Double Headed Dragon?

 
gilgamasheck
 
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gilgamasheck
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17 June 2008 02:24
 

I was thinking, there are tons of examples of double headed eagles but I don’t think I’ve ever seen an example of a double headed dragon in heraldry. Has anyone ever noticed one displayed like the germanic and russian eagles?

 
kimon
 
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kimon
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17 June 2008 09:00
 

It’s interesting that to you, the double-headed eagle is German or Russian. Having grown up in Greece, the double-headed eagle is to me associated with the Orthodox Church and the Buzantine Empire smile

Though I cannot find an example right now, I have seen shields that depict multi-headed dragons.

Also, in Homer’s Iliad, Agamemnon’s breast-plate was charged with a 3 headed dragon.

 
gilgamasheck
 
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gilgamasheck
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17 June 2008 11:30
 

yes, I forgot about the Byzantine empire! And Serbia etc. etc. Albania…but for modern purposes (and I say modern loosely) its commonly associated with Germany and Russia heraldically, to me at least. I wasn’t aware of the breast plate thing. Thank you for pointing that out smile I hope someone can find an example of such a charge..

 
Donnchadh
 
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Donnchadh
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17 June 2008 13:30
 

Ton de Witte shared with me a year or so ago some blips from a book by von Volbroth, IIRC, that had all sorts of mythical creatures. i can’t recall if there was a double-headed dragon in there, but i’ll email, or PM, him and ask if recalls one.

 
Daniel C. Boyer
 
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Daniel C. Boyer
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17 June 2008 14:41
 

Let’s not forget as well that the hydra, very, very rarely appears as a charge in heraldry, and is depicted as a seven-headed dragon, although in nature it seems to have a different appearance.

 
Chuck Glass
 
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Chuck Glass
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17 June 2008 18:37
 

Look at the arms of Kolín, a little over half of the way down at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Dragons_in_heraldry.  It looks like a double headed dragon there.

 
Chuck Glass
 
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Chuck Glass
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17 June 2008 18:43
 

OK, it looks like the link, as it appears in my reply, does not work correctly.  However, it’s at the wikipedia site, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Illustrated_atlas_of_French_and_English_heraldic_terms under the dragon category.

 
David Pritchard
 
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David Pritchard
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17 June 2008 20:20
 

kimon;59369 wrote:

It’s interesting that to you, the double-headed eagle is German or Russian. Having grown up in Greece, the double-headed eagle is to me associated with the Orthodox Church and the Buzantine Empire


The bicephalous eagle became associated with the Russian Empire because of the marriage of Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow to Princess Sophia Paleologus, grand-daughter of Manuel II Paleologus, Emperor of Byzantium. Their son, Basil III Tsar of Russia adopted his maternal family’s heraldic insignia and combined it with the arms of Moscow in 1497, forty-four years after the capture of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks.

 

When one writes of the bicephalous eagle being associated with the German Empire they should rather write the Holy Roman Empire so as to not confuse the reader. If I remember correctly, the rights to use the heraldic bicephalous eagle were sold to the Holy Roman Emperor by the two Byzantine Komnenos princes who were at the time refugees following the capture of Constantinople.

 

Back to the original question concerning the double headed dragon. I am not familiar with one but the mythological Hydra, which has been used in heraldry, has multiple heads. There is one heraldic reptilian monster, the amphisboena, that does have two heads although it would be best described as a winged serpent with an additional head at the end of the tail.

 
Charles E. Drake
 
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Charles E. Drake
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18 June 2008 01:36
 

Of course, there is that seven-headed dragon in The Revelation of St. John, the one ridden by the scarlet woman. I’d be suspicious of anyone with that dragon on his arms. (Although anyone with a dragon might be suspect. wink)

/Charles

 
Donnchadh
 
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Donnchadh
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18 June 2008 01:38
 
 
Dohrman Byers
 
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Dohrman Byers
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18 June 2008 02:16
 

The Kolin arms look to me more like two wyverns with their necks intertwined. I see two heads, two necks, two bodies, two tails—but only two wings. On balance, though, two wyverns, simplified by not showing all four wings.

I do think I’ve seen a bicephalous dragon, but I haven’t yet found where.

 
emrys
 
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emrys
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18 June 2008 06:24
 

I can’t recall seeing one but i will have a look in my books (that is when I can get near to them I am moving to a new house at the moment)

 
Alexander Liptak
 
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Alexander Liptak
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18 June 2008 08:33
 

ive only heard of a hydra used in crests. i dont have my books at hand, but if i recall somewhat correctly a hydra was given as a crest to an officer after the defeat in battle of a multinational foe.  the hydra is generally shown with five or seven heads as a norm if not specified.  however, it may be observed with any number of heads if so specified in the description.  the hydra is always shown as a dragon, that is with four legs, just with two or more necks and heads.

http://www.blackdrago.com/images/heraldic_hydra.gif

 
liongam
 
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liongam
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19 June 2008 04:40
 

The hydra in the form of an heraldic dragon with seven heads was granted in relatively recent times heraldically speaking by The College of Arms as a crest in the armorial bearings of Alexender Crispin, Lord of the Manor of Dodbrook in the County of Devon in 1927.  I believe that mention of this particular grant is found in the late Rodney Dennys’ ‘An Heraldic Imagination’.

For all those interested in fabulous and mythical beasts that are found both in history and heraldry you should visit the website of The College of Dracology - www.dragonlore.co.uk - upon this website you find the entire archive of the College’s Journal ‘Dragonlore’ which makes very good reading indeed!

 

All the best

 

John

 
emrys
 
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emrys
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28 June 2008 18:19
 

finally I have had a look in my books and came up with this :

http://xs228.xs.to/xs228/08266/double_headed_dragon200.jpg

 

the picture is from Fabelwesen der Heraldik by C.A. von Volborth there is no familyname given or any other name so I am not sure if the arms are in use, but still a nice picture by the master painter von Volborth. :D

 
gilgamasheck
 
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gilgamasheck
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01 July 2008 10:55
 

thank you so much, im glad to see it. its interesting and I wish i had it in my heraldry clipart software but I don’t. Ugh.