Why So Many Drawings in Medieval Manuscripts Depict Bunnies Going Bad

Medieval monks copying manuscripts by hand entertained themselves by doodling in the margins, giving us a glimpse of their sense of humor. All kinds of subjects are contained therein, but killer bunnies are everywhere. The incongruity of such a harmless animal creating violence is still with us, from Monty Python and the Holy Grail to Bunnicula to Night of the Lepus.

Jon Kaneko-James explains further: "The usual imagery of the rabbit in Medieval art is that of purity and helplessness – that’s why some Medieval portrayals of Christ have marginal art portraying a veritable petting zoo of innocent, nonviolent, little white and brown bunnies going about their business in a field." But the creators of this particular type of humorous marginalia, known as drollery, saw things differently.

Read about the drolleries and their rabbits at Open Culture. -via Nag on the Lake


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rabbits, despite being prey animal, are fighters for sure
there's some interesting videos on youtube of rabbits fighting off snakes
some of the best UFC fighters of all time have been born Year of the Rabbit (1963/1975/1987)
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