Yaotl (MH485r)
This black and white drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Yaotl ("The Combatant") shows a war shield. The shield is rounded on the sides, but has depressions on the perimeter at top and bottom. The shield is divided into four sections with an X-shaped cross. Inside each section is what appears to be a u-shape.
Stephanie Wood
Yaotl is an extremely common name in the Matrícula de Huexotzinco. The early Nahuas lived in a warrior culture, which probably valued being brave and fierce. While "enemy" is the literal translation of yaotl, the name had more the sense of a valiant combatant. The man bearing the name Yaotl also has a baptismal name, Diego. Putting Yaotl second to the baptismal name probably eventually led to it being seen as a surname (as a result of European influence). But today Yaotl is used more as a given name, and many people equate it with Warrior.
This shield can be compared to other graphic styles from other tlacuilos, below. The shape and the cross may suggest European influences, but the Indigenous shield was usually round with feathers coming off the bottom.
Stephanie Wood
diego yaotl
Diego Yaotl
Stephanie Wood
1560
Xitlali Torres and Stephanie Wood
wars, guerras, enemies, enemigos, combatientes
(flagged for presentation ++)
yao(tl), enemy, combatant, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/yaotl
yaoyo(tl), warfare, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/yaoyotl
El Combatiente
Stephanie Wood
Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 485v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=45&st=image.
This manuscript is hosted by the Library of Congress and the World Digital Library; used here with the Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SAq 3.0).