[MR] Rhinohide (was Re: Use of the word 'Troll')

[deepfatfriar at mindspring.com]

The earliest OED citation for "rinoceros" is in the 1300s ("13??").

Thomas

-----Original Message-----
From: "Tatsushu ." <tatsushu at hotmail.com>
Sent: Nov 13, 2003 11:02 AM
To: jim_layne at yahoo.com, bmccoy at chapelperilous.net, atlantia at Atlantia.org
Subject: [MR] Rhinohide (was  Re: Use of the word 'Troll')

>
>My memory isnt always reliable, but isnt there an
>illumination from the travels of Sir Francis Drake of
>a Rhino? Was the beast known in period? The image I am
>conjuring is a fanciful image, where the artist
>clearly didnt get too close...as he has drawn the
>beast with plates like an armadillo, but the size and
>overall shape is accurate. If it is period, it would
>be just barely. What would someone in period have said
>of a foe who seemed unbeatable?
>James ap Llywelyn

Well, that they were unbeatable.  I could see some possible descriptors 
using bears, wolves, lions, and other predatory animals if they were simply 
unbeatable.

Of course, 'rhinohide' is a derogatory term, rather than a praiseworthy one. 
  Being unbeatable is not a problem--unwilling to take a blow in a combat 
sport whereby it is upon the honor of the combatants to do so, is.

And I believe that bestiaries had Rhinos from the times of the Greeks, but I 
need to find out.  I'm pretty sure that I've seen it once or twice, though, 
well before Sir Francis Drake.

-Ii

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