Mixcoatl (MH535v)

Mixcoatl (MH535v)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Mixcoatl (“Cloud Serpent,” attested here as a man’s name) shows a profile view of a serpent facing right. Its eye is open and its protruding tongue is bifurcated. It has one large coil in the middle of its body. The bottom portion of its body is shaded, giving it a three-dimensionality. Three clouds hover over the serpent, and these are also shaded for three-dimensionality.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Mixcoatl is a very popular name in the Matrícula de Huexotzinco, much more so than, for instance, Quetzalcoatl. It is akin to Ehecatl (or Ecatl) in popularity, perhaps. A Cloud Serpent was a sacred, natural force, seemingly connected to the swirling clouds that could portend rain. The cloud serpents almost all have the coil in their bodies, adding this swirling dimension of movement.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Source Manuscript: 
Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)
Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Semantic Categories: 
personal name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
visible movement
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Celestial Phenomena
Gender (male)
Movement
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Religion (Indigenous)
Tongue Protruding/Noticeable
Weather, Climate
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing right
profile view
shading and parallel line hatching
spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling
three-dimensionality
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
downward
Other Cultural Influences: 
Spanish/European
Keywords: 

clouds, nubes, serpientes

Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 

Mixcoatl, deity, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mixcoatl
mix(tli), clouds, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mixtli
coa(tl), serpent, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/coatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Serpiente de las Nubes

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 535v, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=150&st=image

Image Source, Rights: 

This manuscript is hosted by the Library of Congress and the World Digital Library; used here with the Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SAq 3.0).

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Mixcoatl (Mdz5v)

Mixcoatl (MH483v)

Mixcoatl (MH483r)

Mixcoatl (MH484v)

Mixcoatl (MH484v)

Mixcoatl (MH485r)

Mixcoatl (MH490r)