Need help with an idea

[georgelee5786]

I'm wondering what meaning I could tie to the symbolism of an angel wrapped in chains. The predominant symbol would be having his wings tied behind him by chains, preventing him from flying, and chains running across his chest in an X. What would that mean in a Medieval society that generally discourages religion?

 

[Prince_Azmiran_Myrian]

An imprisoned angel. You could have more than one meaning, depending on who is looking at it.

Could be man's dominance over religion, restraining God's will.
Could be a rebellious angel, punished in chains.
It might symbolize that the faithful are persecuted in this world.
Not being able to fly means he might never be able to return to heaven?

What is the angel doing? Kneeling downcast, praying upward, fighting the restraints? Maybe the chains aren't a part of the statue, and were added on later.

 

[K5Rakitan]

Have you watched Lucifer?

 

[georgelee5786]

What is the angel doing? Kneeling downcast, praying upward, fighting the restraints? Maybe the chains aren't a part of the statue, and were added on later.

Fighting as best he can. Though, it wouldn't be a statue. It would be in paintings and mosaics within the Imperial Palace

Have you watched Lucifer?

Nope

 

[EternalSunset0]

Fighting as best he can. Though, it wouldn't be a statue. It would be in paintings and mosaics within the Imperial Palace

You can work on your initial idea and expand it a bit. Since you already brought up the Medieval society that discourages religion, you can always have it be a symbol of the ruling class and how they took control over the country from the previous leaders (religious leaders and priests maybe)

Then perhaps just run with that, while other characters in the story can see it differently. The thing with symbolism is other people can see a chained angel and come up with various interpretations like what Prince Azmiran already did.

I don't know what kind of story you're writing. But if the mural of it was a central figure in your story, you can use it in various ways. Perhaps a banner for religious zealots and a symbol of them wanting to overturn the world's secular order. Perhaps a rallying cry for some cult who have gone the depths of worshiping such supposedly divine figure. Perhaps it could be the stock "trapped superbeing that villain/hero group wants to awaken." Perhaps a way to pivot the good guys into some side character who knows the backstory of how the world came to be.

Your details are still pretty vague, so I just threw out stuff I can think of off the top of my head.

I don't know if I answered your question correctly or I simply gave possible angles to take your work to, but I hope it helped.

 

[T.K._Paradox]

I'm wondering what meaning I could tie to the symbolism of an angel wrapped in chains. The predominant symbol would be having his wings tied behind him by chains, preventing him from flying, and chains running across his chest in an X. What would that mean in a Medieval society that generally discourages religion?

Too me it sounds like a reminder, a memorial left up to remind the people of their past.

This could either be used in the sense that religion was a burden the clouded judgement and rational minds and only serves as a tool to manipulate the foolish and feebleminded.

Or it is reminder of what some see as a brutal truth, that man is chained and bound without guidance and that, in an ironic fashion, without objective morals and rules man is doomed to cycle himself in pain pursuing pleasure and other worldly things.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

Porn?

 

[georgelee5786]

Porn?

Perhaps

 

[kophzi]

Maybe the chains are a manifestation of his own self-disbelief and lack of character.

Self-imposed shackles, reducing him to but a mere mortal when in fact, he is some celestial being. (Falls in line with body builders and their body dysmorphia)

 

[RynnTheTired]

Well, traditionally, angels are messengers, and their wings represent the power they've been given to perform their duties. Chaining them up negates their power and prevents them from delivering their message. Where you go from there depends on whether you want to interpret the symbol in a positive light or a negative one.

A positive interpretation could be something like a past revolution, where the (fallen) angel represents a corrupt power that manipulated people with lies and propaganda. The fact that he's chained up and struggling, rather than dead, could be a caution against allowing future corruption to take hold in society. (Or at least this is the narrative that those in power want people to believe--it may or may not be the truth.)

In a negative interpretation, the angel could represent a legitimate and righteous force that was deprived of its power and prevented from fulfilling its duty. Like a royal family that was ousted and escaped into exile (chained up). They've built up a new civilization in a new land, but they're still hoping to someday return to their rightful place (still struggling against the chains).

Either way, the effort and resources required to put symbols like that all over, plus their placement in an imperial palace of all places, means that they're likely related to some kind of political narrative that the imperial family and/or government are trying to push. Unless you want to make them all the work of one particularly eccentric emperor, in which case they could mean anything or nothing at all.

 

[Gryphon]

What would that mean in a Medieval society that generally discourages religion?

I think this is the crux of how one can discern meaning through a chained angel. Yeah, by itself it could be a powerful image, but people usually forget setting context that would truly make the piece of symbolism shine. In a world where religion is mocked and frowned upon, a cathedral that shows the image of a chained angel provides a decent amount of discussion.

For instance, it could dictate how the overall political structures in the society thinks of religion as nothing more than a way for people to ignore their rule, so they try to tell the public that religion will only tie them down if they follow it rather than the societal structures that are actually dragging them toward hell. When in reality, it's their very governmental society that's chaining the people to poverty and crime.

It could be a representation of how people want religion to thrive once again, but for some indiscernible reason chosen by the author, religion is something meant to be mocked in the world. Seen as nothing but a figment of myth and legend. That through a means of magical purpose, religion becomes frowned upon, not through means of governmental oppression or free will of the people, but by, ironically enough, a religious sacrifice of religion itself.

Or you could be boring and just say religion bad.