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Chichevache
Alternatively named Anchevache,
and during the 16th century also known as Thingut.
The Chichevache is a fabulous
monster that subsists by eating virtuous or ill-treated women. This sad animal is very
undernourished. It is thus the opposite of the
Bicorn.
A female monster in the legends and folklore of medieval Europe whose name means 'Scrawny Cow',
the Chichevache was depicted as an emaciated cow with human face and a
miserable expression. It was said to live on a diet of 'hen-pecked' and obedient
wives. In the chauvinist way of thinking of the period, such diet was assumed to
have provided very little silage for the beast, which would sicken to
death for lack of nourishment.
The Chichevache was documented in
this spelling by the medieval author and diplomat
Geoffrey Chaucer (1345 - 1400)
in his 'Clerk's Tale' from the
Canterbury Tales, where the author changed
it from the French name Chichifache, meaning 'Thin Face' or 'Ugly Face'. Her overindulged
counterpart, the Bicorn, fed only
on 'hen-pecked' husbands! The Chichevache and the Bicorn were often
portrayed in the church furniture of the period, especially on the misericords.
See Dragon,
Basilisk,
Amulet, Talisman,
Casting Black Magic Spells,
Commanding Spirits,
The Tarot Store and
Divination & Scrying Tools and
Supplies.
Sources: (1) Rose, Carol,
Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth,
W. W. Norton & Company; (2)
Dictionary of the
Occult, Caxton
Publishing;
(3) Chaucer, Geoffrey, Clerk's Tale,
Longman.
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