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<\/figure>","type":"rich"}teratology<\/i> now means a study of deformity, in the olden days it referred to monsters<\/p>
writhing sea monsters of the deep… whales were monstrous<\/p>
hell lay inside their mouths (jonah\u2019s experience)<\/p>
they were often depicted with horns and scales.<\/p>
Isidore of Seville<\/b><\/a> [7th century CE] (Etymologies<\/i>, Book 12, 6:6): Whales (ballenae<\/i>) conceive through coition with the sea-mouse. (Book 12, 6:7-8): Whales are immense beasts, with bodies equal to mountains. They have their name from emitting water, for the Greek ballein<\/i> means emit; they raise waves higher than those of any other sea beast. They are called monsters (cete<\/i>) because of their horribleness. The whale that swallowed Jonah was of such size that its belly resembled hell; as Jonah says (Jonah 2:2): “He heard me from the belly of hell.” - medieval bestiary<\/a>
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