Hippopodes

The Hippopodes in Medieval bestiaries and Greek mythology were a race of humanoids with horses' hooves. According to several ancient geographers, they shared an island with two other legendary races: the Panotti and Oeonae. Pliny the Elder's Natural History locates this island near the Scythian coast;[1] Pomponius Mela's De situ orbis places it in or around the North Sea, mentioning it alongside Denmark and the Orkney Islands (Mela iii. § 56). [2]

Adam of Bremen wrote in the 11th century that the Scritofinni could run faster than wild animals. [3] Olaus Magnus addresses this in his work Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus where he explains that the Scritofinni gets their name from the jumping motion they perform while hunting on skis. [4] The same connection can also be seen in Abraham Ortelius's map Europam, Sive Celticam Veterem from 1595 where he places Hippopodes and Scricofinni in the same area of northern Scandinavia. [5]

The Travels of Sir John Mandeville places the Hippopodes in Maritime Southeast Asia, and adds that they are particularly fleet-footed and hunt by running down their prey. [6]

A 2014 multispectral imaging project led by Chet van Duzer revealed that a c.1491 map created by Henricus Martellus Germanus and likely used by Christopher Columbus located the Hippopodes in Central Asia. [7]

References
  1. "Hippopodes". Theoi Greek Mythology. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
  2. Romer, Frank E. (1998). Pomponius Mela's Description of the World. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 9780472084524.
  3. Fjellström, Phebe (1986). Samernas samhälle i tradition och nutid: [Lappish society in tradition and the present day]. Stockholm: Norstedt. ISBN 91-1-863632-2.
  4. Magnus, Olaus (1555). Historia om de nordiska folken. p. 18.
  5. "Celctic Europe by Abraham Ortelius". Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  6. Mandeville, Sir John (1883). The Voiage and Travaile of Sir John Maundeville, Kt. which Treateth of the Way to Hierusalem: And of Marvayles of Inde, with Other Ilands and Countryes. London: Reeves and Turner. p. 205. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  7. Miller, Greg. "A 500-year-old map used by Columbus reveals its secrets". National Geographic. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
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