In the
Dove Book
''The Verse About the Book of the Dove'' or ''Dove Book'' () is a medieval . At least 20 versions are known. They vary in length from 30 to over 900 lines. The poem is generally thought to have been written in the Veliky Novgorod, Novgorod regi ...
and
Russian folklore
The Russian folklore, i.e., the folklore of Russian people, takes its roots in the pagan beliefs of ancient Slavs and now is represented in the Russian fairy tales. Epic Russian bylinas are also an important part of Slavic paganism. The oldest ...
, Indrik or the Indrik-Beast () is a fabulous beast, the king of all animals, who lives on a mountain known as "The Holy Mountain" where no other foot may tread. When it stirs, the Earth trembles. The word "Indrik" is a distorted version of the Russian word for
unicorn
The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since Classical antiquity, antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn (anatomy), horn projecting from its forehead.
In European literature and art, the unico ...
().
It is described as a gigantic
bull
A bull is an intact (i.e., not Castration, castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e. cows proper), bulls have long been an important symbol cattle in r ...
with legs of a
deer
A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...
, the head of a
horse
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...
and an enormous horn in its snout, making it vaguely similar to a
rhinoceros
A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...
.
The Russian folkloric creature gives its name to a synonym of ''
Paraceratherium
''Paraceratherium'' is an extinct genus of hornless rhinocerotoids belonging to the family Paraceratheriidae. It is one of the largest terrestrial mammals that has ever existed and lived from the early to late Oligocene epoch (34–23 ...
'', ''Indricotherium'', the biggest land mammal ever to live.
See also
*
Camahueto
The Camahueto is a legendary bull found in Chilote mythology. Originating in the Chiloé Archipelago, the bull was said to have a single horn on its forehead, similar to a unicorn
The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been describe ...
*''
Elasmotherium
''Elasmotherium'' is an extinct genus of large rhinoceros that lived in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and East Asia during Late Miocene through to the Late Pleistocene, with the youngest reliable dates of at least 39,000 years ago. It was ...
''
*
Unicorn
The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since Classical antiquity, antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn (anatomy), horn projecting from its forehead.
In European literature and art, the unico ...
References
Sources
*
Slavic legendary creatures
Russian mythology
Unicorns
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