Search Results for: eagle

Eagle

Eagle (Period)

Eagle (Period)

The eagle is the monarch of the birds, the medieval symbol of majesty and vision (literally and figuratively).  It is thus a frequent charge in medieval armory, dating from the earliest heraldic records, as in the arms of the Kingdom of Germany, c.1244 [ANA2 193].  More than any other bird of heraldry, it is drawn in a highly stylized manner:  with a crest, ruffled feathers, and ornate wings and tail.  German emblazons may add klee-stengeln, wing-bones, and they are sometimes explicitly blazoned; they are considered artistic details.

The eagle is displayed by default; however, the form of display may differ according to time and place.  In later-period England, eagles displayed held their wings with their tips up; while in early Germany, eagles displayed had the wingtips down, in the posture called “displayed inverted” in English.  As the distinction is mostly one of emblazonry, it is granted no heraldic difference, and indeed is usually left unblazoned.

A variant of the eagle is the “alerion” or “allerion”, a beakless, footless eagle found in the arms of the Duchy of Lorraine; this form had been recognized as a variant by the end of our period [de Bara 213].  It may only be shown displayed.

Double-headed eagles are also found, most famously in the arms of the Holy Roman Emperor c.1220 [Asp2 34], but also in lesser armory such as Bluet, c.1282 [ANA2 196].  (As the Imperial eagle was shown through history with either one or two heads, no difference is granted for the number of heads.)  Triple-headed eagles are not permitted, by Society precedent.  For related charges, see falcon, phoenix, roc, vulture.

The Award of the Alerion, of the Barony of Lochmere, bears:  Per fess engrailed azure and argent, an alerion counterchanged.

Al Altan bears:  Or, three eagles gules.

John Aquila of Eaglesdown bears:  Purpure, an eagle close to sinister Or.

Andrei de Sevastopol bears:  Gyronny argent and gules, a double-headed eagle displayed sable.

This entry was posted on January 16, 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 .

Winged charges

Winged tower (Period)

Winged tower (Period)

Occasionally, inanimate charges may be shown with a pair of wings attached.  Period examples include the winged column in the arms of von Oberndorff, c.1560 [BSB Cod.Icon 390:772]; the winged mount of six hillocks, in the arms of Lugarini, c.1550 [BSB Cod.Icon 278:423]; and the winged arrow in the arms of Zinngall or Zingel, c.1600 [BSB Cod.Icon 307:536].  By default, the wings will be eagle’s wings displayed, of comparable size to the charge.  The wings are attached to the charge on its dexter and sinister sides; the exception seems to be for winged shoes, feet, &c, where the wings are addorsed and attached near the heel.  The illustration shows a winged tower, as in the arms of Baldovini, c.1550 [BSB Cod.Icon 274:339].  See also winged monsters.

Uther vom Schwartzwald bears:  Sable, a winged chalice Or.

Denys Calais bears:  Gules, a key Or winged argent.

Bronwyn Schutelisworth bears:  Or, a weaver’s shuttle palewise vert winged sable.

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

Wing

Wing (Period)

Wing (Period)

Wings are those limbs of a flying creature that provide the lifting force.  Those of birds are feathered, those of bats membranous; the feathered wing is the default type, to be used unless otherwise specified.  All wings are displayed by default.
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A wing may be used as a single charge; this usage dates from c.1295, in the English arms of Peek [ANA2 556].  Both dexter wings and sinister wings are found in period armory.  The mundane default has varied between countries and times; the Society default is the dexter wing. 
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Wing terminating in a hand, sustaining a sword fesswise reversed (Period)

Wing terminating in a hand, sustaining a sword fesswise reversed (Period)

Issuant from a sinister wing, a hand maintaining a sword (Period)

Issuant from a sinister wing, a hand maintaining a sword (Period)

In German heraldry, the single wing may “terminate in a hand” (often maintaining a sword, as in the illustration), with the hand opposite the wing’s severed end; it’s found in the arms of the Dukes of Calabria, 1413 [Conz.Const. xcviii].  This is distinguished in blazon from a hand or claw “issuant from a wing”, where the hand issues from the wing’s severed end; it’s found in the arms of the Marquis de Vilena, c.1370 [Gelre 62v].  (There is also an example of a wing terminating in an eagle’s head, in the arms of von Ernberg, 1605 [Siebmacher 103].)  These variations are always blazoned.
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Vol, or pair of wings conjoined (Period)

Vol, or pair of wings conjoined (Period)

Pair of wings conjoined in lure (Period)

Pair of wings conjoined in lure (Period)

Wings are also found in pairs, with a dexter and a sinister wing, frequently conjoined.  (The difference is subtly blazoned:  two separate, dexter wings would be blazoned “two wings”, while a dexter wing and a sinister wing would be “a pair of wings”.)  This usage dates from c.1285, in the arms of Derneford [ANA2 555].

A pair of wings may be conjoined: this was considered artist’s license, as the same arms could be drawn either with the wings conjoined or separate. A pair of wings displayed and conjoined may also be blazoned a “vol”, the French term for the motif; this is seen in the arms of von Hohenfels, 1606 [Siebmacher 140]. If the conjoined wings are displayed with tips inverted, they are known as “wings conjoined in lure”, as in the arms of Jane Seymour, d.1537 [Woodcock & Robinson pl.19].

Finally, of Society-unique charges, we find the “set of seraph’s wings”:  six wings conjoined, arranged as if attached to a seraph.

Bat’s wings are much less common in medieval armory than bird’s wings:  Your Author knows but a single example, the badge of Daubeney, Earl of Bridgewater, d.1548 [HB 81].  For related charges, see lure.

The Baron of the Angels bears as a badge:  A set of seraph’s wings Or.

The College of Cathanar bears:  Vert, a sinister hawk’s wing argent and in canton a laurel wreath Or.

Matill of Windkeep bears:  Purpure, three sinister wings argent.

Brioc Morcannuc bears:  Azure, a vol Or.

Herman Mandel bears:  Barry and per pale sable and Or, a wing terminating in a hand maintaining a sword all within a bordure gules.

Etienne Michel de Calais bears:  Argent, in pale three pairs of bat-wings conjoined gules.

Gustavus von Goslar bears:  Or, an eagle’s dexter wing terminating in an eagle’s head sinister facing sable, a chief rayonny gules.

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

Vulture

Vulture (Period)

Vulture (Period)

The vulture is a carrion-eating bird, whose medieval reputation was for greediness and gluttony.  It’s characterized by the lack of feathers on its face.  The vulture was also called a “gripe” in period blazon [Bossewell II.118].  It’s a period charge, found in the canting arms (German Geier) of Geyer von Osterberg, 1605 [Siebmacher 34].  The vulture is close by default.

The vulture should be drawn as the European form of the bird, and not as the buzzard of the New World.  The latter is deemed a step from period practice.  For related charges, see eagle.

Serlo of Litchfield bears:  Gyronny gules and Or, a vulture close sable.

Edvard Gayer bears:  Argent, two vultures rising respectant, wings inverted and addorsed, a chief engrailed sable.

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

Snaffle-bit

Snaffle-bit (Period)

Snaffle-bit (Period)

A snaffle-bit is the part of the bridle which goes into the horse’s mouth; the rider controls the horse through direct pressure, without leverage.  It’s a period charge, found in the arms of von Wierrant, 1605 [Siebmacher 40], and of Kasattel, mid-16th C. [BSB Cod.Icon 392d:542; cf. Parker 63].  It’s sometimes blazoned, a bit redundantly, as a “riding snaffle-bit”.  The snaffle-bit is fesswise by default.

Period forms of the snaffle-bit have a bar or curb at either end, to keep it from slipping from the horse’s mouth; and a ring, to attach the reins.  While a snaffle-bit could be a solid bar, by far its most usual form is jointed in the center (as in the illustration); it is thus usually blazoned a “broken snaffle-bit” in the Society.  (“Broken” here refers to the joint; it doesn’t mean the bit is fracted.)  Society armory often emphasizes the joint by arranging the snaffle-bit in chevron.

There’s one Society example of a “double-strand snaffle-bit”, which is simply a broken snaffle-bit whose central part is made from two braided wires rather than a solid metal bar.

For related charges, see bridle.

Shishido Tora bears:  Per bend sinister gules and sable, a snaffle-bit Or and an eagle argent.

Elizabeth de la Vigne bears:  Vert, a broken snaffle-bit chevronwise argent and in base a sun Or.

Alail Horsefriend bears as a badge:  A double-strand snaffle-bit fesswise.

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

Roc

Roc volant, wings addorsed, maintaining an elephant (Accepted)

Roc volant, wings addorsed, maintaining an elephant (Accepted)

The roc, or rukh, is an immense bird from Persian legend.  Tales gave its home to be Madagascar; Marco Polo, in his Travels (III:33) describes the giant roc feather presented to the Great Khan, which modern writers guess was an exotic palm frond [EB XXIII:424].  The roc’s heraldic use appears to be unique to the Society, where it’s drawn essentially as an eagle; it is frequently depicted with an elephant in its talons, to show how large it is.  The term is used mostly for canting purposes.  The illustration shows a roc volant, wings addorsed.  See also simurgh.

Justin du Roc bears:  Per bend sinister azure and counter-ermine, in dexter chief an Arabian roc volant to sinister, wings addorsed argent, maintaining in its talons an elephant proper.

Roque Cartelle de Leon bears:  Per chevron gules and sable, two lion’s heads cabossed and a roc rising, wings displayed and inverted, bearing in its sinister talon an elephant, all argent.

This entry was posted on June 2, 2014, in .

Pole-arm

Berdiche (Period); billhook (Period)

Berdiche (Period); billhook (Period)

Halberd (Period); pole-axe (Period)

Halberd (Period); pole-axe (Period)

This class of weapon is characterized by the long shaft by which damage may be inflicted at a safer distance.  Usually a sharp implement is attached to the pole’s end, and it is by this head (to chief by default) that most pole-weapons are identified.

Examples of pole-arms found in period armory include the “berdiche”, whose backswept blade is fastened to the haft at its center and bottom points, found in the arms of Kürnburg, 1548 (Vigil Raber’s Armorial of the Arlberg Brotherhood of St. Christopher, fo.48); the “billhook”, a spear with a hooked blade, found in the canting arms (Italian roncola) of Roncha or Runche, c.1555 [BSB Cod.Icon 275:119 and 276:205]; the “halberd”, with an upswept blade, and a spike on the end of the haft, as in the arms of von Griffenstein, c.1515 [BSB Cod.Icon 308:391; also von Schella, 1605, Siebmacher 43]; and the “pole-axe”, with a standard battle-axe head and a long haft, as in the canting arms of Mordaxt, 1548 (Vigil Raber’s Armorial of the Arlberg Brotherhood of St. Christopher, fo.133).  Strictly speaking, any axe on a long pole is a “pole-axe”: the pole-axes in the arms of the Worshipful Company of Butchers, granted 1540, have been depicted both as battle-axes and as nondescript “chopping” axes [Bromley & Child 34].

Bec de corbin (Accepted); corsica (Accepted); fauchard (Accepted)

Bec de corbin (Accepted); corsica (Accepted); fauchard (Accepted)

Glaive (Accepted); naginata (probable SFPP); partisan (Accepted)

Glaive (Accepted); naginata (probable SFPP); partisan (Accepted)

Other pole-arms, used as weapons and accepted for Society armory, include the “bec de corbin”, a long-handled war-hammer c.1400, with a curved point like a raven’s beak, from which it takes its name [Stone 109]; the “corsica” or “corsèque”, 15th and 16th C., with broad, branched blades joined to the main blade [Stone 374, s.v. korseke]; the “fauchard”, 16th C., with a falchion-shaped blade [Stone 226]; the “glaive”, 12th and 13th C., whose single-edged blade has a backwards-curving tip [Stone 248]; the “naginata”, a Japanese spear with a back-curving blade [Stone 463]; the “partizan” or “partisan”, 16th C., a double-edged spear with short, hooked blades at the base of the head, very like a corsica [Stone 484]; the “war-scythe”, 16th C., essentially a scythe blade mounted on a long, straight shaft [Stone 545]; and the “Swiss voulge” or “vouge”, 14th C., favored by the infantry of that tiny nation [Stone 654].

War-scythe (Accepted); Swiss voulge (Accepted)

War-scythe (Accepted); Swiss voulge (Accepted)

For related charges, see hammer, mancatcher, spear, trident.

The Baron of Bjornsborg bears: Azure, two bears rampant addorsed regardant argent, each sustaining a berdiche proper, in base a laurel wreath Or.

Andrew Mariner bears: Argent, two billhooks addorsed in saltire sable, a chief doubly enarched vert.

Shandon Yar Mohamed Gehazi Memo Hazara Khan-ad-Din bears: Per bend sinister raguly sable and Or, a sun of six greater and six lesser points and a naginata bendwise sinster counterchanged.

Christopher of Eoforwic bears: Per pale Or and sable, three glaives fesswise in pale, blades to chief, the first and third reversed, between two goblets in bend counterchanged.

Lucas Otto Gustav Oswald Stefan bears: Checky vert and argent, a partisan bendwise surmounted by a snail shell reversed Or.

Aldwin Yale of York bears as a badge: Per bend sinister sable and Or, a compass star and a corsica bendwise sinister counterchanged, within a bordure embattled gules.

Charles Greenlimb bears: Per bend embattled gules and azure, two war-scythe heads bendwise, issuant from chief the point to sinister and issuant from dexter the point in base, argent.

Johannes Kaspar Zurfluh bears: Per fess embattled argent and gules, an eagle displayed and a Swiss voulge bendwise sinister reversed counterchanged.

Alexia of Thessalonica bears:  Per bend Or and purpure, a bec de corbin bendwise vert and a whelk bendwise Or.

This entry was posted on May 24, 2014, in .

Phoenix

Phoenix (Period)

Phoenix (Period)

The phoenix is a monster from Greek myth which, after living alone in the desert for half a millennium, consumed itself in fire and rose again from the ashes.  It is shown as a demi-bird issuant from flames.  Medieval emblazons always gave it a prominent crest atop its head, as in the illustration (taken from the standard of Ralph Verney of Pendeley, c.1510 [Walden 138; cf. Bromley & Child 184]); modern emblazons often show it as simply a demi-eagle.

The phoenix is displayed by default:  even when blazoned “rising from flames”, as it often is, its posture is displayed, not the heraldic posture of rising.  The flames need not be blazoned (unless their tincture must be distinguished); without flames, the monster wouldn’t be a phoenix.  See also firebird.

The Baron of the Sacred Stone bears:  Vert, a double-headed phoenix and in chief a laurel wreath argent.

Sarah Davies of Monmouth bears:  Or, three phoenixes sable.

Eiríkr Mjoksiglandi Sigurðarson bears:  Per chevron gules and Or, three phoenixes counterchanged.

This entry was posted on May 23, 2014, in .

Pegasus

Pegasus segreant (Period)

Pegasus segreant (Period)

The pegasus is a winged monster, a horse with an eagle’s wings grafted to its shoulders.  Its association with the Muses of Greek myth makes it a popular charge with poets.  As an heraldic charge, it dates from at least 1544, in the arms of Cavalere or Cavalier [Dennys 157].

The pegasus does not seem to have a default posture, so the posture must be blazoned.  By Society rulings, a rampant pegasus (as shown in the illustration) may also be blazoned “segreant”, like the dragon, griffin, and other four-legged monsters with wings.  For related charges, see horse.

Frideger Leopo Sturmreiter bears:  Argent, two pegasi combattant azure.

Wentliana Bengrek bears:  Purpure, three pegasi rampant to sinister argent.

Aislynn Haldana Cadell bears:  Or, a pegasus segreant vert.

This entry was posted on May 23, 2014, in .