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{{short description|Medieval fabulous beasts used to satirize marriage relationships.}}

[[File:Bigorne en Scherminckel, RP-P-1951-337.jpg|thumb|300px|17th-century engraving of Bicorn and Chichevache. Print published by [[Hugo Allard]]. Original artist unknown. Collection if the [[Rijksmuseum]], [[Amsterdam]]]]
[[File:Bigorne et Chichefaceg.jpg|thumb|300px|17th-century engraving of Bicorn and Chichevache]]
[[File:Bigorne et Chichefaceg.jpg|thumb|300px|17th-century engraving of Bicorn and Chichevache]]
'''Bicorn and Chichevache''' are fabulous beasts that appear in European satirical works of the [[Middle Ages]] and [[Renaissance]]. The Bicorn is a creature (often described as a part-[[Black panther|panther]], part-[[Cattle|cow]] creature with a human-like face<ref>http://www.mythicalcreatureslist.com/mythical-creature/Bicorne</ref>) that has the reputation of devouring kind-hearted and devoted husbands, and is thus plump and well fed, whereas the Chichevache devours obedient wives and is therefore thin and starving.
'''Bicorn and Chichevache''' are fabulous beasts that appear in European satirical works of the [[Middle Ages]] and [[Renaissance]]. Bicorn is a creature—part [[Black panther|panther]], part [[Cattle|cow]], with a human-like face<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mythicalcreatureslist.com/mythical-creature/Bicorne |title=Bicorne |website=Mythical Creatures List |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613110701/http://mythicalcreatureslist.com/mythical-creature/Bicorne |archive-date=2017-06-13 |access-date=2016-05-14 |url-status=dead }}</ref>—that devours kind-hearted and devoted husbands and (because of their abundance) is plump and well fed. Chichevache, on the other hand, devours obedient wives and (because of their scarcity) is thin and starving.


==Chaucer==
==Chaucer==
[[Geoffrey Chaucer]] mentions Chichevache in the [[Envoi|envoy]] of the [[The Clerk's Tale|Clerk's Tale]] in his ''[[Canterbury Tales]]'':
[[Geoffrey Chaucer]] mentions Chichevache in the [[Envoi|envoy]] of the [[The Clerk's Tale|Clerk's Tale]] in his ''[[Canterbury Tales]]'', ironically warning wives against the patience and obedience shown by [[Griselda (folklore)|Griselda]] in the story:


{{quote|<poem>
{{blockquote|<poem>
O noble wyves, ful of heigh prudence,
O noble wyves, ful of heigh prudence,
Lat noon humylitee youre tonge naille,
Lat noon humylitee youre tonge naille,
Line 13: Line 16:
Lest Chichevache yow swelwe in hire entraille! (ll. 1183–1188)<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Robinson|editor1-first=F. N. |editor1-link=Fred Norris Robinson |date=1957 |title=The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer |edition=2nd |location=Boston |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |page=114}}</ref></poem>}}
Lest Chichevache yow swelwe in hire entraille! (ll. 1183–1188)<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Robinson|editor1-first=F. N. |editor1-link=Fred Norris Robinson |date=1957 |title=The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer |edition=2nd |location=Boston |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |page=114}}</ref></poem>}}


Chaucer may have borrowed the French term ''chichifache'' ("thin face") and put it with ''vache'' ("cow") to make the similar term ''chichevache'' ("thin or meagre cow").<ref>[http://home.swipnet.se/~w-48250/mythology/c/chichevache.html Chichevache<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> D. Laing Purves notes that "The origin of the fable was French; but [[John Lydgate|Lydgate]] has a ballad on the subject. 'Chichevache' literally means 'niggardly' or 'greedy cow.{{'-}}"<ref>{{Gutenberg|no = 2383|name = The Canterbury Tales, and Other Poems|bullet=none}}</ref>
Chaucer may have borrowed the French term ''chichifache'' ("thin face") and blended it with ''vache'' ("cow") to make the similar term ''chichevache'' ("thin or meagre cow").<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://home.swipnet.se/~w-48250/mythology/c/chichevache.html |title=Chichevache |last= Segolsson |first=Pär-Erik |website=The Heathen's Place |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610102805/http://home.swipnet.se/~w-48250/mythology/c/chichevache.html |archive-date=2016-06-10}}</ref> D.&nbsp;Laing Purves notes that "The origin of the fable was French; but [[John Lydgate|Lydgate]] has a ballad on the subject. 'Chichevache' literally means 'niggardly' or 'greedy cow'."<ref>"Notes to the Clerk's Tale" in {{Gutenberg|no = 2383|name = The Canterbury Tales, and Other Poems|bullet=none}}</ref>


==Lydgate==
==Lydgate==
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==In popular culture==
==In popular culture==
* A Bicorn is mentioned in ''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]]''. Its hide is used as ingredients for [[Polyjuice Potion]].
* A Bicorn is mentioned in ''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]]''. Its powdered horn is used as an ingredient in [[Polyjuice Potion]].
* The science fiction manga ''[[Battle Angel Alita: Last Order]]'' featured giant, bio-engineered monsters named Bicorne and Chichevache.
* The science fiction manga ''[[Battle Angel Alita: Last Order]]'' features giant, bioengineered monsters named Bicorne and Chichevache.
* Bicorns are a recurring creature in the ''[[Megami Tensei]]'' video game franchise.
* A Bicorn is featured in the ''[[Overlord (novel series)|Overlord]]'' [[Light novel|light-novel]] and [[anime]] series.
*A Bicorn is featured in a chapter of the fantasy manga ''[[Delicious in Dungeon]]'', appearing as a black horse with two horns. In the manga, the bicorn devours devoted husbands and is attracted to corrupt individuals.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kui|first=Ryoko|title=Delicious in Dungeon: Volume 8|publisher=Yen Press|year=2020|isbn=9781975399405|location=New York, NY|pages=168–186}}</ref>
* A Bicorn is mentioned in an episode of the show ''[[Schitt's Creek]]'' when Moira is speaking to her husband.


==References==
==References==
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[[Category:Medieval European legendary creatures]]
[[Category:Medieval European legendary creatures]]


{{europe-myth-stub}}
{{legendary-creature-stub}}

Latest revision as of 14:23, 30 April 2024

17th-century engraving of Bicorn and Chichevache. Print published by Hugo Allard. Original artist unknown. Collection if the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
17th-century engraving of Bicorn and Chichevache

Bicorn and Chichevache are fabulous beasts that appear in European satirical works of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Bicorn is a creature—part panther, part cow, with a human-like face[1]—that devours kind-hearted and devoted husbands and (because of their abundance) is plump and well fed. Chichevache, on the other hand, devours obedient wives and (because of their scarcity) is thin and starving.

Chaucer

[edit]

Geoffrey Chaucer mentions Chichevache in the envoy of the Clerk's Tale in his Canterbury Tales, ironically warning wives against the patience and obedience shown by Griselda in the story:

O noble wyves, ful of heigh prudence,
Lat noon humylitee youre tonge naille,
Ne lat no clerk have cause or diligence
To write of yow a storie of swich mervaille
As of Grisildis pacient and kynde,
Lest Chichevache yow swelwe in hire entraille! (ll. 1183–1188)[2]

Chaucer may have borrowed the French term chichifache ("thin face") and blended it with vache ("cow") to make the similar term chichevache ("thin or meagre cow").[3] D. Laing Purves notes that "The origin of the fable was French; but Lydgate has a ballad on the subject. 'Chichevache' literally means 'niggardly' or 'greedy cow'."[4]

Lydgate

[edit]

In the early fifteenth century John Lydgate wrote "Bycorne and Chychevache", a 133-line poem in 7-line stanzas, probably from a French original. Written "at the request of a worthy citizen of London" to accompany a tapestry or painted wall-hanging, the poem is accompanied by instructions for pictorial representations. Lydgate describes the two beasts as husband and wife.[5]

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Bicorne". Mythical Creatures List. Archived from the original on 2017-06-13. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
  2. ^ Robinson, F. N., ed. (1957). The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer (2nd ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin. p. 114.
  3. ^ Segolsson, Pär-Erik. "Chichevache". The Heathen's Place. Archived from the original on 2016-06-10.
  4. ^ "Notes to the Clerk's Tale" in The Canterbury Tales, and Other Poems at Project Gutenberg
  5. ^ Hammond, Eleanor Prescott, ed. (1969) [Originally published by Duke University Press, 1927]. English Verse Between Chaucer and Surrey. New York: Octagon. pp. 113–118.
  6. ^ Kui, Ryoko (2020). Delicious in Dungeon: Volume 8. New York, NY: Yen Press. pp. 168–186. ISBN 9781975399405.
[edit]
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