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in mitl in chimalli.

Headword: 
in mitl in chimalli.
Principal English Translation: 

the arrow and the shield; i.e. war (a metaphor)

Michel Launey, An Introduction to Classical Nahuatl, translated and adapted by Christopher MacKay (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011), 128.

Attestations from sources in Spanish: 

flecha, escudo = un difrasismo que quiere decir "guerra" (p. 86)
Katarzyna Mikulska, "Te hago bandera... Signos de banderas y sus significados en la expresión gráfica nahua", en Los códices mesoamericanos: registros de religión, política y sociedad, Miguel Ángel Ruz Barrio y Juan José Batalla Rosado, coordinadores (Zinacantepec: El Colegio Mexiquense, 2016), 85–133.

themes: 
Metaphors, Proverbs, Riddles
War, Conflict
Weapons, Shields, Heraldry