In the lower right is an animal with the designation gulo, Latin for the glutton (Gulo gulo) which belongs to the marten or weasel family. This large animal lives in the northern parts of Scandinavia. Its nearest relative in North America is the wolverine. "It was probably from direct experience that Olaus Magnus pictured them on his map" (George, 1969, 116).
Olaus says "In its bulk it is similar to a large dog. Its ears and face resemble a cats, and its feet have very sharp claws. It has a shaggy body with a long brownish coat, and a foxs tail, though shorter and draped with thick fur, so that excellent winter caps can be made from it." When the glutton finds a carcass, it eats so quickly that "its furious meal makes its torso swell like a drum. Afterwards it finds a narrow space between trees and squeezes itself through, in order to discharge its bowels forcibly" (Magnus 1998, III:888). This completed, it returns to the carcass and stuffs itself once more. A skier is shooting an arrow at the glutton;
to the right a man is chopping holes in the ice and another is ice fishing.
under the Magnifying Glass |
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