Illustrations helped readers visualize familiar creatures and helped them understand animals they may have never seen before, but the bestiary also provided stories about how animals could be seen as symbols of morality and Christian doctrines. Illuminated images and descriptions of animals were joined together in the bestiary, a kind of medieval encyclopedia of animals. Animals represented themes and lessons from Christianity and were important characters in allegorical tales for example, elephants and dragons battled as mortal enemies as a symbol for the struggle between good and evil, while unicorns had a penchant for maidens in the forest, an allusion to the birth of Christ from the Virgin Mary.
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