We turn now a few idle leaves in the ancient histories of our hobby and peruse some of those marks of distinction called armorial bearings or coats of arms.
‘Yes, I seek a man.’ Carahue’s eyes were shrewd above the rim of his goblet. ‘Mayhap you’ve heard news of him? A big fellow, about your size, but yellow-haired. Most likely he’ll ride a black stallion and bear arms either of an eagle, sable on argent, or of three hearts sanguine and three lions passant or.’ – Three Hearts and Three Lions, Poul Anderson[i]
Although it has lately fallen out of fashion, the heraldic art has long graced the pages of tabletop roleplaying and its immediate wargaming predecessors. From 1970 through 1971, the Castle & Crusade Society’s newsletter, The Domesday Book,[ii] included such material in no less than four issues, in April, June, July 1970 and April 1971. Gygax and Perren also included examples of heraldic art as illustration in Chainmail. Later, in 1980 and 1983, the World of Greyhawk enriched its setting material with many more examples. Heraldry likewise embellishes the pages of the Appendix N and the sources upon which those writers drew.
from Chainmail, 2nd edition
Although not depicted with any tincture to aid in identification, the coats of arms in Chainmail[iii] present well-recognized charges. For the eagle displayed, the obverse of the great seal of the United States on the reverse of any dollar bill is a familiar sight, among other specimens.
from the Great Seal of the United States of America; Fox-Davies’ Complete Guide[iv]
For the three lions passant guardant, three fleurs-de-lys two and one, and the three ancient crowns two and one, the royal arms of England, France, Denmark, and Sweden together present suitable models.
Erik of Pomerania, Canute IV, from Nordic Antiquities and History[v]
The Black Prince, Edmund Langley, from Eve’s Heraldry as Art[vi]
English Royal Arms, from Friar’s Basic Heraldry[vii]
The shield was of conventional heraldic form, about four feet long, and obviously new. When he took the canvas cover off its surface, which was a thin steel overlay on a wooden base, he saw a design of three golden lions alternating with three red hearts on a blue background. A dim remembrance stirred in him. He stood puzzling for a while. Was this… wait. The Danish coat of arms. No, that had nine hearts. The memory sank down again. – Three Hearts and Three Lions, Poul Anderson
cover of 1961 printing
Within the Appendix N exist numerous examples of the heraldic art. The most prominent of which is Poul Anderson’s Three Hearts and Three Lions, with the description of Holger’s coat of arms furnishing the title. As in the primary sources on which Anderson draws, the use of armorial bearings identifying a character—and either their identity or mistaken identity—often features in the narrative.
Afterward he [Carahue] and Holger checked what equipment they had. His armor was a steel corselet, flaring at the shoulders and elaborately arabesqued; a spiked helmet with chainmail earflaps; greaves atop boots of tooled leather. His shield bore a six-pointed star argent on a field azure, border gules fleury or; his weapons included a bow and arrows; he rode a slim white mare. – Three Hearts and Three Lions, Poul Anderson
While primary sources do not describe Ogier the Dane’s armorial bearings, Anderson models Holger’s on the Danish coat of arms.[viii]
illustration, Holger Danske
Of the many secondary sources narrating the life of Ogier the Dane, those of Bulfinch, Lang, and Hans Christian Andersen have perhaps been the most popular among English readers. Poul Anderson’s most direct model for Holger’s arms appears to be in Han Christian Andersen’s fairy tale of Holger Danske.
And the old grandfather nodded again; and the more he looked at his Holger Danske, the more obvious it was to him that he had carved a good figure,—nay, it even seemed to him as if it assumed the colour of life, and as if the armour glittered like iron and steel: the nine hearts in the Danish arms seemed redder and redder, while the lions, with their gold crowns on their heads, were actually leaping.
‘They are certainly the finest arms in the world,’ said the old man. ‘The lions stand for strength, and the hearts for mercy and love.’ And he gazed at the uppermost lion, and thought of King Knut, who chained illustrious England to the Danish throne; and he looked at the second lion, and thought of Waldemar, who united Denmark, and conquered the Vandal states. Then he looked at the third lion, and thought of Margaret, who was the bond of union between Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. But while he was gazing at the red hearts, they glowed yet more brightly than before, and became flames that moved, and his mind followed each of them in turn. – The Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen[ix]
Indeed, Andersen’s grandfather specifically describes the attributes of three lions and of three hearts only, somewhat different than the incompletely carved, quartered arms shown in his text’s illustration.
From Gilles Le Bouvier’s Armorial[x]
“Right now he had to keep alive in a land where a good many beings had it in for one who bore three hearts and three lions.” – Three Hearts and Three Lions, Poul Anderson
Our adventures will soon continue into the world of Greyhawk and even deeper into the Appendix N Plus wilderness!
[i] Anderson, Poul. Three Hearts and Three Lions. Doubleday, 1961.
[ii] Gygax, Gary. The Domesday Book. Castle & Crusade Society, 1970-1971.
[iii] Gygax, Gary and Perren, Jeff. Chainmail. Guidon Games, 1972.
[iv] Fox-Davies, Arthur. A Complete Guide to Heraldry. T.C. & E.C. Jack, 1909.
[v] Aarbøger for nordisk oldkyndighed og historie. Nordiske Oldskrift-selskab, 1882.
[vi] Eve, George William. Heraldry as Art. Batsford, 1907.
[vii] Friar, Stephen. Basic Heraldry. Herbert Press, 1999.
[viii] Holger is the protagonist of Anderson’s Three Hearts and Three Lions. Through primary and secondary sources he is called variously Holger Danske, Ogier the Dane, Oddgeir Danski, etc.
[ix] Andersen, H.C. The Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen. Lippincott, 1899.
[x] Berry, Gilles Le Bouvier. Armorial de GILLES LE BOUVIER, dit BERRY, héraut d’armes du roi Charles VII. 1401-1500.
Appendix N Plus 
