A discussion of the Waldensian Physiologus found in manuscript Trinity College Library (Dublin), IE TCD MS 261, with an animal list and transcription of the text.

The Physiologus, which played a not insignificant role in medieval Christian literature, is generally known in terms of its nature and content, so that a more detailed discussion of it does not seem necessary to me. Here only the Waldensian Physiologus should be taken into account, which not only differs from the original Physiologus in many points, but also presents itself as a remarkable and important work in other respects. Even in the version as we have it, it stands alone, and the Latin original from which it was translated could not even be found. The author of it is also unknown to us, although he calls himself Jaco in the introduction. There is absolutely nothing else to discover about this name in the Waldensian writings and all my attempts to solve the puzzle so far have only amounted to guesswork. However, I thought I had found a clue to determine the name more precisely by reading through various Latin Physiologus and natural history treatises, but due to a lack of the necessary material I have not yet been able to follow the traces any further, but I hope so to lighten the darkness by examining various manuscripts from other libraries. - [Author]

Language: German