Furison

Furison (Period)

A furison is a fire steel, used with flint to strike sparks for starting fires. It is also blazoned a “ferris” in mundane heraldry. The furison is a period charge, found in the arms of Grassawer, c.1340 [Zurich 237]; but its most famous usage is as a badge of the Order of the Golden Fleece, c.1430. It is fesswise by default, with its flat edge (its “steel”) to base.

ffride wlffsdotter bears: Gules, three furisons and a bordure Or.

Evangeline Bajolet bears: Per fess vert and argent, three furisons counterchanged.

Eiríkr Hrafnkelsson bears: Sable, three furisons one and two argent.

Frying pan

Frying pan (Period)

A frying pan is a flat, shallow metal vessel on a long handle, used for cooking food over a fire; it may also be termed a “skillet”. It’s a period charge, found in the arms of von Scever or Schever, c.1370 [Gelre 109], and the canting arms [Italian padella] of dala Padela, mid-15^th C. [Triv 282]. The illustration is taken from Gelre. The frying pan is palewise, handle to base, by default. For related charges, see pot.

Æduin of Skye bears as a badge: A frying pan bendwise sable.

Musa-Æstriþ Þorvalðzdottir bears: Per bend sinister argent and azure, a frying pan palewise sable.

D’vorah bint Dā’ūd bears as a badge: A frying pan gules.

Fruit

Pear (Period)

The term “fruit”, as it is used in heraldry, denotes the seed-pod of most plants; the term is specially reserved for the edible portions of those plants. A full plant or tree shown bearing such fruit may be blazoned “fructed”.

Any fruit known to period Europeans may be used in Society armory – though, if the fruit is not itself European, its use is considered a step from period practice. (An exception would be made for non-European fruit actually used in period European armory, but no examples have been adduced.) Examples of fruit found in period armory include cherries, in the arms of Cheriton, c.1436 [Parker 104]; pears, in the arms of Perello, Visconte de Rodes, 1366 [Gelre 63]; peaches, in the badge of Pechey, d.1522 [Hope 191]; &c.

Cluster of ash keys (Accepted)

Hazelnut (Period)

In general, those fruits that hang from a stem – i.e., those that grow from a tree or a vine – are shown with stem to chief by Society default; while those that grow from the ground are shown with the stem to base by Society default. Thus apples, strawberries, bunches of grapes, pears, &c, have stems to chief, while artichokes, ears of wheat, &c, have stems to base. There are numerous exceptions, of course: one such is the “hazelnut” or “filbert”, with its stem to base, as found in the canting arms of Haseley or Hasley, 1431 [DBA3 417].

A few notable Society usages: “Ash keys” are the fruits of the ash tree; the illustration shows clusters of ash keys dependent from their branches. By Society convention, a “strawberry proper” is gules: its slipping and leaving, if any, is vert, and its seeds may be Or or sable at the artist’s discretion. The modern trapezoidal strawberry varietal is considered a step from period practice. A “chili pepper proper” is red with a green cap, by Society convention (and carries the step from period practice mentioned above).

The illustrations show a pear, a cluster of ash keys, and a hazelnut. For specific entries, see: acorn, apple, clove, garlic, grain, grapes, hops, leek, mushroom, pine cone, pomegranate, poppy boll, turnip. See also cornucopia, garb, slip.

Deborah the Dextrous bears: Argent, three artichokes vert.

Kathryn Perry bears: Azure, three pears Or.

Cecily Pykerynge bears: Or, three strawberries proper.

Anne of Threadneedle Street bears: Azure, a chevron erminois cotised engrailed on the outer edges argent between two leaved ash branches fesswise reversed, dependent from each a cluster of ash keys, and a domestic cat couchant Or.

Alice Gardener bears: Vert, six peapods Or.

Tomas de Luna bears: Or, a radish bendwise gules leaved vert and a bordure rayonny gules.

Wulfflæd of Hæselbroce bears: Azure, in pale two hazelnuts Or.

Frog

Frog (Period)

The frog is a four-legged amphibian, whose strong hindlegs make it a renowned jumper; it’s classed as a reptile by heralds. The frog is a period charge, found in the canting arms (Italian rana) of di Cagaranis, mid-15^th C. [Triv 103]. The category includes the heraldically indistinguishable “toad” (termed a crapawd in Randall Holmes’s Roll, c.1460): toads are found in the arms of Repley, c.1520 [DBA3 439].

Both frogs and toads are tergiant by default, as in the illustration. Frogs sejant are also found, in the canting arms of Frosch, 1605 [Siebmacher 210].

Ailís inghean uí Ruairc bears: Argent, three frogs vert.

Karl Ulfson bears: Argent, a frog sejant affronty azure.

Hieronymus de Hansworst bears: Sable, a frog salient to sinister argent.

Fretty

Fretty (Period)

Fretty is a set of bendlets, interlaced with as many bendlets sinister. It is considered a charge (or group of charges) in Society heraldry, though in some ways it acts as though it were a field treatment. Fretty fields are found from the earliest days of heraldry, in the arms of Maltravers c.1240 [Asp2 219]; fretty charges soon followed, as in the arms of Verney, 1304 [ANA2 384].

The medieval form of fretty field has three skinny laths along each diagonal; there should be roughly four lath-widths between laths. More laths would be used on a fretty charge, or if the field were itself charged. There are instances in period armory, such as the arms of Verdon, c.1310, of fretty fields “nailed”, i.e., with small roundels at the intersections of the laths [ANA2 456]; the distinction is blazonable but worth no heraldic difference. For related entries, see fret, grillage. See also net.

Iago ab Adam bears: Ermine fretty gules.

Giles of Nablus bears: Sable fretty engrailed Or.

Cecilia Blythe bears: Or fretty, a chief azure.

Timotheos Vlastaris bears: Azure fretty and crusilly clechy Or.

Fret

Fret (Period)

A fret is an ancient heraldic charge, consisting of a bend and a bend sinister, interlaced with a mascle. It is sometimes blazoned a “Harrington knot”, in the medieval arms of that family (and., when couped, as their badge as well). The fret evolved from the fretty field, when the edges of the field were misdrawn, around 1312; it was soon considered a charge in its own right, though still sometimes interchanged with fretty. For that reason, fretty and the fret are negligibly different in Society heraldry: “Sable, a fret Or” and “Sable fretty Or” are treated as the same design. For related charges, see knot.

The Baron of Altavia bears: Argent, a fret sable and on a chief vert a laurel wreath argent.

Brianna of Kilkenny bears: Gyronny argent and sable, a fret vert.

Martin Ragnarsson bears: Quarterly sable and argent, a fret counterchanged.

Fox

Fox courant (Period)

The fox is a canine beast with a narrow snout and bushy tail; its reputation is one of slyness and craft. It is found in the canting arms of Fuchs, c.1450 [Ingeram 149]. If blazoned a “vixen”, the female fox is intended.

The fox seems to have no default posture; the illustration shows a fox courant. Society heraldry defines a “fox proper” as red, with black “socks” and a white tip on the tail. For related charges, see dog, hyena, wolf.

Ciara Sinikettu bears: Or ermined vert, a fox courant azure.

Wakeline de Foxley bears: Per pale azure and gules, three foxes rampant Or.

Ynhared Dewines y Glyndu bears: Sable, a vixen rampant proper.

Fountain

Fountain (Period)

Natural fountain (Period)

A fountain is a spring of water. The term may refer to a stylized heraldic charge, or to a naturalistic structure. The unmodified term refers to an heraldic charge, found in the arms of Stourton, 1411 [DBA2 391], and defined as a “roundel barry wavy argent and azure”. When used in a blazon, it’s unnecessary to specify the fountain’s tinctures; as with bezants, the tinctures are part of the definition. If tinctures other than azure and argent are used, the whole must be explicitly blazoned: i.e., one does not blazon a “fountain vert and Or”, but rather a “roundel barry wavy vert and Or.”

When specified as “natural” or “of three tiers”, the term refers to a stonework edifice spouting water. It too is a period charge, found in the arms of de Fontana, mid-15^th C. [Triv 146], and of Newpruner, 1605 [Siebmacher 218]. The natural fountain doesn’t have defined tinctures, as the heraldic fountain does: they must be explicitly blazoned. For related charges, see roundel, well.

The Baron of Fontaine dans Sable bears: Argent, in pale a three-tiered fountain sable spouting azure and a laurel wreath vert.

Yseulte Trevelyn bears: Gules, three fountains.

Um Rashid Kathira bears: Or chapé ployé counter-ermine, a fountain.

Fork

Eating fork (Accepted)

Hayfork (Period)

A fork is an implement with two or more prongs at one end. There are several varieties of fork; while no type has been explicitly ruled to be the Society’s default, the “eating fork” seems to take that honor. The eating fork was used by diners in Italy in the 16^th Century, though its use doesn’t seem to have spread before the end of period (being adopted in England only in Stuart times) [Paston-Williams, The Art of Dining, pp.75, 170]. In period, the eating fork typically had only two tines, and this is the Society default; the number of tines is nonetheless often explicitly blazoned. Though a period artifact, we have no examples of its use as a period heraldic charge; the illustration is based on a drawing by Bartolomeo Scappi, 1570 [Thornton, The Italian Renaissance Interior, pl.88].

The “hayfork” (also called the “pitchfork” or “mowing fork”) is used as a farm tool. Period heraldic examples might have either two or three prongs: two-pronged hayforks are found in the canting arms (German Gabel, “fork”) of von Gabelthofen, 1605 [Siebmacher 86], while three-pronged hayforks are found in the canting arms (German Heu, “hay”) of Hawstorffer, mid-16^th C. [NW 58]. The illustration shows the three-pronged hayfork.

The heads of forks are also occasionally found as period charges. The “hayfork head” is found in the canting arms of von der Gabel, 1605 [Siebmacher 149].

All of these fork variants have their prongs to chief by default. For related charges, see eel-fork, handgun rest, mash rake, pall, streitgabelklinge, trident. See also spoon.

Uilleam Thorken Hardhans bears: Azure, three two-tined eating forks Or, on a chief argent three sets of three passion nails in pall inverted conjoined at their heads sable.

Cerdic Cenfrithes sunu bears as a badge: Gules, an eating fork bendwise sinister argent.

Andrew of the North Shore bears: Per fess raguly argent and vert, in saltire a wooden-handled spade and a two-pronged mowing fork sable, hafted proper.

Gregory of Devon bears: Gules, a hayfork erect within a bordure rayonny Or.

Foil

Quatrefoil (Period); cinquefoil (Period)

While the term “foil” means literally “leaf, lobe”, the term is used here to denote a class of generic flowers. They are not of any natural species, but are highly stylized heraldic charges: the petals are usually drawn rounded, with points at the ends.

The term “foil” is used as a root, with a prefix indicating the number of petals. Thus we have the “trefoil”, with three petals, the “quatrefoil” with four petals, the “cinquefoil” with five, &c. More than six petals (“sixfoil” or “sexfoil”) are uncommon; more than eight petals (“octofoil” or “double quatrefoil”) are not found.

In period armory, cinquefoils were the most common foil-type flower, found as early as c.1244 in the arms of de Umfraville [Asp2 219]. Early heralds made no distinction between cinquefoils and roses, considering both the blazons and emblazons interchangeable (as in the various cadet arms of the Darcy family through the 14^th Century). The cinquefoil is sometimes blazoned a “fraise”, or strawberry flower, especially for canting purposes.

Next in popularity were sixfoils, dating to 1255, and quatrefoils, dating to 1244. Trefoils, the most popular form in Society heraldry, first appear c.1254 in the arms of de Perie [Brault 280 and Brault2 28], but in period were not as common at first as the other foil-flowers.

Trefoil (Period); shamrock (Accepted)

The trefoil is the only foil-flower that is shown slipped by default; the others have no slips unless specifically blazoned. (Even the trefoil has the slip blazoned occasionally, though it’s the Society’s default. It’s also sometimes found double-slipped, which does have to be blazoned.) The trefoil is also the only foil-flower with a definite default orientation, with a petal to chief; period examples of cinquefoils, by comparison, may be drawn with a petal to chief, or a petal to base. Most foil-flowers follow the convention of the trefoil, and are drawn as in the illustrations, with a petal to chief.

A variant on the trefoil is the “shamrock”, the symbol of Ireland; its petals are heart-shaped and have no points. The distinction is purely artistic: no heraldic difference is granted between trefoils and shamrocks. A crowned shamrock, as the Royal badge of Ireland, is not registerable in the Society.

Similarly, the “four-leaved clover” is a Society variant on the quatrefoil, with heart-shaped petals; it is almost always shown with the petals in saltire, even when not so blazoned.

In the English system of cadency, the octofoil is the brisure of the ninth son. For related charges, see rose. See also leaf.

Bevin Fraser of Sterling bears: Vert, three fraises Or pierced vert, on a chief Or a rose gules, barbed and seeded proper.

Olwen of Buckland bears: Azure, a trefoil stalked argent.

Myles of the Shamrock bears: Argent, a shamrock vert.

Elspeth de Stervlen bears: Purpure, six cinquefoils Or.

Johanna le Walkere bears: Quarterly azure and sable, four quatrefoils argent.

Carol of Bellatrix bears: Per bend argent and vert, six octofoils in bend three and three counterchanged, all pierced Or.

Ærne Clover bears: Or, a four-leaved clover saltirewise slipped vert.

Mistholme

heraldry, illumination, and random jottings

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