Avalerion or alerion is a term for a heraldic bird. Historically, it referred to the regular heraldic eagle. Later heralds used the term ''alerion'' to refer to "baby eagles" or "eaglets". To differentiate them from mature eagles, alerions were shown as an ''eagle displayed inverted'' without a beak or claws (''disarmed''). To differentiate it from a ''decapitate'' (headless) eagle, the alerion has a bulb-shaped head with an eye staring towards the dexter (left-hand side) of the field. This was later simplified in modern heraldry as an abstract winged oval. An example is the arms of the

Duchy of Lorraine The Duchy of Lorraine (french: Lorraine ; german: Lothringen ), originally Upper Lorraine, was a duchy now included in the larger present-day region of Lorraine in northeastern France. Its capital was Nancy. It was founded in 959 following t ...

( or, on a bend

gules In heraldry, gules () is the tincture with the colour red. It is one of the class of five dark tinctures called "colours", the others being azure (blue), sable (black), vert (green) and purpure (purple). In engraving, it is sometimes depi ...

, 3 alerions abaisé

argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions t ...

). It supposedly had been inspired by the assumed arms of crusader

Geoffrey de Bouillon Godfrey of Bouillon (, , , ; 18 September 1060 – 18 July 1100) was a French nobleman and pre-eminent leader of the First Crusade. First ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1099 to 1100, he avoided the title of king, preferring that of princ ...

, who supposedly killed three white eaglets with a bow and arrow when out hunting. It is far more likely to be canting arms that are a pun based on Lorraine / Erne. (''alerion'' is a partial

anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into ''nag a ram'', also the word ...

of ''Lorraine''). Medieval bestiaries use ''alerion'' for a mythological bird described as somewhat larger than an eagle of which only a single pair was said to live at any time. A pair of eggs was laid every 60 years; after hatching, the parents drowned themselves. The term ''avalerion'' is used on the Hereford Map near the Hydaspes and the

Indus The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kash ...

, possibly based on a description by Pliny. The word's ultimate origin is unclear, possibly adapted from the German ' or ' ("eagle"). It is found in 12th-century French as ' and in

medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a Literary language, literary standard language, standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It was used f ...

as ' (a large eagle-like bird).

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References

* {{Heraldry footer Legendary birds Heraldic birds Medieval European legendary creatures Birds in mythology Fictional birds of prey Heraldic eagles

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