Unfortunately, bunnies behaving badly are not just a modern phenomenon. No, there is a long,
long historical precedent of anti-social behavour by bunnies. Just take a look at these
actual drawings from illuminated medieval manuscripts and you'll understand what I mean. (Many thanks to Lady M at
Lady M's Haunted Parlor who did the research for this post).
See how these beastly bunnies
delight in taking vengeance on their
canine enemies?
But they get positively
bloodthirsty in dispatching their
human foes!
I'm not sure whether the bunny in the last picture is hitting that guy with a rock or sexually molesting him but either way,
not acceptable!
Yikes! The next to last bunny there on the right looks to be tickling the man's foot (while the one on the left is preparing to stab him in the eye, I guess.) :)
ReplyDeleteThe picture verification thing when we comment is kind of fun sometimes - (seeing your reference to Word Verification above.) Only I fail at it sometimes - earlier, I had to choose images with a river and failed. There were four bodies of water, so I checked all of them, and I guess one of them must have been a lake. :)
WOW! killer rabbits indeed!
ReplyDeleteI never looked at bunnies in this light: scary.
ReplyDeletethe Ol'Buzzard
Murderous rabbits. Not a phrase you'd expect to say, ever!
ReplyDeleteFor some reason this made me think of my sister in law's bunny. He was so huge that I was afraid of him. And the little bugger knew it, too. He never left my feet for the entire while I was there.
ReplyDeleteMary
frightful, bad dream inducing!lol,,,,
ReplyDeleteI always said they were nasty rodents!
ReplyDeleteYikes, there are some seriously evil bunnies in history. I won't feel so guilty now with I use Rabbit Scram in my garden. Who knows? Maybe the little buggers are out to kill me and my garden.
ReplyDeleteSheesh...talk about nasty bunnies! Boy are they ever pissed off :)
ReplyDeleteTheir crazy eyes alone scare me!!!
ReplyDeleteThis was obviously the idea behind Monty Python's The Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog. Those dastardly bunnies.
ReplyDelete@ Leanna -- I suspect you're right. Terry Jones of Monty Python was a professor of medieval history or literature, I believe. He was undoubtedly familiar with these images from his studies. It's also why Monty Python tended to do a lot of medieval or Arthurian humour.
ReplyDeleteFantastic finds of these naughty little creatures!
ReplyDeleteI have seen these images before on medieval manuscripts and think that they portray the illustrators sense of humour.
ReplyDeleteDo you know the medieval motif of the three hares in a never ending circle. There are only three ears shown but each hare looks as if it has a pair of ears.
If you are interested you can see the image here:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2082809-the-three-hares-motif-is-an-ancient-mystery-for-our-times/
I'll never look at bunnies the same way again!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter looked after a coworkers bunny a few years back. It was totally fucking evil. If it didn't get enough food in its dish it flew into a rage. It would lunge and try to bite. It banged at its cage to get treats. It flicked sawdust when it wanted out and then when you let it out it hid under the bed and bit if you tried to get it out. It was evil I tell you, evil!
ReplyDeleteWho knew? I will never look at a bunny quite the same way...
ReplyDeleteThis proves what I've always suspected: Easter is not the innocent, family-friendly holiday it's made out to be. And I'll never trust a chocolate Easter egg again.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy a naughty bunny, but this bunch is too rabidly (rabbit-ly) violent.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
I was expecting another scene of bad behavior, bunnies at a Trump rally.
ReplyDelete@ Rosemary -- Yes, I do know that rabbit image! In fact, I used it less than a month ago in my March 19th blog post on Eostre. I just assumed it was a Celtic image honouring the Goddess (hares and the number 3 being sacred to the Triple Goddess) but wow! I didn't know of its ancient and multicultural history. Thanks so much for that link -- I'm going to buy that book and read it too.
ReplyDeleteIs that photoshoped or is it taken from something like Le Roman de Renart? great book by the way.
ReplyDeleteIt's a miracle how humans and canines are still existing on this planet. Our (hi)story would be totally different if bunnies were peaceful creatures. Annie get your gun.
ReplyDelete--
Hope Mark get's his family back alive!
crazy, appreciate you sharing
ReplyDelete@ Guillaume -- No, these are not photoshopped images but actual marginalia from illuminated medieval manuscripts (now often located in the British Museum). For example, the 4th one is from the Gorleston Psalter (1310-1324). Here's a fun article on such (often irreverent and bawdy) marginalia --
ReplyDeletehttp://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/naughty-nuns-flatulent-monks-and-other-surprises-of-sacred-medieval-manuscripts/
Bad touch...BAD TOUCH!!
ReplyDeleteThe second from last one is either flaying the skin off that man's foot or the bad bunnies have ganged up on the messenger of the gods and are ripping his ankle wings off. Gives me the shivers!
ReplyDeleteGoodness sake, those bad bunnies....LOL I always like to visualize bunnies as sweet and innocent.
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't yet I highly recommend you take a look at the Book of Bunny Suicides. You'll see those pesky rabbits finally get their comeuppance in hilarious ways that make you feel bad for laughing because a bunny is about to die.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea! I am going to forward this to a few of my Bunny friends. At burning man, they have an annual Billion Bunny March. It is typically protested by "the Carrots." It's a rowdy event. Typically, the Bunny's prevail.
ReplyDeleteThose poor little bunnies are really getting a bad Rap!! Funny
ReplyDeleteHare hare!
ReplyDeleteI think these illustrators were hallucinating when they drew these.
Am wondering why there wasn't a bunny character in 'Animal Farm'. A lot of animals must have a grudge against 'us humans'.
ReplyDeletei'll never look at a cute little bunny the same! Thanks Debra!
I always thought they looked a bit shifty. I just didn't know just how much.
ReplyDeleteIt almost makes a person want to read through some of those manuscripts just to find out exactly what's going on in these pictures. Almost. :)
ReplyDeleteBad, bad bunnies!! Debra, I have been reading the comments and I am going to read up on the pictures and what Rosemary wrote about. Very interesting!
ReplyDeleteI never have REALLY liked rabbits...
ReplyDeleteI knew that bunnies had an evil side!!! :)
ReplyDeleteYikes!
ReplyDeleteI thought the bunny in the last picture was getting ready to poke that guys eyes out.
ReplyDeleteWow, This is interesting. Another thing I have to google. I learn something new, every time I visit your blog.
ReplyDeleteYou come up with the most amazing things, Debra! I had no idea there were images like these in illuminated medieval manuscripts. Maybe images like this were the inspiration for the killer bunny in Monty Python's "Holy Grail."
ReplyDelete