Heget's Blatherings

I had sigils for Saeros of all characters and obscure members of Thingol’s extended family, so today’s set finally gives heraldric devices to three important and often-mentioned dudes of Doriath. Even if personally I don’t see them as lords in their own right or that Doriath had the same rigid obsession with lords and individual heraldry as say Gondolin. Still.

• Beleg Cúthalion was easy to make a device when I decided to focus on the fact that his famous bow, Belthronding, of which he is named is made of black yew. Thus the red yew ‘fruit’ and four fronds of yew pine leaves. The curved outline evokes a black re-curved bow without being too blatant. All three devices carry over the Doriath-standard black, gray, and silver in order to incorporate its banners.
• With Mablung I used the evergreen and muted blue-green colors from accents in Elwing, Nimloth, and other relatives of Elu Thingol. The central design comes directly from Tolkien’s sigil for Queen Melian. As Mablung was chief of the March-wardens of Doriath and both a personal attendant, bodyguard, and most trusted messenger, diplomat, and representative for Thingol and Melian, he’s entitled to it. The rest of the sigil is clearly dominated by the set of large axes. Mablung weilded an ax as a weapon - as did the dwarves of which Doriath had trade and cultural exchange, the Haladim who fought along side the March-wardens, and other heroes in the Silmarillion like Tuor and Húrin. And the curving shape does hearken to a gibbous moon.
• For Daeron I had to include the calligraphic lines that appear in Saeros’s sigil but in Menegroth’s blacks and grays instead of Ossiriand greens. Then I repeated the niphredil motifs that appear in both of Lúthien’s sigils because Daeron is obsessed with her (or in older versions is just her older brother and thus not romantically linked). I also included a Cirth symbol (the one for d as the first letter of his name, echoing the g for Gandalf). Daeron is the inventor of the Cirth or Dwarvish Runes. As the inventor of a written language and the premier lore-master of an entire civilization, it was important enough to highlight on his heraldic device. He’s also the foremost elven musician to ever live, but that’s harder to put on a sigil.