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The khazâd
O
ur
knowledge of Dwarvish heraldic or emblematic customs is extremely
limited. What we know of it comes from one sole example: the carvings
on the Doors of Durin, the west gate of Moria. On the gate was seen,
among other things, the emblems of Durin the Deathless. They
consisted of a hammer and an anvil, surmounted by a crown which was
surrounded by seven stars. The stars represented the constellation of
the Valacirca, or the Plough, which Durin saw above his head when he
looked into the Kheled-zâram. The Dwarves were always associated
with smithying, a tribute to their maker Aule the Smith of the Valar,
which should explain the hammer and anvil. [4]
THE HOBBITS
We know virtually nothing about Hobbit customs regarding emblems. We do know that they used logotypes, however: when Merry and Pippin investigated the wreck of Isengard, they found two barrels of pipeweed. Both were marked with "the Hornblower brandmarks" -- but we are not told what they looked like [14].
MORGOTH AND HIS LEGACY
A common denominator of the heraldry for the two Dark Lords and their followers is the preference of black.
W
hen
Morgoth
slew Fingolfin, his shield was "sable unblazoned" and his
armour was black. The lack of any charge is not only fitting for the
personification of the Darkness, but also hints at Morgoth's
nihilistic disposition. [15]
S
auron's
device echoes Morgoth's sable background. The Red Eye was the common
symbol for Sauron in the Third Age, even when talking about him as a
person [13, 16].
It symbolizes his watching from the Dark Tower all over Middle-earth,
especially after the One Ring. The eye drawn here is based on the
dustjacket designs for The
Lord of the Rings
made by Professor Tolkien.
W
hen
Sauron overran Minas Ithil, the city aquired a new emblem. The emblem
of Minas
Morgul
showed a moon "disfigured by a ghastly face of death" [16].
The exact arrangement of the skull and the moon is of course
difficult to tell. The moon was probably a remnant from before the
takeover by Sauron: Minas Ithil means "Tower of the Moon".
T
he
Mordor
Special Mission Flying Corps Emblem
is described out of context, but (being preserved) the complex design
of this emblem makes it unique in all the known Arda. It apparently
was a badge that applied to Sauron's air-borne troops, probably
including the later incarnations of the Nazgûl and, perhaps, any
remaining dragons under Sauron's command. The "wings" at
the side of the emblem are given a feather-like texture, which might
indicate that they were originally real wings. A mystifying scribble,
saying "Seen from below", actually hints that the emblem
portrays one of Sauron's flying creatures, and the small "horns"
indicated between the wings and the body of the creature could then
be the feet of someone riding the beast. But it is clear that if so,
the portrait must be extremely stylized. On the wings can be seen the
image of Sauron's
eye,
multiplied like the eyes on peacock's wings. [1]
I
n
the Battle of the Pelennor Fields one of the chieftains of the
Haradrim
under Saurons command had a "black serpent upon scarlet" on
his standards. It seems that that very battle was also the end of
this device, because the chieftain and his followers fell victims for
the wrath of the Rohirrim, "and the black serpent foundered."
[17]