15thc perception on swallowtail merlons?

[Pierre Dumont Himself]

Has anyone ever seen swallowtail merlons that have something in the middle?

Real merlons have a military purpose,namely protect soldiers on the walls from arrows and stones of the enemy below.  I suppose that the notch in the swallowtail variant was meant to support a firearm or crossbow. No?

The "triple tail" merlons in that image are obviously inspired by the military ones, but are purely decorative.  Behind them is a slanting tile roof, with no space for soldiers to stand on.

All the best, --stolfi

There are relatively few castles with merlons that are small enoguh for a crossbow to sit on, and none of them have such a support in the middle. Normally, their purpose is to hide the man while he cocks the crossbow, after which he leans out in order to shoot with greater accuracy. This is oviousy not the case here, since the castle is fictional and designed to appear pompous. The slender body of the merlons beneath the swallotail is documented, and likely ornamental. As you can see, the towers in the back have regular ones.