Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/413175
28 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 9 NOVEMBER 2014 THIS WEEK CULTURE | TV | FILM CINEMA LISTINGS FOOD | WHAT'S ON THIS WEEK Better the beasts you know When did you first decide Malta needed a compendium of its folk beasts? What led you to get this project off the ground, as a consequence of that realization? I have always been fascinated by bizarre plants and animals. A child- hood interest evolved into my profes- sion as a biologist. Farm animals and food bacteria are important in my normal work routine, but it's still the more unusual flora and fauna of Mal- ta, that I find particularly interesting. I have researched and published sci- entific articles about our palms and mosses, and have studied all sorts of unusual aquatic creatures. But even those have not been enough to fill my curiosity and so I have also enjoyed reading about all sorts of prehistoric beasts and the fantastic creatures of classic Greek and Egyptian mythol- ogy. I have found the whole ecosystem described in Tolkien's Middle Earth classics and the related Norse my- thology to be particularly fascinat- ing. Trolls, goblins, elves and drag- ons led me to question whether the Maltese had any equivalent mythical creatures of their own. I had heard a few sayings that involved ix-Xjafek, l-Għafrit and il-Gremxula ta' Filfla but did not know if there were any others, and so in 2011 I decided to find out by asking a number of older relatives and friends, while reading a host of dust covered books about Maltese folklore. Most of the latter were in Maltese and any published il- lustrations were usually intended for a very young audience or did not re- ally appeal to me. I realised that there are probably many other like-minded people who do not normally read in Maltese (and so are unaware of much our folklore) who would also be inter- ested in an illustrated modern besti- ary in English. Since I could not find one on the bookshelves I decided to compile an illustrated book that ap- pealed to me, and hopefully to others if published. What kind of research did you need to undertake in order to put this book together? Was it challenging to collate all these creatures together? Fr Emanuel Magri's classic collec- tion of folktales and legends was a particularly rich hunting ground for mythical creatures in forgotten times. His Précis de Mythologie Maltaise published in 1905 still forms the core of Maltese mythology. I have also searched in modern studies of folk- lore, old dictionaries, antique maps and books describing medicinal plants. But it was not just the written word which I relied upon – supersti- tion is still quite alive in Malta. I classified the flora and fauna in a taxonomical system similar to the one we use in biology. My intention was to give the book some credence that was quite missing in many of our folktales. The humanoids (giants, men-beasts etc) and the supernatural beings (Jinn, Gods, and Guardians etc) were given their own chapter. One problem was to see if and where to fit in the (evil) Eye. Given that many of the Guardians listed in the book were particularly intended to ward off this spirit, and that many Maltese still do have interesting local customs related to the Eye, I eventu- ally decided to dedicate a whole chap- ter to just this entity. Culturally speaking, what would you say are the predominant influences that come through in this book? Where, effectively, did we 'pick' our beasts from? Why? Maltese culture is a blend of our past traditions and beliefs, most of which originate from the neighbor- ing civilisations that have occupied these islands. These settlers would have in turn been influenced by cul- tures preceding them in their origi- nal homelands. Let's take l-Għafrit for example, which is one of the jinn described in Islam; it may have en- tered our Maltese version of Arabic a thousand years ago with Arabic set- tlers or more recently with the Otto- man slaves inhabiting Malta during the rule of the knights. Yet the belief in jinn predates Islam and Judaism in the Middle East. The belief in the evil eye (L-għajn), guard- ian spirits (ħares) and the power of olive trees is also widespread in the Mediterranean. The Norwegian mara, English nightmare, Latin suc- cubus and our Ħeddiela are essen- tially the same creature, as are the English Changeling and our Mibdul. The Maltese Ħares, the English Hob and the ancient Roman Lares are also too similar to deny a cultural link. So although we probably derive most of our mythology directly from our North African and Sicilian neigh- bours, I believe that the geographi- cal origin is probably one or more of the ancient civilisations that predate written history. Talk a bit about the rift between 'fiction' and 'fact' evident in this bestiary… and perhaps all 'modern' bestiaries. As a qualified biologist it was very hard for me to renounce my skepticism and describe the mythical flora and fauna as actual living organisms. I tried to resist the urge to explain away the myths with a prejudice that is characteristic of folklorists having a scientific background. Giants and dragons are for exam- ple today considered by most to be the basic stuff of fantasy. There are however indications that in prehis- toric times giant hominids and mas- sive serpents did really exist. What was basic knowledge for our ances- tors, first devolved into legend and is now just entertainment. On the other hand many still consider some of the entities and the effects of some plants described in the bestiary as gospel truth. To state for example that, the viper that allegedly bit St Paul could not have lost its venom through a miracle, would be consid- ered by many as tantamount to her- esy. The evil eye, demon jinn and the opposing protective guardians and olive trees are still widespread beliefs, some may degrade as superstition but really verge on the religious. Who are we to decide what is fact and what is fiction? You're also responsible for the illustrations in the book. What made you decide that you wanted to illustrate the book yourself, and how did you decide on what visual approach to take on the creatures themselves? My classmates at school still re- mind me of the drawings of dragons and mermaids that I left on my desk after some boring lecture. It was actually this interest in visual rep- resentations of mythical beats that really prompted me to research our mythology and eventually start the bestiary. My original intention was to paint the creatures using oils, which I had already used to depict scenes from the 1565 siege and the visit of Garibaldi in Malta, but these had taken me months to complete. Using oil paints to depict a hundred entities would have been a lifelong project, not something I was really keen on. Eventually the illustrations turned out to be collages of all the tech- niques; pencil, oil, digital painting and photographs of Maltese scenes. Each illustration has its own story to tell, but what I find mysterious is how the supernatural creatures took on shape as I had never imagined them in my mind before I started the illus- trations. My intention was to produce real- istic – though outlandish – images, hopefully in the same manner that Tolkien's creatures were brought to life by fantasy artists such as Alan Lee. I'm not sure if I have succeeded as I tend to find flaws in my paintings many years later. Do you think the study of supernatural creatures in Maltese folklore remains under- appreciated? What do you hope this book will really bring to the table? I for one was never made aware of our mythological heritage in school, and I suppose few teachers actually have studied our lore. Most Maltese folklorists, such as Fr Magri, who list or describe the beings, simultaneous- ly express disdain of the non-Catholic beliefs, and I am certain they left out much interesting material from their published material. My Maltese Bes- tiary, I'm sure, is not the final say on the subject, in fact I really hope that it's actually the beginning of a general renewed interest in our mythology. The Maltese Bestiary will be launched during the National Book Festival, taking place at the Medi- terranean Conference Centre from November 12 to 16. The book is pub- lished by Merlin Publishers The beasts of Maltese folklore have finally been captured in on comprehensive volume. TEODOR RELJIC speaks to biologist Stephan D. Mifsud, author and illustrator of The Maltese Bestiary – out later this month from Merlin Publications Stephan D. Mifsud Gandlora Cave Bear Cyclone Dragonara Serpent