Dagger (Period)

A knife is a bladed tool or weapon, used for cutting or stabbing.  The knife’s blade is proportionally shorter than that of a sword; no heraldic difference is normally counted between the two.  Like the sword, the knife is palewise, point to chief, by default.  Its “proper” coloration is with argent blade and Or quillons and handle; occasionally the handle may be light brown.

The most common form of knife, in both medieval and Society armory, is the “dagger”, called in French a poignard.  It’s a period charge, found in the attributed arms of la Montagne c.1340 [Zurich 7; also Conz.Const. xciii, 1413].

Kitchen knife (Period)

Trenket (Period)

In period armory, we also find the “kitchen knife” as in the arms of von Jaxtheim, 1605 [Siebmacher 113]; the “trenket”, a cordwainer’s or leatherworker’s knife, with a spiked moon-shaped blade, as in the arms of Benvenuti, c.1550 [BSB Cod.Icon 278:409]; knives with serrated blades, in the arms of Lepuzáin, mid-16^th C. [Armeria 359]; and a broad knife with a curved blade (cortell, coltello), found in the canting arms of Cortona, mid-15^th C. [Triv 122].

Calligrapher’s knife (Accepted)

Cinquedea (Accepted)

Examples of knives found in Society heraldry include such divers items as the “calligrapher’s knife” (the illustration is taken from an illumination of Eadwine of Canterbury c.1140; Donald Jackson, The Story of Writing, p.71); and the “cinquedea”, a 15^th C. Italian weapon whose blade is five fingers in width [Stone 181].

Half-moon knife (Accepted)

Kris (SFPP)

Other Society examples include the “half-moon knife”, a slicing tool with a crescent blade [Singer 166]; and the “kris”, a wavy bladed Malay dagger [Stone 382].  The use of the kris, as an artifact from outside Europe, is a step from period practice.

Kindjal (Disallowed)

Skene (sgian dubh, modern) (Disallowed)

Two other knives have been registered but since disallowed, pending evidence of their existence in period.  One is the “kindjal”, an Indian dagger with a round hilt; no further evidence has been found as of this writing.  The other is the “skene” or “skean”, a short dirk favored by Scotsmen.  While the modern form of skene (sgian dubh) has not been documented to period, and is therefore disallowed, a period form may be seen in the canting arms of James Skene of That Ilk, b.1544 (Lord Crawford’s Armorial, late-16^th C., fo.140v).  It appears indistinguishable from a dagger, and seems to be used solely for the cant.

Skene (Period)

For related charges, see cleaver, drawknife, fer-a-loup, shave, sickle.

The Ansteorran Scribes and Illuminators Guild bears:  Vert, a calligraphic knife and a reed pen in saltire argent, tied with a ribbon Or.

Giles William Trout bears:  Per bend sinister azure and argent, two pairs of daggers in saltire counterchanged.

Gwenere of Ben Murry bears:  Purpure, in bend two krisses inverted argent.

Shuaib Hassan bears:  Argent chapé sable, a cinquedea gules, ornamented Or.

Umbar in Harchiral Dandachi bears:  Argent, chaussé ployé cotised and in chief a kindjal dagger palewise inverted sable surmounted by a madu shield fesswise gules.

William filius Willelmi de Wyke bears:  Gules, a trenket argent.

Morgan the Tanner bears:  Or, on a hide sable a half-moon knife argent, hilted Or.

Cathbarr MacQuarrie bears:  Argent, a sea-lion vert, on a chief invected purpure a skean reversed Or.

A hammer is a tool for striking or pounding, consisting of a blunt heavy head mounted on a handle.  It’s found in the canting arms of Martel as early as 1275 [Asp2 220].  The hammer’s default orientation is palewise, head to chief, with the main striking surface facing dexter.  Its “proper” tinctures are with a black metal head and a brown wooden handle.

As regarding types of hammers, there seems to be no default form of hammer in medieval armory, and certainly not in Society armory.  Probably no other charge has engendered such confusion of types and terms.  One type of hammer has been variously blazoned a “sledge hammer”, a “smith’s hammer”, and a “stone hammer”; the term “war hammer” has been applied to three very different types.  Indeed, the unmodified term “hammer” might be emblazoned as any form of hammer; the exact variant thus counts for no heraldic difference.  Except for the mallet and the Thor’s hammer, the illustrations should be considered representative samples rather than definitions.

Hammer (Period)

Two forms of mallet (both Period)

Medievally, the most common form of hammer was drawn with claws or spikes opposite the striking face, and a handle not overlong; the illustration is taken from the arms of Martel, c.1370 [Gelre 48v].  This form is also blazoned a “martel” for canting purposes; though it’s usually assumed to be a weapon, the clawed form is also found in the arms of the Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths, 1490 [Bromley & Child 22].

Another common form of hammer in period was the “mallet”, a craftsman’s tool rather than a weapon, found in the canting arms of Mailly as early as c.1275 [ANA2 483].  The mallet’s form might vary by country or century, but was predominantly depicted in one of two basic forms, as in the illustration.

War-hammer (Period); modern war-hammer (Accepted)

Thor’s hammer (Accepted)

Also in period we find the “war-hammer”, definitely intended as a weapon:  it had a clawed striking face for breaking through armor.  It’s found in the arms of Tusser, 1559 [Bedingfeld 50], though some modern blazons mistake it for a battle-axe.  The Society has also used the term “war-hammer” for other charges, far less documentable to period.

Of the variant forms unique to Society armory, the most common is the “Thor’s hammer” or “mjolnir”, a token of the Norse thunder god.  It alone among the hammers has its haft to chief by default.  The illustration is a composite of Viking age mjolnir-pendants, from finds at Birka, Rømrsdal, and Skåne.

Armorer’s hammer (Accepted); bung-starter (Accepted)

Chasing hammer (Accepted); carver’s mallet (Accepted)

Society armory also gives us examples of the “armorer’s hammer”; the “bung-starter”, a long-handled bludger for breaking open a barrel of beer; the “chasing hammer”, used by jewelers; the “carver’s mallet”, used by woodcarvers; the “smith’s hammer”, sometimes called a “cross peen hammer”; the “ball peen hammer”; the “sledgehammer”; and the “stone (throwing) hammer”.  Of these, the stone throwing hammer has not been documented to period, either as an artifact or as a charge; pending such documentation, the stone throwing hammer has been disallowed for Society use.

Smith’s hammer (Accepted); ball-peen hammer (Accepted)

Sledgehammer (Accepted); stone throwing hammer (Disallowed)

For related charges, see pick.  See also mace, pole-arm.

Raymond of Stratford bears:  Gules, a hammer bendwise argent.

Marteau de Forgeron bears:  Quarterly gules and Or, a warhammer bendwise sable.

Lughaid Eamon MacDiarmid bears:  Or chaussé ployé vert, a smith’s hammer sable.

Sandor Hackbrett bears: Argent, two hammers in saltire vert.

Falan Bitor bears:  Per chevron argent and gules, three mallets counterchanged.

Amartine du Bon Coeur bears:  Per saltire argent and azure, four ball-peen hammers in cross, handles to center counterchanged.

Ragnar the Bold bears:  Quarterly sable and Or, a Thor’s hammer argent within a bordure counterchanged.

Laeghaire O Laverty bears as a badge:  A carver’s mallet bendwise sinister sable.

William of Woodland bears as a badge:  Gules goutty d’Or, a wooden bung-starter palewise proper.