Tintin Forums

Tintinologist.org Forums / Official Tintin books /

Seven Crystal Balls: Marlinspike's coat of arms

yamilah
Member
#1 · Posted: 19 Apr 2005 13:06
What is the Marlinspike coat of arms?
Thanks for your help.
Harrock n roll
Moderator
#2 · Posted: 20 Apr 2005 11:22
I suspect it would be the Haddock family crest which is above the door at Marlinspike (you can see it in The Seven Crystal Balls).
It depicts a fish in the centre (a haddock?) with a crown.

Is that what you mean?
yamilah
Member
#3 · Posted: 20 Apr 2005 13:01
Thanks Harrock n roll for your answer.
Above the castle's door, The Seven Crystal Balls French-language edition also shows a fish, as indicated by its large gill and its fins' shape, a fish that looks more like a haddock than like a marlin... ;)

However, this obviously common fish is either described as a shark (in Le Colloque de Moulinsart by H. Van Lierde et G. du Fontbare, 1983) or as a dolphin (in Le Secret d'Hergé by S. Tisseron, 1993), depending on what the Tintin specialist wants to prove...

An amazing and funny external distortion, isn't it?
Be it mere 'absent-mindedness' or 'conspiracy' doesn't matter indeed: imho, it just shows that human science reports of simple facts can't be taken for granted when it comes to Tintin, and an 'autopsy' is required, just as it is with the funny assertion about the Ferro meridian longitude in Tintin at Sea... (see other threads).

I wish I could scan here this coat of arms, as seen in Seven Crystal Balls (p.2 or p.50).
glendale
Member
#4 · Posted: 2 Sep 2010 06:08
Has anyone noticed the crest above the front door of the Marlinspike manor?
[Moderator Note: Yes, so your post has been moved here… ;-)]

I have just turned my Tintin calendar to September, and noticed that Hergé has drawn a very unusual crest above the front door.
Is it the Captain's family crest as it looks like some sort of fish?
Bear in mind that Marlinspike did not originally belong to the Captain.
Mikael Uhlin
Member
#5 · Posted: 2 Sep 2010 06:28
Yeah, I think it's the Haddock family crest...and it's probably a haddock! And, of course, Marlinspike Hall (Moulinsart) once belonged to the ancestors of the Captain, starting with Sir Francis (Francois de Hadoque) and his three sons.
glendale
Member
#6 · Posted: 2 Sep 2010 06:39
Mikael Uhlin:
(Moulinsart) once belonged to the ancestors of the Captain

I thought the Marlinspike chateau originally belonged to those two brothers (secret of the unicorn)and Nestor was also their butler.
jock123
Moderator
#7 · Posted: 2 Sep 2010 08:18
yamilah:
a 'dolphin' (in Le Secret d'Hergé by S. Tisseron, 1993)

Actually, the description is in fact accurate, when used in relation to heraldic art.
Quite obviously from just how inaccurate a depiction it is, the Mediæval scribe or herald who first drew a dolphin had never actually seen one, but that was their idea of what a dolphin looked like, so that is how they are drawn on traditional coats-of-arms (modern heralds may choose to be more accurate, I don't know).

They are found in sculpture too - and were a staple of manufacturers of ornamental lamp-standards, if many of the lights along the banks of the Thames in Chelsea are to be believed.
They also are very prominent along the water-front in Geneva, so they made it at least as far as Switzerland, for our Swiss clairvoyant.

glendale:
I thought the Marlinspike chateau originally belonged to those two brothers (secret of the unicorn)and Nestor was also their butler.

Yes, but you seem to have overlooked that, as Mikael pointed out above, Sir Francis Haddock (the Captain’s ancestor) lived there centuries before the notorious Bird Brothers (and Nestor) did - it’s a major plot-point of the story; that’s why the Captain wanted the house, and why the Professor bought it for him.

Presumably (given that it appears to be part of the architecture) Sir Francis had his coat-of-arms incorporated into the house when it was built, and no subsequent owner had it removed.
glendale
Member
#8 · Posted: 3 Sep 2010 01:33
Thanks jock123. I should have looked back to 2005 when the question was originally raised and also this is a firm reminder for me to put time aside and re read the book again as I had quite forgotten.
Cheers.

Please be sure to familiarize yourself with the Forum Posting Guidelines.

Disclaimer: Tintinologist.org assumes no responsibility for any content you post to the forums/web site. Staff reserve the right to remove any submitted content which they deem in breach of Tintinologist.org's Terms of Use. If you spot anything on Tintinologist.org that you think is inappropriate, please alert the moderation team. Sometimes things slip through, but we will always act swiftly to remove unauthorised material.

Reply

 Forgot password
Please log in to post. No account? Create one!