Heraldry

The idea of the shield as symbolic of values and beliefs, of history and philosophy, is an ancient one. A good herald 'reads' a shield, and knows at once the biography of the knight behind it.

However, there is one caveat. The shield must be properly blazoned. It must have true heraldry behind the choice of field, the choice of divisions and quarterings, the choice of charges. Then only can the reading be proper.

It looks like I must blazon the Shield of the Wyverns for posterity now, reading it as the Dauntless might have, had he lived to see it. I am to be a herald, a teller of life stories, a semiotic reader who transforms symbols into narrative.

And all this, in the space of 24 hours. Joy can be beyond belief.