CH 5 (1/7) Heraldic Dragons

First part of the fifth chapter of historian Frederick William Hackwood's study of dragonlore.

FULL ILLUSTRATED TEXT
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IN heraldry the dragon, and the still stranger variants of this fabulous beast, as the griffin, the wyvern, and the cockatrice, are common charges found on the shields of a number of our old landed families. The more fanciful variants are the products of the fertile imaginations of Eastern warriors and copied from them by the victorious Crusaders as mementoes of their expedition. The heraldic dragon is a winged monster, covered with scales, and having four legs ; its tail and tongue are armed with a conventional sting. The griffin is an animal the head, shoulders, wings, and fore-feet of which resemble an eagle, the body, hind-legs, and tail being formed like a lion. The male griffin is distinguished by being destitute of wings, but having two straight horns rising from its forehead and rays of gold issuing from various parts of the body. The cockatrice has the head, body, wings, and feet of a cock (scales being substituted for feathers) and the tail of a dragon.

The wyvern differs from the cockatrice in having the head of a dragon and is usually without spurs. While the dragon has four legs, the wyvern usually has but two.

The cockatrice is mentioned several times in the Old Testament, as if it were a real creature to be found in nature. Here is the ancient legend of its origin : When the cock is past seven years old an egg grows within him, whereat he greatly wonders. He seeks privately a warm place, on a dunghill or in a stable, and scratches a hole for a nest, to which he goes ten times daily. A toad privily watches him, and examines the nest every time the cock leaves it, to see if the egg yet be laid. When the toad finds the egg, he rejoices much, and at length hatches it, producing an animal with the head, neck, and breast of a cock, and from thence downwards the body of a serpent. And this is a cockatrice.

These heraldic dragons and other armorial monstrosities are painted in various colours, and hence it is we come across green dragons or golden dragons on public-house signs, which are often copied from the armorial shields of the neighbouring landowners.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Dragon
• Dragons
• Heraldry
• Griffin
• Wyvern
• Cockatrice
• Crusades
• Crusaders
• Fantasy
• Shields
• Bible
• Audiobook

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