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The Barnacle Goose Myth
goose myth The barnacle goose myth is a widely-reported historical misconception about the breeding habits of the barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis) and brant goose (Branta bernicla).[1] One version of the myth is that these geese emerge fully formed from goose barnacles (Cirripedia).[2] Other myths exist about how the barnacle goose supposedly emerges and grows from matter other than bird eggs. The etymology of the term "barnacle" suggests Latin, Old English, and French roots.[3] There are few references in pre-Christian books and manuscripts – some Roman or Greek.
The Mykenæan population of the islands of Cyprus and Crete, in the period 800 to 1000 years before Christ, were great makers of pottery, and painted large earthenware basins and vases with a variety of decorative representations of marine life, of fishes, butterflies, birds, and trees. By gradual reduction in the number and size of outstanding parts—a common rule in the artistic "schematising" or "conventional simplification" of natural form—they converted the octopus and the argonaut, with their eight arms, into a bull's head with a pair of spiral horns … In the same spirit it seems that they observed and drew the barnacle floating on timber or thrown up after a storm on their shores. See, van der Lugt, M. (2000) (below) for his reservations, and Donoghue, D. (2016) An Anser for Exeter Book Riddle 74, in: S. B. Peter & H. Nicholas (Eds) Words and Works: Studies in Medieval English Language and Literature in Honour of Fred C. Robinson University of Toronto Press), 45–58.^ Lankester, Ray.
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