17 Jun /14

Porcupine

Porcupine as a word appears in English for the first time in travel records of The Travels of Sir John Mandeville. Here, the writer uses the French words for spiny pig, which then becomes established in the English language. The same occurred in a sermon of about the same time. In Morte Athure,an early description about King Arthur, a feast is described with delicatessen on the menu including porcupine and peacocks. There are quite a few records of the porcupine in English before 1500, including a translation of Aesop’s Fables as well as various religious works.

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