Search Results for: feather

Pithon

Pithon erect (Period)

The pithon is a reptilian monster, essentially a bat-winged serpent. It is sometimes called an “amphiptère”, especially in French blazon. When leaping, it may also be called a “jaculus”; if the wings are feathered (bird’s) wings, rather than bat-wings, it should be blazoned a “winged serpent”. No heraldic difference is granted between the two forms.

The pithon is a period charge, found in the arms of the Portuguese poet Camões (d.1580) [Woodward 294]. Brooke-Little has shown [Her.Alph 170] that the heraldic pithon is a variant of the wyvern, and in some cases was drawn as such; thus no difference is granted in the Society between the two monsters.

Society heraldry doesn’t seem to define a default posture for the pithon; “erect” is the most common, in which posture the wings are addorsed, as in the illustration.

When the natural constrictor-type serpent is meant, the term “natural python” is used. For related charges, see dragon.

Llywela o Landaff bears: Or, a pithon erect purpure.

Reynald il Bianco bears: Per chevron inverted sable and gules, overall a winged serpent erect displayed argent.

Ilya Azhtelstinevich Gryaznie bears: Per bend sinister vert and argent, a jaculus, his wings above the line of division, counterchanged.

Pheon; Broad-arrow

Pheon (Period)

Broad-arrow (Period)

A pheon is a steel arrow-head, used by bow hunters; its blades’ inner edges are engrailed, the better to penetrate the quarry. In actual use, the central shank is attached to a feathered shaft; in armory, the shaft is not shown. As an heraldic charge, the pheon dates from c.1295, in the arms of Egerton [ANA2 416]; but it is more famous as the arms of Sydney, Earl of Leicester, d.1586 [Wagner 70].

An artistic variant of the pheon is the “broad-arrow”, or “broadhead”, with straight inner edges; it was a English Royal badge c.1330 [H. Stanford London, “Official Badges”, Coat of Arms, IV(27), July 56, p.93]. In all other respects it is identical to the pheon. (Indeed, there was considerable confusion between them in period armory; thus they are considered negligibly different in Society armory.)

The pheon and broad-arrow have the point to chief by Continental default, and point to base by English default; the Society follows the English usage.

For related charges, see arrow, rogacina, spearhead.

Njal Olaf Hagarson bears: Per pale gules and Or, a pheon counterchanged.

Seaan McAy bears: Per fess indented argent and vert, three pheons counterchanged.

Richard Blayborne bears: Gules, six broadarrows Or.

Pen

Quill pen (Period)

Reed pen (Period)

A pen is a tool for writing or drawing with ink. The most common form of pen in heraldry is the “quill pen”, sometimes misleadingly (and wrongly) blazoned simply a “quill”; it’s found in the canting arms of Coupens c.1312 [ANA2 514]. The quill pen is the default form of pen for Society use; the illustration is taken from Bossewell, 1572 [III.4v]. But other types of pen are also found in Society armory, most notably the “reed pen” or “calamus”; this is simply a tubular reed with a split point at one end. It’s similar to the pens found in the arms of Hales, c.1520 [Woodcock & Robinson pl.13].

Pens are palewise by default, with points to base. For related charges, see feather. See also quill of yarn.

The Chronicler bears: Per pale sable and argent, two quills conjoined in pile counterchanged, a chief gules.

Elizabeth Bellclerke bears: Azure, in fess three quill pens bendwise sinister argent.

Catharine Hawkwod da Barbiano bears: Or, six quill pens azure.

Thomas Megatherium of Castle Leviathan bears: Per pale purpure and sable, a reed pen palewise Or surmounted by an anvil argent.

Pelican

Pelican in her piety (Period/Reserved)

The pelican is a marine bird, which in medieval legend would revive its dead young with blood from its own breast. Its most common posture is thus blazoned a “pelican in its piety”: wings addorsed, piercing its breast with its beak to feed its young. (The posture is also sometimes blazoned a “pelican vulning itself”, particularly if no hatchlings are depicted.)

Period depictions of this bird do not show it as found in nature, with a baggy-bottomed beak, but with a long slender beak resembling that of a stork, and with ruffled feathers.

The pelican was used in the canting arms of Pelham as early as 1386 [DBA2 177]. In Society armory, the pelican is reserved to the Order of Peerage of the same name, and its members.

The Order of the Pelican bears: A pelican in its piety.

Dorio of the Oaks bears: Azure, a chevron ployé cotised and in base a pelican in its piety argent.

Owl

Owl (Period)

The owl is a bird of prey, noted for its stealthy night-time activity. Classically, it was the archetype of wisdom; to medieval Christian moralists, it symbolized the Jews. It’s a period charge, dating from c.1295 in the arms of Seyvile [ANA2 205].

The owl is usually depicted with “ears”, tufts of feathers on either side of the head, to distinguish it from other birds. Its default posture is guardant close, as in the illustration; but even when in other postures such as rising, the owl is guardant unless specified otherwise.

James MacChluarain bears: Sable, an owl argent.

Flann Ua Cuill bears: Or, an owl gules.

Morwenna de Bonnay bears: Purpure, three owls Or.

Ostrich

Ostrich maintaining in its mouth a horseshoe (Period)

The ostrich is a gawky, flightless bird, famed for its ability to digest the non-digestible. For that reason, it’s frequently depicted with a bit of iron in its mouth (usually a horseshoe, sometimes a key), even when not so blazoned. The ostrich is a period charge, found in the arms of Robard of Kyrton, c.1460 [RH]. The ostrich is statant and close by default.

Creppin a l’Ostriche bears: Gules, an ostrich statant wings elevated and addorsed Or.

William Crome bears: Argent, an ostrich and on a chief azure, a feather fesswise argent.

Vladislav the Purple bears: Purpure, on a bend sinister between a harp and an ostrich close Or, a decrescent palewise purpure.

Moorcock

Moorcock (Period)

The moorcock is a game bird, the male black grouse, characterized in heraldry by its two projecting tail feathers. It’s a period charge, found in the canting arms of Myddylmore c.1460 [RH], and more famously in the arms of Sir Thomas More, 1478 [Wagner 68]. The moorcock is close by default.

Vostroi Ivanov Kievich bears: Or, a pale bretessed between two moorcocks close respectant gules each gorged of a coronet argent.

Lovell Hastings bears: Argent, a fess wreathed vert between three moorcocks in fess and a patriarchal cross gules.

Jacopo Basilio Rosso bears: Or, a moorcock gules maintaining a lantern sable paned Or, on a bordure gules three bezants.

Martlet

Martlet (Period)

The martlet is an heraldic bird, in many ways a stylized and generic bird. Blazoned as a merle, merlette, or merlotte (“blackbird”), it was found in French armory as early as c.1185, in the canting arms of Mello [Pastoureau 150]. In English armory, the French term quickly became conflated with the martinet, a type of swallow or swift [Brault 241], and soon became highly stylized in form. The martlet is found as early as c.1244, in the arms of the Earls of Pembroke [ANA2 210]. It remained a popular charge through the end of our period: of the birds, only the eagle was more frequently used.

While the martlet’s exact form varied throughout period, by far the most common trait was its lack of legs: small tufts of feathers take their place. (This is due to the legend that the martlet was always airborne, never lighting on the ground.) For purposes of Society blazonry, this lack of legs is the martlet’s defining characteristic. The martlet was sometimes drawn without a beak (especially in France); post-period depictions (especially in England) gave it the forked tail of the swallow. The illustration is taken from the arms of Sir Geoffrey Luttrell, in the Luttrell Psalter, mid-14^th C.

In the English system of cadency, the martlet is the brisure of the fourth son. The martlet is close by default.

Éadaoin na Slebhte bears: Gules, three martlets Or.

Tamsin Wylde bears: Barry vert and argent, six martlets Or.

Lie de Camurac bears: Per chevron vert and azure, three martlets argent.

Leg; Foot

Leg couped (Period)

Legs are the limbs used for locomotion. Any legged creature may contribute a leg to heraldry; legs from humans, eagles, lions, bears, deer and horses are found in period armory.

The default leg is the human leg. The human leg is severed well above the knee; it should be specified whether the leg is couped (as in the illustration) or erased. By default, the human leg is shown bare; if blazoned “proper”, it follows the same Society blazon conventions as full humans proper, as described under human figure. The human leg may also be clothed in men’s hosen, as in the canting arms of de la Hose c.1275 [ANA2 550], or be shod in sandals or shoes.

Lion’s jambe erased (Period)

Eagle’s leg couped à la quise (Period)

Some animals’ legs have special terms in blazonry. A lion’s leg may be called its “gambe” or “jambe”; as a charge, it dates from at least 1413, in the arms of von Litaw [Conz.Const. cliiii]. (A dragon’s leg may also be called its “jambe”.) Birds’ legs may be severed “à la quise”, at the thigh; this usage is found c.1480, in the arms of Lancaster [DBA2 383]. Lions’ and dragons’ jambes are erect by default, with their claws to chief; humans’ and birds’ legs are foot down by default. The illustrations show a lion’s jambe erased and an eagle’s leg couped à la quise.

Foot couped (Period)

Bird’s foot bendwise erased (Period)

A “foot” is the section of the leg below the knee. Human feet are found, dating from c.1295 in the arms of Shrigley [ANA2 453]; they are detached from their legs at the ankle, and have their toes to dexter by default.

Of animals’ feet, the most confusion has arisen with birds’ feet: a common mistake is to blazon the foot as a “claw” or “talon”, which properly refers only to the toenail. The bird’s foot is a period charge, as found in the arms of von Grünau, 1605 [Siebmacher 58]; it includes no part of the thigh, but only the unfeathered portion below the joint. The illustration shows a bird’s foot bendwise.

The majority of beasts’ and birds’ feet (as distinct from legs) are erect by default, with the claws to chief; only human feet seem to go downwards by default. For related charges, see claw (crab’s), sole, triskelion. See also ham.

The Order of the Jambe de Lion, of An Tir, bears: Checky Or and argent, a lion’s jambe bendwise inverted erased sable.

Pascal Foljambe bears: Azure, a leg couped Or.

Anlaug Dalesdotter bears: Or, three armored legs azure.

Emma Barfoot bears: Sable, a foot couped and in chief a bar argent.

Lothar von Katzenellenbogen bears: Or, in saltire five lion’s jambes couped at the shoulder gules.

Rauðbjorn Ágeirsson bears: Azure, three bear’s jambes erased Or.

Cett Donegal bears: Gules, three eagle’s jambes erased à la quise contourny argent.

Wulfwen atte Belle bears as a badge: In pale a tentacle vert issuant from a boot sable and maintaining a spoon fesswise reversed Or.

Leaf

Leaf (generic) (Period)

A leaf is that part of a plant which gathers light and provides shade. The default heraldic leaf seems to be a generic sort, with a simple elliptical shape; as heraldic charges, this sort dates from c.1300 [ANA2 249]. However, leaves of all shapes are found in period armory: elm leaves in the arms of Elmerugge or Elmridge, c.1285 [ANA2 289], oak leaves in the arms of Tregruthken, 1335 [DBA2 381], holly leaves in the arms of Eruyn or Irwin, 15^th C. [Scots 48v], linden leaves in the arms of von Lynden or Linden, c.1370 [Gelre 43v; also Siebmacher 141], ivy leaves in the arms of Yve, c.1470 [DBA2 43].

Linden leaf (Period); oak leaf (Period)

Ivy leaf (Period); holly leaf (Period)

As may be seen, the type of leaf was frequently chosen for the sake of a cant – Yue had yew leaves, Hesilrigg had hazel leaves, Malherbe had nettle leaves, &c – and without the cant, it is often difficult to determine the type of leaf being used. Period rolls show the same arms drawn with different types of leaves. The Society grants difference between some types of leaf, but not others.

Leaves have their stems to base by default, but there are frequent period examples of leaves inverted as well. For related charges, see card-pique, foil, nesselblatt, seeblatt, slip, vine. See also feather.

Ann of the Tall Trees bears: Vert, an oak leaf fesswise argent.

Avisa of Rideja bears: Per saltire Or and argent, a maple leaf vert.

Tamara iz Kiev bears: Argent, three birch leaves vert.

Seved Ribbing bears: Per fess azure and Or, three linden leaves counterchanged.

Mistholme

heraldry, illumination, and random jottings