Comments on: Headless Humanoids??

Question: Headless Humanoids??

hermitosis — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 11:10:49 -0800

Cryptozoology question! I'm looking for the well-known illustrations from the account of that "explorer" (whose name I don't remember) who published tales of fantastical beasts and strange humanoids hundreds of years ago.

In particular, I'm looking for the drawings of the headless people with faces growing out of their stomachs.

I know someone is probably going to answer this in mere minutes; I just haven't been able to turn up anything no matter how industriously I set Google loose on it.

By: b1tr0t

b1tr0t — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 11:30:42 -0800

I think the "explorer" you are looking for is Prester John, but I can't find the woodcuts of the guy with a head in his chest. I think there was a similar illustration of a guy with a foot on his head (an "antipodean"), but I can't find him either.

By: Alvy Ampersand

Alvy Ampersand — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 11:43:15 -0800

The headless creatures are called anthrophagi.

By: Alvy Ampersand

Alvy Ampersand — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 11:47:04 -0800

D'oh, see also blemmyea.

By: moonmilk

moonmilk — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 11:51:40 -0800

I found pictures of the blemmyes and the giant-footed sciapods in Sebastian Münster 's Cosmographia.

By: nasreddin

nasreddin — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 11:54:20 -0800

Prester John was the mythical king of India. The explorer was probably Sir John Mandeville (links to a relevant extract from his work).

By: DU

DU — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 11:56:09 -0800

Hey, is that a dufflepud?

By: hermitosis

hermitosis — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 11:59:08 -0800

Yep, that's what I'm looking for. Even knowing the name will make a big difference. Thanks a million!

By: ourobouros

ourobouros — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 12:12:03 -0800

I think the drawings you want come either from the Nuremberg Chronicle (scroll down a bit to "Strange People: Headless") or from Pliny the Elder's Naturalis Historia.

By: polyglot

polyglot — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 16:15:10 -0800

Alvy&: an anthro(po)phagi is someone who eats people; from anthro (man) and phagi (eater). Even says so in your link.

Which of course (for total derail bonus points) reminds me of Flanders & Swann's Reluctanct Cannibal.

By: Alvy Ampersand

Alvy Ampersand — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 19:59:07 -0800

polyglot: My first(Hasty, damn me) response was based on a confused memory of high school Shakespeare; having read Baudolino a couple of years ago I knew anthropophagi wasn't the term I wanted, hence my "D'oh" follow-up. The misspelling was just me being cockfingered. :)

By: steef

steef — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 06:29:48 -0800

I have a copy of The Travels of Marco Polo which has blemmyes, sciapods, dragons, unicorns, and men with dog's heads. I believe the illustrations are from a 14th-century French version of Polo's travels, Livre des Merveilles du Monde, in which the illustrator took some liberties with Polo's descriptions. They're the more colorful images in the linked search (but doesn't show the creatures you're looking for, sorry.)

By: steef

steef — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 10:51:33 -0800

Wait, here's an example.