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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.

Spoon; Ladle

Spoon (Period)

Ladle (Period)

A spoon is an eating utensil, with a small shallow bowl attached to a handle. It is found in the canting arms of Sponeley, 15^th C. [Neubecker 136], as well as the arms of von Korkwitz, 1605 [Siebmacher 72]. The spoon is affronty by default, with the bowl to chief.

A similar charge is the “ladle”, with a deeper bowl and a long hooked handle, used for serving soup or other liquids. It too is a period charge, found in the canting arms (from dial. Italian cazùu, “ladle”) of de Cazullis de Crema, mid-15^th C. [Triv 98], and of de Cazaviis, c.1550 [BSB Cod.Icon 270:283]. The ladle is palewise, handle to chief, by Society default.

Unique to the Society is the “spurtle”, of which we have a single registration. The blazon is misleading: a spurtle is a Scots cooking tool for turning oatcakes, dated in the OED to the 16^th Century, which is not the charge used in the Society. That charge is drawn as a notched spoon, resembling the utensil modernly called a “spork”. Given the discrepancy of the terminology, and the modern nature of the artifact, it is unlikely to be currently registerable without documentation.

Sphinx

Greek sphinx sejant (Period)

Egyptian sphinx couchant (Accepted)

The sphinx is a monster from ancient myth, with a lion’s body and a human head. There are two forms of this monster, the Greek form and the Egyptian form, both of which date from antiquity.

The Greek sphinx (the riddling monster slain by Oedipus) is winged, and has a woman’s head and breasts; it’s the more common form, and the only form found in period heraldry. Blazoned simply as a “sphinx” in period, it is sometimes blazoned in the Society as a “winged” or a “gyno-sphinx” (gyno, “woman”). The Greek sphinx was described in period tracts [Bossewell II.46], and was granted as a crest to Robert Parris in 1573 [Dennys 118].

The Egyptian sphinx is the monster whose statue is seen at Giza; it has a man’s head, wearing a pharaonic headdress, and has no wings. It’s sometimes blazoned an “andro-sphinx” (andro, “man”) in the Society. Though the statue was known, the Egyptian sphinx doesn’t seem to have been used in period armory.

Of course, Society armorists take pleasure in conflating the two forms, and examples of “Greek andro-sphinxes” and “Egyptian gyno-sphinxes” have been registered. Go figure.

Neither form of sphinx has a default posture in Society heraldry; the illustrations show a Greek sphinx sejant and an Egyptian sphinx couchant. For related charges, see chimera (German), lamia, manticore, man-tyger.

Ariadne Leontodes bears: Argent, a Greek sphinx rampant azure winged sable.

Eirene Korinthia bears: Purpure, a Greek sphinx sejant Or.

Khalil el-Hadji bears: Or, an Egyptian sphinx couchant azure between in chief two scimitars inverted, blades to center sable.

Mammarra Liona of Egypt bears: Azure, an Egyptian gyno-sphinx rampant Or.

Sole

Shoe sole (Period)

Sole of a human foot (Accepted)

The sole is the underlying part of a foot or shoe, that portion touching the ground. The type of sole found in period armory is the shoe sole, which has its toe to chief by default; it’s found in the canting arms (dial. Italian söra) of de Sori, mid-15^th C. [Triv 325], and illustrated in Bossewell, 1572 [III.17].

In Society armory, we find an example of the sole of a human foot. While this charge is found in mundane armory in the arms of Voet [Woodward 207], it has not been dated to period. Like the shoe sole, the human foot sole has its toes to chief by default.

For related charges, see prints. See also leg, shoe.

Percival de la Rocque bears as a badge: A shoe sole per pale purpure and gules.

Mat of Forth Castle bears as a badge: The sole of a human foot vert.

Ship

Lymphad (Period)

Ship, 16th C. (Period)

A ship is a sailing vessel or boat; those found in heraldry usually have sails, though there are a few oar-powered ships as well. They should be drawn as seen on a calm sea: the keel should not be depicted. All ships face to dexter by default; when “proper”, they are of brown wood.

The most common sort of ship in heraldry is the “galley” or “lymphad”: a stylized drawing, with a single square sail, and three or four oars; the sails are furled, and the oars are in action, by default. It is a period charge, found in the arms of the Earls of Katenes (Caithness) c.1310 [ANA2 548]. When the sail is unfurled, the fact must be blazoned; when the oars are shipped (i.e., inside the ship and not visible), that too is sometimes blazoned. If the lymphad has no mast, sails or oars, it may be termed a “hulk” or “hull”, as in the arms of Segger, 1605 [Siebmacher 40].

Drakkar (Accepted)

Rowboat with two oars (Period)

Later in period, ships in heraldry began to be drawn as the ships then in use: with a bowsprit, multiple masts, and square sails, as in the illustration. Such ships may be seen in the crest of Sir Francis Drake, 1581, and the arms of the East India Merchants, 1600 [Woodcock & Robinson 84, 41]. These ships were blazoned simply as “ships” or “shippes”, and increasingly, they are so blazoned in the Society as well. Society armory also has examples of more specific types of late-period ships: e.g., the “caravel”, the “carrack”, and the “galleon”. These types of ships have been drawn with triangular (lateen) sails, in addition to the square sails; they have not always been accurately depicted. But in any case, they are indistinguishable for heraldic purposes.

Ark (Period)

Coracle (Accepted)

In Society heraldry, the next most common ship is the “drakkar”, or Viking dragonship: with the prow carved in a monstrous head (usually a dragon’s), a square sail, and the ship’s side lined with targes. Ships decorated with dragon’s heads appear to have been used in period armory, in the arms of the Kings of Orkney, temp. Edward II [ANA2 548]. Matthew Paris, c.1245, attributes similar vessels to the arms of the King of Norway, as does Randall Holme’s Roll c.1460 [RH]; but we have no direct evidence that they were truly drakkars, or that the arms were actually in use. The drakkar is also blazoned a “Viking longship”; it’s not enough to say simply “longship”, as Norman and Phoenician longships are also found in Society armory.

Dhow (probable SFPP)

Gondola (Accepted)

The “rowboat” is a simpler craft, a shallow boat without mast, sails, or rudder, but with prominent oars surmounting it. The oars may be drawn as held in oarlocks; their number should be specified in the blazon. The rowboat is a period charge, found as early as c.1340, in the arms of Oberreiden [Zurich 284].

Knorr (Accepted)

Trireme (Accepted)

Of the other, more unusual ships in Society heraldry, there is found the “ark”, a mastless vessel with a barn-like shape amidships, as seen in the crest of the Mistery of Shipwrights of England, 1606 [Bromley & Child 221]; the “coracle” or “curragh”, a small round boat made from hides stretched over a wicker frame; the “dhow”, a small Oriental ship with a triangular sail; the “gondola”, the famous traffic boat of Venice, here taken from the album amicorum (autograph book) of Gerard van Hacfort and Poppe van Feytsma, c.1570; the “knorr”, a small single-sailed boat with its rudder on the side; the “trireme”, an ancient warship named for its three rows of oars; and the “wa’a”, a Polynesian outrigger canoe with a single sail.

Wa’a outrigger (probable Disallowed)

The Baron of the Western Seas bears: Or, a wa’a outrigger, sail to dexter sable, within a laurel wreath vert within a bordure engrailed azure.

Lüthard von Calebergh bears: Azure, three lymphads, oars shipped, argent.

Bjornulf of Thorshafn bears: Argent, a knorr proper, sails furled vert, within a bordure azure.

Medraut Beorhtwig bears: Ermine, three drakkars in pale gules.

Royce Kensington bears: Sable, three carracks and a bordure embattled argent.

Ciaran Cluana Ferta bears: Or, a curragh proper sailed and tillered gules, in chief two Celtic crosses sable.

Burrell de Gillson bears: Azure, in chief two dolphins embowed and in base a hulk dismasted all Or.

Alexandria de Bois d’Arc bears: Purpure, an ark and a chief invected argent.

Maurice de Granada bears: Or, a dhow, sail set and sinister facing vert within a bordure vert bezanty.

Asa of the Wood bears as a badge: Azure, a gondola Or within an orle of plates.

Thomas Wright of Lancaster bears: Argent, in bend three triremes reversed azure and a chief wavy azure semy-de-lys argent.

Walborg Liucoin bears: Sable, a seven-oared rowboat, in base a bar wavy and on a chief Or three mullets sable.

Sheep

Ram rampant (Period)

Paschal lamb passant reguardant (Period)

The sheep is a wooly, grazing beast famed for its placidity, yea, stupidity. It’s found in the arms of Schafli, c.1340 [Zurich 389].

The category includes the “ram”, the male sheep, a symbol of virility, distinguished by his spiral horns, found in the canting arms of Ramsberg c.1370 [Gelre 40]; and the “lamb”, the young sheep, a symbol of meek innocence, found in the canting arms (Latin agnus) of Agnis, 1286 [DBA1 295]. Ovines are often found statant or rampant, but there doesn’t seem to be a default posture common to all; but in general, rams are more often rampant, and sheep more often statant. The illustration shows a ram rampant.

There is also the “Paschal lamb”, a reference to the Lamb of God: he bears a banner over his shoulder, and is passant by default. (He is often shown reguardant as well, as in the illustration, but that fact is always blazoned.) When blazoned “proper”, the Paschal lamb is argent, haloed Or (sometimes with a red cross on the halo), and his banner is argent with a red cross. It’s found as an heraldic charge as early as 1304, in the arms of Barbitonsor [DBA1 205].

The Society currently grants difference between sheep and goats. For related charges, see fleece, goat, musimon. See also vegetable lamb.

The King of Gleann Abhann bears: Per pale gules and sable, a ram rampant within a laurel wreath, in chief a coronet argent.

Ælfhelm se Reade bears: Vert, three sheep statant argent.

Robert MacNair bears: Erminois, three rams rampant sable.

Karl Skarpi bears: Gules, a Paschal lamb passant proper between three crosses crosslet Or.

Sheaf

Sheaf of three spears (Period)

A sheaf is a bundle or cluster of objects. The unmodified term is normally considered equivalent to a garb, and this is sometimes made explicit (e.g., “a sheaf of wheat”). But in blazonry, the term also refers to a group of three charges, two in saltire surmounted by another palewise. The term is most often used with arrows: a “sheaf of (three) arrows” is a common motif, found in the arms of Joskyn, c.1435 [DBA1 11]. But the term has also been used in mundane blazons for charges other than arrows [Franklyn 302], and it has been adopted for use in Society blazons as well. (It thus replaces older, more awkward neologisms, such as “in estoile” or “in gyronny”).

The illustration shows a sheaf of three spears. It is also possible to have more than three charges in a sheaf, but such cases must be explicitly blazoned.

Sten Stensson bears: Vert, three sheaves of arrows argent.

Conaire Anluan MacMurchadha bears: Vert, a sheaf of three spears argent within a bordure checky vert and Or.

Kilic ibn Sungur ibn al-Kazganci al-Turhani bears: Sable, a sheaf of five swords argent within an orle Or.

Sea-monsters

Sea-griffin (Period)

Sea-dog rampant (Period)

This class of monster is characterized by having a demi-beast conjoined to a fish’s tail. Virtually any beast may be so treated: Society armory records examples of sea-stags, sea-bears, sea-otters, and sea-urchins among others. Even monsters may be made into sea-monsters, following the same pattern (fish-tailed demi-X) as other sea-monsters: e.g., the sea-unicorn in the arms of Niemptsch, and the sea-griffin in the arms of von Mestich, both 1605 [Siebmacher 58, 69]. The illustration shows a sea-griffin. Sea-monsters are usually erect by default; if winged, the wings will be addorsed.

When the unmodified term “sea-[beast]” is used, the heraldic monster is meant; if the term may also apply to a natural creature (e.g., the sea-tortoise, the sea-urchin, &c), the modified term “natural sea-[beast]” must be used for those cases. (The sea-mew and sea-nettle are exceptions to this: they’re always depicted as the natural creatures.)

There are some monsters whose names begin with the prefix “sea-“, and yet are not fish-tailed demi-beasts. The most notable of these is the “sea-dog” or “sea-hound”, a talbot with scales and a webbed dorsal fin. Period examples show it either with webbed feet, as in the crest of Flemyng, c.1510 [Walden 156], or with a talbot’s paws and tail, as in the arms of Harry or Harris, 1547 [Dennys 155]; this is left to the artist’s discretion. The illustration shows a sea-dog with webbed feet and tail.

Sea-wolf (Period)

Sea-loat rampant (Accepted)

In like manner, English heralds defined the “sea-wolf” analogously to the sea-dog, with fins and scales [Bedingfeld 66]. However, Swedish heralds recognized the “sea-wolf” as a fish-tailed demi-wolf, in the arms of Stalder, 1399 [Raneke 420], and Society heralds follow this definition as well.

Unique to Society heraldry is the “sea-loat”, with six legs.

For specific entries, see: mermaid, sea-horse, sea-lion. See also sea-serpent, silkie.

Elisa Montagna del Susino bears: Azure ermined Or, a sea-unicorn naiant reguardant argent.

Andrew MacGregor of Glen Lyon bears: Argent, a sea-wolf counter-ermine.

Morgan of Aberystwyth bears as a badge: Gules, a baby sea-loat rampant Or.

Humfrey Matthew Lovett bears: Per fess gules and azure, three sea-dogs rampant Or.

Duncan Stuart bears: Sable, a sea-goat erect argent.

Assar merch Owen bears: Per fess Or and sable, a sea-stag counterchanged.

Saw

Frame saw (Period)

Goldsmith’s framesaw (Period)

A saw is a carpenter’s tool, used mostly for cutting wood; it has a large thin blade with a toothed edge. The most common form of heraldic saw is more fully termed a “frame saw” or a “bow saw”. The artifact dates from at least the 12^th Century [Singer 392], but the earliest heraldic example dates from c.1550, in the canting arms (Italian sega) of Seghi [BSB Cod.Icon 278:333]. The frame saw is fesswise, cutting edge to base, by default [Parker 520].

Other saws found in Society armory were first taken from period artifacts; in many cases, they’ve since been documented as charges. For example, the saw blazoned in the Society as a “goldsmith’s framesaw” has the shape of a modern coping saw; however, much the same form is found in period armory, in the arms of Malkas or Malckab, c.1450 [Ingeram 172]. It doesn’t seem to have a default orientation, but when fesswise, the handle is to sinister; when palewise, the handle is to base. The illustration shows a goldsmith’s framesaw fesswise.

Two-man cross-cut saw (Period)

Handsaw (Accepted)

Likewise, the “two-man cross-cut saw”, a much larger tool used for large timbers, was originally documented from Jost Amman’s Book of Trades, 1568 [95]. It was then discovered in period armory as well, in the arms of Mistelbeckten, c.1560 [BSB Cod.Icon 390:749]. This form of saw is fesswise by default.

We also have the “handsaw”, simply a serrated blade with a handgrip. This form, though not yet found in period armory, is found in the Bedford Book of Hours, early-15^th C. [Singer plate 30]; it has been accepted for Society use. It has the same default, or lack thereof, as the goldsmith’s framesaw; the illustration shows a handsaw palewise.

Stephen Treebane bears: Argent, a frame saw palewise azure.

Giles of Gamph bears: Per chevron azure and Or, an oak tree eradicated between two bearded axes and a frame saw fesswise, all counterchanged.

Konrad Lockner of Idelberg bears: Counter-ermine, a scarpe gules, overall a wyvern displayed argent maintaining in the dexter claw a bow saw and in the sinister claw a mallet proper.

Tancred of Tangewood bears: Argent, in pale a two-man cross-cut saw and two hammers in saltire sable all within a bordure sable semy of maple leaves argent.

Pearce Redsmythe bears: Purpure semy of rivets Or, a goldsmith’s framesaw bendwise argent, on a chief Or three Bowen crosses sable.

Tomas y Saer bears: Per pale gules and sable, in saltire a Lochaber axe and a handsaw both argent hafted Or, within an orle Or.

Roundel

Roundel (Period)

A roundel is an ancient heraldic charge, consisting of a simple circular shape. Its use dates from the earliest heraldic records: bezants are found in the canting arms of Biset, c.1244 [Asp2 222].

Roundels of different tinctures have special names in blazon: A roundel Or may be termed a “bezant”; a roundel argent, a “plate”; gules, a “torteau”; vert, a “pomme”; sable, a “gunstone”, “pellet”, or “ogress”; azure, a “hurt”; purpure, a “golpe”. The use of these special names is discretionary. Note that only “bezant”, “plate”, “torteau” and “pellet” have been found in period blazons.

Also included in the roundel family is the “fountain“, a roundel barry wavy azure and argent. A Society-specific variant is the “t’ai-ch’i”, a roundel per fess embowed-counterembowed argent and sable, charged with two counterchanged roundels. As a non-European artistic motif, the t’ai-ch’i is not currently registerable; those already registered are deemed a step from period practice.

T’ai-ch’i (Disallowed)

Roundel echancré (Disallowed)

Roundels with complex edges (e.g., the “roundel echancré”, with three semi-circular notches; the “roundel embattled”; &c) have been registered in the past; but their use has been disallowed, pending evidence of period use.

The roundel is considered a shape upon which arms may be borne; thus, like the lozenge and escutcheon, when used as a fieldless badge it must not itself be charged. See also astrolabe, bowl (dish), egg, labyrinth, moon, shield, sphere, yarn.

The Exchequer bears: Azure, a pale checky gules and argent between six bezants in pale three and three.

Alewijn van Zeebrouck bears: Sable, three roundels argent.

Nigel the Byzantine bears: Purpure bezanty and a bordure Or.

Duncan of Blackrock bears: Per fess and per bend sinister argent and vert, two pellets in bend.

Marius del Raut bears: Per chevron ermine and sable, three roundels counterchanged.

Ynir Cadwallen bears: Azure, a roundel echancré and in base a bar Or.

Morgan ap Llewellan Peregrine bears: Sable, a t’ai-ch’i, the line of division forming a hawk’s head erect, voided, orbed argent.

Mistholme

heraldry, illumination, and random jottings