Society for Creative Anachronism

College of Arms

16308 SE 165th St

Renton, WA 98058-8221

+1-425-277-0763

herald@sca.org

For the December 2007 meetings, printed April 15, 2008

To all the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive, from Elisabeth Laurel, Jeanne Marie Wreath, and Margaret Pelican, greetings.

Items listed below in square brackets have not been scheduled yet. For information about future scheduling, please review the status table located on the Web at http://oscar.sca.org/index.php?action=137.

The December Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Saturday, December 15, 2007 and the Wreath meeting held on Sunday, December 16, 2007. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Middle (04 Aug, 2007), Northshield (09 Aug, 2007), East (10 Aug, 2007), East (16 Aug, 2007), Æthelmearc (17 Aug, 2007), Drachenwald (20 Aug, 2007), Laurel LoPaD (22 Aug, 2007), Calontir (25 Aug, 2007), Siren LoItUP (26 Aug, 2007), Outlands (27 Aug, 2007), Atlantia (28 Aug, 2007), An Tir (30 Aug, 2007), Lochac (30 Aug, 2007), Meridies (30 Aug, 2007), and Caid (31 Aug, 2007). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Friday, November 30, 2007.

The January Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Saturday, January 19, 2008 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, January 12 2008. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Atenveldt (01 Sep, 2007), East (06 Sep, 2007), Caid (20 Sep, 2007), Gleann Abhann (20 Sep, 2007), Drachenwald (24 Sep, 2007), Northshield (27 Sep, 2007), West (27 Sep, 2007), Ansteorra (29 Sep, 2007), Calontir (29 Sep, 2007), Outlands (29 Sep, 2007), An Tir (30 Sep, 2007), Atlantia (30 Sep, 2007), Æthelmearc (30 Sep, 2007), Calontir (30 Sep, 2007), Meridies (30 Sep, 2007), and Siren LoItP (30 Sep, 2007). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Monday, December 31, 2007.

The February Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting on Saturday, February 16, 2008 and the Wreath meeting held on Sunday, March 9, 2008. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Laurel LoPaD (08 Oct, 2007), Middle (14 Oct, 2007), Atenveldt (15 Oct, 2007), Drachenwald (20 Oct, 2007), Caid (26 Oct, 2007), Laurel LoPaD (28 Oct, 2007), Atlantia (29 Oct, 2007), An Tir (30 Oct, 2007), Ansteorra (30 Oct, 2007), Lochac (30 Oct, 2007), Meridies (30 Oct, 2007), Artemisia (31 Oct, 2007), Caid (31 Oct, 2007), Calontir (31 Oct, 2007), East (31 Oct, 2007), Northshield (31 Oct, 2007), Outlands (31 Oct, 2007), and West (31 Oct, 2007). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Thursday, January 31, 2008.

The March Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Saturday, March 22, 2008 and the Wreath meeting held on Sunday, March 30, 2008. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Trimaris (31 Oct, 2007) (delayed for administrative reasons), Atenveldt (20 Nov, 2007), Outlands (21 Nov, 2007), East (23 Nov, 2007), An Tir (26 Nov, 2007), Northshield (26 Nov, 2007), Atlantia (27 Nov, 2007), Ansteorra (28 Nov, 2007), Lochac (28 Nov, 2007), Meridies (29 Nov, 2007), West (29 Nov, 2007), Artemisia (30 Nov, 2007), Æthelmearc (30 Nov, 2007), and Trimaris (30 Nov, 2007). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Friday, February 29, 2008.

The April Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican meeting held on Saturday, April 26, 2008 and the Wreath meeting held on Sunday April 13, 2008. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: Gleann Abhann (03 Dec, 2007), [Ealdormere (12 Dec, 2007)], East (16 Dec, 2007), Lochac (17 Dec, 2007), An Tir (22 Dec, 2007), Drachenwald (23 Dec, 2007), Ansteorra (24 Dec, 2007), Outlands (24 Dec, 2007), Atlantia (29 Dec, 2007), Calontir (30 Dec, 2007), Meridies (30 Dec, 2007), Artemisia (31 Dec, 2007), Atenveldt (31 Dec, 2007), Caid (31 Dec, 2007), Northshield (31 Dec, 2007), and the Palimpsest Rules Letter (31 Dec, 2007). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Monday, March 31, 2008.

The May Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican and Wreath meetings held in May 2008. These meetings will consider the following Letters of Intent: Laurel LoPaD (03 Jan, 2008), [Ealdormere (10 Jan, 2008)], East (19 Jan, 2008), Drachenwald (20 Jan, 2008), An Tir (26 Jan, 2008), Calontir (26 Jan, 2008), [Artemisia (29 Jan, 2008)], Atlantia (29 Jan, 2008), Lochac (29 Jan, 2008), [Atenveldt (30 Jan, 2008)], [Caid (30 Jan, 2008)], Gleann Abhann (30 Jan, 2008), Meridies (30 Jan, 2008), [Trimaris (30 Jan, 2008)], Palimpsest Rules Letter (31 Jan, 2008), West (31 Jan, 2008). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Wednesday, April 30, 2008.

The June Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican and Wreath meetings held in June 2008. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: Laurel LoPaD (02 Feb, 2008), Outlands (02 Feb, 2008) (Redated from 31 January based on OSCAR posting date), East (18 Feb, 2008), Drachenwald (20 Feb, 2008), [An Tir (22 Feb, 2008)], Calontir (23 Feb, 2008), [Atenveldt (25 Feb, 2008)], [Æthelmearc (25 Feb, 2008)], Atlantia (26 Feb, 2008), Lochac (28 Feb, 2008), [Ansteorra (29 Feb, 2008)], [Outlands (29 Feb, 2008)], West (29 Feb, 2008). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Saturday, May 31, 2008.

The July Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican and Wreath meetings held in July 2008. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: [Caid (01 Mar, 2008)], Laurel LoPaD (19 Mar, 2008), Albion (20 Mar, 2008), [Atenveldt (20 Mar, 2008)], [Drachenwald (21 Mar, 2008)], Gleann Abhann (25 Mar, 2008), Lochac (25 Mar, 2008), Calontir (26 Mar, 2008), [Æthelmearc (28 Mar, 2008)], [An Tir (30 Mar, 2008)], [Ansteorra (30 Mar, 2008)], [Atlantia (30 Mar, 2008)], [Meridies (30 Mar, 2008)], [Artemisia (31 Mar, 2008)], [Outlands (31 Mar, 2008)]. All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Monday, June 30, 2008.

Not all letters of intent may be considered when they are originally scheduled on this cover letter. The date of mailing of the LoI, date of receipt of the Laurel packet, or other factors may delay consideration of certain letters of intent. Additionally, some letters of intent received may not have been scheduled because the administrative requirements (receipt of the forms packet, receipt of the necessary fees, et cetera) have not yet been met.

REMINDER: Until all administrative requirements are met, the letter may not be scheduled.

From Laurel: OSCAR and Comments

We understand that a number of commenters prefer to comment in OSCAR before reading commentary by others, and this is acceptable. But afterwards, others' commentary should be read. Issues may be raised by Wreath or Pelican - or by another commenter - that require additional input. When making decisions, it is assumed that all commenters have actually looked at all relevant commentary that was posted prior to their comments.

Consider the following - In the case of Valentino da Siena (An Tir) this month, the LoI was missing the emblazon. As the correction feature does not support the addition of emblazons, Lions Blood added the emblazon as a comment the same day that the LoI was posted (August 31st). Wreath must assume that commenters actually saw the emblazon, though at least one commenter noted in October that no mini-emblazon was present. Wreath's assumption is that anyone commenting after the emblazon was posted actually saw it; we hope that the emblazon was noted after the comment was posted and that the comment simply was not updated.

From Wreath: Hummingbirds Volant, Rising, and Hovering

A question on one of this month's submissions caused us to investigate the postures of hummingbirds registered in the Society. There are currently 41 pieces of armory with one or more hummingbirds: 1 is close, 1 is migrant, 3 are displayed, 8 are blazoned as volant, 27 are blazoned as rising, and 1 is blazoned as hovering.

An examination of the volant, rising, and hovering hummingbirds showed that we have inconsistently blazoned the various postures. Birds in the hovering posture unique to the hummingbird - body erect but embowed, wings addorsed, tail tucked forward under the body - have been variously blazoned as rising or volant (and yes, once as hovering). We also found hummingbirds blazoned as volant that are in the posture the Society identifies as rising.

While the term hovering isn't an heraldic posture, neither is stooping or striking (which we equate, for conflict purposes, with volant bendwise and rising, respectively). While we are reluctant to use SCA-unique terminology in blazon, hovering is the best term that describes that unique hummingbird posture. We note that certain period heraldic charges had special terms for postures uniquely (at least in period heraldry) associated with them, for example, stags at gaze and goats clymant. In order to ensure that the emblazon is recreated from the blazon, we are adopting the term hovering for hummingbirds. The three postures can be described as:

-	Hovering: the wings addorsed, the body sort of palewise but embowed, and the tail tucked forward under the belly. This term may only be applied to hummingbirds. It is granted no difference from rising.

-	Rising: the body bendwise, wings elevated and addorsed. In other words, the bird is "taking off" from the ground. If present, the feet are shown beneath or slightly in front of the bird. The feet are generally absent for hummingbirds, though they are almost always present for other birds.

-	Volant: the body is more or less horizontal, the wings spread on either side of the body. If the wings are addorsed this must be specified. A bird volant (wings spread) is a CD from a bird rising.

We wish to remind submitters that the use of a hummingbird is a step from period practice.

From Wreath: Maintained Charges and Marshalled Armory

In commentary this month (Giles Green, Atlantia), Albion cited the precedent:

Anne Gyldensleve. Device Quarterly azure and sable, in bend two arms embowed fesswise reversed Or gloved argent each maintaining a falcon close Or. As noted by al-Jamal, "RfS XI.3.b [Marshalling] notes that 'No section of the field may contain an ordinary that terminates at the edge of that section, or more than one charge unless those charges are part of a group over the whole field.' The charged sections here contain multiple, though conjoined, charges which are not part of a group over the whole field." [LoAR 03/2004]

The paragraph from the Rules for Submission quoted in the above precedent concludes: "Charged sections must all contain charges of the same type to avoid the appearance of being different from each other." It's true that maintained charges contribute to the complexity of a submission; on the other hand, they don't contribute to heraldic difference. The question is whether they contribute to the appearance of independent coats, which is what RfS XI.3.b is intended to prevent.

The deciding point for us is the fact that many heraldic charges include a maintained charge, if not as part of the definition, then as part of the default method of display. Squirrels are shown maintaining nuts, and may do so even if the fact is not explicitly blazoned. Cranes in their vigilance must maintain a stone. Ostriches are almost always shown with a bit of iron (e.g., a horseshoe) in their mouths. And so on. These are the expected, and period, depictions of these charges; it would make no sense to penalize a submitter for using them in a per pale or quarterly design, merely because they include a maintained charge. Therefore the maintained charge, of itself, cannot create the appearance of marshalling.

We hereby partially overturn the 2004 precedent, to this extent: if a divided field contains the same type of charge in each portion, and those charges maintain the same of charge, then the maintained charges do not contribute to the appearance of marshalling. To take a concrete example, Quarterly sable and argent, in bend two lions Or each maintaining a sword argent will no longer be considered marshalled arms: each charged quarter has the same type of charge (lion), and their maintained charges (swords) are also the same. The maintained charges are not, in this case, considered significant enough to cause the two quarters to appear to be independent armories.

Note, however, that Quarterly sable and argent, in bend a lion Or maintaining a sword argent and a lion Or maintaining a halberd argent would be returned for the appearance of marshalling. The different maintained charges aren't worth a CD, but they're enough to establish non-identity (just as they would in cases requiring a letter of permission to conflict); and since the two quarters aren't identical, they appear to be separate - and hence quartered - coats. Also note that using sustained charges instead of maintained charges - held charges large enough to be worth heraldic difference - will definitely cause the appearance of marshalling, identical or not.

Send What to Whom

Letters of Intent, Comment, Response, Correction, et cetera are to be posted to the OSCAR online system. No paper copies need be sent.

Submission packets (one copy of each name form plus documentation, including petitions; two colored copies of each armory form plus two copies of any associated documentation, including petitions) to the SCA College of Arms, PO Box 31755, Billings, MT 59107-1755.

Cheques or money orders for submissions, payable to "SCA Inc.-College of Arms" are to: Laurel Chancellor of Exchequer, 4N400 Church Rd, Bensenville, IL 60106-2928.

Send roster changes and corrections to Laurel. College of Arms members may also request a copy of the current roster from Laurel.

For a paper copy of a LoAR, please contact Laurel, at the address above. The cost for one LoAR is $3. Please make all checks or money orders payable to "SCA Inc.-College of Arms". For subscriptions to the electronic copy of the LoAR, please contact Laurel at herald@sca.org. The electronic copy is available free of charge.

For all administrative matters, please contact Laurel.

Pray know that I remain,

In service,

Elisabeth de Rossignol

Laurel Principal Queen of Arms