atel

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atel, adj: dire, terrible. (AH-tell / ˈa-tɛl)

Medieval manuscript illustration of a salmon-coloured griffin grasping a man’s entire torso in its beak, gripping a leg with its forefeet; the man is bleeding a lot but appears to be alive.
Bestiary from a didactic miscellany; England, 1220-1240; Cambridge University Library, Kk.4.25, f. 67v. [cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk]

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