Pard

A lion you may have heard of, and a leopard quite as likely, but middle-English lexicons and church carvings bear record of another fierce African great cat, known as the Pard.

This animal is described as being enormous, having a mottled or spotted coat, a tufted tail as long as its body, and bearded like a billygoat.

During this period in art and writing animals were documented less in the interest of scientific study and rather for religious education; every creature was a symbol that represented a story to instruct the faithful masses. The most prominent and recurring story about the Pard is of it being the parent of the Leopard: an unfaithful and adulterous Pard will mate with a Lion to produce the sterile and flawed Leo-Pard. Other reports seem to suggest that the elusive Pard was a very pious animal and was sometimes presented as an allegory for Christ, and was the enemy of dragons.

Shakespeare made occasional reference to the Pard as a metaphor for ferocity or sexual potency, but this animal has never been seen since.

Sources:
The Aberdeen Bestiary Project
Tisdall M.W., God's Beasts. Plymouth, Charlesfort Press 1998.
How the Leopard got its Name

Posted by Rootdown