Mixcoatl (MH496r)

Mixcoatl (MH496r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the compound personal name Mixcoatl (here, attested as male), shows a cluster of clouds (mixtli) attached to a coiled snake (coatl). The serpent's head is in profile, it is facing downward, and its bifurcated tongue extends out of its mouth. Its body has some texturing. The clouds look something like feathers.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Some glyphs for Mixcoatl ("Cloud Serpent") in this same manuscript have an even more exaggerated emphasis on coils and swirls, which may hold a portent for rain and capture a sense of the culturally significant "movement." See below. The feather-like clouds in this version may suggest an ability of the serpent to fly, something along the lines of Quetzalcoatl.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

aluso
mixcovatl

Gloss Normalization: 

Alonzo Mixcoatl

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

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

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

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

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling
curving, curvy, curved
bifurcated
dotted, granular, textured
facing downward
profile view
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
downward
Keywords: 

snakes, serpents, víboras, serpientes, nubes, clouds, cohuatl

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

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

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Serpiente de las Nubes

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 496r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=71&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 (MH490r)

Mixcoatl (MH519v)

Mixcoatl (MH769v)