Peryton
Fictional hybrid animal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The peryton is a fictional hybrid animal combining the physical features of a stag and a bird. The peryton was invented by Jorge Luis Borges in his 1957 Book of Imaginary Beings, using the fictional device of a supposedly long-lost medieval manuscript.
 An artist's impression of a peryton | |
| Creature information | |
|---|---|
| Other name | Winged stag |
| Grouping | Fantasy creatures |
| Sub grouping | Hybrid |
| Similar entities | Furfur, Hippogriff, Pegasus |
| Folklore | Fakelore |
| Origin | |
| First attested | 1957 |
| Country | Atlantis (fictional origin) |
| Region | Fictional |
| Habitat | Fictional lands, Atlantis, Fantasy realms |
| Details | A fictional hybrid combining the features of a stag and a large bird. Said to cast a human shadow until it kills a person, whereupon it begins casting its own shadow. |
Precursors
Some historical versions of the heraldry of King Charles VI of France featured winged stags as heraldic supports,[1] as did some versions of the late medieval battle standard of the Dukes of Bourbon.[2]
Characteristics
The peryton is said to have the head, neck, forelegs and antlers of a stag, combined with the plumage, wings and hindquarters of a large bird, although some interpretations portray the peryton as a deer in all but coloration and bird's wings.
According to Borges, perytons lived in Atlantis until an earthquake destroyed the civilization and the creatures escaped by flight. A peryton casts the shadow of a human until it kills one during its lifetime, at which time it starts to cast its own shadow. Some descriptions of the peryton allege that a sibyl once prophesied that the perytons would lead to the downfall of Rome.[3]
In science
Radio astronomer Sarah Burke-Spolaor gave the name Peryton to a class of radio signals of terrestrial origin that mimic fast radio bursts – pulses that appear to originate outside our galaxy. The signals Burke-Spolaor observed demonstrated some properties that appeared man-made and some that appeared natural.[4] These perytons were found to be the result of premature opening of a microwave oven door, which released a frequency-swept radio pulse, which mimicked a fast radio burst, as the magnetron turned off.[5]
In popular culture
A version of the peryton appears in the tabletop game Dungeons & Dragons and its derivative novel Darkwell, a book in The Moonshae Trilogy where a flock of perytons are among an army of evil monsters summoned by the book's main antagonist.[6]
A variation on the peryton menaces the protagonists of So You Want to Be a Wizard, a 1985 Diane Duane novel. She credits Borges in a 2021 essay.[7]
The peryton features in John and Carole Barrowman's novel Hollow Earth.[8]
Perytons appear in Across the Green Grass Fields, the 6th of the Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire.[9]
A group of perytons appear in the fourth Fablehaven book by Brandon Mull, Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary.[10]
The Preyton is a creature from the roster of the Beastmen faction in the Warhammer Fantasy universe, it is inspired by the peryton in both name and appearance, being a Great Stag corrupted by the forces of Chaos in a dreadful flying monster, and thus a monstrous and horrible take on the peryton.[11]
See also
- Hybrid (mythology) – Mythological creature combining body parts of more than one real species
- Furfur – Goetic demon