Wyvern
Also called Wivre.
A heraldic dragon of medieval European tradition, distinguished from the four-legged dragon by its two legs, a pair of wings, and a barbed, often knotted, serpentine tail.
At a glance
- Region
- England (place of origin)
- Trait family
- The Child-Frighteners
Near this figure
Symbols
Judged against the description by a model. Meanings are our own paraphrase.
- arrow bears The arrow denotes directed force, penetration, war, lightning, rain, fertility, solar rays, and irreversible action; Mesopotamian imagery also uses it for the star Sirius.
why
It typically has a long, scaled, serpentine body tapering into a barbed or arrow-shaped tail, which is frequently shown knotted in heraldic depictions.
- Dragon is image-domain The dragon denotes chaotic instinctual power, guardian of hoarded treasure and fertility, destructive in the West and, in China, the beneficent waterlike way of things.
why
A heraldic dragon of medieval European tradition, distinguished from the four-legged dragon by its two legs, a pair of wings, and a barbed, often knotted, serpentine tail.
Traits
Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.
Form
- Hybrid of multiple animals
why
Its head is dragon-like, with some tellings giving it an eagle-like or hawkish cast to the face, and its wings are bat-like or leathery, allowing it true flight rather than mere gliding.
- Serpentine elongated body
why
It typically has a long, scaled, serpentine body tapering into a barbed or arrow-shaped tail, which is frequently shown knotted in heraldic depictions.
Emblems
- Heraldic badge beast
why
Its name derives from Old French "wivre" or "guivre" (itself from Latin "vipera," meaning viper), and it was especially prominent in English heraldry, where it became a recognized charge distinct from the dragon proper.
Offensive powers
- Lethal breath
why
in some tellings its breath or blood is also described as poisonous, echoing broader dragon-lore about toxic dragon ichor.
Utility powers
- Flight
why
its wings are bat-like or leathery, allowing it true flight rather than mere gliding.
Roles
Judged from the works' own entries, not from the description. Carries: the figure holds the role. Meets: the role is in its stories, held by something it meets.
- Serpent carries
4 citations
- Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, A Complete Guide to Heraldry, p. 318.
- Carol Rose, Giants, Monsters, and Dragons, s.v. "Wyvern."
- George M. Eberhart, Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology, s.v. "Wyvern."
- Rodney Dennys, The Heraldic Imagination, p. 184.
- Hero meets
4 citations
- Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, A Complete Guide to Heraldry, p. 318.
- Carol Rose, Giants, Monsters, and Dragons, s.v. "Wyvern."
- George M. Eberhart, Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology, s.v. "Wyvern."
- Rodney Dennys, The Heraldic Imagination, p. 184.