Una zoología monstruosa: los leones del Palmerín de Olivia

Abstract

At first sight, monster zoology could be seen as real fauna, as opposed to other beings whose monstrosity is evident. However, under the veil of apparent realism hides the magic principle which has made those animals move from the most pure reality to the monstrous otherness. This can be due to metamorphosis, prophecies or any other element which does not directly match their animal nature, but which comes from an external principle —magic— or an internal principle — their own monstrous/prodigious nature. This is the case of lions confronted by the hero in Moorish lands in Palmerín de Oliva (Salamanca, Juan de Porras, 1511).