Questionable Creatures

Bestiaries are the most gloriously entertaining books to have come from the Middle Ages. Written and illuminated by monks, they describe every creature thought to exist in the medieval world and include all manner of fish, fowl, and mythological beast, however far-fetched. Pauline Baynes, whose illustrations of Narnia and Middle-earth are known to millions, has revived 20 medieval and mischievous beasts, basing her tongue-in-cheek descriptions on various English bestiaries. Her delightful recreations of these fabulous creatures -- from phoenix to manticore, from bonnacon to yale -- hop,…