CR - Name and Armory Ramblings

[Timothy A. McDaniel]

Reginlief wrote:
> A wolf is a symbol of fierceness in battle, of freedom.

Symbology is always a tricky subject.  Duchess Willow did an
article for a Known World Heraldic Symposium some years ago.
She looked at five period books.  She found eleven different
"meanings" for gold ... nine of them distinct.  Did you know
white was the color of mourning?  It was if you were the
Queen of France, at least durning part of period.  (I recall
seeing elsewhere a statement that white has also been used
around the Med basin for mourning.)

I don't know about attributed symbols in period for beasts,
but from the little I've seen (chroniclers writing about
"ravaging wolves" when describing armed raids, versus "Coeur
de Lyon"), I'd rather expect lions to be more frequently
viewed in period as symbols of fierceness in battle, and
wolves as hideous destroyers.

Lest I be thought to be anti-wolf: for some years I've been
a supporter of Wolf Park in Battle Creek, Indiana.  I
"adopted" the alpha female for about 5 years, until she
recently passed away.  (I was even allowed to go in with
her, and she licked my face!  And then wandered off,
unfortunately.  I guess she didn't like the taste of
sunscreen.)  They're a great place.  I can get you their
address if you like.

Real wolves are neat.  I gather that medieval attitudes were
that they weren't.  They certainly were rare in period
armory.

Daniel de Lincolia
-- 
Tim McDaniel.   Reply to tmcd at crl.com; if that fail, tmcd at austin.ibm.com
is work account.  tmcd at tmcd.austin.tx.us ... is wrong tool.  Never use this.
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