6 April XX (1986)

APPROVALS

THE FOLLOWING SUBMISSIONS ARE APPROVED:

Kingdom of Ansteorra

Alisandre Oliphant. Name and device. Argent, an elephant passant purpure, armed Or, on a chief embattled purpure three annulets Or.

Earnán Séadhacháin. Name only.

DISCUSSION: According to Teach Yourself Irish (p. 4), "The consonants [c and d] are liable to a change called aspiration ... This change is written by adding an h in roman and by adding a dot in Gaelic type." We have transliterated the d+dot and c+dot in the byname according to the Roman fashion.

Rögnvaldr the Finn. Name only (see RETURNS for device).

Siobhán o'Leathlobhair. Name only.

Ulrike the Franke. Name and device. Azure, a falcon's head erased, on a chief Or three crosses mill­rind gules.

DISCUSSION: A cross mill­rind or cross miller is "a severer form, and perhaps one more akin to the original notion of the fer­de­moline" of a cross moline. (Parker 168) There are no points of difference between the two, but I see no harm in blazoning the artistic variation.

Kingdom of An Tir

Aislynn Delane of Roxeburgh. Name correction (from Deland). [December 1982)

Akbar Khyamm. Name correction (from Khyam). [July 1980] Note that the cross reference for AKBAR THE SOT also needs to be corrected.

Alexander Kinney. Device (correction). Chevronelly and per pale azure and argent, a camelopardel trippant pean. [May 1984]

Angharad Ryfedd ferch Gwenllian Dda. Name correction (from Gwellian). [October 1982)

Bohemond the Black. Device (correction). Sable, four piles in point Or, overall a boar statant to sinister argent, marked sable. [September 1984]

Cassandra of Blaechowe. Device (correction). Per fess indented counter­ermine and argent, a female centaur rampant preparing to throw from her sinister hand a javelin bendwise gules. [May 1984]

Cedric MacDougald of Caledonia. Device (correction). Azure, a lightning flash bendwise sinister throughout between a griffin segreant to sinister and a dragon segreant argent. [July 1983]

Desirée de Brus. Device (correction). Per bend argent and Or, a bend sable between a Scotch broom plant stalked and leaved proper and a unicorn's horn bendwise erased azure. (Cytisus scoparius)

Gwynaeth ferch Llewellyn o Llyn Gwawr. Device. Azure, on a bend vert, fimbriated, three escarbuncles of five points palewise argent. [August 1981)

Janeltis Karaine, Starfollower. Device (correction). Azure, a beardless winged unicorn salient to sinister argent, wings elevated and addorsed Or, between in chief three mullets of eight points and in base two of the same in bend­sinister Or. [March 1980)

Jerald of Galloway. Badge. From a torse of Or and gules a dexter armored arm embowed grasping a battle­axe gules hafted sable. [December 1971]

Rowen O'Ceallachain of Muscraidhe. Device (correction). Vert, a torch argent enflamed at the tip proper between two panther's gambs palewise erased Or. [December 1982)

Rowenna de Manning. Release of badge. Argent, a compass­star between three rowan trees azure.

Seamus MacCuraidh of Glenerochaidh. Name correction (from Seamus MacCuraidh). [June 1975)

Waltlier von Sachsenhausen. Name correction (from Walter). [October 1983)

Wastekeep, Barony of. Name change (from Wastekeepshire).

William of Woodland. Badge. Vert, on a tankard Or a cross crosslet fitchy vert. [October 1981)

William of Woodland. Badge. Gules, goutty d'Or, a wooden bung­starter palewise proper. [January 1982)

Kingdom of Caid

Aldred von Lechsend aus Froschheim. Device change. Or, the knot of a leather belt, ends embattled, proper within a bordure embattled vert. NOTE: His old device becomes a badge.

DISCUSSION: The commenting heralds were divided over whether this is a recognizable charge. The consensus seemed to be slightly in favor of it, so I am according the submitter the benefit of the doubt.

"Leather proper" is understood to be brown. I was unable to find any rulings establishing this, but a quick search of the Armorial turned up a number of registered instances of leather proper ­ a boot (Albert the Boar, 1982), a sword hilted of leather (Edric the Forester, 1982), a camel saddle (Fatima al Mendizayya, 1983), some leatherbound books (Guillaume Enenne du Vexin, 1980), a strap (Ioseph of Locksley, 1973), and a leash (Liam Donovan, 1981). The meaning seems to be intuitively obvious, so I see no problem with continuing the custom.

Aldred von Lechsend aus Froschheim. Badge. The knot of a leather belt, ends embattled, proper.

Alfonso Chavez de Gascogne. Name correction (from Chaves). [February 1984]

Althaea of Calafia (submitted as Althaea delle Terre Rugiada). Name and device. Per chevron argent semy of Latin crosses sable, and argent, a chevron azure and in base an olive branch fructed proper. (Olea europaea)

NOTE: We believe the adjective in the byname is incorrect. My paperback Italian dictionary says that rugiada is a noun meaning "dew" ­­ 'dewy" is rugiadoso. If I understand the grammar discussion correctly, the feminine plural would be rugiadose. "Misty" (the stated translation) is nebbioso, ebuloso, velato, or Vago, which would also presumably be transformed from ­o to ­e. We have used a holding name to register the device, and welcome instruction in the matter.

Angels, Barony of the. Device change. Gules, a standing seraph affronty proper, winged Or, haloed of a laurel wreath proper. NOTE: Their old arms and the badge consisting of their new arms (less the laurel wreath) are released.

DISCUSSION: This restores their previous arms, which had been relegated to a badge. Brachet has raised the interesting and quite valid question of whether this change is covered by the Grandfather Clause. The problem is two­fold: first, that the laurel wreath is not a prominent part of the design; and second, that the arms infringe on the mundane coat of BUOCAFOCO: Gules, a seraph Or. (Woodward 210).

I don't think there is any question that the conflict is covered by the beneficent Mr. Clause; it is the laurel wreath that poses the problem. The wreath was added to the original arms of the Barony of the Angels after the fact, when the charge became required. Since then, we have also begun requiring that the laurel wreath be a prominent part of the design. This coat would not be approved if it were submitted anew today: the wreath is insignificant, and it violates the rule of contrast.

The circumstances do not exactly parallel those of Ansteorra (16 Dec 84, pp. 12), but they are quite close. In the latter case, the form of the previous arms had been preserved in the other royal coats (Queen, etc.); in the former, by the retention of the old arms as a badge. Both argue for the technical application of the Grandfather Clause. In addition, in both cases, an attempt is (or was) being made to restore a set of arms that had recently been changed without the apparent consensus of the group. This argues for a compassionate invocation of the Clause.

Under the circumstances, I think the approval is justified; if not under the Grandfather Clause itself, then as an exception.

Ceridwen Dafydd. Device (reblazon). Per chevron Or and vert, in base an equal armed Celtic cross potent Or, and a chief embattled vert. [September 1983]

Ceridwen Dafydd. Badge for Caer Ddysg (reblazon). Argent, on a tower vert an equal­armed Celtic cross potent Or. (October 1984]

Ceridwen Dafydd. Badge (reblazon). Vert, an equal­armed Celtic cross potent Or within a bordure embattled argent. [November 1984]

Cordelia Actaeone of the White Meadow. Device change. Per bend sinister argent and purpure, an escallop inverted gules and a narwhal embowed to base argent.

NOTE: Her old device is released.

Dun Calma, Canton of. Badge. Per pale azure and Or, a tower counterchanged surmounted by two axes in saltire gules.

Duncan Brock of Greyfeather. Name change (from Duncan of Greyfeather) and device change. Plumetty argent and sable, on a fess purpure a brock statant argent.

NOTE: His old device becomes a badge.

Elgil Mirdil of Dor­Mallos. Badge change. Gules, a mullet of seven points within a bordure nebuly argent.

NOTE: The line of division should be more pronounced. Please advise the submitter. His existing badge ("Per bend sinister azure and vert, a bend sinister nebuly within a bordure nebuly argent") is released.

Evah Marguerita Palma de Yuste. Badge. Or, a bunch of grapes purpure, slipped and leaved vert, within a bordure embattled purpure.

Friedrich Ethelred aus Schloss Trier. Badge. Argent, a double­bitted axe palewise sable.

Gideon ben Levi. Device. Per fess argent and azure, in chief a lion couchant queue­fourché maintaining a sword palewise azure, and in base a menorah argent.

Gwidia Arrowcastre. Name and device. Or, an epinette des Vosges palewise proper within a bordure gules.

DISCUSSION: An epinette des Vosges is a musical instrument used in France from "ancient times to the present day"; it looks somewhat like the modern Appalachian dulcimer. Its "proper" tincture is brown, the color of wood.

Kevan o Rathkeale. Badge for Danes Rath. Purpure, a lantern within a bordure Or.

Lizbeth of Ravensholm. Name change (from Marisela of Muninsgard).

Lynnette de Sandoval del Valle de los Unicornios. Name change (from Lynnette Sandoval de la Villa de los Unicornios).

Maria Theresa of San Georgia. Name and device. Per fess Or and barry wavy argent and azure, a goblet and in chief three oak leaves sable.

Morgana of Nordwache (submitted as Morgana Rhys). Name and device. Per pale azure and argent, a hair comb counterchanged.

NOTE: The name conflicts with that of MORGAN MERCH RHYS. Please choose another given name or byname. (In this case, we do not feel the addition of a "distinguishing" byname would be sufficient.) We have used a holding name, in order to register the device.

NOTE TO BRACHET: The "Moorish hair broach" of ALYSSE OF GRAEDON defies description. It looks rather like a demented bend (the sort of thing one would expect to find in Elvin).

Morven of Carrick. Device (reblazon). Checky gules and Or, a bear statant erect sable. [August 1977]

Mwynen Lynnette Chartier. Name and device. Sable, two needles in saltire, points to base, Or within a bordure argent semy of roses purpure, barbed and seeded proper.

Olaf Olafson. Name change (from Olaf Olafsson) and device. Sable, an owl displayed and on a chief embattled argent a hammer sable.

Sebastian de Grey. Name and device. Purpure, an owl close affronty and on a chief argent three crosses of Canterbury purpure.

DISCUSSION: These could also have been blazoned as crosses "patty potent globical quadrate", and I very nearly did so; but at the last minute, the poet in me rebelled. Spring is in the air, and the fit is upon me ­ let me name but one Cross before I die!

On a more serious note, blazoning by parts is poor practice, as is coining new names for charges. Both rob the blazon of clarity. Given sufficient time and references ( "globical" is likely to be new to many heralds; I know it was to me), an experienced herald or scribe could doubtless reconstruct the shape of a "cross patty potent globical quadrate" from its description; but the blazon would never sound right when read out loud, and blazons are supposed to be euphonious. (I'd suggest a patter song, but it's been done.) My alternatives were to return the submission, on the grounds that the cross was not heraldic, and could not readily be made so; or to approve it as a "cross of Canterbury." I dislike naming charges, but after weighing the options both objectively and subjectively, I concluded that, if I were to make any exceptions, this would qualify.

Southron Guard, Shire of the. Device. Gules, a tower Or, the base environed of a laurel wreath, in chief three mullets argent, all within a bordure embattled Or.

Valley Azure, Canton of the. Name only.

William Nighthawk of the Waste. Device. Argent, a tower sable, the portal and ramparts enflamed proper, between in fess two crosses formy, all within a bordure vert.

Kingdom of Calontir

Aidan Cocrinn. Name and device. Vert, three chevronels braced inverted Or.

NOTE: Very nice.

Anestasia of Lynwood. Name only.

Aurelius Leander. Name only.

Caoimhin McKee. Device. Counter­ermine, three piles, two in chief and one in base, argent, each charged with a boar's head erased gules.

Damien MacGavin. Name only (see PENDING for device).

Eóin mac Raghnaill. Name and device. Or, on a bend sinister sable between two falcons striking to sinister and to dexter gules, an arrow inverted bound in a fascine Or.

DISCUSSION: A fascine (from Latin fascina, a bundle of sticks) is "a long bundle of sticks of wood, bound together, used in raising batteries, filling ditches," etc. (Webster's Second) When an axe is bound in a fascine it becomes a fasces.

Erich Hlodowechssun fon Hocheichhallu. Device. Or, an oak tree eradicated gules fructed Or within a bordure engrailed sable semy of annulets Or.

Fionna nic Alisdair. Device. Or, semy of hearts, a snail contourny gules.

Flaming Pillars, Shire of the. Name only.

Hrodgar Hohenwolf. Name and device. Lozengy sable and argent, a cross Or and on a chief gules three lighted candles Or.

NOTE: According to Star, the German for "wolf" is wolf, not wulf. We have corrected the byname accordingly.

Ian of Treemoore. Name only (see RETURNS for device).

Juergen von der Strassenkreuzung. Name and device. Per bend sinister gules and azure, on a bend sinister argent between two lions rampant Or, a serpent glissant vert.

Liam MacRae. Name only.

Maria Elestr o'r Llynarian (submitted as Maria Elestr o'r Arianllyn). Name and device. Argent, semy­de­lys azure, a Juniper tree eradicated proper within on a bordure azure three Latin crosses flory argent.

NOTE: The adjective normally follows the noun in Welsh, so "silver pool" would be llynarian rather than arianllyn. The device could be improved by charging the bordure with a semy of crosses.

Mór Bean Chiarri Inghean Ui Neill. Name and device. Purpure, a griffin segreant to sinister and on a chief argent three roses purpure seeded argent.

No Mountain, College of. Name and device. Per bend sinister ermine and vert, two pallets Or and in chief a laurel wreath overall vert.

Petronilla Goodwin. Name and device. Vert, on a bend Or a straight trumpet vert and in sinister chief an escutcheon Or.

DISCUSSION: According to the forms, "My main, and most notable, interest in the SCA is heraldry."

Richard Alain du Main. Name and device. Per pale pean and erminois, a dragon sejant guardant per pale Or and sable and in chief four estoiles gules.

Rowena Axelsdottir. Device. Azure, three Catherine wheels in pale Or within a bordure engrailed ermine.

Salvador Paolo de Barcelona. Name and device. Pean, on a pile embattled erminois, a sword gules.

Kingdom of the East

Alistair Malcolm MacAlpine. Name only.

Anna Herold von Ossenheim. Device. Per bend sinister argent and sable, three roses in bend between two bendlets, all counterchanged.

Chandra of the Bleeding Heart. Name only.

Dmitri Bluestone. Name and device. Argent, a double­bitted axe gules, overall a serpent with the head of a dragon erect embowed and counter­embowed, head sufflexed and clasping its middle, all within a bordure azure.

DISCUSSION: The charge depicted here is not an Urnes­beast (known in SCA blazon as a "Norse [one­legged] serpent" or "Jelling­beast"); these have a fairly distinctive shape, and are invariably (in the emblazons I was able to find, that is) nowed. We were divided on this ­ it is an indistinct beast in a non­standard position (a common failing of serpents) ­­ but sentiment seemed to run more in favor of altering the blazon and approving it.

Elena de los Dragones. Device. Per pale embattled purpure and Or, in fess a rose and a dragon segreant counterchanged.

Geirr Ragnarsson. Name change (from Guillaume d'Essonne).

Honore Pierre d'Ardres. Badge for La Maison d'Ardres. Purpure, a natural leopard's face jessant­de­lis within a bordure potenty argent.

Jayne Gidle. Device. Per pale gules and Or, in saltire two swords within an orle of mullets of six points between two tressures, all counterchanged.

Octa Bluetooth. Name change (from Octavius Bluetooth).

Scorched Earth, Shire of. Name only (see PENDING for device).

Shoshonnah Jehanne ferch Emrys. Device. Paly bendy purpure and argent, a falcon rising, wings elevated and displayed, maintaining in its dexter talon a lily, all within a bordure Or.

Sibyl Cairnfalcon. Device. Quarterly sable and argent, a dragon and a griffin combattant counterchanged, maintaining respectively a sword Or and a quill pen azure.

Susan MacGregor. Device. Gules, on a bend invected between two swans naiant argent, three thistles palewise proper.

Swampwater Springs, Shire of.* Name and device. Azure, three teasels slipped in pile above three barrulets wavy couped, all within a laurel wreath Or.

* "The swamps of home are lovely to behold/From far away

Szerena Fehbr the Indecisive. Name and device. Argent, a unicorn rampant azure and a griffin segreant to sinister gules.

NOTE: According to Star, the Magyar form of the name would be Hatirozatlan Fehbr Szerena. Unicorns have beards. Please correct the emblazon.

Thorgrim Ulfsson. Name and device. Per bend sinister embattled gules and azure, a hammer and a wolf's head erased Or.

Kingdom of the West

Aldith Angharad St. George. Name and device. Per bend sinister gules and ermine, two maunches counterchanged.

NOTE: Very nice.

Edwin von Elsass. Device. Sable, a raven close contourny within a double tressure Or.

NOTE: Very nice.

Elayna Amavia. Name only.

Eric Lyon of St. Michael's. Badge. In bend three Celtic crosses argent.

Far West, Protectorate of the. Name and device. Gules, a dolphin embowed argent naiant through a laurel wreath Or, all between three water bougets argent.

Gerelt of Lockeford. Name and device. Per bend argent and azure, in bend two roses counterchanged.

NOTE: Pretty!

Gwynaeth de Sancta Maria de Petra Fertilis. Name and device. Or, issuant from a rock fracted sable, an iris purpure slipped and leaved vert.

NOTE: We have used de (the preposition given on the forms) rather than of (given in the LoI), to be consistent with the Latin of the place name (which is in Ireland ... sigh). This is a phrase, which argues for preposition/object agreement.

Judith Darkwater. Name only.

Richard Blackbury. Badge. Argent, a tricorporate fox gules, marked proper. (Vulpes vulpes)

Robert Under the Wood. Name and device. Per bend sinister azure and vert, a sheaf of three arrows and a beehive Or.

DISCUSSION: Reaney (DBS 359) notes one William Under the Wode, 1332. "Either one who lived below a wood on a hillside, or within a wood (lit. 'below the trees of the wood')."

Stuart of Lindley. Badge. Or, on a lozenge azure, four more in cross argent.

THE FOLLOWING SUBMISSIONS ARE RETURNED:

Kingdom of Ansteorra

Roegnvaldr the Finn. Device. Per pale argent and sable, a mullet of ten points within a bordure counterchanged.

REASON FOR RETURN: This conflicts (both visually and technically) with the badge of MICHAEL GERARD CURTMEMOIRE: Per pale argent and sable, a compass star within a bordure mullety all counterchanged. (SCA) We count two minor points of difference. It is also right on the borderline against OSMAN AL­KOREISH IBN KALROS: Per pale sable and argent, a lotus affronty within a bordure counterchanged; and against JENNET OF TWO MINDS: Per pale argent and sable, a sun in his splendour throughout of the field, rayed and featured counterchanged.

Soviny Barcsi János. Device change. Azure, a horse salient paly Or and gules atop a mount of three hillocks vert, its forelimb an arm in armor brandishing a scimitar argent.

REASON FOR RETURN: The green mount on the blue field violates the rule of tincture as it is practiced in SCA armory. We also did not receive any forms for this submission.

SYNOPSIS: Lord János noted in his letter of intent that "The device is, quite clearly, in violation of the English Rules of Tincture; it is, however, in perfect keeping with Hungarian heraldry. It is the submitter's wish to possess a Hungarian device." He buttressed his argument with period examples drawn from A ,European Armorial and Heraldry of the Royal Families of Europe, and with undated citations from haif­a­dozen other sources; and he further noted the provisions made in the Rules for Submissions for heraldic practices drawn from other cultures.

DISCUSSION: The case is a compelling one, as is evidenced by the number of commenters who either supported it outright or found themselves leaning toward it unwillingly.

The following points spring to mind:

1) SCA heraldry is more concerned with contrast than much of mundane armory. We do not permit bordures or chiefs to break tincture, nor do we consider the ermine furs to be neutral. We restrict cases where one may use "proper." We frown on fields parted of more than two colors (and some object even to two). The Laurel rulings of the last five or six years have tended to be increasingly restrictive in this area. For us to allow vert on azure ­ a combination we consider to be "low­contrast" in comparison to others ­ would be inconsistent with established principle.

2) We have known for a considerable number of years that there were numerous instances of "false heraldry" (violations of the rule of tincture) in Continental armory, not to mention JERUSALEM. Appendix F of Woodward is devoted to proving the "multitudinous instances" of Les Armes Fausses. We have also known of the "other tinctures" to be found on the Continent ­ bleu­celeste and iron­grey, for example ­ and of the "stainand colors" (murrey, sanguine, tenné). The point is that we have steadfastly refused to allow such practices to "intrude upon the purity of Society heraldry" (HB, 20 Sep 71, p. 3); and that chief among the arguments against them is the issue of contrast.

3) The argument proceeds largely from a persona story. Persona stories can be useful beasts, when you're attempting to divine the submitter's intentions, or to adapt linguistic advice to a specific time period or culture; and they may even provide a plausible argument for a questionable or borderline practice; but they're dangerous to stand on. Personas are a matter of personal whim. We cannot regulate them, nor can we be regulated by them.

As was the case with DUNHAM WYCLIFFE (16 Dec 84, pp. 16­17), this submission argues for a special­case exception to a general rule. I noted at the time that "The exceptions I grant generally involve extenuating circumstances, and are either based on a principle I feel comfortable with repeating or else seem isolated enough to have limited scope." An exception in this case would not be limited in scope. The objections raised by Virgule are justified:

I do not like a trend toward special ... exceptions; and I am even more disturbed by basing them on persona. Are we going to end up with a plethora of special persona rules? And how do we explain to someone who demands "How come HE got away with it?" And if the lieges allegedly can not understand the present rules, how are they going to deal with something like that?

It needs to be borne in mind that SCA heraldry is a compromise. Our system is compounded of elements drawn from many different places and times. It can never be made completely "pure", nor can it accommodate every request, no matter how reasonable.

CONCLUSION: This is a case where SCA practice, rather than a specific mundane or medieval practice, must prevail.

AFTERWORD: Two points, very briefly. (1) There are, as I recall, instances from both Ioseph's and Wilhelm's tenures of green mounts on colored fields. I am specifically considering these to have been superseded as precedents by subsequent rulings. (2) Since the grounds for the submission were the admission of a "foreign" practice to SCA heraldry, I have confined the discussion in my ruling to this issue. This does not rule out rejection on other grounds.

Kingdom of Caid

Dreiburgen, Barony of. Badge for the Dreiburgen Bards' Guild. Argent, a pile inverted throughout azure, overall a lyre, all within a bordure counterchanged.

REASON FOR RETURN: The lyre counterchanged with the pile is complex and difficult to recognize. This is marginal. Inasmuch as it is a submission for a branch, and branches are supposed to set a good example, I am returning it with a request that they redesign. Brachet has suggested "Argent, a pile inverted between two lyres all within a bordure azure" and "Argent, on a pile inverted between two lyres azure another argent, all within a bordure azure", both of which appear to be clear of conflict.

Kingdom of Calontir

Ian of Treemoore. Device. Gules, on a fess between three monks' heads couped at the shoulders and a cross moline disjoined argent, three hearts sable.

REASON FOR RETURN: The cross is not recognizable. Please make it a more prominent part of the design, or choose another charge.

DISCUSSION: A number of the commenting heralds characterized the cross disjoined as "thin­line heraldry," which is either discouraged or disallowed (depending on the degree) in SCA armory. The practice is, however, period; Parker notes instances of this cross (often referred to as a cross recerceld or sarcelly) and its relatives in medieval rolls of arms. (Recercelé, by the way, turns out to be ambiguous; Parker's discussion of the term goes on for three pages. Gold Falcon did well to choose disjoined for his blazon.)

The examples in Parker show the voided crosses being used as the sole or principal charge, not as secondary or (what we would call) tertiary charges. This agrees with Society practice, which is to permit voiding and fimbriation ("thinline heraldry") on large charges with simple outlines, where the shape may readily be discerned, but not for smaller and more complex charges. Part of the difficulty with the present coat lies in the drawing ­ the lines should be thicker and the limbs less flared, so the fact that it is a cross stands out. (At first glance, this looks like four pairs of calipers in saltire.) More importantly, however, the cross needs to be used prominently, not as a single charge in base.

Kingdom of the East

Andrew MacAlistair. Device. Per fess argent and gules, a mullet of eight points counterchanged.

REASON FOR RETURN: This conflicts with LUEG Ancient: Per fess argent and gules, an estoile of eight rays counterchanged. (Rietstap)

DISCUSSION: There is also a potential conflict with ALARIC VON ROTSTERN: Argent, on an eight­pointed mullet gules, a griffin's head, a lion's head cabossed, and a wivern's head reversed, all erased and conjoined at the nape Or. (SCA) There is a major point of difference for counterchanging by a line of division, and a minor for removal of the tertiaries. This would be clear under the one­point tertiaries ruling if the latter applied to "charges" and not just "ordinaries." Is this reasonable?.

Emrys Cador Anhrefn. Name change (from Emrys Cador).

REASON FOR RETURN: We have grave doubts about anhrefn (Welsh "disorder, chaos") as a byname. It struck some of the heralds as presumptuous, particularly in combination with Emrys, one of the names associated with Merlin. To quote Silver Trumpet,

To name oneself after a universal abstract concept is highly presumptuous. (John Eternity? Robert Cosmos?) Such descriptives are usually reserved for the Deity (as in "the Way, the Truth, and the Light", "the Word", etc.). Even to partake of some such abstractions is presumptuous. (John the Eternal, Robert the Cosmic.) RFS VII.5 forbids such names as this one.

There are some universalities of which a human might partake. Once could not be John Truth, for instance, but one could be John the Truthful. And so it is with this gentle: he might not be "Chaos", but he could be "the Chaotic".

Please document the practice or choose another name.

Kingdom of the West

Kalida Ivanovna. Device. Sable, within a fireplace argent masoned sable, flames of fire proper.

REASON FOR RETURN: Conflict with the recently-approved joint badge for the Arts and Sciences; Azure, a candle enflamed within an arch stooped argent. We could a major point for field and a minor for the "charge" within: the visual difference between a fireplace and an arch stooped is scant, and a corporate badge merits an additional degree of protection.

Sean Blackthorn. Name and device. Argent, a pall between three blackthorn bushes sable.

REASON FOR RETURN: The name conflicts with that of John Blackthorn, hero of James Clavell's novel Shogun: the device with ROZ: Argent, a pall sable. (WoodOrd 111)

THE FOLLOWING SUBMISSIONS ARE PENDING:

Kingdom of Calontir

Damien MacGavin. Device. Per bend gules and Or, three acorns and a tree counterchanged.

PENDING: We did not receive an emblazon sheet for this device.

Kingdom of the East

Scorched Earth, Shire of. Device. Gules, a tower within a laurel wreath, all within a bordure rayonny Or.

PENDING: This will be reconsidered at the June meeting.