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It covers the armpit...and what else?--Joel 17:00, 10 July 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The upper arm and shoulder. --Eyrian 23:21, 19 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I'm almost certain the old image isn't actually a pauldron. The source doesn't specify, and it really looks like a couter with attached splinted vambrace to me. I've never seen a pauldron with wings shaped like that. I removed the image until someone claims otherwise. --Eyrian 23:21, 19 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for correcting that. It was the only public domain image I could find. I mistakenly identified it as a pauldron with a half-gorget and armpit smallshield variant, and I also thought it was a pauldron because the original image name said it was. --Berens 15:02, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

A thread on MyArmoury.com (not a reliable source, so don't add it) suggests that the semantic distinction between "pauldron" and "spaulder" is unfounded, with "spaulder" being perhaps a misspelling for "spaudler". The two words have the same etymology: OED lists "spaudeler" in an entry last updated in 1913, and says it derives from Old French espalde meaning "spauld", the shoulder of a food animal, while "pauldron" is aphetic from espauleron meaning "shoulder plate", with an epenthetic -d-. The only citation for "spaudeler" is from 1884, "pauldron" from 1594 with older variants to 1396. Hairy Dude (talk) 14:58, 2 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

I think perhaps there should be an additional historical reference photo in this article. In addition, I think Sauron from Lord of the Rings inclusion as 1 of 2 photos is hilarious, but probably not up to Wikipedia's standards. Darkball321 (talk) 20:54, 24 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]