A tarand, also known as a tarandos, tarandus, parandrus, or parandros, is a legendary

reindeer The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, taiga, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only re ...

moose The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...

-like creature with

chameleon Chameleons or chamaeleons (Family (biology), family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 200 species described as of June 2015. The members of this Family (biology), family are best known for ...

properties. It was first described in

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

's ''

Corpus Aristotelicum The works of Aristotle, sometimes referred to by modern scholars with the Latin phrase ''Corpus Aristotelicum'', is the collection of Aristotle's works that have survived from antiquity. According to a distinction that originates with Aristotle ...

'' as Tarandos (Τάρανδος). It was also mentioned in Pliny's History of the Animals (''Tarandus''),

Aelian Aelian or Aelianus may refer to: * Aelianus Tacticus, 2nd-century Greek military writer in Rome * Casperius Aelianus (13–98 AD), Praetorian Prefect, executed by Trajan * Claudius Aelianus Claudius Aelianus (; ), commonly Aelian (), born at Pr ...

's De Natura Animalium (''Tarandos''),

Solinus __NOTOC__ Gaius Julius Solinus, better known simply as Solinus, was a Latin grammarian, geographer, and compiler who probably flourished in the early 3rd century AD. Historical scholar Theodor Mommsen dates him to the middle of the 3rd century. ...

(''Parandrus'') and

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war. He ...

, appearing again in key texts of the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

period, such as ''The York Mystery Cycle'' (

1440 Events January–March * January 6 – Ludovico becomes the new Duke of Savoy upon the abdication of his father Amadeus VIII. * January 8 – Seventeen new Roman Catholic Cardinals are added to the College of Cardinals afer h ...

) and Francois Rabelais' '' Pantagruel'' (1552). The veracity of the tarand was discussed by Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, Baron Cuvier (1769–1832). Aristotle, Pliny and Aelian write that the animal (Tarandus) was living in Scythia, while Solinus write that the animal that he describes (Parandus) was living in

Aethiopia Ancient Aethiopia, () first appears as a geographical term in classical documents in reference to the skin color of the inhabitants of the upper Nile in northern Sudan, of areas south of the Sahara, and of certain areas in Asia. Its earliest men ...

Origin and description

Aristotle

Pliny

After having described the chameleon, Pliny (trans. Holland, 1601) provided a detailed description and discussion of the tarand:

Aelian

Appearances in literature

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first reference in English to the tarand is in the medieval play ''The York Mystery Cycle'' ("All þin vntrew techyngis þus taste I, þou tarand",c. 1440. xxxiii.381 https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/davidson-play-33-the-second-trial-before-pilate#380 or in modern English "All your untrue teachings thus I test, you tarand"). The tarand is described in Book 4, Chapter 2 of Francois Rabelais' ''Pantagruel'' (1552): The tarand is mentioned again in ''Pantagruel'': "I have found here a Scythian tarand, an animal strange and wonderful for the variations of colour on its skin and hair, according to the distinction of neighbouring things; it is as tractable and easily kept as a lamb. Be pleased to accept of it."Book 4, Chapters 2 and 4, pp. 110-11, 114. English translation 1693-4, by Peter Anthony Motteux.

References

{{reflist European legendary creatures Legendary mammals