[Ansteorra-archery] A short treatise on heraldry.

Richard Threlkeld rjt at softwareinnovation.com
Wed Feb 18 17:11:07 PST 2004


Though canting was done and is a major source of oohs and ahhs among the
heralds, it was actually not all that common. Especially late in period, the
arms were created by some herald for the king by his order and often was
just the next one he had in his book. They tended to use big, "butch"
geometric figures. They used them so often, they called them "ordinaries".
They also used depictions of animals like lions, birds, snakes, ... Arms
were usually pretty simple. Bordures were rare. Contrast was high. You
wanted the archers to recognize your shield at 100 yards and not kill you
;-)

Caelin on Andrede
herald at large, Ansteorra

-----Original Message-----
From: ansteorra-archery-bounces at ansteorra.org
[mailto:ansteorra-archery-bounces at ansteorra.org] On Behalf Of Rumil Fletcher
Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 10:41 AM
To: Archery within the Kingdom of Ansteorra
Subject: Re: [Ansteorra-archery] A short treatise on heraldry.

OK, just a couple more thoughts on coming up with some ideas for armory.

People sometimes say to themselves, "I like archery and drinking.  So 
I want my arms to have a bow and arrow and a mead cup."  This is not 
period usage.

Period usage uses something to remind the viewer what the person's 
name is.  For example, my name is Rumil Fletcher, and my blazon (the 
verbal description of my arms) is "Azure (blue), three arrows or 
(gold).  The matching of my name (Fletcher) to the arrows is called 
"canting" and is more appropriate.

How about some other examples of canting:

Ironwyrm - a black dragon, wyvern, gryffyn.  Black being the color of iron.
Longhair - a wooly headed man, perhaps with a braid.
Aelfwine - Literally Elf (or fairie) and Wine.  So a good cant would 
be an elf and a wine skin.
Redulf - A red wolf.
Cooper - A barrel.
Arrowsmith - An arrowhead above an anvil, or below a hammer.
Miller - a waterwheel or grindstone.
Talon of Blackoak - An uprooted black oak held by a huge truncated 
claw with talons.
Blackthorne - A branch with thorns on it.
Eadric of Hastings - An axe combattant with a kite shield to 
represent the competing armies of Harold Godwinson and William of 
Normandy.

Anyway, you get the idea.  You will need to find out what your name 
means in the original tongue, but this can get you started in the 
right direction.

Rumil
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