Mail

Mail shirt (Period)

Bend of mail (Disallowed)

Mail is a type of armor, consisting of myriad rings of metal woven into a form; it is sometimes redundantly (and erroneously) termed “chain mail”. Mail gauntlets, coifs, and shirts have been used in period heraldry – usually worn on a human, but sometimes charges in their own right, as in the mail shirt (illustrated) in the canting arms (from dial. Italian maja or maglia d’arme) of de Mayete, mid-15^th C. [Triv 235].

There have also been cases of ordinaries being drawn as mail: e.g., “a bend of mail”, showing the field through the rings. This had been justified by the period examples of ordinaries of chain; the practice has been discontinued, and is no longer registered in Society armory. (This should not be confused with ordinaries maily, which are solid charges bearing a field treatment.)

James of Penmore bears: Vair ancient, a sinister arm embowed, armored and gauntleted of chain mail sable, grasping a closed book gules.

Rhiannon Mor MacFhearghius bears: Gules, a bend sinister of chain mail between two Arabic lamps Or.

Mace

Spiked mace (Period); flanged mace (Period)

Morningstar (Accepted); civic mace (Accepted)

A mace is a heavy club-like weapon; the metal head is often spiked, knobbed, flanged or otherwise shaped to best penetrate armor. In heraldry, if a specific shape of head is desired, it must be blazoned: e.g., the “spiked mace”, or the “flanged mace”. The spiked mace seems the more common form in heraldry; in German armory, it dates to c.1340, in the arms of Wurmlingen [Zurich 439]. The flanged mace is found in the arms of di Veccii, mid-15^th C. [Triv 362].

The mace was also a symbol of secular authority in mundane heraldry. In this form, it is termed a “civic mace”, and is so highly decorative as to be unsuitable as a weapon.

Similar to the mace is the “morningstar” or “morgenstern”, which has a spiked mace’s head attached by a chain to a handle. None of these variants carry any heraldic difference. For related charges, see flail, hammer, staff.

The Constable of the West bears: Azure, a flanged mace Or.

Heather MacTeague bears: Quarterly sable and gules, four maces argent.

Regina Gunnvor Morningstar bears: Argent ermined gules, a morningstar bendwise sinister within a bordure sable.

Lyre

Lyre (Period)

Cithara (Accepted)

A lyre is a stringed musical instrument of the zither family, played by the ancient Greeks. It had a sound box, with two projecting arms joined by a yoke; strings were stretched from the sound box to the yoke. The use of the lyre was revived in the Renaissance, as a symbol of the classical arts; it was then drawn in a stylized manner (as in the illustration), unlike the actual artifact. The lyre was a period charge, granted as a crest to the Worshipful Company of Musicians in 1604 [Bromley & Child 180].

Similar to the lyre are the “cithara”, a larger and more solidly built variant, with five to eleven strings; and the “crwth” (plural “crythau”), a Welsh instrument of similar construction. The lyre, cithara and crwth all have the same default orientation: strings palewise, facing the viewer, and the soundbox to base. For related charges, see harp.

The East Kingdom Musician’s Guild bears: Azure, in fess a panpipe argent and a cithara Or within a bordure argent.

Boadicia Artemisia bears: Argent, a Greek lyre sable.

Fiore Pescara bears: Gules, three lyres Or.

Rhonwen Y Clermont o’r Mwntduog bears: Per fess indented argent and sable, five crythau three and two counterchanged gules and argent.

Lute

Lute (Period)

A lute is a stringed musical instrument, popular throughout Europe from the 13^th Century onward [Grove 15:334]. Its rounded back and angled pegbox distinguished it from the gittern and other stringed instruments; it had from four to six courses of strings, depending on period, and was played with a plectrum. The lute was not a common charge in period, but an example is found in the canting arms of the Seigneur de Lusse, mid-16^th C. [GAC fo.404r]. The lute is affronty by Society default, with its pegbox to chief.

Variants of the lute include the “kobza” or Ukrainian lute, similar to a standard lute but with a very short neck; and the “mandolin”, which was developed post-period, and is no longer permitted.

Duncan of Bannockburn bears: Azure, three lutes bendwise sinister Or.

Bryan McDonal O’Cathasaigh bears: Per pale sable and gules, two lutes argent.

Bogdan Kobza bears: Per chevron azure and argent, two Ukrainian trident heads Or and a kobza sable.

Lure

Hawk’s lure (Period)

A lure is a pair of bird’s wings tied together at the end of a cord; it’s swung on the cord, mimicking a flying bird, to recall a falcon in flight. It is more fully called a “hawk’s lure” for that reason. It’s a period charge, found in the allusive arms of Fauconer, 1385 [DBA2 386]. The lure’s cord is to chief by default.

A lure is not the same charge as a “vol”, “wings conjoined” or “wings conjoined in lure”, though they are similar.

The Royal University of Scirhavoc bears: Or, on a pale purpure three hawk’s lures Or.

Katerine del Val bears: Vert, in bend three hawk’s lures argent.

William Wildblood bears: Vert, a hawk’s lure argent, a bordure Or.

Lucy

Lucy haurient (Period)

The lucy is a long, aggressive fish, popular in medieval armory for its canting value (as in the arms of Lucy, c.1255) [ANA2 432]. It was also known as the “pike”, or the “gad” or “ged”, in each case for its canting value. The illustration shows a lucy haurient.

Margrete Knudtzdatter bears: Azure, two lucies haurient respectant Or and a ford proper.

Matti Turkulainen bears: Argent fretty sable, a pike naiant vert.

Ivar Hakonarson bears: Barry azure and argent, two pike haurient gules.

Lucet

Bone lucet (Accepted)

A lucet is a tool for making braided cord. There is evidently controversy over whether certain bone artifacts from the Viking era, such as those excavated from the Coppergate dig at York [Arthur MacGregor, “Anglo-Scandinavian Finds from Lloyds Bank”, The Archaeology of York vol.17, 1982], were actually used as lucets in period. Nonetheless, on the basis of those finds, the “bone lucet” (so blazoned to distinguish it from more modern forms) has been registered once in Society armory. The bone lucet is roughly rectangular, with two prongs at one end. It is defined in the following armory.

Freydis inn kyrra Alfarinsdottir bears: Sable fretty, on a pale Or a bone lucet gules.

Lozenge; Mascle; Rustre

Lozenge (Period)

Mascle (Period)

A lozenge is a rhomboid shape. It’s an ancient charge, dating from at least 1275, in the arms of Bautersem or Baunstersein [Asp2 220]. The lozenge is usually drawn with one axis longer than the other; that axis is palewise by default. It may also be found occasionally as a delf saltirewise. The exact proportions are determined by the composition of the armory, and are left to the artist’s license.

Rustre (Period)

Lozenge pometty (Period)

Variants of the lozenge include the “mascle”, a lozenge voided, found in the arms of the Earls of Winchester c.1285 [ANA2 485]; the “masculyn”, a mascle flory at the points, found in the arms of Henry Pay, d.1419 [DBA4 200]; the “rustre”, a lozenge pierced with a circular hole [de Bara 47]; the “lozenge pometty”, found in the arms of van der Vliet, c.1370 [Gelre 85]; and the “lozenge ployé”, the Society’s term for the “napkin” (buqja), found in the arms of Qasrauh b. ‘Abdallah, 1413 [Mayer 185].

Lozenge ployé, or Arabic napkin (Period)

Masculyn (Period)

A red mascle has been adopted as the symbol of the International Red Crystal: its use on argent backgrounds is not permitted in Society armory.

The lozenge is considered a shape upon which arms may be borne; thus, like the escutcheon, when used as a fieldless badge it must not itself be charged.

Some texts cite the fusil as a “skinnier” variant of the lozenge. This error was common until the last few decades, when thorough heraldic research disproved it. The medieval fusil was a segment of an indented ordinary: e.g., a “bend indented” and a “bend of fusils conjoined” were interchangeable blazons. The fusil had no existence outside that usage, and its dimensions were not necessarily skinny. By contrast, the lozenge was an independent charge like any other.

For related charges, see polygon. See also vêtu.

The Shire of Black Diamond bears: Or, a lozenge within a laurel wreath sable.

Mathild de Lilburne bears: Sable, three lozenges argent.

Teceangl Bach bears: Sable, seven mascles conjoined three, three and one argent.

Anna Malakina bears: Or, three rustres gules.

‘Ayisha bint Mujir bears: Argent, a fess and in base a goblet azure charged with a lozenge ployé argent.

Coryn of the Wode bears: Sable, a pine tree eradicated and on a chief Or three lozenges pometty gules.

Amabilia Thexton bears: Azure, a masculyn argent.

Lotus

Lotus blossom affronty (Accepted); lotus blossom in profile (Accepted)

The lotus is a cup-shaped flower, said to induce a dreamy languor and forgetfulness. The flower may be found in heraldry either affronty (top image) or in profile (bottom image), with neither being default; the exact orientation must thus be specified. No examples have been found in period armory; in modern armory, the lotus affronty is the badge of India [Guide 204].

Osman al-Koriesh ibn Kairos bears: Per pale sable and argent, a lotus blossom affronty within a bordure counterchanged.

Aletheia Isidora of Philae bears: Argent, a lotus affronty and a chief wavy azure.

Katja Dara bears: Per chevron vert and sable, a lotus flower in profile argent.

Loom weight

Loom weight (Accepted)

A loom weight is part of a vertical warp-weighted loom: the warp threads are tied to loom weights to maintain tension during weaving. The weights were most often of clay or terra cotta, standardized in size. Though period artifacts, loom weights as such are not found in medieval heraldry. The illustration is based on artifacts found in Suffolk, dating from the 7^th Century [Marta Hoffman, The Warp-Weighted Loom, 1964, p.313]. Note that, in Society armory, the loom weight should be drawn with a bit of yarn attached: without the yarn, it may be unidentifiable as a loom weight. See also annulet.

Barbara atte Dragon bears as a badge: A loom weight pendant from a hank of yarn argent.

Mistholme

heraldry, illumination, and random jottings

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