An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/schildern
schildern, verb, ‘to paint, depict, describe,’ allied to Middle High German schilt, ‘coat of arms’; compare Middle High German schiltœre, masculine, ‘artist’; the shields were originally painted in the Middle High German age of chivalry with coats of arms, and even, according to Tacitus, Germ. vi. (“scuta lectissimis coloribus distinguunt”), in the Old Teutonic heroic period. Compare Dutch schilderen, ‘to paint, depict, describe.’