The Cockatrice

cockatric.gif (16360 bytes) The Cockatrice is so similiar to the Basilisk in legend that is is difficult to make distinctions between to two. After much sifting through jumbled legends I think I have finally isolated the main differences. The Cockatrice was born is a similiar way as the Basilisk. The creature would be born from the egg of a cock (a male chicken) and then incubated by a serpant or a toad. The resulted offspring would either be a basilisk, or in some cases, a Cockatrice. The Cockatrice would inherit much more of the Cock's features than the lizard-like basilisk.

The Cockatrice looked like a rooster with serpent features mixed in like a snakes tail or a snakes head. The Cockatrice did not have the full destructive powers of the basilisk but it did share one feature with the Basilisk. If a person was caught in the creature's gaze they would turn to stone.

In the Middle Ages people feared this creature greatly. Even though this creature never really existed one must remember that the Middle Ages were ignorant times. Once in a great while a cock would actually lay an egg (this being a genetic mutation). They cock would be killed and the eggs would be destroyed for fear of the possible resulting Cockatrice.

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