This device was submitted using forms printed on a color printer. We remind submitters and submissions heralds that the use of color printers for submissions forms is undesirable: the colors on these papers tend to fade, sometimes in only a few weeks. If the colors are ambiguous due to shifting or fading, the device may be returned solely for that reason. In this case, the colors were acceptable, so this device can be registered.
Submitted under the name Cailin mac Cainnich.
Submitted as Grimr Laeknisson, the byname Laeknisson was documented as a patronymic byname based on the descriptive byname læknir 'doctor, leech'. However, no documentation was provided for patronymic bynames in Old Norse based on descriptive bynames rather than given names, nor was documentation provided for spelling the element with ae instead of æ. As the submitter accepts all changes and cares most about having a name meaning 'doctor', we have changed the name to Grimr læknir in order to register it.
Nice 13th C Gaelic name!
Under current precedent, set in July 1992, the halberd is a co-primary sustained charge. There is a proposal for distinguishing co-primary and secondary sustained charges on the Cover Letter for the September 2008 LoAR, and, normally, this would be pended until that decision is made. However, this device is clear whether interpreted as two primary charges, or interpreted as a primary fox and a secondary halberd. Since it is clear under both interpretations, we can register it. The blazon we have chosen will be interpreted correctly whether the proposal is adopted or rejected.
His old device, Azure, a pall argent, overall a delf Or, is released.
Submitted as Ambros_ de Lyncolne, the submitter requested authenticity for 14th-15th C English. This spelling of the given name was documented to the 16th century. Withycombe, Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, s.n. Ambrose dates Ambrose to c. 1440. We have changed the name to Ambrose de Lyncolne to meet his request for authenticity.
There was some question whether the given name Thea was registerable, as previous precedent had ruled that Thea was unregisterable:
Thea is a post-period diminutive and therefore, unregisterable in the SCA [Thea Siobhan Wolve, 01/1994].
This precedent was overturned a few months later:
Though prior evidence has shown Thea to be of modern use, Palimpsest noted that De Felice (p. 340-341) notes its isolated use in Italy as a continuation of the late Latin Thea kept alive by the rare cult of two martyred saints of that name. [LoAR 11/1994, Caid-A, Thea the Spinner].
As the name of a saint which appears to have been known to medieval Italians, Thea is registerable under the saint's name allowance.
Listed on the LoI as Caitrina inghean Murchadha, the name was originally submitted as Caitrina inghean Mhurchadha and changed in kingdom to match the documentation. However, the originally submitted form was already correct, as Gaelic grammar requires that the byname be lenited. We have restored the name to the originally submitted form to correct the grammar in order to register it.
Submitted as Eógan hua Beolláin, Fause Losenge argues that the spelling Beollán, found in Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals", and as a header name in Ó Corráin and Maguire, Irish Names, is incorrect:
So far as I can tell, it's properly <Béollán>, gen. <Béolláin>, (pace OCM)...[T]here is no <eo> in the standard normalization of Old Irish, and...O'Brien, [Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae], normalizes it <Béollán>.
We have added the accent to the byname to register this as Eógan hua Béolláin.
The submitter requested an authentic name for an unspecified period and culture. This is an excellent 10th C Irish Gaelic name.
This does not conflict with Egan O Phelan. Eógan is not significantly different from Egan, since they differ in appearance by just one letter and in sound by a slight change in the initial vowel. However, O Phelan is significantly different from hua Béolláin in appearance, and the change in the vowel qualities of both syllables combined with the different initial consonant cluster is just large enough for the bynames to be significantly different in sound.
This combines Gaelic and English or Scots in the same name; this is one step from period practice.
Nice 14th C English name!
Submitted as Ascelin_ àlainn inghean Ailill_, the name had a number of small problems.
First, Ascelin was documented as a masculine given name, which means it cannot be combined with a Gaelic byname using a form of inghean 'daughter'. The submitter noted that if Ascelin was not registerable she preferred the variant Ascelina. Ascelina is a Latinized form of the English name Asceline, and is dated to 1195, 1205, 1207, 1210, 1214, and 1228 in Talan Gwynek, "Feminine Given Names in A Dictionary of English Surnames."
Second, the byname inghean Ailill violated RfS III.1.a. Linguistic Consistency by combining Early Modern Irish inghean with Middle Irish Ailill. The latest example that we have of the masculine name Ailill is from 973, in Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals." Additionally, following ingen the father's name needs to be in the genitive case, i.e., Ailella. This means that the appropriate byname meaning 'daughter of Ailill' is Middle Irish ingen Ailella.
Third, the byname àlainn, meaning 'comely', was documented from McBain, An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language. This is a dictionary of modern Gaelic, and so it does not provide support for the use of this word as a medieval Gaelic byname. Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals", shows forms of this word used throughout the Old and Middle Irish eras; during this period, the appropriate spelling is Alánd or Alánn. Though we haven't found any examples of Alánn or Alánd used by women, it's not unreasonable to think that it might have been so used. We have changed the name to Ascelina Alánn ingen Ailella in order to register it.
The submitter requested authenticity for a person with a Scottish mother and an Irish father. An authentic name for a woman with Scottish and Irish Gaelic parents would be wholly Gaelic. As the submitted name combines Latinized English and Gaelic, it is not authentic. Because we do not have any Gaelic form of Ascelina, we cannot make the name authentic.
This is in conflict with Eleanor Leonard, (Tinctureless) A mullet of four points distilling a goutte. As Cecilia's mullet is not a solid tincture, this is registerable with Eleanor's blanket permission to conflict. Please see the January 2002 Cover Letter for more details of this permission.
Submitted as Cian O'Cuilin, the submitter requested an authentic Irish name. The byname O'Cuilin is not authentic and violates RfS III.1.a. Linguistic Consistency by combining English O' with Gaelic Cuilin in the same phrase. A wholly Gaelic form of the byname is Ó Cuilín, which is a header in Woulfe, Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames. Woulfe indicates that this byname was in use temp. Elizabeth I - James I. Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals", has an example of Cian in 1577. This means that Cian O Cuilin is an authentic 16th C Irish Gaelic name. We have changed the name to Cian O_Cuilin to meet his request for authenticity.
This was pended on the April 2008 LoAR.
Submitted as Fáelán O'Phelan, this combined an Old or Middle Irish given name with an Anglicized Irish byname. The submitter requested authenticity for Irish. A wholly Old or Middle Irish form of the name is Fáelán hua Fáeláin. Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals", has examples of Fáelán throughout the Old and Middle Irish periods. Clan style bynames, using ua, first show up in Irish Gaelic around the 10th century. This means that Fáelán hua Fáeláin is an authentic name for the 10th-12th C. We have changed the name to Fáelán hua Fáeláin to meet his authenticity request.
This was pended on the April 2008 LoAR.
Submitted under the name Eogan of the Breton March.
Submitted as Kára inghean Dhubhshith, the byname inghean Dhubhshith was documented from Black, The Surnames of Scotland, s.n. MacFee, where it is given as the Gaelic form of the Scots byname MacFee. However, precedent says:
Please note that when Black documents a name as simply "Gaelic", he means that it is modern Gaelic. Unless documentation is provided showing that these spellings are found in period, they are, in general, not registerable [Séamus MacDhùghaill, LoAR 10/2006, Outlands-R].
This means that the citation from Black by itself does not provide sufficient documentation to register the byname inghean Dhubhshith. Previous precedent addresses the information that Black provides s.n. MacFee:
Black (s.n. MacFee) also states that "The AFM. record Dubside (mod[ern] G[aelic] Dubhsidhe) as fer-leiginn or reader of Iona in 1164 [...]". In this case, Black seems to have misidentified his source. His notation of AFM indicates that this information came from "Annals of the kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters. Edited by John O'Donovan. Dublin, 1848-51. 7 v." (Black, p. lix). However, the rendering of O'Donovan's Annals of the Four Masters available at the CELT (Corpus of Electronic Texts) website shows that the entries for 1164 (http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100005B/) do not list any person by this name. However, the "The Annals of Ulster", also at the CELT site (http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100001/), entry U1164.2, includes the text "in fer leiginn (.i., Dub Sidhe)", where Dub Sidhe is a man's given name.
Later examples of forms of this byname show -th- forms rather than -dh- forms. For example, the "Annals of Loch Cé A.D.1014-1590" (http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100010B/), entry LC1577.10, includes the name Ferdorcha mac Dhuibhsith. Therefore, we have changed this byname to mac Duib Sidhe, based on the example from the "Annals of Ulster", in order to retain the -sidh spelling which the submitter used consistently throughout his submission form. [Rumann mac Duib Sidhe, 02/2004, A-Atlantia]
Based on this information, we have changed the name to Kára inghean Dhuibhsith in order to register the name.
Strawberry leaves are a compound leaf with three lobes, exactly as depicted.
Nice 15th C Spanish name!
Her previous name, Sara Rebecka Chadburn, is retained as an alternate name.
Submitted as Stefan der Jäger von Ansbach, the documented forms of the byname do not use the definite article der. In order to register it, we have changed the name to Stefan_Jäger von Ansbach to match the documentation.
Please instruct the submitter to draw a more prominent wavy.
The byname Whitewolf was documented via the grandfather clause. The LoI noted that the submitter had permission from her legal father-in-law, Johnathan Crusadene Whitewolf, to use the element Whitewolf in her name under the grandfather clause. However, the letter of permission provided is not valid: It contains neither Tabitha's SCA name nor her legal name. At least one of these must be included for the letter of permission to be valid.
Members of Pelican's staff were able to provide alternate documentation for the byname Whitewolf. Margaret Makafee's "Inn, Shop, or House names found in imprints from the EEBO database, 1473-1600" contains a number of inn sign names following the pattern <color> + <wild animal>, including Black beare, Black oliphante, Golden hinde, Red lion, Whyte beare, and White hart. On the basis of these examples, White wolf is a plausible late-period English inn sign name. When used as a part of a byname, we would expect the two words to run together, i.e., Whitewolf, following the examples in Reaney & Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames, s.nn. Graygoose, Whitebuck.
Submitted as Vincenzo Antonio Maria Pace, as documented the name combined four given names with no byname. No examples of period Italian names using four given names were provided on the LoI or in commentary; lacking examples, this pattern is not registerable.
The easiest solution is to make the final given name a family name, by changing it to Paci, i.e., Vincenzo Antonio Maria Paci. This leaves the name with three given names, which is a rare but documentable practice in late-period Italy. Precedent says:
Three given names is registerable in Italian, but is a weirdness: While registerable, the use of three given names in Italian is not typical in period. To date, only one example has been found. The registration of Arianna Rosa Christina Veneziano (registered in February 1996) was supported by documentation that Catherine de' Medici was christened Caterina Maria Romola. This single example of three given names in Italian makes three give names registerable, though a weirdness. Catherine de' Medici was born in 1519, so the example we have for three given names is 16th century. [Novella Francesca Caterina Zancani, 02/2003 LoAR, A-Calontir]
More recently, Maridonna Benvenuti has found the following:
James Grubb's "Provincial Families of the Renaissance", John Hopkins Univ. Press, 1996 includes naming practices for the Veneto (modern name of the region). On page 42 he says, "Personal names remained unstable in the Quattrocento and beyond, and the individual might have changed names completely in the service of a spiritual or humanist ideal: one Vincetine of the Volpe family was know variously as Nicolo, Battista, and Enea. Even those who retained baptismal names might customize them. Giovanni Andrea Nicolo Arnaldi shed his first and third names; brother Giovanni Battista and chronicler Giovanni Battista Pagliarini dropped their first names; and many with compounds - Margarita Bona Arnaldi and her brother Silvestro Francesco - dropped the second."
Because we have more than one example of Italian names with three given names, we rule that this pattern is no longer a step from period practice.
This is in conflict with Eleanor Leonard, (Tinctureless) A mullet of four points distilling a goutte. As Walrick's mullet is not a solid tincture, this is registerable with Eleanor's blanket permission to conflict. Please see the January 2002 Cover Letter for more details of this permission.
The submitter is a court baron and is entitled to display a coronet on his device.
His old device, Sable, a sheaf of three spears and in chief three suns Or, is released.
This was pended on the April 2008 LoAR.
This does not conflict with Alexander Petrovich. The given names are insignificantly different in sound and appearance, but the bynames do not conflict. The byname Petrovskaia means 'daughter of Petr' or 'wife of Petr' whereas the byname Petrovich means 'son of Petr'. RfS V.1.a.ii.(a) says that "Two bynames of relationship are significantly different if the natures of the relationships or the objects of the relationships are significantly different." The April 2002 Cover Letter says that "for purposes of conflict, all of the following are significantly different relationships: son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, wife, husband, brother, sister." Since 'daughter of Petr' and 'wife of Petr' are both significantly different relationships from 'son of Petr', this means that Petrovskaia and Petrovich do not conflict.
Please instruct the submitter the draw the chief slightly wider, with deeper engrailings and larger, more recognizable ermine spots.
Caidan Academy of Archers is a generic identifier.
This name combines Scots or Middle Irish with Early Modern Irish; this is one step from period practice.
Listed on the LoI as Marína {O,}lvésdóttir, the name was originally submitted as Marina {O,}livrrdóttir. The byname was changed to correct the grammar and was ostensibly a patronymic byname based on {O,}livr. However, the name appears in Geirr Bassi as {O,}lvir. According to the grammar rules that Geirr Bassi provides, the appropriate feminine patronymic byname based on {O,}lvir is {O,}lvisdóttir. We have changed the name to Marína {O,}lvisdóttir to correct the grammar so that we can register it.
Her previous name, Mæva Svansdóttir, is retained as an alternate name.
When the submitter's previous name change, to Mæva Svansdóttir, was registered, the forms failed to note that this was a change from the registered name Medb ingen uí Fháeláin. The submitter requested that this old name, Medb ingen uí Fháeláin, be released, and that the device associated with the old name instead be associated with her new primary name.
Submitted as Quatalina de la Serena, the documentation for the byname gave the forms de_Serena and de la Serna. Lacking evidence that Serena is a plausible variant spelling of Serna, or that the definite article la can be added to de Serena, de la Serena is not registerable. We have dropped the problematic article to register the name as Quatalina de_Serena; we note that this name would also be registerable as Quatalina de la Serna. This name combines Occitan and Spanish; this is one step from period practice.
Submitted as Secca of Cantia, the byname violated RfS III.1.a Linguistic Consistency by combining Old English of with Latin Cantia. We have substituted the Latin preposition de to make the byname wholly Latin. A wholly Old English form of the byname would use of or on with the Old English form Kent; one Sigeward on Cent can be found in Anglo-Saxon Charter S 877, dating to 996.
Please instruct the submitter to draw the chief larger.
Please instruct the submitter to draw the goutte more prominently, so it is more easily recognizable. Also, while we accept this modern, tapered depiction of apples, apples in period heraldry were round.
The documentation for the byname de Moulineaux did not provide any evidence that any of the French places modernly named Moulineaux were known by this name during our period. Unfortunately, the only dated form found in Dauzat & Rostaing, Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Lieux de la France, s.n. Moulineaux is the Latin form de Molendinellis 1236-44. However, the place name is spelled in English bynames as Molyneuas 20 Edw. I and Molineux 1592, 1607 according to Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, s.n. Molineaux. Additionally, the 1582 subsidy of London lists one Mr Moolenoxe, which certainly looks like an attempt to spell Moulineaux phonetically in English. Given these examples, we can give the submitter the benefit of the doubt that Moulineaux is a period form of the place name.
His previous device, Argent, a stag's head couped affronty sable and on a chief embattled purpure a wolf passant argent, is released.
This name combines Scots and Gaelic; this is one step from period practice.
The use of a hummingbird, which is a New World bird, is a step from period practice.
Submitted as Ingeborg bildrbriotr Ulfsdottir, the byname bildrbriotr was constructed to mean 'axe-breaker'. Precedent from August 2008 notes that in Old Norse bynames following the pattern <X>-briotr, the first element needs to be in the genitive case:
Submitted as Ragnarr rifbrjótr, all the documented examples of X-brjótr that were supplied on the LoI and by the commenters have the X element in the genitive case. We have changed the name to Ragnarr rifsbbrjótr [sic] to match the documented examples and fix the grammar [Ragnarr rifsbrjótr, Atlantia-A].
We have changed the name to Ingeborg bildsbriotr Ulfsdottir in order to register it.
The submitter requested authenticity for the 12th century. Both elements were documented from a source which was composed in the early 11th century, and contains names that were in use before then. We do not have examples of either element in the 12th century, so we cannot confirm that this name is authentic for his desired period.
This badge is clear of Sean Ruabarua MacGillaphaidraic, Vert, an axe Or. There is a CD for the difference between a fieldless design and one with a field. There is another CD for the difference between an axe and a pick.
This badge is also clear of the badge of Hrodr-navar Hakonsson, (Fieldless) A warhammer Or. There is a CD for the fieldless design and another CD for the difference between a warhammer and a pick.
Lastly, it is also clear of the device of Aubrey of the North Wind, Argent, on a pile embattled sable a battle-axe Or. Precedent says:
While we consider piles to conflict with chaussé fields, a field with a pile is not reblazonable as having a chaussé field, as there is an artistic distinction that we enforce: piles do not issue from the corners of the shield. [11/00 Roiberd Mor Barra. A-Drachenwald]
Therefore, these are clear by X.2, since a pile and a pickaxe are substantially different charges.
Please inform the submitter that the lions should be drawn larger, nearly equivalent to the size of the vol. Period depictions of a group of three co-primary charges frequently have the one in base slightly larger than the two in chief, but there is usually not quite this much difference in the sizes.
Falcon's Keep is the registered name of an SCA branch.
Submitted as Liesel Gelücke, the given name Liesel was documented from Academy of S. Gabriel Report #2910. However, the report says:
<Liesel> is a diminutive of <Liese>, a pet form of <Elisabeth> [2]. We have not found a period example of <Liesel> in any spelling or of <Liese> in that specific spelling, but in our Arnsburg data the spelling <Lyse> is well represented in the first half of the 14th century and is found through the 15th century. The diminutive suffix <-ele> (occasionally <-el>) is also well represented in that period: [3]
<Cunzele> from <Kunegunde>
<Meckele> from <Mechtild>
<Rychele> from some name beginning with <Rich->, e.g., <Richlinde>
<Gudel> from <Gude>
<Kunzele< from <Kunegunde>, a spelling variant of the first example
<Irmele> from likely <Irmengard>
The first three above examples date from 1300-1350, the next two from 1350-1400, and the last from 1400-1500.
[2] Drosdowski, Guenther, Duden Lexikon der Vornamen, 2nd ed. (Mannheim: Dudenverlag, 1974), s.n. <Liese>.
[3] Mulch, Roland, Arnsburger Personennamen: Untersuchungen zum Namenmaterial aus Arnsburger Urkunden vom 13. - 16. Jahrhundert (Darmstadt & Marburg: Hessische Historische Kommission Darmstadt and the Historische Kommission für Hessen, 1974), 38ff, 79, 312.
None of the commenters were able to provide evidence for either Liese or Liesel in our period. Barring such evidence, these spellings are not registerable. The information from the S. Gabriel Report suggests that Lysel is a possible form of the name, though Lysele is more likely.
We have changed the name to Lysel Gelücke in order to register it.
Listed on the LoI as Margaret Bruse, the name was originally submitted as Margaret Bruce and changed in kingdom because no support for the spelling Bruce was found. Pelican Emeritus provides information about the form Bruce:
Despite its apparent absense [sic] from Black, <Bruce> is a fine 16th C Scottish spelling for this name. Register of the Minister, Elders, and Deacons of the Christian Congregation of St. Andrews: Comprising the Proceedings of the Kirk Session and of the Court of the Superintendent of Fife, Fothrik, and Strathearn, 1559-1600 By Saint Andrews (Parish: Fife, Scotland), David Hay Fleming, Scotland Saint Andrews, p 561, lists an <Elizabeth Bruce> in 1586, the same woman in listed a few pages later as <Bessy Bruce>. p 515 cites "Nicholl Mane, William Bruce" in 1581. The same work, p 538 has a <Margaret Bane> in 1584. While it is possible that the names spellings are normalized, the surrounding text is consistent with 16th C Scots spellings, so I see no reason to believe these aren't the original forms. All in all, the originally submitted <Margaret Bruce> is a fine 16th C Scots name.
Based on this information, we have restored the name to the originally submitted form.
Her previous name, Mairghead de Chesholme, is released.
Her previous name, Svetokhna Nikolaevna doch', is released.
Her previous device, Lozengy argent and gules, two bears combatant sable within a bordure Or, is released.
The use of a chief doubly enarched is a step from period practice.
There is a step from period practice for the use of the ululant posture. Since that is the only step, we can register this device.
The submitter has permission to conflict with the device of Duryn the Red, Gules, upon a chevron Or, a wheel of five spokes between two double-axes gules.
Please instruct the submitter to draw the chevron steeper so that it is better centered on the field.
The barony is transferring their badge to their sitting baron and baroness. Though not normally required for a transfer, the barony was asked to provide a petition showing their support. This was done to avoid any appearance of impropriety. The barony happily provided the requested petition. We thank them for their courtesy and swift response.
Listed on the LoI as House of_Fifeshields, the household name was originally submitted as House of Five_Shields and changed in kingdom to match the available documentation. However, the original form Five Shields is a plausible household name badsed on a sign. Pelican Emeritus says:
I disagree that the documentation supports <House of Fifeshields> better than the originally submitted <House of Five Shields>. While <Fifeshields> is consistent with a surname formed from a household name, at least in the 16th and 17th C C, the usual form is <number (space) (items)>. My article "Comparison of Inn/Shop/House names found London 1473-1600 with those found in the ten shires surrounding London in 1636" (http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~grm/signs-1485-1636.html) has Three arrowes Three connies Three cranes three cranes in the vinetree Three kings iii kynges Thre kynges Three Pidgeons Three squirrels Three Tunns Three Tunnes.
And Ragged Staff notes that
The OED s.v. five (n,a) has an example of this spelling in our period:
1591 in Nichols Progr. Q. Eliz. III. 117 In this square they..played, five to five, with the hand-ball.
Although this evidence shows that the form Five Shields is plausible, the formation House of Five Shields is not correct. Precedent from August 2008 says:
Finally, we note that none of the examples of household names based on signs that were provided on the LoI or in commentary support the pattern House [of] X. Instead, the documented patterns include X (with no designator; note that this pattern is not registerable as it violates RfS III.2.b), X Inn, X Tavern, X Brewhouse, and Sign of X. [Mederic de Chastelerault and Ameera al-Sarrakha, Atenveldt-R]
Since the Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. house, notes that the unmodified term house was used in the 16th C in reference to inns, taverns, public houses, brewhouses, and the like, the examples in this precedent also support the pattern X House. On the basis of this information we are registering the name as _Five Shields House.
Kingdom Embroidery Guild is a generic designator.
There was a question as to whether the use of a Celtic cross is a step from period practice. It is not. Section VII.3 of the Rules for Submission, Period Artifacts, says: "The use of artifacts that, though not found in period armory, follow a pattern of charges found in period armory, will not be considered a step from period practice." What we blazon as a Celtic cross is a representation of a period artifact, and crosses are charges used in period armory.
This does not overturn the precedent set in June 1996 in the return of the device of Aonghas Cu: converting another type of cross to a Celtic cross by the addition of the annulet remains a step from period practice.
Submitted under the name Alesone Gray.
There were calls to return this for having the cup be barely overall. While doing that would be in line with past precedent, we feel that it is too strict: other minor issues merit an artist note, but any hint of this issue and the item must go back. This is not good customer service, forcing a year's wait for such a minor problem.
Therefore, we are overturning precedent to this extent: we will no longer return items for being barely overall if the area of overlap is small, the area of the overlap which projects beyond the edge of the underlying charge is also small, when the overall charge does not obscure significant portions of the outline of the underlying charge, and when identifiability is preserved.
Please instruct the submitter to draw the cup entirely on the standing seraph.
There was a question as to whether this cup is maintained. It is not; it is a tertiary charge.
Listed on the LoI as Colin Tagan, the name was originally submitted as Colin Teaghan, and changed because the kingdom was unable to find evidence that Teaghan was a period form. The submitter cares most about having a surname that sounds like \tea-gan\. Maryanne Kowaleski, ed., "Havener's Accounts of the Duchy of Cornwall, 1337-1356", in The havener's accounts of the earldom and duchy of Cornwall, 1287-1356 (Exeter: Devon and Cornwall Record Society, 2001) has a record from 1353/54 of a ship called Cog John, whose shipmaster was John Tegan. As Tegan is more likely than Tagan to be pronounced the way the submitter desires, we have changed the name to Colin Tegan.
This combines Scots and Gaelic in the same name; this is one step from period practice.
This does not conflict with Kevin MacKinnon. Gavin and Kevin are significantly different in appearance, and they are just enough different in sound for these to be clear.
Blazoned on the LoI as in pall three groups of three gouttes one and two, the original submission forms blazoned this as semy. Since the submitted emblazon is a valid depiction of semy, we are restoring the original, much more elegant, blazon.
Please instruct the submitter to draw fewer and larger ermine spots.
Submitted as Tobijasz Bogdanowicz, the submitter requested authenticity for 14th C Polish language/culture. Walraven van Nijmegen provides the following information about the authenticity of the name:
The SSNO (s.n. Tobijasz) has a Latinized form [Tobias] dated 1236, and has the additional Latinized form [Thobias] for the 14th century, dated 1334, 1350-51. The only citation I see in the SSNO that isn't recorded in a Latin context is the 1462 inflected form [Thobyaschowy], which would imply a nominative form of [Thobyas] or [Thobyasch]. Based on some of the orthographic oddities in the context of the name, I suspect the scribe for this was German, or learned from a German.
Bubak (Slownik Nazw Osobowych: i Elementow Identyfikacyjnych Sadecczyzny XV-XVII w. Universitas, 1992, vol. 2, p.237) has a header for Tobiasz, with a 1599 citation for [Regina Thobiaszowna].
Based on these two citations, [Thobiasz] or [Thobyasz] would be my best guess at an authentic 14th century form of the given name.
I'm suspicious of the dated forms in the "other" Bubak volume used in the LoI. I suspect that the names, although dated, have had their spellings normalized to modern Polish, rather than preserving the originally documented spellings. Part of my reasoning for this is that the previous page (p. 301) has an entry for [Tomasz], noting as examples: "Tomasz a Kempis (1380-1471), wreszcie sw. Tomasz More (Morus) (1478-1535)". Bubak also (s.n. Raslaw) cites forms from the 13th century with L-slash in the spellings, which is unattested in any of the SSNO citations for that name in the same period. While the volume is fine for dating name elements, I don't think Bubak's Ksi{e,}ga naszych imion can be relied upon for the documentation of period spellings of Polish names. The spellings have been normalized to modern Polish.
The byname is a bit easier. The SSNO (s.n. Bogdanowic(z)) has [Bugdanowicz] in 1411-1412, and [Bogdanouicz] in 1417. These are the earliest citations for this byname, but still close to the submitter's desired period. I recommend changing the name to [Thobiasz Bogdanowicz] to partially comply with the submitter's request for authenticity.
We have followed Walraven's recommendation and have changed the name to Thobiasz Bogdanowicz to partially meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
Nice 15th C Spanish name!
The submitter requested authenticity for 14th-16th C Flemish, but did not allow major changes. The LoI documented the given name Adela from Walraven van Nijmegen, "Dutch Women's Names before 1100", and also noted a genealogical webpage which gives Adela (Odelt) Jansdr as an alias for a woman named Juliana van Rysere living in 1500. However, the website cited for this information does not mention Adela anywhere, so this does not provide us with any evidence for Adela in 16th C Dutch. In fact, the citation from Walraven's article was the latest example of Adela in Dutch that any of the commenters could find. Lacking examples of Adela in Dutch in the 14th-16th C, the submitted name is not authentic.
Adela is derived from a pet form of Germanic Adalheid. Adalheid is the root of the Dutch name Aleid (also spelled Aleit, Alijd, Alyt, etc.), which was common in the 14th-16th centuries. If the submitter is interested in an authentic name, then she may be interested in one of the forms of Aleid found in Aryanhwy merch Catmael and Kymma Godric, "Names from Antwerp, 1443-1561"; Aryanhwy merch Catmael, "Dutch Names 1358-61"; Aryanhwy merch Catmael, "Dutch Names 1393-96"; Aryanhwy merch Catmael, "15th Century Dutch Names"; or Guntram von Wolkenstein, "Vlaamse Vrouwennamen."
Her previous name, Edila Emmadoghter, is retained as an alternate name.
Submitted under the name Essyllt valskr þrasifostradóttir.
Registered in November 1988 with the blazon Azure, a peacock pavonated argent, in sinister chief a heart, all within a bordure Or, the term pavonated simply means "colored like a peacock". Please see the April 2007 Cover Letter for a discussion on blazoning peacocks.
The documentation was not adequately summarized on the LoI. Had the commenters not provided the missing information, in this case the dated citations from Bardsley and Reaney & Wilson, we would have been forced to return this name.
Submitted as Robert de Rheims, the byname de Rheims was documented from Arval Benicoeur, "French Names from Two Thirteenth Century Chronicles." As the article's introduction says: "Warning: These are modern spellings of the names." Modern forms of names are only registerable if evidence is provided that the forms are also found in period or are consistent with period spellings. None of the commenters were able to find evidence that the city's name was spelled Rheims before 1600. A period form of the city's name is Reims; the byname de Reims appears three times in Aryanhwy merch Catmael, "French Names from Paris, 1421, 1423, & 1438." We have changed the name to Robert de Reims in order to register it.
The documentation was not adequately summarized on the LoI; the authors of the articles cited were not provided. Because the commenters were still able to verify the documentation, we do not have to pend or return the name. However, we remind submissions heralds that it is professional courtesy to include the author's name, when known, when citing an article as documentation.
This name combines Gaelic and Anglicized Gaelic; this is one step from period practice.
Battlement raised the question of how to blazon the field on this submission, in which each half of the field has a per fess line, the left lower than the right, joined at the center of the field by a section of a per pale line, in such a fashion that it resembles a step seen from the side. The term currently used for this field division is Per fess with a left step, which indicates a per fess line that 'steps up' along the division when considered as if the viewer was moving along the line from left to right. A per fess line that 'steps down', along this line, with the left side higher than the right, is blazoned Per fess with a right step.
We note that the line of division is period, being found in Siebmacher, the Zurich roll, and many other period texts. We must register it, by our rules, because it is found in period armory. The question is only about what blazon term we will use to describe it and its variants.
Battlement argues that the English blazon term with a left step is found only in John Woodward's A Treatise on Heraldry, British and Foreign, and may be based on a misinterpretation of the arms in question. In addition, he notes that Walter Leonhard is inconsistent in Das Große Buch der Wappenkunst, using left or right. in referring to this and other similar field divisions.
However, Longeley provides the following information:
While Battlement is correct about the inconsistency in Leonhard, other German armory books match Leonhard in blazoning the field division that Battlement describes as the Z variant (with the left side higher than the right) as having a right step. Hussmann, Uber Deutsche Wappenkunst, p. 41 (top row, first shield), calls the division "mit rechter Stufe geteilt." Biewer, Handbuch der Heraldik Wappenfibel, p. 55 (fifth row, fourth shield), calls it simply "rechte Stufe." Neither source includes the more complex variants found in Leonhard nor do they include the mirror image of this field division. Nonetheless, it would seem that in modern German blazonry, at least, the concept of "right step" is associated with the Z variant of this field division, making the use of the term "with left step" reasonable for the S variant (which has the left side lower than the right).
Based on this evidence, we will continue to blazon this field division as we have in the past: Per fess with a left step will indicate the variant with the left side lower than the right side.
This name combines English and Gaelic; this is a step from period practice.
The documentation was not adequately summarized; the LoI did not list the URL for the article cited for the given name, nor did it provide complete information about what the sources said about the name elements. Had the commenters not provided the missing information, we would have been forced to return the name.
There was some discussion whether the combined surname Faunce of Sharsted was presumptuous, violating RfS VI.1. Names Claiming Rank, which says "Names containing titles, territorial claims, or allusions to rank are considered presumptuous." It is true that Sharsted Court in Kent was owned by the Faunce family from 1839 to the 1950s. However, it was not owned by that family in period nor is it currently owned by that family. Additionally, we have found no indication that either membership in the Faunce family or ownership of Sharsted Court was or is an indication of any rank higher than gentry. Past precedent indicates that a claim to the status of gentry, and no higher, is not presumptuous:
The second part of this issue is whether Hidalgo is an inappropriate claim of rank. From the information provided by Siren, the use of Hidalgo claims the rank of gentry. The following precedent is relevant to this issue:
... it was the feelings of the College that Brahman denotes a high enough caste that the use of the name is presumptuous. We would need to see evidence that Brahman implied status no higher than gentry in Europe. [Madhu Brahman, 01/00, R-An Tir]
This precedent implies that a simple claim of the status of gentry, no higher, is acceptable for registration. Therefore, the submitted name is registerable as it claims a status no higher than gentry. [Madelena Hidalgo de Valencia, LoAR 06/2003, Caid-A]
Since the combination Faunce of Sharsted is at most a claim to the rank of gentry, it is not presumptuous. Therefore the name is registerable as submitted.
His previous name, Ándrás László, is released.
Many commenters suggested that the primary charge on this device was a chief-pale. This is not a chief-pale. A chief-pale would have the tertiary loaves covering both the horizontal and vertical parts of the ordinary. For more information on chief-pales, please see the May 2008 LoAR.
Blazoned when registered in July 1974 as Azure, a unicorn passant argent and on a chief argent three lilac trees one and two proper, there is no way to tell that these are lilac trees. Given that their depiction appears to be a handful of oversized leaves with a trunk, though still rounded in shape, we are blazoning this as a generic tree.
Submitted under the name Anthoinette de le Martel.
The documentation was not adequately summarized on the LoI - URLs and authors were not provided for the cited web articles, and no summary of de Felice's entry for Artemisia was provided, though this source was cited. Had the commenters not provided the missing information, we would have been forced to return this name.
The device is clear of Elizabeth Æthelwulfes dohtor, Argent, in pale three hearts gules, each charged with a mullet of four points Or. There is a CD for the change of field, from half sable to all argent, and another for the removal of the mullets.
Good English place name!
The submitter requested authenticity for 14th C England. This is a fine name for that place and period.
Listed on the LoI as Cadhla O'Dubhchon, the name was originally submitted as Cadhla Ó Dubhchon. No mention of the change was made on the LoI. As the June 2008 Cover Letter says, "It is extremely important...that any changes made to a name in kingdom be clearly marked on the forms and specified on the external LoI. If information about changes made in kingdom is not provided in OSCAR, this omission will result in names being pended until the information is received, and systematic failure to provide this information will result in names being administratively returned."
There is, however, a bigger problem with the submission. The change from the wholly Gaelic byname Ó Dubhchon to the form O'Dubhchon, which mixes English O' with Gaelic Dubhchon, changed the language of an element. This a major change, which the submitter does not allow. Submissions Heralds: If you make a change to a name which is not allowed according to the check-boxes, you must provide evidence that the submitter authorized the change to the name.
In this case, we are unwilling to penalize the submitter for the failings of the submissions herald. The commenters provided documentation demonstrating that the originally submitted form of the name was registerable, so we are restoring the name to the original form, Cadhla Ó Dubhchon and registering it.
The submitter should be informed that this is a masculine name.
The LoI omitted the fact that the triquetrae are argent; however, sufficient commenters noted the correct tincture that we need not pend this device for further conflict checking.
Please instruct the submitter to draw the triquetrae properly interlaced. The submitted emblazon has no internal detailing for interlacing.
The documentation was not adequately summarized on the LoI. It is never sufficient to just list sources and page numbers and not provide any information about what the sources say about the elements. Had the commenters not provided the missing information, we would have been forced to pend or return this name.
Batonvert found documentation for a mongoose as a charge:
In Bossewell's Workes of Armorie, 1572, Book III folio 17v, we find this:
This Beast here figured, is now called a Mouse of Indie, otherwise Icheneumon, a beaste of Egypte, of the greatnes of a Catte, and is fashioned like a Mouse, yet havinge the tayle, as of a goate, who creepeth into the body of a Crocodyle, when in sleape he gapeth and eating his bowels, sleaeth him, he escapinge alive. The Egytpians among other their Gods woorship this little beaste also for a God.
The submitted depiction of the creature seems close enough to the description found by Batonvert that we can register it under some name. It was felt that using Mouse of India rather than icheneumon will be less intimidating and easier to pronounce for the majority of the Society.
Since we have a period blazon term for the creature, we will use it, rather than the modern term, mongoose.
Submitted under the name Davud el-Ates.
The byname d'Auxerre was documented from Arval Benicoeur, "French Names from Two Thirteenth Century Chronicles." As the article's introduction says: "Warning: These are modern spellings of the names." Modern forms of names are only registerable if evidence is provided that the forms are also found in period or are consistent with period spellings. Siren provided the following information:
While <Aucerre> seems to be the preferred spelling before 1600, there are a few late period occurrences of <Auxerre>. I found a 1552 letter using that spelling in Holbein's "Ambassadors" (by Mary Frederica Sophia Hervey, through Google Books), p. 135. As the letter maintains other non-modernized spellings, and other letters in this book use <Aucerre>, I'm comfortable saying it's a period spelling.
This means that d'Auxerre is a reasonable 16th C French byname.
Douglas is the submitter's legal given name.
Submitted as Drogo d'Auevilla, Auevilla is a Latinized form of the place name. In Latin, the preposition de does not elide to d'. We have changed the name to Drogo de Auevilla to correct the grammar in order to register it.
Nice armory!
The thistles on this submission are placed root to flower. The question was raised if this was a blazonable arrangement. The following precedent is relevant:
The ladybugs on this submission are placed head to tail. The question was raised if this was a blazonable arrangement. The following precedent is relevant:
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. [Olivia de Calais, 09/03, A-Ansteorra]
This concept is as applicable to charges in annulo as to charges in orle. We have thus used the superficially redundant blazon to indicate first the arrangement and second the relative postures of the charges. [Roxana Greenstreet, 06/04, A-Atlantia]
We have followed this pattern in blazoning Elayne's thistles as an annulet of thistles in annulo.
The documentation for the given name was not adequately summarized; no indication of the title or the author of the source was provided on the LoI. As the commenters were still able to confirm the information, we do not need to pend or return the name, but we remind submissions heralds that when citing a web article, the title and the author must be provided in addition to the URL.
This was a submission from Pennsic 2008. Listed on the LoI and the forms as Ella of Annandle, soon after the publication of the LoI we received information from the submitter that the forms had been prepared incorrectly and that she had been intending to submit the name Ella of Annandale. This information was provided to the commenters in a timely enough fashion to allow them to comment on the name as desired by the submitter. Siren notes:
The spelling <Annandale> is found in the Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland: volume 8 dated to 1544 (through Google Books). In 1542, it appears as <Annardale> and <Annanderdale>, so multiple forms are in use at the time.
Given this information, we have changed the name to Ella of Annandale, the form desired by the submitter.
Please instruct the submitter to draw the charges larger, to better fill the space.
Submitted under the name Érennach ingen Gilla Eoin.
Under current precedent, set in July 1992, the fleur-de-lys is a co-primary sustained charge. There is a proposal for distinguishing co-primary and secondary sustained charges on the Cover Letter for the September 2008 LoAR, and normally, this would be pended until that decision is made. However, this badge is clear under either interpretation as two primaries, or under interpretation as a primary unicorn and a secondary fleur-de-lys. Since it is clear under both interpretations, we can register it. The blazon we have chosen will be interpreted correctly whether the proposal is adopted or rejected.
The documentation for elements was not adequately summarized; the LoI only listed sources and header names, but did not provide any information about what the source said about the names. Had the commenters not provided alternative documentation for both elements, we would have been forced to pend or return this name.
There was some question whether the spelling Götz was found in our period. Aryanhwy merch Catmael, "German Names from 1495", has one example of the given name Götz.
Nice armory!
The documentation was not adequately summarized; the URL for the article cited for the given name was not provided. Had the commenters not been able to independently confirm the information, we would have been forced to pend or return this name.
Eenigenburg is his legal surname.
Please instruct the submitter to draw the end of the cross more prominently flory.
Mugmort is the registered name of an SCA branch.
The submitter requested authenticity for 16th C German. While we were unable to find any 16th C forms of the byname, the commenters did find a number of earlier citations, including Banzier 1280, Banzir 1317, and Bantzer 1377 in Brechenmacher, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der Deutschen Familiennamen, s.n. Banzer; Bantzer or Panzer 1377 and Panczer 1372 in Bahlow, A Dictionary of German Names, s.n. Panzer; and Panczer 1497 in Aryanhwy merch Catmael, "German Names from Nürnberg, 1497." On the basis of these examples, it seems quite likely that Banzer is authentic for the 16th C, though we cannot confirm this.
Nice armory!
Two forms of the name were listed on the LoI, Isengrim Sleggja in the "filing name" field and Isengrim Sleggia in the "submitted item" field. No explanation was given for the discrepancy, and the forms list the name as Isengrim Sleggja and give no indication that the name was changed in kingdom. Because the documentation also supports the spelling with the j, we are willing to consider the listing of Isengrim Sleggia as a typo. This means that we do not have to pend the name in order for Rouge Scarpe to provide an explanation for the change. However, we have corrected the byname to Isengrim sleggja to conform to current precedent, which requires that descriptive bynames in Old Norse be registered in the lower case.
The given name Isengrim was documented from Searle, Onomasticon Anglo-Saxonicum. As discussed on the August 2008 Cover Letter, not all of the names found in Searle are Old English. Isengrim is one of these; Searle's source for Isengrim was a book on Old German names, Förstemann, Altdeutsches namenbuch. Förstemann, col. 808, dates Isengrim to a. 899, from the Monumenta Boica, a history of Bavaria. This means that this name combines Old German and Old Norse, which is one step from period practice.
Submitted as Kaisa Kjellsdotter, the documentation for the byname, Rouva Gertrud, "Vanhat nimityyppimme (Finnish Names)", spells the root name Kiel. She gives the example Kiel Nauneksen 1517, noting that perhaps this is a form of modern Kjell. Period forms of Kjell are discussed in Academy of S. Gabriel Report #2896:
The modern Norwegian name <Kjell>, which is a shortened form of the Old Norse name <Ketill>, is found in Norway from the 1400s on, though not at first in that spelling. [1] The earliest examples that we have are the genitive (possessive) forms <Kiels>, from sometime after 1427, and <Kels>, from 1470. [4] The corresponding nominative forms (used for the subject of a sentence, or for signing one's name) will have been <Kiel> and <Kel>, respectively.
[1] Kruken, Kristoffer, ed. Norsk personnamnleksikon, 2nd ed. (Oslo: Det Norske Samlaget, 1995) s.nn. <Kjell>, <Kjetil>.
[4] Lind, E.H., Norsk-Isländska Dopnamn ock Fingerade Namn från Medeltiden (Uppsala & Leipzig: 1905-1915, sup. Oslo, Uppsala and Kobenhavn: 1931). s.n. <Ketill>.
We have changed the name to Kaisa Kielsdotter to match the documentation in order to register it.
This is clear of the flag of Cameroon (important non-SCA armory), Per pale vert and Or, on a pale gules a mullet Or. There is a CD for the changes to the field. There is another CD for the multiple changes to the tertiary charge. There is a change in the type of the mullet, from a mullet of five points to a mullet of nine points. There is also an unforced change of position of the mullet to chief. The two independent changes to the tertiary charges give us a second CD under X.4.j.i
Nice 13th C English name!
Her previous name, Caitrina inghean mhic Mhaolain, is retained as an alternate name.
Submitted as Kenwrec Cameron, Fause Losenge provided information about authentic forms of the name, concluding "I see no serious case for <Kenwrec Cameron> as an authentic period name. Bardsley s.n. Kendrick has <Kendrick Eyton> 1602 and <Kenrick Evans> 1613, both adults; a late-period <Ken(d)rick Cameron> wouldn't be out of the question." This information was also provided on the MK-Heralds mailing list. Though the submitter had not requested authenticity on the forms, after reading Fause Losenge's comments he contacted Rouge Scarpe indicating that he would prefer the name Kendrick Cameron if it was more authentic. We have changed the name to Kendrick Cameron to meet his desires.
His previous name, Kendrick the Tinker, is retained as an alternate name.
Submitted as Linden Le Bukere, the documentation showed the byname as le Bukere. We have changed the name to Linden le Bukere to match the documentation.
Linden is the submitter's legal given name.
Submitted as Máire Finnglaisse, the documentation for the byname was not adequately summarized. Three sources were cited. The author and the URL of the first source were not provided on the LoI. The second source was cited by title, author, and page number, and no mention of what the source says about the element was given. The third source cited was Onomasticon Goedelicum, but no page numbers or other information was provided. This inadequate summary alone is grounds for return. In this case, the commenters were able to fill in the missing information.
Rowel notes that Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals", gives Findglaissi or Finnglaissi as the standardized Old Irish form of a byname meaning 'of Findglais/Finnglais', with four examples in the 8th and 9th century. The change from Finnglaisse to Finnglaissi is a result of putting the place name into the genitive case, which is required when forming a locative byname based on a proper place name in Irish Gaelic. While the article does not list any later examples of this byname, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, "Names and Naming Practices in the Fitzwilliam Accounts from 16th Century Ireland", lists the byname Fynglas in Latin contexts. Additionally, the Tudor Fiants of Edward VI mention the place Fynglas in records from 1547 on pp. 92,93. Fynglas is likely an English rendering of Gaelic Finnglais, so these examples show that the place name continued in use beyond the 9th century and into a period when the given name Máire was in use. We have changed the name to Máire Finnglaissi to correct the grammar in order to register it. The name combines Early Modern Irish and Old/Middle Irish, which is one step from period practice.
Submitted as Margaret O'Sullivan, the spelling O'Sullivan was documented from both MacLysaght, The Surnames of Ireland, and Woulfe, Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames. However, MacLysaght was ruled unacceptable as sole documentation on the July 2007 Cover Letter, because almost all of the forms that he lists have been modernized, and Woulfe s.n. Ó Súileabháin lists O'Sullivan as an explicitly modern form. Red Hawk provides information on period anglicized forms of this byname:
I found a source in the CELT archive (http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/T100060/): Chapters towards a History of Ireland in the reign of Elizabeth by Philip O'Sullivan Beare which was published in 1621. The author spells his own name as Philip O'Sullevan.
We have changed the name to Margaret O'Sullevan to match the available documentation.
This is clear of the device of Matilda in the Holis, Argent, three holly leaves within a bordure vert. There is significant difference between holly and ivy leaves, and therefore a CD for the change of type of leaves. There is a second CD for the addition of the fleurs-de-lys on the bordure.
Submitted under the name Brion mac Donnchad.
Submitted as Meurig ap Cynfarch, the submitter requested authenticity for 7th C Briton. This authenticity request was not mentioned on the LoI. Had the commenters not independently provided information concerning authentic forms of this name, we would have been forced to pend this submission for further research.
Harpy provides the following information:
Keeping in mind that 7th century records of Welsh names are invariably Latin in context, any discussion of the patronymic construction would be purely hypothetical. Whatever the spoken form, a written form of the proposed name in the 7th century would almost certainly have used Latin "filius" to indicate the patronym, either with or without a Latin genitive form of the father's given name.
Meurig is a medieval Welsh evolution of the Latin given name Mauricius. It appears in the ca. 10th c. Harleian MS 3859 (see also Bartrum EWGT) several times as Mouric. Jackson, in his discussion of the development of borrowed Latin "-au" mentions no written forms in Old Welsh earlier than the 9th c., so it's difficult to say whether a 7th c. form would retain Latin "Mauricius" out of habit or have developed into "Mouricius" already.
The earliest citations of any form of Cynfarch that I can find at the moment are the ca. 9th century CONMARCH inscribed on the Pillar of Eliseg (see Bartrum EWGT), the ca. 10th c. Cinmarc from Harleian MS 3859 (see also Bartrum EWGT). The latter is the same source that Jackson cites as Cinmarch (as quoted in my article The First Thousand Years of British Names). I'm not sure where the disagreement over the final "h" comes from, but I'd be inclined to trust Bartrum as he spends a great deal of focus on questions of variant readings and doesn't mention any problems with this item. The name is straightforward enough phonologically that 7th c. inscriptions of other names provide enough evidence to propose "Conomarc-" or possibly a more innovative "Conmarc-" as a 7th century form (most likely with the Latin nominative ending "-us", although there are occasional 7th c. examples that lack it).
Putting it all together, my best estimate for a likely 7th c. form, as written by Welsh speakers in a Latin context, would involve some combination of:
Mauricius, Mouricius filius Conomarci, Conmarci, Conomarc, Conmarc
References
Bartrum, P. C. 1966. Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts. University of Wales Press, Cardiff.
Jackson, Kenneth. 1953. Language and History in Early Britain. Edinburgh Univ. Press, Edinburgh.
We have changed the name to Mauricius filius Conmarc to meet his request for authenticity, using the spellings which are the closest to the originally submitted form.
Submitted as Onnengreg merch Dinogad, the submitter requested authenticity for 7th C Briton. This authenticity request was not mentioned on the LoI. Had the commenters not independently provided information concerning authentic forms of this name, we would have been forced to pend this submission for further research.
Concerning the given name, the June 2008 LoAR says:
Submitted as Onnen_ Greg, the submitter requested authenticity for northern Brythonic culture. Onnen Greg is the standard modern form of a name which is recorded as Onnen grec in a 14th-century manuscript concerning events from the 6th century. We do not know how the name was spelled in Brythonic in this period. Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, "Names of Women of the Brythonic North in the 5-7th Centuries", gives Onnena Creca as a reconstructed Latin form appropriate for the 5th-7th centuries. As we have no information about how the name would have been spelled in Brythonic during this time, this Latin form is the most authentic form we can offer. [Onnena Creca, Æthelmearc-A]
Harpy provides further information:
The spelling "Onnengreg" is artificially modernized (as are many of the name listings in CA #66) and, as noted above, the earliest manuscript example has "Onnen grec" in the 14th century. This is massively later than both the client's stated target of the 7th century and the historic (if historic at all) individual's postulated 6th century date. My article mentioned above makes some stabs at possible reconstructed 6th century written and spoken forms, but there are enough issues at work that it would be better to go to the source if we're working at that level of historic reconstruction.
But if you're willing to skip the linguistic argumentation, I suggest a quite tentative given + byname reconstruction for a 6th c. Latinized context as "Onnena Creca". As 6th century -- and many 7th century -- compound given names still retain their composition vowel in written form, the difference for a hypothetical compound form would simply be omission of the space: "Onnenacreca".
[Dinogad] is known from a variety of sources but the earliest is a poem included in the Book of Aneirin, where it appears as Dinogat...Fortunately, the early 6th century DUNOCATI (Latin genitive) mentioned in Jackson provides a more solid anchor. By the 7th century, we might expect a development to Donocat- (with relevant Latin endings as appropriate), before the later evolution to Dino- (and thence Din- and Dyn-, but since the name doesn't appear to have survived in later use, we don't see those developments). In any event, it would not be a tragedy to take advantage of the solid 6th century form when discussing hypothetical 7th century possibilities.
And then there's the usual issue of how patronymic constructions would have been written in the 7th century (and the separate question of how they would have been spoken)...[A]ll surviving 7th century records of patronyms for Welsh/Brythonic/etc. names use Latin elements for the patronyms and typically give the personal name elements Latin grammatical endings as well. Therefore if we encountered this name in a 7th c. written context, we'd expect to see filia.
REFERENCES
Bartrum, P. C. 1966. Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts. University of Wales Press, Cardiff.
http://www.heatherrosejones.com/names/welsh/brythonicnorth/5th-7thbrythonicwomen.html
Jackson, Kenneth. 1953. Language and History in Early Britain. Edinburgh Univ. Press, Edinburgh.
Koch, John T.. 1997. Gododdin of Aneirin. Celtic Studies Pub., Andover. ISBN 0-9642446-7-5
On the basis of this information, the most plausible form that we can recommend for the 7th C is Onnenacreca filia Dunocati. We have changed the name to Onnenacreca filia Dunocati to meet her request for authenticity.
The documentation for the given name was incorrectly summarized; the LoI said that Withycombe, Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, s.n. Richard dates Richard to 1086. However, that source in fact dates the name Ricard(us) to 1086. Myfanwy ferch Rhiannon provides further information about the form Richard:
However, Withy [sic] also says [p. 253]: "The great popularity of the name Richard in the Middle Ages was due to importation from the Continent, the Normans bringing in French Richard (from the corresponding Old German Ricohard).... Richard and Ricard were equally common in the Middle Ages, together with many nicknames and diminuitives....". Reaney and Wilson [p. 377, sn Richard] cites Richardus Basset, dated to 1127-34, and Thomas Richard, dated to 1276
Given this information, the name is registerable.
Submitted as Rubein Jericho_, the byname Jericho was documented as a header form in Bahlow, A Dictionary of German Names, s.n. Jericho(w). Header forms in Bahlow are only registerable if it is demonstrated that the spellings are either period or consistent with period forms. Blaeu's 1645 atlas of the Archbishopric of Magdeburg and the Duchy of Anhalt spells the town's name Ierichaw, and Brechenmacher, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Familiennamen, s.n. Jerichauer gives the Latinized adjectival form Jerichovius dated to 1636. These two examples show that even in the early 17th C, the terminal consonant was retained. We have changed the name to Rubein Jerichow in order to match the available documentation.
The term surmounted indicates that the serpent overlies both the bend and the field, but not any of the other charges on the field. This distinguishes it from overall, which would have the serpent over the crosses as well.
Her previous name, Juliana de Montaign of Huntington, is retained as an alternate name.
Submitted under the name Ulrich von Regensburg, that name was returned on the November 2008 LoAR.
On the January 2007 LoAR Pelican ruled that heraldic titles held by heralds "in direct service to a sovereign for at least some period of time" [Nottingham Herald, Siren-R] are important enough to protect from conflict. This heraldic title was used by a herald in direct service to the dukes of Brittany. Since for most of our period the dukes of Brittany were effectively sovereign rulers, this heraldic title is important enough to protect from conflict.
On the January 2007 LoAR Pelican ruled that heraldic titles held by heralds "in direct service to a sovereign for at least some period of time" [Nottingham Herald, Siren-R] are important enough to protect from conflict. This heraldic title was used by a herald in direct service to the heir of the Duke of Brittany. For most of our period the dukes of Brittany were effectively sovereign rulers. We believe that heraldic titles used by heralds in service to an heir of a sovereign ruler should be granted the same protection as titles used by heralds in service directly to the sovereigns. Thus, this heraldic title is important enough to protect from conflict.
On the January 2007 LoAR Pelican ruled that heraldic titles held by heralds "in direct service to a sovereign for at least some period of time" [Nottingham Herald, Siren-R] are important enough to protect from conflict. This heraldic title was used by a herald in direct service to the dukes of Brittany. Since for most of our period the dukes of Brittany were effectively sovereign rulers, this heraldic title is important enough to protect from conflict.
On the January 2007 LoAR Pelican ruled that heraldic titles held by heralds "in direct service to a sovereign for at least some period of time" [Nottingham Herald, Siren-R] are important enough to protect from conflict. This heraldic title was used by a herald in direct service to the dukes of Brittany. Since for most of our period the dukes of Brittany were effectively sovereign rulers, this heraldic title is important enough to protect from conflict.
On the January 2007 LoAR Pelican ruled that heraldic titles held by heralds "in direct service to a sovereign for at least some period of time" [Nottingham Herald, Siren-R] are important enough to protect from conflict. This heraldic title was used by a herald in direct service to the dukes of Brittany. Since for most of our period the dukes of Brittany were effectively sovereign rulers, this heraldic title is important enough to protect from conflict.
On the January 2007 LoAR Pelican ruled that heraldic titles held by heralds "in direct service to a sovereign for at least some period of time" [Nottingham Herald, Siren-R] are important enough to protect from conflict. This heraldic title was used by a herald in direct service to the dukes of Brittany. Since for most of our period the dukes of Brittany were effectively sovereign rulers, this heraldic title is important enough to protect from conflict.
On the January 2007 LoAR Pelican ruled that heraldic titles held by heralds "in direct service to a sovereign for at least some period of time" [Nottingham Herald, Siren-R] are important enough to protect from conflict. This heraldic title was used by a herald in direct service to the dukes of Brittany. Since for most of our period the dukes of Brittany were effectively sovereign rulers, this heraldic title is important enough to protect from conflict.
On the January 2007 LoAR Pelican ruled that heraldic titles held by heralds "in direct service to a sovereign for at least some period of time" [Nottingham Herald, Siren-R] are important enough to protect from conflict. This heraldic title was used by a herald in direct service to the dukes of Brittany. Since for most of our period the dukes of Brittany were effectively sovereign rulers, this heraldic title is important enough to protect from conflict.
On the January 2007 LoAR Pelican ruled that heraldic titles held by heralds "in direct service to a sovereign for at least some period of time" [Nottingham Herald, Siren-R] are important enough to protect from conflict. This heraldic title was used by a herald in direct service to the dukes of Brittany. Since for most of our period the dukes of Brittany were effectively sovereign rulers, this heraldic title is important enough to protect from conflict.
On the January 2007 LoAR Pelican ruled that heraldic titles held by heralds "in direct service to a sovereign for at least some period of time" [Nottingham Herald, Siren-R] are important enough to protect from conflict. This heraldic title was used by a herald in direct service to the dukes of Brittany. Since for most of our period the dukes of Brittany were effectively sovereign rulers, this heraldic title is important enough to protect from conflict.
On the January 2007 LoAR Pelican ruled that heraldic titles held by heralds "in direct service to a sovereign for at least some period of time" [Nottingham Herald, Siren-R] are important enough to protect from conflict. This heraldic title was used by a herald in direct service to the dukes of Brittany. Since for most of our period the dukes of Brittany were effectively sovereign rulers, this heraldic title is important enough to protect from conflict.
On the January 2007 LoAR Pelican ruled that heraldic titles held by heralds "in direct service to a sovereign for at least some period of time" [Nottingham Herald, Siren-R] are important enough to protect from conflict. This heraldic title was used by a herald in direct service to the dukes of Brittany. Since for most of our period the dukes of Brittany were effectively sovereign rulers, this heraldic title is important enough to protect from conflict.
On the January 2007 LoAR Pelican ruled that heraldic titles held by heralds "in direct service to a sovereign for at least some period of time" [Nottingham Herald, Siren-R] are important enough to protect from conflict. This heraldic title was used by a herald in direct service to the dukes of Brittany. Since for most of our period the dukes of Brittany were effectively sovereign rulers, this heraldic title is important enough to protect from conflict.
On the January 2007 LoAR Pelican ruled that heraldic titles held by heralds "in direct service to a sovereign for at least some period of time" [Nottingham Herald, Siren-R] are important enough to protect from conflict. This heraldic title was used by a herald in direct service to the dukes of Brittany. Since for most of our period the dukes of Brittany were effectively sovereign rulers, this heraldic title is important enough to protect from conflict.
On the January 2007 LoAR Pelican ruled that heraldic titles held by heralds "in direct service to a sovereign for at least some period of time" [Nottingham Herald, Siren-R] are important enough to protect from conflict. This heraldic title was used by a herald in direct service to the dukes of Brittany. Since for most of our period the dukes of Brittany were effectively sovereign rulers, this heraldic title is important enough to protect from conflict.
On the January 2007 LoAR Pelican ruled that heraldic titles held by heralds "in direct service to a sovereign for at least some period of time" [Nottingham Herald, Siren-R] are important enough to protect from conflict. This heraldic title was used by a herald in direct service to the dukes of Brittany. Since for most of our period the dukes of Brittany were effectively sovereign rulers, this heraldic title is important enough to protect from conflict.
On the January 2007 LoAR Pelican ruled that heraldic titles held by heralds "in direct service to a sovereign for at least some period of time" [Nottingham Herald, Siren-R] are important enough to protect from conflict. This heraldic title was used by a herald in direct service to the dukes of Brittany. Since for most of our period the dukes of Brittany were effectively sovereign rulers, this heraldic title is important enough to protect from conflict.
This title belonged to Spain.
This title belonged to France.
This title belonged to Spain.
This title belonged to Spain.
This title belonged to Spain.
This title belonged to Norway.
This title belonged to France.
This title belonged to France.
This title belonged to Portugal.
This title belonged to Prussia.
This title belonged to the Holy Roman Empire.
This title belonged to France.
This title belonged to the Holy Roman Empire.
This title belonged to Savoy.
This title belonged to Sweden.
This title belonged to Spain.
This title belonged to Spain.
This title belonged to Spain.
This name combines Old or Middle Irish with Early Modern Irish; this is one step from period practice. Since Áedán is the name of a saint, there is no temporal disparity.
Submitted as Caitríona inghean Fionnghuala, Gaelic grammar requires that Fionnghuala be lenited, e.g., Fhionnghuala. We have changed the name to Caitríona inghean Fhionnghuala to correct the grammar.
This name uses a matronymic byname in Irish Gaelic. Precedent has ruled that this is acceptable so long as the mother's given name used in the matronymic byname is documented as having been used after 1200. Since Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals", shows 15 examples of Fionnghuala between 1360 and 1654, this requirement is met.
Submitted as Finnguala ingen Alusdair, this name violated RfS III.1.a. Linguistic Consistency by combining Middle Irish ingen with Early Modern Irish Alusdair. The submitter does not allow major changes, such as changing the language of an element from Middle Irish to Early Modern Irish. However, the name was originally submitted as Finnguala inghean Alister, and changed with the consent of the submitter. From this we can conclude that changing ingen back to inghean is acceptable to the submitter. We have done so in order to correct the linguistic problems with the byname so that we can register the name as Finnguala inghean Alusdair. This combines a Middle Irish given name with an Early Modern Irish byname; this is one step from period practice.
Submitted as Honoree Julianne de Carccassone, the only documentation for the byname de Carccassone provided on the LoI was a modern map listing the town as Carcassonne. This modern spelling is also a medieval form; the 1292 Paris census has one example of the byname de Carcassonne. Lacking evidence that Carccassone is a period spelling of the place name, it is not registerable. We have changed the name to Honoree Julianne de Carcassonne in order to register it.
Ian is the submitter's legal given name. Sea March is the name of an SCA branch.
The device is clear of Bjarni Thorvarsson of Hillstead, Sable, a sword inverted proper, overall a serpent fesswise, body looped, heads on either end and addorsed Or. There is a CD for the field and a CD for inverting the sword.
The documentation for Everley provided on the LoI only showed this spelling as a modern form. Modern forms of English place names are only registerable if it is demonstrated that they are also period forms, or that they are consistent with period forms. Watts, Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names, s.n. Everleigh dates Everle(ye) to 1249 and following, and s.n. Everley dates Yereley to 1577. This is sufficient to demonstrate that Everley is a plausible period form, and hence registerable.
Nice 15th C French name!
Submitted as Melissent-Jaquelinne la Chanteuse, there were two issues with the name.
First, the hyphenated given name Melissent-Jaquelinne was constructed on the basis of the names Baille-Hart le recouvréeur and Plat-Pié d'Yonne which appear in the 1292 census of Paris. But both Baille-Hart and Plat-Pie are compound given names, and should be treated as single entities. Lacking evidence for the use of any of Baille, Hart, Plat, and Pie as stand-alone given names, the compounds Baille-Hart and Plat-Pie do not justify the combination of any two given names with a hyphen. Dropping the hyphen removes this problem; Jaquelinne can be interpreted as a matronymic byname.
Second, the byname la Chanteuse was documented from Academy of Saint Gabriel Report #2717, but the word chanteuse appears in this report only in the context of giving a pronunciation. No indication is given in the report that this word was found in our period, much less that it was used as a byname. None of the commenters were able to find any evidence for chanteuse as a period feminine form of chanter. Siren notes that Nicot's Thresor de la langue françoyse (1606) includes chanter and chanteresse, but not chanteuse. We have examples of chanter used as a byname by men in Reaney & Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames, s.n. Chanter. This is sufficient to give the submitter the benefit of the doubt that chanteresse might have been used by women.
We have changed the name to Melissent_Jaquelinne la Chanteresse in order to register it.
His previous name, Sean Owein MacGrioghair, is released.
Submitted as Rónán Mór Ó Rioghbhardáin, the documentation for the byname showed an accent on the first i: Ó Ríoghbhardáin. As we require that Gaelic names use or drop accents uniformly throughout, we have changed the name to Rónán Mór Ó Ríoghbhardáin in order to register it.
This name combines an Old or Middle Irish with Early Modern Irish. This is one step from period practice.
Please instruct the submitter to draw deeper waves, with higher peaks.
Please instruct the submitter to draw larger and fewer roundels. They should be obviously charges, not small markings on the bird.
Submitted under the name Tuathal an Darve Gil.
Submitted as William Ulfr, the byname Ulfr was documented as an Old Norse given name. Because Old Norse does not use unmarked patronymics, Ulfr is not a properly formed byname. The properly constructed Old Norse form would be Ulfs son.
To make this name registerable, the byname must either be changed to a close English form or to the properly constructed Old Norse form. Since the submitter cares most about the sound of the name, we have changed this name to William Ulf_. Reaney & Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames, s.n. Ulph dates the bynames Wlf to c.1125 and Vlf to 1166. Ulf is a plausible variant given the interchangeability of V and U in records from this period.
This does not conflict with William Wulfrun; the addition of the second syllable in Wulfrun makes the bynames significantly different in sound and appearance.
- Explicit littera accipiendorum -
Unfortunately, we must return this name for conflict with Colin McKenna. Though the given names and the bynames are significantly different from each other in appearance, the given names are not significantly different in sound. Thus, the question is whether the bynames are significantly different in sound. According to Academy of S. Gabriel Report #1288, mac Coinnich or mac Cainnich was pronounced roughly \mahk KEN-yee\. This means that mac Cainnich differs in pronunciation from McKenna only in the final syllable.
Two other names have been previously returned for conflict with Colin McKenna:
Cailin MacKinnon. Name. Aural conflict with Colin MacKenna, registered April 1999. The given names are pronounced nearly identically, while the only substantial difference in the pronunciation of the patronymics is in the addition of the trailing n sound. [LoAR 12/2006]
Cailin Mac Kinnach. Name. Aural conflict with Colin McKenna, registered April 1999. The given names are both pronounced roughly KAHL-in, while the bynames differ in pronunciation only in the final consonant. [LoAR 06/2007]
Furthermore, the difference in pronunciation between mac Cainnich and McKenna is less than that between mac Cainnich and mac Cinatha, which have previously been ruled to conflict:
This name is an auditory conflict with Eoin Mac Cainnigh (registered April 1996). There is insufficient difference in the pronunciation of the bynames mac Cinatha and Mac Cainnigh. [Eoghan mac Cinatha, 03/2002, R-Ansteorra]
Given this, we must conclude that mac Cainnich and McKenna are not significantly different in sound, and hence the submitted name conflicts with Colin McKenna.
His device has been registered under the holding name Cailin of Blackstone Mountain.
This is returned for presumption of Cináed mac Ailpín, king of the Picts and according to national myth the first king of the Scots. Cináed was known in English as Kenneth MacAlpin. The Prophecy of St. Berchan (1094-1097), found on pp. 79ff of Skene, Chronicles of the Picts and Scots, speaks of:
A son of the Clan of his son will possess
The kingdom of Alban, by virtue of his strength
A man who shall feed ravens, break battles
His name was the Ferbasach 'the conqueror'
This prophecy was assumed to refer to Kenneth. Thus, the use of the byname the Conqueror with a form of the given name Keneth is presumptuous of the Pictish king.
We note that the byname the Conqueror is not by itself presumptuous. While the examples of the Conqueror provided on the LoI referred to Julius Caesar, William the Conqueror, and Alexander the Great, the LoI also gave examples of Conqueror, without the definite article, used by ordinary people. We have many examples of descriptive bynames in English being used with or without the definite article, thus the use of the in the Conqueror is no more presumptuous than the use of the in the Shepherd is. We invite the submitter to consider resubmitting with a given name other than that of a well-known historical or legendary conqueror.
This is returned for using an ordinary of flame, which is a violation of precedent:
[February 1994 LoAR, R-Middle] "Désirée Gabriel de Laval. Device. Sable, a cross of flames proper between in bend sinister two goblets Or. The cross of flames is a modern innovation which has only been registered in the SCA once, and that in 1979. Without evidence that ordinaries of flame were used in period armory, or that such are compatible with period armory, we will not register ordinaries of flames."
While blazoned on the LoI as issuant from base flames proper, overwhelming consensus in commentary was that the emblazon depicted a base of flame. Since we register the emblazon, not the blazon, we are forced to return this device.
This is returned for a redraw. There are two issues with this submission, either of which is sufficient by itself as a reason to return this device.
First, the strewn charges are too small to recognize. Section VIII.3 of the Rules for Submission require that "Elements must be used in a design so as to preserve their individual identifiability." It continues, saying that "Identifiable elements may be rendered unidentifiable by significant reduction in size." That is the situation with the fleurs-de-lys submitted emblazon.
Second, the strewn charges, even when examined closely, do not resemble any form of fleurs-de-lys we are familiar with. Section VII.7.a requires that charges used in Society armory "must be recognizable solely from their appearance." At least one person present at the meeting thought they were beetles of some type.
This device is returned for being overly complex. The device uses seven tinctures (Or, argent, ermine, azure, vert, sable, counter-ermine) and four types of charge (tree, rose, coronet, bordure), giving it a complexity count of eleven. A complexity of eleven exceeds our rule-of-thumb limit of eight. While we are willing to extend the limit slightly for submissions with good period style, an extension for this design would not be a small extension, so we are returning this device. The use of a field with an argent section and a fur section which has an argent background is not good period style.
Please inform the submitter that several commenters were unable to identify the coronet as a coronet. The Rules for Submission, section VII.7.a, state that "items must be recognizable solely from their appearance." Had the complexity not been an issue, this submission may have been returned for lack of identifiability of the coronet.
Since the device is being returned, we decline to rule on the issue of whether or not this use of a crowned rose violates the ban on crowned (Tudor) roses, listed in the table of prohibited charges in the Glossary of Terms. Should this design be re-submitted, the submitter should provide reasons that this motif does not violate that ban.
We note that, while several commenters argued that the field was unregisterable, it is grandfathered to the submitter.
Originally listed on the LoI as Eoghan of the Breton March, a timely correction was issued changing the name to Eogan of the Breton March.
The byname of the Breton March was documented from "About Song of Roland" (http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/titles/roland/about.html) which indicated that Roland was called "Lord of the Breton Marches" in Einhard's Vita Karoli Magni, written c. 830-833. However, this is not quite the case. Section 9 of Einhard's Vita calls Roland Hruodlandus Brittanici limitis praefectus 'Hruodland prefect of the territory of Brittany/the Bretons'. The translation of Brittanici limitis as 'of the Breton March' is, as far as we have been able to determine, modern.
What is modernly referred to as the "Breton March" is an administrative region in Neustria, the western part of the Frankish kingdom. The administrative region was first created under the rule of the Merovingian dynasty in the late seventh or early eighth century. This is the march where Roland was prefect. The Carolingians recreated this administrative region in 861, and the area was united with the neighboring Norman region in 911.
So far as we have been able to tell, the phrase Brittanici limes is an administrative label rather than a geographical name. If it is primarily an administrative term, then it is not appropriate for use in a locative byname. The distinction between an administrative label and a geographical name is, for example, the distinction between 'the county of York' and York or Yorkshire. A man who lived in the county of York would use the byname of York or of Yorkshire, not of the county of York. Similarly, someone who lived in the Brittanici limes would not be known as de Brittanici limite but rather de Brittania 'of Brittany' or Brittanicus 'the Breton'. We would change the name to Eogan de Brittania or Eogan Brittanicus, but the submitter does not allow major changes.
His device has been registered under the holding name Geoffrey of Atenveldt.
This is returned for using a motif not found in period heraldry. The original return of this device, in January 2008, said "If this is resubmitted with a bend abased, the submitter should be prepared to argue why a bend abased charged with a bendlet should be allowed." The submitter has failed to do so. The only statement to that effect on the LoI was a reference to a 2002 registration of the same motif being registered, and the statement that it was registered without comment. It has long been policy that prior registration is no guarantee of future registerability and that registrations without comment do not set precedent. Section III.B.1 of the Admin Handbook requires that "Once registered, an item shall be protected until written notice of release is received by the Laurel Office from the owner,", so we are unable to overturn registrations resulting from mistakes, but we are unwilling to be forced to continue making the same mistakes.
Commenters questioned whether the bend, sword, and wing are co-primary charges. If they are, this submission would be in violation of Section VIII.1.a, which says that "As another guideline, three or more types of charges should not be used in the same group." Since we are returning this submission for the above reason, it is not necessary to decide this issue at this time. Please instruct the submitter that any resubmission of this motif, with documentation for the bend abased, should be drawn so that the bend, wing, and sword are clearly not a single co-primary group.
With five tinctures (argent, gules, Or, sable, vert) and four types of charge (heart, key, staff, vine), this design has a complexity count of nine, exceeding our limit of eight. We will register designs that exceed this limit only if they are good period style, which this design is not.
The name is returned for administrative reasons. The documentation for the byname was inadequately summarized on the LoI; no information was provided about what the source said about Broussard. For further information on what constitutes a proper summary, please see the Cover Letter of this LoAR.
The device is returned for excessive complexity. The Letter of Intent noted that this device has a complexity of nine, which is beyond our rule of thumb limit of eight, except for designs which are considered to be good period style. Several commenters noted that the manta ray is New World fauna and its use is, therefore, a step from period practice. Precedent on manta rays says:
Blazoned on the LoI as a skate, the primary charge is instead a manta ray, which is distinguished by its two "horns". We have no explicit period citations for the manta ray, but it lives in waters frequented by the Spanish in period; we are giving it the benefit of the doubt here.
If the submitters would prefer to resubmit with a genuine skate (as their order name would suggest), they could do no better than to copy the depiction of a skate in the Macclesfield Psalter, c.1330, as seen at http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/gallery/macclesfield/gallery.html. [Tir-y-Don, Barony of, 11/05, A-Atlantia]
More information was discovered during research for this submission: manta rays are surface fish known to exist in the Mediterranean, so they are not New World fauna, whose use is an automatic step from period practice. Unfortunately, there are still no period citations for the existence of manta rays, meaning that we would still be required to give the submitter benefit of the doubt in order to register this device. Since it would require this benefit it cannot be considered good period style, and so the device must be returned.
The device is returned for a redraw. The items in the corner are not identifiable from any distance as clovers, violating Section VII.7.a of the Rules for Submission, which requires that "all items must be recognizable solely from their appearance."
Please inform the submitter that, on resubmission, we suggest that the wolf be drawn with lupine tails rather than leonine, to promote recognizability.
None.
The byname Ouy was documented from Dauzat, Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et Prenoms de France, s.n. Ouy. However, that entry gives no indication that the surname Ouy was found in our period. None of the commenters provided alternative documentation for Ouy. Lacking evidence that it is either a period surname or a plausible spelling of a period surname, it is not registerable. We cannot drop the problematic element as Anne de York would conflict with the queen consort of Richard, the last king of the house of York, who ruled from 1483-1485.
The "book" in the blazon is not what we normally blazon as a book. Books, in heraldry, have multiple pages with a cover that can be seen behind the pages. The depicted item is similar in appearance to a single open sheet of paper, arranged in much the same fashion as the pages of a book are frequently depicted. Since the charge is not recognizable as a book, this violates RfS VII.7.a, which requires that "Elements must be recognizable solely from their appearance." Therefore, this device must be returned.
This device is in conflict with that of Jaromir Mikhailovich, Azure, on a pile Or a sun gules. We do not give a type difference for the difference between a sun and a compass star, by precedent:
... no difference between suns and multi-pointed mullets -- which includes compass stars. [Friedrich von Rabenstein 06/93 R-Caid]
Since there is no CD granted for the change of only the tincture of the tertiary charge (gules to purpure), there is only the CD for the change of the field, and this device must be returned.
This is returned for lack of evidence that it follows patterns of period order names.
The LoI documented the name as following the construction <surname>'s ring, a construction which was registered to the kingdom in the order name Orden des Lindquistringes. However, the previously registered order name is in German, and the submitted order name is in English. Past precedent has ruled that the grandfather clause only applies to submissions in the same language as the original:
[Order name La Ordern de la Luz de las Estrellas] The LoI noted the order name Order of the Light of Atenveldt registered in April of 1981 to the Kingdom of Atenveldt. Since items are only grandfathered in their originally registered form, the English Order of the Light of Atenveldt cannot be used via the Grandfather Clause to support the submitted Spanish La Ordern de la Luz de las Estrellas. Additionally, Order of the Light of Atenveldt uses the construction Order of the Light of [branch name] which does not parallel an order name meaning 'The Order of the Light of the Stars'. [Atenveldt, Kingdom of, 12/2002, R-Atenveldt]
Siren also points out another problem with trying to justify the current submission via the grandfather clause:
To invoke the Grandfather clause, the two submissions need to be parallel...Second, the name elements would have to be equivalent. <Saladin> is an honorific/regnal name. I'd argue that if it's equivalent to anything in Europe, though, it's equivalent to a given name, as he is known by that name alone both within the Arabic world (where these honorific names can be used either alone or in combination with other name elements) and in Europe. As <Lindquist> is a byname, I'm not at all convinced that they're similar enough to be allowable under the Grandfather clause.
Since the submitted name cannot be documented through appeal to the grandfather clause, we must consider it on its own merits. The August 2005 Cover Letter lays out various meta-patterns of order names which can be found in period. The discussion concludes:
Order names do not seem to be constructed using strict word-by-word patterns; rather, they are named using a small set of meta-patterns whose structure is made up of common by-word patterns. To base an order name on just a meta-pattern or a by-word pattern considering the other pattern type often leads to names that do not bear much resemblance to period order names. The by-word patterns laid out in Meradudd Cethin's "Project Ordensnamen" must be considered when forming an order name, but only after one of the following meta-patterns is chosen for the name of the order: [list of meta-patterns]
No evidence was provided that the submitted order name follows any of the meta-patterns listed on the August 2005 Cover Letter; lacking such evidence, it is not registerable.
Additionally, the forms show that the name was originally submitted as The Award Saladins Ring. Presumably the name was changed in kingdom, but no mention of this change was made on the LoI. As ruled on the June 2008 Cover Letter:
It is extremely important...that any changes made to a name in kingdom be clearly marked on the forms and specified on the external LoI. If information about changes made in kingdom is not provided in OSCAR, this omission will result in names being pended until the information is received, and systematic failure to provide this information will result in names being administratively returned.
Had this name not been returned for other reasons, we would have been forced to pend it for Albion to provide the missing information.
This conflicts with Alys Graye. Alesone is a diminutive of Alys, so it is not significantly different per RfS V.1.a.i., which says, "[i]rrespective of differences in sound and appearance, a given name is not significantly different from any of its diminutives when they are used as given names."
Her device has been registered under the holding name Alesone of Carolingia.
This is returned for being in violation of section VIII.2.b.v of the Rules for Submission, which requires that elements evenly divided in three tinctures have good contrast between two of their parts. Precedent says:
[Per chevron inverted argent and Or, a pall sable and overall a rose gules seeded Or.] This is being returned for a redraw. As drawn it is not per chevron inverted. It is closest to per pall argent, Or and Or, which is not acceptable. [December 1998, Eleanor de Valence, R-Lochac]
The current submission has the same issue, with the metals and colors reversed.
This device has been withdrawn by the submitter.
Blazoned on the LoI as a tree, most commenters saw this as a bush rather than a tree. The submitter's consulting herald was present at the Wreath meeting, and says that Noomi definitely wants a tree, and is withdrawing this device rather than have it blazoned as a bush.
With the primary charge considered as a tree, this submission is in conflict with the device of Mirwen Havenwood, Per pale Or and azure, an oak tree eradicated per pale vert and argent. There is only a single CD for the change of tincture of the tree. According to precedent:
There is also no difference between a couped tree and an eradicated tree. [Christiane zer Buche, 11/02, R-Ansteorra]
and
... no difference between a tree and a tree blasted: "There is no CD between a tree eradicated and a tree blasted and eradicated, as noted in the August 1994 LoAR... This is because there are period depictions of trees with only a few leaves." (LoAR July 2000) [Kenric of Rohan, 03/02, R-Meridies]
Therefore, no difference granted between a tree couped and a tree eradicated.
This badge has been withdrawn by the submitter. Blazoned on the LoI as a tree, most commenters saw this as a bush rather than a tree. The submitter's consulting herald was present at the Wreath meeting, and says that Noomi definitely wants a tree, and is withdrawing this submission rather than having it registered as a bush.
None.
This device is returned for the lack of identifiability of the charge in dexter base. Commenters and those at the Wreath meeting were unanimous in stating that they were unable to identify the charge as a murex shell. The line that looks something like a shepherd's crook bendwise inverted, which is apparently meant to be the opening of the shell, only hinders the identifiability. Therefore, this submission violates Section VII.7.a of the Rules for Submission, which requires that "Elements must be recognizable solely from their appearance."
Please inform the submitter that there is more than one species which falls under the genus murex, and there is a wide variation in the shells of these species. There can be no standard depiction of a murex shell, unless the species is also specified. Precedent says:
If not blazoned as a brown quail proper, it could not have any brown, since quails have no defined proper. Thus it would not be possible to know what tinctures to make it without using a Linnean name, which we no longer allow. [LoAR 06/2008]
Similarly, if it is not possible to know what depiction of murex shell is intended without using a Linnean name, a murex shell is not registerable.
The submitter might consider using a whelk, which is a standard heraldic charge.
This name has a number of problems, which we will discuss in turn: lack of documentation for the given name; issues with the grammar and construction of the two bynames; the fact that the name was changed in kingdom but this change was not mentioned on the LoI; and problems with the lingual combination.
The given name Essyllt was documented from Gruffudd, Enwau i'r Cymry/Welsh Personal Names, who cites Esyllt merch Tindaethwy fl. 800. Gruffudd's listing is a miscitation of the woman's name. According to Bartrum, A Book of Welsh Names, p. 24, this Essyllt was the daughter of Cynan Tindaethwy, and on p. 38 of his Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts, Bartrum notes that her name was recorded as Esyllt verch Kynan in a manuscript dating from the last quarter of the 13th century. This means that the submitted name uses a modern Welsh spelling, Essyllt, of the name of an early 9th C woman which was recorded in the 13th C as Esyllt. Precedent has been set previously ruling that names which are found only as later-period literary references to early Welsh names are not registerable, barring evidence that they were, in fact, used in the later period:
[T]he name [Aranwen] is found in a genealogical record. While we use these records to show that a particular name was in use at a particular time, we do not use it for spellings for anything but contemporary names, nor do we generally allow names from such records under the literary name citation. Given this, barring documentation that the name that gave rise to the modern Arianwen was found in the Middle Welsh period or later, neither Arianwen nor Aranwen (a 12th C spelling of a 5th C name) is registerable. [LoAR 07/2004]
This policy was affirmed on the August 2008 LoAR:
Rhieinwylydd is the standardized modern form of the name of the mother of Saint Iltud (or Illtud or Illtyd) who lived in the late 5th/early 6th C; in a 12th C Latin-language life of that saint, the name is recorded as Rieingulid. This is the only example of the name that we have found. As such, it would only be registerable in a form appropriate for the 5th-6th C; neither Rieingulid nor Rhieinwylydd is such a form. Lacking evidence that the name was used in the 12th C, Rieingulid is not registerable, and lacking evidence that Rhieinwylydd was used at all before modern times, it is not registerable. We cannot change the name to a form appropriate for 5th-6th C because we do not have information on what that form would be. [Rhieinwylydd Dryslwyn, Ansteorra-R].
The case is similar here; barring documentation that some form of Essyllt was found in the Middle Welsh period or later, neither Essyllt (the modern form) nor Esyllt (a 13th C form of a 9th C name) are registerable.
The byname valskr was originally submitted as v{o,}lsk and changed in kingdom. However, no mention of this change was made on the LoI, and when the change was brought up in commentary, Pennon did not provide the reason for the change. As discussed on the June 2008 Cover Letter, any time that a change is made to a name in kingdom, the originally submitted form and the reason for the change must be provided on the LoI. Failure to provide this information will result in the name being returned or pended.
In this particular case, the originally submitted form of the byname is the correct form. Geirr Bassi, The Old Norse Name, documents the byname valskr as a masculine adjective meaning 'Welshman'. In Old Norse, adjectival bynames must agree with the gender of the given name that they modify. The correct feminine form of valskr is v{o,}lsk 'Welshwoman'.
The byname þrasifostradóttir was intended to mean 'Þrasi's foster daughter'. This construction is not quite correct. Academy of S. Gabriel Report #2516 discusses Old Norse bynames that indicate fostering:
You might be particular interested in a byname using <fóstri> "fosterling". A 10th century king who had been fostered to the English king Æthelstan was identified around 960 as <Hákon konungr Aðalsteins fóstri> "King Hakon ÆEthelstan's fosterling". Another 10th century example is <Þorleifr Romunder fostri> "Thorleif Hromunds fosterling". The byname might be based on the fosterfather's byname rather than his given name: around 1000, a man called <Sumarliði giallandi> "Bellowing Sumarlidhi" had a fosterling called <Þorliotr giallanda fóstri>. In the 11th century, <Hákon Þóris fóstri> was also called <Hákon Steigar-Þóris fóstri> [4].
[4] Lind, [Norsk-Isländska Personbinamn från Medeltiden], s.nn. Fóstri, Aðalsteins fóstri, Giallanda fóstri, Þóris fóstri, Hrómundar fóstri. See also s.n. -fóstri for other examples, mostly either later than your period or from fiction.
On the basis of these examples, a woman who was the foster daughter of a man named Þrasi could have been known as Þrasa fóstra.
Finally, the name combined Welsh and Old Norse elements, but no documentation was provided showing significant contact between Welsh and Old Norse speakers. Such evidence would need to be provided before these languages could be combined in the same name.
Her armory was registered under the holding name Esther of Owl's Nest.
This device conflicts with the device of Rhonwen Euelchyld, Argent, a chevron between three frogs tergiant purpure. There is a only a single CD for the change of type of the secondaries, from frogs to spiders and bears.
Alas, this beautiful device conflicts with the device of the Teutonic Order (important non-SCA arms), Argent, a cross sable. There is only a single CD for the addition of the tertiary escallops.
The byname de le Martel was documented on the basis of the bynames de Le Croix, de Le Mare, and de Le Fontaine, found in Chrestienne la pescheresse, "Some Names From Picardy in the 14th C." However, as Blue Tyger explains, "The pattern is not "de le" + mundane thing but "de le" + location", and no evidence was provided that martel is a generic toponymic element in the same way that croix 'cross', mare 'sea, lake', and fontaine 'fountain' are.
Martel, on the other hand, is the name of a specific place, dated to the 12th C in Dauzat and Rostaing, Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Lieux de la France, s.n. Martel, and so would use the preposition de without the definite article. We would change the name to Anthoinette de_Martel, but the submitter does not allow major changes, such as dropping an element.
Her device has been registered under the holding name Anthoinette of the North Woods.
The name is returned for being two steps from period practice.
The given name Aurora was documented from de Felice, Dizionario de Nomi Italiani. Precedent says:
Though the LoI documented Aurora from de Felice, Dizionario de Nomi Italiani, s.n. Aurora, that source gives no indication that this name was used in the Middle Ages. The November 2006 LoAR notes that "Aurora is found in Roman Christian inscriptions, which would place it in the 5th or 6th C at the latest." [LoAR 10/2008, Aurora di Rosalia, Ansteorra-A].
Siren noted that "William Alexander used <Aurora> in the early part of the grey period as a name for his (presumably human) mistress, to whom his poems are addressed...Brittanica dates the Aurora sonnets to 1604." While we will register names used by real people which are documented from the grey area (1600-1650), this allowance does not extend to names found only in literature published after 1600:
While the name [Osric] does appear in Shakespeare's Hamlet, this play was not published until after 1600, nor was evidence found that it was performed before that 1600. This makes the name Osric unregisterable as a literary name from that play. [LoAR 02/1007, Osric of Blakwode, Atenveldt-R]
Thus, the citation from Alexander's poetry does not support the registerability of Aurora as a literary name.
Some evidence was presented by Noir Licorne suggesting that Aurora might have been used by real people in England in the gray period; unfortunately, this information has not been confirmed from sources that do not modernize spellings and alter forms. If more reliable evidence can be found for Aurora, we would be able to register this element in a late period English context. For the time, being, however, we have evidence for it only as a Roman name.
The LoI claimed that de Vié (with the acute accent on the final vowel) is a French form of Italian di Vitali, but did not provide any source for this statement, and none of the commenters were able to back up this assertion. Dauzat, Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et Prenoms de France, s.n. Vial says that Vié is found as a northern form of Vial, but, as is usual for this source, does not provide any dated citations for this spelling. The surname Vie is dated to 1421 and 1438 in Aryanhwy merch Catmael, "French Names from Paris, 1421, 1423, & 1438." This is likely a variant of Vié. Since patronymic bynames in French are routinely formed by placing de before the father's given name, the citation from Aryanhwy's article in combination with the information from Dauzat is sufficient to justify de Vie as a patronymic byname in French from at least the 15th C.
However, this means the name combines a Roman Latin given name dated to the 6th C at the latest with a French surname dated to the 15th C at the earliest. The combination of the languages is one step from period practice, and the temporal disparity of greater than 300 years is a second step from period practice. We cannot drop either Aurora or de Vie in order to register the name because the submitter does not allow major changes.
The given name Catrina was documented through the legal name allowance. There was some question whether this also contributed a step from period practice. It is not. The February 2003 Cover Letter says:
If the name element can be documented as being used in the submitted position in period, there is no weirdness for use of this name element. As an example, if John is submitted as a masculine given name under the Legal Name Allowance, there is no weirdness for use of this element, because it is documentable as a masculine given name in English in period. On the other hand, if Craig is submitted as a masculine given name under the Legal Name Allowance, there would be a weirdness for use of this element. In this case, Craig would be the submitter's legal given name. While Craig is a commonly accepted masculine given name today, no evidence has been found of it being used as a given name in period. It is registerable as a given name only through the Legal Name Allowance and so carries a weirdness.
The given name Catrina can be found in period in Dutch and Scottish. Daniel van der Meulen, Brieven en Andere Bescheiden Betreffende Daniel Van der Meulen, 1584-1600: Deel 1, Augustus 1584-Sepetember 1585, ('s-Gravenhage : M. Nijhoff, 1986-), lists Catrina Aertsen in the index. William John Charles Moens, The marriage, baptismal, and burial registers, 1571 to 1874, and monumental inscriptions, of the Dutch reformed church, Austin Friars, London: with a short account of the strangers and their churches, (Lymington: [King], 1884), lists Catrina Gorgu as being baptized in 1582. Talan Gwynek, "A List of Feminine Personal Names Found in Scottish Records", dates Catrina to 1551. This means that there is no weirdness for documenting Catrina via the legal name allowance. Additionally, the February 2003 Cover Letter says that "[i]t is important to note that we have traditionally ignored the language of the legal name element." This means that the use of Catrina does not introduce any steps from period practice because of lingual disparity because it is documented via the legal name allowance.
Since the submitter will not accept a holding name, we are forced to return the device.
This badge is returned for multiple reasons.
First, it is impossible to properly blazon the position of the three flames. Two of them are almost issuant from the corners of the lozenge, though flames in that position should be projecting outward from the center, not to chief. The third, central flame issues from the center of the lozenge and extends upward, past the edge of the lozenge. We know of no way to blazon this arrangement of three charges so that it meets the reconstructability requirement in section VII.7.b of the Rules for Submission, which says "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." The submitted blazon does not meet this requirement and no commenters were able to provide an alternative that accurately described the relative positions of all the charges.
Second, the position of the central flame causes the lozenge to appear to be a much less narrow diamond viewed as if it was on an angle. Depictions of charges in trian aspect have been forbidden in SCA heraldry for over thirty years.
Last, the central flame is not in a recognizable heraldic arrangement with respect to the lozenge. It is not a tertiary, which would be entirely surrounded by the lozenge. Nor is it an overall or surmounting charge, which would have it extending past both the top and bottom edges of the lozenge.
Each of these issues is independently cause for return.
Additionally, we do not register lozenges fesswise. Regardless of proportions, this would be blazoned as a lozenge.
No evidence was provided that Brion was used by real people in our period. Ó Corráin & Maguire, Irish Names, s.n. Brion say that "Brion is relatively common especially in the very early period for legendary personages or founders of dynasties." As past precedents indicate, Gaelic names which are only documented as names of legendary people are in general not registerable:
The only examples of the name Culann found by the submitter's were in the "Táin Bó Cúalnge" from the Book of Leinster (online at the CELT site, http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/T301035/). Here is it the name of a wholly legendary character from whom the hero Cú Chulainn derives his name. Barring documentation that the name Culann [was used] in non-legendary contexts in period, it is not registerable. [Culann mac Cianain, LoAR 09/2007, East-A]
Given this, there is no documentation for Luan as anything but a legendary name. As it can be documented only as a legendary name, it is not registerable. [Luan an Fael, LoAR 11/2007, Lochac-R]
The most similar given name that the commenters found is Brian. Brian is an extremely common Gaelic masculine name throughout our period; Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals", has 45 examples ranging from the 10th C to the 16th C.
Additionally, Gaelic grammar requires that Donnchad be put in the genitive case following mac. We would change the name to Brian mac Donnchada in order to register it, but this would be presumptuous of the registered name Mari ingen Briain meic Donnchada, as it would be a claim to be Mari's father. RfS VI.3 "Names Claiming Specific Relationships" forbids the registration of names "that unmistakably imply identity with or close relationship to a protected person". Such names can in general be registered with permission to presume from the owner of the protected name, but without such permission Brian mac Donnchada is not registerable.
Her device was registered under the holding name Mary of Shadowed Stars.
This is returned for lack of documentation for the byname, el-Ates, which was intended to mean 'the passionate' in Turkish. The LoI provided a link to a Turkish-English dictionary, but no copies were provided from this website. Furthermore, searching that dictionary for ates gets no hits, and searching for 'passionate' returns not ates but ate{s,}li, meaning literally 'fiery'. The LoI tried to justify the byname 'the passionate' in Turkish on the basis of the Mongolian byname Batu, meaning 'loyal'.
There are a number of problems with this. As Loyall explains,
The submitter has not provided evidence that the submitted byname was used in pre-1600 Turkish, nor has he provided evidence that a byname meaning 'the passionate' would be reasonable in Turkish. The Ottoman bynames I have found describe rank, occupation, or physical characteristics (the exception that proves the rule is the seventeenth-century <Mere Huseyin Pasha>, whose byname meant "Take him!" in Albanian; see the footnotes to Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 3084).
While the dictionary citation shows that ate{s,}li is a modern Turkish word meaning 'fiery', it does not provide any evidence that either ate{s,}li or ates is a period Turkish word, or that el-Ates is a grammatically correct construction for period Turkish. Lacking evidence that el-Ates is a grammatically correct phrase for pre-1600 Turkish and that 'the passionate' is a plausible byname in Turkish, this byname is not registerable.
Her device has been registered under the holding name Davud of the Middle.
This is returned for violating our ban on single abstract charges. Precedent is clear that charges arranged to appear as a single abstract charge also violate the ban:
[Per pale argent and sable, in pale a sickle and roundel counterchanged.] This device must be returned, as by long standing precedent, a single abstract symbol may not be registered. As previously noted, "[in pale a fleam inverted and a roundel] ... the combination of the fleam inverted and the roundel creates the appearance of a single charge -- a question mark -- instead of two separate charges. [Dafydd {O'} Nuallain, 11/99, R-East]." On resubmission the submitter should show evidence that the use of punctuation marks - or a combination of charges that appears to be a punctuation mark - is compatible with period heraldic practice. [Elijah Tynker, 12/05, R-Outlands]
Since the arrows appear to be a thorn rune, this armory must be returned.
The given name Érennach was documented from Ó Corráin & Maguire, Irish Names, which says that Érennach was used as a masculine name in the 8th C, and also as the name of a daughter of an undated king of Meath. This Érennach appears in the genealogies from Rawlinson B 502 as the great-great-great-granddaughter of someone who, by comparing Rawlinson with entries in The Annals of the Four Masters, we find had a son who died in 476. This would put our only feminine example of this name sometime in the mid to late 6th C. During the 6th century, the language in use in Ireland was Oghamic Irish; Érennach is an Old Irish spelling (appropriate for c. 700 to c. 900). However, we do not have any examples that Érennach was used as a feminine name in the period when an Old Irish spelling is appropriate. Current precedent does not allow registration of Irish names in orthographies that are not appropriate to the times in which they are found:
[Cnes ingen Conchobuir] The given name was submitted in a Middle or Old Irish form, but the only example we have found of the name Cnes is of an early 6th century mother of a saint. During the 6th century, the language in use in Ireland was Oghamic Irish; Cnes is an Old Irish spelling (appropriate for c. 700 to c. 900). We have no evidence that the name continued into use into the period when an Old Irish spelling in appropriate. Current precedent does not allow registration of Irish names in orthographies that are not appropriate to the times in which they are found:
No examples of the spelling Muireann have been found dating from 1200-1600. Although this is the expected spelling for this period (given the rules of Gaelic spelling), we cannot register this spelling without a reason to believe it was actually used during this period... Since no additional evidence for its use in Early Modern Gaelic has been found, the Early Modern Gaelic spelling Muireann is still not registerable. [05/2005]
The name would be registerable in an Oghamic Irish form, but we have no information about what that form would be. Given this, the name Cnes is not registerable, and so we are forced to return this name. [LoAR 01/2008, Atlantia-R]
Similarly in this case, an Oghamic Irish form of Érennach would be registerable. Unfortunately, we have no information about what that form would be, so we cannot change the name to a registerable form.
The Old Irish form Érennach is registerable as a masculine name, since we have examples of this name used by men in the Old Irish period. However, in Gaelic a patronymic byname must agree in gender with the given name, so if we interpreted Érennach as a masculine name here, we would need to use the masculine form of the byname, e.g., mac Gilla Eoin. However, changing ingen to mac is a major change, which the submitter does now allow.
Her device has been registered under the holding name Érennach of Tirnewydd.
This is returned for having poor contrast. The papellony field, as depicted, is mostly vert. The sable fimbriation is therefore color-on-color, which is forbidden by precedent:
[returning per bend barry sable and Or and checky sable and Or ... a bend Or fimbriated ... gules] This is being returned for breaking the rule of tincture, by having a metal on a metal. The gules fimbriation lies entirely on sable on the checky side, and on an equally divided sable and Or field on the other, making the field the fimbriation lies on primarily sable. (Wolfker der Jäger, 10/97 p. 10)
Several commenters also questioned this depiction of papellony. Since we are returning the device for other issues, we are not addressing that concern at this time, but the submitter should strongly consider drawing the Or areas of the papellony treatment somewhat thinner than they are currently depicted.
The byname Tochter der Cecilia Wittmann 'daughter of Cecilia Wittmann' was constructed on the basis of the name Johanna Tochter der Cecilia von Belmont dated to 1185 in Socin, Mittelhochdeutsches Namenbuch. Nach oberrheinischen Quellen des 12. und 13. Jahrhunderts, p. 90. However, the description Tochter der Cecilia von Belmont is identified as an editorial addition, added by Socin, which was not a part of the documented name. Ælfwynn Leoflæde dohtor provides the following information about matronymic bynames from Socin:
I'd have expected the pattern in German (looking at the matronymic section of Socin and trying to extrapolate from the nearly all male examples) to be more like one of the following (in no particular order):
Johanna Ceciliastohter (I'm not sure about the genitive form here...there's a chance that it might be Cecilientohter, but it's hard to tell from the masculine names where it might also be a contraction with sun)
Johanna Cecilias tohter
Johanna Witmannin tohter (without the Cecilia)
I don't think I have any examples from Socin of women identified in German by a father's (or mother's) given name and byname at the same time.
Lacking support for the construction Tochter der <given name> + <byname> in German, it is not registerable. Even though the submitter does not allow major changes, she noted that she would accept changes to Wittmann, including dropping it, if required for registration. Unfortunately, we do not have any evidence that Tochter der Cecilia is a plausible German byname, and changing this to Cecilias tohter would be a major change. We must therefore return the name, and recommend to the submitter that she consider either Johanna Cecilias tohter or Johanna Witmannin tohter upon resubmission.
Conflict with Catherine du Fay. As articles and prepositions such as le and du do not contribute to difference, the names are effectively identical.
This is returned for a redraw of the linden leaf. Linden leaves were defined most recently on the September 2007 Cover Letter:
A period depiction of linden leaves can be found in the arms of von Linden, 1605, in Siebmacher, plate 141, in the center of the top row. In this case, we are certain of the identification due to the cant. The leaves shown there are heart-shaped, and we are making this the SCA definition of linden leaves.
The January 2003 LoAR describes linden leaves as "card-pique shaped." This submission is, therefore, not a linden leaf because it does not have a 'heart' or 'card-pique' shape. We are unable to blazon this charge as a generic leaf, since a generic leaf is an oval, pointed at each end, like a laurel leaf. Commenters were unable to provide a blazon for this shape of leaf, and we are, therefore, forced to return this badge for violating Section VII.7.b of the Rules for Submission, which requires that "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."
Please inform the submitter that, on resubmission, she should be aware of the following registrations: the badge of Stevyn of Beinn nam faoghla, (Fieldless) On a blackthorn leaf vert an increscent argent; the badge of Isabel Ulfsdottir, (Fieldless) On an ivy leaf vert a wolf's paw print argent, and the badge of Eleri of Nefyn, (Fieldless) On an oak leaf vert a hand argent. There is a CD for fieldlessness in all cases, but the other CD would have to come from the difference in the shape of the leaf, in all cases, because a linden leaf is not suitable for purposes of Section X.4.j.ii of the Rules for Submission, so no difference will be granted for the change to only the type of the argent tertiary charge. We would grant a CD between any of these leaves and properly drawn, heart-shaped linden leaves.
None.
None.
This device is returned for the use of a low-contrast complex line of division obscured by the primary charge. It is impossible to tell what the complex line of division is with the edelweiss over the join.
[Per saltire arrondy vert and sable, a lozenge argent charged with a wolf's head cabossed sable.] This has a complex low-contrast line division overlain by a nonskinny charge. It therefore violates RfS VIII.3 which says in part: "For instance, a complex line of partition could be difficult to recognize between two parts of the field that do not have good contrast if most of the line is also covered by charges." As al-Jamal notes, "arrondy is considered a complex line of division. As a consequence, it may not be used between two low contrast tinctures with a overlying charge, precisely for the reason shown in the emblazon - the line of division becomes very difficult to identify when it is obscured by an overlying charge." Brachet notes: "Whether or not there is a CD for quarterly arrondi vs quarterly in field-only armory, it is quite clear that the arrondi part simply does not show up in low contrast when the center part of it is obscured by a lozenge." The central part of the field illuminates the lion's share of the difference between plain and arrondy partitions. Obscuring that intersection with a nonskinny charge makes it very difficult to distinguish between plain and arrondy, blurring the difference between two lines of division that have a CD between them. [Mary Kate O'Malley, LoAR 07/2004, Atenveldt-R]
This armory is not a conflict with Emma Dandelion, Vert, a dandelion slipped and leaved and bordure argent. There is a CD for the field and a CD for the difference between a dandelion and an edelweiss.
Conflict with Sea-Griffin Herald, registered to Laura de Botelsford.
The device is returned for conflict with the device of Linnet MacHardy, Per pale purpure and vert, three escallops inverted argent. There is a CD for the change of field. There is not a CD for the change of arrangement of the escallops. The escallops cannot be in a two and one arrangement as they are in Linnet's armory. Their position in the current submission is forced by the change of the field. Section X.4.g of the Rules for Submission says that arrangement changes are only given "provided that change is not caused by other changes to the design."
Had there not been a conflict, this device would have been returned for a redraw. The line of division is too small and poorly colored, both of which limit its identifiability. Please instruct the submitter to draw this line of division with fewer and bolder repeats if she wishes to use it on resubmission.
Commenters should note that the proposed change to the interpretation of forced moves, which can be found under Æthelmearc in the Pends section of this LoAR, will not change this ruling: the escallops in the new submission are unable to be in a two and one arrangement on the field. Because of the rule of tincture, no argent escallop could be wholly on the Or portion of the field in dexter chief, as would be the case in a two and one arrangement.
The device is returned for conflict with Thomas de Longavilla, Argent, a chevron and on a chief azure two lions passant gardant argent. There is a CD for the addition of the fleurs-de-lys, but there is not a CD for changing only the number of lions on the chief.
Please instruct the submitter that, on resubmission, the edge lines of the chevron and chief should be drawn thinner, so they do not have the appearance of fimbriation.
This name has a number of problems, each of which is a reason for return on its own.
First, the LoI did not provide a summary of the documentation. All that was provided was links to three websites without any summary of what the sites have to say. A proper summary of the supporting evidence for a submission is required by Admin Handbook V.B.2.d, and failure to provide such a summary is grounds for pend or return. For more information, see the Cover Letter of this LoAR.
Second, neither the provided websites nor any of the commenters were able to provide support for the pattern One True X in period order names or similar period constructions. As Windy Meads notes:
[W]hile the "one true" concept has been widely extended in modern times, the only period artifact I can recall being described in a similar way is the True Cross -- and note that this is "True" not "One True."
Barring evidence for the pattern One True X in medieval order names, it is not registerable.
Third, it has been ruled in the past that order names cannot be registered to individuals:
Damian von Baden. Household name Company of Saint Oswald. Submitted as Order of St. Oswald. The Administrative Handbook defines Order Names specifically as The name of a recognized Society honor, order or award and goes on to say: By Corpora such names may only be registered to kingdoms, principalities, baronies or equivalent branches. Therefore we cannot register 'Order' as a designator for a household name to an individual. We have substituted Company as the closest equivalent. [LoAR 02/1997]
The submitter notes that if the designator Order was not registerable, he would accept the designator Abbey instead. However, no documentation was provided and none found that One True Pipe follows patterns of period abbey names. Barring such documentation, changing the designator to Abbey would not make the name registerable.
The badge submitted in association with this household name has been registered above as a personal badge of the submitter.
This submission is returned for multiple reasons.
The emblazon on OSCAR included a bordure, but the emblazon on the forms has no bordure. This violates Section V.B.2.e of the Administrative Handbook, which requires that Letters of Intent include "An accurate representation of each piece of submitted armory."
The device is also returned for being a single abstract charge and/or word, based on this precedent, from March 2006:
Yamahara Yorimasa. Device. Gules, in pale a kanji Yama and a kanji Hara argent.
This is returned for redesign. There has long been precedent against armory consisting of a single abstract charge -- symbols that represent a phoneme or meaning, such as letters, numbers, runes, and kanji -- as well as against the registration of monograms. The rationale has been to prevent one submitter from having exclusive right to a symbol which should be commonly available to all. That rationale would, we feel, also apply to phrases made up from multiple abstract charges, if those are the sole elements of the armory. Thus, as we should not accept Argent, the letter L sable or Argent, in fess the letters LO sable, we should not accept Argent, the word LOVE sable. The same argument applies here: we cannot accept a design consisting solely of kanji. We therefore extend the ban on single abstract charges to cover any armory consisting solely of abstract charges, in any language (e.g., Japanese kanji, Norse runes, Arabic script, etc.). This applies whether the armory consists of a single word or a phrase.
The use of kanji is one step from period practice. By which, yes, we mean period European heraldic practice. [Yamahara Yorimasa, 03/06 R-Æthelmearc]
Both the restriction on armory consisting solely of a single abstract symbol and the step from period practice for the use of an Oriental character are applicable to this device as emblazoned on the form.
The submitter provided documentation that the shou symbol is period. The document from the David Rumsey AMICO Library does provide dates. The box with the shou symbol is dated to some time between 1522 and 1566, so the shou symbol is definitely a symbol or artistic motif from China in our period. Nonetheless, to the best of our knowledge Chinese symbols were not used in period European armory, being unknown to Europeans.
Finally, the device is returned for multiple conflicts, whether it is drawn with or without the bordure. While the shou symbol is a Chinese character, a viewer who does not read Chinese (i.e., most of the SCA) will see what appears to be a roundel with internal detailing, as will someone viewing the device from any distance. Therefore, the shou symbol is not considered significantly different than a roundel for purposes of conflict. This is the case whether or not it is registerable.
Without the bordure, this device conflicts with the device of Edwin Bersark, Gules, a roundel so drawn as to represent a round shield battered in long and honourable service, argent, with only one CD for the change of the field; with the device of Domhnall mac Pharlain, Sable, a plate between three bull's heads cabossed Or, with only one CD for the removal of the bull's heads; and with the badge of the Barony of Loch Salann, for their Order of the Crystal of the Salt Wastes, Sable, a plate within a bordure Or, with a single CD for the addition of the bordure.
Without the bordure it is also a conflict with the device of Joorkin Volz, Azure, a labyrinth argent. There is a CD for the field, but the depiction of a shou and a labyrinth are nearly identical.
Adding a plain-edged bordure will not clear conflict. Any tincture of any plain-edged bordure will conflict with the aforementioned badge for the Barony of Loch Salann's Order of the Crysal of the Salt Wastes, Sable, a plate within a bordure Or, with a single CD for the change of tincture of the bordure. If the bordure is plain line and argent, it additionally conflicts with Lyanna of Kerneough, Sable a plate between four mullets in cross, all within a bordure argent. There would be a single CD for the removal of the mullets.
This is returned for lack of documentation that an Darve Gil is a plausible period Gaelic byname. The byname was intended to mean 'the white stag', and was constructed on the basis of the byname in Eich Gil 'of the white horse', dated to the 11th and early 12th C in Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals." There are two problems with justifying an Darve Gil in this way.
First, no documentation was provided that darve means 'stag' in Gaelic, either in period or modernly. The LoI simply said "Darve: - Gaelic for stag", without providing any source substantiating this claim. Pelican Emeritus says:
I have searched the "Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language (http://www.dil.ie/) and found nothing either browsing or searching even close to "Darve", much less anything like "Darve" meaning "stag" (which generally seems to be something like "Aig"). It's not in MacBains "An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language" either.
Additionally, the Gaelic alphabet does not use the letter v. Lacking evidence that Darve is a period Gaelic word, it is not registerable in the context of a medieval Gaelic byname.
Second, even if an Darve Gil were a correct construction, it would mean 'of the white stag', not 'the white stag'. The Annals index has three examples of descriptive bynames which mean 'of the X', where X is an animal, but they are all based on domesticated animals: na Mart 'of the beeves/cattle', na nGamhnach 'of the milch cows', and the aforementioned in Eich Gil. Because stags are not domesticated animals, a byname meaning 'of the white stag' does not follow the pattern established by these three examples.
His armory was registered under the holding name Tuathal of Castlemere.
- Explicit littera renuntiationum -
This is pended to discuss whether or not our current standard on forced moves should be overturned. Current precedent indicates that this device should conflict with Cynric Beyond the Mountain, Quarterly argent and sable, in bend sinister two griffins segreant argent. There would be a CD for the field, but the position of Cynric's griffins is forced, and we currently do not give a CD for this, by the following precedent:
[Gules, in bend three escallops argent] Conflict with ... Per fess azure and vair ancient, three escallops in chief argent. There is one CD for changing the field. However, there is not a second CD for the change in the arrangement of the escallops. The change in the arrangement is caused by the change in the field. One could not put three escallops argent in bend on a per fess azure and vair ancient field, because the the [sic] bottommost and centermost argent escallops would be placed wholly or in part on the vair portion of the field, with which they have inadequate contrast. According to RfS X.4.h [Ed: should be 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." [Laurence of Damascus, 08/02, R-An Tir]
Several commenters have argued, consistently, that this policy is an overly-broad interpretation of the rule. It is entirely possible for Artán's griffins to be placed in bend sinister. The change to placing them in bend is not forced by the design. Cynric's griffins may have been forced into that position, but their position is fixed at registration and they will never move. Our intention is to discuss overturning this precedent.
To articulate the proposed change clearly: if the position of the charges in the old device is forced, the position of the charges in the new device is not forced, and the position of the charges in the new device could be identical to their position in the old device, then the change of position will no longer be considered a forced move. We are not inclined to change the reverse: if the new design is forced, it will remain a conflict.
This was item 1 on the Æthelmearc letter of August 26, 2008.
The submitter requested authenticity (for an unspecific language/culture), but this authenticity request was not mentioned on the LoI. We are pending the name so that the commenters can address the authenticity of the name.
The LoI provided the following documentation for the name:
Submitter desires a female name.
Language most important.
Culture most important.
Khayra - feminine lsms found on heraldry.sca.org/laurel/names/arabic-naming2.htm
Mujahid - masculine lsms found on heraldry.sca.org/laurel/names/arabic-naming2.htm
al-Tayyib - masculine cognomens found on heraldry.sca.org/laurel/names/arabic-naming2.htm
This is not considered an adequate summary of the documentation as it does not provide the author, the title, or the full URL, including http://, of the cited source. Since we have to pend the name anyway, we are taking the opportunity to provide an example of one acceptable way to summarize the documentation:
All documentation is from Da'ud ibn Auda's "Period Arabic Names and Naming Practices", which can be found at http://heraldry.sca.org/laurel/names/arabic-naming2.htm.
Khayra is listed under the "Feminine Isms" section.
Mujahid is listed under the "Masculine Isms" section.
al-Tayyib is a masculine cognomen listed under the "Masculine Cognomens Used as Isms / including both laqabs and nisbas" section.The name is constructed to follow patterns found in the article under the "Arabic Naming Practices" section. The whole name is following the pattern ism + nasab, where the nasab is of the form ism + nisba
The submitter will not accept a holding name, so we are forced to pend the device with the name.
This was item 49 on the Middle letter of August 31, 2008.
- Explicit -
Created at 2009-02-27T23:42:55