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Sword: rapier

Rapier, swept-hilted (Period)

Rapier, cup-hilted (Accepted)

The “rapier” is a late-period thrusting and parrying sword with an elaborate hilt. Frequently, the type of rapier hilt is specified in Society blazon.

The “swept-hilted rapier” is found in period armory, in the canting arms (Italian spada) of Spatafora [BSB Cod.Icon 273:243]. This form may always be used if the type of rapier is left unblazoned.

The Society also has examples of the “cup-hilted rapier”, a variant dating to the beginning of the 17^th Century [Stone 524]. This form of rapier should not be drawn as a modern fencing foil or epée: i.e., it should have prominent quillons and a knuckle-guard.

The Order of Defense bears: Three rapiers in pall inverted, tips crossed.

Amannita Villarosa bears: Vert, two rapiers conjoined in chevron argent.

Johann Friedrich bears: Per saltire sable and gules, in fess two rapiers Or.

Sword: cutlass

Cutlass (Period)

The “cutlass”, or “curtelasse”, has a short, thick blade. Its shorter blade made the cutlass useful in close quarters, and so was favored by sailors. It’s found in the arms of Tatnall, 1632 [Guillim2 340].

Elena McKenzie bears: Purpure, two cutlasses in saltire edges to chief and a base rayonny Or.

Basilius Fuchs bears: Per chevron throughout argent and sable, two cutlasses in chevron sable and a phoenix Or rising from flames proper.

Spur

Spur with leathers (Period)

Prickspur (Accepted)

A spur is a pointed piece of metal worn on a rider’s heel to urge the horse forward. The default form of spur is the roweled spur, with a six-pointed mullet attached to a U-shaped frame and buckle. It’s a period charge, found in the canting arms (Italian sperone) of Speroni, c.1555 [BSB Cod.Icon 275:65], and as the crest of Matela, c.1540 [Nobreza xxixº].

In mundane armory, the spur is frequently drawn with leather straps; in Society armory, these are left to the artist’s license. While some sources give the spur’s default orientation as having the rowel to base, the majority [Franklyn 312; Guide 215] put the rowel to chief, and this is the Society’s default for the spur as well.

Society armory also has the “prickspur”, which has no rowel, but simply comes to a point. Its default orientation is the same as for the roweled spur, with the point to chief, and no difference is counted between the types. See also stirrup.

Harrys Rob of Wamphray bears: Vert, a chevron between three winged spurs argent.

Taliesynne Nycheymwrh yr Anghyfannedd bears: Quarterly sable and gules, on a unicorn rampant contourny argent gorged of a pearled coronet sable, a prickspur Or fimbriated sable.

Spearhead

Spearhead (Period)

Boar-spear head (Period)

A spearhead is the metal point affixed to the shaft of a spear. It may also be blazoned a “fer-de-lance”. The usual form of spearhead found in period armory is lozenge-shaped; it’s occasionally shown “embrued”, with the point bloodstained.

The spearhead is frequently also shown with a crossbar, as in the arms of Andelfingen, c.1340 [Zurich 370]; this form may be explicitly blazoned as a “boar-spear head”.

Cronel (Period)

There is also the “cronel”, the head of a tilting spear, with prongs to help it affix to its target; it’s intended for practice bouts, not actual tourneys, since the broader head spreads the force of the impact. The cronel is found in the arms of Wiseman, 1523 [DBA2 320].

All forms of spearhead have their points to chief by default. For related charges, see arrowhead, pheon.

The Shire of Amlethsmore bears: Quarterly gules and Or, a spearhead within a laurel wreath counterchanged.

Iulstan Sigewealding bears: Sable, three spearheads Or.

Richard of Rideja bears: Chevronelly argent and gules, a spearhead sable.

Spade; Shovel

Spade (Period); shovel (Period)

A spade is a digging tool, with a broad pointed blade attached to a long handle. The blade is frequently drawn with an iron edge reinforcement. The spade is a period charge, found in the allusive arms (German graben, “to dig”) of von Grabmer or Graben, c.1450 [Ingeram 14; also Siebmacher 44].

If the blade is square instead of pointed, the tool may be termed a “shovel” [Franklyn 309], but such artistic distinction carries no heraldic difference.

The spade and shovel are palewise by default. Society usage places them with their blades to base by default; this seems to follow English usage [Parker 543], though contrary to German usage. For related charges, see hoe, trowel.

Aurelia Ruhlander bears: Sable, two spades inverted in saltire Or.

John Gardener of Barley Marsh bears: Per chevron vert and bendy Or and sable, in chief two shovels Or.

Johannes Stürmære bears: Per bend gules and sable, a shovel bendwise sinister argent.

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.

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.

Shuttle, weaver’s

Weaver’s shuttle (Period)

Two forms of stick shuttle (Accepted)

A weaver’s shuttle is a cloth-maker’s tool, containing a spool of the woof thread, which it carries back and forth between the warp threads strung in the loom. The default heraldic form can be more fully described as a “boat shuttle”; it was also blazoned in period armory as a “navette”. The shuttle is a period heraldic charge, found in arms granted in 1490 to the Worshipful Company of Weavers [Bromley & Child 263]. The shuttle is fesswise by default.

There is also a “stick shuttle”, a more primitive implement unique to Society heraldry; it is shown in two slightly different forms. (The first form was at one time misblazoned in the Society as a “weaver’s slea“, but that error has been corrected.)

For related charges, see drop-spindle, quill of yarn.

Marielle de Rivage du Corbeau bears: Azure, in fess two weavers’ shuttles palewise argent.

Unn Sigurdsdotter bears: Per chevron argent and vert, a weaver’s shuttle argent.

Catherine of Gordonhall bears: Purpure, a stick shuttle and a needle in saltire argent, both threaded with the same thread, in base a rose Or, barbed and seeded vert, all within a bordure invected Or.

Shears; Scissors

Pair of shears (Period)

Pair of scissors (Period)

Shears (more fully a “pair of shears”) is a cutting instrument with a pair of opposing blades joined by a spring. Medievally, they came in several sizes, from large shears the height of a man (used to shear the wool from sheepskin) to small hand-held shears used by seamstresses in sewing; the latter are also called “snips”. The blades might have either pointed or rectangular ends; rectangular ends are perhaps more common in mundane heraldry (as in the arms of Gennip or Gennep, c.1370, [Gelre 88v]), but the triangular blades are also found (Langen, 1605 [Siebmacher 181]). The latter are more popular in the Society.

Shears have their blades to base, slightly open, by Society default.

Related to shears is the “scissors” or “pair of scissors”: the opposing blades pivot on a bolt, and have handles on the other end to open and close them. Scissors are likewise a period charge, found in the arms of Jungingen, c.1340 [Zurich 196], and the Guild of Tailors of Basel, 1415 [Volborth 184]; the handles should not be drawn in the modern ergonomic design. Society heraldry distinguishes between the shears and the scissors, though little heraldic difference is granted. The scissors’ default orientation is with points opened to chief, but that fact is frequently blazoned explicitly.

Blanking shears (Accepted)

In Society armory, we find “blanking shears”, which despite the name, are actually like scissors in design: they’re made for cutting metal blanks, as for coins. As with scissors, their default orientation is with the blades to chief; the illustration is taken from a woodcut by Hans Burgkmair the Elder, c.1500.

Agnes Cresewyke bears: Gules, three pairs of shears Or.

Carlos Blanco el Barbero bears: Per chevron azure and gules, a pair of scissors argent.

Ian Cnulle bears as a badge: Argent, a pair of open blanking shears, handles interlaced with a hammer fesswise reversed, all between three roundels sable.

Seeblatt

Seeblatt (Period)

A seeblatt is a Germanic representation of a water-lily leaf, drawn in a highly stylized manner: heart-shaped, with a cruciform or trefoil incision in chief. It is a period charge, found in the arms of Ribbing, 1295 [Volborth 131]. Note that “seeblätter” is the usual plural form of “seeblatt”.

In Society armory, a correctly drawn seeblatt is now granted difference from a heart. For related charges, see nesselblatt.

Clarissa Wykeham bears: Or, a seeblatt azure.

Rebecca Marchand d’Alsace bears: Vert, a seeblatt argent.

Angharad Caprioli Amante bears: Per chevron sable and gules, three seeblätter argent.

Mistholme

heraldry, illumination, and random jottings