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Concept
Peryton
Summary
The peryton is a mythological hybrid animal combining the physical features of a stag and a bird. The peryton was first named by Jorge Luis Borges in his 1957 Book of Imaginary Beings, using the fictional device of a supposedly long-lost medieval manuscript.
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 man until it kills one during its lifetime, at which time it starts to cast its own shadow. A sibyl once prophesied that the perytons would lead to the downfall of Rome.
In Borges' original Spanish edition, the word is given as peritio so the presumptive Latin original would be peritius, which happens to be the Latin form of the Greek name of the fourth month on the ancient Macedonian calendar (Peritios, moon of January). The connection of this, if any, to the peryton is unclear.
Some historical versions of the heraldry of King Charles VI of France featured winged stags as heraldic supports, as did some versions of the late medieval battle standard of the Dukes of Bourbon; Borges' is thus clearly not the inventor of the concept, though the name 'Peryton' may be his addition.
Perytons are found or used in modern literature and games.
The creatures appear in 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.
The peryton features in John and Carole Barrowman's novel Hollow Earth.
Perytons appear in Across the Green Grass Fields, the 6th of the Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire.
A group of Perytons appear in the fourth Fablehaven book by Brandon Mull, Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary.
Official source
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