Stuffed crocodiles hanging from the ceiling?

May 29, 2009 4:08 AM

For a friend: Looking for a story, or possibly book, or possibly series of books. The only thing they remember is that at one point the protagonist(s) visit a wizard or magician for help. He has a stuffed crocodile hanging from the ceiling.

Quoted from their LJ:

For the past couple of weeks I've been vaguely remembering a story, or possibly book, or possibly series of books I read as a young child. The only thing I remember is that at one point the protagonist(s) visit a wizard or magician for help.

He has a stuffed crocodile hanging from the ceiling, as all good wizard/magicians have stuffed crocodiles hanging from the rafters.

I think at one point they returned, and the child rushes to see the crocodile, but it's gone, and the wizard says something along the lines of "all things must pass, even stuffed crocodiles".

So I've always had a bit set that your good magician must always have a stuffed crocodile hanging from the ceiling. And other writers have clearly read the same book, Pratchett and Gaimon and so forth, it must be a classic...and apparently alchemists have it too!

So I've been vaguely trying to remember the book.

Things have come to a head, because, now in the Mansion of E the last couple of strips have featured a wizard/alchemist like character who has a stuffed crocogater hanging from his ceiling.

So I did a google search, thinking this would be a relatively easy find. No. Everyone seems to have been affected. Hell's budgies! There's even a cult! Everyone is talking about stuffed, ceiling hung crocs!

And apparently the childhood author I'm thinking of might have been affected by T H White with Merlin's corkindrill hanging from the rafters. Or with alchemists. And so, apparently has everyone else, or they've been affected by this childhood author.

Okay. What would this children's book I read have been? Any ideas? Where have you read of stuffed crocodiles hanging from the ceiling/rafters?

Thank you!

posted by krisjohn to media & arts (14 answers total)

Yes, I dont know if this will help track down the story but I immediately thought of alchemists and their depiction in art. Check out Tenier's Alchemist at work for example which does indeed have a stuffed crocodile hanging from the ceiling.
posted by vacapinta at 4:14 AM on May 29, 2009

Maybe it was "The Sword in the Stone" by T H White? Young King Arthur has many dealings with Merlin.
posted by lungtaworld at 4:33 AM on May 29, 2009

This won't help answer your question (sorry), but there was a previous AskMeFi question about stuffed crocodiles hanging from ceilings which you might enjoy.
posted by verstegan at 4:59 AM on May 29, 2009

This link, which mentions the Discworld, might be of interest.
posted by primer_dimer at 6:31 AM on May 29, 2009

There might be a scene like this in the wordless picture book Creepy Castle by John Goodall.

But I'm also vaguely remembering something with black and white pen-and-ink illustrations, in which one character is pretending to be a knight and attacks the stuffed alligator hanging from the ceiling of his uncle's study (it being the closest thing to a dragon around) and ends up falling out the window into a pond.
posted by nonane at 7:06 AM on May 29, 2009

I wonder if Clark Ashton Smith's "Return of the Sorcerer" is the earliest instance of the stuffed-crocodile-in-a-wizard's-lab trope?

(I'd be surprised if this was what your friend read in childhood, though.)
posted by laumry at 7:10 AM on May 29, 2009

A quick search at google books suggests that this is actually a pretty old idea. Who knew?

Anastasius by Thomas Hope mentions it in 1836 -- "I groped on nevertheless with the most undaunted bravery, till I reached the furthest end of the unsavoury abode. There the wizard sat in all his state. A stuffed crocodile canopied his head, a serpent's skin of large dimensions was spread under his feet,..."

Similarly, the Century in 1914 lists the specific "properties of a wizard" as "his gown and wand, the stuffed crocodile, and the skeleton in the corner"
posted by susanvance at 7:42 AM on May 29, 2009

Oh, any chance it is Bed-Knob and Broomstick, by Mary Norton? Check out page 127.
posted by susanvance at 7:55 AM on May 29, 2009

I immediately thought of The Sword in the Stone- so I'll second the vote for that.
posted by Eicats at 8:43 AM on May 29, 2009

Sounds like Discworld to me... especially the way he describes the absurdity of it.
posted by teabag at 8:54 AM on May 29, 2009

I think it's Bed-Knob and Broomstick, too.
posted by lemuria at 9:28 AM on May 29, 2009

The Sword in the Stone, is where my money is. I am sure Merlin had a stuffed croc in his study.
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 10:44 AM on May 29, 2009

Pratchett uses the convention a lot, but he certainly isn't the source. He has Quoth the Raven talk about how necessary it is to have a stuffed alligator in wizard's establishment in Soul Music, and in Mort there's this passage:

The big low room inside was dark and shadowy and smelled mainly of incense but slightly of boiled cabbage arid elderly laundry and the kind of person who throws all his socks at the wall and wears the ones that don't stick. There was a large crystal ball with a crack in it, an astrolabe with several bits missing, a rather scuffed octogram on the floor, and a stuffed alligator hanging from the ceiling. A stuffed alligator is absolutely standard equipment in any properly-run magical establishment. This one looked as though it hadn't enjoyed it much.

A bead curtain on the far wall was flung aside with a dramatic gesture and a hooded figure stood revealed.

'Beneficent constellations shine on the hour of our meeting!' it boomed.

'Which ones?' said Mort.

There was a sudden worried silence.

'Pardon?'

'Which constellations would these be?' said Mort.

'Beneficent ones,' said the figure, uncertainly.
posted by misha at 12:24 PM on May 29, 2009 [1 favorite]

Thanks everyone! Looks like it's been sorted and she says you all came up with a heap of interesting stuff. ^_^
posted by krisjohn at 11:27 PM on May 29, 2009