Document Type
Article
Abstract
In the chivalric romance Sir Eglamour of Artois, the poet represents both Eglamour and his son, Degrabell, with enigmatic armorial devices. These shields seem to defy the blazon’s traditional symbolic and visual vocabulary, requiring a deeper reading of the heraldic narrative on display by a woman who has intimate knowledge of the particular visual symbols her long-lost husband and son deploy. In short, Eglamour and Degrabell are two knights in search of a lineage, and it is the mother, Christabell’s interpretive skill rather than the many professional heralds in the story that provides it. Although medieval women did not act as heralds themselves or have the social status to describe it formally, they understood the importance of the symbolic system for promoting and advertising their family’s political power and strategic alliances. This essay will argue that the act of heraldic description is a powerful performance of social and cultural influence, and that it can be appropriated by those least likely to wield the specialized knowledge.
Recommended Citation
Vines, Amy N. "Dueling Narratives: Women and Heraldic Interpretation in Middle English Romance." Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality 60, No. 2 (2025)
