Giger's Mordor VI: The Bishop Fish / Sea Bishop

leading from


Mordor VI

a) Sea Bishop and Sea Monk
3rd February 2016: Seeing that this entity with a bishop's mitre has a body perhaps almost like a sea creature of some kind, I take notice of the presence of a Bishop fish and the Sea Monk when looking up images of the Sumerian god Oannes who is vaguely associated with with the Nommo. While there are the ancient stories of these entities with the same basic illustrations being done and redone again later. One can see how they become more and more deformed. The Sea Monk in some cases is assumed to be the misidentification of a squid while the Bishop Fish looks progressively more and more like a Jenny Haniver carved from a skate or a sting ray even if there was something more to the sightings of these things than just mis-association leading to story telling. 

  1. Wikipedia:"The sea bishop or bishop-fish was a type of sea monster reported in the 16th century. According to legend, it was taken to the King of Poland, who wished to keep it. It was also shown to a group of Catholic bishops, to whom the bishop-fish gestured, appealing to be released. They granted its wish, at which point it made the sign of the cross and disappeared into the sea. Another was supposedly captured in the ocean near Germany in 1531. It refused to eat and died after three days. It was described and pictured in the fourth volume of Conrad Gesner's famous Historiae animalium."(Wikipedia)
b) Studying the Sea Bishop
Looking in Giger's painting, the character with a tall head dress seems to be inspired by a Sea Bishop, and this lead later on May 29th 2016 to myself realising that Giger had one on his wall at home.

highlighted section from Necronom VI


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishop-fish#/media/File:Merman.jpg
Bishop Fish, 1575 (http://www.amnh.org/)

Bishop Fish (source: (source: Vlissis Aldrovandi ...
Monstrorum historia, cum Paralipomenis historiae 
... By Ulisse Aldrovandi)

Bishop Fish (source: http://www.creem.st-and.ac.uk/)

a Jenny Haniver carved from a Sting-Ray or a Skate

Giger's personal sea-bishop hanging on his wall. spotted by me on May 29th 2016 (source https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOthGMTExvk&feature=youtu.be)
Giger's person sea-bishop hanging on his wall spotted by me on May 29th 2016 (source https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOthGMTExvk&feature=youtu.be)

Other Sea Bishop from "Giger 1940- 2014" short film

Another Sea Bishop from "Giger 1940- 2014" short film



c) The sea monk
i.) 3rd February 2016:The biomechanoid with the long head and fins coming out from the side is roughly inspired by the main body of a squid along with its fins. Drawings of the Sea Monk often seem roughly inspired by the form of a squid but the squid body with fins becomes the upper half of the sea monk.
ii.) 4th February 2016: I've decided that the horns of this creature may well be limbs because of some of the old drawings tentacle arms.


Biomechanoid inspired by Sea Monk inspired by a squid body



Sea Monk (source: Vlissis Aldrovandi ...
Monstrorum historia, cum Paralipomenis historiae 
... By Ulisse Aldrovandi)
Sea Monk ( source: Sluperius, 1572 http://www.creem.st-and.ac.uk/)

Sea Monk, 1575 (http://www.amnh.org/)


Source :A New Interpretation of the 16th Century Sea Monk of the Øresund  


1 comment:

  1. Fascinating stuff, again. Always gives me something to think about.

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