Basilisk

Was reading a friend’s poetry transcript and came across a reference to a Basilisk. Naturally I had to figure out what it was. …. After consulting Wikipedia, I learnt that in European bestiaries and legends, the basilisk (which in Greek means “little king”) is a legendary reptile reputed to be king of serpents and said to have the power to cause death with a single glance. Basilisk is also the name of a genus of small lizards, (family Corytophanidae). The Green Basilisk, also called plumed basilisk, is a lizard that can run across the surface of water. via Wikipedia I did a lot of research on European city crests for some art I created a couple years ago and turns out the basilisk is the creature I would repeatly see in the crests.