Animal Blazonry

The Honorable Lord Eldred Ælfwald, Gordian Knot Herald
This course is intended to intsruct on how to blazon animals, and variations on their postures.

Positions of Animals and Monsters

In period armory, beasts and monsters were drawn such that their main features were easily seen and identified, and this convention should continue to be used. To show their features to the best advantage a variety of "poses" or attitudes were adopted for beasts. Since the features of land-based beasts are different from those of water or air-based beasts, there are different attitudes for each category. One thing to note is that the default position for a beast or monster to be facing is to dexter (the viewer's left). The following pages list most of the known postures for beasts, though by no means is it comprehensive. Among the postures are several SCA invented postures and I have attempted to identify which ones were common in period.

Under the Sea (fish)

Fish are fairly simple to blazon. There are only four basic postures for a fish. However, there is one "fish" that is a bit different--the dolphin. Normally we think of a porpoise as a dolphin. In actuality, there is an heraldic dolphin that is classified as a "monster". The heraldic dolphin is blazoned the same way as any other fish, however, when drawn, they are depicted in a reverse "S-curve" shape.

hauriant
positioned vertically with heads rising upwards--a common posture.
urinant
positioned vertically with heads sinking downwards--a rare posture.
naiant
swimming fesswise--a common posture.
embowed
applies to any fish that has its body arched as if it were leaping. Think of hauriant with the fish curved in an arc with the bend to the right. Sometimes it is emblazoned naiant embowed (period Frech) where the fish forms an "arch".
erect
applies to any sea monster--the top half is essentially rampant and the bottom half is coiled into a loop.

 

On the Land (Lions, tygers, and bears! Oh, my!)

Quadrupeds

rampant
beast is standing upright on one hind leg (segreant for winged monsters) with forelegs outstretched as if attacking. A common posture for carnivorous beasts and monsters.
salient
beast is leaping or jumping--forelegs off ground (forcene for horses). Rare in period armory.
passant
beast is walking (or running) with far foreleg raised and far hind leg moved slightly forward. A common posture for non-carnivorous beasts.
statant
beast is standing still on all four legs--all legs should be visible. Less common than passant.
sejant
beast is seated with forelegs down and together. Tail is up by default if the beast has a tail.
sejant erect
beast is seated, but has forelegs off ground as if attacking.
couchant
beast is lying on all fours with its head erect like the sphinx (lodged for deer). The tail curls under the body of the animal and emerges just ahead of the haunches then rises above the back. Appears to be rare in period armory, except for a few animals, such as the dog and the stag.
dormant
beast is sleeping--essentially couchant with head down. If the beast has a tail it is down and coiled around the animal. Very rare in period armory.
affronte
beast is facing viewer. The normal posture is sejant, although the SCA allows statant affronte. Rare in period.
Note: In SCA armory there is considered to be no difference between:
rampant, salient, sejant, and sejant erect;
couchant and dormant;
passant and statant.

Insects and Tortises and Amphibians

tergiant
an overhead view of the beast as it crawls along.
volant-en-arriere (or volant)
winged insects in flight viewed from above.
displayed
the wings are outstretched--used for butterflies, moths, and other insects that are mostly wing.
Creatures such as crickets and grasshoppers that are better identified from the side might be blazoned as statant. The exact emblazon is left to the good sense of the artist.

Snakes (eels and reptiles)

glissant
slithering along usually either fesswise or to chief. Almost straight.
ondoyant (or undoyant)
undulating or very wriggly. Again, usually to chief or fesswise.
nowed
knotted. In a loose knot that looks like an untightened overhand knot or a pretzel.
erect
ready to strike. The snake is shown in a reverse S-curve(default) so the entire length of the body is seen. This attitude is one that appears to be post period, but is still acceptable.
coiled erect
bottom portion coiled, head up and ready to strike. An SCA invented posture probably derived from fantasy art, heavy metal album covers, or tattoos seen in a parole officer's waiting room.

Humans and Humanoids

The default posture for humans is statant affronty. Anything else is almost never met with in Period heraldry. Sometimes if a human being is better described in a different position the posture will be changed accordingly. "An archer statant maintaining and drawing a bow" would naturally be seen in profile, as would "a knight armed cap-a-pie brandishing a sword upon a horse courant caparisoned...".

Angels have their wings displayed and inverted by default. They are usually found statant affronty in both SCA and Period heraldry.

An armored human is armed. If the armor covers all of his body he is armed cap-a-pie (literally "head to toe"). Clothing is blazoned as vested. Hair is described as crined. These details are usually optional and give no difference in SCA heraldry but are neat to know.

Beasts of the Air (birds or monsters that are mostly wing)

rising
wings are open, as if the bird is taking off. There are a variety of postures and wing positions associated with rising. In some cases the bird is seen from the side. In other cases it is seen from the front. The phoenix is always blazoned as rising and always seems to be displayed affronty. Depending on the bird the head could be up or down.
addorsed
both wings are behind the bird's head in a natural posture. See displayed for additional modifiers.
displayed
wings outstretched to either side of the avian. When the wings are displayed or addorsed, there are two ways that they may be shown: elevated--with the wing tips up; inverted--with wing tips down. Within the SCA, there is no difference given between elevated and inverted wings.
close
wings are closed. A peacock close is blazoned pavonated. Close is a common attitude for "lesser" birds. Note: any raptor close will be blazoned as a falcon. An owl or bat close will be depicted affronty.
striking
raptor in flight with head down and talons out streched to grasp. Tends to look like a biker tattoo. In period armory, this was blazoned as rousant or trussing. May be enhanced with another bird (usually lying close fesswise) as "preying upon an X".
affronty
as with land beasts, avians can be shown affronty. Some such as the owl and the bat are much more identifiable this way.
statant
this posture is normally reserved for long-legged avians such as the heron and the crane.
in her piety
reserved for pelicans, the pelican is shown beak to breast with blood dropping to pelican chicks.
in its vigilance
reserved for cranes, it is shown with head up and one leg raised grasping a rock.
in his pride
reserved for peacocks, it is shown statant affronty with the tail feathers spread.
volant
horizontally in flight. There are a variety of ways to position the wings. The normally accepted practice is to show the bird as if it were banking or circling. Please avoid drawing the bird with both wings up--this appears to be an SCA invention.
migrant
a bird in flight palewise, viewed from the top(tergiant). This appears to be an SCA invention--avoid, as it is virtually indistinguishable from displayed.

Neither Fish Nor Fowl

Creatures that don't have a whole lot of movement or which don't really have a logical posture don't have their posture blazoned. For example, a snail or an octopus is just going to be blazoned as such but without a posture. There is no "logical" view of a snail except the side view. There is no logical view for an octopus except for head in the middle with the tentacles sort of fanning out from the center (sort of a cephalopod in its splendour).

So what about heraldic monsters? Since many heraldic monsters are combinations of heraldic beasts, and combine two or more different types of beasts, how do we draw them? The answer is "Use your own judgement." A sea-monster is normally blazoned erect--the forepaws are as if the beast is rampant and the tail is looped. If the monster has legs, it can be blazoned using some if not all of the land attitudes. A dragon may be blazoned using any land or air beast attitudes, yet a wyvern cannot as it only has two legs.

Attitude Adjustments

Major Adjustments

In addition to the normal postures, there are a few other postures that involve multiple beasts or a beast and another object. Creatures that don't really have a front or a back when viewed in a heraldic position aren't blazoned in this fashion. For example, you wouldn't have "two snakes glissant respectant" or "two fish hauriant addorsed".
combattant
any two carnivorous beasts facing one another across the center line of division
respectant
any two peaceful beasts facing one another across the center line of division.
addorsed
any two beasts back to back. Do not confuse with addorsed with regard to wings of avians.
sustaining an < object >
a beast may hold a large object in two paws/talons. The object must be large enough that it could be used as a separate charge group.
One thing to note is that positions such as combattant and addorsed may fit our modern notions of symmetry by being mirror images. However, to the people of the Middle Ages, two beasts of the same type facing the same direction would have constituted symmetry. This doesn't preclude the use of such postures, but it gives you something to think about when you design your armory.

Minor Adjustments

Minor changes to a beast include the position of the head or the tail, tinctures of minor details such as eyes, claws. None of these changes will count as a difference between two beasts. Such details are usually too small to be noticed at a distance.
regardant
applied to any beast--looking over its shoulder
guardant
applied to any beast--looking out towards viewer
coward
with tail between legs (for tailed beasts and monsters)
maintaining an < object >
a beast may hold a small object in a single paw/mouth/ beak/talon/etc.
vorant
beast is eating another (small) beast.
nowed(or knowed)
in a loop or knot--used to describe tails and serpents
flamant
for traditionally fire-breathing beasts, flames issue from the mouth
armed
refers to the tincture of the claws, teeth and horns (and beak of a bird or monster).
orbed
refers to the tincture of the eyes
langued
refers to the tincture of the tounge.
queued
refers to the tincture of the tail
crined
refers to the tincture of the mane or hair(of humanoids)

Animals' Heads

How does one deal with just the head of an animal? There are four basic positions for an animal's head:

cabossed
simply a frontal view of the animal's face. The neck is not shown in this depiction.
couped close
a side view of the head only.
couped
a side view of the head with the neck shown. The neck ends in a simple horizontal line. Couped means "cut" in French, so this depiction of an animal's head with smooth "cut" at the neck makes logical sense.
erased
Similar to couped, but the neck ends in a ragged edge. Put grossly, the head was ripped off.

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