från den här tråden
den här Trench Crusade Reddit-tråden:
"I present to you Saint Christopher. TC version dedicated himself to hunting the inari, perhaps?"
[...]
"The Cynocephali are fascinating folklore, because there were a significant number of early Christian writers
absolutely convinced that Cynocephaloi existed, and in great numbers. In fact, they sparked genuine scriptural debate as to whether or not dog-people could accept the word of Christ and be saved. There are actual, impassioned arguments written by Christian theologists in defense of their ability to convert, which is just wild. There’s a medieval painting I’ve seen of Jesus preaching to an entire group of Cynocephaloi.
Apparently, the consensus as to where the confusion came from is that newly converted Christian Romans had never heard of “Canaan,” so when they heard “Saint Christopher the Canaanite,” they thought it meant “Saint Christopher the Doglike,” and they combined it with the existing Hellenic Greek folklore of the Cynocephaloi. Ah, Latin.
Not only was the land of Canaan believed to be full of dog-people, but there was also an
entire nation believed in the western regions of Libya amongst the mountainous woodlands (Herodotus), and that another nation of them lived in the mountains of India and peacefully traded and associated with humanity there (Ctesias).
St. Augustine of Hippo, one of the more important saints in early Christian history, wrote that he was convinced that if they possessed reason, they must be children of Adam. Marco Polo wrote about them, as did Ibn Battuta and Piri Reis. This was something that well-learned people of the early to late middle ages read about and were genuinely like “Yeah that sounds right.” Even the Ottomans thought they existed, apparently.
Heck, Saint Christopher isn’t even the only Cynocephalic saint, with Coptic Saints Ahrakas and Augani, the redeemed servants of Saint Mecurius Abu-Sayfain, regularly portrayed as Cynocephaloi.
In short….there’s a damn good argument for dog-headed furries being contemporary mythology held by both Christians and Muslims during the entire era of the Crusades."
