ocuilin (Mdz10v)

ocuilin (Mdz10v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This simplex glyph of a green worm (ocuilin) also stands for the place name Ocuillan. Even if the worm has teeth, this is not the usual way to show the locative suffix -tlan. Interestingly, the worm has two legs with feet, a yellow eye, a yellow forked tongue, and white fangs, making it something of an earth monster. Its body is segmented, and the shades of green on the body vary. It is upright and in a profile view, looking to the viewer's left.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

See our online Nahuatl Dictionary entry for ocuilin to read about worms of sin and worms of Mictlan, the place of the dead.

Source Manuscript: 
Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Syntax: 
cuil (tracking)
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Mouth/Beak Open
Tongue Protruding/Noticeable
Colors: 
green (dark)
green (light)
white/neutral
yellow or golden
Shapes and Perspectives: 
segmented
bifurcated
profile view
facing left
Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 15 verso, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 31 of 188.

Image Source, Rights: 

The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, hold the original manuscript, the MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1. This image is published here under the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0).

See Also: 

Ocuillan (Mdz34r)

Ocuil (MH609r)

Ocuil (MH680v)