Elephants have been depicted in mythology, symbolism and popular culture. They are both revered in religion and respected for their prowess in war. They also have negative connotations such as being a symbol for an unnecessary burden. Ever since the Stone Age, when elephants were represented by ancient petroglyphs and cave art, they have been portrayed in various forms of art, including pictures, sculptures, music, film, and even architecture. 

In the “Heffalumps and Woozles” ditty from Winnie the Pooh, elephants—those would be the heffalumps—wear tuxedos and use their trunks as accordions and suddenly turn blue. Fantastical, to be sure, but it’s downright unimaginative compared to what European natural historians used to believe about the elephant: That it has no knees and it can’t have sex until it eats the ridiculously toxic mandrake root, and even when it successfully mates, dragons eat its baby.


 Chances are, if you actually undertook this exercise, you would arrive at something resembling the medieval conception of elephants, found in illustrated manuscripts across Europe. The artists had apparently never seen this creature, but it featured prominently in bestiaries – popular encyclopedias of animals that drew together the work of classical authors and medieval travelers to show how animals symbolize human and divine traits.