Medieval bestiaries could not cleanly define where mere animal ended and monster began

Evidence

The Bestiary or book of beasts is also surprisingly coy about what constitutes a monstrum or belua or even a bestia as opposed to a mere animal. After recounting the creation story, the Aberdeen Bestiary divides the category animalia into several subcategories: quadrupedia are animals like deer that are “neque bestia… nedque iumenta” (“neither wild beasts… nor beasts of burden”); pecus refers to “omne quod humana lingua et effigie caret” (“anything which lacks human speech or appearance”), but generally means edible animals like cattle and pigs; iumenta are, simply enough, beasts of burden; armenta are animalia suitable for use in war, such as horses; and finally, greges are “caprarum et ovum” (“flocks of goats and sheep”). — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 214

Categorization

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