A rat king is a collection of

rat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include '' Neotoma'' (pack rats), '' Bandicota'' (bandicoo ...

s or

mice A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

whose

tail The tail is the elongated section at the rear end of a bilaterian animal's body; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage extending backwards from the midline of the torso. In vertebrate animals that evolution, evolved to los ...

s are intertwined and bound together in some way. This could be a result of an entangling material like hair, a sticky substance such as sap or gum, or the tails being tied together. A similar phenomenon with squirrels has been observed, which has had modern documented examples.

Etymology

The original German term, , was

calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...

d into English as ''rat king'', and into French as . The term was not originally used in reference to actual rats, but for persons who lived off others.

Conrad Gesner Conrad Gessner (; ; 26 March 1516 – 13 December 1565) was a Old Swiss Confederacy, Swiss physician, natural history, naturalist, bibliographer, and philologist. Born into a poor family in Zürich, Switzerland, his father and teachers quickly ...

in (1551–58) stated: "Some would have it that the rat waxes mighty in its old age and is fed by its young: this is called the rat king."

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

stated: "finally, there is the Pope, the king of rats right at the top." Later, the term referred to a king sitting on a throne of knotted tails. An alternative theory states that the name in French was (or a spinning wheel of rats, the knotted tails being wheel spokes), with the term transforming over time into , because formerly French ''oi'' was pronounced or similar; nowadays it is pronounced .

History

The earliest report of rat kings comes from 1564. Most extant examples are formed from

black rats The black rat (''Rattus rattus''), also known as the roof rat, ship rat, or house rat, is a common long-tailed rodent of the stereotypical rat genus ''Rattus'', in the subfamily Murinae. It likely originated in the Indian subcontinent, but is n ...

(''Rattus rattus''). Specimens of purported rat kings are kept in some museums. The museum Mauritianum in

Altenburg Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region betw ...

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

, shows the largest well-known mummified "rat king", which was found in 1828 in a miller's fireplace at

Buchheim Buchheim () is a municipality in the district of Tuttlingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the nor ...

. It consists of 32 rats. Alcohol-preserved rat kings are shown in museums in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

Hamelin Hameln ( ; ) is a town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hameln-Pyrmont and has a population of roughly 57,000. Hamelin is best known for the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. History Hameln ...

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, Tartu and

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

. A rat king found in 1930 in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, displayed in the

Otago Museum Otago (, ; ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government region. Its po ...

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

, was composed of immature black rats whose tails were entangled by horse hair. A rat king discovered in 1963 by a farmer at

Rucphen Rucphen () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands between Roosendaal and Etten-Leur, south of the railway, but without a train-station. Population centres Topography ''Dutch Topographic map ...

, Netherlands, as published by cryptozoologist M. Schneider, consists of seven rats. All of them were killed by the time they were examined. X-ray images show formations of

calluses A callus (: calluses) is an area of thickened and sometimes hardened skin that forms as a response to repeated friction, pressure, or other irritation. Since repeated contact is required, calluses are most often found on the feet and hands, b ...

at the fractures of their tails, which suggests that the animals survived for an extended period of time with their tails tangled. Sightings of the phenomenon in modern times, especially where the specimens are alive, are very rare. One 2005 sighting comes from an Estonian farmer in Saru, of the

Võrumaa Võrumaa (; ) was a historical county in Estonia. The historical Võrumaa includes the areas of the present counties of Võru, Põlva, Valga and Tartu. Ancient period The center of the settlement of Võrumaa is the banks of the Võhandu rive ...

region; many of the rats in the specimen, now part of the collection at the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.

Museum of Zoology in Estonia, were alive. In 2021, a living "rat king" of five mice was caught on video (and untangled to save the mice) near

Stavropol Stavropol (, ), known as Voroshilovsk from 1935 until 1943, is a city and the administrative centre of Stavropol Krai, in southern Russia. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 547,820, making it one of Russia's fastest growing cities. E ...

, Russia. On 20 October 2021, a live rat king of 13 rats was found in Põlvamaa,

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. The rat king was taken to

Tartu University The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a Public university, public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.Tartu University The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a Public university, public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.Süldre, Lauraliis 20 October 2021)
Tartu Ülikooli loodusmuuseumi jõudis üliharuldane rotikuningas.
Eesti Rahvusringhääling (in Estonian).

Squirrel kings

Instances of

squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae (), a family that includes small or medium-sized rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrel ...

kings have been reported. They were found alive in some cases, and veterinarians have had to separate them as the squirrels could potentially starve or be eaten by a predator. A squirrel king of six squirrels stuck together with pine sap was found in

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina ( ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 Canadian census, ...

, in June 2013. In 2018, five juvenile grey squirrels were found in

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, US. Some surrounding nest material, grass, and plastic got further entangled with them. The knot caused some tissue damage to their tails.

Possible explanations

Rat kings have been reported from Germany, Belgium (particularly in vicinity of the border with the Netherlands), Estonia, Indonesia (Java), and New Zealand, with the majority of cases reported from the European countries. The existence of this phenomenon is debated due to the limited evidence of it occurring naturally, although the discovery of a live instance in Estonia in 2021 is considered to be proof that it is a natural, albeit extremely rare, phenomenon. Another concern is the possibility that some of the centuries-old preserved museum specimens could be fabricated, such hoaxes being common in earlier eras. 17th–18th-century

naturalists Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

proposed many hypotheses to explain this phenomenon. Most were dubious, ranging from the rats getting stuck together during birth and glued later, to healthy rats deliberately knotting themselves to weaker rats to make a nest. A possible explanation is that the long flexible tail of the black rat could be exposed to sticky or frozen substances such as

sebum A sebaceous gland or oil gland is a microscopic exocrine gland in the skin that opens into a hair follicle to secrete an oily or waxy matter, called sebum, which lubricates the hair and skin of mammals. In humans, sebaceous glands occur ...

(a secretion from the skin itself), sap, food, or excretory products. This mixture acts as a bonding agent and may solidify as rats sleep especially when the animals live in proximity during winter. After realizing that they were bound, they would struggle, tightening the knot. This explanation is plausible given that most cases have been found during winter and in confined spaces. Emma Burns, curator of natural science at the Otago Museum, said regarding her museum's specimen, "Ship rats lack rats according to some theories, are climbing rats, so their tails have a grasping reflex. In the nest, they form a hold." Some zoologists remain skeptical, saying that, while theoretically possible, the rats would not be able to survive in such a condition for a long time, particularly if the temperatures rose or if they bit their own or another's tail to try to free themselves. Since black rats cluster together during winters for warmth, it could be possible for a rat king to be naturally-occurring. Any fabrications would most likely have been created using dead rats, given how difficult the process would be if the rats were alive. However, experts support the idea of isolated freak accidents due to the existence of occasional well-observed cases involving squirrels—also members of the

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...

family. A 2007 study published in ''Proceedings of the Estonian Academy of Science, Biology, and Ecology,'' following the finding of the University of Tartu specimen, concluded that the phenomenon is possible but rare.

In popular culture

Rat kings appear in novels such as '' It'' by

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

, '' Accordion Crimes'' by

Annie Proulx Edna Ann Proulx ( ; born August 22, 1935) is an American novelist, short story writer, and journalist. She has written most frequently as Annie Proulx but has also used the names E. Annie Proulx and E.A. Proulx. She won the PEN/Faulkner Award f ...

, ''

The Tale of One Bad Rat ''The Tale of One Bad Rat'' is a 4-issue comic book limited series by Bryan Talbot. It was first published by Dark Horse Comics in 1994 and later brought out in a collected edition. The story is about a victim of child abuse. It makes heavy refe ...

'' by

Bryan Talbot Bryan Talbot (born 24 February 1952) is a British comics artist and writer, best known as the creator of '' The Adventures of Luther Arkwright'' and its sequels '' Heart of Empire'' and '' The Legend of Luther Arkwright'', as well as the ''Gra ...

, '' Ratking'' by

Michael Dibdin Michael Dibdin (21 March 1947 – 30 March 2007) was a British crime fiction writer, best known for inventing Aurelio Zen, the principal character in 11 crime novels set in Italy. Early life Dibdin was born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire (now ...

, '' Rotters'' by Daniel Kraus, ''

Peeps Peeps are a marshmallow confection produced by candy maker Just Born since 1953 for sale the United States and Canada in the shape of chicks, bunnies, and other animals, as well as holidays, holiday shapes, with themes revolving around Hallowe ...

'' by

Scott Westerfeld Scott David Westerfeld (born May 5, 1963) is an American writer of young adult fiction, best known as the author of the ''Uglies series, Uglies'' and the ''Leviathan (Westerfeld novel), Leviathan'' series. Early life Westerfeld was born in Dal ...

, '' The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray'' by

Chris Wooding Chris Wooding (born 28 February 1977) is a British writer born in Leicester, and now living in London. His first book, ''Crashing'', which he wrote at the age of nineteen, was published in 1998 when he was twenty-one. Since then he has written m ...

, ''Rats and Gargoyles'' by

Mary Gentle Mary Rosalyn Gentle (born 29 March 1956) is a British science fiction and fantasy author. Literary career Mary Gentle's first published novel was ''Hawk in Silver'' (1977), a young-adult fantasy. She came to prominence with the '' Orthe'' duol ...

, '' Luther: The Calling'' by

Neil Cross Neil Claude Cross (''né'' Gadd; born 9 February 1969) is a British novelist and scriptwriter, best known as the creator of the drama series '' Luther'' and ''Hard Sun''. He is also the showrunner for the TV adaptation of '' The Mosquito Coast ...

, ''The War for the Lot'' by Sterling E. Lanier, ''Cold Storage'' by

David Koepp David Koepp (; born June 9, 1963) is an American screenwriter and director. He is the fourth most successful screenwriter of all time in terms of U.S. box office receipts with a total gross of over $2.6 billion. Koepp has achieved both critical ...

, where it plays a prominent role, and ''The Rats'' by

James Herbert James John Herbert, OBE (8 April 1943 – 20 March 2013) was an English horror writer. A full-time writer, he also designed his own book covers and publicity. His books have sold 54 million copies worldwide, and have been translated into 34 la ...

. The

Lorrie Moore Lorrie Moore (born Marie Lorena Moore; January 13, 1957) is an American writer, critic, and essayist. She is best known for her short stories, some of which have won major awards. Since 1984, she has also taught creative writing. Biography Mar ...

short story ''Wings'' features a couple who discover a rat king in their attic. In

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', Swamp Thing (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...

and Ian Gibson's comic book series ''

The Ballad of Halo Jones ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'' is a science fiction comic strip written by Alan Moore and drawn by Ian Gibson (artist), Ian Gibson, with lettering by Steve Potter (Books 1 and 2) and Richard Starkings (Book 3). ''Halo Jones'' first appeared Jul ...

'', the Rat King was a weapon of war, a super-intelligent collective able to coordinate attacks by regular rats on a global scale, decimating an entire planet. In '' The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents'' by

Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English author, humorist, and Satire, satirist, best known for the ''Discworld'' series of 41 comic fantasy novels published between 1983 and 2015, and for the Apocalyp ...

, Keith skeptically notes that the filth associated with supposedly tying the rats together at a young age is not found in a rat's nest. It is eventually revealed that members of the Ratcatchers' Guild create rat kings as a

masterpiece A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...

to demonstrate their skill in handling live rats. The main antagonist of the novel, a rat king called Spider due to having eight component rats, is motivated by his grudge against humanity for his traumatic creation. In an author's note at the end of the novel, Pratchett ventures the theory that "down the ages, some cruel and inventive people have had altogether too much time on their hands". Rotikuningas

E. T. A. Hoffmann Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (born Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann; 24 January 1776 – 25 June 1822) was a German Romantic author of fantasy and Gothic horror, a jurist, composer, music critic and artist.Penrith Goff, "E.T.A. Hoffmann" in ...

's ''

The Nutcracker and the Mouse King "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" () is a fairy tale written in 1816 by Prussian author E. T. A. Hoffmann, in which a young girl's favorite Christmas toy, the Nutcracker doll, Nutcracker, comes alive and, after defeating the evil Mouse King in ...

'' features a character called the Mouse King (), with seven heads. The character is sometimes depicted as multi-headed in productions of the

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...

ballet ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. Th ...

'', based on the novella. The film ''

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms ''The Nutcracker and the Four Realms'' is a 2018 American Christmas fantasy film directed by Lasse Hallström and Joe Johnston. It is a retelling of both the 1816 short story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" and the 1892 ballet ''The Nutcracker' ...

'', based on the short story, similarly features a "Mouse King", a rat-king like creature formed from a teeming mass of small mice. The phenomenon's name appeared as the title of a

Boston Manor Boston Manor House is an English Jacobean manor house built in 1622 with internal alterations, intensively restored in later centuries. It was the manor house of one of the early medieval-founded manors in Middlesex. Since 1965 the manor's ...

song released in 2020. When asked about it, vocalist Henry Cox explained that he used the rat king as a metaphor for contemporary political and social events. A creature known as the Rat King is featured in the 2020 action-adventure video game ''

The Last of Us Part II ''The Last of Us Part II'' is a 2020 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Set four years after '' The Last of Us'' (2013), the game focuses on two playable characters in a post-apo ...

''. It is a conjoinment of multiple fungus-infected humans, which protagonist

Abby Abby or Abbie is a given name, most often a shortened form of Abigail (name), Abigail and Albert (given name), Albert. Notable women * Abbie Betinis (born 1980), American composer * Abby Binay (born 1975), Filipino politician * Abbie Boudre ...

encounters in the underground levels of a hospital. Three actors were tied together to perform

motion capture Motion capture (sometimes referred as mocap or mo-cap, for short) is the process of recording high-resolution motion (physics), movement of objects or people into a computer system. It is used in Military science, military, entertainment, sports ...

for the creature. Co-director Kurt Margenau described the idea behind the Rat King as the team's take on "what happens to them he infectedwhen they sit around for a really long time." The rat king appears in several episodes of the cartoon ''

Hilda Hilda is one of several feminine given names derived from the name ''Hild'', formed from Old Norse , meaning 'battle'. Hild, a Nordic-German Bellona, was a Valkyrie who conveyed fallen warriors to Valhalla. Warfare was often called Hild's Game. ...

''. The Rat King is an amalgamation of rats living in the sewers below the city. He knows people's secrets and is willing to trade knowledge with Hilda on several occasions. A three-head rat sovereign appears as the primary antagonist in Mac Barnett's, graphic novel, ''The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza''. "Epic Lunacy, Kirkus, https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/mac-barnett/the-first-cat-in-space-ate-pizza/ A rat king appears in ''

Hoard A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. This would usually be with the intention of ...

'' by

Luna Carmoon Luna Carmoon (né Hollie Moore; born 1997 or 1998) is an English screenwriter and film director, known for her 2023 debut feature film ''Hoard'' starring Joseph Quinn and Hayley Squires produced by BBC Film, Delaval Film, Erebus Pictures, Anti-W ...

. A mass of rats is found among hoarded ephemera in Maria's mother's home. A rat king appears in and is a main theme in ''Ego Death'' by

Jazz Emu Archibald Henderson-Cleland, better known by his stage name and persona Jazz Emu, is an English comedian, musician, and writer known for his eccentric performances. Early life Henderson was born in London. He attended Cambridge University, wh ...

, where the protagonist creates a human/rat persona based on their obsession with the Rat King phenomena.

References

External links

*
Photo and X-ray of rat king in the Museum of Nantes
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215205349/http://www.museum.nantes.fr/pages/03-apercu/apercuroiderat.htm , date=15 December 2017 Rats Animal welfare

Etymology

History

Squirrel kings

Possible explanations

In popular culture

See also

References

External links