Bull
The bull denotes fecundating potency and pent strength, sacred to storm and sky gods, and harnessed as the ox to the plough that founded settlement.
Our paraphrase of what the sources say it carries.
At a glance
- Type
- Image
- Group
- Animal World / Wild Animals
- Borne by
- 7 figures
- Traditions
- Amazigh (Berber) folklore (1)Basque folklore (1)Chilote folklore (1)European folklore (general) (1) and 3 more
- Same group
- BearCoyoteElephantHorseRabbit/Hare and 1 more
Figures that bear it
A model judged each figure against its own description, one term at a time. Is: the figure is a kind of this thing. Bears: it carries the thing or is marked by it. What a figure does is filed under motifs and powers. Open "why" for the sentence the judgement rests on.
- Aatxe is Basque folklore
why
Basque legends tell of Aatxe, a red bull that can assume human form.
- Bonnacon is European folklore (general)
why
In medieval bestiary tradition, the Bonnacon is a bull-like beast with inward-curling horns that defends itself from pursuers by expelling a trail of scalding, corrosive dung.
- Camahueto is Chilote folklore
why
In Chilote folklore, Camahueto is a bull-like creature with a single, spiraling horn.
- Itherther is Amazigh (Berber) folklore
why
Itherther is a primordial bull of Kabyle (Berber) cosmogony, who together with the cow Thamuatz and their calf is remembered as among the first beings to exist on earth.
- Khalkotauroi is Greek mythology
why
Originating from Greek mythology, the Khalkotauroi are bronze bulls with the ability to breathe fire, created by Hephaestus.
- Quinotaur is Frankish/Medieval European mythology
why
The Quinotaur, a creature from Frankish mythology, is a mythical sea creature, described as a bull with five horns.
- Tarbh Uisge is Scottish folklore
why
The tarbh uisge is the Scottish water bull — black, earless, and velvet-coated, a nocturnal loch-dweller whose short-eared calves among mortal herds were killed for the luck of it.