medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
I'm still not convinced that the 'penis tree' is all that different to the
usual medieval tales of fantastic peoples such as the Blemyae and Sciapods.
There is an Islamic example: the Waq-waq tree. This is a great, tall tree
with the feet of young girls projecting from the fruit. These gradually
emerge until the whole figure is complete, suspended by the hair. They
eventually fall to the ground uttering the cry, "Waq! waq!" They are found
to be all flesh and no bones, and having no life or soul.
(see E. Edson & E. Savage-Smith, Medieval views of the cosmos (Oxford:
Bodleian Library, 2004), p. 66.)
John Briggs
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