Sole

Shoe sole (Period)

Sole of a human foot (Accepted)

The sole is the underlying part of a foot or shoe, that portion touching the ground. The type of sole found in period armory is the shoe sole, which has its toe to chief by default; it’s found in the canting arms (dial. Italian söra) of de Sori, mid-15^th C. [Triv 325], and illustrated in Bossewell, 1572 [III.17].

In Society armory, we find an example of the sole of a human foot. While this charge is found in mundane armory in the arms of Voet [Woodward 207], it has not been dated to period. Like the shoe sole, the human foot sole has its toes to chief by default.

For related charges, see prints. See also leg, shoe.

Percival de la Rocque bears as a badge: A shoe sole per pale purpure and gules.

Mat of Forth Castle bears as a badge: The sole of a human foot vert.

Snowflake

Snowflake (Disallowed)

A snowflake is a single crystal of snow, feathery and six-pointed. Snowflakes were once registered in Society armory, but as they aren’t found in period armory, they are no longer permitted. See also escarbuncle.

The Baron of Nordskogen bears: Azure semy of snowflakes argent, in canton a laurel wreath Or.

Trista de Winter bears: Per pale sable and argent, in pale two snowflakes azure.

Snail

Snail (Period)

The snail is a slow-moving gastropod noted mainly for its shell. It is sometimes more fully blazoned a “house-snail” in period, as in the canting arms of Shelley, 1610 [Guillim1 154].

The snail faces dexter by default. As the snail has no limbs, one can hardly blazon it as “statant”, “passant”, or whatever.

Society armory also has examples of the “slug”, essentially a snail without its shell. It follows the same conventions as the snail.

Peridot of the Quaking Hand bears: Azure, a snail guardant argent.

Alana O’Keeve bears: Vert, three snails Or.

Justinian the Sluggard bears: Checky gules and argent, a slug guardant contourny sable.

Snaffle-bit

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-16^th 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.

Smoking pipe

Smoking pipe (Accepted); hookah (probable SFPP)

A smoking pipe is a tube with a bowl at one end, for smoking tobacco or other weeds. In Society heraldry, the standard smoking pipe is long-stemmed, made of clay; this form of pipe was manufactured in England as early as 1586 [EB XXI:633], but no examples are known of its use in period armory. (In Society armory, the same form has also been blazoned a “Saracen’s smoking pipe” or a “clay pipe”.) The smoking pipe is fesswise, bowl to dexter, by Society default

There’s also the “hookah” or “Turkish water-pipe”, where the fumes are filtered through water or wine. It has not been shown to be period, but it was used in Persia in the 17^th Century (though not for tobacco).

Lewis MacGregor bears: Gules, a hookah Or, on a chief wavy argent a winged cat couchant guardant proper.

Dulcinea de Yerba Buena bears: Per fess indented argent goutty purpure, and vert, overall two short-stemmed Saracen smoking pipes in saltire argent.

Morric Haast bears: Sable, a saltire Or between in pale an hourglass fesswise and a clay pipe fesswise and in fess two dragon’s heads erased argent.

Slip

Slip, or branch, with leaves (Period)

A slip is a stem of a plant, with leaves, fruit, and flowers attached. The term is often used in blazons such as “a rose, slipped and leaved”, or “an apple slipped”; in such cases the slip is subordinate in importance to the flower or fruit. However, slips may be used in their own right, as in the arms of Goldast, c.1340 [Zurich 441].

In general, a slip is blazoned a “sprig” to indicate a long stem, with many leaves and several blossoms or fruits; in that case, the flowers are subordinate to the slip. There is also the “branch”, denoting a woodier slip (typically from a tree) with fewer leaves, or none; the bare wood is clearly visible. Branches are found in the arms of Schönbühl, c.1340 [Zurich 294].

Linden branch twined on itself (Period)

Slips, sprigs and branches are palewise and couped by default. A specific depiction of slips and branches in period has them “twined on themselves”, or twisted about in a stylized, symmetric manner. This depiction is found in the arms of von Seckendorff or Säggendorff, c.1450 [Ingeram152]; the number of twists seems to have been artistic license.

For related charges, see broom, bush, leaf, tree, vine.

Lavendar of Lorne bears: Per bend sinister argent and azure, six sprigs of lavender in annulo counterchanged.

Melucine de Ronceverte bears: Vert, on a pale argent a greenbriar slip vert.

Alice of Kent bears: Vert, a sprig of elder bendwise sinister argent.

Enid de Bohun bears: Per bend sinister Or and vert, a hawthorne sprig gules.

Yorath of Delvingrim bears: Gules, in pale three oak branches fesswise leaved and fructed Or.

Alessandra de Messina bears: Per chevron gules and argent, three linden branches twined on themselves counterchanged.

Sling

Hand sling (Period)

Slingstaff bendwise (Period)

A sling is a cupped piece of leather tied to cords or thongs, and used as a hand catapult for throwing stones. The better known form may be more fully termed a “hand sling” (à la David and Goliath); the cup is to base and thongs to chief by default. If the sling’s projectile must be specified (e.g., of another tincture), the hand sling is termed “loaded”. The hand sling is found in de Bara’s Blason des Armoiries, 1581 [151], in the attributed arms of King David.

Period heraldry also has the “slingstaff”: essentially a hand sling fastened to a long pole, with a hook to hold the sling closed until released. This form is found in the arms of Curdon or Cawarden c.1520 [DBA1 9; cf. Parker 542]. See also weapons.

Morris Kendrick bears: Sable, a hand sling loaded argent.

Rikk Starhurler bears: Vert, in bend sinister a sinister hand couped inverted grasping a sling proper, therein a mullet of four points Or.

Sledge

Sledge (Period)

A sledge is a vehicle for traveling over snow or ice, consisting of a carriage set atop runners; it’s also called a “sleigh” in modern America. It’s a period charge, found in the canting arms (German Schlitten) of von Schlitsted, 1605 [Siebmacher 170]. The sledge faces to dexter by default.

Else vom Schnee bears: Azure, a sledge argent.

Slea, weaver’s

Weaver’s slea (Accepted)

A weaver’s slea (also spelled “slay”) is a frame strung with parallel wires, used on a loom to keep the warp threads separate; modern weavers call it the “reed”. The weaver’s slea is found in mundane heraldry, in the arms of the Weaver’s Company of Exeter [Parker 613], but has not yet been found in period heraldry. The weaver’s slea is fesswise by default; its “proper” tincture is brown with black wires.

Emelyn Gunnarsdóttir bears: Azure, six bees in annulo tails inward proper, on a chief embattled Or a weaver’s slea proper.

Medb ingen Dúngaile bears: Azure fretty argent, a weaver’s slea and a bordure Or.

Skull

Skull (Period)

A skull is the shell of bone found within a beast’s head; the default skull is a human skull, and is also called a “death’s head”, especially when drawn without the lower jaw. It’s found in the arms of Bolter, 1632 [Guillim2 161], but is more famous as the attributed arms of Death [Neubecker 222].

Period armory gives us a few examples of animal skulls, such as the “cow’s skull” in the canting arms of Capo di Vacca, c.1550 [BSB Cod.Icon 275:23]. Such animal skulls should have distinctive characteristics (e.g., horns) that permit them to be identified. Absent period evidence, they should not be depicted in profile.

Unique to Society armory is the “demon’s skull”, defined to be a human skull with horns (and optionally fangs); no difference is granted from a standard human skull.

All skulls are affronty (cabossed) by default. The field should not show through the eye and nasal cavities. For related charges, see head, skeleton.

Conrad Sturmere bears: Argent, three skulls sable.

Calam Stiùbhard bears: Per pale gules and argent, a death’s head counterchanged.

Bodo Rosti bears: Quarterly sable and gules, in bend sinister two jawless skulls argent.

Bjorn Rhys bears: Per bend sinister argent and sable, a stag’s skull caboshed sable.

Rhys ibn al-Makhdoom bears: Sable, a demon’s skull and on a chief argent three demon’s skulls gules.

Mistholme

heraldry, illumination, and random jottings

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