page10
124
Fighting with the Longsword: Modern-day HEMA Practices
Figure 5 – The “Seven Swords” from the Getty’s MS Ludwig XV 13, fol. 32
Digital Image Courtesy of the Getty’s Open Content Program
Animal symbolism was very common in the middle ages, but a review of the bestiaries
of the time does not really help us further:

The lynx is seen in the shape of a wolf, but with spots like a leopard; its urine
turns into a precious stone, and its eyesight so keen that it can see through
walls.
15

The main attributes of the elephant are its size, age, memory, and its strength,
which enables it to carry a castle on its back; it supposedly has no leg joints so
once fallen cannot get up. Its main enemy is the dragon.
16

The tiger’s main attributes are his strength and superior speed – a horseman
cannot outrun a tiger, and needs to resort to stratagems to escape. The name
“tigris” is said to derive from the Persian word for “arrow”.
17
15
<http://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast135.htm> [queried 15 May 2017].
16
<http://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast77.htm> [queried 15 May 2017]; in London the guild of the
Worshipful Company of Cutlers features an elephant and castle on their coat of arms.