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Cockatrice

2025-06-24T15:24:50Z

Python Lad: corrected spelling error , under cultural references

{{Short description|Mythological serpent}}
{{About|the mythical beast|the food|Cockentrice|other uses|Cockatrice (disambiguation)}}
[[Image:DragonTransom.jpg|thumb|right|A cockatrice overdoor at [[Belvedere Castle]] (1869) in New York's [[Central Park]].]]

A '''cockatrice''' is a [[mythical beast]], essentially a two-legged [[dragon]], [[wyvern]], or [[snake|serpent]]-like creature with a [[rooster]]'s head. Described by Laurence Breiner as "an ornament in the drama and poetry of the [[Elizabethan]]s", it was featured prominently in English thought and myth for centuries. They are created by a chicken egg hatched by a toad or snake.

==Legend==
===Origins===
The first English mention of the cockatrice was in the 14th-century [[John Wycliffe]] translation of the Bible. The word was used for the translation of various Hebrew words for asp and adder in the Book of Isaiah [[Isaiah 11|11]], [[Isaiah 14|14]] and [[Isaiah 59|59]].

The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' gives a derivation from Old French {{lang|fro|cocatris}}, from medieval Latin {{lang|la|calcatrix}}, a translation of the Greek {{lang|grc|[[Ichneumon (medieval zoology)|ichneumon]]}}, meaning tracker. The twelfth-century legend was based on a reference in ''[[Pliny's Natural History]]''<ref>''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Historia Naturalis]]'' viii.37.90.</ref> that the ichneumon lay in wait for the crocodile to open its jaws for the ''[[Trochilus (crocodile bird)|trochilus]]'' bird to enter and pick its teeth clean.<ref>Breiner 1979.</ref> An extended description of the {{lang|es|cocatriz}} by the 15th-century Spanish traveller in Egypt, [[Pedro Tafur]], makes it clear that this refers to the [[Nile crocodile]].<ref>Pedro Tafur, ''[http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/tafur.html#ch8 Andanças e viajes]''.</ref>

According to [[Alexander Neckam]]'s {{lang|la|De naturis rerum}} (ca 1180), the [[basilisk]] ({{lang|la|basiliscus}}) was the product of an egg laid by a [[Cock (bird)|rooster]] and incubated by a [[toad]]; a [[snake]] might be substituted in re-tellings. Cockatrice became seen as synonymous with [[basilisk]] when the {{lang|la|basiliscus}} in [[Bartholomeus Anglicus]]'s {{lang|la|De proprietatibus rerum}} (ca 1260) was translated by [[John Trevisa]] as ''cockatrice'' (1397).<ref>Breiner 1979:35.</ref> This legend has a possible [[Egypt]]ian folk root; the eggs of the [[ibis]] were regularly destroyed for fear that the venom of the snakes they consumed would cause a hybrid snake-bird to hatch.<ref>Browne, T. (1658). [https://books.google.com/books?id=aOI_AQAAMAAJ Pseudodoxia Epidemica: Or, Enquiries Into Very Many Received Tenents, and Commonly Presumed Truths]. United Kingdom: E. Dod.</ref>

It is thought that a [[cock egg]] would hatch a cockatrice, and this could be prevented by tossing the egg over the family house, landing on the other side of the house, without allowing the egg to hit the house.

===Abilities===
The cockatrice has the reputed ability to kill people by either looking at them—"the death-darting eye of Cockatrice" <ref name="romeo-juliet">{{Cite book |last=Shakespeare |first=William |title=Romeo and Juliet |at=iii.ii.47 |author-link=William Shakespeare |url=https://myshakespeare.com/romeo-and-juliet/act-3-scene-2 |date = 24 June 2016}}</ref>{{efn|group=note|The idea of vision in an "eye-beam", a stream emanating from the eye was inherited by the [[Renaissance]] from [[ancient history|Antiquity]]; it forms an elaborately-worked-out simile in [[John Donne]]'s "The Exstacie": "Our eye-beames twisted and did thred/ Our eyes, upon one double string."}}—touching them, or sometimes breathing on them.

It was repeated in the late-medieval [[Bestiary|bestiaries]] that the [[weasel]] is the only animal that is immune to the glance of a cockatrice.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bane|first=Theresa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DvYWDAAAQBAJ&q=cockatrice+mythology&pg=PA89|title=Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore|publisher=McFarland|year=2016|isbn=978-0-7864-9505-4|pages=89|language=en}}</ref> It was also thought that a cockatrice would die instantly upon hearing a [[rooster]] crow,<ref name="HellerHumez1984">{{cite book
|last1=Heller
|first1=Louis G.
|last2=Humez
|first2=Alexander
|last3=Dror
|first3=Malcah
|title=The private lives of English words
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0KI9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA48
|access-date=8 October 2010
|date=May 1984
|publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul
|isbn=978-0-7102-0006-8
|page=49}}</ref> and according to legend, having a cockatrice look at itself in a mirror is one of the few sure-fire ways to kill it.<ref name="Knight1854">{{cite book|last=Knight|first=Charles|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S9REAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA45|title=The English cyclopaedia: a new dictionary of Universal Knowledge|publisher=Bradbury and Evans|year=1854|page=5152|author-link=Charles Knight (publisher)|access-date=8 October 2010}}</ref>

===Cultural references===
{{In popular culture|date=December 2024}}

The first use of the word in English was in [[John Wyclif]]'s 1382 translation of the Bible<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=cockatrice&qs_version=WYC|title=BibleGateway}}</ref> to translate different Hebrew words.<ref>{{Strong-number|Hebrew word #8577|H|8577}} in [[Strong's Concordance]]; {{Strong-number|Hebrew word #6848|H|6848}} in [[Strong's Concordance]]; {{Strong-number|Hebrew word #660|H|660}} in [[Strong's Concordance]]; {{Strong-number|Hebrew word #8314|H|8314}} in [[Strong's Concordance]].</ref> This usage was followed by the [[King James Version]], the word being used several times.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=cockatrice&qs_version=KJV|title=BibleGateway}}</ref> The [[Revised Version]]—following the tradition established by [[Jerome]]'s [[Vulgate]] ''basiliscus''—renders the word as "[[basilisk]]", and the [[New International Version]] translates it as "[[Viperidae|viper]]". In Proverbs 23:32 the similar Hebrew ''tzeph'a'' is rendered "adder", both in the Authorized Version and the Revised Version.

In Shakespeare's play ''[[Richard III (play)|Richard III]]'' (c. 1593), the Duchess of York compares her son [[Richard III of England|Richard]] to a cockatrice:
{{blockquote|<poem>O ill-dispersing wind of misery!
O my accursed womb, the bed of death!
A cockatrice hast thou hatch'd to the world,
Whose unavoided eye is murderous.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/play_view.php?WorkID=richard3&Act=4&Scene=1&Scope=scene&LineHighlight=2523#2523|title=Richard III, Act IV, Scene 1 :-: Open Source Shakespeare}}</ref></poem>}}

A cockatrice is also mentioned in ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'' (1597), in Act 3, scene 2 line 47, by [[Juliet]].

{{blockquote|<poem>Hath Romeo slain himself? Say thou but 'Ay,'
And that bare vowel 'I' shall poison more
Than the death-darting eye of cockatrice.<ref name="romeo-juliet" /></poem>}}

[[Nathan Field]], in the first scene of his play ''[[The Honest Man's Fortune]]'' (1647), also uses the idea that a cockatrice could kill with its eyes:<blockquote>... never threaten with your eyes, they are no cockatrice's ...<ref>{{Cite book|editor-last=Ioppolo|editor-first=Grace|title=The Honest Man's Fortune|publisher=The Malone Society|year=2012|isbn=9780719086113|location=Manchester|pages=13–14}}</ref></blockquote>

In [[Second Nephi]] 24:29, a Cockatrice is mentioned.

In [[E. R. Eddison]]'s high fantasy novel ''[[The Worm Ouroboros]]'' (1922), Chapter 4 has King Gorice show a cockatrice to Gro:

{{blockquote|"Behold and see, that which sprung from the egg of a cock, hatched by the deaf adder. The glance of its eye sufficeth to turn to stone any living thing that standeth before it. Were I but for one instant to loose my spells whereby I hold it in subjection, in that moment would end my life days and thine ..."<br>Therewith came forth that offspring of perdition from its hole, strutting erect on its two legs that were the legs of a cock; and a cock's head it had, with rosy comb and wattles, but the face of it like no fowl's face of middle-earth but rather a gorgon's out of Hell. Black shining feathers grew on its neck, but the body of it was the body of a dragon with scales that glittered in the rays of the candles, and a scaly crest stood on its back; and its wings were like bats' wings, and its tail the tail of an aspick with a sting in the end thereof, and from its beak its forked tongue flickered venomously. And the stature of the thing was a little above a cubit.<ref>{{cite book |last=Eddison |first=Eric Rücker |author-link=E. R. Eddison |date=1922 |title=The Worm Ouroboros |title-link=The Worm Ouroboros |publisher=[[Jonathan Cape]]}}</ref>}}

The cockatrice has also been used as a staple enemy creature in arcade combat games like ''[[Golden Axe]]'', in fantasy RPGs such as ''[[Fighting Fantasy]]'' and ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' or computer RPGs like ''[[Dragon's Dogma]]'' (2012).

A cockatrice is mentioned in ''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]]'' (2000) by [[Hermione Granger]] in chapter fifteen. A cockatrice involved in one of the tasks of the 1792 Triwizard Tournament escaped and injured the headmasters of the three participating schools, an incident cited as the cause for the cancellation of Triwizard Tournaments until 1994. Some translations instead state the cockatrice to be a [[basilisk]]{{efn|group=note|Spanish and Portuguese: ''basilisco'', Russian: ''васили́ск'', Greek: ''βασιλίσκος''}} or an "occamy",{{efn|group=note|Polish: "''żmijoptak''"}} an in-universe relative of the [[snallygaster]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Rowling |first=J. K. |author-link=J. K. Rowling |date=2000 |title=Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire |title-link=Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]] |isbn=0-7475-4624-X}}</ref> Additionally, heraldry of a white cockatrice holding a broomstick on a blue and beige background is shown to be the emblem of the French National Quidditch team in the 2003 video game ''[[Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup]]''.<ref>{{cite video game |title=[[Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup]] |developer=[[EA Bright Light]] |publisher=[[Electronic Arts]] |date=2003 |platform=[[Game Boy Advance]], [[Microsoft Windows]], [[PlayStation 2]], [[Xbox]], [[GameCube]] |language=English |access-date=November 16, 2022}}</ref>

In the video game ''[[Boktai: The Sun Is in Your Hand]]'' (2003), cockatrices are among the enemies the player faces in Sol City.<ref>{{cite video game |title=[[Boktai: The Sun Is in Your Hand]] |developer=[[Konami Computer Entertainment Japan]] |publisher=[[Konami]] |date=2003 |platform=[[Game Boy Advance]] |language=Japanese, English}}</ref>

In the animated series ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic]]'' (2010-2019), a cockatrice is stated to live in the [[Everfree Forest]]. In the 2011 episode "Stare Master", the cockatrice turns [[Twilight Sparkle]] and one of [[Fluttershy]]'s chickens, Elizabeak, to stone using its gaze, but reverts them back after being intimidated by Fluttershy's own stare.<ref>{{Cite episode |title=Stare Master |access-date=November 16, 2022 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1850771/?ref_=ttep_ep17 |series=My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic |series-link=My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic |first=Chris |last=Savino |author-link=Chris Savino |date=February 25, 2011 |season=1 |number=17 |language=English}}</ref>

On the [[SCP Foundation]] collaborative writing project, cockatrices are shown in the story ''SCP-1013 - Cockatrice'' (2011). An SCP-1013 instead paralyzes its prey by staring at them, only turning their skin to stone upon biting them, after which it will peck through the calcified skin to eat their prey's fleshy innards. SCP-1013 reproduce from growths budding off of the tail of a well-fed adult.<ref>{{cite web |last=Dr Gears |title=SCP-1013 - Cockatrice |url=https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-1013 |website=[[SCP Foundation]] |date=August 12, 2011 |access-date=November 16, 2022}}</ref> The story ''SCP-1013 - Cockatrice'' won fourth place in the site's SCP-1000 Contest, a contest that prefaced the opening of the site's second series.<ref>{{cite web |last=Cryer Walker |translator-last=hungryposssum |title=SCP-1000 Contest Hub |url=https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp1000contesthub |website=[[SCP Foundation]] |date=March 21, 2022 |access-date=November 16, 2022}}</ref>

A cockatrice is shown as the main antagonist in the first episode of Netflix's anime adaptation of ''[[Little Witch Academia]]'' (2017), "Starting Over".<ref>{{Cite episode |title=Starting Over |access-date=November 16, 2022 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6425294/?ref_=ttep_ep1 |series=Little Witch Academia |series-link=Little Witch Academia |first=Michiru |last=Shimada |date=January 9, 2017 |season=1 |number=1 |language=Japanese}}</ref> The cockatrice is also a dungeon boss in the underground labyrinth gameplay section of ''[[Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time]]'' (2017), a video game for PC and PS4.<ref>{{cite video game |title=[[Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time]] |developer=A+ Games |publisher=[[Bandai Namco Entertainment]] |date=2017 |platform=[[PlayStation 4]], [[Microsoft Windows]] |language=Japanese, English |access-date=November 16, 2022}}</ref>

The Swedish Black Metal band [[Funeral Mist|''Funeral Mis''t]] has a song named Cockatrice, in their 2018 album Hekatomb.

The third chapter<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kui |first=Ryko |title=Delicios in Dungeon 1 |date=2015 |publisher=Yen Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-316-47185-5 |edition=First Yen Press Edition |location=Japan |publication-date=May 2017 |pages=65-88 |language=english}}</ref> of the Japanese manga series ''[[Delicious in Dungeon]]'' (2014) and the second episode of the anime adaptation (2024) feature the party killing and cooking a baslisk.The baslisk is depicted as large rooster with a snake for a tail. The baslisk cannot kill with a stare, but instead has a powerful venom, wich can be cured with an antidote. In chapter 34<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kui |first=Ryoko |title=Delicios in Dungeon 5 |date=May 2018 |publisher=Kadokawa Corporation, Yen Press |isbn=978-1-9753-2644-9 |edition=First Yen Press Edition |location=Japan |publication-date=May 2018 |pages=143-174 |language=Eng}}</ref> of the manga a cockatrice appears, it is depicted as a larger cousin to the baslisk using a different species of component bird and snake , and has petrifying venom wich curses victims, temporarily turning them to stone.

== In heraldry ==
[[File:Complete Guide to Heraldry Fig431.png|thumb|Heraldic cockatrice]]

[[Arthur Fox-Davies]] describes the cockatrice as "comparatively rare" in heraldry, and as closely resembling a [[wyvern]] outside of possessing a rooster's head rather than a [[dragon]]'s. The cockatrice, like the rooster, is often depicted with its comb, wattles and beak being of a different colour from the rest of its body. The cockatrice is sometimes referred to as a basilisk, but Fox-Davies distinguishes the two on the basis of the heraldic basilisk possessing a tail ending in a dragon's head, although he does not know of any arms depicting such a creature.<ref name="Davies">[[Arthur Fox-Davies]], ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'', T.C. and E.C. Jack, London, 1909, p 227, https://archive.org/details/completeguidetoh00foxduoft.</ref>

In continental European heraldic systems, cockatrices may be simply referred to as dragons instead.<ref>[[Arthur Fox-Davies]], ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'', T.C. and E.C. Jack, London, 1909, p 225, https://archive.org/details/completeguidetoh00foxduoft.</ref>

The cockatrice was the heraldic beast of the Langleys of [[Agecroft Hall]] in Lancashire, England, as far back as the 14th century.<ref>Jefferson Collins – "Secrets from the Curator's Closet" – Agecroft Hall Museum {{cite web |url=http://www.curatorscloset.blogspot.com/ |title=Secrets from the Curator's Closet |access-date=2010-07-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708032156/http://www.curatorscloset.blogspot.com/ |archive-date=2011-07-08 }}</ref>

It is also the symbol of [[No. 3 Squadron RAF|3 (Fighter) Squadron]], a fighter squadron of the [[Royal Air Force]].

==See also==
* [[Abraxas]]
* [[Anzu wyliei|''Anzu'' (dinosaur)]]
* [[Basan (legendary bird)|Basan]]
* [[Basilisco Chilote]]
* [[Basilisk]]
* [[The Book of the Dun Cow (novel)|''The Book of the Dun Cow'' (novel)]]
* [[Cockatrice (Dungeons & Dragons)|Cockatrice]] (''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'')
* [[Colo Colo (mythology)]]
* [[Ichneumon (medieval zoology)]]
* [[Korean dragon#Korean cockatrice|Kye-ryong (Korean cockatrice)]]
* [[Snallygaster]]
* [[Wherwell]]
* [[Yi (dinosaur)|''Yi'' (dinosaur)]]

== Explanatory notes ==
{{notelist|group=note}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Further reading ==
* Laurence A. Breiner, "The Career of the Cockatrice", ''Isis'' '''70''':1 (March 1979), pp. 30–47
* [[P. Ansell Robin]], "The Cockatrice and the 'New English Dictionary'", in ''Animal Lore in English Literature'' (London 1932).
* [http://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast265.htm The Medieval Bestiary:] "Basilisk" (includes Cockatrice)

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081017085123/http://www.eaudrey.com/myth/cockatrice.htm Dave's Mythical Creatures and Places: Cockatrice]

{{Heraldic creatures}}
{{Chicken}}

[[Category:European dragons]]
[[Category:Legendary birds]]
[[Category:Legendary serpents]]
[[Category:Medieval European legendary creatures]]
[[Category:Mythological galliforms]]
[[Category:Mythological hybrids]]

Cockatrice

2025-06-24T15:22:36Z

Python Lad: /* Cultural references */ corrected inaccurate naming of the baslisk from chapter 3 as a 'cockatrice' , removed incorrect information about eating the meat being a cure for the venom, . Added more information for the depiction of the monster named as a cockatrice in the series

{{Short description|Mythological serpent}}
{{About|the mythical beast|the food|Cockentrice|other uses|Cockatrice (disambiguation)}}
[[Image:DragonTransom.jpg|thumb|right|A cockatrice overdoor at [[Belvedere Castle]] (1869) in New York's [[Central Park]].]]

A '''cockatrice''' is a [[mythical beast]], essentially a two-legged [[dragon]], [[wyvern]], or [[snake|serpent]]-like creature with a [[rooster]]'s head. Described by Laurence Breiner as "an ornament in the drama and poetry of the [[Elizabethan]]s", it was featured prominently in English thought and myth for centuries. They are created by a chicken egg hatched by a toad or snake.

==Legend==
===Origins===
The first English mention of the cockatrice was in the 14th-century [[John Wycliffe]] translation of the Bible. The word was used for the translation of various Hebrew words for asp and adder in the Book of Isaiah [[Isaiah 11|11]], [[Isaiah 14|14]] and [[Isaiah 59|59]].

The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' gives a derivation from Old French {{lang|fro|cocatris}}, from medieval Latin {{lang|la|calcatrix}}, a translation of the Greek {{lang|grc|[[Ichneumon (medieval zoology)|ichneumon]]}}, meaning tracker. The twelfth-century legend was based on a reference in ''[[Pliny's Natural History]]''<ref>''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Historia Naturalis]]'' viii.37.90.</ref> that the ichneumon lay in wait for the crocodile to open its jaws for the ''[[Trochilus (crocodile bird)|trochilus]]'' bird to enter and pick its teeth clean.<ref>Breiner 1979.</ref> An extended description of the {{lang|es|cocatriz}} by the 15th-century Spanish traveller in Egypt, [[Pedro Tafur]], makes it clear that this refers to the [[Nile crocodile]].<ref>Pedro Tafur, ''[http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/tafur.html#ch8 Andanças e viajes]''.</ref>

According to [[Alexander Neckam]]'s {{lang|la|De naturis rerum}} (ca 1180), the [[basilisk]] ({{lang|la|basiliscus}}) was the product of an egg laid by a [[Cock (bird)|rooster]] and incubated by a [[toad]]; a [[snake]] might be substituted in re-tellings. Cockatrice became seen as synonymous with [[basilisk]] when the {{lang|la|basiliscus}} in [[Bartholomeus Anglicus]]'s {{lang|la|De proprietatibus rerum}} (ca 1260) was translated by [[John Trevisa]] as ''cockatrice'' (1397).<ref>Breiner 1979:35.</ref> This legend has a possible [[Egypt]]ian folk root; the eggs of the [[ibis]] were regularly destroyed for fear that the venom of the snakes they consumed would cause a hybrid snake-bird to hatch.<ref>Browne, T. (1658). [https://books.google.com/books?id=aOI_AQAAMAAJ Pseudodoxia Epidemica: Or, Enquiries Into Very Many Received Tenents, and Commonly Presumed Truths]. United Kingdom: E. Dod.</ref>

It is thought that a [[cock egg]] would hatch a cockatrice, and this could be prevented by tossing the egg over the family house, landing on the other side of the house, without allowing the egg to hit the house.

===Abilities===
The cockatrice has the reputed ability to kill people by either looking at them—"the death-darting eye of Cockatrice" <ref name="romeo-juliet">{{Cite book |last=Shakespeare |first=William |title=Romeo and Juliet |at=iii.ii.47 |author-link=William Shakespeare |url=https://myshakespeare.com/romeo-and-juliet/act-3-scene-2 |date = 24 June 2016}}</ref>{{efn|group=note|The idea of vision in an "eye-beam", a stream emanating from the eye was inherited by the [[Renaissance]] from [[ancient history|Antiquity]]; it forms an elaborately-worked-out simile in [[John Donne]]'s "The Exstacie": "Our eye-beames twisted and did thred/ Our eyes, upon one double string."}}—touching them, or sometimes breathing on them.

It was repeated in the late-medieval [[Bestiary|bestiaries]] that the [[weasel]] is the only animal that is immune to the glance of a cockatrice.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bane|first=Theresa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DvYWDAAAQBAJ&q=cockatrice+mythology&pg=PA89|title=Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore|publisher=McFarland|year=2016|isbn=978-0-7864-9505-4|pages=89|language=en}}</ref> It was also thought that a cockatrice would die instantly upon hearing a [[rooster]] crow,<ref name="HellerHumez1984">{{cite book
|last1=Heller
|first1=Louis G.
|last2=Humez
|first2=Alexander
|last3=Dror
|first3=Malcah
|title=The private lives of English words
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0KI9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA48
|access-date=8 October 2010
|date=May 1984
|publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul
|isbn=978-0-7102-0006-8
|page=49}}</ref> and according to legend, having a cockatrice look at itself in a mirror is one of the few sure-fire ways to kill it.<ref name="Knight1854">{{cite book|last=Knight|first=Charles|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S9REAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA45|title=The English cyclopaedia: a new dictionary of Universal Knowledge|publisher=Bradbury and Evans|year=1854|page=5152|author-link=Charles Knight (publisher)|access-date=8 October 2010}}</ref>

===Cultural references===
{{In popular culture|date=December 2024}}

The first use of the word in English was in [[John Wyclif]]'s 1382 translation of the Bible<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=cockatrice&qs_version=WYC|title=BibleGateway}}</ref> to translate different Hebrew words.<ref>{{Strong-number|Hebrew word #8577|H|8577}} in [[Strong's Concordance]]; {{Strong-number|Hebrew word #6848|H|6848}} in [[Strong's Concordance]]; {{Strong-number|Hebrew word #660|H|660}} in [[Strong's Concordance]]; {{Strong-number|Hebrew word #8314|H|8314}} in [[Strong's Concordance]].</ref> This usage was followed by the [[King James Version]], the word being used several times.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=cockatrice&qs_version=KJV|title=BibleGateway}}</ref> The [[Revised Version]]—following the tradition established by [[Jerome]]'s [[Vulgate]] ''basiliscus''—renders the word as "[[basilisk]]", and the [[New International Version]] translates it as "[[Viperidae|viper]]". In Proverbs 23:32 the similar Hebrew ''tzeph'a'' is rendered "adder", both in the Authorized Version and the Revised Version.

In Shakespeare's play ''[[Richard III (play)|Richard III]]'' (c. 1593), the Duchess of York compares her son [[Richard III of England|Richard]] to a cockatrice:
{{blockquote|<poem>O ill-dispersing wind of misery!
O my accursed womb, the bed of death!
A cockatrice hast thou hatch'd to the world,
Whose unavoided eye is murderous.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/play_view.php?WorkID=richard3&Act=4&Scene=1&Scope=scene&LineHighlight=2523#2523|title=Richard III, Act IV, Scene 1 :-: Open Source Shakespeare}}</ref></poem>}}

A cockatrice is also mentioned in ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'' (1597), in Act 3, scene 2 line 47, by [[Juliet]].

{{blockquote|<poem>Hath Romeo slain himself? Say thou but 'Ay,'
And that bare vowel 'I' shall poison more
Than the death-darting eye of cockatrice.<ref name="romeo-juliet" /></poem>}}

[[Nathan Field]], in the first scene of his play ''[[The Honest Man's Fortune]]'' (1647), also uses the idea that a cockatrice could kill with its eyes:<blockquote>... never threaten with your eyes, they are no cockatrice's ...<ref>{{Cite book|editor-last=Ioppolo|editor-first=Grace|title=The Honest Man's Fortune|publisher=The Malone Society|year=2012|isbn=9780719086113|location=Manchester|pages=13–14}}</ref></blockquote>

In [[Second Nephi]] 24:29, a Cockatrice is mentioned.

In [[E. R. Eddison]]'s high fantasy novel ''[[The Worm Ouroboros]]'' (1922), Chapter 4 has King Gorice show a cockatrice to Gro:

{{blockquote|"Behold and see, that which sprung from the egg of a cock, hatched by the deaf adder. The glance of its eye sufficeth to turn to stone any living thing that standeth before it. Were I but for one instant to loose my spells whereby I hold it in subjection, in that moment would end my life days and thine ..."<br>Therewith came forth that offspring of perdition from its hole, strutting erect on its two legs that were the legs of a cock; and a cock's head it had, with rosy comb and wattles, but the face of it like no fowl's face of middle-earth but rather a gorgon's out of Hell. Black shining feathers grew on its neck, but the body of it was the body of a dragon with scales that glittered in the rays of the candles, and a scaly crest stood on its back; and its wings were like bats' wings, and its tail the tail of an aspick with a sting in the end thereof, and from its beak its forked tongue flickered venomously. And the stature of the thing was a little above a cubit.<ref>{{cite book |last=Eddison |first=Eric Rücker |author-link=E. R. Eddison |date=1922 |title=The Worm Ouroboros |title-link=The Worm Ouroboros |publisher=[[Jonathan Cape]]}}</ref>}}

The cockatrice has also been used as a staple enemy creature in arcade combat games like ''[[Golden Axe]]'', in fantasy RPGs such as ''[[Fighting Fantasy]]'' and ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' or computer RPGs like ''[[Dragon's Dogma]]'' (2012).

A cockatrice is mentioned in ''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]]'' (2000) by [[Hermione Granger]] in chapter fifteen. A cockatrice involved in one of the tasks of the 1792 Triwizard Tournament escaped and injured the headmasters of the three participating schools, an incident cited as the cause for the cancellation of Triwizard Tournaments until 1994. Some translations instead state the cockatrice to be a [[basilisk]]{{efn|group=note|Spanish and Portuguese: ''basilisco'', Russian: ''васили́ск'', Greek: ''βασιλίσκος''}} or an "occamy",{{efn|group=note|Polish: "''żmijoptak''"}} an in-universe relative of the [[snallygaster]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Rowling |first=J. K. |author-link=J. K. Rowling |date=2000 |title=Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire |title-link=Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]] |isbn=0-7475-4624-X}}</ref> Additionally, heraldry of a white cockatrice holding a broomstick on a blue and beige background is shown to be the emblem of the French National Quidditch team in the 2003 video game ''[[Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup]]''.<ref>{{cite video game |title=[[Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup]] |developer=[[EA Bright Light]] |publisher=[[Electronic Arts]] |date=2003 |platform=[[Game Boy Advance]], [[Microsoft Windows]], [[PlayStation 2]], [[Xbox]], [[GameCube]] |language=English |access-date=November 16, 2022}}</ref>

In the video game ''[[Boktai: The Sun Is in Your Hand]]'' (2003), cockatrices are among the enemies the player faces in Sol City.<ref>{{cite video game |title=[[Boktai: The Sun Is in Your Hand]] |developer=[[Konami Computer Entertainment Japan]] |publisher=[[Konami]] |date=2003 |platform=[[Game Boy Advance]] |language=Japanese, English}}</ref>

In the animated series ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic]]'' (2010-2019), a cockatrice is stated to live in the [[Everfree Forest]]. In the 2011 episode "Stare Master", the cockatrice turns [[Twilight Sparkle]] and one of [[Fluttershy]]'s chickens, Elizabeak, to stone using its gaze, but reverts them back after being intimidated by Fluttershy's own stare.<ref>{{Cite episode |title=Stare Master |access-date=November 16, 2022 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1850771/?ref_=ttep_ep17 |series=My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic |series-link=My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic |first=Chris |last=Savino |author-link=Chris Savino |date=February 25, 2011 |season=1 |number=17 |language=English}}</ref>

On the [[SCP Foundation]] collaborative writing project, cockatrices are shown in the story ''SCP-1013 - Cockatrice'' (2011). An SCP-1013 instead paralyzes its prey by staring at them, only turning their skin to stone upon biting them, after which it will peck through the calcified skin to eat their prey's fleshy innards. SCP-1013 reproduce from growths budding off of the tail of a well-fed adult.<ref>{{cite web |last=Dr Gears |title=SCP-1013 - Cockatrice |url=https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-1013 |website=[[SCP Foundation]] |date=August 12, 2011 |access-date=November 16, 2022}}</ref> The story ''SCP-1013 - Cockatrice'' won fourth place in the site's SCP-1000 Contest, a contest that prefaced the opening of the site's second series.<ref>{{cite web |last=Cryer Walker |translator-last=hungryposssum |title=SCP-1000 Contest Hub |url=https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp1000contesthub |website=[[SCP Foundation]] |date=March 21, 2022 |access-date=November 16, 2022}}</ref>

A cockatrice is shown as the main antagonist in the first episode of Netflix's anime adaptation of ''[[Little Witch Academia]]'' (2017), "Starting Over".<ref>{{Cite episode |title=Starting Over |access-date=November 16, 2022 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6425294/?ref_=ttep_ep1 |series=Little Witch Academia |series-link=Little Witch Academia |first=Michiru |last=Shimada |date=January 9, 2017 |season=1 |number=1 |language=Japanese}}</ref> The cockatrice is also a dungeon boss in the underground labyrinth gameplay section of ''[[Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time]]'' (2017), a video game for PC and PS4.<ref>{{cite video game |title=[[Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time]] |developer=A+ Games |publisher=[[Bandai Namco Entertainment]] |date=2017 |platform=[[PlayStation 4]], [[Microsoft Windows]] |language=Japanese, English |access-date=November 16, 2022}}</ref>

The Swedish Black Metal band [[Funeral Mist|''Funeral Mis''t]] has a song named Cockatrice, in their 2018 album Hekatomb.

The third chapter<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kui |first=Ryko |title=Delicios in Dungeon 1 |date=2015 |publisher=Yen Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-316-47185-5 |edition=First Yen Press Edition |location=Japan |publication-date=May 2017 |pages=65-88 |language=english}}</ref> of the Japanese manga series ''[[Delicious in Dungeon]]'' (2014) and the second episode of the anime adaptation (2024) feature the party killing and cooking a baslisk.The baslisk is depicted as large rooster with a snake for a tail. The baslisk cannot kill with a stare, but instead has a powerful venom, wich can be cured with an antidote. In chapter 34<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kui |first=Ryoko |title=Delicios in Dungeon 5 |date=May 2018 |publisher=Kadokawa Corporation, Yen Press |isbn=978-1-9753-2644-9 |edition=First Yen Press Edition |location=Japan |publication-date=May 2018 |pages=143-174 |language=Eng}}</ref> of the manga a cockatrice appears, it is depicted as a larger cousin to the baslisk using a differnt species of component bird and snake , and has petrifying venom wich curses victims temprarily turning them to stone.

== In heraldry ==
[[File:Complete Guide to Heraldry Fig431.png|thumb|Heraldic cockatrice]]

[[Arthur Fox-Davies]] describes the cockatrice as "comparatively rare" in heraldry, and as closely resembling a [[wyvern]] outside of possessing a rooster's head rather than a [[dragon]]'s. The cockatrice, like the rooster, is often depicted with its comb, wattles and beak being of a different colour from the rest of its body. The cockatrice is sometimes referred to as a basilisk, but Fox-Davies distinguishes the two on the basis of the heraldic basilisk possessing a tail ending in a dragon's head, although he does not know of any arms depicting such a creature.<ref name="Davies">[[Arthur Fox-Davies]], ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'', T.C. and E.C. Jack, London, 1909, p 227, https://archive.org/details/completeguidetoh00foxduoft.</ref>

In continental European heraldic systems, cockatrices may be simply referred to as dragons instead.<ref>[[Arthur Fox-Davies]], ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'', T.C. and E.C. Jack, London, 1909, p 225, https://archive.org/details/completeguidetoh00foxduoft.</ref>

The cockatrice was the heraldic beast of the Langleys of [[Agecroft Hall]] in Lancashire, England, as far back as the 14th century.<ref>Jefferson Collins – "Secrets from the Curator's Closet" – Agecroft Hall Museum {{cite web |url=http://www.curatorscloset.blogspot.com/ |title=Secrets from the Curator's Closet |access-date=2010-07-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708032156/http://www.curatorscloset.blogspot.com/ |archive-date=2011-07-08 }}</ref>

It is also the symbol of [[No. 3 Squadron RAF|3 (Fighter) Squadron]], a fighter squadron of the [[Royal Air Force]].

==See also==
* [[Abraxas]]
* [[Anzu wyliei|''Anzu'' (dinosaur)]]
* [[Basan (legendary bird)|Basan]]
* [[Basilisco Chilote]]
* [[Basilisk]]
* [[The Book of the Dun Cow (novel)|''The Book of the Dun Cow'' (novel)]]
* [[Cockatrice (Dungeons & Dragons)|Cockatrice]] (''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'')
* [[Colo Colo (mythology)]]
* [[Ichneumon (medieval zoology)]]
* [[Korean dragon#Korean cockatrice|Kye-ryong (Korean cockatrice)]]
* [[Snallygaster]]
* [[Wherwell]]
* [[Yi (dinosaur)|''Yi'' (dinosaur)]]

== Explanatory notes ==
{{notelist|group=note}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Further reading ==
* Laurence A. Breiner, "The Career of the Cockatrice", ''Isis'' '''70''':1 (March 1979), pp. 30–47
* [[P. Ansell Robin]], "The Cockatrice and the 'New English Dictionary'", in ''Animal Lore in English Literature'' (London 1932).
* [http://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast265.htm The Medieval Bestiary:] "Basilisk" (includes Cockatrice)

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081017085123/http://www.eaudrey.com/myth/cockatrice.htm Dave's Mythical Creatures and Places: Cockatrice]

{{Heraldic creatures}}
{{Chicken}}

[[Category:European dragons]]
[[Category:Legendary birds]]
[[Category:Legendary serpents]]
[[Category:Medieval European legendary creatures]]
[[Category:Mythological galliforms]]
[[Category:Mythological hybrids]]