Escroll

Quill pen transfixing an escroll fesswise (Period)

An escroll is a strip of parchment or paper, frequently with writing upon it, transfixed or held in place by a larger charge. By its definition, it can never be used alone, or as a primary charge. The escroll is a period charge, used in the arms of Sir Roger de Clarendon, d.1402 [Parker 238]. It has no default orientation, though it is usually assumed to be at right angles to whatever charge is transfixing it.

The illustration shows a quill pen transfixing an escroll fesswise. For related charges, see ribbon, scroll.

Ieuan Gower bears: Sable, an ostrich feather transfixing an escroll fesswise between in bend sinister two mullets Or.

Escarbuncle

Escarbuncle (Period)

An escarbuncle is a stylized heraldic charge, representing the boss and reinforcing bars on a shield. It is normally of eight spokes, with the ends fleury, as in the illustration; this form is found very early, in the arms of the Counts (later Dukes) of Cleves, c.1275 [Asp2 190; also Gelre 93]. Escarbuncles of six are also found in period arms, as well as pometty ends; such cases are explicitly blazoned. (Sometimes, the default fleury ends are explicitly blazoned as well.)

Escarbuncles may also be constructed by conjoining other charges: the arms of the Kings of Navarre, from the mid-14^th Century, had an escarbuncle of chains. In Society heraldry, other charges have been employed as well: an “escarbuncle of six swords, conjoined at the points”, for example.

Escallop

Escallop (Period)

An escallop is the shell of a bivalve mollusc; it is also called a “scallop”, “cockle” or “cockleshell”. The escallop is an ancient charge, found in the arms of Dacre c.1282 [ANA2 351]; it was used as a pilgrim’s badge in medieval times, as it was the symbol of St. James, patron of pilgrims. The escallop has its hinge to chief by default.

Karl von Kugler bears: Checky Or and sable, an escallop azure.

Nuala inghean Murchadha bears: Vert, six escallops Or.

Llywelyn ap Evan bears: Per fess azure and vair ancient, three escallops in chief argent.

Ermine spot

Five ermine spots (Period)

An ermine spot, or ermine tail, is a highly stylized charge, meant to represent the tail of the ermine beast; it is also sometimes blazoned a “muskatour”. Ermine spots were sometimes charges in their own right, as in the arms of Liesvelt, c.1460 [GATD 34v; also Gelre 83v]; but they are far more often found strewn across a field to form the heraldic ermine-style furs.

Of these furs, by far the most common was simply blazoned “ermine”: a white field with black ermine spots, most famous as the arms of the Dukes of Brittany, 1318 [Asp2 172]. For most of the Society’s period, this was the only ermine-style fur in use. In the 15^th Century, a variant was introduced, a black field with white ermine spots [Hope 8]: it was called “ermines” in English and “contre-hermine” in French. To avert typos, Society blazons use the translation of the latter, “counter-ermine”.

Towards the end of period, two other ermine-style furs appeared in heraldic tracts [e.g., Legh 76]: “erminois”, a gold field with black ermine spots, and “pean”, a black field with gold ermine spots. Your Author has found a single period example of erminois, in the arms of Meery, c.1510 [DBA3 489; also Gwynn-Jones 98]; we’ve yet to find a period example of pean. However, on the basis of Legh if nothing else, all four of these furs are available for Society use.

Post-period examples exist of fields strewn with ermine spots, in other tinctures, e.g., “Gules semy of ermine spots Or” [Woodward 68]. Society practice would blazon this “Gules ermined Or”, and treat it as an ermine-style fur. Any metal field may be ermined in a color, and vice versa, in Society heraldry. We have a single example in an heraldic tract, the Traité de blason, late-15th C., of “Or ermined vert” (le champ dor armine de sinople), but no actual examples of its use in arms; nonetheless, this provides support for the practice in the Society.

The illustration shows several stylizations of ermine spot, which were taken from medieval emblazons. The one in dexter chief, from Legh, is the form most often found in Society emblazons. Naturally, an emblazon shouldn’t mix styles, but should use one stylization throughout. See also tail.

Adeliza de Clermont bears: Or, an ermine spot purpure.

Wilhelm Leopard der Schwarze bears: Sable, in chief five ermine spots in fess Or.

Alisaundre Caledon bears: Per chevron Or and sable, three ermine spots counterchanged.

Ermine

Ermine statant (Period)

The ermine is a skinny beast of the mustelid family. It’s technically a “stoat” or “weasel”; and it is sometimes so blazoned, as in the canting arms of Birtwistle, 1478 [Woodcock & Robinson 81]. In heraldry, the term “ermine” refers to the stoat in its winter coloration, pure white with a black-tipped tail; this is its “proper” coloration. It’s found in this form as the badge of the Dukes of Brittany [Gayre, Heraldic Standards, p.93].

The ermine was valued for its silky white fur, which in time became the ermine furs of heraldry. It was also one of the symbols of the Virgin, not only because of its pure white fur, but because of a medieval legend that the ermine conceived through its ear.

Similar in form to the ermine are such beasts as the “otter”, found in the canting arms of Ottyr, c.1460 [RH]; the “marten”, found in the arms of von Muggenthal, 1605 [Siebmacher 81]; and in Society heraldry, the “ferret”, the “mink”, and the “polecat”. Though zoologically distinct, they are heraldically equivalent to the ermine. All ermine-like beasts seem to be statant by default; this is uncertain, so it’s best to blazon the posture explicitly. (The illustration shows an ermine statant.) For related charges, see mongoose. See also ermine spot.

Rima of Rockridge bears: Gules, an ermine statant guardant proper.

Friedrich von Waffen bears: Argent, three ferrets statant guardant in pale sable.

Lorimel the Gentle bears: Vert, an otter sejant erect Or.

Donatien Delaborde bears: Per fess argent and azure, two weasels statant counterchanged.

Alrik Eriksson Mård bears: Gyronny azure and argent, a marten rampant coward contourny sable.

Equatorium

Equatorium (Accepted)

An equatorium is a medieval astronomical instrument, dating from the 11^th Century. Based on the Ptolemaic theory of equants (epicycles, eccentrics, &c), it was used for predicting planetary positions. No examples are known in period armory; the illustration is taken from a 15^th C. French artifact in the Oxford Museum of the History of Science. See also astrolabe, clock, sphere, sundial.

Alfred of Durham bears: Paly azure and argent, on a bend sinister engrailed between a hemispheric astrolabe and an equatorium Or three estoiles gules.

Alya Zengerlin bears: Per bend argent and sable, two mullets in bend purpure and an equatorium Or.

Enfield

Enfield rampant (Accepted)

The enfield is a chimerical monster, with the body of a greyhound, the head of a fox, the forelimbs of an eagle, and the hindquarters and tail of a wolf. It’s been described as “a relative latecomer” to the heraldic scene [Dennys 156]; though no period examples of the enfield have yet been found, its form is in keeping with other monsters of the Tudor era. The enfield is thus accepted for Society use.

Some etymological arguments suggest that the enfield and the alphyn are both variants of the same non-heraldic monster.

The enfield doesn’t seem to have a default posture; the illustration shows an enfield rampant.

Elayne Greybeard the Eclectic bears: Vert, an enfield rampant guardant to sinister Or.

Lucrezia Lorenz bears: Sable, an enfield passant to sinister Or.

Tavotai Koghunnoxaiyin bears: Per fess Or and gules, an enfield rampant counterchanged.

Elephant

Elephant (Period)

The elephant is a gigantic beast characterized by its tusks, ears, and prehensile trunk; some early emblazons show it with cloven hooves as well. It was considered a symbol of modesty and chastity by the medievals. As an heraldic charge, the elephant dates from c.1340, in the canting arms of the Grafs von Helfenstein [Zurich 79].

The elephant is statant by default; its “proper” tincture is grey with argent tusks. It is sometimes shown with a castle or tower on its back, such as recorded in the Visitation of Wales, 1530 [Woodcock & Robinson 149]; in such a case, the fact must be explicitly blazoned. The castle is said to recall war elephants with howdahs, described by Alexander the Great when he tried to conquer India; if the elephant’s tower is actually drawn as a howdah, its use carries a step from period practice.

Tristan d’Alsace bears: Azure, three elephants statant argent.

‘Abd al-Hakim ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman Shaddad al-Tomüki bears: Argent, an elephant rampant sable maintaining in its trunk a coronet gules.

Edmund Foxe bears: Sable, an elephant argent maintaining atop its back a tower, a bordure embattled Or.

Katherine Meade bears as a badge: An elephant rampant ermine bearing on its back a howdah gules.

Egg

Egg (Period)

An egg is a hard-shelled ovoid, laid by birds for the making of more birds. It is a rare but period charge, found in the arms of Jaworsky, 1605 [Siebmacher 75]. The egg used in Society heraldry is the hen’s egg, with one end narrowing; this end is to chief by Society default. See also cartouche, roundel.

Prudence the Curious bears: Vert, an egg argent and a chief embattled Or.

Eginolf von Basel bears: Per fess gules and bendy gules and azure, in chief an egg argent.

Magdalena Flores bears: Ermine, on an egg gules a fleur-de-lys Or.

Eel-fork

Eel-fork (Period)

Salmon-spear, or eel-spear (Period)

An eel-fork, or eel-spear, is a tool used by fishermen in taking eels. It consists of a multi-tined head with broad, flat points; the shaft is not shown. Examples of the artifact can be found as early as the 16th Century; as a charge, the eel-fork is found in the arms of Stretele or Stratley, c.1413 [DBA2 350; cf. Parker 220]. The illustration is based on a period artifact.

Similar to the eel-fork is the “salmon-spear” or “harping iron”, often shown in armory with a fish transfixed on its tines, as seen in the arms of Ränntl, mid-16th C. [NW 151]. It differs from the eel-fork in that its tines are narrow and barbed, rather like a trident head. (Nonetheless, this form was also, confusingly, blazoned as an “eel-spear” [cf. Guillim1 220]; there seems to have been no consistent distinction between the various forms.)

The eel-fork and its variants have their points to base by default. For related charges, see fork.

Varukh syn Iarygin bears: Per bend sinister argent and vert, four eel-forks conjoined in cross by their bases counterchanged.

Dorothea af Holm bears: Gules, an eel-fork, on a chief argent an eel sable.

Mistholme

heraldry, illumination, and random jottings

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