dogs barking, they head upwind so that their scent vanishes along with them. They marvel at everything and stay still; therefore, they expose themselves easily to hails of arrows. The right-hand antler seems to be effective for medical purposes.
If you desire to chase away snakes, you want to burn them if necessary. If deer have few or no teeth, it shows that they are old. To distinguish the deer that lived longer, Alexander the Great tied wreathes around the necks of a great number of them. Those captured after a hundred years still did not show signs of old age. The offspring of the deer are called hinnŭli, fawns, from innŭĕre, 'to nod', because at a nod from their mother, they vanish from sight. The clot of a fawn killed in its mother’s womb is amazing and effective against poisons. It is known that they never catch a fever. For this reason, ointments made from their own marrow are prepared for lowering the temperature of the sick. We read that many men who have regularly eaten a small amount of venison since their early days have lived for a long time
derit; si uno vulnere fuerint interempti;
unaffected by fevers. What good is it exactly if they are killed by a single wound?
Bibliography
David Badke, The Bestiary Blog: Animals in the Middle Ages, Stag, November 6 2023, https://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast162.htm
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NDA Staff, National Deer Association, Why does the deer look so raggedy?, December 2023, https://deerassociation.com/why-does-that-deer-look-so-raggedy/
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Footnotes
1 Late Latin for dictamnum or dictamnus.
2 Late Latin for flexis from the verb flectĕre.
3 Latinised spelling for the Ancient Greek ἀπὸ τῶν κεράτων/apó tôn kerátōn = from the horns. κεράτων / kerátōn is in the genitive plural form and means horns, από/apó means from and τῶν / tôn means the in the genitive plural form.
4 Latinised term for κέρατα/ kérata, horns.
5 The shedding of hair is specific to the drinking from the spring according to the text. In reality, deer moult twice per year. They shed their winter coat in the spring and their summer coat in late summer.