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

reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...

-like creature with

chameleon Chameleons or chamaeleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 202 species described as of June 2015. The members of this family are best known for their distinct range of colors, bein ...

properties. It was first described in

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

Corpus Aristotelicum The Corpus Aristotelicum is the collection of Aristotle's works that have survived from antiquity through medieval manuscript transmission. These texts, as opposed to Aristotle's works that were lost or intentionally destroyed, are technical ph ...

as Tarandos (Τάρανδος). It was also mentioned in

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...

's History of the Animals (''Tarandus''),

Aelian Aelian or Aelianus may refer to: * Aelianus Tacticus, Greek military writer of the 2nd century, who lived in Rome * Casperius Aelianus, Praetorian Prefect, executed by Trajan * Claudius Aelianus, Roman writer, teacher and historian of the 3rd centu ...

's De Natura Animalium (''Tarandos''), Solinus (''Parandrus'') and

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, 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 Caes ...

, appearing again in key texts of the

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

period, such as ''The York Mystery Cycle'' (1440) and Francois Rabelais' ''

Pantagruel ''The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel'' (french: La vie de Gargantua et de Pantagruel) is a pentalogy of novels written in the 16th century by François Rabelais, telling the adventures of two giants, Gargantua ( , ) and his son 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, ( gr, Αἰθιοπία, Aithiopía; also known as Ethiopia) first appears as a geographical term in classical documents in reference to the upper Nile region of Sudan, as well as certain areas south of the Sahara desert. It ...

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