Good Evening Everyone and Welcome to Between Monsters and Men. Tonight we are doing something a little different: we are comparing the Cockatrice of the Witcher game series, to the one of legend.
Before I begin, let me address the fact there is a large amount of contraversy between Basilisks and Cockatrices being one in the same. There are stories on both creatures with the other names; when researching these creatures, I made sure to identify which was what by the landmarks, sigils, and ancient pictures that were left behind. So for the sake of my sanity and yours, I will be referencing all the stories and terms by the name Cockatrice even if it was Basilisk in the original.
The first mentioning of a cockatrice appears in the late 12th century, in a book called, "De Naturis Rerum," by Alexander Neckam. When we first start to see the mix up betwen Basilisk and Cockatrice is in Bartholomeus Anglicus, "De proprietatibus rerum," in 1260, after it was translated by John Trevisa in 1397.
Appearance:
When Geralt, our main Witcher, confronts a Cockatrice it is twice his size. The beast has the head of a rooster, feathers colored black, grey and brown, wings large enough to take flight, legs of a rooster, and tail resembling a dragons. It is a terrifying beast, that looks the part.
However, in real legends it is often shown in pictures to be maybe at the heightest, half a normal man's height. It is described similarly otherwise, some comparing the feathers and scales as yellow, or brown, there are a few pictures of it as a emerald green. It has the wings of a dragon, the head, neck and legs of a rooster and then here is the weird part. Some tales say it has the face of a rooster and others, the face of a human. The tail is also depending on the story, some say it is the tail of a snake and others, and most common, the tail of a dragon.
Born:
In the Witcher PC Journal Bestiary, Cockatrices are born of eggs laid by roosters consorting with other roosters. The egg must be incubated for forty-four days by a toad, which will be devoured by the little beast as it hatches.
The game isn't too far off. There is no written word saying that a rooster must consort with another rooster. Remember, rooster is male. But the egg is from a rooster, and is incubated by a toad or by a serpent. The rooster has to be old, some say, seven years of age, and it has to be laid under a full moon. The incubation time takes nine years - or as others claim, just a few days. Either way, the egg shell is not hard, but soft and leathery like an alligators or turtles, and when hatched, the creature has all its features as it would as an adult.
Territory:
We know where they thrive in the Witcher universe - its written on the boards, in books, and people are constantly screaming about them. They live in dark caves, abandoned ruins, cowebbed dungeons and somehow, manage to fit down the cellar into the basements. If you've seen some of the cellar doors, its hard to believe the beast got down there.
In the legends, it was a little harder to pinpoint. What I was able find was that it roamed England, which will be explained later but the main location I was able to find was in Cantabrian mythology. Cantabria is Northern spain, and from their mythology, that is the only plac it can be found and it was rare to see. The Cockatrie was also refered by them as he Basilisco.
Abilities:
A Cockatrice kills with its sharp beak, long tail and deadly talons in the Witcher universe. They have no fear of charging at a victim or swooping down to commit a kill. But in the legends of our world, things were a little bit different.
Much like Medusa of greek mythology, the slightest glance from the cockatrice's eyes turned victims into stone. And like the Basilisk, it can kill by touching its victim or even breathing on them - the difference between the two is the fact the Basilisk's presence alone, was venomous, mean while it is just the Cockatrice's saliva that is venomous. Apparently so deadly that it can kill an elephant. Later on, due to the dragon-like appearance, it was said to be able to breathe fire and kill with the sound of its voice.
Weakness:
Unfortunately, there is no devilishly handsiome witchers to hunt the Cockatrice for us - whose weakness in their world is as simple as fire and a good silver sword. In our world, it first started to be weak to a putto, or cupid. At which the little angel in appearance, had ot kill the cockatrice itself. Fortunately, throughout the ages and legends, the cockatrice was reported to be weak to some of the same things as the Basilisk.
The weasel is immune to the cockatrice's glare and can kill it also. The sound of a crow can cause the Cockatrice to thrash itself to death. And lastly, if the Cockatrice looks upon itself ina mirror it will die much like Medusa, but unlike the Gorgon - even after the Cockatrice dies, it can still petrify its victims.
Stories:
In the village of Wherwell, England there was a legend of a Cockatrice that once terrozied the people. Unable to defeat the beast, the townsfolk were able to trap it in the dungeons below Wherwell Priory. Once trapped, they offered up a piece of land to anyone who could kill it. In comes a man named Green. He lowered down a mirrior into the dungeon where the Cockatrice was trapped, and upon seeing itself in the reflection, the Cockatrice perished. Til this day, there is an area near Wherwell called Green's Acres.
Another legend comes from Saffron Walden in Essex, England which is 2 1/2 hours from Wherwell. During the 17th century, a Cockatrice with red eyes plagued the area. It was only a foot long, and had the ability to breathe fire. This fire killed everything in its path, including people, but where it burns, nothing ever grows again. One day a knight came to the village, wearing a coat made of crystal glass that reflected the creature's gaze. The Cockatrice curled up and died on the spot and the knight became a hero to the village. His sowrd was hung in the church. Unlike Wherwell, whose images show a beast more like the Cockatrice, the beast of Saffron Walden, looks more like a Basilisk.
This is an interesting story because I couldn't find any works of real crystal armor. Crystal is a fine material, easily to break and easy to cut if not properly used. It is hard for me to believe that such armor was real in the 17th century but who knows. Maybe the armor was more like squares of mirror he hung from his body?
Little Facts:
- The Cockatrice is the guardian creature and traditional symbol of the Swiss City Basel.
-Bondeson reports in 1202 that a mysterious outbreak of fainting spells traced to a Cockatrice that was hidden in a well. The creature was already dead when the hunters found it. The body was recovered and a sandstone statue erected to commemorate the hunt.
- It is the symbol of the 3 (fighter) squadron of the Royal Air Force.
-Like the Basilisk, the Cockatrice is in many medias: Game of Thrones, Dungeons and Dragons, Witcher 3, Pathfinder, Magic the Gathering and much more.
So in comparison, the witcher 3's Cockatrice is not only bigger, seen more, and deadly without its piercing gaze. It's a great beast, feared by the people and only seemed to be killed by trained hunters. Though not exact with the legends of our world, the Witcher always seizes to surprise us with fantastic creatures based on our world that is fantastically made into worthy opponents and even some, more interesting than our own.
So tell me, which would you prefer?
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