The saga goes on to relate that the party went northward and approached what they guessed to be Einfœtingaland ("Land of the One-Legged" or "Country of the Unipeds"). After sailing for a long time, while moored on the south side of a west-flowing river, they were shot at by a one-footed man ( einfœtingr), and Thorvald died from an arrow wound. Īccording to the saga, Karlsefni Thorvald Eiriksson and others assembled a search party for Thorhall, and sailed around Kjalarnes and then south. The presence of " unipedes maritimi" in Greenland was marked on Claudius Clavus's map dated 1427. Einfœtingr of Canada Ī race of the "One-Legged", or the "Uniped" ( Old Norse: einfœtingr) was allegedly encountered by Thorfinn Karlsefni and his group of Icelandic settlers in North America in the early 11th century, according to Eiríks saga rauða ( Saga of Erik the Red). 1300, shows a sciapod on one side of the world, as does a world map drawn by Beatus of Liébana (c. The Greeks call them σκιαπόδες ("shade-footed ones") because when it is hot they lie on their backs on the ground and are shaded by the great size of their foot. The race of Sciopodes are said to live in Ethiopia they have only one leg, and are wonderfully speedy. Reference to the legend continued into the Middle Ages, for example with Isidore of Seville in his Etymologiae, where he writes: Augustine (354–430) mentions the "Skiopodes" in The City of God, Book 16, Chapter 8 entitled "Whether Certain Monstrous Races of Men Are Derived From the Stock of Adam or Noah's Sons", and mentions that it is uncertain whether such creatures exist. Apollonius of Tyana believes the Skiapodes live in India and Ethiopia, and asks the Indian sage Iarkhas about their existence. Philostratus mentions Skiapodes in his Life of Apollonius of Tyana, which was cited by Eusebius in his Treatise Against Hierocles. The same people are also called Sciapodae, because they are in the habit of lying on their backs, during the time of the extreme heat, and protect themselves from the sun by the shade of their feet. He speaks also of another race of men, who are known as Monocoli, who have only one leg, but are able to leap with surprising agility. Pliny remarks that they are first mentioned by Ctesias in his book Indika (India), a record of the view of Persians of India which only remains in fragments. They are described by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History, where he reports travelers' stories from encounters or sightings of Monopods in India. ![]() Monopods appear in Aristophanes' play The Birds, first performed in 414 BC. The names monopod and skiapod (σκιάποδες) are both Greek, respectively meaning "one-foot" and "shadow-foot".Īncient Greek and Roman literature Monopods (also called sciapods, skiapods, skiapodes) were mythological dwarf-like creatures with a single, large foot extending from a leg centred in the middle of their bodies. A stone image of a monopod (bottom), from the Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Sens Attributed to the "Maître du Prince de Piémont". In margin of "Heures à l'usage des Antonins", 15th century. ![]() Mythological humanoids with a single, large foot on a central leg Illustration from the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493 Sciapod protecting himself from the sun by the shade of his foot.
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