Jenny Haniver - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A Jenny Haniver is the carcass of a ray

Rajiformes

Rajiformes is one of the four orders of batoids, flattened cartilaginous fishes related to sharks.Rajiforms are distinguished by the presence of greatly enlarged pectoral fins, which reach as far forward as the sides of the head, with a generally flattened body. The undulatory pectoral fin motion...

or a skate which has been modified and subsequently dried, resulting in a grotesque preserved specimen.

One suggestion for the origin of the term was the French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

phrase jeune d'Anvers ('young [person] of Antwerp'). British sailors "cockney

Cockney

The term Cockney has both geographical and linguistic associations. Geographically and culturally, it often refers to working class Londoners, particularly those in the East End...

ed" this description into the personal name "Jenny Hanvers." They are also widely known as "Jenny Haviers".

For centuries, sailors sat on the Antwerp docks and carved these "mermaids" out of dried skates. They then preserved them further with a coat of varnish. They supported themselves by selling their artistic creations to working sailors as well as to tourists visiting the docks.

Jenny Hanivers have been created to look like devil

Devil

The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...

s, angel

Angel

Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...

s and dragon

Dragon

A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...

s. Some writers have suggested the sea monk

Sea monk

The sea monk, or sometimes monk-fish, was the name given to a sea animal found off the eastern coast of the Danish island of Zealand almost certainly in 1546. It was described as a "fish" that looked superficially like a monk. It was mentioned and pictured in the fourth volume of Conrad Gesner's...

may have been a Jenny Haniver.

The earliest known picture of a Jenny Haniver appeared in Konrad Gesner's Historia Animalium vol. IV in 1558. Gesner warned that these were merely disfigured rays, and should not be believed to be miniature dragons or monsters, which was a popular misconception at the time.

Media references

The Jenny Haniver
Jenny Haniver (airship)
The Jenny Haniver is the name of an airship featured heavily in Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines Quartet. She is a small cargo airship with a crimson envelope....

was the name of an airship in the Mortal Engines Quartet novels by Philip Reeve

Philip Reeve

Philip Reeve is a British author and illustrator. He presently lives on Dartmoor with his wife Sarah and their son Samuel.-Biography:...

and a boat in one of the prequels to the series, A Web of Air
A Web of Air
A Web of Air is the sequel to Fever Crumb, and the second book in the Mortal Engines Quartet prequel series. It was released in April 2010.-Information:...

, itself a part of the Fever Crumb Series
Fever Crumb Series
The Fever Crumb Series is the title of an ongoing series of novels written by the British author Philip Reeve, and is the prequel series to his critically acclaimed Mortal Engines Quartet...

.

Media references

See also