Peryton
An artist's impression of a peryton | |
| Creature information | |
|---|---|
| Other name | Winged stag |
| Grouping | Fantasy creatures |
| Sub grouping | Hybrid |
| Similar entities | Furfur, Hippogriff, Pegasus |
| Folklore | Fakelore |
| Origin | |
| First attested | 1957 |
| Country | Atlantis (fictional origin) |
| Region | Fictional |
| Habitat | Fictional lands, Atlantis, Fantasy realms |
| Details | A fictional hybrid combining the features of a stag and a large bird. Said to cast a human shadow until it kills a person, whereupon it begins casting its own shadow. |
The peryton is a fictional hybrid animal combining the physical features of a stag and a bird. The peryton was invented by Jorge Luis Borges in his 1957 Book of Imaginary Beings, using the fictional device of a supposedly long-lost medieval manuscript.
Precursors
Some historical versions of the heraldry of King Charles VI of France featured winged stags as heraldic supports,[1] as did some versions of the late medieval battle standard of the Dukes of Bourbon.[2]
Characteristics
The peryton is said to have the head, neck, forelegs and antlers of a stag, combined with the plumage, wings and hindquarters of a large bird, although some interpretations portray the peryton as a deer in all but coloration and bird's wings.
According to Borges, perytons lived in Atlantis until an earthquake destroyed the civilization and the creatures escaped by flight. A peryton casts the shadow of a human until it kills one during its lifetime, at which time it starts to cast its own shadow. Some descriptions of the peryton allege that a sibyl once prophesied that the perytons would lead to the downfall of Rome.[3]
In science
Radio astronomer Sarah Burke-Spolaor gave the name Peryton to a class of radio signals of terrestrial origin that mimic fast radio bursts – pulses that appear to originate outside our galaxy. The signals Burke-Spolaor observed demonstrated some properties that appeared man-made and some that appeared natural.[4] These perytons were found to be the result of premature opening of a microwave oven door, which released a frequency-swept radio pulse, which mimicked a fast radio burst, as the magnetron turned off.[5]
In popular culture
A version of the peryton appears in the tabletop game Dungeons & Dragons and its derivative novel Darkwell, a book in The Moonshae Trilogy where a flock of perytons are among an army of evil monsters summoned by the book's main antagonist.[6]
A variation on the peryton menaces the protagonists of So You Want to Be a Wizard, a 1985 Diane Duane novel. She credits Borges in a 2021 essay.[7]
The peryton features in John and Carole Barrowman's novel Hollow Earth.[8]
Perytons appear in Across the Green Grass Fields, the 6th of the Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire.[9]
A group of perytons appear in the fourth Fablehaven book by Brandon Mull, Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary.[10]
The Preyton is a creature from the roster of the Beastmen faction in the Warhammer Fantasy universe, it is inspired by the peryton in both name and appearance, being a Great Stag corrupted by the forces of Chaos in a dreadful flying monster, and thus a monstrous and horrible take on the peryton.[11]
See also
- Hybrid (mythology) – Mythological creature combining body parts of more than one real species
- Furfur – Goetic demon
References
- ^ "Armes du roi Charles VI. Cerfs ailés ou cerfs volants, supports des armoiries royales". 6 October 2013.
- ^ Wise, Terence: Medieval European Armies, Oxford: Osprey Publishing 2004, colour plate H1 & p. 39 (= Men-at-Arms Series, vol. 50).
- ^ Nigg, Joseph (2002). The Book of Dragons & Other Mythical Beasts (1st ed.). Hauppauge, NY: Barron's. p. 91. ISBN 9780764155109.
- ^ Sarah Burke-Spolaor; Matthew Bailes; Ronald Ekers; Jean-Pierre Macquart; Fronefield Crawford III (2010). "Radio Bursts with Extragalactic Spectral Characteristics Show Terrestrial Origins". The Astrophysical Journal. 727 (1): 18. arXiv:1009.5392. Bibcode:2011ApJ...727...18B. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/727/1/18. S2CID 35469082.
- ^ Emily Petroff; E. F. Keane; E. D. Barr; J. E. Reynolds; J. Sarkissian; P. G. Edwards; J. Stevens; C. Brem; A. Jameson; Sarah Burke-Spolaor; S. Johnston; N. D. R. Bhat; P. Chandra; S. Kudale; S. Bhandari (2015). "Identifying the source of Perytons at the Parkes radio telescope". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 451 (4): 3933–3940. arXiv:1504.02165. Bibcode:2015MNRAS.451.3933P. doi:10.1093/mnras/stv1242.
- ^ Niles, Douglas (February 1989). Darkwell. ISBN 978-0-88038-717-0.
- ^ Duane, Diane (21 March 2021). "Borges and the Peryton". Retrieved 11 March 2025.
- ^ Kelly, Charles (26 January 2011). "Hollow Earth - A Great Read and Brilliant Promotion for Cumbrae". S1millport.com. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
- ^ Tammy (January 16, 2021). "ACROSS THE GREEN GRASS FIELDS By Seanan McGuire – Review". Books, Bones & Buffy.
- ^ Sowder, Jessica (June 8, 2010). "Fablehaven, Book 4: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary". A Book and a Hug.
- ^ "Preytons". Warhammer Wiki. Warhammer: Monstrous Arcanum (Background Book). 12 April 2016. p. 77.
Their forelegs and body resemble a dark and twisted stag, while their hindquarters sprout clawed, leonine paws and monstrous wings like those of a terrible black eagle." "born long ago when Beastmen Bray-Shamans created the first Preytons in horrific rituals, corrupting Great Stags before their sacrifice-strewn herdstones.
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