Quetzal

This fantastic bird on the left is the quetzal.  The earliest known reference to this bird is from 1827.  It is taken from the Mexican Spanish word quetzale, which came from the Nahuatl quetzaltototl which was also the name of a bird with a brilliant plumage.


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There is an Aztec god with a similarly fabulous name.  Well, all the mesoamerican gods have great names, but Quetzalcoatl was a man/god of many talents.  He was a creator, a god of science and knowledge, arts and crafts, and agriculture.  He was a patron of priests and invented the calendar.  His benevolent nature brought prosperity to mankind, unlike many of the other gods of mesoamerica.

Quetzalcoatl means plumed serpent in the Nahuatl language, but other mesoamerican cultures have a different name for this god - to the Mayans he was Kukulkan.

One legend said that Quetzalcoatl disappeared out to sea on a raft made from serpents and that he would return one day to create a new peaceful world.  This legend was later usurped by Hernan Cortes in his invasion of the Americas in 1519.  Spanish historians writing in the sixteenth century likened Cortes' landing to Quetzalcoatl's return, and believed that this contributed to the ease at which the Aztecs were overcome.

Sources:
Chambers Dictionary of Etymology (1988), Chambers.
Jones, David M. & Molyneaux, Brian L. (2001) The Myth of the Americas, Lorenz.
Images:
Quetzal bird [online], http://www.bobbyrica.com/2010/08/11/the-bird-that-is-the-quetzal/ (Accessed 30th January 2011).
Quetzalcoatl from the Codex Borbonicus [online], http://www.crystalinks.com/quetzalcoatl.html (Accessed 30th January 2011).


Juliana