Whale
The whale was seen as essentially demonic throughout the middle ages. The basis for this belief came from the Bible itself, where a Hebrew demon known as the Leviathan, a monstrous whale, is mentioned 6 times. Job 41 describes the Leviathan in great detail: ‘his body is like molten shields, shut close up with scales pressing upon one another… he shall esteem iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood… he shall make the deep sea to boil like a pot’ (41:7; 18; 22). We also have the story of Jonah, swallowed by a great whale (Book of Jonah).
The whale in the bestiaries is a vast, stone-like creature that is so large that it resembles an island. Some say that it is covered with sand because it spends so long floating at the surface. Unwitting sailors see the whale floating at the surface and, taking it for an island, thus cast anchor upon it. In the Old English version of the Physiologus, ‘the weary-hearted sailors mount the isle and, free from thought of peril, there abide, elated on the sands they build a fire’ (16-18). Their rest is not long-lived, however, for the whale awaits its chance.
‘Then when the crafty fiend perceives that men [are] encamped upon him, making their abode, enjoy the gentle weather, suddenly under the salty waves he plunges down, straight to the bottom of the deep he drags his prey’ (21-25). Appearing as an island was merely a ploy to kill the sailors. The whale exhibits similar trickery when it comes to eating fish, for its breath is sweet-smelling, and draws the fish towards its open, cavernous mouth, which clamps down upon whole shoals of the little creatures. Despite its phenomenal size, the whale’s main method of attack is cunning and deceit.
The allegorical interpretation of the whale is as Satan. Like the fox playing dead, the whale exploits the foolishness of people in order to slay them. The Old English Physiologus clarifies this point: ‘such is the way of demons, devils’ wiles: to hide their power, and stealthily inveigle heedless men, inciting them against all worthy deeds, and luring them to seek for help and comfort from unsuspected foes, until at last they choose a dwelling with the faithless one’. The whale’s sweet breath attracting the fish represents those obsessed with worldly pleasures who fall prey to Satan through them.