Search Results for: book

Book

Open book (Period)

Closed book (Period)

A book is a set of pages of paper or parchment, bound along one edge, with leather or wooden covers. A book may be “open”, with the cover laid flat, or “closed”, with cover shut. As there’s no heraldic default, the open or closed state must be explicitly blazoned. Open books have their spines palewise by default (as in the arms of Oxford University, c.1450 [DBA2 193]), while those of closed books are fesswise by default (as in the arms of Cambridge University, 1572 [Hope 73]). By Society convention, a book “bound proper” is bound in brown leather.

Books are sometimes drawn with seals, or with metal clasps and hinges; these are considered artistic license, and are not normally blazoned in Society heraldry. Books may also have writing on the pages; this too is normally ignored as artistic license, but in cases where there are few, large letters, they may be treated as tertiary charges. See also billet, scroll, tablet (Mosaic).

The College of Boethius bears: Or, five open books in saltire, on a chief azure three laurel wreaths Or.

Emma Randall bears: Sable, three open books Or.

Angharad of the Coppery Shields bears: Vert, three closed books palewise, spines to sinister Or.

Winged monsters

Lion of St. Mark statant guardant (Period)

Winged stag segreant (Accepted)

This class of monster consists of beasts with wings grafted to their shoulders. Almost any beast may be so treated, such as the winged fox in the arms of Fuchs, mid-16^th C [NW 37], or even the winged fish in the arms of von Bruecdorp or Brockdorf, c.1370 [Gelre 33v]. Even other monsters, if normally wingless, may have wings added. The wings are eagle’s wings by default; other types of wings, such as bat’s wings, are also found in Society armory, but are unattested in period armory. Such cases must be explicitly blazoned. (This doesn’t apply to those monsters whose definitions include wings, such as the dragon.)

There are special terms for some winged monsters. A haloed winged lion may be blazoned a “lion of St. Mark”; it is found in the civic arms of Venice, 1413 [Conz.Const. cciii]. (St. Mark was the patron saint of the city.) A haloed winged ox may be blazoned an “ox of St. Luke”; it is found in the arms of Caravello, 1413 [Conz.Const. cliii]. Both evangelists’ monsters are frequently shown maintaining a book, that being their attribute, but such cases are nonetheless explicitly blazoned.

Bat-winged boar courant (Accepted)

Winged dolphin naiant (Accepted)

Rampant winged monsters may be blazoned “segreant”, since that term may be applied to any monster “half-bird, half-beast”; in that case, the posture of the wings is defined by the term. Winged monsters statant or couchant do not need their wings’ posture blazoned, either: the wings will be addorsed by default, that being their most distinguishable posture. The term “volant”, however, is ill-defined for non-birds, and should not be used for winged monsters; instead, the posture of the body should be blazoned in a standard way, with the wings’ position made explicit (e.g., a “winged lion courant, wings elevated and addorsed”).

The illustrations show a lion of St. Mark statant guardant; a winged stag segreant; a bat-winged boar courant, wings elevated and addorsed; and a winged dolphin, wings addorsed. For specific entries, see humanoid monster (angel), pegasus, pithon. See also winged charges.

Jon de Cles bears: Gules, a winged camel trippant argent.

Jean Pierre de Sabre bears: Or, a winged fish volant sable.

Harold von Auerbach bears: Vert, a bat-winged boar salient argent.

Hastini Chandra bears: Or, an Indian elephant passant gules, winged sable.

Jamie MacRae bears: Purpure, a winged stag rampant to sinister argent.

Niall Kilkierny bears: Vert, a winged sea-lion rampant Or.

Well

Open well (Period)

Covered well (SFPP)

A well is a vertical shaft sunk into the earth, from which water is drawn. It’s usually depicted as the edifice built around the hole to prevent accidents: a short masonwork wall. It’s commonly round, as in the arms of Pronner von Tahlhausen, 1605 [Siebmacher 98]; but there are also period examples of square wells (in the canting arms of Hadiswell, 1586 [Bedingfeld 58]) and hexagonal wells (in the canting arms of da Fontana, mid-15^th C. [Triv 149]).

Some period arms depict wells (of all shapes) with a swape, or lever arm for drawing water.

In more modern heraldry, the well is depicted with a wooden cover or roof, and a cradle for a pail and rope [Franklyn 346]. This form of well was the first form registered in the Society; while still permitted, its use is now considered a step from period practice.

Neither form of well is the Society default. The type of well must be explicitly blazoned: either “open” or “roofless”, or “covered” or “roofed”.

Japanese well-frame (Accepted)

There is also the “Japanese well-frame” or “well-curb” (igeta), with examples dating to the 15th Century; it’s found in the 17th Century Mon of Inoue [Xavid Pretzer, O-umajirushi: A 17th Century Compendium of Samurai Heraldry, p.218; cf. Hawley 79]. The motif is formed of four laths fretted; period examples show the laths either fretted as on a delf, or as on a mascle. The latter is the Society default. As the Japanese well-frame could also be blazoned in Western European terms, it is not a step from period practice.

For related charges, see fountain.

Jon Blackwell bears: Argent, a covered well sable.

Alina Meraud Bryte bears: Per fess rayonny azure and argent, an open book argent and a roofless well gules.

Gwenllian Brighid Hertewelle bears: Vert, in pale a stag’s head cabossed Or and a roofless stone well argent.

Kameyama Kengōro bears as a badge: Argent, the kanji shu within a Japanese well-frame sable.

Tress of hair

Looped tress of hair (Period)

A tress of hair is a plaited length of human hair, knotted at the ends. It’s a period charge, found in the canting arms (Italian trecce) of de Trecio, c.1550 [BSB Cod.Icon 270:825], and in the badge of Zouche, c.1520 [Walden 163]. The illustration shows a simple looped tress, as in the badge of Zouche; the arms of de Trecio show the tress with the ends of the loop crossed in base, which fact is blazoned. See also knot.

Katja the Forthright bears as a badge: A looped tress of hair Or surmounted by a single-sided comb sable.

Eleanor a la Tresse bears: Per bend vert and gules, a tress of hair bendwise Or between a cross of Toulouse and an open book argent.

Tennis racquet

Tennis racquet (Accepted)

A tennis racquet, or racket, is used in the game of tennis to swat the ball across the court. It consists of a round frame on a short handle, with a mesh stretched across the frame. It is a period artifact: the illustration is based on an example from 1583 [Gianni Clerici, The Ultimate Tennis Book: 500 years of the sport, fig.11]. Unremarkably, the tennis racquet doesn’t seem to have been used in period armory. The handle is to base by Society default.

Bertrand du Beaumanoir bears: Vert, two tennis rackets in saltire, a bordure embattled Or.

Tablet, Mosaic

Mosaic tablets conjoined in fess (Accepted)

A Mosaic tablet is a flat slab or plaque, suitable for enscription or engraving. Tradition makes this the form of the tablets on which Moses brought the Ten Commandments down from Sinai, hence the name. Though found in period art, we have no examples of them from period armory. In Society armory, Mosaic tablets are usually shown in conjoined pairs, though the fact is always blazoned. See also book.

Collawyn Lughaidh O Cearbhaill bears: Per fess argent and gules, in pale a lion contourny maintaining an Irish harp and two Mosaic tablets conjoined in fess counterchanged.

Sword: estoc

Estoc (Period)

The “estoc”, or “tuck”, is a sword with a narrow square blade, with no cutting edge. It was intended solely for thrusting, through gaps in the foe’s armor [Stone 223]; it was the precursor to the rapier of late period. The estoc is found in the canting arms of Tuck, 1419 [DBA4 431].

Illuminada Eugenia de Guadalupe y Godoy bears as a badge: An open book argent and overall an estoc inverted Or.

Simurgh

Simurgh (SFPP)

The simurgh is a fabulous bird of Persian legend, a repository of wisdom. It is distinguished by its long tail feathers, and for that reason may also be blazoned a “Persian peacock”. This form of the simurgh dates from the 14^th Century, in the Shahnama (Book of Kings); it seems to have derived from the senmurv of the 7^th Century, and many modern sources equate the two. The legends give the simurgh some of the qualities of the roc (enormous size) and the phoenix (immortality, wisdom); it may have been the precursor of the Russian firebird.

As an heraldic charge, the simurgh is unique to Society armory; its use carries a step from period practice. It doesn’t seem to have a default posture; the illustration shows a simurgh close.

Meara al-Isfahani bears: Or, a simurgh displayed gules within a bordure engrailed sable.

Helena de Argentoune bears: Per bend sable and gules, a simurgh volant bendwise Or.

Tavia of Persia bears: Azure, a simurgh close Or.

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.

Semy

Semy of roundels (Period)

A semy field is one strewn or powdered with many small, identical charges. In medieval usage, any number greater than six could be blazoned “semy”. (Strictly speaking, “semy” is an adjective, not a noun: it’s from the French semée, “strewn”.)

Semy charges on the field may be drawn as whole charges, placed to fit as best they can; or as an orderly array of charges, cut off by the edges of the shield. Both depictions are period, and either may be used. While semy charges are not a field treatment, in many ways they act as though they were: e.g., semy charges on a field are always blazoned immediately after the field tincture.

Charges may themselves be charged with semy charges (e.g., a bordure mullety). In those cases, the semy charges are not cut off at the edges, but are always whole.

Semy charges may only themselves be charged if the tertiary charges remain identifiable; even then, the usage is deemed a step from period practice.

The illustration is semy of roundels. Semy fields may always simply be blazoned “semy of [charges]”, but some charges have special terms when semy. “Crusilly” is semy of crosses crosslet; “semy-de-lys” is semy of fleurs-de-lys; “goutty” is semy of gouts. In like manner, “bezanty” is semy of bezants, “billety” is of billets, “mullety” is of mullets, &c.

Astra Christiana Benedict bears: Per fess azure mullety of eight points Or and purpure crusilly Or.

Gwenlliana Clutterbooke bears: Gules semy of open books Or.

Marie de Lyon bears: Or semy of suns azure.

Kosa Korotkaia bears: Argent semy of fish gules.

Nicolas de Beaumont bears: Azure semy of garbs Or.

Mistholme

heraldry, illumination, and random jottings