![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIbU-FTLRfW__YZ72OC_ew0c4lRx_hLut9_BqINFbF-gxIvLe-FcJxU1X1Oi12WEjdom-jNs1e8jdDDBsYMRd0q7SO6MhwQ87PBLajLefSj-Cw9Gi5RQgRx6ordOdSAmUgbAe5p0W-Yj3R/s400/Theow.png)
This was the last of the creatures I drew for the my first semester thesis, and one of my personal favorites. A Theow is a wolf-like creature with cloven hooves and a mane of many colors. I chose to use feathers to build up the mane, for visual interest and because of the great variety of naturally occurring colors available. It's often used traditionally as a substitute for a normal wolf, which was uncommon and undesirable in coats of arms. Wolves were (wrongly) thought of as craven, cowardly scavengers, but the theow was a brave, partly-tame version a wolf, usually shown with a collar around its maned neck. I chose to interpret them as playful animals, more like tame dogs. They're fairly rare in traditional heraldry, and that's a real shame because they're fun creatures.