The Biscione appears in heraldic sources as the emblem adopted by the Visconti family after their acquisition of Milan in 1277; it is recorded in late-13th-century sources such as Bonvesin da la Riva's De magnalibus urbis Mediolani and is depicted in frescoes of the period (Great Hall of the Visconti Castle of Angera). The device thereafter remained associated with the Duchy of Milan under the Sforza and spread to various municipal arms and seals in Central-Eastern Europe through dynastic and political links. Etymologically, the Italian biscione is a masculine augmentative of biscia 'grass snake', ultimately from Latin bestia 'beast'. (Sources: Source 1; Source 7.)
Standard representations show a large stylized serpent (described in at least one source as a 'divine serpent') holding a small human child in its mouth; the child may be depicted as being swallowed or emerging from the serpent's jaws. Variants occur in heraldic usages: a Hungarian seal of Nicholas I Garai shows a crowned snake devouring a sovereign's orb rather than a human, and some modern corporate uses substitute a flower for the child. The device appears in frescoes, coats of arms, seals, architectural ornament, and contemporary logos (e.g., Alfa Romeo, Inter Milan). (Sources: Source 1; Source 7; Sources 1, 11.)
The sources do not attribute animate, supernatural, or volitional powers to the Biscione; its 'action' is iconographic — the serpent is portrayed in the act of holding, swallowing, or disgorging a human figure (or, in variants, an orb or flower). Its significance is political and emblematic rather than being described as a living, interacting supernatural agent. (Source 1.)
Leviathan
A giant sea serpent in Jewish mythology, embodying chaos and serving as a metaphor for a powerful enemy. (Note: - Power tier should be Ancient (Leviathan's abilities are often described as deity-level, such as threatening the damned after their lives are over and being annihilated) - Appearance is not mentioned)
Naga
Divine serpent beings of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain cosmology — powerful guardians of water, earth, and underground treasures. Revered as deities in South and Southeast Asia.
Abdiel
Abdiel (Hebrew עֲבְדִּיאֵל) is primarily a theophoric Hebrew personal name meaning "servant of El/servant of God," attested once in the Hebrew Bible (1 Chronicles 5:15). In later literature—most notably John Milton's Paradise Lost—Abdiel is reimagined as a faithful seraph who opposes Satan's revolt. The provided sources do not treat Abdiel as an autonomous folkloric spirit type or record rituals or wards associated with the name.
Abiel
Abiel is attested in the supplied sources only as a male given name — borne by several historical American individuals and listed as two minor biblical figures. The provided materials contain no evidence presenting Abiel as a supernatural, mythological, or folkloric entity.
Abigail
Abigail is a female figure in the Hebrew Bible portrayed in 1 Samuel 25 as the intelligent and beautiful wife of Nabal who intervenes to prevent David from committing violence; later tradition regards her as one of the Tanakh's seven female prophets and as a model of beauty and wisdom.
Accolon
Accolon is a mortal knight of the Arthurian court, presented in the Post-Vulgate Merlin tradition and Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur as Morgan le Fay's paramour and instrument in a plot to supplant King Arthur; his tale centers on enchanted weapons (Excalibur and its scabbard), love-manipulation, and a tragic duel with Arthur.
Acionna
Acionna is a local Gallo-Roman water goddess attested by a single votive inscription found at a spring in the Orléanais region. The inscription, discovered by Jollois in 1822 and datable by style to the 2nd century CE, dedicates a portico and ornaments "AUG(ustae) ACIONNAE" and was recovered from the Fontaine de l'Étuvée in Orléans; archaeological work in 2007 uncovered remains of a Gallo-Roman temple and a section of an aqueduct at the site.
Admeto (Admetus)
Admeto is the legendary King of Thessaly from classical myth as transmitted into European opera (notably Handel's Admeto, HWV 22). Portrayed as a mortal tragic protagonist, his fate in the narrative is determined by divine oracular decree and by the actions of other mythic figures (Alceste, Apollo, Hercules) rather than by any innate supernatural power.
Adsullata
Adsullata is attested as a Continental Celtic river goddess associated with the River Savus (modern Sava) in the Roman province of Noricum. Later traditions record her presence in Brittany as a goddess of hot springs and present her as an antecedent or origin-form of the Anglo‑Celtic sun goddess Sul.
Afaon fab Taliesin
Afaon fab Taliesin is a medieval Welsh warrior-counsellor, named as a son of the bard Taliesin and recorded among Arthur’s retinue in Welsh tradition. He appears in the Welsh Triads and in the tale Breuddwyd Rhonabwy (The Dream of Rhonabwy) as a notable martial figure and proverb-speaker rather than as a supernatural being.
Aggi and Ebbi (lexical occurrences)
Aggi and Ebbi are not attested as folkloric beings in the supplied sources; they appear only as isolated word-forms in an Italian poetic excerpt and as capitalized letter-strings in a puzzle/solution transcript. No mythic identity, powers, or rituals are documented for these tokens in the provided materials.
Aglovale
Aglovale (also Agloval, Aglovan, Aglovaus, Acglavael) is a human knight of Arthurian romance, presented as the eldest legitimate son of King Pellinore and a Knight of the Round Table in the Vulgate/Post‑Vulgate cycles, Malory, and later adaptations. He brings his long‑lost brother Perceval to Camelot, takes part in military actions (including slaying Agrippa in one account), and his death is related in varying ways across traditions (accidental at Gawain's hand, deliberate murder by Orkney kin, or killed during Lancelot's rescue of Guinevere).
Agolant
Agolant is a literary Saracen king who appears as a recurring antagonist in medieval and Renaissance epic cycles (Matter of France). He functions as a human royal opponent to Charlemagne and his peers, supplying martial episodes, genealogical connections, and the transfer of legendary arms and horses in chansons de geste and later Italian romances.
Agravain
Agravain is a literary knight of Arthurian romance cycles: one of the sons of King Lot of Orkney, a member of the Round Table, and a recurring figure in French and English medieval prose and verse. He is portrayed as a skilled but morally problematic courtly knight whose jealousy, malice, and intra-familial violence drive key narrative conflicts (notably the slaying of Lamorak and the exposure of Guinevere).
Community Record
- [1]Biscione (Wikipedia). Wikipedia, entry 'Biscione'wiki
- [2]Palazzo Pio — Vasi75 (reference to biscia). Architectural note referencing 'biscia, grass snake, hence Biscione'other