This master's thesis examines the symbolic meanings of animals in Scandinavian art from the late 8th to the early 12th century, a period marked by profound cultural, religious, and territorial changes. The study encompases the pagan context, the transitional period between paganism and Christianity, and finally the Christian context. It is based on a critical analysis of written sources, the interpretation of archaeological finds, and the examination of works of art according to Panofsky's three-tiered iconographic method. The main part of the thesis is devoted to the analysis of the symbolic menanings of animals that were omnipresent both in everyday life and in the art of medieval Scandinavia, particularly the horse, stag, wolf, snake and various species of birds. The second part of the thesis focuses on the long period of pagan-Christian artistic syncretism and on the subsequent period of Christian predominance, during which characteristic Scandinavian motifs were incorporated into Christian imagery, leading to the transformation of established symbolic meanings.
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