pauldron


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pauldron

(ˈpɔːldrən)
n
(Arms & Armour (excluding Firearms)) either of two metal plates worn with armour to protect the shoulders
[C15: from French espauleron, from espaule shoulder; see epaulette]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

paul•dron

(ˈpɔl drən)

n.
plate armor for the shoulder and upper arm.
[1400–50; earlier paleron, poleron, late Middle English polron, pollerons (pl.) < Middle French espalleron shoulder. See epaulet]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
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References in periodicals archive ?
It is partially gathered on his right shoulder under a gold lion mask pauldron while short pleats fall on both sides of a gold apotropaic head of Medusa, the Gorgoneion, centered on his chest.
One last motif, the lion mask pauldron, is not linked to any of the named deities in classical tradition, but lion imagery was associated with the king.
The lion was a symbol of regal and martial power long before it became emblematic of the deified hero Hercules, whose legends maintained a sustained presence in art and literature from antiquity through the Renaissance.(34) On Hellenistic and Roman imperial coins and in sculpture, the skin of the Nemean lion was worn as a cloak with the head framing the wearer's face; lion heads or masks were placed on the sword and boots of armed figures but not on the shoulder defense.(35) The lion mask pauldron seemingly first appeared in art during the fourteenth century; over the next two hundred years it and variations of the lion motif proliferated.(36) Thus, the lion mask pauldron in the miniature might continue a once meaningful, then repetitive, artistic nuance.
A tie in with recent shooter Star Wars Battlefront, the headset's cans are designed to look like the Empire's Sandtrooper forces - those Stormtroopers that run around the desert with orange pauldrons. It's a fun design, although only a hardcore Star Wars fan will spot the shared design language.
The complete look appears on the left, while the right displays the individual parts--the helmet, gorget, pauldrons, couters, vambraces, gauntlets--all highly detailed, colored, and set against a pale ground.
A particular highlight is an armour piece presented by dealer Garth Vincent, which includes rare pauldrons and besagews (circular defences used to protect the armpit region).
Pauldrons would have been worn by a heavy cavalryman.
The joust may still have been dangerous, but every effort was made to minimize risk with heavy equipment - hence the retirement of the great helm from the battle to the lists: and hence, too, the self-breaking lances and over-large pauldrons of the next century.