Angels of the Lord. Catherine Odell

His major work Etymologies consisted of twenty books. In Book VII, Isidore reflected on the essence of angels:

      Angels … announce the will of God to people. The word angel is the name of their function, not their nature. They are always spirits, but when they are sent, they are angels. Through artistic license, painters give them wings…. Just as in the fables of the poets, the angels are said to have wings because of their velocity. Where also the Holy Scriptures say: “Who walks upon wings of the wind” (Psalm 104:3).⁸⁷