ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2415 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2415 ************************************ 2 Jan 2002 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for a German nobleman in the 1450s, and whether he might have borne the arms "Or, a double-headed eagle and to sinister six wolves teeth sable". Here is what we have found. You asked us almost the same question a year-and-a-half ago. You can find the report we wrote at that time on the web: http://www.s-gabriel.org/1965 We have nothing to add to our comments about your name. As we discussed in previous mail, your new heraldic design is still too similar to the arms of the Holy Roman Empire (Or, a double-headed eagle displayed sable) to be appropriate for use in the Society. As we discussed in May 2000, we strongly recommend avoiding the double-headed eagle because of its associations with imperial heraldry. Wolves' teeth were never a common charge, but they were used in German heraldry. If your goal is to have arms that are particularly German, wolves' teeth are a good choice. However, we recommend against using wolves' teeth in combination with another charge: In almost every period example we've seen, they were used on their own. We have seen examples with sets of three or four teeth, usually all issuant from one side of the shield [1, 2]. On reconsideration, we don't think that wolves' teeth issuant from sinister base, which we recommended last year, is a plausible design for your period. A design like "Or, four wolves' teeth issuant from sinister sable" is much more appropriate. We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Modar Neznanich, Pedro de Alcazar, Talan Gwynek, Rouland Carre, and Will Dekne. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 25 Dec 2001 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme and Akagawa Yoshio, _A Pictorial Dictionary of Heraldry as Used in the Society for Creative Anachronism_, 2nd ed. (privately published), s.v. tooth. [2] We have found a couple examples of other uses of wolves' teeth in Siebmacher, Johann, _Johann Siebmachers Wappenbuch von 1605_, 2 vols., ed. Horst Appuhn (Dortmund: Harenberg, 1988, 1989). Schinsky: Gules, three wolves' teeth issuant from base argent. The teeth are concave to sinister, so that as they rise from base they head toward dexter and then curl up and away toward sinister chief. The sinister-most is a bit shorter than the other two and starts just a little further up the flank than the dexter-most. There is not enough room for a charge in chief except perhaps a skinny horizontal charge. Von Keudel: Argent, a fess vert, in chief three wolves' teeth issuant from dexter and three more issuant from sinister sable. Here the teeth are concave toward base. There is absolutely no room for another charge in chief.