Could some heraldic beasts have been inspired by Bjornaer Great Beasts?
I am looking at the Roude Leiw of Luxembourg and thinking it doesn't so much look like a red lion, but more like a glutton/wolverine.
The red colour and twin tails could conceivably have been caused by Twilight scars?
I just wish there was more canon examples of Great Beasts.
I like this very much. It explains the weird individual creatures, like the Yale.
So first off: great question, and yes to both.
Secondly, this got me diving into heraldry: I had never paid attention to the Luxemburgish lion being fork tailed. The most famous twin tailed lion was to me the Bohemian one, which as a kingdom became ruled by the house of Luxemburg, so I wanted to find out if there was a common origin, and according to wikipedia, it seems not.
The rulers of Bohemia originally bore for arms a so-called St. Wenceslas flaming eagle. In the 12th century, Emperor Frederick granted new arms to King Vladislaus II consisting of a silver lion on a red field, to symbolise his valor. The lion was at first represented with one tail. Later a second tail was added, for the help provided by the King Přemysl Otakar I fighting the Saxons (Beware - this is just a legend (from Dalimil's chronicle)).[3] During the first half of the 13th century the kings of Bohemia used a coat of arms bearing a black eagle in a silver shield. Red gonfanons had appeared earlier. From 1253 a two-tailed silver lion in a red field had been the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Bohemia.