The Medieval Bestiary: A Symbolic Worldview of Christological Truths
Drinking deeply from the well of meaning
The Purpose of a Bestiary
The medieval bestiary has captivated minds for generations with its catalog of monsters and enchanting creatures. The book draws my imagination in, whether it is the fantastic creatures or the odd and sometimes bizarre art. Why does an old book about imaginary creatures still interest me? I do not know. I simply have always been drawn to them. Perhaps the bestiary speaks to my inner imaginative boy brain that wishes unicorns, griffins, and dragons were still lurking in the world waiting to be discovered. Whatever the reason, I find myself continually drawn to these whimsical and sometimes dark images. Despite my interest in these old tales, I had never tried to understand the medieval minds behind the text until a couple of years ago. Once I peered behind this veil, I discovered something unexpected.
The medieval bestiaries were quite popular texts from 1180-1300. These texts were not created for the reasons we would make a zoological work today. I initially assumed the books were designed for that very purpose. However, this is not the case; the “scientific criteria” of animals were unimportant to them. And why should it be important to them? This was the pre-enlightenment era, and, of course, they would not have thought about the world in a scientific way. Whether a creature was real or not is important to us today but it was an uninteresting question to the medieval reader. What was important to the medieval imaginary was what the creature meant in light of a symbolic worldview founded upon Christological truths. That is an entirely alien way of understanding the world for a post-enlightenment reader. The creatures in the bestiary were used as symbolic vehicles for biblical truths.
Contrary to what someone may think, not all the creatures in a bestiary were mythical or even exotic creatures. The book's point was that of connecting animals to a symbolic Christocentric universe, not simply entertaining legends.
The Pelican
The pelican of the medieval bestiary was seen as a creature that pointed to Christ and his sacrifice for us. The story goes that the pelican, when rearing its young, would at one point get struck in the face by its young. The parents would eventually strike back in reaction and kill them. However, on the third day, the mother pelican would pierce her breast and pour out her blood upon the brood of dead chicks, and they would be resurrected. The pelican, therefore, was used as a metaphor for the love and self-sacrifice of Christ, resurrecting God’s children through his blood.
The Eagle
When an eagle grows old, its wings become heavy, and its eyes darken. The eagle then finds a fountain and flies up to the sun, burns off its old wings, and plummets into the fountain of water. Once in the fountain, the eagle bathes three times and is restored with full youth and vigor. Bolting into the air, the eagle soars into the sky.
“ And so you, O man, who wears old clothes, and the eyes of your heart are clouded, seek the spiritual fountain of the Lord. And lift the eyes of your mind to God, who is the wellspring of justice, and then will your youth be renewed like that of an eagle.”- Plate 10, Clark 2006,166.
The Unicorn
“a small animal and similar to a kid, very fierce, having one horn in the middle of the forehead, and no hunter is able to capture it. But by this series of events it is captured: a virgin girl is led to where it lives, and it is left there alone in the woods. And as soon as the unicorn sees her it leaps into her lap and embraces her, and thus, it is seized. And thus our Lord Jesus Christ is spiritually the unicorn, about which it is said, ‘And as the beloved son of unicorns (Psalm 28:6)…Further, the unicorn that has one horn on its head signifies that which Jesus said, ‘I and the Father are one’ (John 30:10).” -Clark 2006, 126
The Whale
“The great fish lifts its back in mid-ocean upon the waves of the sea, and it lingers in one place so long that strong wind makes flat land on its back from sea sand, and bushes grow there; wherefore sailors, thinking it to be an island, put in their ships there next to it and disembark; driving stakes, they make fast their ships. Then they make cookfires but the great fish, feeling the heat of the fire, suddenlyplunges down in the water and draws the ship with it into the depths. Thus do those suffer whose souls are non-believing and who are unaware of the Devil’s cunning, placing their hope in him and involving themselves in his works. At once they are plunged with him into the fires of hell.” (Clark, 2006, 205-6)
The Lion
“The natural philosophers say that the lion has three principal natures. His first nature is that he likes to walk on the mountain heights. And if it should happen that he is sought by hunters, the odor of the hunters reaches to him and with his tail he covers the trail of foot-prints he left behind. Then the hunters are unable to track him. And thus our Savior, that is to say, the spiritual lion of the tribe of Judah, the rod of Jesse, the Son of David, covered over the foot-prints of his love in Heaven, until sent by the Father, he might descend into the womb of the Virgin Mary, and save the human race that was lost. And unaware of this, the Devil, that is the enemy of the human race, dared to tempt him as though he were an ordinary man. Even the angels, who were on high when he was ascending to the Father, were unaware of this and said to those angels ascending with him, ‘Who is this King of glory?’ (Psalm 23:8). The second nature of the lion is that when he sleeps he is seen to have his eyes open. So too our Lord, sleeping corporally on the cross, is buried, and his divinity remained awake. Thus it is stated in the Song of Songs. ‘I sleep and my heart watcheth’ (Song of Songs 5:2). And in the psalm, ‘Behold, he shall neither slumber nor sleep, that keepth Israel’ (Psalm 120:4). His third nature is: when the lioness gives birth to her cubs, she brings them forth dead, and watches over them for three days, until their sire, arriving on the third day, breathes in their faces and gives them life. Thus the omnipotent Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, on the third day arose from the dead; as Jacob said, ‘he will sleep like the lion and thus the lion’s whelp will be raised up’ (Genesis 49:9; Numbers 24:9).”- Clark, 2006, 119-21
A New Perspective
The medieval minds behind the bestiary were concerned with something other than simply entertainment or soulless empirical data. They were concerned with meaning. They asked the question: What is the Christological symbolism or allegory connected with the beast? The answer would help them better understand themselves and guide them toward a better life. This is a completely different way to look at the world than how we see it today. A perspective shift the Western world could use a little more of. These stories of enchanting monsters have always drawn me to them, but now I’m drawn to them for a deeper reason: Christological symbolism. In a secular world that ignores the need for meaning, I seek these medieval minds and the ancient perspectives they offer. The bestiary speaks to us today in our busy post-modern world to ask different questions. Questions we need to ask about the world around us. Symbolism and meaning need a revival to prominence again. These are the treasures our world should seek. Stop looking for measurements and start looking for meaning.
I created this blog to exercise the ideas that have haunted my mind. This blog will discuss and contemplate story, imagination, formation, Christian education, icons, symbols, pictures, and poetry. Journey with me as we delve into the deep cavernous thoughts of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, George MacDonald, Malcolm Guite, James K.A. Smith, N.T. Wright, Charles Taylor, and The Holy Scriptures. If you are interested in or hate this content, join the conversation, as I will blog about these subjects and authors every Sunday morning.
Thank you for giving us a sampling from the bestiaries! I love your writing style and insight into this. You are right that they are not primarily zoological in a scientific way, but rather embedded in the ancient/medieval narrative world. Please keep going with your writing!
I just put one of these books on my birthday wishlist.