As a heraldic image, the VM eagle (if it is an eagle) would have its wings "splayed", like Sigismund's, so that is something they have in common. However, the division of the VM's feathers is decidedly un-heraldic. In heraldry, the large feathers are in the mid section (blue), hanging under the wings. The feathers in the red section are either absent or small. In the VM though, the top feathers are larger than the ones in the mid section, and they extend well above where the creature's head would be.
In heraldry, the tail generally goes down first, and then outward. For example, in the case of Sigismund's seal, you can see that there is first a vertical column, and then almost horizontal feathers. In the VM, we see something completely different, and you will be hard-pressed to find a heraldic eagle that looks like this.
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I'm not saying that these differences must be explained, maybe this is just the best way to draw a heraldic eagle in a root. But I don't find the resemblance as straightforward as some people claim.
Voynich historians and readers of the "Curse" will remember that the arms of Novara have the general shape of this root, first suggested by Nick Pelling.
"Curse" is notoriously unavailable, unfortunately :/
But I agree, those are some nice wings! Are there any 15thc or earlier examples?
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I don't want to argue that the root of this plant represents the arms of Novara.
There are two assumptions related to this:
1) the root is representing a heraldic eagle
2) this is then related to the origin of the Voynich MS.
Both of these are quite uncertain.
However, if anyone comes up with another heraldic explanation of this root, it would have to be better than the example of Nick, in order to be considered a candidate.
Of course, 'better' implies that a similar version was used in the early 15th c, and I don't know if that was the case for Novara.
The various Habsburg examples that have been proposed in recent years do not seem to be 'better' to me.
Yeah, I'm on the same page, Rene. If someone wants to argue a heraldic eagle as the inspiration for this root, then the existence of the "Novara type" completely undermines the relevance of the "Sigismund type". It would be interesting to know if any medieval examples exist - sounds like something for our local heraldry experts
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The Tyrolean Eagle. Sometimes with raised wing and sometimes not.
Here is a nice example.
Two different versions of the coat of arms can be found on the web. The one on the right is the official one.
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Source: R.D. 5 settembre 1929, RR.LL.PP. 20 novembre 1930. Registrato alla Corte dei Conti e trascritto nel Libro araldico degli enti morali al vol. I, pag 214.
There are a lot of heraldic eagles on the Slovenian Heraldic website collected from many different medieval sources
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Just being an eagle doesn't reveal that much. There needs to be some other distinguishing feature, as seen in the examples above, whether it's three stars, or a wreath, or two heads with halos. All there is in the VMs roots is a suggestive depiction of wings.
The VMs artist knows the primary parts of heraldic science.
Heraldic lines of division: the nebuly line
Standard ordinaries and subordinaries: the tub patterns of the VMs Zodiac, esp. Pisces outer ring
Obscure heraldic tinctures: papelonny
Historical events: the Fieschi popes identified by two-factor heraldry with further confirmations
The VMs artist would have known that heraldry doesn't use a headless eagle. Has anyone ever seen a headless eagle in heraldry? Not to mention all the other missing body parts. If anyone finds a headless eagle - or a Flug, for that matter - in heraldry, esp. prior to 1500, that would be interesting.
On the other hand, if it is proposed that this highly ambiguous eagle is indicative of some form of VMs trickery and deception, there are a few other examples.
On the linguistic side, what did 'Flug' mean in German - before the advent of aviation. I see 'Flugsand' is quicksand and wonder how that works. Also something about plotting & plotters.
I also wonder, for native speakers, how much difference there is between the sound of 'Flug' and the sound of 'Fluch', which is the word for a curse. Could this constitute a play on words and indicate that the plant is poisonous?
The Novara eagle is golden, the Habsburg eagle is black.