2nd Path: Shields of Timeless Myths
January 10 2000
When I created the Arthurian Legends section, I wanted to create a shield to put in the front page of the new section. I came up the idea of shield with a red eagle symbol in the centre.
Actually, the shield came in two different colours: blue and grey. There were two shades for each colour – one dark shade, and the other lighter.
I also shrunk these shields, to be used for my buttons that I'm sure you have noticed, on the menu pages of Arthurian Legends, Camelot and Age of Chivalry.
Later, I included the shield in front of two crossed swords (one red pommel and one green pommel).
For some background, I put a red sun behind the shield, like the one displayed on the home page of Arthurian Legends.
I included further additional shields on November 24, 2004.
Here, the modification to the shield was superficial, just in a different colour – black.
Oh, the hawk is in the colour gold, instead of the usual red hawk.
This was made specifically for the Sir Gawain page, with this black shield, but with a red sun in the background.
Sir Gawain was the nephew of King Arthur. Gawain's original name in the Welsh works was Gwalchmai or Gwalchmei, which means the "Hawk of May". Gwalchmai was frequently referred to as Gwalchmai fab Gwyar, and he first appeared in Culhwch and Olwen (c. 1100), one of the eleven Welsh stories in the Mabinogion. The month of May was traditionally the start of summer in the Celtic calendar.
If you are wondering if this is the type of design of Gawain's shield, then I would answer you with a "no". I designed the shield in this way because of his original Welsh name, not because he carrying a black shield with a hawk device. According to the tale, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the device on the hero's shield was an occult symbol – the pentagram.
By Jimmy Joe
