Tigers, Lions and Other Big Cats

LIONS

How tf did lions become the symbol of bravery? They are the biggest and the strongest and they use that strength to eat the weaker animals. What exactly makes them brave??

Existential Comics (@existentialcoms) November 17, 2019
Uncle Shelby’s Story of Lafcadio, The Lion Who Shot Back by Shel Silverstein 1963
Edward J. Detmold, Tiger Tiger Burning Bright print, 1924
The Tiger Who Lost His Stripes by Anthony Paul and Michael Foreman
The Tiger Who Lost His Stripes by Anthony Paul and Michael Foreman

Tiger is big. Tiger is tough. And Tiger has an important note for you.

Dear Reader,WATCH OUT FOR WORMS! They are everywhere! They might even be in this book!Your friend,
Tiger

P. S. Tiger is afraid of worms.

“Does everything in the world go to sleep?” the little girl asks. In dialogue between a not-at-all sleepy child and understanding parents, the little girl decides “in a cocoon of sheets, a nest of blankets,” she is ready to sleep, warm and strong, just like a tiger.

Some stories refuse to stay bottled up…

When Lily and her family move in with her sick grandmother, a magical tiger straight out of her halmoni’s Korean folktales arrives, prompting Lily to unravel a secret family history. Long, long ago, Halmoni stole something from the tigers. Now, the tigers want it back. And when one of those tigers offers Lily a deal–return what Halmoni stole in exchange for Halmoni’s health–Lily is tempted to accept. But deals with tigers are never what they seem! With the help of her sister and her new friend Ricky, Lily must find her voice… and the courage to face a tiger.

Fairytale book published in 1982 by Vladimir Kovarik, illustrated by Daniela Benesova (27 september 1929, Tsjechië)
Fairytale book published in 1982 by Vladimir Kovarik, illustrated by Daniela Benesova (27 september 1929, Tsjechië)
Fairytale book published in 1982 by Vladimir Kovarik, illustrated by Daniela Benesova (27 september 1929, Tsjechië)
Fairytale book published in 1982 by Vladimir Kovarik, illustrated by Daniela Benesova (27 september 1929, Tsjechië)

AESOP’S LION

SAINT GERASIMOS OF THE JORDAN

illustration by Scott Gustafson

Humans like to think we can tame lions as we can dogs. The following has a very Aesop ring to it.

Saint Gerasimos of the Jordan resscued a lion when it was injured. The lion became his pet and a valuable addition to his monastic community. The lion was called Jordanes. When Saint Gerasimos died, the lion lay down on his grave and died as well.

FAIRYTALE LIONS

From The Lady and the Lion, The Brothers Grimm. Illus. by Arthur Rackham, 1909
Illustration by André Hofer for a 1927 edition of Pierre Benoît's L'Atlantide tiger
Illustration by André Hofer for a 1927 edition of Pierre Benoît’s L’Atlantide tiger

TIGERS

'The Yellow Cat' By Mary Grigs, Illustrated By Isobel and John Morton Sale (Humphrey Milford, Oxford UP, London, New York, Toronto 1936 - this edition 1946
‘The Yellow Cat’ By Mary Grigs, Illustrated By Isobel and John Morton Sale (Humphrey Milford, Oxford UP, London, New York, Toronto 1936 – this edition 1946

WOMEN WITH TIGERS (AND OTHER BIG CATS)

Arthur Wardle - After the Ball
Arthur Wardle – After the Ball
A Fairy Tale, 1887 Frederick Stuart Church; 1842-1924) Harper's New Monthly Magazine
A Fairy Tale, 1887 Frederick Stuart Church; 1842-1924) Harper’s New Monthly Magazine

SMALL CHILDREN WITH TIGERS

KITTENS WHO FANCY THEMSELVES TIGERS

TIGERS BEING TIGERS

L. Vladimirsky, Russian Three Fat Men 1953. In this story people think a tiger has captured a girl but they eventually find out it’s a doll.

CORRESPONDENCES: An integral part of the medieval and Renaissance model of the universe known as the “Chain of Being.” The idea was that different links on the Chain of Being were interconnected and had a sort of sympathetic correspondence to each other. Each type of being or object (men, beasts, celestial objects, fish, plants, and rocks) had a place within a hierarchy designed by God. Each type of object had a primate, which was by nature the most noble, rare, valuable, and superb example of its type. For instance, the king was primate among men, the lion among beasts, the sun among celestial objects, the whale among fish, the oak among trees, and the diamond among rocks. Often, there was a symbolic link between primates of different orders–such as the lion being a symbol of royalty, or the king sleeping in a bed of oak. This symbolic link was a “correspondence.” However, correspondences were thought to exist in the material world as well as in the world of ideas. Disturbances in nature would correspond to disturbances in the political realm (the body politic), in the human body (the microcosm), and in the natural world as a whole (the macrocosm). For instance, if the king were to become ill, Elizabethans might expect lions and beasts to fall sick, rebellions to break out in the kingdom, individuals to develop headaches or fevers, and stars to fall from the sky. All of these events could correspond to each other on the chain of being, and each would coincide with the others.

Literary Terms and Definitions

SUPERNATURAL LARGE CATS

Alien Big Cats was recorded in September 2013 at the Folklore Society conference ‘Beasts in Legend and Tradition’. The talk, presented by writer and folklorist Steve Patterson, examines the zoological phenomenon of out of place cats in the landscape. Whilst there is plenty of evidence to suggest that big cats do live in the British landscape, Steve discusses the ways in which these cases feed into the folklore narrative of the creatures before moving on to discuss the image of the cat in mythology.

Note: “Panther” is a name for black variants of leopards and jaguars, all belonging to the genus Panthera.

LATEST AUDIOBOOK (short story for children)

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