Search Results for: Dolphin

Dolphin

Dolphin (Period)

Dolphin (Period)

Natural dolphin naiant (Accepted)

Natural dolphin naiant (Accepted)

The dolphin was considered in medieval times the fastest and noblest of the fish.  The unmodified term refers to the heraldic form of the dolphin, which is the default:  a fierce fish with a spiny dorsal fin, and sometimes tusks.  It’s found in the canting arms of the Dauphin of France as early as c.1370 [Gelre 46].  The dolphin’s default posture is naiant; when blazoned “proper”, it is vert detailed gules.

The cetacean dolphin, as found in nature, must be specified as such in blazon, usually as a “natural” or “bottlenosed dolphin”.  When blazoned “proper”, it is colored in grey tones, and is considered equivalent to argent.  For related charges, see whale.

The Order of the Dolphin of Caid bears:  Azure, a dolphin embowed uriant to sinister argent.

Beatrice Delfini bears:  Per chevron argent ermined gules, and azure, a dolphin haurient embowed Or.

Diantha Sylvana Galatea Athalie de Castalia bears:  Per pale argent and azure, two dolphins uriant respectant counterchanged.

Angelina Nicollette de Beaumont bears:  Gules, a bottlenosed dolphin embowed and in chief a sprig of three orange blossoms slipped and leaved fesswise proper.

This entry was posted on January 12, 2014, in .

Winged monsters

Lion of St. Mark statant guardant (Period)

Lion of St. Mark statant guardant (Period)

Winged stag segreant (Accepted)

Winged stag segreant (Accepted)

This class of monster consists of beasts with wings grafted to their shoulders.  Almost any beast may be so treated, such as the winged fox in the arms of Fuchs, mid-16th C [NW 37], or even the winged fish in the arms of von Bruecdorp or Brockdorf, c.1370 [Gelre 33v].  Even other monsters, if normally wingless, may have wings added.  The wings are eagle’s wings by default; other types of wings, such as bat’s wings, are also found in Society armory, but are unattested in period armory.  Such cases must be explicitly blazoned.  (This doesn’t apply to those monsters whose definitions include wings, such as the dragon.)

There are special terms for some winged monsters.  A haloed winged lion may be blazoned a “lion of St. Mark”; it is found in the civic arms of Venice, 1413 [Conz.Const. cciii].  (St. Mark was the patron saint of the city.)  A haloed winged ox may be blazoned an “ox of St. Luke”; it is found in the arms of Caravello, 1413 [Conz.Const. cliii].  Both evangelists’ monsters are frequently shown maintaining a book, that being their attribute, but such cases are nonetheless explicitly blazoned.

Bat-winged boar courant (Accepted)

Bat-winged boar courant (Accepted)

Winged dolphin naiant (Accepted)

Winged dolphin naiant (Accepted)

Rampant winged monsters may be blazoned “segreant”, since that term may be applied to any monster “half-bird, half-beast”; in that case, the posture of the wings is defined by the term.  Winged monsters statant or couchant do not need their wings’ posture blazoned, either:  the wings will be addorsed by default, that being their most distinguishable posture.  The term “volant”, however, is ill-defined for non-birds, and should not be used for winged monsters; instead, the posture of the body should be blazoned in a standard way, with the wings’ position made explicit (e.g., a “winged lion courant, wings elevated and addorsed”).

The illustrations show a lion of St. Mark statant guardant; a winged stag segreant; a bat-winged boar courant, wings elevated and addorsed; and a winged dolphin, wings addorsed.  For specific entries, see humanoid monster (angel), pegasus, pithon.  See also winged charges.

Jon de Cles bears:  Gules, a winged camel trippant argent.

Jean Pierre de Sabre bears:  Or, a winged fish volant sable.

Harold von Auerbach bears:  Vert, a bat-winged boar salient argent.

Hastini Chandra bears:  Or, an Indian elephant passant gules, winged sable.

Jamie MacRae bears:  Purpure, a winged stag rampant to sinister argent.

Niall Kilkierny bears:  Vert, a winged sea-lion rampant Or.

This entry was posted on June 8, 2014, in .

Wheel

Wheel (Period)

Wheel (Period)

Dexter half of a wheel (Period)

Dexter half of a wheel (Period)

A wheel is a circular spoked frame, attached to an axle by its hub and permitted to spin freely.  Sets of wheels are normally found attached to wagons, but wheels are often found as charges in their own right.  The default wheel is more fully blazoned a “wagon-wheel” or “cartwheel”; it’s found as early as c.1340, in the arms of Berg [Zurich 232].  The number of spokes is usually left to the license of the artist – six or eight spokes seem to be the norm – but sometimes the number is explicitly blazoned.  The wheel’s “proper” coloration is brown, the color of wood.

Particularly in German heraldry, we find examples of partial wheels:  a quarter-wheel, as in the arms of von Billick, 1605 [Siebmacher 71], or a half-wheel, as in the arms of Rusetzker [Siebmacher 73].  The orientation of the partial wheel (e.g., “dexter half of a wheel”, as in the illustration) must be specified in blazon.

Catherine's wheel (Period)

Catherine’s wheel (Period)

Cog-wheel (Period)

Cog-wheel (Period)

Variants of the wheel include the “Catherine’s wheel”, the symbol of the martyr St. Catherine, with curved knife-blades radiating from the rim.  As an heraldic charge, it’s found in the arms of Brentingham, Bishop of Exeter 1370-94 [DBA3 443].  There is the “cog-wheel”, also called a  “gear-wheel” or “mill-wheel”, with an embattled outer edge, used in mechanisms from tiny clockworks to giant mill-works; it’s found in the canting arms (German Mühle, “mill”) of Mülinen c.1460 [GATD 20v].

Water-wheel (Accepted)

Water-wheel (Accepted)

Finally, there is the “water-wheel”, unique to Society armory, with vanes on the outer edge to draw power from running water.  See also grindstone, spinning wheel.

Cyprian of the Wheel bears:  Argent, a wooden cartwheel of twelve spokes proper.

Caterine Barré de Venoix bears:  Barry azure and Or, a Catherine wheel gules.

Iathus of Scara bears:  Ermine, a cog wheel gules.

Patrick MacFynn bears:  Per chevron vert and azure, a chevron argent between two natural dolphins embowed respectant Or and a water wheel argent.

Catherine de la Loire bears:  Purpure, a Catherine’s wheel missing the dexter chief quarter between three fleurs-de-lys argent.

This entry was posted on June 8, 2014, in .

Whale

Whale (Period)

Whale (Period)

Narwhal haurient (Accepted)

Narwhal haurient (Accepted)

The whale is a large sea-creature, known today as a cetacean mammal, but regarded in period as a fish; it was hunted from ships for its meat, oil and baleen.  It is found in period heraldic tracts (e.g., de Bara’s Blason des Armoiries, 1581 [88]), but Your Author has not found an unarguable example from period armory.

The medieval depiction of the whale was somewhat fanciful; the illustration is taken from Gesner’s De Avibus et Piscibus, 1560.  If a naturalistic depiction is desired, it must be specified as a “natural whale”, or more explicitly, e.g., a “sperm whale”.  The whale is naiant by default.

In Society armory, there is also the “narwhal” or “narwhale”, a cetacean with a long unicorn-like “horn” (actually its tooth).  It’s generally depicted as found in nature.  The illustration shows a narwhal haurient.  For related charges, see dolphin.

The Baron of Smoking Rocks bears:  Argent, a whale haurient embowed sable within a laurel wreath vert.

André of Stormhold bears:  Argent, a whale naiant azure.

Arinbjorn Talverri bears:  Or, a narwhal haurient bendwise purpure.

This entry was posted on June 8, 2014, in .

Ship

Lymphad (Period)

Lymphad (Period)

Ship, 16th C. (Period)

Ship, 16th C. (Period)

A ship is a sailing vessel or boat; those found in heraldry usually have sails, though there are a few oar-powered ships as well.  They should be drawn as seen on a calm sea:  the keel should not be depicted.  All ships face to dexter by default; when “proper”, they are of brown wood.

The most common sort of ship in heraldry is the “galley” or “lymphad”:  a stylized drawing, with a single square sail, and three or four oars; the sails are furled, and the oars are in action, by default.  It is a period charge, found in the arms of the Earls of Katenes (Caithness) c.1310 [ANA2 548].  When the sail is unfurled, the fact must be blazoned; when the oars are shipped (i.e., inside the ship and not visible), that too is sometimes blazoned.  If the lymphad has no mast, sails or oars, it may be termed a “hulk” or “hull”, as in the arms of Segger, 1605 [Siebmacher 40].

Drakkar (Accepted)

Drakkar (Accepted)

Rowboat with two oars (Period)

Rowboat with two oars (Period)

Later in period, ships in heraldry began to be drawn as the ships then in use:  with a bowsprit, multiple masts, and square sails, as in the illustration.  Such ships may be seen in the crest of Sir Francis Drake, 1581, and the arms of the East India Merchants, 1600 [Woodcock & Robinson 84, 41].  These ships were blazoned simply as “ships” or “shippes”, and increasingly, they are so blazoned in the Society as well.  Society armory also has examples of more specific types of late-period ships:  e.g., the “caravel”, the “carrack”, and the “galleon”.  These types of ships have been drawn with triangular (lateen) sails, in addition to the square sails; they have not always been accurately depicted.  But in any case, they are indistinguishable for heraldic purposes.

Ark (Period)

Ark (Period)

Coracle (Accepted)

Coracle (Accepted)

In Society heraldry, the next most common ship is the “drakkar”, or Viking dragonship:  with the prow carved in a monstrous head (usually a dragon’s), a square sail, and the ship’s side lined with targes.  Ships decorated with dragon’s heads appear to have been used in period armory, in the arms of the Kings of Orkney, temp. Edward II [ANA2 548].  Matthew Paris, c.1245, attributes similar vessels to the arms of the King of Norway, as does Randall Holme’s Roll c.1460 [RH]; but we have no direct evidence that they were truly drakkars, or that the arms were actually in use.  The drakkar is also blazoned a “Viking longship”; it’s not enough to say simply “longship”, as Norman and Phoenician longships are also found in Society armory.

Dhow (probable SFPP)

Dhow (probable SFPP)

Gondola (Accepted)

Gondola (Accepted)

The “rowboat” is a simpler craft, a shallow boat without mast, sails, or rudder, but with prominent oars surmounting it. The oars may be drawn as held in oarlocks; their number should be specified in the blazon. The rowboat is a period charge, found as early as c.1340, in the arms of Oberreiden [Zurich 284].

 

 

 

Knorr (Accepted)

Knorr (Accepted)

Trireme (Accepted)

Trireme (Accepted)

Of the other, more unusual ships in Society heraldry, there is found the “ark”, a mastless vessel with a barn-like shape amidships, as seen in the crest of the Mistery of Shipwrights of England, 1606 [Bromley & Child 221]; the “coracle” or “curragh”, a small round boat made from hides stretched over a wicker frame; the “dhow”, a small Oriental ship with a triangular sail; the “gondola”, the famous traffic boat of Venice, here taken from the album amicorum (autograph book) of Gerard van Hacfort and Poppe van Feytsma, c.1570; the “knorr”, a small single-sailed boat with its rudder on the side; the “trireme”, an ancient warship named for its three rows of oars; and the “wa’a”, a Polynesian outrigger canoe with a single sail.

Wa'a outrigger (probable Disallowed)

Wa’a outrigger (probable Disallowed)

The Baron of the Western Seas bears:  Or, a wa’a outrigger, sail to dexter sable, within a laurel wreath vert within a bordure engrailed azure.

Lüthard von Calebergh bears:  Azure, three lymphads, oars shipped, argent.

Bjornulf of Thorshafn bears:  Argent, a knorr proper, sails furled vert, within a bordure azure.

Medraut Beorhtwig bears:  Ermine, three drakkars in pale gules.

Royce Kensington bears:  Sable, three carracks and a bordure embattled argent.

Ciaran Cluana Ferta bears:  Or, a curragh proper sailed and tillered gules, in chief two Celtic crosses sable.

Burrell de Gillson bears:  Azure, in chief two dolphins embowed and in base a hulk dismasted all Or.

Alexandria de Bois d’Arc bears:  Purpure, an ark and a chief invected argent.

Maurice de Granada bears:  Or, a dhow, sail set and sinister facing vert within a bordure vert bezanty.

Asa of the Wood bears as a badge:  Azure, a gondola Or within an orle of plates.

Thomas Wright of Lancaster bears:  Argent, in bend three triremes reversed azure and a chief wavy azure semy-de-lys argent.

Walborg Liucoin bears: Sable, a seven-oared rowboat, in base a bar wavy and on a chief Or three mullets sable.

This entry was posted on June 3, 2014, in .

Pot; Cauldron

Fleshpot, or posnet (Period)

Fleshpot, or posnet (Period)

Cauldron (Period)

Cauldron (Period)

A pot is a round vessel, usually of metal, intended to hold food.  In medieval armory, the default form of pot is two-handled and three-legged; it is more fully called a “fleshpot” or (in the Randall Holme roll, c.1460) a “posnet”.  This form is found as early as c.1370, in the arms of von Spanheim [Gelre 44].

Another common form of pot was the “cauldron”:  more spherical in shape, with a bail handle, which may be called its defining trait.  The cauldron is hung over the fire by its handle to cook food; it’s sometimes called a “cooking pot” for that reason.  The cauldron is a period charge, found as early as c.1340 in the arms of Diessenhofen [Zurich 153].  In Society armory, it is sometimes drawn with a fire beneath it, or hanging from a tripod:  the arms of Larrea, mid-16th C., show a cauldron so suspended [Armeria 358].

Spouted pot (Period)

Spouted pot (Period)

Three-footed pot (Accepted)

Three-footed pot (Accepted)

There is also the “spouted pot”, called a pot à verser in French, used for storing and pouring liquid.  It’s found in the canting arms (German Weinkanne) of Schilling von Cannstatt, c.1450 [Scheibler 131; also Siebmacher 112].  The default form is with a single spout, facing dexter; two-spouted pots are also found, in the arms of von Stedenberg or Stettenberger, c.1450 [Ingeram 158, 269; also Siebmacher 104].  (The same French term, pot à verser, is also used for a slightly different pouring vessel, made of earthenware rather than metal.  This variant, blazoned in German as a Weinkrug, is found in the arms of von Prackbach, 1605 [Siebmacher 93].)

Pipkin (Accepted)

Pipkin (Accepted)

Kettle (Accepted)

Kettle (Accepted)

Of the various pots unique to Society armory, we find the “three-legged pot”, like the cauldron but three-footed and without a handle; the “pipkin”, a ceramic cooking vessel with three feet and a long handle, dating to the 15th Century; and the “kettle”, a metal cookery pot, not spherical like the cauldron, but wider than it is deep, with a lifting handle on both sides.  No difference is granted the various types of cookery pots.

There is also the “clay pot”, not metal but pottery:  a flat-bottomed, wide-mouthed crock (much like a modern flower-pot).

Clay pot (Accepted)

Clay pot (Accepted)

For related charges, see amphora, caldera gringolada, frying pan, ink bottle (ink pot), pitcher, vase (urn).  See also cat (in its curiosity).

Aubrey Ericsdatter bears:  Sable, three cauldrons Or.

Agnes Berengarii de Gerona bears:  Vert, five cauldrons in saltire Or.

Brekke Franksdottir bears:  Sable, a cooking pot hanging from a tripod above a base in flame argent.

Roberto Valason bears:  Argent, a peacock in its pride azure gorged of a pearled coronet argent between two barrulets between two spouted pots reversed vert.

William Taylor the Pure bears:  Per pale purpure and vert, a bear’s leg palewise issuant from base Or, maintaining a clay pot argent.

Claire le Potter bears:  Per bend sinister gules and azure, a kettle argent and a bordure Or.

Dametta of Arundel bears:  Per pale purpure and sable, a gryphon segreant maintaining a chalice, on a chief argent three posnets per pale purpure and sable.

Parlane of Glenord bears:  Pean, on a three-legged pot argent two dolphins haurient respectant sable.

Mons von Goarshausen bears as a badge:  Issuant from a pipkin sable a flame gules.

This entry was posted on May 27, 2014, in .

Horse; Ass

Horse rampant (Period)

Horse rampant (Period)

The horse is a large, strong equine beast used for riding, drawing loads, and other burdens.  As the chivalry’s special beast, it was considered among the noblest of animals; it was also the medieval archetype of virility and passion.  The horse is an ancient charge, found (bridled and saddled) in the arms of an early King of Norway, c.1275 [ANA2 57].

The default horse is the stallion, the adult male.  Period armory includes examples of the young horse, blazoned a “colt” or “foal” (the latter in the arms of Falyngbrome, 1465 [DBA1 204]).  Society armory includes the female horse, or “mare”.  No difference is granted for these distinctions.

The horse is sometimes blazoned “forceny”, literally “enraged”:  the term denotes a posture halfway between rampant and salient.  Since the posture is too easily confused with rampant and salient, and since the term seems to have been first used in the 18th Century, “forceny” currently is not used in Society blazons.  (Some of the Society’s early blazons use the term.)  There doesn’t seem to be a default posture for the horse; the illustration shows a horse rampant.

Horses may be shown bearing a rider, as in the arms of Lithuania, c.1413 [Conz.Const. cxlix]; saddled; bridled; or “caparisoned”, i.e., wearing barding and fully equipped.  These circumstances must be blazoned.

Ass statant (Period)

Ass statant (Period)

Similar to the horse is the “ass” or “jackass”, found in the arms of Riethiem, 1605 [Siebmacher 30].  Society blazons have also used the modern term “donkey” for this beast.  Like the horse, the ass doesn’t seem to have a default posture; the illustration shows an ass statant.

Society armory also has examples of the “mule”, a hybrid of the horse and ass, and the “onager” or Asian wild ass; these are heraldically indistinguishable from the ass, but no explicit examples have been found in period armory.

Instances are found in Society armory of the “Trojan horse”, a horse statant upon a wheeled platform; and of the “eight-legged horse”, a monster representing Odin’s horse Sleipnir.  The latter is not encouraged for Society use, because of the visual confusion from its limbs.

For related charges, see centaur, pegasus, sea-horse, unicorn.  See also hobbyhorse.

The Order of the Cheval d’Or, of Artemisia, bears:  A horse courant contourny Or.

The College of Scola Metallorum bears:  Azure, a donkey rampant contourny argent within a laurel wreath Or.

Anne Pomeroy of Woodswell bears:  Countervair, a mare courant reguardant Or.

Elena Catalina Santangelo y Fernandez bears:  Purpure, three horses rampant argent.

Fionnghuala Gliobach Mael Ailbe bears:  Gules, a horse passant contourny with a maintained female rider Or.

Troy of Nodham Whyre bears:  Purpure, a Trojan horse between three decrescents argent.

Halla Brandsdottir bears:  Or, an eight-legged horse passant contourny within a bordure sable charged with dolphins naiant argent.

This entry was posted on February 11, 2014, in .

Fish

Fish naiant (Period)

Fish naiant (Period)

The term “fish”, as used in heraldry, refers to any marine creature not a monster.  The category includes the generic “fish”, which is drawn more or less like a trout, and which will conflict with all other types of fish.  More frequent in period heraldry are specific types of fish, such as the herring, the hake, the roach, and the salmon.  The distinctions between these specific types were often blurred: the exact type of fish was frequently chosen for a cant, as in the arms of Herring, Hake, de la Roche, and the Grafs von Salmen, respectively.

Also included in this category are the cetaceans, e.g., the porpoise or natural dolphin, the orca or killer whale, the narwhal, and the natural whale; though now known to be mammals, they are considered fish for heraldic purposes.

Finally, there are the crustaceans, e.g., the crab, the lobster, and the prawn.  These too are classed as fish in heraldry.  Unlike most other fish, however, crustaceans are tergiant by default.

As may be seen, given the wide variety of types of fish found in period armory, any fish known to period Europeans may be used in Society armory – though, if the fish is not itself European, its use is considered a step from period practice.  (An exception would be made for non-European fish actually used in period European armory, but no examples have been adduced.)  The examples of fish peculiar to Society armory include the North American “catfish”, the “swordfish”, and the “zydrach” – the latter being a period term for the hammerhead shark.

Salmon haurient (Period); chabot tergiant (Period)

Salmon haurient (Period); chabot tergiant (Period)

Three fish fretted in triangle (Period)

Three fish fretted in triangle (Period)

Fish are in general naiant by default.  Other fish postures include “haurient” (head to chief) and “uriant” or “urinant” (head to base); the word “embowed” might be added to any of these, although it is usually unnecessary.  Fish “fretted in triangle” are arranged as illustrated; the usage is described in Guillim, 1610 [170].  Non-crustacean fish tergiant are considered a step from period practice; an exception is made for flat fish such as the chabot, in the arms of Cabos or Cabot, c.1400 [Wapenboek Beyeren, fol.25v], where tergiant is their default posture.

In other respects, the fish of Society armory follow the same conventions as those of mundane armory.  The illustration shows a salmon haurient and a chabot (tergiant).  For specific entries, see:  barbel, calamarie, crab, dolphin, eel, lucy, sea-horse (natural), whale.

The Baron of Jararvellir bears:  Azure, on a fess between two catfish counternaiant Or, a laurel wreath vert.

The Shire of Frozen Mountain bears as a badge:  Three fish fretted in triangle gules.

Margery Colvere bears:  Azure, in pale two trout argent.

Ian O Kennavain bears:  Vert, a sturgeon in annulo Or.

Sean of Elmhurst bears:  Per bend azure and sable, a shark naiant to sinister argent.

Marina Jensdatter bears:  Gules, a salmon embowed within a bordure Or.

Jarvis of Hakesleah bears:  Purpure, three hakes haurient Or.

Brian of Stonemarche bears:  Argent, a chevron inverted sable between a chabot gules and two chabots azure.

This entry was posted on January 28, 2014, in .

Cup; Beaker

Cup (Period)

Cup (Period)

A cup is a drinking vessel, consisting of a bowl atop a stem and base.  It may also be termed a “chalice” or “goblet”, especially if ornamented or jewelled; such details are considered artistic license.  The cup is an ancient charge, found in the arms of de Argentine c.1244 [Asp2 216].

 

 

 

 

 

Covered cup (British) (Period)

Covered cup (British) (Period)

Covered cup (Continental) (Period)

Covered cup (Continental) (Period)

In Society armory, the cup is usually shown with open mouth; this matches examples from period Italian heraldry, such as the arms of de Bonfilliis, mid-15th C. [Triv 64].  In most other period armory, the cup is normally covered:  with a domed lid in English armory, with stiffened cloth in Iberian and German armory.  Such covers seem to have counted for little if any heraldic difference; they are nonetheless blazoned in Society armory.  The mouth of the cup is to chief by default.

 

 

 

Beaker (Period)

Beaker (Period)

Prunted beaker (Period)

Prunted beaker (Period)

Related to the cup is the “beaker”, a basically cylindrical shape (slightly tapering) without stem or base.  It too is a period charge, found in the canting arms (Italian bicchiere) of di Bizeriis, mid-15th C. [Triv 65].  A slightly modified form was found in the canting arms of Escher vom Glas, 1605 [Siebmacher 199]; this form shows a beaker “prunted” in the typical German mode.

 

 

 

Mazer (Accepted)

Mazer (Accepted)

Other drinking vessels found in Society armory include the “mazer”, a festive drinking bowl traditionally made from maple wood.  It is usually shown footed and decorated.

For related charges, see bowl, pitcher, saltcellar, tankard.  See also cupping-glass, mortar and pestle.

The Baron of Rising Waters bears:  Gyronny arrondi gules and argent, a goblet Or within a laurel wreath vert.

Snorri Styrr Bolli bears:  Gules, a chalice argent.

Armand de Mortain bears:  Per pale azure and sable, three cups Or.

Kolfinna Thorgrimsdottir bears:  Argent, a covered cup and a gore purpure.

Elen Greenhand bears:  Or, a mazer sable grasped by a pair of hands fesswise vert, within an orle of acorns proper.

Brangwain nic Stiubhard bears as a badge:  On a beaker azure a dolphin hauriant Or.

This entry was posted on January 12, 2014, in .

Cross: Ukrainian sun

Ukrainian sun-cross (Disallowed)

Ukrainian sun-cross (Disallowed)

The “Ukrainian sun cross” is a motif from Russian art; however, pending evidence of its use in medieval armory, it’s been disallowed from further Society use.

Vassillissa Koshkovna Nakhodchivaya bears:  Gules, a dolphin naiant contourny inverted embowed to base argent, maintaining in its mouth a leek vert, on a chief triangular argent a Ukrainian sun-cross gules.

This entry was posted on January 10, 2014, in .