. Symbolism of animals and birds represented in English architecture . ENGLISH CHURCH ARCHITECTURE would no doubt discover more , though possibly insufficient, attentionhas already been paid to Norman tympana,but the animals of the arch-stones have as yetbeen thought too small or too difficult toreceive adequate attention from competentarchaeologists. What to us often seems anearly hopeless and confused riddle was inthe Middle Ages somewhat easily interpreted—or else the figures would not have beencarved where they were. The mermaid seems to be a kind of syrenin the Bestiaries—it
. Symbolism of animals and birds represented in English architecture . ENGLISH CHURCH ARCHITECTURE would no doubt discover more , though possibly insufficient, attentionhas already been paid to Norman tympana,but the animals of the arch-stones have as yetbeen thought too small or too difficult toreceive adequate attention from competentarchaeologists. What to us often seems anearly hopeless and confused riddle was inthe Middle Ages somewhat easily interpreted—or else the figures would not have beencarved where they were. The mermaid seems to be a kind of syrenin the Bestiaries—it is half woman, half fish ;but there is another sort which is half woman,half bird. In the Septuagint and Vulgateversions of Is. xiii. 21 syrens are mentionedas being destined to dwell among the ruins ofBabylon. The syren was reputed to be death-bearing : it sang at the approach of a storm,but wept in fine weather. In the Odyssey,Book xii, we read that Odysseus was charmedby their voices as his ship went by the islandof the syrens. So much so that, bound tothe ma
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, booksubjec, booksubjectchristianartandsymbolism
