English Rabbit Mythology

Rabbit Rider

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Tradition: English Mythology
Alternative Names: Snail-Riding Rabbit, Medieval Rabbit Knight
Category: Rabbit

The Myth

The Rabbit Rider is a strange warrior rabbit depicted in medieval manuscripts. His most unusual feature is his mount: a snail with a human-like face. Armed with his courage and accompanied by his loyal steed, the Rabbit Rider goes into battle against hunters and hounds.

In some illustrations, the rabbit faces a hound while riding a more familiar mount, such as another rabbit. One example appears in The Breviary of Renaud de Bar, where a confused-looking bunny serves as the steed. These bizarre battles reverse the usual relationship between hunter and prey, turning the rabbit into a fearless warrior. How the fights ended remains unknown, but the Rabbit Rider appears ready to put up a fierce struggle.

Sources

“Killer Rabbits: When Bunnies Strike Back.” Medieval Manuscripts Blog, British Library, June 2021. https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2021/06/killer-rabbits.html

Archer Bunny

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Tradition: English Mythology
Alternative Names: Murderous Bunny, Medieval Archer Rabbit
Category: Rabbit

The Myth

The Archer Bunny is a rabbit depicted with a bow and arrows in the decorated margins of medieval manuscripts. These illustrations are part of a wider tradition of murderous bunnies, which appear in many different forms. The rabbits are often shown acting like humans, armed with weapons and taking part in strange or violent scenes.

In these medieval comics, the Archer Bunny often turns the tables on the hunter. Instead of being hunted, the rabbit shoots the hunter or his hound. The injured hunter or dog is then brought before a court, where the rabbit’s actions lead to a trial and the hunter is sentenced to torture or death. The Archer Bunny has no single established myth or story, but remains a memorable example of medieval art’s playful reversal of the natural order, with the hunted rabbit becoming the aggressor.

Sources

“Killer Rabbits: When Bunnies Strike Back.” Medieval Manuscripts Blog, British Library, June 2021. https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2021/06/killer-rabbits.html

Baker Rabbit

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Tradition: English Mythology
Alternative Names: Rabbit Baker, Medieval Baker Hare
Category: Rabbit

The Myth

The Baker Rabbit is an unusual medieval illustration of a rabbit working as a baker. Dating to the first quarter of the fifteenth century, it appears in an English pontifical manuscript, Lansdowne MS 451, folio 6r. The rabbit stands upright and pushes a tray of baked goods into an oven, behaving like a human baker. Its dark, almost demonic expression gives the otherwise ordinary scene an unsettling quality.

Medieval art frequently depicted rabbits engaging in human activities, sometimes in humorous or disturbing scenes that reversed the natural relationship between humans and animals. Given the rabbit’s occasional association with violence in medieval imagery, the baker’s sinister appearance invites a macabre question: what exactly is he baking? The suggestion that the pies might contain human flesh is a modern, humorous interpretation rather than an established part of the manuscript’s meaning.

Sources

“Killer Rabbits: When Bunnies Strike Back.” Medieval Manuscripts Blog, British Library, June 2021. https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2021/06/killer-rabbits.html