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According to the tradition of the Physiologus and medieval bestiary, the aspidochelone is a fabled sea creature, variously described as a large whale or vast sea turtle, and a giant sea monster with huge spines on the ridge of its back. No matter what form it is, it is always described as being so huge that it is often mistaken for a rocky island covered with sand dunes and vegetation. The name aspidochelone appears to be a compound word combining Greek language aspis (which means either "" or "shield"), and chelone, the turtle. It rises to the surface from the depths of the sea, and entices unwitting sailors with its island appearance to make landfall on its huge shell and then the whale is able to pull them under the ocean, ship and all the people, drowning them. It also emits a sweet smell that lures fish into its trap where it then devours them. In the moralistic allegory of the Physiologus and bestiary tradition, the aspidochelone represents Satan, who deceives those whom he seeks to devour.
There is a monster in the sea which in Greek is called aspidochelone, in Latin "asp-turtle"; it is a great whale, that has what appear to be beaches on its hide, like those from the sea-shore. This creature raises its back above the waves of the sea, so that sailors believe that it is just an island, so that when they see it, it appears to them to be a sandy beach such as is common along the sea-shore. Believing it to be an island, they beach their ship alongside it, and disembarking, they plant stakes and tie up the ships. Then, in order to cook a meal after this work, they make fires on the sand as if on land. But when the monster feels the heat of these fires, it immediately submerges into the water, and pulls the ship into the depths of the sea. Est belua in mare quae dicitur graece aspidochelone, latine autem aspido testudo; cetus ergo est magnus, habens super corium suum tamquam sabulones, sicut iuxta littora maris. Haec in medio pelago eleuat dorsum suum super undas maris sursum; ita ut nauigantibus nautis non aliud credatur esse quam insula, praecipue cum uiderint totum locum illum sicut in omnibus littoribus maris sabulonibus esse repletum. Putantes autem insulam esse, applicant nauem suam iuxta eam, et descendentes figunt palos et alligant naues; deinde ut coquant sibi cibos post laborem, faciunt ibi focos super arenam quasi super terram; illa uero belua, cum senserit ardorem ignis, subito mergit se in aquam, et nauem secum trahit in profundum maris.
Sic patiuntur omnes qui increduli sunt et quicumque ignorant diaboli astutias, spem suam ponentes in eum; et operibus eius se obligantes, simul merguntur cum illo in gehennam ignis ardentis: ita astutia eius.
Anonymous, Physiologus Latinus versio B. Accessed Nov. 19, 2007. Translation for Wikipedia.
The Alexander Romance includes the story of a "monster" confused as an island in the Alexander's letter to Aristotle: "After they landed on the so-called island and an hour passed, suddenly it proved to be no island, but a monster which plunged into the sea. We shouted and it disappeared, but some of my companions met a wretched death, among them my best friend." Alexander Romance by "Pseudo-Callisthenes," Book 3, Chapter 17 (Greek version translated into English). Another sea monster, which attacks Alexander and his companions, is identified as "a lobster" in the Armenian version of the Alexander Romance, or "beasts that are called crabs" by Leo Archpriest.Pritchard, R. T. (Ed.). (1992). The History of Alexander's Battles: Historia de Preliis, the J1 Version (Vol. 34). Pontifical Inst of Medieval studies. p. 177.
Scripture gives them the name of great not because they are greater than a shrimp and a sprat, but because the size of their bodies equals that of great hills. Thus when they swim on the surface of the waters one often sees them appear like islands. But these monstrous creatures do not frequent our coasts and shores; they inhabit the Atlantic ocean. Such are these animals created to strike us with terror and awe. If now you hear say that the greatest vessels, sailing with full sails, are easily stopped by a very small fish, by the remora, and so forcibly that the ship remains motionless for a long time, as if it had taken root in the middle of the sea, do you not see in this little creature a like proof of the power of the Creator?
The Pseudo-Eustatius Commentary on the Hexameron connects this passage with Aspidochelone mentioned in the Physiologus. (2026). 9788130712420, Cosmo Publications. ISBN 9788130712420
A related story is the Jonah's Whale legend. Pliny the Elder's Natural History tells the story of a giant fish, which he names pristis, of immense size.Pliny the Elder, Historia Naturalis, book 9, ch. 4 (Latin)
The Lucian's True History contains elements of both Jonah's Whale and Aspidochelone legends.
The allegory of the Aspidochelone borrows from the account of whales in Saint Isidore of Seville's Etymologiae. Isidore cites the prophet Jonah; the Vulgate translation of the Book of Jonah translates Jonah 2:2 as Exaudivit me de ventre inferni: "He (God) heard me from the belly of Hell". He concludes that such whales must have bodies as large as mountains.Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae XII:6 (Latin), accessed Nov. 18, 2007
As to the sarathan, I have never yet met anybody who could assure me he had seen it with his own eyes. Of course, if we were to believe all that sailors tell ... for they claim that on occasions they have landed on certain islands having woods and valleys and fissures and have lit a great fire; and when the monster felt the fire on its back, it began to glide away with them and all the plants growing on it, so that only such as managed to flee were saved. This tale outdoes the most fabulous and preposterous of stories.(2026). 9780415439190 ISBN 9780415439190
This monster is also mentioned in The Wonders of Creation, written by al-Qazwini, and in the first voyage of Sinbad the Sailor in One Thousand and One Nights.Anonymous, The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, ss. 538-539 (Burton translation)
The saratan also appears in Jorge Luis Borges's work El Libro de Los Seres Imaginarios ( The Book of Imaginary Beings), where its name is spelled "zaratan," a spelling which readers of Borges have adopted in reference to this creature. Borges describes saratans as having long-life spans and incredible size, to the point where their shells can be mistaken easily enough as small islands. Borges cites Al-Jahiz and the Kitāb al-Hayawān for this information, and notes Al-Jahiz's skepticism, which he contrasts with al-Qazwini's account. Borges also may be responsible for the now-common representation of the saratan as a giant turtle, rather than a crab.
Under the name of zaratan, saratans also appear in some editions of the tabletop roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons.
The moral of the story remains the same:
In The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, J. R. R. Tolkien made a little verse that claimed the name "Fastitocalon" from The Whale, and told a similar story:
As such, Tolkien imported the traditional tale of the aspidochelone into the lore of his Middle-earth.Christina Scull & Wayne G. Hammond (2014), editors, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, Harper Collins, p. 224;
In the folklore of the Inuit of Greenland, there was a similar monster called an Imap Umassoursa. It was a giant sea monster that often was mistaken for a vast and flat island. When the monster emerged from the water, it would tip sailors into freezing waters, causing their deaths. Whenever the waters seemed shallow, the sailors would tread carefully for fear of being over that dreadful creature.
In the folklore of the Yamana people people of the southernmost tip of Argentina and Chile, some local waters are occupied by lakúma, large water spirits which can lay flat on the surface of the water and whose bodies can be walked across. When they submerge themselves, they can sink anyone walking atop them. (2026). 9780520352216, University of California Press. ISBN 9780520352216
The usilosimapundu of Zulu people folklore also bears some similarities to the aspidochelone. It is a creature so large that not only do plants and trees grow on its back, but one side of it experiences a different season than the other side. However, unlike the aspidochelone, the usilosimapundu is a land-dweller.
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