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The list of animals known in the Middle Ages includes a number of hybrid beings such as mermaids, centaurs, [8] and the Bonnacon, a bull-headed horse with ram's horns. [5] The presence of chimeras , animal representations that can go beyond named species, became popular, as seen on the northern portal of Rouen Cathedral , where over a hundred ...
Bird meanings and symbolism are open to wide interpretation and can vary across cultures and traditions. Popularly, owls are associated with wisdom, and doves are widely associated with peace.
In Christian art, animals carried symbolic meanings, where for example the lamb symbolized Christ, a dove indicated the Holy Spirit, and the classical griffin represented a guardian of the dead. Medieval bestiaries included animals regardless of biological reality; the basilisk represented the devil, while the manticore symbolised temptation. [11]
Lions are known in many cultures as the king of animals, which can be traced to the Babylonian Talmud, [27] and to the classical book Physiologus. In his fables, the famed Greek story teller Aesop used the lion's symbolism of power and strength in The Lion and the Mouse and Lion's Share. [citation needed]
In many ancient civilizations there are references to animals and their meaning within that specific religion or mythology that we know of today. These civilizations included Egypt and their gods with the faces of animals or Greece which had symbolic animals for their godly beings, an example being Zeus and the eagle. [ 14 ]
The Horses of Neptune, illustration by Walter Crane, 1893.. Horse symbolism is the study of the representation of the horse in mythology, religion, folklore, art, literature and psychoanalysis as a symbol, in its capacity to designate, to signify an abstract concept, beyond the physical reality of the quadruped animal.
It is noted in connection to Barnstokkr that family trees are still a living tradition in Norway and Sweden, where a centrally positioned tree is "the symbolic centre of the farm and a mimesis of the life and growth of the farm and family". [2] See also Sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology. Belche Middle High German: Belche
The symbolism which usually attaches to the various animals is derived for the most part from the bestiaries. Thus, for the lion, strength, vigilance, and courage; for the siren, voluptuousness; for the pelican, charity. The four animals which symbolize the leading characteristics of each of the Four Evangelists become more and more an ...