Mooncalf - Revision history

TeraS at 16:35, 23 October 2014

2014-10-23T16:35:52Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:35, 23 October 2014
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	[[Category:~~Definitions~~]]		[[Category:Deities, Spirits, and Mythic Beings‏‎]]
			A '''Mooncalf''' (or '''moon-calf''') is the abortive fetus of a cow or other farm animal. The term was occasionally applied to an abortive human fetus.

	~~Mooncalf was a~~ term formerly ~~ascribed to~~ the ~~abortive fetus~~ of ~~a cow or other farm animal, and also occasionally to that~~ of ~~a human~~.		The term derives from the formerly widespread superstition, present in many European folk traditions, that such malformed creatures were the product of the sinister influence of the Moon on fetal development.

	~~The term arose from the formerly widespread belief, present in many European folk traditions, that such malformed creatures were the product of the sinister influence of the moon on fetal development.~~

			==Modern Usage==
			The term came to be used to also refer to any monstrous or grotesque thing. Shakespeare, for instance, used the term to describe Caliban, the deformed servant of Prospero, in ''The Tempest''.

			In H. G. Wells' 1901 novel ''The First Men in the Moon'', large creatures domesticated by the Selenites are referred to as "mooncalves."<ref>{{cite book \|title=The First Men in the Moon \|last=Wells \|first=H. G. \|year=1901 \|chapter=Chapter 11: The Mooncalf Pastures }}</ref>

	~~== Use in fiction ==~~		Mooncalf is used as a derogatory term to indicate someone is a dullard, fool or otherwise not particularly bright or sharp. For example, W. C. Fields in "The Bank Dick" (1940) advises his prospective son-in-law to avoid being a "mooncalf" by buying shares he has been beguiled into believing are worth much more than the proffered price.
	~~The~~ term ~~came~~ to ~~be used to refer to any monstrous~~ or ~~grotesque thing~~. ~~Shakespeare~~, ~~for instance, used the term~~ to ~~describe Caliban,~~ the ~~deformed servant of Prospero, in The Tempest~~.

	~~Mooncalves are~~ a ~~type~~ of ~~giant Caterpillar like~~ creatures in the ~~1964 film The~~ first ~~men on the Moon~~.		Mooncalf is also the name of a species of magical creatures in the world of the Harry Potter series. It is described in ''Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'' as a shy, nocturnal creature with a smooth, pale grey body, bulging eyes and four spindly legs with large flat feet. Mooncalfs perform dances in the moonlight, and are apparently responsible for crop circles.<ref>{{cite book \|title=Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them \|last=Rowling \|first=J. K. \|year=2001 \|chapter=An A-Z of Fantastic Beasts }}</ref>

	The ~~term is also used as a name for~~ a character ~~in Discworld Noir, head of~~ the ~~cult of Anu Anu,~~ and as a ~~nickname for Seoman Snowlock from Tad William's Memory~~, ~~Sorrow~~, ~~and Thorn books~~.		Wilfred Maxwell, narrator and protagonist of occultist Dion Fortune’s 1938 novel, ''The Sea Priestess'', refers several times to a mentally retarded character who falls into the sea and disappears as a “mooncalf.”<ref>{{cite book \|title=The Sea Priestess \|last=Fortune\|first=Dion\|\|year=1938, 1978 \|chapter=Chapter X, p. 86, ''et infra''}}</ref>

	~~In the Harry Potter universe, a mooncalf is a strange, glassy-eyed creature with overlarge feet that dances at night in fields, leaving crop circles in its wake.~~

	In Gerald Durrell's fantasy book The Talking Parcel, the mooncalf is a large fictional creature with the head of a cow and body of a snail which lives in the land of Mythologia. The mooncalf has three spigots on the back of its shell for warm milk, cold milk and cream and leaves a trail of mooncalf jelly which can be willed (by the mind) into different shapes.		==See Also==
			* [[Homunculus]]
			* [[Cambion]]
			* [[Changeling]]

	In Bruce Cordell's Dungeons & Dragons's adventure Heart of Nightfang Spire, the mooncalf is a large fictional creature possessed of bat wings and many tentacles that are sometimes encountered on "mountain tops, the tips of tall hills, and generally lonely, desolate places."

			==Notes==
			{{reflist}}


	== ~~See also~~ ==		==External Links==
	*[~~[Homunculus]]~~		*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mooncalf The original source of this article at Wikipedia]
	*[[Cambion]]
	*[[Changeling]]

TeraS: l

2007-12-18T19:26:08Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:26, 18 December 2007
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			[[Category:Definitions]]

	Mooncalf was a term formerly ascribed to the abortive fetus of a cow or other farm animal, and also occasionally to that of a human.		Mooncalf was a term formerly ascribed to the abortive fetus of a cow or other farm animal, and also occasionally to that of a human.

TeraS: See also

2007-12-18T18:50:39Z

TeraS: Start Entry

2007-12-18T18:48:06Z

Start Entry

New page

Mooncalf was a term formerly ascribed to the abortive fetus of a cow or other farm animal, and also occasionally to that of a human.

The term arose from the formerly widespread belief, present in many European folk traditions, that such malformed creatures were the product of the sinister influence of the moon on fetal development.

== Use in fiction ==
The term came to be used to refer to any monstrous or grotesque thing. Shakespeare, for instance, used the term to describe Caliban, the deformed servant of Prospero, in The Tempest.

Mooncalves are a type of giant Caterpillar like creatures in the 1964 film The first men on the Moon.

The term is also used as a name for a character in Discworld Noir, head of the cult of Anu Anu, and as a nickname for Seoman Snowlock from Tad William's Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn books.

In the Harry Potter universe, a mooncalf is a strange, glassy-eyed creature with overlarge feet that dances at night in fields, leaving crop circles in its wake.

In Gerald Durrell's fantasy book The Talking Parcel, the mooncalf is a large fictional creature with the head of a cow and body of a snail which lives in the land of Mythologia. The mooncalf has three spigots on the back of its shell for warm milk, cold milk and cream and leaves a trail of mooncalf jelly which can be willed (by the mind) into different shapes.

In Bruce Cordell's Dungeons & Dragons's adventure Heart of Nightfang Spire, the mooncalf is a large fictional creature possessed of bat wings and many tentacles that are sometimes encountered on "mountain tops, the tips of tall hills, and generally lonely, desolate places."

== See also ==
[[Homunculus]]
[[Cambion]]
[[Changeling]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:50, 18 December 2007
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	== See also ==		== See also ==
	[[Homunculus]]		*[[Homunculus]]
	[[Cambion]]		*[[Cambion]]
	[[Changeling]]		*[[Changeling]]