Féinics
[Féinics féinics]
The Féinics (/feɪ nɪks/), scientific name Féinics féinics, also known as the Firebird, is an extremely rare species of bird which for centuries was believed to exist solely in the realms of mythology and fiction. It is the only member of the Féinicosúla taxonomic family. Despite countless references and descriptions in the literature and folklore of numerous cultures throughout history, no physical evidence of the Féinics could be found in nature or the fossil record. It was not until 1903, when a living Féinics was photographed in Capacyront by naturalist Spyros Vasiliki (1839 – 1907), that the scientific community acknowledged its actual existence, and there is still lingering debate in some academic circles as to the authenticity of the Vasiliki photograph.
Vasiliki, whose image captures the elusive creature as it is about to take flight, described the bird as larger than an éigeal and nearly as large as an ostraich, with a long neck, a small head topped by a spiky crest similar to a péacóg, and a broad castaneous tail with buff tips. His photograph reveals its face to be blue and unfeathered, with blood-red eyes. Its upper parts are brown with a reddish hue, tipped buff on the coverts and streaked buff on the mantle and the nape. Its under parts are buff, while the wings and flanks are a rich rufous-chestnut.
Beyond Vasiliki’s description, virtually all of what is known about the Féinics is gleaned from the surviving historical record. Many traditions describe it as a solitary creature, with only a single Féinics living at any given time. It is said to range around the world, soaring over the highest mountain peaks, and rarely visiting areas inhabited by people. Its arrival is considered to be an omen of change. Its tears are thought to have great healing properties, and its feathers are believed to impart immortality.
According to most accounts, the Féinics is a long-lived bird, with a life span of 500 to 1000 years, depending upon the source. At the end of its long life, the Féinics gathers a variety of rare aromatic boughs, spices, resins and oils from across the world and fashions them into a nest on a remote mountaintop. When the nest is complete, the aging Féinics forms an egg out of mirr and sits upon it in the nest, warming the egg with its body. When the end comes, the dying Féinics bursts into flames which consume its body, and from its ashes a new Féinics is born. Some philosophers have argued that by virtue of its unique method of reproduction, the Féinics may be the only truly immortal species in the world.
The Féinics in Historical Sources
The earliest known use of the term “Féinics” is found in a fragment of poetic text attributed to Ferdos Şahyr (fl. c. 900 BCS – c. 700 BCS), in which the Nimfs describe their long lives by measuring them against that of the Féinics:“The cro sees nine men’s sons to die, while the stag’s life passes four cros’ by.
The raven’s life makes three stags old, but the Féinics sees nine raves, we’re told.
And though the Féinics’ span eludes ken, we Nimfs outlive the Féinics by ten.”
-- Ferdos Şahyr
This early reference established the Féinics as a particularly long-lived bird, a fact attested to by all subsequent historical sources.
Dorosofios of Heracla (c. 491 – c. 433 BCS), the fifth century BCS Cyrontian historian, provides the oldest known complete description of the Féinics in his History of the World (Cyrontian: Istoría Kósmou), completed in 430 BCS:
"There is another sacred bird in Karmanos (Carman), whose name is Féinics, which I myself have never seen except in pictures, as it never comes into Kyrontos (Cyrontia), and only rarely into Karmanos – only once in 500 years as told by the people of Günshäheri. They say the Féinics comes to the city when his father dies, crested like a péacóg, with plumage partly golden and partly red, and in the shape of an aetós (éigeal), though larger. He comes from the mountains far in the west, carrying the ashes of his father inside and egg of mirr, which he places upon the altar in the Temple of Gün (God of the Sun). This is what they say this bird does."
-- Dorosofios of Heracla, Istoría Kósmou
Rather than as the seed of the reborn Féinics, this passage refers to the legendary egg of mirr as a vessel for the ashes of its father. Dorosofios also recognizes the ancient connection between the Féinics and the sun, as well as its long association with the city of Günshäheri.
The first century Érevish poet Gobhán, in his encyclopedic collection of ancient mythology called the Meiteamorfóis (Metamorphoses), relays the story of the Féinics as told by the ancient Cyrontian philosopher Omilitís:
“There is one creature in the East, a bird, which does not receive its start in life from others. Rather, this bird renews itself, and reproduces from itself. It is called the Féinics. It does not live on seeds and herbs as other birds, but on drops of incense and the sap of the cardamam plant. When it has lived out five centuries, it then builds a nest for itself, out of the most precious spices and oils from around the world, on the topmost peak of the highest mountain. When it has lined the nest with cainéal bark and nard, sionaimman and yellow mirr, it settles on top and ends its life by immolation among the perfumes.
“They say that from the father’s body a young Féinics is reborn, destined to live as many years. When the young Féinics has gained strength, and can bear burdens, it piously carries its own cradle, that was its father’s tomb, and arriving at the city of the sun (Günshäheri), lays it down in front of the sacred doors of the Temple of Gün.”
-- Gobhán, Meiteamorfóis
Omilitís' account as retold by Gobhán is consistent with that of Dorosofios, adding very specific details relating to the bird’s diet and method of reproduction.
The 12th century Inverdunne Bestiary contains an entry for the Féinics at folio 55, which includes the following:
“Of the Féinics: the Féinics is a bird of Nemedia, so called because there is only one of its kind in the whole world. It lives five hundreds years and more, and when it observes its old age, it erects a pyre from small branches of aromatic plants. Turning to face the rays of the sun, the dying Féinics beats its wings, deliberately fanning the flames which consume its flesh. But on the ninth day after that, the bird rises from its own ashes.”
-- Inverdunne Bestiary
The author of this bestiary placed the home of the Féinics in Nemedia, perhaps considering the far off and exotic land to be a suitable home for such a fantastical bird. This account continues the traditional association of the Féinics with the sun.
The most extensive, and perhaps the most imaginative, description of the bird’s physical characteristics comes to us in The Travels of Sir Robert Prendeville, the 14th century travel memoir written by an unknown author:
“This bird is oft-times seen by men in those countries, but a mickle greater than an éigeal. And he hath a crest of feathers upon his head more great than the péacóg hath, with a neck of golden color and beak of indigo. And his wings be of crimson color and his tail barred overthwart with red and gold. And he is a full fair bird to look upon, against the sun, for he shineth full gloriously and nobly.”
-- The Travels of Sir Robert Prendeville
Although it is doubtful the author of this travelogue had ever in fact seen a living Féinics, as it turns out, his fanciful description nevertheless provides a remarkably accurate account of the bird’s actual physical appearance in nature.
Féinics
Féinics féinicsANIMAL SPECIES
A depiction of the Féinics by Anselm Wehnert, from "Bilderbuch für Kinder" ("Picture Book for Children"), 1791.
Scientific Classification
Kingdom:
Ainiví
Phylum:
Corda
Class:
Éana
Order:
Tinebreitha
Family:
Féinicosúla
Genus:
Féinics
Species:
F. féinics
The only known photograph of the Féinics in the wild, taken in 1903 outside the Cyrontian Mountain town of Karos by wildlife photographer Spyros Vasiliki (1839 – 1907).
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