ACCEPTANCES

ÆTHELMEARC

Adelheidis Spätauf. Device. Per chevron inverted azure and sable, a cinquefoil Or and two arrows inverted in chevron inverted argent.

This is clear of conflict with Arwenna of Kelsley, reblazoned in the Midrealm section of this LoAR as Per chevron inverted ployé throughout argent and azure, a mullet of eight points and two arrows inverted in pile counterchanged. There is no difference between two arrows inverted in chevron inverted and two arrows inverted in pile. Per the November 1995 LoAR, "There is ... a CD for the change to the field and another for changing the type and tincture of the primary charge group on one side of the line of division, even though numerically this is not 'one half' of the primary charge group. For a fuller discussion of this precedent granting a CD for two changes to charges on one side of a line of division even when less than half the charge group is affected, see the December 21, 1991 Cover Letter (with the November 1991 LoAR)." There is thus one CD for changing the field, and a second CD for changing the type and tincture of the portion of the primary group that lies on the chiefmost side of the line of division (from a mullet of eight points azure to a cinquefoil Or).

Note that the precedent quoted above refers to fields that are split into two pieces by a single line of division. Thus, that precedent pertains to this armorial comparison, where both fields are split in two by a single, per chevron inverted, line of division. However, the 1995 precedent does not apply to field divisions that split the field into more than two pieces, such as quarterly, per saltire, or per pall. The submitting kingdom quoted a precedent in the Letter of Intent from September 1999. Because the 1999 ruling addresses a per pall field, which is not addressed by the 1995 precedent, the 1999 precedent neither supports nor overturns the 1995 precedent cited above: "[Per pall sable, vert and argent, in pale two swords crossed in saltire argent and a cat's paw print counterchanged.] Conflict with ... Per fess embattled vert and argent, in pale two swords in saltire and a compass star counterchanged. There is one CD for the changes to the field, but none for change in type and tincture for only one of three of the primary charges (as they are not arranged two and one)" (LoAR September 1999).

Áine ingen uí Áengusa. Name and device. Pean, a horse's head couped contourny and on a chief embattled argent three towers vert.
 
Angus MacBain. Badge. (Fieldless) A thistle per pale sable and Or.
 
Aurenca Mouly. Name and device. Or, on a chief gules three crosses moline Or.

Nice device!

Fintan na Coilled. Name and device. Argent, a stag rampant gules and on a chief azure two pairs of arrows in saltire argent.
 
Hrefna in heppna Þorgrímsdóttir. Name change from Raven Jäde vom Schwarzwald.

Listed on the LoI as Hrefna in heppna Þormsdóttir, this name was submitted as Hrefna in heppna Þorgrímsdóttir. We have made this correction.

Her previous name, Raven Jäde vom Schwarzwald, is released.

AN TIR

Ambergard, Shire of. Badge. Gules, a stalk of wheat within a bordure Or.
 
Baseke von Basel. Name change from holding name Bagsecg of Aquaterra.
 
Bronwen Elgars. Device. Ermine, on a pile inverted cotised sable a goutte d'Or.
 
Cerridwen Maelwedd. Badge. Gules, a lynx rampant guardant argent winged and maintaining a chain Or and in chief a padlock argent.
 
Esclarmonde de Porcairages. Badge. Purpure, a snail Or.
 
Gabriele Silverhand. Name.
 
Hánefr Ragnarsson. Name and device. Quarterly pean and Or, a wolf rampant gules and a bordure counterchanged.
 
Isrið in glaða. Badge. (Fieldless) A fox salient contourny sable mullety Or.
 
Kára Bjarnardóttir. Name.
 
Lasairfhíona inghean Uilliam na Seoltadh. Name and device. Per bend sinister argent and azure, two lizards tergiant in annulo heads in fess counterchanged vert and Or within a bordure counterchanged.

Submitted as Lasairiona inghean Uilliam na Seoltadh, the submitter requested authenticity for 1600s Irish. No evidence was found that Lasairíona (with or without the accent) was used in period. The spelling shift from the Early Modern Gaelic (c. 1200 to c. 1700) form Lasairfhíona to the Modern Gaelic (c. 1700 to present) form Lasairíona is typical of the shift from Early Modern Gaelic to Modern Gaelic, which occurred around 1700. Lacking evidence that Lasairíona was used in period, we have changed the given name to the documented form Lasairfhíona, in order to register this name and to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

Marya Kargashina. Device. Argent goutty purpure, a raven's head erased sable.
 
Morgan of Aberystwyth. Device reblazon. Gules, a baby sea-loat rampant Or.

The previous blazon, Gules, a baby sea-loat proper, did not clearly indicate the tincture or the posture of the charge. The sea-loat is an SCA-invented monster. The baby sea-loat resembles a six-legged calf with finned ears, a finned paddle-like tail, and very small horns on its nose.

Sigismund Schmidt. Name and device. Lozengy argent and azure, a hound passant regardant and a chief sable.
 

ANSTEORRA

Bjornsborg, Barony of. Badge reblazon. (Fieldless) A bear statant erect reguardant contourny supporting a berdiche blade to sinister argent.

The previous blazon, (Fieldless) A bear statant erect reguardant contourny supporting a berdiche argent, did not indicate which way the berdiche was facing.

Angus MacKinnon. Device. Per chevron purpure and vert, a chevron and in chief a compass star Or.
 
Aylwin Holbrook. Name.
 
Bice di Pietro. Device. Gules, on a bend sinister wavy Or an estoile sable.
 
Caius Fabius. Name change from Alexandros Dietrick vom Einhornwald.

His previous name, Alexandros Dietrick vom Einhornwald, is released.

Charles d'Alsace le Cervoisier. Name.

Submitted as Charles Le Cervoisier d'Alsace, the combination of bynames Le Cervoisier d'Alsace 'the brewer of Alsace' falls afoul of RfS VI.1, "Names Claiming Rank", which states in part:

In some cases, use of an otherwise inoffensive occupational surname in a territorial context may make it appear to be a title or rank, such as John the Bard of Armagh or Peter Abbot of St. Giles.

As the submitter allows any changes, we have reversed the order of the bynames to address this issue. We have also lowercased le in the byname le Cervoisier in order to match documented forms.

Dyan du Lac des Calandres. Device. Or, a dragonfly sable and a chief embattled gules.

Her previous device, Quarterly sable and Or, in pale an arrow fesswise and a flame counterchanged, is transferred to Grimvér Longtooth, as noted later in the Ansteorra acceptances section of this LoAR.

Dyan du Lac des Calandres. Transfer of device to Grimvér Longtooth. Quarterly sable and Or, in pale an arrow fesswise and a flame counterchanged.
 
Elinora inghean ui Ruairc. Device. Argent, two chevronels between two shamrocks and a harp vert.
 
Gerard du Quartier. Device. Purpure, a cross of Cleves and on a chief invected Or three fleurs-de-lys azure.
 
Grimvér Longtooth. Acceptance of device transfer from Dyan du Lac des Calandres. Quarterly sable and Or, in pale an arrow fesswise and a flame counterchanged.
 
Guyon Dupre. Device. Sable, in pile two rapiers inverted conjoined at the points and on a chief argent three hearts gules.
 
Ivan Ivanovich Ezhov. Name.
 
Joan Briggs. Name.
 
Katheryn Margarete de Ryes. Name and device. Or, a reremouse and on a chief engrailed sable a decrescent Or.
 
Magnus von Lübeck. Alternate name Baltesar de Goa.

Submitted as Baltesar de Gôa, no evidence was presented, nor could any be found, that the character ô was used in Portuguese before 1600. Siren provided evidence that the spelling Goa was used in period:

In 1512, the Spaniard Martin Fernandez de Figueroa published a book about his travels in the Portuguese Indies, published in English (together with a reproduction and trancription of the original Spanish) as A Spaniard in the Portuguese Indies. In the text, the place is spelled <Guoa> and <Goa>. Even today, the spelling <Goa> seems to be preferred in Portuguese, at least according to my Harper Collins English-Portuguese dictionary. Given this, it should probably be registered as <Goa>.

Lacking evidence that the character ô was used in Portuguese in period, we have registered this name in the period form Goa found by Siren.

Matheus McTaevis McMychell. Name and device. Or semy of thistles proper, a lion rampant guardant queue-forché and a bordure vert.

Submitted as Matheus Mac Tavish Mak Mychell, the submitter allowed minor changes.

All examples found of Scots names having two Mac bynames either (1) used the same spelling for both forms of Mac, or (2) used a V spelling for the second particle - representing the pronunciation of the lenitied form mhic that appears in Gaelic.

Some examples of this construction may be found in Black: (p. 451 s.n. MacAllan) dates Alexander roy McAllane McReynald and Innes McAllane McRenald to 1541, (p. 556 s.n. MacPhail) Maria M'Kane M'Fale to 1548, (p. 566 s.n. MacThomas) Aye M'Ane M'Thomas to 1543, and (p. 570 s.n. MacWerich) John M'Patrik M'Vyrricht to 1573.

Based on these examples, we have changed both particles in this name to Mc- in order to register this name.

While Black (s.n. MacTavish) dates a number of forms of this byname to period, none show the submitted spelling Tavish. Lacking evidence that this is a plausible period form, we have changed the byname to use the form McTaevis, which is dated to 1515 in this entry.

Micheal na Tuaighe. Name.
 
Nicolette de Loria. Alternate name Cynethryth of Tewkesbury.
 
Olivia de Calais. Name and device. Or, a unicorn couchant purpure within an orle of fleurs-de-lys azure.

The submitter documented the name Olivia from Withycombe (s.n. Olive). However, this entry only supports Olivia as a literary name in period used by Shakespeare in his play Twelfth Night. As this play was first performed in 1599-1600, Olivia is registerable under the guidelines for using names from literary sources found in the Cover Letter to the February 1999 LoAR.

We have received the occasional comment asking whether the charges in an orle of [charges] are conjoined by default. They are not. By default an orle of [charges] is an unnumbered group of charges (generally, eight or more charges) that are arranged in orle. Each individual charge is in its default posture unless otherwise blazoned. The arms of the Valence family (sometime earls of Pembroke) are, perhaps, the best-known example of this sort of design in real-world armory. Their arms are protected as important non-SCA arms as Barruly argent and azure, an orle of martlets gules.

In a charge group blazoned as An orle of [charges] in orle, the charges are arranged in orle and the postures of the charges tilt so that they follow each other. Thus, an orle of fish naiant would all be in the default naiant (fesswise) posture, but an orle of fish naiant in orle swim head to tail.

Oriana Luisa della Francesca. Device. Per chevron vert and per pale Or and gules, a chevron dovetailed on the upper edge argent between three compass stars Or and a fleur-de-lys per pale gules and Or.

This was pended from the February 2002 LoAR for clarification of a confusing blazon.

There were some questions in the commentary about whether it was necessary to explicitly blazon the arrangement of the charges on the top half of the field. Note that charges on the top half of a field divided in a roughly horizontal fashion (per fess or per chevron) will have the charges in a horizontal row in chief by default.

The Cover Letter for the LoAR of October 2000 gives substantial discussion of "medium contrast" fields, defined there as fields "divided so that half was a solid color and half was evenly divided between color and metal." Such fields are, given the Cover Letter discussion, clearly acceptable as long as the charges on them have acceptable contrast (which is the main topic of discussion in the Cover Letter). By the guidelines in the Cover Letter for the October 2000 LoAR, in this submission, both the field and the charges upon it have acceptable contrast.

The fleur-de-lys was originally blazoned as florency but the SCA does not blazon this sort of artistic detail. Per the Cover Letter for the June 1993 LoAR (dated July 1993):

Occasionally, the very diversity of the Society dictates that some details shouldn't be blazoned. For instance, we don't normally blazon the local drawing style: a fleur-de-lys is blazoned a fleur-de-lys, whether drawn in the Italian style (sometimes blazoned a fleur-de-lys florencée by modern heralds) or the French style. In this way, we permit the broadest mix of cultures; we don't micro-manage the scribes, but allow them the fullest creativity and expression; and we make it possible for someone to change persona without requiring a reblazon.

The submitter should be advised to draw fewer and larger dovetails on the chevron.

Riguallaun map Guoillauc. Name and device. Vert, a pall Or between a bird volant to sinister and two swords in pile argent.

The submitter requested authenticity for 10th C Welsh and allowed any changes.

There was some discussion whether the byname map Guoillauc was properly constructed or whether the byname should use the Latin filius 'son', as described in Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn's article "The First Thousand Years of British Names" (http//www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/british1000/). Harpy provided information about the use of filius and map in records from this era:

On the matter of <map>, it's certainly true that written records of this era overwhelmingly use Latin patronymic markers, on the other hand, if the client wants the vernacular form (which is certainly more likely to reflect spoken practice), it can be supported by rare examples such as the Harleian MS 3859 genealogies (in Bartrum EWGT), composed in the 10th century, which use <map> and <merch>.

Based on this information, we have registered this name in the submitted form.

The bird in chief was originally blazoned as a dove. However, it lacks the tuft at the back of the head, which is the defining characteristic of a heraldic dove. It also has some characteristics that are not found in heraldic doves: it has a deeply forked swallow-tail. Because the type of bird is not clearly apparent, we have reblazoned it as a generic bird.

Rosamund Blaunchflur. Name.

Listed on the LoI as Rosamund Blanchflur, this name was submitted as Rosamund Blaunchflur. We have made this correction.

Good name!

Þorgeirr Valbjarnarson. Name and device. Per fess argent and gules, a bear passant to sinister sable and on a plate a valknut sable.
 
Tukke Kirk. Name and badge. Or, a chevron azure between two bears combattant gules and a horseshoe inverted azure.

Submitted as Tukka Kirk, there were issues with the documentation for Tukka and with the combination of languages in this name.

The given name Tukka was documented from Reaney & Wilson (p. 456 s.n. Tuck). However, this entry gives no dated examples of Tukka. Instead, this entry states, "... the frequent occurrence of the personal name in the 12th and 13th centuries suggests that we have an Anglo-Scand. *Tukka, a pet-form of ON Þorketil." None of the dated forms listed in this entry end in an a. Metron Ariston explains the notation in this entry, "[T]he discussion in the location cited in Reaney and Wilson [s.n. Tuck] presumes an unattested Tukka derived from the Old Norse. (The asterisk is a dead giveaway!)"

Adding to the uncertainty of the form Tukka theorized by Reaney & Wilson is the information in Bardsley (s.n. Tuck), which cites Toka from a Latin entry in the Domesday Book: "'liber homo Stigandi Toka Francigine' (?Toka the Frenchman)".

Based on this information, Tukka is, at best, an unattested Old English name formed as a diminutive of an Old Norse name. The byname Kirk was documented as appropriate for 15th to 16th C Scots (a language closely related to English). Combining Old English and Scots in a name has been previously been ruled to be reason for return (Dunno Jamesson, LoAR of March 2002).

Reaney & Wilson (s.n. Tuck) date Tukke faber to 1101-7. As the submitter allows any changes, we have changed the given name to the Middle English Tukke in order to register this name. The submitter may wish to know that, since a final e is not silent in Middle English, the form Tukke would be pronounced approximately "TUH-keh" - fairly similar to a modern pronunciation of Tukka.

Zoe du Murat. Name.
 

ATLANTIA

Áine of Atlantia. Holding name and device (see RETURNS for name). Azure, a griffin salient argent and in chief three plates.

Submitted under the name Áine inghean Fhathaigh.

Ainnir of the Hidden Mountain. Name.

This name was submitted as Ainnir of Hidden Mountain. The byname was changed at Kingdom because this branch name was registered as Barony of the Hidden Mountain in October of 1985.

There was some question whether the originally submitted form of this byname is registerable. Names of SCA branches are only automatically registerable in locative bynames in the forms in which the branch name was registered, as can be seen in the ruling:

The name was submitted as Kate{rv}ina of the Bright Hills. The barony's name, however, was registered without the article, so it should not be used here either. [Kate{rv}ina of Bright Hills, LoAR 06/1999, A-Atlantia]

As the branch name was registered as Barony of the Hidden Mountain, the locative byname that is automatically registerable based on this branch name is of the Hidden Mountain, not of Hidden Mountain.

Alexandra Scott de Northumberland. Name (see RETURNS for device).
 
Apollonia Margherita degli Albizzi. Name.

The submitter requested authenticity for 15th C Florence and allowed minor changes. There was considerable discussion regarding the submitted byname degli Albizzi. Aryanhwy merch Catmael's article "Names from Arezzo, Italy, 1386-1528" (http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/arezzofam.html) lists the byname degli Albizi as appearing three times in this data. David Herlihy, R. Burr Litchfield, Anthony Molho, and Roberto Barducci, ed., "FLORENTINE RENAISSANCE RESOURCES: Online Tratte of Office Holders 1282-1532" (http://www.stg.brown.edu/projects/tratte/) lists the byname ALBIZZI. As this article normalizes bynames, this listing most likely represents the period form Albizzi. Based on these examples, the submitted form seems reasonable for 15th C Florence.

Audry Evans. Name.
 
Caisséne Merdrech. Name.
 
Caoilinn Mirymuth. Name.

The submitter requested authenticity for English, if possible. Lacking evidence that any form of the Gaelic Caoilinn was used in English, we were unable to make this name authentic for the submitter's requested language.

Caterine Saint Lô. Name.
 
Clarice of Caer Gelynniog. Name.
 
Davis de Rowell. Name (see RETURNS for device).

The submitter requested authenticity for 14th to 16th C English. Davis was used as a surname in period. It is registerable as a given name in this submission because it is the submitter's legal given name. Lacking evidence that Davis was used as a given name in period, we were unable to make this name authentic for the submitter's requested time period.

This name is close to, but clear of, the submitter's modern name Davis Rowell. Conflict between a submitter's modern name and SCA name is held to a different standard of conflict than between two SCA names. The difference required between a submitter's modern name and SCA name is specified in the Administrative Handbook III.A.9:

Name Used by the Submitter Outside the Society - No name will be registered to a submitter if it is identical to a name used by the submitter for purposes of identification outside of a Society context. This includes legal names, common use names, trademarks and other items registered with mundane authorities that serve to identify an individual or group. This restriction is intended to help preserve a distinction between a submitter's identity within the Society and his or her identity outside of the Society. A small change in the name is sufficient for registration, such as the addition of a syllable or a spelling change that changes the pronunciation. However, a change to spelling without a change in pronunciation is not sufficient. For example, Alan Miller could not register the name Alan Miller or Allan Miller but he could register the name Alan the Miller. Further, submitters may register either a name or armory which is a close variant of a name or insignia they use outside the Society, but not both.

Similarly, the current submission is clear of the submitter's modern name by addition of the syllable de.

Derbáil ingen Lonáin. Device. Or, three bats within a bordure embattled sable.
 
Éamonn mac Rioghbhardáin. Device. Per saltire vert and sable, an owl argent and a chief embattled ermine.

The chief is drawn with the minimum acceptable number of embattlements. There are three embattlements pointing out from the chief, and the two outermost embattlements touch the side of the shield, so there are three "down" and two "up", and the outside edges of the two outside "down" embattlements touch the sides of the shield. This would also be acceptable if there were three "up" and two "down." Usually, however, an embattled chief would be drawn with two more embattlements (so, for example, three "down" and four "up").

Please advise the submitter to draw fewer and larger ermine spots. See the July 2003 LoAR for descriptions of how some ermine chiefs were drawn in period.

Elena Frederova. Name.

Submitted as Elena Fredereva, Fredereva was submitted as a constructed patronymic byname formed from the masculine given name Freder. Nebuly found that the correct byname form is Frederova:

The byname should be spelled Frederova; this is explained in Wickenden (p xxii, current edition). The -ov(a) ending follows a hard consonant, while -ev(a) follows a soft consonant. If you don't know whether the name Freder ends in a hard or soft consonant, you can note that Federova is dated to 1596 (ibid, s.n. Feodor), and that all but the weirdest variant spellings also take -ov(a) for the patronymic.

We have corrected the byname to Frederova in order to register this name.

Eóin Ó hEochaidh. Alternate name Johannes von Eisenach (see RETURNS for badges).
 
Eugenia of Isenfir. Name.
 
Giovanni da Venezia. Name and device. Argent, six fleurs-de-lys and on a chief azure a falcon rising wings displayed argent.
 
Gobán Fahy. Name.

Submitted as Gobbán Fahy, the submitter allows any changes. As submitted, this name combined Gobbán, which is an Old Irish Gaelic (c. 700 to c. 900) or Middle Irish Gaelic (c. 900 to c. 1200) form, with Fahy, which is an Anglicized Irish form. Woulfe (p. 522 s.n. Ó Fathaigh) dates the Anglicized Irish form O Fahy to temp. Elizabeth I-James I. Therefore, the submitted form of this name contained two weirdnesses: one weirdness for combining Gaelic and Anglicized Irish in the same name and one weirdness for a temporal disparity of greater than 300 years. We have changed the given name to the Early Modern Irish Gaelic (c. 1200 to c. 1700) form Gobán in order to remove the temporal disparity and register this name.

Grímkell Valgarðarson. Device. Azure, a winged sea-lion maintaining a trident Or and on a chief embattled argent three crescents azure.

Please advise the submitter to draw the leonine parts of the sea-lion more clearly.

Highland Foorde, Barony of. Badge. Gules, a comet bendwise sinister headed of a compass star argent and a ford proper.

Period comets are drawn with a wide variety of head shapes, as noted in Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme's article "Blazoning Comets and Sparks" (1989 Caidan Heraldic Symposium Proceedings). The submitting barony's device has a compass star as its primary charge, so it seemed appropriate to accede to their request to blazon the shape of the head of the comet explicitly.

Ingeborg í Þrándheimi. Name and device. Vert, a garb between three oak leaves embowed in annulo Or.

Submitted as Ingeborg í Trondheim, the submitter requested authenticity for 11th to 13th C "Viking-Old Norse-Norway/Sweden" and allowed any changes. Metron Ariston found information about the names used to refer to this location over time:

While Trondheim was apparently founded by Olaf Tryggvason in 997 (www.trondheim.com), the form of the name used here appears to be modern Norwegian rather than a period form and means "in Trondheim" rather than "from Trondheim". (In modern Norwegian the preposition for from is fra.) An article cited at http://www.samlaget.no/maalogminne/1_98/saman198.html notes a 1930 monograph by Didrik Arup Seip entitled "Trondhjems bynavn" that indicates that the earliest forms of the name of the town are Þrándheimr and Kaupangr and that after 1180-90 Niðaróss became the official name of the city. It is very clear from many web pages and written sources that in the period that the given name applies to the name of the city was Niðaróss [sic]. (It apparently only became Trondheim in the nationalizing phase after period, based on the earlier Þrándheimr.).

Lindorm Eriksson's article "The Bynames of the Viking Age Runic Inscriptions" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/lindorm/runicbynames/places.htm) lists a number of personal names that include locative bynames. The majority of these use í 'in, within' as the particle. In locative bynames that use í, the placename takes the dative case. The form Þrándheimr found by Metron Ariston is a nominative case. Gunnvör silfrahárr found an example of the dative case in Hálfdanar saga Eysteinssonar (Netútgáfan Web site, http://www.snerpa.is/net/forn/half-e.htm), where chapter 25 "is titled, '25. Hálfdan tók ríki í Þrándheimi'".

Based on this information, we have changed the byname in this submission to í Þrándheimi in order to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

Isabella da Venezia. Name.
 
John of Caer Gelynniog. Name.
 
Judith of Massan. Device. Azure semy of mullets of eight points Or, a unicorn rampant contourny argent.

This submission was pended from the January 2003 LoAR for an incorrect tincture. This ruling was inadvertently left off the August 2003 LoAR.

Kadlin Karlsdottir. Name and device. Azure, four quatrefoils in pale between flaunches argent.
 
Kim of Wolfshaven. Name.

Kim was submitted under the Legal Name Allowance. No photocopy of a legal form of ID was included with this submission to support Kim as her legal given name.

The submission included a printout of a note from a herald whose name is not included in this printout. It is impossible to tell who wrote this note by looking only at the printout, though the LoI noted the name of the herald who saw the ID, so he is presumably the author of this note. However, this note does not list the submitter's full name - only noting that Kim is "her given name". As Kim is often a nickname for Kimberly, there was some question in the commentary which of these was her given name. In cases where a documentation for the Legal Name Allowance is provided without a photocopy, the question of a nickname versus a legal name is one reason that the submitter's full legal name should be written down at the time that the herald is viewing the ID.

In this case, we are giving the submitter the benefit of the doubt and are registering her name.

Please see the Cover Letter accompanying this LoAR for more information about required documentation for the Legal Name Allowance.

Llywelyn Hael ap Cydifor. Name and device. Azure, a cross bottony fitchy between three trefoils argent.
 
Margaret of Hollingford. Name and device. Argent, a fess wavy azure between three pairs of holly leaves fesswise conjoined to sinister and fructed proper.

Please advise the submitter to draw the holly larger and to draw the fess wavy more evenly.

Mariano of Rivers Point. Name and device. Per chevron azure and sable, two dragons combattant and a chevron abased Or.
 
Marion Ross. Name (see RETURNS for device).

This name does not conflict with Marion Ross, an actress who portrayed Mrs. Cunningham on the TV series Happy Days. We protect well-known figures who have become prominent too recently to appear with their own entries in standard sources under section III.A.3 of the Administrative Handbook, which states: "The names of famous individuals who do not appear in standard references due to the age and scope of these works may also be protected on a case by case basis." However, in the case of Marion Ross, the majority of commenters did not either recognize this actress's name or did not call this as a conflict. In previous cases such as Rosie O'Donnell (Rós O'Donnell, Æthelmearc returns, LoAR of October 2002) and Patrick McManus (Patrick MacManus, Atlantia returns, LoAR of March 1992), the recently-prominent famous individuals that have been protected were prominent enough that an overwhelming majority of the College immediately recognized the name in question and called the conflict. Such was not the case with Marion Ross. Therefore, while she is known, she is not prominent enough to protect.

Melchior zum grauen Wolf. Name change from holding name Melchior of Saint Georges.
 
Meuric o'r glyn. Name and device. Azure, a sword between two falcons rising respectant wings addorsed argent.

Listed on the LoI as Meurig Oglyn, the form listed this name as Meuric Orglyn. The given name was changed at Kingdom to match a documented form. Metron Ariston found that:

Reaney and Wilson (Dictionary of English Surnames, s.n. Merrick) show Meurich filius Rogeri from 1187, Meuricus from 1207 and Jeuan Eigon ap Meuric from 1391.

Given these examples, the submitted form Meuric is reasonable as a given name.

No documentation was presented and none was found that the submitted byname Orglyn is a plausible period form. Therefore, we have changed this byname to o'r glyn to match the submitted documentation in order to register this name.

There were questions in the commentary about whether the falcons were identifiable as falcons or solely as generic birds. The problem was largely due to poor reproduction on the Letter of Intent, which obscured the charges with dark speckles. Note that excessively poor reproduction quality can be a reason for return (although it was not so poor, in this submission, as to require return). The Administrative Handbook states that "An accurate representation of each piece of submitted armory shall be included on the letter of intent. Such emblazons must be ... large enough that all elements of the design may be clearly distinguished." If the copy quality is very poor, the Letter of Intent cannot be said to provide an "accurate representation" of the armory to the College, nor can it be said that "all elements of the design may be clearly distinguished."

Orlaith of Storvik. Alternate name Órlaith Carey.

Submitted as Órla Carey, Órla is a Modern Irish Gaelic (c. 1700 to present) form. Lacking evidence that it was used in period, it is not registerable. We have changed the given name to the Early Modern Irish Gaelic (c1200-1700) form Órlaith in order to register this name.

Ormwyn of Aclei. Name (see RETURNS for device).

Submitted as Ormswyn of Aclei, Ormswyn was submitted as an Old English name formed by combining the Old English name Orm with the deuterotheme -wyn. Not all Old English names, can also be used as the first portion (protheme) of a name. Siren explains:

You cannot simply take a given name, even an Anglo-Saxon single syllable name like <Orm> and add a second element (deuterotheme) to it. However, <Orm> appears in Searle not only as a given name, but also as a first element (protheme). It is therefore possible to create a two-part (dithemic) name with <Orm> as the first element. However, this would not give <Orm*s*wyn>, but a simple joining of the two themes to make <Ormwyn>.

Searle (p. 370) also lists the name Ormcytel which is made up of the protheme Orm- and the deuterotheme -cytel. Given this information, the name Ormwine is a plausible construction, with Ormwyn being a rarer, though also plausible, variant.

We have changed the given name to the constructed Ormwyn in order to register this name.

Quhinten de Rath. Name change from Quhinten O'Finney.

There was some question regarding whether de Rath is a period byname in Ireland. Annales Hiberniae (Grace's Annals) (http://celt.ucc.ie/published/L100001/index.html) lists Johannes White de Rath on p. 90. As this document is in Latin, it provides support for de Rath in Latin, though not in Gaelic or Anglicized Irish.

His previous name, Quhinten O'Finney, is released.

Róis Bheag inghean Chiaráin. Badge. (Fieldless) A rapier argent surmounted by a rose vert.

This submission was pended from the January 2003 LoAR because the original mini-emblazon (on the round form) was pasted in the LoI upside down, and was not distinguishable from the same armory inverted. This ruling was inadvertently left off the August 2003 LoAR.

Roswitha of Suanesfeld. Badge for alternate name Gytha Einarsdóttir. (Fieldless) A hedgehog statant vert.
 
Siegfried McClure. Device. Azure, a hunting horn argent and a chief Or.
 
Tomás Insi Móire. Name.

Submitted as Tomás of Inisr, the submitter requested authenticity for 13th to 15th C Irish and allowed any changes.

The submitted byname of Inis Mór combined the English of with the Gaelic placename Inis Mór and, so, violated RfS III.1.a, which requires linguistic consistency in a name phrase. Additionally, the placename Inis Mór was not grammatically correct. The word Inis 'island' is a feminine noun, Inis being the nominative singular case of this word. When the adjective Mór follows Inis, it lenites - taking the form Mhór. Therefore, the correct form of this placename is Inis Mhór.

Locative bynames are rare in Gaelic. When they are found, those that refer to the proper name of a specific location use an unmarked genitive construction. "Annals of the Four Masters", vol. 4, (http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100005D/), entry M1415.1, lists "Emann Mag Findbairr prióir Insi Móire Locha Gamhna". In this entry, "prióir Insi Móire", meaning 'prior of Inis Mhór', shows an example of this placename in the genitive case. Effric Neyn Ken3ocht Mcherrald explained that an adjective (such as Mór) must match the noun it modifies in gender, case, and number and that the feminine genitive singular of Mór is Móire. Additionally, an adjective should not be lenited when it follows a genitive singular feminine word (such as Insi). As a result, a genitive form of Inis Mhór is Insi Móire.

Therefore, the grammatically correct form of the submitted name would be Tomás Insi Móire in the submitter's desired time period and would mean 'Tomás [of] Inis Mhór'. We have changed the byname to this form in order to register this name.

As the submitter has requested authenticity, he may be interested in knowing that a man's name in his desired time period would typically include a patronymic byname. For example, a man named Tomás who was from Inis Mhór and whose father was named Cormac (as an example), would have the full name of Tomás Insi Móire mac Cormaic.

Uaithne inghean uí Chiaráin. Device. Argent, a pegasus rampant and in dexter three bells in pale vert.
 
William of Wolverhampton. Name.
 
Yoshitomi Toshio. Device. Sable, on a fess cotised argent three mascles sable all within a bordure argent.

This submission was pended from the January 2003 LoAR because the cotises were not blazoned in the LoI and the researchers were not certain which tinctures were intended. This ruling was inadvertently left off the August 2003 LoAR.

CAID

Alys de Wilton. Badge. (Fieldless) An attire sable.
 
Bernard Stirling. Name.

Good name!

Caitilin inghean Eoin. Name.
 
Dana Callaghan of Fair Isle. Device. Gules, on a pale argent between two goblets Or a pine tree couped proper.

This was pended from the February 2003 LoAR due to an incorrect blazon.

Dimitrii Serev. Device. Per pale sable and azure, a sword proper between two wolf's jambs couped argent.
 
Francesca Martini. Name and device. Quarterly per fess indented azure and ermine.

Good name!

Nice device!

Hans Schneckenburg. Device. Per pale azure and Or, two walls couped with portals counterchanged and on a chief vert an arrow Or.

We have reblazoned the castles as walls, because a castle by default has a tower at each end, and these charges do not have any towers. According to the Pictorial Dictionary, walls are throughout and embattled by default, so it is necessary to blazon these walls as couped. It is also necessary to blazon the portals explicitly.

Heloys de Mont Saint Michel. Name and device. Per chevron vert and gules, a chevron between two fleurs-de-lys and an eagle Or.

Submitted as Heloïse de Mont Saint Michel, the submitter requested that her name be made authentic for French and allowed all changes.

While some form of the name Héloïse was used in period, it is not clear if the submitted spelling was used before 1600. Reaney and Wilson (s.n. Elwis) give the Old French spelling of this name as Heluïs or Heloïs. The name appears in the 1292 Paris Census as Heloys. As the last form is the closest in time to the byname construction, we have changed the given name to this form in order to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

Lorenz Wieland. Device. Azure, a winged bottle bendwise sinister between in pall three eating forks tines to center argent.
 
Max Erich von Baden. Device. Per pale gules and sable, two flamberges in saltire Or surmounted by a skull argent.
 
Michael Treighie. Name and device. Per bend Or and sable, a bend gules ermined Or between a Cornish chough proper and a tower Or.

Listed on the LoI as Michael Trahy, this name was submitted as Michael Trahey. As no documentation was found for the spelling Trahey, the byname was changed at Kingdom to the undated, documented form Trahy. Woulfe (p. 654 s.n. Ó Troighthigh) dates the Anglicized Irish forms O Treighie and O Trye to temp. Elizabeth I-James I. While Anglicized Irish names such as O Treighie normally included O, there are rare examples of O being omitted. Based on this information, Treighie and Trye are plausible Anglicized Irish forms of this name in period. Lacking evidence that either Trahey or Trahy are plausible period forms of this name, we have changed the byname to Treighie (as a modern speaker is more likely to pronounce this form, rather than Trye, similar to the submitted Trahey) in order to register this name.

Please advise the submitter that, in period, ermined bends were generally drawn with bendwise ermine spots, not palewise ermine spots.

Morgan Mac Máeláin. Device. Per bend argent and Or, a hawk striking wings displayed sable tailed and a triquetra gules.
 
Rosa Maria da Cosenza. Device. Per pale argent and vert, a cross flory and on a chief gules three roses argent barbed vert.
 
Steffen von Ostdorf. Device. Gyronny Or and sable, a lion rampant reguardant and in sinister canton a cross flory gules.
 
William Hethefelde. Name.

Listed on the LoI as William Hethfeld, this name was submitted as William Heatherfield. The byname was changed at Kingdom because no support was found for Heatherfield as a placename, while Ekwall (s.n. Heathfield) dates the form Hethfeld to 1275 and gives the meaning of this placename as "Open land overgrown with heather". The submitter requested authenticity for 15th C English and allowed minor changes.

Metron Ariston found a reference to a place named Heatherfield in Sussex:

[...] I have found evidence for Heatherfield as a period place name in Sussex. On the official web page for the Colonial National Historic Park associated with Jamestown (www.nps.gov/colo/Jthanout/RHunt.html), it is stated that the first chaplain at Jamestown was Robert Hunt with the following notes "Robert Hunt (c. 1568-1608), clergyman of the Church of England, was Chaplain of the expedition that founded Jamestown, Virginia. The expedition included people from Old Heatherfield, East Sussex, England. Reverend Hunt had become the Vicar of Heatherfield, County of Sussex, in 1602, which title he held as Chaplain of the Jamestown Settlement."

Speed's The Counties of Britain (p. 175, map of Sussex, map dated 1610) shows the name of this place as Heathfeild. Bardsley (p. 371 s.n. Heathfield) dates Thomas Hethfeld to 1 Edw. III (1327-1328). Therefore, we have examples of this placename dated before and after the submitter's desired time period. We can interpolate a 15th C form by comparing the elements to other dated names. Mills (p. 165 s.n. Heathrow) dates La Hetherewe to c. 1410. Reaney & Wilson (p. 167 s.n. Field) dates Baldwin Felde to 1428. Based on these names, a 15th C form of this name would be Hethefelde. We have changed the byname to this form in order to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

DRACHENWALD

Ailitha de Ainwyk. Name.
 
Athestan of Wortham. Name.

Submitted as Aethstan of Wortham, the submitter allowed any changes.

Aethstan was submitted as a theorized variant of the documented Old English name Æðelstan. Many Old English names are formed by combining two themes. In this case, Æðelstan combines Æðel- 'noble' with -stan 'stone'.

Argent Snail found a number of variants of Old English names that need to be examined in regards to this name:

While not the most common substitution for Æ, ae can be found. For instance, in von Feilitzen's The Pre-Conquest Personal Names of Domesday Book, under Æðelmær the form Aelmarus is found, under Æðelfrid the form Aeluert is found, etc. Therefore, based on the forms Æth--, Aeth- should be fine. There are a reasonable number of instances of the form Adst-- or Edst--. In von Feilitizen, for instance shows Adstan, Adstanus, and Bo Seltén's The Anglo-Saxon Heritage in Middle English Personal Names, shows Edstan and Edstani.

In the examples of Æðelmær appearing in the form Aelmarus and Æðelfrid appearing in the form Aeluert, the protheme Æðel- is rendered Ael-. Therefore, these examples do not support rendering the character Æ as Ae. Rather, they would support Aelstan as a variant of Æðelstan.

The other examples found by Argent Snail deal with representations of the protheme Ead- rather than Æðel- and, so, do not support the submitted Aethstan.

Olof von Feilitzen, The pre-Conquest Personal names of the Domesday Book (p. 188 s.n. Æðelstan), lists Athestani as a genitive form of this name. The corresponding nominative form would be Athestan. We have changed the submitted Aethstan to this form in order to register this name.

Athestan of Wortham. Household name Company of the Swan and Cross (see RETURNS for badge).
 
Baerenau, Shire of. Branch name and device. Argent, on a bend gules between two bears statant sable a laurel wreath palewise argent.
 
Genevieve la flechiere de Duram. Device change. Argent crusilly sable, a bend gules.

Nice device!

The form was marked as a new device, but this is a device change. Because there is no notation indicating that we should retain the previous device as a badge, it is released: Purpure, a domestic cat couchant guardant argent marked sable within a bordure compony sable and argent.

Lucia de la Valette. Device. Gules, a falcon belled and jessed and in chief three crosses couped argent.
 
Marie de Besançon. Name and device. Sable, on a bend between two swan's heads couped argent three fleurs-de-lys palewise sable.
 
Vitus Polonius. Name.
 

EALDORMERE

Eyrný Ormarsdóttir. Device. Or, a lozenge and a bordure purpure.
 
James Erik of York. Device change. Gules semy of roses Or, a sea-dog rampant argent.

The device does not conflict with Morgan of Aberystwyth, reblazoned in the An Tir section of this LoAR as Gules, a baby sea-loat rampant Or. There is one CD for adding the strewn roses on the field, and a second CD for changing the tincture of the primary charge.

Note that there is no difference for changing the type of the primary charge from a baby sea-loat to a sea-dog. A baby sea-loat is an SCA-invented monster that resembles a six-legged calf with finned ears, a finned paddle-like tail, and very small horns on its nose. Because a baby sea-loat is not a period charge, its type difference from a period charge must be determined on solely visual grounds, which are insufficient to give a CD from a sea-dog. Remember that a sea-dog is not a fish-tailed demi-dog, as one might expect given the formation of most sea-monsters: a sea-lion, for example, is a fish-tailed demi-lion. A sea-dog is a quadrupedal monster, like a scaly dog with webbed feet and a paddle-like tail.

The submitter's previous device, Gules, a sword Or between flaunches wavy argent, each charged with a rose gules, is released.

Marioun Golightly. Device. Barry Or and azure, on a bend sinister sable three escallops argent.
 
Þorfinna gráfeldr. Name and device. Argent, three serpents nowed gules.

Listed on the LoI as Þorfinna gra'feldr, the documentation shows the byname as gráfeldr, not gra'feldr. We have made this correction.

Nice device!

LOCHAC

Aelesia de Trochdene. Name and device. Azure, a horse rampant and on a chief embattled Or three roses gules slipped and leaved vert.
 
Aleyd Lubeck. Name and device. Sable, a fess cotised and in chief a lion dormant Or.
 
Aulay Leod. Name.
 
Brigit Armstrong of Lothian. Name.

Listed on the LoI as Bigid Armstrong of Lothian, this name was submitted as Brigit Armstrong of Lothian. The submitter requested authenticity for "Scottish/Gaelic" and allowed no changes. We have corrected the name to the submitted form.

As submitted, this name combines a given name used in English with a byname and location used in Scots (a language closely related to English). Lacking evidence that any of these name elements were used in Scottish Gaelic names in period, we were unable to make this name authentic for the submitter's requested language/culture.

Celia the Fair. Name and device. Ermine, on a chief indented purpure three estoiles Or.

Listed on the LoI as Celia the Fair, this name was submitted as Caelia the Fair and changed at Kingdom at the submitter's instruction.

No documentation was provided supporting Celia as a name used in period. However, support for Celia was found by Sommelier for an earlier submission and was included in the December 2002 LoAR:

I found no documentation for Selia but I did find some for Celia at http://www.ancestry.com (these records are available on a subscription basis - I can provide copies to Pelican if necessary). "Wills proved and Administrations Granted in the Court of the Archdeacon of Berks, 1508-1652" has "1574 Cox or Coxe Celia, Uffington F. 436". The other entry is from "Lancashire: Standish - Parish Register, 1560-1653"; a baptismal record "Celia fa. Evani Heaton et Katherinae 04 Sep 1613". These are at best a secondary sources - I can't tell if the data is coming from images of the primary records or transcriptions of the data. [Cecily Mulligan, 12/2002, R-Meridies]

Based on this information, we are registering this name in the submitter's desired form.

The chief indented as drawn here is compatible with period style per the following precedent: "[A chief indented] The device was blazoned as having three triangles issuant from chief. This style of indentation can be found in period (for example Lowell of Balumbye (Lindsay of the Mount, pl. 107)), but it was blazoned as either indented or three piles. As current scholarship believes that such chiefs were originally indented with deep indentations, we decided to blazon it as indented and leave the depth to artistic license" (LoAR of July 2000).

Clarice de la Barre. Name.
 
Eoghann MacAindreis. Device. Per chevron sable and vert, two crescents and a wolf rampant argent.
 
Morwynna Branwynt. Device change. Quarterly azure and sable, a raven rising wings displayed within an orle argent.

Her previous device, Argent, a raven displayed, wings inverted, within an orle, all per pale sable and azure, is released.

Sibán in Feda. Device. Argent semy of leaves, on a pile inverted vert a weaver's knot argent.
 
Somerled of Redcliff. Name and device. Or, a leg couped purpure and a ford proper.

There was some question whether the form Redcliff would have occurred in period. The name of this location was among those placenames that eventually became used as a surname. F. K. & S. Hitching, References to English Surnames in 1601 and 1602 (p. lxx) dates Radcliff and Redcliefe to 1602. Based on these examples, it is reasonable to assume that the name of the location Redcliff could have taken that spelling by the end of period.

MERIDIES

Albray Hauk. Name and device. Per pale azure and vert, on a chevron argent three fleurs-de-lys sable.
 
Alfric Gylðir. Device. Barry wavy argent and azure, on a pile throughout sable in pale a crescent pendant and a wolf sejant ululant argent.
 
Alwin de Roye. Name and device. Per bend sinister argent and sable, a cauldron sable and a double-bitted axe argent.

Listed on the LoI as Elven Royé, this name was submitted as Elven de Royé; the byname was changed at Kingdom to match available documentation. The submitter requested authenticity for 13th C French and allowed any changes.

No evidence was found that the form Elven was used as a masculine given name in the submitter's requested time period and language of 13th C French. The form of this name found dated closest to the 13th C was Alwinus dated to a. 1131 in Morlet (I, p. 28, s.n. Alwinus). Alwin would be the corresponding vernacular form based on the Latin Alwinus. We have changed the given name to Alwin to partially meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

Aryanhwy merch Catmael found support for de Roye:

<de Roye> is found twice in the surnames section of my "French Names from Paris 1421, 1423, & 1438" (http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/paris1423.html).

As this is closer than Royé to the submitted form de Royé, we have changed the byname to this form.

Beatrix Langebarne. Name.
 
Brandr Wybourn. Device. Azure, a thunderbolt between flaunches Or each flaunch charged with a dolphin haurient gules.
 
Brendan Dudeman. Name and device. Gules, a boar passant and a demi-sun issuant from base Or.

Please advise the submitter to draw the demi-sun larger.

Brígiða Ingvarsdóttir. Name and device. Per chevron azure and gules, a gryphon segreant erminois.

Please strongly advise the submitter to draw the griffin larger.

Caitilín Eyverska. Name.

Listed on the LoI as Caitilín eyverska, this name was submitted as Caitlín Eyverska. The given name and byname were changed at Kingdom to match documented forms and because Caitlín was found to be a modern, rather than a medieval, form of this name.

The section "From Pelican: Regarding Capitalization in Norse Bynames" included in the Cover Letter for the October 2002 LoAR provides two cases where descriptive bynames may be registered in capitalized forms:

Therefore, we are upholding the current policy of requiring descriptive bynames in Old Norse to be registered in lowercase. The exceptions to this policy are (1) pre-pended descriptive bynames and (2) descriptive bynames based on proper nouns.

The byname eyverska 'woman from the Orkney Islands' is a descriptive byname based on proper noun. As such, it may be registered with the initial letter capitalized. Therefore, we have returned the byname to the submitted form.

Christopher of Huntington. Name.
 
Conn Draca. Name (see RETURNS for device).
 
Cúán mac Domnaill. Name.
 
Cydrych Wallas. Device. Sable, on a pile azure fimbriated argent an open book Or transfixed by a sword inverted argent hilted sable.
 
Dafydd ap y Kynith. Name and device. Quarterly sable and vert, two enfields combattant Or.

This does not conflict with Otta the Terrible, Gules, two talbots combatant Or. There is one CD for changing the field. Previous precedent strongly implies that there is difference between a wolf and an enfield (and thus, a talbot and an enfield) as long as the forelegs of the enfield are not obscured by other elements of the design: "The main difference between a wolf and an enfield is in the front legs; when one of the beasts is holding a charge with those legs, it becomes impossible to tell the two creatures apart. We cannot give a second CD for type of primary here" (LoAR July 1992, pg. 17). There is thus a second CD for changing the talbots to enfields.

Dauid Mac an Ghoill. Name (see RETURNS for device).

Listed on the LoI as Dauíd mac an Ghoill, this name was submitted as Dauid Mac an Ghoill. The given name was changed at Kingdom to match the documentation. Accents were sometimes left out of period Irish Gaelic documents. Therefore, we have removed the accent added at Kingdom. We have also changed the byname to match the submitted form, which matches the documentation.

Dirk Tree Felur. Name and device. Argent, a shakefork purpure between three ram's heads cabossed all within a bordure sable.

Listed on the LoI as Dirk Tréfeller, this name was submitted as Dirk Treefeller. The byname was changed to a constructed French byname at Kingdom because no documentation was found for the submitted Treefeller. The submitter is most interested in having it sound like "Dirk Tree-feller" and allows all changes.

The constructed Tréfeller was submitted with the meaning 'feller of a subdivision of a parish' or 'three cracks/splits'. Insufficient documentation was found to support this constructed name as following period patterns of French bynames in period. Further, Tréfeller would not be pronounced as "Tree-feller".

Bardsley (s.n. Tree) dates Eliz. Tree to 1583. Reaney & Wilson (p. 166 s.n. Feller) dates Robert le Felur to 1275. There is evidence of occupational bynames used without articles, such as le 'the'. Therefore, this name is registerable as Dirk Tree Felur, which is nearly identical to the submitter's desired pronunciation of "Dirk Tree-feller".

Dufgall brestingr Vinaldason. Name.
 
Eilína Guðriksdóttir. Name and device. Purpure, a sun between an increscent a decrescent and a crescent pendant Or.
 
Eugénie Griffon de Seleone. Name and device. Per pale vert and azure, three chevronels braced Or.
 
Eyja Guðriksdóttir. Name.
 
Finn O'Connor. Name.

The submitter requested authenticity for 10th C Irish but noted on the forms that he prefers the O'Connor form. A fully Middle Irish (c. 900 to c. 1200) form of this name would be Finn ua Conchobair. Anglo-Normans began settling in Ireland in the late 12th C, well after the submitter's desired time period. As such, the Anglicized Irish form O'Connor would not have appeared until well after the 10th C. As the submitter noted that he prefers the Anglicized Irish form O'Connor, we have not changed this name to an Irish Gaelic form appropriate for 10th C Ireland.

Fiona of Vogelburg. Device. Quarterly sable and vert, a heart between in bend two vols and in bend sinister two Celtic crosses Or.
 
Gabriel Sankt Georg. Name and device. Gules, a double-headed eagle argent charged with a cross crosslet fitchy the chiefmost arm couped plain sable and issuant from base a demi-sun Or.
 
Gabrielle von Strassburg. Name and device. Azure, a fess argent semy of compass stars azure between a coronet and a bear statant argent.

The submitter is a viscountess and thus entitled to bear a coronet in her armory. Seven charges on a stripe ordinary like a fess are too many to explicitly enumerate, so the blazon has been changed from on a fess ... seven compass stars to a fess ... semy of compass stars.

Geffrai Burlay. Name and device. Argent, a bear rampant and on a bordure embattled sable three fleurs-de-lys argent.

Please advise the submitter to draw the fleurs-de-lys more clearly.

Glaedenfeld, Shire of. Badge change. Quarterly argent and vert, four fleurs-de-lys counterchanged.

This badge was originally designated as a new badge. It was accompanied by a petition, which asked that this badge be registered, and noted that the shire has previously petitioned to release two of its previously registered badges. Without at least one release, this submission could not be registered, because they were at their registration limit. While it is not clear whether the paperwork for the previous releases had been forwarded, the current petition's discussion of the desired releases is an appropriately formed request to release those two badges, and is being treated as such. This action has thus been changed to a badge change, and the other release becomes a new action.

The shire's badge, Argent, an earthenware wine bottle between in fess two fleurs-de-lys vert, is released.

Glaedenfeld, Shire of. Badge release. Vert, a fleur-de-lys within in mascle two daggers inverted and two daggers argent.
 
Gráinne inghean Chathail. Name.
 
Gresch der Turse. Name and device. Per pale Or and argent, a cross bottony between three anchors vert.
 
Halima bint al-'Abbas al-Tanji. Name and device. Purpure, on a lozenge between three fleurs-de-lys Or an increscent sable.

The increscent was not blazoned on the Letter of Intent. However, enough commenters were able to deduce the type and tincture of the tertiary charge from other discussion so that it is not necessary to pend this for conflict research.

Huet Dub. Name and device. Per bend argent and vert, a dragon salient vert and a ram's head cabossed Or.
 
John the Pursuwer. Badge for House Gold Eagle. Azure semy of crosses crosslet fitchy the chiefmost arms couped plain argent, a double-headed eagle Or within a bordure compony gules and Or.

Please advise the submitters to draw the crosses more boldly.

Katryne MacIntosh the Strange. Household name House Golden Panther.
 
Lailiane Asenina. Name and device. Gules, an open book argent and on a chief indented Or three compass roses gules.

The submitter requested authenticity for Byzantine and allowed any changes. Lailiane was documented as a Greek feminine name found in "A Lexicon of Greek Personal Names", and Asenina was documented as the byname of the empress Eirene Asenina Cantacuzene (1347-1354). Metron Ariston provided information regarding the elements found in this name:

The Greek form given at the place cited is [capital lambda-alpha-iota-lambda-iota-alpha-nu-eta]. The final vowel is an eta which is commonly transliterated as an "e" so this is a perfectly valid transliteration of this very rare name. It should be noted, however, that the material from which this collection is drawn comes from the classical period down to the sixth century A.D. and no farther (http://www.lgpn.ox.ac.uk/). That means that there is a serious diachronic gap between the given name and the byname since there is no evidence for this rare given name in the later Byzantine period. Moreover, the Asenina is definitely late since it derives from the byname of the lady's grandfather, Ivan III Asan, for a period the ruler of Bulgaria.

This name contains one weirdness for a temporal disparity of greater than 300 years between the dates for the given name Lailiane and the byname Asenina.

Madelena da Firenze. Name and device. Gules, two bendlets and on a chief argent three fleurs-de-lys gules.
 
Mara de Sevilla. Name.
 
Máría in sléttmála. Name.

Listed on the LoI as Már inn sléttmála, this name was submitted as Máría inn Sléttmáli. The element Sléttmáli was changed at Kingdom to sléttmála to put it into a feminine form and to lowercase the byname in order to use standard transliteration conventions.

We have corrected the misplaced accent in the given name. Also, the article inn is a masculine form. We have changed it to the feminine in in order to register this name.

Michael de Multon. Name (see RETURNS for device).

Submitted as Michael of Molton, the submitter requested authenticity for 1300 - 1400 England. Dr. David Postles, "Lincolnshire Lay Subsidy: Holbeach" (http://www.le.ac.uk/elh/pot/lincholb.html), line 2, dates Alan de Multon to 1332. We have changed the byname to this form in order to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

Michael Lazarus of Antioch. Device. Per chevron azure and argent, a comet fesswise head to sinister embowed Or bearded argent and three Maltese crosses two and one gules.
 
Michael Ludovicus Dub. Name and device. Per bend argent and azure, a dragon salient sable and a ram's head cabossed Or.

Submitted as Michael Ludovicus Dub von Affoltern, Dub was documented as a locative byname. Therefore, this name had two locative bynames, Dub and von Affoltern. Lacking evidence that such a combination is plausible in German, we have dropped the second locative byname in order to register this name.

Mika'il al-Rashid. Name.
 
Northover, Shire of. Branch name.

Good name!

Orm the Wanderer. Name and device. Azure, a bull's skull affronty argent within a serpent involved Or.
 
Remero Alcon de Madrid. Name and device. Sable, a chevron inverted argent between three triangles one and two points to center Or and a chief embattled argent.

Good name!

Seamus de Kirkpatric. Name and device. Quarterly vert and purpure, a straight-armed Celtic cross throughout argent between in bend two pawprints Or.
 
Seraphina of Skye. Name.
 
Stephen Grayson. Name.

Good name!

Tanaidhe de Kelso. Device. Sable, a sexfoil slipped and leaved within a bordure wavy Or.

The flower was originally blazoned as a daisy but has six separate oval petals. Daisies have many more, thinner, petals. We have thus reblazoned this as a sexfoil, which is a generic heraldic six-petaled flower.

Tegan verch Dwgan. Name and device. Per pale azure and Or, on a lozenge sable between in chief two Bowen knots crosswise counterchanged a cinquefoil argent.

The submitter requested authenticity for 10th to 11th C Wales. As we were unable to find evidence of the elements in this name used in 10th or 11th C Wales, we were unable to make this name authentic for the submitter's desired time period.

Please advise the submitter to draw the Bowen knots so that there is space showing between the strands that interlace in the center.

Thomas Willoughby. Name.

Good name!

William Drynok. Name.
 
William MacArthur. Badge. Azure, two sea-dogs combattant within an annulet of rope Or.
 
Wulfric Godricsone. Name.

Good name!

Yamazaki Yoshikazu. Name and device. Sable, on a dance argent a cat's head couped close azure.
 

MIDDLE

Arwenna of Kelsley. Device reblazon. Per chevron inverted ployé throughout argent and azure, a mullet of eight points and two arrows inverted in pile counterchanged.

The previous blazon, Argent, chaussé-ployé azure, two arrows inverted in pile and in chief a mullet of eight points counterchanged, was confusing. The mullet lies on the upper portion of the field, and the arrows on the lower portion of the field, but because the SCA has not for many years allowed the chaussé ployé field to have charges placed on the lower portion of the field, readers were not sure where the charges were located in this armory. Arwenna's device is on a form with a lozenge-shaped shield. It is thus impossible to tell whether the field was truly chaussé ployé (issuing from the upper corners of the field), or per chevron inverted ployé throughout, because there are no "upper corners" on a lozenge shaped escutcheon. We have therefore reblazoned this for clarity, using a per chevron inverted ployé field.

Caedmon Wilson. Device. Argent, three Latin crosses azure.

Nice device! Please advise the submitter to draw the crosses larger.

Darin of Rudivale. Holding name and device (see RETURNS for name). Sable, on a bend sinister between two ram's heads cabossed argent three crosses crosslet fitchy palewise gules.

Submitted under the name Langry de Cluny.

Grimon Toussaint de Mortaigne. Name and device. Per pale azure and sable, three fleurs-de-lys in pall bases to center argent.
 
Juliana Montalto del Mar. Badge. (Fieldless) Three winged hearts bases outwards conjoined at the wings argent.
 
Kyrstyan Makfaill. Name.
 
Moira MacGillavrey. Name and device. Per chevron sable and vert, a three towered castle argent and in chief four mullets of four points Or.
 
Odillia Marguerite du Parc. Name.

The submitter requested authenticity for "Late 16th C France - 1595" and allowed minor changes.

Metron Ariston found evidence that the form Odillia is not a French form of this name:

A quick look at the internet confirmed my recollection that Odillia in that spelling is particularly associated with the Germany and the Lowlands in period. The mother of the woman whom Engelbrecht of Nassau married in 1403 appears in sources in Dutch as Odillia, Gravin van Salm and Englebrecht's granddaughter, born in 1437, also bore that given name (members.home.nl/pushkar/kindEngelbrecht.html). I also found an Odillia Wouter van Haren born in 1525 (home.planet.nl/~pete0057/dat18.htm#3) and an Odillia Weidenfeldt born around 1527 (www.camerama.demon.nl/wijd/wijded/). There is evidence that the name made it to England in period as it appears in some lines from The Weakest goeth to the Wall, a play printed in 1600: "Is there no beauty that can please your eye, But the divine and splendant excellence Of my beloved dear Odillia?" (www.bartleby.com/215/1304.html#txt12). Nonetheless, for a purely French name, I would rather expect the form Odile, familiar in a later period from Swan Lake but also in period the French form of the name of the Alsatian abbess and saint.

Based on this information, Odile Marguerite du Parc would be a fully French form of this name. As the submitter only allowed minor changes, and changing the language of an element is a major change, we were unable to change the language of the given name from the German or English Odillia to the French Odile in order to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

Phillipa of Otterbourne. Name.
 
Sebastian Goulde. Name (see RETURNS for device).
 
Torquil MacGillavrey. Name and device. Per chevron sable and vert, an annulet Or between three towers argent.
 
Wernher von Wächtersbach. Name and device. Azure, a boar passant and on a base wavy argent two bars sable.
 
Wolfram der Trüwe. Device. Argent, a falcon gules perched atop a mountain azure all within a bordure sable.
 
Xemena Xemenez. Name and device. Per chevron gules and azure, two swans rousant respectant wings addorsed and a crescent argent.

Submitted as Jimena Xemenez de Castile, the submitter requested authenticity for the 13th C and allowed any changes. The LoI stated, "The client cares most about having a name from Castile Iberia and wishes it to be authentic for the 13th century."

The feminine given name Jimena and the byname Xemenez derive from the same root. As such, it is unlikely that these forms would be found in the same name in the 13th C. Siren explains:

Both the spellings <Jimena> and <Xemenez> are dateable to period, with the former being typical for later period and the latter for earlier period. However, the probability that these two orthographical variants of what is basically a single name would appear together is miniscule. Diez Melcon has <Xemena> dated to 1266, and no forms of either the masculine or feminine given name with <J>. The spelling <Ximena> is found the earliest (1307 or so) extant copy of El Mio Cid.

Clarion found information regarding forms of the feminine name Jimena and the byname Xemenez found in the submitter's desired time period:

[T]he use of J in this name is not found in Diez Melcón's data. Talan's index of Diez Melcón lists Xemena as the form found in the 13th century with other forms found earlier (none, however, that start with J).

We also have the following 13th century forms for the byname (pg. 157, s.n. Ximenus):

  • Ximenes (1207)

  • Xemenez (1217)

  • Scemenet (1217)

  • Ximenez (1237)

  • Semenez (1237)

Based on this information, the combination Xemena Xemenez uses forms dated to the submitter's desired time period and uses consistent orthography.

The submitted byname de Castile is an English form rather than a Spanish form:

The byname de Castile was submitted as a byname referring to the town in Spain. Castile is the English form of the name and de Castile is an English byname referring to that town. Spanish forms of this byname are de Castil and de Castilla and are found in Juliana de Luna's article "Spanish Names of the Late 15th Century" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/juliana/isabella/). [Adam Carlos Diaz de Castile, 12/2002, A-Atenveldt]

Siren provided information regarding forms of de Castile as a Spanish byname in the submitter's desired time period:

Both the spelling <Castilla> and <Castiella> are found for the kingdom in the same source [El Mio Cid]. While it is true that in the 13th century, <de Castilla> is largely limited to descendants of the kings of Castilla, by the end of period, the surname <de Castilla> is found widely, including for rather poor individuals (in volumes of the Catalogo de Pasajeros a Indias).

Since forms of the byname de Castilla did not imply descent from the kings of Castile in late period, this byname is not presumptuous as a late period byname. Given the limited use of forms of the byname de Castilla in the submitter's desired time period of the 13th C, a woman named Xemena Xemenez who was from Castile would have most likely simply been called Xemena Xemenez. As the submitter allows all changes, we have changed her name to this form in order to meet her request for authenticity.

OUTLANDS

Ástrídr Oddsdóttir. Device. Lozengy vert and argent, two ravens rising respectant wings addorsed within an orle sable.
 
Constance Warrock de Winandemere. Device. Per chevron fleury at the point argent and azure, two roses azure seeded Or and a cross patonce argent.
 
Gormlaith of al-Barran. Holding name and device (see RETURNS for name). Per bend sinister Or and argent, a bend sinister purpure between a heart and three gouttes gules.

Submitted under the name Gormlaith Ó Néill.

Ileana Welgy. Device. Argent, a Moor's arm fesswise embowed proper atop a trimount vert and on a chief azure three crescents argent.
 
Leifr Vagnsson. Device. Quarterly gules and azure, in bend sinister a Danish axe sustained by a bear rampant contourny argent.

This is clear of conflict with the Barony of Bjornsborg, whose badge is reblazoned in the Ansteorra section of this LoAR, (Fieldless) A bear statant erect reguardant contourny supporting a berdiche blade to sinister argent. There is one CD for fieldlessness. There is another CD for arrangement: the Bjornsborg bear and its sustained axe are in the default arrangment for a statant erect beast sustaining a polearm (in fess), while the charges in this submission are in bend sinister.

Llywus ap Alan. Name and device. Argent, a natural panther sejant sable and on a chief vert three candles argent enflamed Or.

Note: Llywus is his legal middle name.

Mini of al-Barran. Holding name and device (see RETURNS for name). Gules, a demi-eagle erased and on a chief triangular argent a cinquefoil pierced purpure.

Submitted under the name Lin Shiao Mei.

The primary charge was originally blazoned as a phoenix, but a phoenix issues from flames. There are no flames in this emblazon. The demi-eagle ends in five small "jags', artwork which is typical of an erased charge.

Morris Ó Fiaich. Device. Checky azure and argent, on a bend argent fimbriated sable three hearts palewise gules.
 
Outlands, Kingdom of the. Heraldic title Stags Attire Herald.

Submitted as Stag's Attire Herald, we have dropped the apostrophe, as no evidence was found of its use in period.

Tavia of Persia. Device. Azure, a simurgh close Or.
 
Töregene Al-Altun. Name.

Submitted as Törägänä Al'altun, the submitter requested authenticity for "Turkic Timund/Central Asian (modernly Uzbekistan) under Jenghiz-Hanite rule" and allowed minor changes.

An earlier version of this name was returned in the April 1999 LoAR. Some issues raised at that time were not addressed in this submission:

The commentary on the problems with the name was done by Pennon who said:

"The documentation that the submitter uses is a good book for Mongol history and a good book for names. But it is not a good book for spelling. The rest of the documentation is fine for each element. But they all really don't go together.

Toragana should be spelled Döregene as it is on page 239 of The Secret History of the Mongols, translation by Francis Woodman Cleaves. T and D are interchangeable in Mongolian so the spelling Töregene is equally as valid. Al Altun is fine as it stands, but not Al Altun-Baki. Al Altun is the original form of the name and could be joined to Al-Altun to form the name Töregene Al-Altun. [Törägänä Al'altun-Bäki Khanzade, 04/99 LoAR, R-Outlands]

The current submission again documents Törägänä from the same source as before, specifically René Grousset, The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia, translated from the French by Naomi Walford. This is the source described in the April 1999 return as "... good book for names ... not a good book for spelling."

The submitter provided additional documentation for the form Törägänä from Jesscia Bonner's article "Mongol Women's Names" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/jessica-bonner/mongolwomen.html). However, this source gives the header as Toregene. It is not possible to tell from the text of this article whether the form Törägänä is a period transliteration or a modern transliteration. While modern transliterations are registerable, they must follow an accepted transliteration standard. This article provides no support that the form Törägänä follows such a standard. Further, Bonner's article does not indicate where she found the spelling Törägänä in reference to this woman. Without this information, the College is unable to judge the reliability of the original source. Therefore, lacking evidence that Törägänä is a valid spelling, we have changed this name to Töregene as cited in the April 1999 return in order to register this name.

The form Al'altun is also documented from Grousset. Lacking evidence that Al'altun is a valid spelling, we have changed this to the documented Al-Altun in order to register this name.

TRIMARIS

Ainbthen inghean Risdeig. Name (see RETURNS for device).

Submitted as Ainfean inghean Risdeag, the submitter requested authenticity for 8th to 10th C Irish Gaelic and allowed any changes.

The spelling Ainfean is a Modern Gaelic (c. 1700 to present) form. Lacking evidence that Ainfean is a period spelling, it is not registerable. We have changed the given name to the Middle Irish (c. 900 to c. 1200) form Ainbthen in order to register this name.

Risdeag is listed as a "later medieval diminutive" in Ó Corráin and Maguire (p. 155 s.n. Ricard). However, it is a nominative form. Effric Neyn Ken3ocht Mcherrald has provided a theoretical genitive form of Risdeig for this name. Therefore, we have changed the submitted byname to inghean Risdeig in order to register this name. Lacking evidence that any form of the Anglo-Norman name Richard was used in Ireland in the submitter's desired time period, we were not able to make this name authentic for the submitter's requested time and language.

Alienora de Buchan. Device. Argent, a bend wavy between two butterflies sable.
 
Angus Redberd. Name (see RETURNS for device).
 
Anna Francesca Massone. Name and device. Or masoned vert, a domestic cat sejant sable within a bordure vert.

Submitted as Anna Francesca Mason, Mason was documented as an Italian byname found in De Felice, Dizionario dei cognomi Italiani (p. 164 s.n. Masi). The LoI noted that the submitter preferred the form Massone and allows minor changes.

Metron Ariston found that two period artists had Massone as part of their names:

The submitter's preference for the byname Massone is not only understandable but laudable since it is a better-attested period Italian surname than the one used on the Letter of Intent. The Italian painter Giovanni Massone d'Alessandria painted a retable depicting the nativity is on display at the Musée du Petit Palais at Avignon dated to around 1490 (www.avignon.fr/en/musees/petipalen.php). The name also appears as a locative in the name of the painter Giovanni Antonio Zanoni di Massone who was active around 1603 (www.arco.org/Guidarco/La%20storia/l'%20Oltresarca.htm).

The College was unable to conclusively determine whether Massone was a masculine given name, a placename, or an occupational byname. As a result, it is difficult to determine what form Massone would take when used as part of a woman's byname. In the names found by Metron Ariston, Massone seems to be used as a masculine given name, which is consistent with the family name form Massoni listed in Ferrante LaVolpe's article "Family Names Appearing in the Catasto of 1427" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/ferrante/catasto/). Therefore, typical forms of the submitted name would be Anna Francesca di Massone and Anna Francesca Massoni.

While the form di [masculine given name (nominative case)] is typical, there are a handful of examples of bynames that are formed using a masculine given name in the nominative case and do not include di. The article "Italian Men's Names in Rome, 1473-1484" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/Studium/) lists some examples of this type of byname, including Mario Salamone in 1482, 1483, and 1484. Further evidence that this form of byname is indeed a byname, and not a second given name, may be seen in three variations of one man's name in this article: Ghuglielmo Ramondo, Ghulielmo Ramondi, and Guglielmo Ramondo (all dated to 1482).

Based on this information, Anna Francesca Massone is plausible as an Italian name in period. Therefore, we have changed the byname to the form desired by the submitter.

Anna Francesca Massone. Badge. Per pale azure and argent, three dice bendwise sinister counterchanged.

The dice are shown with one face to the viewer (so that the front face is shaped like a delf) but each die is oriented bendwise sinister (so that the front face looks like a delf lozengewise.) Dice are found in this orientation in period, as can be seen in the canting arms of members of the Wurlf family (wurf is German for a die or cube) on folios 24r and 24v of the late 14th/early 15th C Botenbuch der Bruderschaft St. Christoph auf dem Arlberg.

It is acceptable to show dice with some perspective, as long as the perspective is not too deep and one face is oriented directly towards the viewer so that it is shaped like a delf. (It is not acceptable to draw dice with an edge towards the viewer, rather than a face towards the viewer.) Please advise the submitter to draw the perspective of the other sides of the dice more shallowly - while period dice are often drawn with some perspective, they are generally not drawn with such deep perspective.

Caitilín ni Killane. Name (see RETURNS for device).

Submitted as Caitlín ni Killian, there were some issues with this name.

No documentation was provided and none was found that the form Caitlín was used in period, though evidence was found of it as a modern name. We have changed the given name to the documented Early Modern Irish Gaelic (c. 1200 to c. 1700) form Caitilín in order to register this name.

This submission raised considerable discussion regarding the element ni. A good bit of the confusion occurs because of the similarity of the Gaelic and the Anglicized Irish ny (which has often been registered as ni).

The Gaelic is a post-period contraction of inghean uí and is not registerable, lacking documentation that it was used in period.

The Anglicized Irish ny is found in records from 1603-1604 (C. L'Estrange Ewen, A History of Surnames of the British Isles, p. 210 which lists names from Patent Rolls of James I) and in wills from 1629 and 1639 (John O'Donovan, ed., Annals of Ireland, by the Four Masters, vol. 6, pp. 2446, 2460-2461). The element ny is used in two ways in Anglicized Irish records. The examples from 1629 and 1639 show the construction [feminine given name] ny [father's given name]. For example, Joane ny Teige is identified as the daughter of Teige Donovane in his will dated 1639. In the examples from 1603-4, relationships are not listed, so any analysis of these names involves some measure of uncertainty. Some time ago, Talan Gwynek examined these names via email and suggested that the entry Marie ny Dowda, widow most likely represented a Gaelic form Máire inghean Uí Dhubhda.

At this point, no examples of ni rather than ny have been identified in this type of construction in late period Anglicized Irish records. However, the lack of such documentation may well be due to the scarcity of women's names in this type of record. Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn's article "Fourteenth to Sixteenth Century Irish Names and Naming Practices" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/lateirish/) lists Slany Enynimolan as dating to the 14th C. Tangwystyl identifies this byname as meaning 'inghean uí Mhaoláin'. The form Enynimolan lends support to ni as a variant of the documented ny.

No documentation was provided and none was found to support Killian as a plausible Anglicized Irish form in period. Woulfe (s.n. Ó Cilleáin) dates the Anglicized Irish form O Killane to temp. Elizabeth I-James I. Woulfe (s.n. Ó Cillín) also dates the Anglicized Irish forms O Killine and O Killen to the same time period. Based on these examples, registerable forms of this byname would include ni Killane, ni Killine, and ni Killen. As the first of these forms is closest to the submitted ni Killian, we have changed the byname to this form in order to register this name.

Cathal the Black. Name (see RETURNS for device).

The submitter requested authenticity for Irish. A fully Old Irish Gaelic (c. 700 to c. 900) or Middle Irish Gaelic (c. 900 to c. 1200) form of this name would be Cathal Dub. A fully Early Modern Irish Gaelic (c. 1200 to c. 1700) form of this name would be Cathal Dubh. As the submitter only allowed minor changes, we were unable to change the byname to a Gaelic form in order to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

Chiere wreic Maredudd. Name (see RETURNS for device).

The submitter requested authenticity for 12th C French/Welsh, requested changes for the meaning 'Chiere, wife of Maredudd', and allowed minor changes.

In most cases, an authentic name in period that combined elements from two languages (in this case, French and Welsh) would be recorded all in one language or all in the other language depending upon the language in which the name was recorded.

Clarion provided information regarding Welsh names that appeared in France:

The article "Welsh Names in France in the Late 14th Century" [KWHS Proceedings, 1994] looks at Welsh names in French contexts. In that context names were as the above article indicates that in a French context they "Frenchified" the Welsh names. Thus if the "wife of X" pattern is used in French names (and I do not know if it is), then Chiere <wife of> Mereduc would be a reasonable French name of a woman married to a Welshman and living in France. Mereduc is one of the forms found in the above article.

In a Welsh context, the given name would probably be converted to either a Welsh or English form. I am not certain what that would be.

Hercule Geraud, Paris sous Philippe-le-Bel: d'aprés des documents originaux et notamment d'aprés un manuscript contenant Le Rôle de la taille imposée sur les habitants de Paris en 1292 lists a number of entries that use fame to mean 'wife of', including Ameline, fame Phelipe, de Pontaise (p. 7, column 1).

Based on this information, a fully French form of this name, appropriate for the late 14th C, would be Chiere fame Mereduc. Lacking information regarding how the French feminine given name Chiere would be recorded in Welsh, we are unable to suggest a fully Welsh form of this name.

Lacking evidence of significant contact between French speakers and Welsh speakers in the 12th C, we were unable to make this name authentic for the submitter's requested time period. As the submitter only allows minor changes, and changing the language of a name phrase is a major change, we were unable to change this name to the fully French form Chiere fame Mereduc in order to partially meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

Christoph von München. Name and device. Sable, in fess a billet between two annulets Or.
 
David Warren Rouffier of Monmouth. Device. Azure, a talbot statant and on a chief argent a mullet of six points between two triskeles vert.

He has permission to conflict with Aileen Fitzwilliam, Azure, a fox passant and on a chief argent three increscents azure.

Donald of Saint Ives. Device. Argent, two chevronels between three crosses pomelly and a tower gules.
 
Elena filia Dugalli. Name (see RETURNS for device and badge).

Submitted as Elena neyn Duhile, the submitter requested authenticity for 13th C Scots and allowed all changes.

Scots, a language closely related to English, was spoken in the lowlands and towns of Scotland by the end of our period. The earliest surviving records written in Scots date from c. 1375. Lacking any evidence that Scots was used in the 13th C, it is not possible to make this name authentic for "13th C Scots".

The submitted byname neyn Duhile combined the Scots neyn with Duhile, found in Black (s.n. MacDoual), which states: "Fergus McDuhile in Wigton was juror on inquest at Berwick, 1296, and in the same year as Fergus MacDowilt rendered homage." Given the date, time, and location of the inquest cited by Black, this record was most likely written in Latin or Anglo-Norman French. The Scots form neyn would not be found in a Latin or Anglo-Norman French document, or in any 13th C document. Lacking evidence that any form McDuhile is a Scots form, the byname neyn Duhile combines Scots with either Anglo-Norman French or Latin, and so violates RfS III.1.a, which requires linguistic consistency within a name phrase. Without evidence of a Scots form of McDuhile, we are unable to hypothesize a feminine Scots form of this byname.

However, the vast majority of Scottish records that survive from the period desired by the submitter are written in Latin. These records provide enough information to construct a fully Latin form of the submitted name that is appropriate for 13th C Scotland. Black (p. 6 s.n. Achmuty) dates Elena la Suchis to 1296. Typical Latin construction for a woman's name may be seen in the name Muriella filia Coneval, which Black (pp. 620-621 s.n. Muriel) dates to 1284. Black (s.n. MacDoual) shows that this name corresponds to the modern Scottish Gaelic MacDhùghaill 'son of Dougal'. This origin can be seen in Dugalli, the Latin byname form corresponding to the submitted Duhile, which is found in the seal for a man who lived in 1296 which reads S' Will' f' Dugalli (Black, p. 217 s.n. Dougalson).

Based on this information, a fully Latin form of the submitted name, appropriate for 13th C Scotland, would be Elena filia Dugalli and would most likely belong to a woman of Scoto-Norman descent.

Ginevra Visconti. Device. Purpure, three bees within a bordure wavy Or.

The blazon originally used the term undy rather than wavy. We have reblazoned it to use the more standard SCA term to avoid confusion. The term undy is confusing for two reasons. One reason is that the term undy sometimes represents a line of division (wavy) and sometimes a field division (barry wavy). Brooke-Little's An Heraldic Alphabet, p. 212, states: "Undy (also Undé or Ondé) A synonym for wavy. It is not much used today but in early blazon it was always employed, often meaning barry wavy." The other reason that the term undy is confusing is that it is prone to handwriting or typing errors, and might easily be misinterpreted as the different field division urdy. The SCA has previously chosen to avoid error-prone terms. For example, it has chosen not to use the error-prone term ermines (easily confused with ermine), in favor of the less error-prone term counter-ermine.

Her previous device, Vert, a greyhound rampant to sinister regardant argent gorged of a collar purpure and a chief erminois, is released.

Griffin de Mohun. Badge. (Fieldless) A rustre sable.

A question was raised in commentary about heraldic difference between a rustre and a lozenge. A rustre is an uncommon charge in comparison with lozenges and mascles, but one which is described in late period. Hierosme de Bara's 1581 Le Blason Des Armoiries pp. 46-47 depicts the lozenge, the rustre, and the mascle. These are treated as distinct charges in the treatise. Thus, these three charges are considered significantly different under the provisions of difference in RfS X.4.e, which states, "Types of charges considered to be separate in period... will be considered different."

Note that by previous precedent, piercing is considered equivalent to a tertiary charge unless it is drawn in a small insignificant fashion: "After much thought, we decided that piercing is worth a CD when drawn large enough to be equivalent to adding a tertiary charge" (LoAR December 1999). By this criterion, lozenges, rustres and mascles are also distinct from each other. As an artistic note concerning the "lozenges with holes in them" class of period charges, the roundel in the center of the rustre in De Bara is by no means an insignificant piercing, but is the size of a good-sized tertiary charge. It is a bit larger proportionally than the (also significantly sized) roundel in the center of the rustre illustrated in Brooke-Little's An Heraldic Alphabet. As for mascles, they have always been drawn with a sizeable central piercing throughout their extensive period of use as a charge in heraldry. For some examples, see Bedingfeld and Gwynn-Jones' Heraldry p. 17 (from the Matthew Paris shields c.1244), and p. 61 (from the 15th c. Fenwick roll).

Gwenllyan verch Morgan. Device. Per bend azure and vert, a legless wyvern displayed within a bordure Or.
 
Hannah of Trimaris. Holding name and device (see RETURNS for name). Purpure, on a chalice Or a crescent sable and a chief Or.

Submitted under the name Hannah of Thalia.

Ilene Johnstounne. Name and device. Per pale purpure and vert, a pegasus statant contourny within a bordure argent.

Good name!

Ilene Johnstounne. Badge. (Fieldless) A natural sea-horse contourny vert within and conjoined to a horseshoe inverted purpure.
 
Lillian Hawksworth. Device. Per bend sinister gules and Or, a natural tiger rampant contourny argent and a hawk rising wings addorsed sable.
 
Madallaine Isabeau de Cat. Household name Maison de Cat and badge. (Fieldless) A lion's head jessant-de-lys argent.
 
Maredudd ap Cynan. Device. Per pale and per chevron sable and argent all semy of ferrets statant counterchanged, a single-horned anvil counterchanged argent and sable.

Please advise the submitter to draw the ferrets more boldly.

The submitter's previous device, Per pale sable and argent, in pale a ferret statant and a single-horned anvil counterchanged, is retained as a badge.

Michael Kendrick. Name (see RETURNS for device).

The submitter requested authenticity for the late 16th C. The submitted documentation dated Michael to 1196-1215 and Kendrick to 1602 as a given name. Documentation was found for these elements in the submitter's desired time period. J. W. Garrett-Pegge, A Transcript of the First Volume, 1538-1636, of the Parish Register of Chesham, Buckingham County, p. 63, dates Michael as a given name to 1589. Bardsley (p. 444 s.n. Kendrick) dates Richard Kendrick to 1593. Therefore, the submitted name is a fine name for the late 16th C England.

Miles de Berdon. Name and device. Quarterly Or and vert, four crosses formy counterchanged.

Good name!

Morgan Goch Bengrek. Name.
 
Richard of Trimaris. Holding name and device (see RETURNS for name). Azure, a castle triple-towered Or and on a chief triangular argent a bow palewise reversed and an arrow fesswise reversed in cross sable.

Submitted under the name Richard of Storm.

Richart de Saint Raphaël. Name and device. Sable semy-de-lys Or, on a pale Or a lizard tergiant vert.

The lizard was originally blazoned as a gecko. The term gecko has only been used once in SCA blazon. The word is not a period Western European word - it derives from the Malay (Southeast Asian) language, after the sound that the lizard makes, and came into English in the 18th C. Because the term is not period, and seems somewhat intrusively modern, we have elected to use a more general blazon term.

Robin le Claver. Name.

Submitted as Robin Cleaver, the submitter requested authenticity for the 12th to 13th C. Bardsley (p. 185 s.n. Cleaver) dates Simon le Claver to 1273. We have changed the byname to use this form in order to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

Trimaris, Kingdom of. Release of badge for Trimarian Ministry of Children. Argent, on a pile inverted azure, a merman affronty, head to sinister argent, on a chief azure three triskeles argent.
 
Trimaris, Kingdom of. Release of household name House Hobbyhorse and badge. Azure, two stick hobbyhorses in saltire heads addorsed between four triskeles argent.
 
Trimaris, Kingdom of. Release of guild name Winemakers' Guild of Trimaris and badge. Per chevron inverted sable and gules, in chief a key fesswise Or and in base a triskelion arrondy argent between two ears of wheat crossed in base at the tips in saltire Or.
 
Trimaris, Kingdom of. Heraldic title Cog Herald.
 
Trimaris, Kingdom of. Heraldic title Rustre Herald.
 
Trimaris, Kingdom of. Heraldic title Sea-Griffin Herald.
 
Trimaris, Kingdom of. Badge (see RETURNS for Order name Triskele Legion of Trimaris). Azure, two chevronels and in chief three triskeles argent.
 
Trimaris, Kingdom of. Badge (see RETURNS for Order name Trimaris Navy Kitcheneers). Azure, a drakkar and in chief three triskeles argent.

The kingdom has permission to conflict from Eoin Maclullich, Azure, a drakkar and in chief three mullets of four points argent.

Waldemar Stanislaw of White Mountain. Name and device. Argent chapé azure, three goblets two and one gules.

Submitted as Waldemar Stanislav of White Mountain, the submitter requested authenticity for Czech and allowed minor changes. Nebuly provided information regarding authentic forms of this name:

Waldemar is not, nor has it ever been a Slavic name. Contrary to claims made in the LoI, Waldemar does not appear in Wickenden. It certainly doesn't appear under the header Valdimar, because there is no such header in that book. Neither does the name appear in the SSNO (Dictionary of Old Polish Names). It turns out that Waldemar is a Danish royal name circa 1200, and the name of a Margrave of Brandenburg circa 1300 (Bahlow, s.n. Waldemar). Since the name is documented from eastern Germany, and since German names were frequently used among the Poles and Czechs, Waldemar is a fine given name.

The second element Stanislav can be documented to Poland by the beginning of the 13th century (SSNO s.n. Stanis{l/}aw), but the name is probably older. To be orthographically consistent, the spelling should be changed to Stanislaw, since v and w represent the same sound in this name. Before 1500, Czech spelling was closer to Polish, so I would use the 13th century Polish spelling Stanislaw. To meet the client's desire for a more authentic Czech name, we should convert this second element into a patronym Stanislowow or Stanislawsky (the second form is more common for patronyms formed from -ow names). This conversion makes the name more authentic by eliminating the double given name.

The final element of White Mountain is registerable only because there is an SCA branch by that name (reg. 1/85). I cannot justify a locative formed from the name of a battle, though a locative following a patronym should be fine. If the client's primary desire is for an authentic name, then the locative should be dropped and the spelling Waldemar Stanislawsky would be registered.

The only documentation providied in the LoI for the byname of White Mountain was the statement: "Place name. English form of Czech name of famous battle." This is insufficient documentation. This statement does not provide evidence of a placename dated to period, in either Czech or English. Were documentation provided for a Czech placename that meant 'white mountain', it would not support a byname of White Mountain. As recently explained:

Lingua Anglica equivalents for placenames are based on their English rendering, not on a literal translation of the meaning of the placename. For example, the Lingua Anglica form of Tokyo (which means 'Eastern Capital') is Tokyo, not Eastern Capital. [Erik the Bear, 05/2002, R-Atlantia]

As noted by Nebuly, the byname of White Mountain is registerable because of the registered SCA branch name White Mountain. Therefore, this byname refers to the branch in question, not a period Czech placename.

Both Waldemar and Stanislav were submitted as given names. Changing a given name (such as Stanislav) to a patronymic byname (such as Stanislawsky) significantly changes the meaning of the name and, so, is a major change. Dropping a name phrase (such as of White Mountain) is also a major change. As the submitter does not allow major changes, we were unable to modify this name to a form such as Waldemar Stanislawsky as suggested by Nebuly in order to meet the submitter's request for authenticity. We have changed the given name Stanislav to the form Stanislaw, suggested by Nebuly, in order to partially meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

It is not clear what the default arrangement for three charges on a chapé field should be. The usual default on a plain field (two and one) doesn't fit well on a chapé field, and thus seems an unlikely default for that field. We have thus blazoned the arrangement explicitly.

THE FOLLOWING ITEMS HAVE BEEN RETURNED FOR FURTHER WORK

ÆTHELMEARC

Màiri ni Raghallaigh. Alternate name Maria Agrissa Sgourina.

This name is being returned for lack of documentation of Agrissa as a plausible byname in period.

The byname Agrissa was documented as the feminine form of a masculine hypothetical byname derived from the word agrios 'wild.' This byname has several problems. First, there is no evidence that agrios was used as a byname. The College was able to document Agrios as a masculine given name, but not as a byname. Patronymic bynames were occasionally used in Byzantine Greek. However, lacking evidence as to the form that a patronymic byname formed from the masculine name Agrios would take or whether such a construction is temporally compatible with this name, the element Agrissa is not registerable.

This submission justified Agrissa by referencing bynames that describe aspects of a person's character. However, the examples provided show bynames meaning 'of good character' and 'peaceful', which are not sufficiently similar to 'wild' to support a byname meaning 'wild'.

In addition, the element Agrissa is incorrectly formed. The feminine form of the adjective agrios is agrina, and a byname formed from would be expected to take the same form. The example that the submitter used to form Agrissa was an irregular form and would not apply to a feminine form of the word agrios.

As the submitter does not allow major changes, we were not able to drop the element Agrissa in order to register the name.

AN TIR

None.

ANSTEORRA

Alaric Morganygg. Name.

This name is being returned for combining German and Welsh in a single name which has previously been ruled reason for return (Anton Cwith, August 2001) barring evidence of significant contact between these two cultures. The name Alaric was documented from Withycombe (p. 4 s.n. Alaric). However, this entry gives no indication that the name Alaric was used in English in period. The only period information regarding this name provided by Withycombe is the statement that Alaric was "the name of several kings of the West Goths, notably Alaric I who sacked Rome in A.D. 410." This statement only supports Alaric as an early Germanic name. Lacking evidence that the name Alaric was used in a language whose speakers had significant contact with Welsh speakers, this name is not registerable.

No documentation was presented and none was found to support Morganygg as a variant of the placename Morgannwg found in Morgan & Morgan (s.n. Morgan). Lacking such evidence, Morganygg is not registerable.

There was considerable discussion whether this name conflicted with Alaric Morgan, a principal character in a number of Katherine Kurtz's Deryni books. Previous precedent has ruled that this character is important enough to protect. Morgan is a patronymic byname. Morgannwg is a locative byname. Therefore, these names can conflict only by sound and appearance. Harpy provided a pronunciation for Morgannwg: "Morgannwg is pronounced something like \mohr-GAHN-noog\, compared with \MOHR-gahn\ for Morgan." The pronunciation of the additional syllable in Morgannwg is sufficient to bring this byname clear of the byname Morgan.

ATLANTIA

Áine inghean Fhathaigh. Name.

The documentation given in the LoI for the byname inghean Fhathaigh was:

The patronym derives from the listing under Fahey in MacLysaght's Surnames of Ireland where the masculine form is given as Ó Fathaigh and this is stated to be "A sept of the Ui Maine centred near Loughrea where their territory was known as Pobal Mhuintir Ui Fhathaigh, wherein we now find the modern place-name Fahysvillage. The use of Green as a synonym arises from the similar sound of the word faithche, which means a lawn or green. The name is said to be derived from fothadh, foundation, which is conjectural."

Metron Ariston provided information regarding the origin of this byname:

Further research indicates that, while MacLysaght is correct in his citation of the name of the sept of the Uí Maine, the etymology may be erroneous. The Dictionary of the Irish Language Based Mainly on Old and Middle Irish Materials (s.v. fáthach) shows this as a personal attributive adjective meaning "possessed of knowledge or skill; wise, sagacious". It is specifically noted as a sobriquet as in the name of Fachtna Fathach. This form would have a predicted genitive in -aig, -aigh and in fact the oblique form of fathaig is shown in the source cited above.

It was noted in commentary that Woulfe (s.n. Ó Fathaigh) says that this name is derived from a given name Fathadh. However, a genitive ending in -aigh is formed from a nominative ending in -ach, not a nominative ending in -adh.

Lacking evidence that Fathaigh would be a reasonable genitive either of faithche, as cited in MacLysaght, or of Fathadh, as cited in Woulfe, we must assume that the family name Ó Fathaigh is one of the class of family names that derives from a descriptive byname, in this case Fathach cited in the Dictionary of the Irish Language, rather than from a masculine given name.

Therefore, the submitted byname inghean Fhathaigh is not supported by the documented family name Ó Fathaigh. Instead, the appropriate feminine byname would be inghean uí Fhathaigh.

As the submitter allows no changes, we were unable to change this byname from inghean Fhathaigh to inghean uí Fhathaigh in order to register this name.

Her armory has been registered under the holding name Áine of Atlantia.

Alexandra Scott de Northumberland. Device. Argent, a deer statant azure.

Conflict with a badge of the Barony of Andelcrag, (Fieldless) A hart courant azure. There is one CD for fieldlessness. There is no difference between statant and courant, because the evidence which has so far been obtained indicates that these postures were interchangeable in period.

The LoAR of August 2001 stated: "There is a significant amount of evidence implying that courant and passant were used interchangeably in English armory. There are multiple cases with the same or very similar coats of arms belonging to people of the same surname, using variously passant and courant postures... [details of family armory snipped] Of the families mentioned above, only one of them had a version of the coat of arms where the beasts took a posture outside of the passant/statant or courant groups." Because the specific ruling in that LoAR compared passant and courant, most of the text of that ruling specifically discussed passant and courant. Nonetheless, the ruling does mention the statant posture, and indicates that the research showed that statant was effectively equivalent to the passant posture for purposes of this discussion (by mention of the "passant/statant" posture group). Statant should thus not be given difference from courant, because it was interchangeable with courant in period - just as passant was interchangeable with courant in period.

There are previous precedents that give difference between statant and courant based on 20th C visual perceptions regarding the way the charge looks when the legs are moved. For example, "We feel that the second CVD can be gained from the change from courant to passant [sic - should be statant as in blazon], as it changes dramatically the position of all the legs. (Much as a CVD is granted for the change from statant to couchant, which effectively only removes the legs)" (LoAR November 1990). The currently applicable rules concerning difference are based primarily on what period people would have used to indicate cadency. The rules only use visual difference as a criterion for difference when period practices cannot be used: when period difference practices for certain armorial elements have not yet been determined by SCA scholarship, or when period difference practices cannot apply (as, for example, when a charge is not a period charge, but is SCA-compatible).

Statant and courant postures were both period postures, and per the August 2001 LoAR, could be interchangeable in period. Interchangeable postures would not have been used for cadency and we thus should not give difference between them. The current philosophical basis of the rules requires that past precedents which are based on 20th C visual perceptions should be overruled by precedents based on evidence concerning period cadency practices. New evidence indicating that the difference between courant and statant would not have been interchangeable in period could, of course, be used to overrule this finding, but no such evidence has yet been presented to, or found by, this office.

Benef{s,}a al-Raschida. Name change from Briana MacConmara.

As no forms were received for this submission, it must be returned.

Had forms been received, there were issues with this name that would have needed to be addressed. This name was submitted as Benef{s,}e Ar Rashid and was changed at Kingdom to modify the byname to a feminine form of the masculine byname al-Rashid. However, the changes made were not quite correct. al-Jamal explains:

The given name appears on the cited list as Benef{s,}e, rather than with the finial "a". [...]

My article does not show "al-Raschid" as a masculine cognomen; the form there is al-Rashid, without the "c". [...] Al-Rashida would be the expected feminine form in Arabic, but I do not know whether Turkish feminized names by the same method.

Based on this information, Benef{s,}e al-Rashida is a registerable form of this name. The submitter requested authenticity for Turkish. Lacking evidence that the Arabic byname al-Rashida would have been used in Turkish, this form is not authentic for the submitter's requested culture.

Carolin vom Adlersberg. Device. Gules, an eagle displayed head to sinister Or and on a chief invected argent three cinquefoils vert.

The device is returned for lack of a mini-emblazon on the Letter of Intent. The Administrative Handbook requires that "An accurate representation of each piece of submitted armory shall be included on the letter of intent." This submission is a good example of why this policy is sound: the blazon presented on the Letter of Intent had significant discrepancies from the armory being presented to the College. These discrepancies could have been found by inspecting a mini-emblazon, had one been provided.

Davis de Rowell. Device. Paly of four argent and gules, three spur rowels counterchanged sable and argent.

The charges in this device are the default SCA spur rowel, which is a pierced mullet of six points (as noted in the Pictorial Dictionary).

In general, complex counterchanging was not found in period armory, probably due to the lack of identifiability of the charges being counterchanged. This problem applies to this submission, which is in violation of RfS VIII.3. That rule states, in pertinent part, "Identifiable elements may be rendered unidentifiable by ... excessive counterchanging... or by being obscured by other elements of the design. A complex divided field could obscure the identity of charges counterchanged." The complex field obscures the identity of the counterchanged charges in this submission. If it could be shown that this sort of design was found in period armory, it might support this design to some extent, but no such documentation has been provided or found. As noted in the LoAR of October 2001, "In general, we would like to see documentation for any charge counterchanged over a multiply divided field, such as barry or gyronny."

This submission also appears to be overly modern "op-art" (or "optical art") style. As noted in RfS VIII.4.d, "Artistic techniques and styles developed after 1600 should not be used in Society armory. Charges may not be used to create abstract or op-art designs." Per the on-line Artcyclopedia (http://www.artcyclopedia.com/), "Optical Art is a mathematically-oriented form of (usually) Abstract art, which uses repetition of simple forms and colors to create vibrating effects, moiré patterns, an exaggerated sense of depth, foreground-background confusion, and other visual effects." This design is reminiscent of op-art and includes visually vibrating effects and foreground-background confusion: one viewer, at first, saw the primary charge as three lozenges conjoined in pall inverted bases to center, because she thought that the shape between the three spur rowels was the primary charge.

Eóin Ó hEochaidh. Badge. (Fieldless) A wolf rampant dismembered maintaining an axe argent.

Conflict with Johnathan Crusadene Whitewolf, Gules ermined argent, a wolf rampant argent. There is one CD for fieldlessness, no difference for dismembering the wolf, and no difference for adding the maintained charge.

RfS VIII.5 states that "A fieldless design must have all its elements conjoined." In some cases, such as that of the ermine spot, a standard heraldic charge has some portions that are not conjoined, and may be used as a charge in a fieldless badge. However, a beast dismembered is not a common heraldic charge in period, and many members of the College questioned whether a dismembered beast should be registered when it is on a fieldless badge. We decline to rule on this issue at this time - we would have pended this submission for consideration of this issue, except that it must be returned for the conflict. We do note that this issue will need to be considered on resubmission, so if the submitter could document a dismembered beast in a period fieldless badge, it would be of great assistance.

Eóin Ó hEochaidh. Badge for alternate name Johannes von Eisenach. Azure, on a rose argent a sword inverted sable all within a bordure Or.

As drawn in this submission, the tertiary sword is barely visible on the argent rose. The problem is with this particular rendition, not with the general design of a rose argent charged with a sword sable. In this depiction, the rose is drawn with such prominent and complicated sable details that the sable sword is visually lost. RfS VIII.3 states, in pertinent part, "Identifiable elements may be rendered unidentifiable by ... being obscured by other elements of the design."

Marion Ross. Device. Per bend argent and azure, a horse passant sable.

Conflict with Melinda Cheval du Feu, Per fess rayonny argent and sable, in chief a horse courant sable. There is one CD for changing the field. There is no difference for moving the horse from in chief to the center of the field under RfS X.4.g. The sable horse in Melinda's arms may not lie on the sable portion of the field, and it is thus "forced" to move from the center of the field. The change in location in the field is thus not worth difference by RfS X.4.g as it is "caused by other changes to the design" (the field change). There is no difference between the passant and courant postures because, as discussed more fully in the LoAR of August 2001, the two postures were interchangeable in period.

Note that, as drawn in this submission, the front half of the sable horse was almost invisible on the azure field. This problem could be ameliorated by a more judicious choice of blue pigment for the azure, and addition of internal details and outlines that have good contrast with the field and the charge.

Ormwyn of Aclei. Device. Per fess gules and sable, a fess dancetty fleury at the upper points between three tanner's bench ends and a dragon passant Or.

The SCA has not yet registered a tanner's bench end, and thus if this were registered, it would be the defining instance of this charge in the SCA. No documentation was provided in the LoI for this charge. The College was consistent in stating that it is necessary to document a defining instance of a charge as noted in a number of precedents, for example: "This is being returned for lack of documentation. We can find no indication that a 'muffin cap' has ever been registered before in the SCA. As a consequence, this would be the defining instance of the charge. Previous Laurel Sovereigns of Arms have held new charges to the same standard of documentation and have return them for lacking it, c.f. a winch (Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme, LoAR 9/92, p. 42), a Mongol helm (Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme, LoAR 12/92, p. 15), a zalktis (Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme, LoAR 1/93, p. 28) and a Viking tent arch (Da'ud ibn Auda, LoAR 5/94, p. 17)" (August 1997 LoAR, p. 16).

Although the LoI did not provide documentation for this charge, the submitter's form noted that the tanner's bench end is described in Neubecker's Heraldry, Sources Symbols and Meaning on p. 138. This page depicts two charges on escutcheons, one appearing to be an inversion of the other. The one on the sinister-most escutcheon is the same as the charge submitted here as a tanner's bench end. The caption for these illustrations states, "The heraldic documents which have been handed down to us contain many a secret. Many everyday objects remain unidentified. Often the profession or the name of the bearer of the arms holds their explanation. Though obscure, the two figures on these escutcheons are actually front ends of the special benches on which the tanners stretch their hides to clean them." Neubecker also provides a picture of a tanner's bench.

Unfortunately, Neubecker does not provide a date for these charges, for the illustrations of the charges, or for the tanner's bench. As a result, we cannot use the documentation provided by the submitter to demonstrate that tanner's bench ends were used in period heraldry. Nor can we demonstrate that a tanner's bench is a period artifact, and that the end of the bench would be a reasonable separatable piece of the artifact to use as a heraldic charge. Wreath and her staff did some further research but were unable to document this charge outside of the one citation from Neubecker mentioned above.

We thus do not have sufficient evidence to show that a tanner's bench end is a charge that is compatible with period heraldry. It is certainly quite unfortunate that the Letter of Intent omitted the submitter's documentation from Neubecker, which may have helped the College with its researches, but the College did research this charge and did not find it. While it would not surprise us to learn that this charge was period, without adequate documentation for this charge, this device must be returned.

Siegfried McClure. Badge. (Fieldless) A musical note argent.

A single musical note is considered to be a single abstract symbol, and is not registerable according to past precedent: "[Sable, a musical note argent] Current precedent disallows the registration of solitary abstract symbols" (July 2000 LoAR).

Further, this musical note appears to be a modern form of musical note, which may not be registered without documentation. It is a modern "eighth note", with a straight stem ending in a flag that is bendwise embowed-counterembowed. The note itself is an oval bendwise sinister.

CAID

Anne du Beausoleil. Name and device. Per pale azure and Or, a sun counterchanged.

This name is being returned for lack of evidence that the placename Beausoleil was used in period.

The byname du Beausoleil was documented from Morlet's Dictionnaire Étymologique des Noms de Famille, a source that rarely gives dates. Dauzat and Rostaing, Dictionnaire Étymologique des noms de lieux en France (s.n. Beausoleil), state that Beausoleil is a recent name. Barring evidence that the placename Beausoleil was used in period, this byname is not registerable.

In addition, no evidence was presented for the use of du (derived from de le 'of the') rather than de 'of' with this byname. In any resubmission of this name that includes the byname du Beausoleil, the appropriateness of du, rather than de, should be addressed.

The device submission was withdrawn by the Kingdom.

Brian McRay. Device. Per pale argent and vert, a thistle and a drawn bow reversed and nocked with an arrow counterchanged, on a chief gules three goblets Or.

The Letter of Intent noted that this was a complex device. It cited the precedent stating: "[considering a strung bow and arrow along with another charge] The question was raised as to whether or not this is considered slot machine since it has three dissimilar charges in one group. While it is true that it has three charges, when a bow and arrow are in their standard, expected position they are considered one charge, just like a sword in a scabbard is considered one charge. It is only when they are separated, or put into non standard positions for their normal use, such as being crossed in saltire, that they become two separate charges" (April 1999 LoAR, p. 6).

The cited precedent addresses the part of RfS VIII.1, which states "three or more types of charges should not be used in the same group". In this submission, the primary charge group consists of the thistle and the bow and arrow, and by the cited precedent, this primary charge group is considered to have two types of charge for purposes of the "number of types of charge in one group" portion of RfS VIII.1: a thistle, and a "bow and arrow" charge.

The cited precedent does not, however, address the portion of RfS VIII.1, which states "In no case should the number of different tinctures or types of charges be so great as to eliminate the visual impact of any single design element. As a rule of thumb, the total of the number of tinctures plus the number of types of charges in a design should not exceed eight." The visual complexity of this armory is extreme: the design is not visually coherent, the visual impact of the various design elements is minimized, and in general, the design does not appear to be period style. The most complex armory generally found in period was designed in Tudor England, but Tudor armory generally has significantly more symmetry and coherence than this armory. One could legitimately argue that the 1999 precedent cited above about bows and arrows doesn't apply to RfS VIII.1 in general, but just applies to the issue of multiple types of charge in a single charge group. However, because the "complexity count" of types + tinctures is a rule of thumb, rather than a hard and fast rule, it doesn't strictly matter whether we decide that the number of tinctures and charges in the design adds to nine (counting the bow and the arrow separately) or eight (counting the bow and arrow together as a "bow and arrow") charge. Inspection of this armory shows that it has "crossed over the line" for allowable complexity, and must be returned.

Griffin de Novum Castrum. Name.

This submission was withdrawn by Kingdom at the submitter's request.

The byname, originally submitted as de Nova Castria, was intended to be a Latin byname meaning 'of Newcastle'. The submitter may wish to know that Metron Ariston provided information regarding this Latin byname:

The Latin form of the name of Newcastle is indeed Novum Castrum according to the on-line version of Grässe's Orbis Latinus; Lexikon lateinischer geographischer Namen des Mittelalters und der Neuzeit. This work, long invaluable for medieval historians and collectors of incunabula, collates Latin locatives from medieval manuscripts and early printed books. It has now been placed on line by my old colleagues at Columbia University at www.columbia.edu/acis/ets/Graesse/contents.html. However, whether the name were masculine or feminine, it needs to be in the ablative if it is Latin after the Latin preposition de and thus it should be de Novo Castro or de Nov{o-} Castr{o-}, if you prefer to retain the traditional length marking over the final vowels.

Based on this information, Griffin de Novo Castro and Griffin de Nov{o-} Castr{o-} would be gramatically correct forms of the submitted name.

DRACHENWALD

Athestan of Wortham. Badge. (Fieldless) A swan rousant wings addorsed argent charged on the breast with a cross bottony sable.

Conflict with Melisande de Palma, (Fieldless) A swan rising proper charged with a C-clef sable. There is one CD for fieldlessness. Rousant is a synonym for rising used for swans. In both these pieces of armory, the swan's wings are addorsed, so they are in identical postures, and there is no posture difference between them. There is no difference for changing the type only of tertiary charge on a complex-outlined underlying charge per RfS X.4.j.ii.

EALDORMERE

Auguste of Ben Dunfirth. Device. Argent, a peacock in his pride azure gorged with a coronet palisado argent between two barrulets all between two teapots spouts to sinister vert.

This submission would be the defining instance of a teapot in the SCA. Precedent is consistent in indicating that defining instances of charges need to be documented as being appropriate for SCA use: "This is being returned for lack of documentation. We can find no indication that a 'muffin cap' has ever been registered before in the SCA. As a consequence, this would be the defining instance of the charge. Previous Laurel Sovereigns of Arms have held new charges to the same standard of documentation and have return them for lacking it, c.f. a winch (Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme, LoAR 9/92, p. 42), a Mongol helm (Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme, LoAR 12/92, p. 15), a zalktis (Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme, LoAR 1/93, p. 28) and a Viking tent arch (Da'ud ibn Auda, LoAR 5/94, p. 17)" (LoAR August 1997, p. 16).

The provided documentation does not clearly document the "teapot" vessel used in this submission as being appropriate for SCA heraldry:

Until documentation is provided showing that this vessel is a vessel which was known to Western Europeans in period, it may not be registered. The vessel may only be registered under the name "teapot" if documentation is provided showing that this form of vessel would have been identified as a teapot by Western Europeans in period.

Note that we have blazoned the teapots in this submission explicitly as spouts to sinister. Other vessels in period or SCA heraldry (such as ewers or tankards) default to having their handles to sinister and their pouring lip (when present) to dexter.

The submitter is a court baron and entitled to use a coronet in his armory.

LOCHAC

Avallon-sur-Mer, Canton of. Name and device. Per chevron embattled purpure and argent, three apple blossoms argent seeded and a laurel wreath sable.

This name is being returned for lack of documentation that the construction [placename]-sur-Mer was used in period.

The documentation submitted demonstrated only that Avallon was the name of a modern town. Siren was able to help with dating the placename: "<Avallon> is a header form in Dauzat and Rostaing; <Aballo> is dated to the 4th century."

However, she also found evidence suggesting that the addition of sur-Mer to a placename is not a period practice:

<X-sur-Mer> (where X is a placename) is a fine modern form, found in such places as <Argèles-sur-Mer> (D&R s.n. Argèles, dated to 1298 as <Argilers>). The only dated citation using <sur> I could come up with was <Ban sur Meurthe> 1793 (s.n. Bambecque); an earlier one is the Latinized <Barentum super Seram> 1243 (s.n. Barentin, modern form Barentin-sur-Serre). This would give a Latinized <Avallon super Mare>.

As the submitter only allows minor changes, we are unable to change this name to the Latinized form Avallon super Mare in order to register this name.

Unfortunately, we must return this device, because armory cannot be registered without a name, and holding names may not be formed for branches.

Please advise the submitters to draw the embattlements more boldly on resubmission.

Sybille la Chatte. Device. Lozengy sable and ermine.

Conflict with the dukes of Teck (important non-SCA arms), Lozengy bendwise sable and Or. There is one CD for changing the tincture of half the field, but no difference is given between lozengy and lozengy bendwise by prior precedent: "The field here [Lozengy azure and argent] is functionally the same as Bavaria [Lozengy bendwise azure and argent]" (LoAR December 1993 (b), p.10).

MERIDIES

Boyd the Rus. Name.

Boyd was submitted under the Legal Name Allowance. The LoI stated that the submitter's driver's license shows "that Boyd is the submitter's legal mundane given name". However, no photocopy of his driver's license was included with his submission form. As Boyd was a surname or byname in period, not a given name, it is not registerable in a given name position except via the Legal Name Allowance. Lacking supporting documentation (such as a photocopy of a driver's license) for the Legal Name Allowance, we must return this name.

There was considerable discussion regarding this byname. The LoI summarized the submitter's wishes and requests as:

This submitter desires a male name, is most interested in sound, meaning AND language/culture (name means Bold (red-blond) haired route trader). He requests authenticity to c. 1000 Norse, and will allow ALL changes.

Submitted as Boyd the Rüss of Rürikid, despite the extensive documentation provided by the submitter, Ruby found that there was nothing directly showing support for the locative and dropped that element. Further, after speaking at length with the submitter Ruby determined that the authenticity request was for the byname (the Russ) and that the real desire of the submitter was to register Boyd the Rüss (with the umlatt if possible) and the locative if that is possible.

As submitted, the byname the Rus, listed on the LoI, combines the English the with the Russian Rus (meaning 'redhead or 'Russian') and, so, violates RfS III.1.a which requires linguistic consistency within a name phrase.

A byname the Rus is plausible in English based on the examples found in Bardsley (p. 655 s.n. Rous) which dates John le Rus and Gilbert Russ to 1273. This byname derives from French and refers to someone with "a reddish complexion of hair or face".

As the submitter indicated an interest in authenticity and meaning, we are providing other information about bynames like Russ found by the College in different languages.

Nebuly found support for Ruß (Russ) in German:

Bahlow has a header for Ruß (Russ), with Rußman dated to 1494. The article is in English, however, and will need to be dropped to keep the byname in a single language as per RfS III.1.a. Besides which, all the sources I have indicate that the term Rus is used as the name of a locality, not the name of a people.

The College was unable to find any support for the submitter's desired byname of the Rüss, or even for the word Rüss.

Regarding the submitter's request for authenticity, Aryanhwy merch Catmael provided information regarding Norse bynames with the submitter's desired meaning:

<the Rus> doesn't mean "red/blond-haired" in Old Norse. The byname he wants is either <inn rauði> 'red', <rauðr> 'red' or <inn hárfagri> 'fair-hair', all found in Geirr Bassi.

As the name must be returned, and there are many issues with the byname, we are providing the submitter with the information provided by the College.

Camilla Fante da Ferrara. Device. Per bend argent and gules, three camellias gules slipped and leaved vert and a Latin cross bottony argent.

The camellia flower is native to China and Japan. There is no clear documentation produced either by the submitting kingdom, or the College, indicating that camellias were known in the West in our period. There is no strong registration history of camellias in SCA armory. There are only two registrations - one in 1975 and one in 1981.

In order to register further camellias, it is necessary to provide documentation showing that the flower was known to Western Europeans, and that the period camellia resembles the flower in the submission. It is important to remember that camellias have been extensively bred in modern times. The camellias in the two registrations do not resemble the flower in this submission, but have many petals, so that they belong in the "multipetaled" section of the SCA Ordinary. The multipetaled versions of camellias may well be modern variants of the flower.

The flowers found in this submission each have five or six round petals that overlap each other for most of their length. Because the number of the petals is not the same in all these flowers, and the petals are not clearly separated, the group of flowers cannot be reblazoned as either cinquefoils or sexfoils. Note that if the submitter wishes to submit flowers that resemble the modern single versions of the Camellia sasanqua, with five separated petals and a central round tuft of seeds, they may be blazoned as generic cinquefoils [seeded].

Conn Draca. Device. Argent, a dragon and a chief embattled purpure.

Conflict with Megwyn of Glendwry, Argent, a unicorn-headed dragon, with lion's forepaws, segreant purpure, armed and orbed Or, tail to base entwined about a garb sable. There is one CD for adding the chief. Prior precedent notes that there isn't difference between a dragon and a unicorn-headed dragon with lion's forepaws: "[A dragon vs. a unicorn-headed dragon with lion's forepaws] The visual similarities of the dragon and [the other] monster (changes to head and forepaws only) are simply too great [for there to be a CVD]" (LoAR January 1991 p.24).

This also conflicts with a badge of Giesele Hildegaard of the Mystic Dragon, Argent, a lion-tailed, fire-breathing sea dragon erect purpure. There is one CD for adding the chief. On visual inspection, the lion-tailed, fire-breathing sea dragon is indistinguishable from a wyvern, when one considers the various ways in which wyverns were drawn in period. Because the lion-tailed, fire-breathing sea dragon cannot be distinguished from a wyvern in any meaningful fashion, and dragons are not given difference from wyverns, the dragon in this submission obtains no difference from this monster.

Dauid Mac an Ghoill. Device. Vert, a frog courant contourny Or.

This frog is not drawn identifiably. Most notably, it lacks the expected webbed feet (appearing, rather, to have feline paws), and instead of having a frog's long hind legs and rear feet, its hind legs and hind feet are only slightly larger than the forelegs and forefeet. In general, the College uniformly found this emblazon to be difficult to identify for a number of artistic reasons.

We note that frogs in period heraldry are invariably found in the tergiant posture. The SCA has registered frogs in other postures as long as they maintained their identifiability.

Elena de Cordova. Name.

Listed on the LoI as Elena de Cordoba, this name was submitted as Elena de Cordova. The byname was changed at Kingdom to match documented forms. Juliana de Luna's article "Spanish Names from the Late 15th Century" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/juliana/isabella/) lists Garçi Fernandes de Cordova and Gonçalo Fernandes de Cordova. Therefore, the originally submitted form de Cordova is a fine period form.

Unfortunately, this name conflicts with Elena Cordovera, registered in July 2003. The byname Cordovera is a descriptive term referring to a woman from Cordova. RfS V.1.a.ii.(b) states:

Locative Bynames - Two locative bynames need not refer to different places in order to be considered significantly different; they need only look and sound sufficiently different.

Der Brabanter is equivalent to von Brabant; such bynames were interchangeable in period. However, de Flandre is significantly different from le Flemyng because Flandre and Flemyng are significantly different in sound and appearance. York is equivalent to of York, Münstermann is equivalent to von Münster, and Undertheclyf is equivalent to del Clif and Cliff. Zum Roten Löwen 'at the Red Lion' is significantly different from zum Löwen and from zum Blauen Löwen 'at the Blue Lion'. Lion (from a sign name) is not significantly different from de Lyon because the bynames do not differ significantly in appearance.

The comparison between the bynames Cordovera 'Cordovan' and de Cordova 'of Cordova' is parallel to the comparison between the RfS example comparing Der Brabanter and von Brabant. In both cases, the particle are irrelevant to determining the difference between the names. The substantive elements have the same level of difference as the example Brabanter and Brabant. Cordovera and Cordova have the same level of difference as Brabanter and Brabant. Just as Der Brabanter and von Brabant conflict per RfS V.1.a.ii.(b), Cordovera and de Cordova also conflict.

A letter of permission to conflict from Elena Cordovera would allow the submitter to clear this conflict according to the level of difference set forth in the ruling:

She has written permission to conflict with the already-registered Mikael of Monmouthshire (her husband). As with armory, written permission to conflict with a registered name allows a lower standard of difference. A reasonable rule of thumb for names would be to require as much difference with a letter of permission to conflict as we require between mundane and SCA names. That standard has been set at roughly one syllable; by that rule of thumb the names here are sufficiently different to be registered. Mikaela of Monmouthshire, LoAR 05/1995, A-Ansteorra]

Alternately, the submitter may clear this conflict by changing one of the elements of her name. Another option may be seen in the names Garçi Fernandes de Cordova and Gonçalo Fernandes de Cordova cited above from Juliana de Luna's article "Spanish Names from the Late 15th Century" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/juliana/isabella/). These names have a patronymic byname, in this case Fernandes, before the locative byname de Cordova. If this option interests the submitter, she may be interested in the patronymic bynames listed in Juliana's article at http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/juliana/isabella/patronymic.html.

Michael de Multon. Device. Gules, a pall between three Maltese crosses Or.

the LoI blazoned the pall as argent, but it is Or. It thus conflicts with Theodora Groves, Gules, a pall between three delfs Or, with only one CD for changing the type of secondary charges.

Note that the submission as originally blazoned conflicts with Thomas MacPaul the Younger, Gules, a pall argent between a martlet and two mullets Or, with only one CD for changing the type of secondary charges.

Vulcans Forge, Canton of. Branch name.

This name was submitted as a constructed English placename formed from variant spellings of elements found in A. H. Smith, English Place-Name Elements; specifically: Ful- (from the Old English fugol, meaning 'bird', p. 188; or from the Old English f{u-}l, meaning 'foul', p. 189), Cann (from the Old English canne, meaning 'a depression, a hollow, a deep valley' in this usage, p. 80), and Forge (from the Old French Forge, Middle English Forge, meaning 'a forge, a smithy', p. 184).

The LoI stated that the examples of placenames listed in these entries in Smith, while undated, were pre-15th C. However, no support for this statement, such as photocopies of relevant pages explaining the dating of the placenames in these entries, were included among the photocopies pages from Smith included with this submission.

Included in the submitted documentation, Smith (p. 188 s.n. fugol) identifies a location named Volehouse in Devonshire, and (p. 80 s.n. canne) identifes a location named Howcans in Yorkshire West Riding. These references are important because they each support a portion of the construction of the submitted name. Volehouse demonstrates a shift from Ful- to Vole- for the first element desired by the submitters. Howcans supports -cans as a deuterotheme and as a plural form for the second element desired by the submitters.

However, the College was unable to find either of these placenames in a number of standard sources, including Ekwall and Mills. An entry, full-nautr, on one of the photocopied pages (p. 189) references Ekwall and, so, allows us to compare the forms of placenames listed in this entry to those included in Ekwall. This entry in Smith reads:

*full-nautr ON, 'one who as a full share' (cf. ON iam-nautar 'those who have equal shares', DEPN 175), is possible in (a) Fonaby, Fulletby, Fulnetby L (bý).

The corresponding entry in Ekwall (4th ed., p. 183 s.n. Follingsby) lists Fonaby, Fulletby, and Fulnetby as subheaders, but does not date these spellings to period. This information casts doubt on the reliability of the cited Volehouse and Howcans as forms used in period.

The submitters allowed any changes. Therefore, the first issue could be resolved by changing the submitted Vul- to the documented form Ful-. However, the only support for -cans was the reference in Smith to a place named Howcans. Lacking support that Howcans is a plausible form in period, it can not support the spelling -cans as a deuterotheme in the submitted placename. Therefore, we must return this submission.

William Mauricii. Name.

This name conflicts with William Morris, a noted artist who was a member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and the founder of the Arts and Crafts Movement in England. He has his own entry in the online 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

Mauricii is the Latin form of the name Morris or Morrisson. The change in pronunciation from Morris to Mauricii, caused by adding the -ii to the end of the name, is not sufficient to clear this conflict.

The submitter may wish to know that a fully Latinized form of the name would be Willelmus Mauricii.

MIDDLE

Langry de Cluny. Name.

No documentation was presented and none was found that Langry was used as a given name in period. Lacking such evidence, the submitted name Langry de Cluny has no given name and, so, violates RfS III.2.a, which states in part "A personal name must contain a given name and at least one byname".

The documentation provided for Langry on the LoI was the statement: "Langry is dated to 1080 in Hopkins, Knights (39)." The source referred to in this statement is Andrea Hopkins, Knights (p. 39), which states, "[T]here is a record of one lord, Langry Gros, giving a mansus (a piece of land capable of supporting a household of people) to the great Abbey of Cluny in 1080 in exchange for a suite of mail."

Many modern history books modernize names. Additionally, historical figures are often referred to simply by their bynames (Mortimer, Hotspur, Percy, etc.). In the case of Langry Gros cited in Hopkins, we cannot tell from the context whether Langry is a given name or one of a pair of bynames. Therefore, we must examine other information about Langry to determine if it is plausible as a given name and whether the form Langry is a solely modern form. Metron Ariston found information about the name Langry online:

There is some significant doubt as to whether Langry is in fact a given name, though it is found as a byname in France. One of the larger on-line French onomastic dictionaries has this to say at www.jtosti.com/noms/l3.htm: "Le nom est porté dans la Seine-et-Marne et dans l'Aube. Variante: Langris (apparue au XIXe siècle). La finale -y semble indiquer qu'il s'agit d'un toponyme (nom de lieu) renvoyant à un ancien village. L'origine pourrait être semblable à celle de Langres (ville et plateau de la Haute-Marne), qui évoque le peuple gaulois des Lingones. A noter dans l'Ouest des hameaux appelés (la) Langrie. Il faut cependant remarquer que, dans le village de Saint-Léger (77), le nom Langry apparaît comme une déformation de Landry (voir ce nom), à moins que ce ne soit l'inverse (les membres d'une même famille sont appelés sur les actes du XVIIIe siècle tantôt Landry, tantôt Langry)." This would appear to indicate that at least some francophones consider it a locative byname rather than a patronymic one.

Lacking evidence that Langry in the cited Langry Gros is a period given name, we must assume it is a byname based on the evidence found by the College of Langry used solely as a byname in period. As such, the submitted name Langry de Cluny has no given name and must be returned.

His armory has been registered under the holding name Darin of Rudivale.

Sebastian Goulde. Device. Per bend gules and azure, a reremouse dormant pendant from a branch argent.

The reremouse is hanging upside down and has its wings wrapped around its body in a natural sleeping posture. This posture is not registerable by previous precedent: "[a reremouse dormant dependent from an annulet] The bat was not dormant, but was rather in its natural sleeping posture. We know of no examples of this posture in period heraldic depictions of bats, and for good reason: this posture eliminates any identifiable aspects of the bat. Therefore the device violates VIII.4.c, Natural Depiction: ... Excessively natural designs include those that depict animate objects in unheraldic postures ... and VIII.3, Armorial Identifiability" (LoAR August 2000).

Sindri Jónsson. Device. Or chapé ployé purpure, issuant from a double horned anvil a dagger inverted sable.

Conflict with a badge of the Shire of Heatherwyne, (Fieldless) Issuant from an anvil sable, three sprigs of heather purpure, slipped and leaved vert. There is one CD for fieldlessness. The items issuant from the anvils function as maintained charges and are not worth difference.

OUTLANDS

Gormlaith Ó Néill. Name.

This name is being returned because Gormlaith is a feminine given name and Ó Néill is a masculine form.

Bynames were used literally in Gaelic in period. The form Ó Néill means 'grandson/male descendant of Niall'. As a woman cannot be a grandson or male descendant, the form Ó Néill is not compatible with a feminine given name in period.

If the submitter wishes to indicate that her father's name is Niall, then the appropriate byname is inghean Néill 'daughter of Niall'. If she wants to indicate that she is a member of the Ó Néill family, then the appropriate byname is inghean uí Néill.

As the submitter allows no changes, we were unable to change the byname to a feminine form in order to register her name.

Her armory has been registered under the holding name Gormlaith of al-Barran.

Lin Shiao Mei. Name.

This submission is being returned for lack of evidence of Shiao as a valid transliteration.

Languages that do not use Roman character sets are registerable so long as a single transliteration system is used throughout the entire name. The transliteration Shiao 'small, tiny, insignificant' uses no transliteration system that we were able to identify. Yin Mei Li, Golden Pillar, explains:

[T]his name appears to mix Romanization systems, using an as-yet-unidentified convention for the given name's first syllable, and either Wade-Giles or Pinyin for the surname and the given name's second syllable. The Chinese character for Shiao, the first syllable of this submitted given name is relatively easy to identify because there appears to be only one Chinese character with the intended meaning that a typical American might spell as Shiao. However, this character is Romanized as Hsiao in Wade-Giles (Mandarin dialect), Siao in a common modified Wade-Giles, Xiao in Pinyin (Mandarin dialect) and Siu in Yale (Cantonese dialect). Among the five conventions and two modified conventions used in her books, Yin could not find any convention that Romanizes the subject Chinese character as shiao. Even the submitter's cited documentation, identified in the LoI, uses standard Pinyin and Yale Romanizations, rather than whatever convention the submitter used. [...]

The other two syllables, Lin and Mei, are Wade-Giles or Pinyin Romanizations. These two Romanizations are identical for these two Chinese characters partially because, in Mandarin, these syllables involve sounds that are more common in European languages. However, dialects can vary enough that both of these syllables can have very different Romanizations for other dialects. For example, depending on which Chinese character is used for surname Lin, its Yale Romanization is Lam or Leun. Mui is the Yale Romanization for the Chinese character that is the given name's second syllable.

From the information provided by Golden Pillar, forms of this name using a single transliteration system throughout the entire name would be Lin Hsiao Mei using Wade-Giles, Lin Xiao Mei using Pinyin, and Lam Siu Mui or Leun Siu Mui using Yale.

Since the submitter allows no changes, we were unable to change this name to use a consistent transliteration system in order to register this name.

Her armory has been registered under the holding name Mini of al-Barran.

TRIMARIS

Ainbthen inghean Risdeig. Device. Per pale fleury-counterfleury vert and azure, a sheaf of wheat and a castle of three towers Or.

The "sheaf of wheat" is a group of five branches of indeterminate type, bound together at base and surmounted at base by what appears to be a bunch of grapes. It is neither a heraldic sheaf of three crossed charges, nor is it a garb, the period heraldic term for a bundle of wheat or other grain. It cannot clearly be described and thus needs to be returned under RfS VII.7.b, which states in part, "Any element used in Society armory must be describable in standard heraldic terms so that a competent heraldic artist can reproduce the armory solely from the blazon."

In addition, there were concerns about the identifiability of the fleury-counterfleury line of division. The line of division was not drawn as clearly as would be desirable and this problem should be addressed on resubmission.

Lastly, there was some question as to whether the fleury-counterfleury line of division could ever be registerable between low-contrast tinctures. The October 1998 LoAR, p. 12, discussed Continental lines of division that terminate in leaves or similar plant motifs:

The submitter has provided examples from Siedmacher's [sic] 1605 Wappenbuch of armory that could be blazoned Per chevron ployé pointed with a linden leaf argent and gules., and Per bend Or and sable with trefoils counterposed and issuant from the center of the line., thereby showing period evidence for this motif. However, all exemplars provided used difference tincture classes for each half of the field.

This design motif is essentially a divided field with leaves as counterchanged charges. Therefore, this submission violates the Rule of Tincture. Barring period evidence of this motif using two tinctures from the same class, it can only be used in the SCA with tinctures from the different classes.

Fleury-counterfleury is similar in concept to the lines discussed in this precedent. It could be considered analogous to "a divided field with leaves [or, in this case, demi-fleurs-de-lys] as counterchanged charges." If one follows the logic of this precedent, one could decide that fleury-counterfleury is not registerable between low-contrast tinctures unless period documentation is provided for that design. We decline to rule on this issue at this time; we might have pended this submission for consideration of this issue, except that it was necessary to return the submission for the other reasons mentioned. We suggest that this question be addressed in any resubmission that uses fleury-counterfleury between low-contrast tinctures.

Angus Redberd. Device. Argent, a mountain of three peaks vert enflamed at the peaks gules.

Conflict with a badge of the Barony of the Eldern Hills, Argent, a mountain of three peaks issuant from base gules. There is one CD for the tincture of the mountains, but nothing for adding the effectively maintained flames. This also conflicts with the badge of the Barony of Ered Sûl, Azure, a mountain of three peaks, issuant from base vert, fimbriated and snow-capped argent. There is one CD for changing the field, nothing for fimbriating the mountains, nothing for the small tincture change in removing the "snow caps" and nothing for the effectively maintained flames.

Please advise the submitter that a heraldic mountain is considered a peripheral charge by the SCA, and these mountains should therefore be lower on the field.

Caitilín ni Killane. Device. Azure, a Hungerford knot Or and a chief vair.

This submission has problems both with the mini-emblazon and with the full-sized emblazon. In both cases, the knot is not a Hungerford knot, but is a six-lobed knot, like a Bowen knot but with six loops rather than four. No documentation has been presented, and none was found, indicating that this knot is a period type of heraldic knot. Also, in the mini-emblazon, the knot is drawn with an unacceptably thin line that seemed a further problem to the College, although this is not a problem in the full-sized emblazon.

The chief in the mini-emblazon had three rows of vair bells that were so small that they were difficult to identify. The chief in the full-sized emblazon has two rows of identifiable vair bells, but the bottom row of vair bells is azure against the azure field. When drawing a vair chief, the bottom row of vair bells should not be of the same tincture as the field, for contrast reasons. If the bottom row of the vair bells is the same tincture as the field, it is difficult or impossible to tell whether the chief has a plain line of division or if it has a complex line of division (such as wavy or urdy, depending on the depiction of the vair). In this emblazon, an attempt was made to clarify the issue by demarking the chief with a thick black line, but that does not materially help the contrast problem, as the thick black line is almost impossible to see between the blue bottom of the vair bells and the blue field. The thick line also raises the possibility of fimbriation: by long-standing SCA precedent, chiefs may not be fimbriated.

Please remember that the Administrative Handbook requirements for preparation of Letters of Intent state that "An accurate representation of each piece of submitted armory shall be included on the letter of intent." When there is a significant mismatch between the mini-emblazon and the full-sized emblazon, as is the case with this submission, this requirement is not met.

It is important to realize that a submission may need to be returned because of a problem with the mini-emblazon, even if the full-sized emblazon does not share that problem. If it appears that the College fully researched the submission despite the problems with the mini-emblazon, we may accept the submission. However, in many cases, the College does not fully research the submission for all style and conflict problems because they felt that the artistic problem on the mini-emblazon was a sufficient reason for return. When this happens, the mismatch between the mini-emblazon and the full-sized emblazon is a reason for return.

Cathal the Black. Device. Sable, a hanging balance atop a sword argent.

The hanging balance is not depicted correctly. The balance should have pans hanging by chains at each end of the arm of the balance. Instead, the emblazon shows all the space between the chains and over the pans as argent (in addition to the argent chains and pans). As a result, this submission more closely resembles two bags hanging from a yoke than a hanging balance. The artwork needs to be redrawn to clearly depict either a hanging balance, or two bags hanging from a yoke.

Please note that there is a conflict problem with this submission as well. A hanging balance atop a sword resembles a standing balance so closely that it is not given difference from a standing balance. The LoAR of January 1998 noted that a hanging balance resting atop a vertical "stand-shaped" charge can be given no difference from a standing balance: "[Gules, a double-bitted axe inverted and balanced on its haft a set of scales Or.] This conflicts with ... (Fieldless) A standing balance Or., with one CD for the field." The same problem applies to this design. Thus, if the hanging balance were redrawn correctly, this would conflict with Kiriana Michaelson, Sable platy, a standing balance argent. There would be one CD for removing the plates, but no difference between the hanging balance atop the sword and the standing balance.

Catherine Abernathy. Device. Per bend sinister enhanced azure and purpure, a bend sinister enhanced between seven mullets one and six argent.

Per the LoAR of June 2000, "There is insufficient evidence for the period use of per bend enhanced to register it." No further documentation has been presented or found supporting the period use of the per bend enhanced field division, or the per bend sinister enhanced field division.

Even if documentation is found for the per bend [sinister] enhanced field division, we would like to see documentation for the specific design per bend [sinister] enhanced.... a bend [sinister] enhanced between [charges] before registering a design of this sort. The combination of the extremely rare bend [sinister] enhanced design with the quite uncommon design of per bend [sinister] ... a bend [sinister] between [charges] is so unlikely to be found in period that we need specific documentation before it can be registered.

Perhaps it is worth discussing how uncommon the design per bend ... a bend between [charges] is in period, because the design is so frequently found in SCA armory. Using English heraldry as an example, the Dictionary of British Arms, vol. 1 (a compilation of heraldry from throughout our period), has 25 pages of "bend between charges" coats from period. Just one coat is of the form Per bend ... a bend between [charges]: Totesbery (Tittesbury, Titisborough), p. 373, Per bend argent and sable, a bend lozengy Or between 6 lions counterchanged. The infrequency of these designs in English heraldry is not unique to English heraldry, but is representative of most cultures and times. In general, designs with a bend sinister are much rarer than similar designs with a bend throughout Europe.

Chiere wreic Maredudd. Device. Gules chapé ployé vair, a stag statant head elevated argent.

Conflict with Gianni Arcieri, Per fess azure and bendy sable and argent, a stag at gaze argent. There is one CD for changing the field. There is no difference between a stag statant head elevated and a stag at gaze (statant guardant) per RfS X.4.h, which states in pertinent part "changes in the position of the head, for instance, are not significant." Per RfS X.4.g, "Changing the relative positions of charges in any group placed directly on the field or overall is one clear difference, provided that change is not caused by other changes to the design." Because the argent stag in Gianni's device cannot lie on the bendy sable and argent portion of the field, it is forced to lie in chief. Thus, the change in relative positions of these charges is "caused by other changes to the design" (the change to the field) and thus is not worth difference.

Darkwater, Barony of. Badge redesignation for Darkwater's Defender. (Fieldless) Two dolphins haurient respectant Or sustaining a trident gules.

The LoI noted that the badge, (Fieldless) Two dolphins haurient respectant Or sustaining a trident gules, was to be associated with Order of Darkwater's Defender. However, that order name is not registered and has not been submitted. The order name Order of the Defender of Darkwater was returned in June 2000:

This conflicts with the already registered names Order of the Defenders of Mons Tonitrus and Order of the Defenders of the West. Also, while such order names have been registered in the past it is not clear that this construction follows real-world examples. [Darkwater, Barony of, LoAR 06/2000, Trimaris-R]

The reason for this conflict is clarified in the following ruling:

[Order of the Defenders of Andelcrag] This conflicts with Defenders of Mons Tonitrus. RfS V.2 deals with conflict of non-personal names. Clause V.2.a clearly says that branch names are not descriptive elements. The remaining clauses clearly imply that names must differ in their descriptive elements in order not to conflict. This therefore conflicts with Defenders of Mons Tonitrus: in terms of descriptive elements, they are identical. [Andelcrag, Barony of, LoAR 02/1997, Middle-R]

In actuality, the registered name for the West's order is Defenders of the West. It is listed incorrectly in the precedent noted above. Letters of permission to conflict from the Barony of Mons Tonitrus and from the West would allow Darkwater to clear this conflict.

Elena filia Dugalli. Device. Per chevron argent and vert, two trefoils vert and a dragonfly argent.

Conflict with Aldrydd Ffestiniog, Per chevron argent and vert, two oak leaves and a war-hammer counterchanged. Precedent holds that there is significant, but not substantial, difference between trefoils and oak leaves. Because the criterion in RfS X.2 requiring that "the type of every primary charge is substantially changed" is not met in this armorial comparison, RfS X.2 cannot be used to clear the two pieces of armory of conflict. Thus, there is only one CD for changing the type of the charge group on the field under RfS X.4.e. The pertinent precedent reads: "[oak leaves vs. trefoils as charges on a chevron] Consensus among the commenters was that there was not the substantial difference required by X.4.j.ii. to grant the necessary second for the change to type of the tertiaries" (LoAR May 1994 p.18). Note that, while this precedent applies to RfS X.4.j.ii rather than RfS X.2, the same distinction between substantial and significant type change is used in both sections of the Rules for Submission.

Elena filia Dugalli. Badge. Argent, on a trefoil vert a dragonfly argent.

Conflict with Myles of the Shamrock, Argent a shamrock vert. There is one CD for adding the charge on the trefoil but no difference between a trefoil and a shamrock.

Hannah of Thalia. Name.

The only documentation provided for the element Thalia in the LoI was the statement: "Thalia: Found in Classical Dictionary by Lemprière, pg. 668 and dated from the classical period to present." Lemprière is not among the sources listed in the Administrative Handbook in Appendix H, "Books That Do Not Require Photocopies to Laurel". As no photocopies from this source were included in this submission, the element Thalia is insufficiently documented, causing this name to be returned.

Additionally, the College only found evidence of Thalia as the name of one of the muses of Greek mythology. As such, it is not registerable as part of a locative byname such as of Thalia.

Her armory has been registered under the holding name Hannah of Trimaris.

Michael Kendrick. Device. Sable, a chevron throughout ployé between two falcons respectant and a wolf's head erased argent.

The chevron is drawn too narrowly to be registerable. In addition, the erasures on the wolf's head are too small and numerous to be considered acceptable period style. See the Cover Letter of the November 2001 LoAR for an extensive discussion of depictions of erased heads in period heraldry.

Richard of Storm. Name.

This name conflicts with Richard Storm, registered in April 1998.

His armory was registered under the holding name Richard of Trimaris.

Trimaris, Kingdom of. Badge for Order of the Heralds' Tressure of Trimaris. (Fieldless) A double tressure triskely argent.

RfS VIII.5 states "Since there is no field in such a [fieldless] design, it may not use charges that rely on the edges of the field to define their shape, such as bordures and orles." Because a double tressure, like both the bordure and the orle, relies on the edges of the field to define its shape, it may not be used on a fieldless badge.

The blazon originally used the term tressure, which we have replaced with the term double tressure, although with some trepidation because of confusing artwork in the emblazon. The double tressure in this submission is not drawn with sufficent space between the two strands of the charge: the two appear to be stuck together, and thus, this charge is equivalent to an orle drawn with a line down the middle. If the intent of this armory is to depict a single strand, the confusing line down the middle of the strand should be removed, and the charge should be blazoned as an orle. The term orle should always be used for the single strand, and multiple strands should be blazoned as an explicitly enumerated tressure: double tressure or triple tressure. Take, for example, the ruling concerning the rather similar charge which was returned in the LoAR of June 1988:

The original blazon of the surrounding charge was a "tressure triskele" and it was stated that this was to refer to the submittor's [sic] services to Trimaris in the heraldic sphere since there is an award for heralds in that Kingdom called the Tressure Triskele. It was noted by more than one individual that we do not use single diminutives and so this has to be an orle and also that it is not possible to figure out what this is from the blazon 'triskele' (one person suggested that this could be an orle semy of triskeles). Neither the name nor any armoury for the award alluded to has ever been registered by the College and thus it cannot be considered to be 'grandfathered.'"

The charge in question was eventually registered by this submitter in October 1991 with the blazon an orle surmounted by an orle of triskeles argent. However that blazon could not be used to describe the charge in this submission. In the 1991 registration, the triskeles surmount the orle, while in this emblazon, the triskeles are under the orle/double tressure.

The College had concerns about the identifiability of the triskeles. Some felt that the identifiability of the triskeles was objectionably obscured by the overlap with the same-tinctured double tressure. As a visual note, though it's a matter of internal details, the orle surmounted by an orle of triskeles had better identifiability than the charge in this submission. The College also noted that the double tressure flory-counterflory (a period charge) did not have the same intrinsic identifiability difficulty as this double tressure triskely. Fleurs-de-lys by their nature are easily split into two identifiable halves, which are then placed on opposite sides of the double tressure. Triskeles do not easily split into two identifiable halves. At this time, we decline to rule on the identifiability issues concerning this submission, as the required redrawing to clarify the question of whether an orle or a double tressure is intended will change the artwork substantially. However, we advise the Trimarian College to be aware of this issue on their resubmission.

The College also had some questions about whether it was reasonable to construct a "double tressure triskely." We note that in the LoAR of July 2001, an orle issuing eight acorns (and their leaves) from the outer edge was considered to be non-period style and a reason for return: "The submitter justified the unusual treatment of the orle by citing examples in Spain of crosses terminating in acorns plus an example in Germany of a bend issuing flower. Crosses, however, traditionally have a far greater number of unusual treatments than any other type of charge, and the acorns only issue from the ends of the cross, not from the entire cross. Furthermore, none of the examples cited included the much more complex example of having acorns plus leaves issuing from a charge. Barring additional evidence, we feel that this treatment is not consistent with period style." At this time, we decline to rule on whether a double tressure triskely is too far from period style to be registered, or whether it should be considered a single step from period practice (also known as a "weirdness"), which can be registered if there is only one such single step from period style in the armory, or whether it should be considered compatible with period armorial style. We might have pended this submission for consideration of this issue, but could not do so due to the other reasons for return. We advise the Trimarian College to provide some documentation in support of this design on resubmission.

Trimaris, Kingdom of. Order name Triskele Legion of Trimaris.

This name conflicts with the Order of the Triskele of Trimaris (registered in February 1983). The designators Legion and Order are transparent for conflict purposes even when permission to conflict is granted (which is assumed for submissions by the same submitter). Therefore, the portions of these names that must be compared are Triskele ... of Trimaris and ... Triskele of Trimaris which are identical and, so, conflict.

Trimaris, Kingdom of. Order name Trimaris Navy Kitcheneers.

The LoI provided no documentation at all for this order name. It also lacks a designator (such as Order, Guild, etc.). The College was unable to find any evidence that this name follows any type of period naming pattern. Lacking such evidence, this name is not registerable.

Additionally, no evidence was found that Kitcheneers is a word, even modernly. Hund found evidence of a period form of the word kitchener:

The word Kitcheneers does not appear in the OED. The closest would be "kitchener", which means "one employed in a kitchen, especially in a monastery", which has 'kychynnere' dated to 1440 and 'kitchinner' in 1614.

THE FOLLOWING ITEMS HAVE BEEN PENDED UNTIL THE APRIL 2004 LAUREL MEETING (OR AS NOTED)

DRACHENWALD

Leifr Hrólfsson and Lucia de la Valette. Badge. (Fieldless) A Maltese cross gules within and conjoined to an annulet sable charged with the words "Antiquity Camaradery Generosity" argent.

The Maltese cross is gules, but this was not mentioned in the blazon. As a result, the cross was believed to be sable, not gules. As a result this needs to be pended for further conflict research.

While this is being pended, we need further research and commentary on the words on the annulet as well. The Oxford English Dictionary does not date the spellings of any of these words exactly as cited, with a terminal "y." The dated spellings of "antiquity" and "generosity" end in an "e" or an "ie", with the "e" spelling in the 15th C and the "ie" spelling in the 16th C. The Oxford English Dictionary does not give any spelling of the word "camaradery" with a date before the 1800s. The word derives from the French. The French word camaraderie in Dauzat etc.'s Dictionnaire Etymologique et Historique du Francais is not dated earlier than 1671. Thus, there are some questions concerning the propriety of these words on the annulet. In general, we would like to see discussion from the College on what text should be considered acceptable for use in armory: should it be within the usual range of spelling for that language? Should a phrase in a motto be allowed to mix languages? Does the motto need to make sense?


Created at 2004-01-13T22:00:07