APPROVALS

14 JUNE XXII (1987)

THE FOLLOWING SUBMISSIONS ARE APPROVED:

KINGDOM OF ANSTEORRA

Alaric Liutpold. Holding name and device (see PENDING for name). Purpure, a chevron cotised between three crosses formy argent.

The submission was made under the name of Alaric Liutpold von Markheim.

Geta Alexandra din Wallachia. Badge. Or, a leather dancing shoe bendwise sinister proper.

Since the charge has previously been registered by the College in this gentle's device, it would seem pedantic to refuse to register it in her badge, although valid questions were raised concerning the recognizability of the shoe.

Theresa de Foxton. Badge. Per bend embattled sable and gules, a thistle slipped and leaved argent.

KINGDOM OF ATLANTIA

Cassandra Scandicci di Santa Serena. Name and device. Purpure, in pale a strung bow fesswise, embowed to chief, and a cockatoo close argent, armed, membered and crested, all within an orle wavy Or.

The name was submitted as Cassandra Scandicci de San Serina. The preposition and the place name have been modified to standard Italian forms.

Daniel of Rutland. Name only.

Deirdre O'Siodhachain. Name only.

James of Rutland. Name only.

Katherine of Canterbury. Name only.

Nathon of Arindale. Change of device. Azure, a patriarchal cross throughout between in base two bears combattant argent.

Sigurd Ericsson of Bergen. Name only (see RETURNS for device).

Thorbjorn Thordarson. Name and device. Argent, a Thor's hammer sable, overall a bend sinister vert.

The name was submitted as Thorbjorn Thordsson, with the source for both names being Geirr Bassi. As the submittor's paperwork allowed, the patronymic has been corrected to the proper form indicated by Geirr Bassi.

Thomas Smyth of Ayr. Device. Or, upon a dexter gauntlet clenched aversant palewise azure an anchor Or, all within a bordure azure.

Wolfgang the Rhinelander. Device. Argent, a fess wavy between two wolves courant within a bordure azure.

KINGDOM OF CAID

Alisha von Froschheim die Turnerin. Device. Per bend sinister Or and gules, a bend cotised counterchanged, overall a pegasus rampant sable.

Anne FitzAlan of Castle Combe. Name only.

Antara al-Aqrab. Badge. Counter-ermine, on a heart gules a rose argent.

Bhaltar de Fairmont. Reblazon of badge. On a gout d'huile a fleur-de-lys Or.

Brighid Meara Dunmore. Change of name from Jesca of Pentraeth.

Caitlin Christiana Rosa del León. Name only.

Daveed of Granada. Change of name from David of Granada and badge. Or, two leatherworker's head knives addorsed gules within a bordure azure.

Etain Darkbow. Name only.

Galen the Mad. Name and device. Azure, on a saltire quadrate argent, cotised Or, a bull's head cabossed sable.

Treble Clef is correct in noting that the name Galen was not the given name of the ancient physician, but he was so generally cited solely by his cognomen in post-classical and medieval sources that the name was popularly taken to be a given name and used as such (a similar process gave rise to the use of Virgil as a given name). From Njorbjorn Jorgesson ("Azure, on a saltire argent a stone throwing hammer sable, crossed and thonged Or, haft fimbriated argent."), cited by Brachet, there is a major point for the addition of the cotising in addition to the differences created by the modification in form of the saltire and the changes in the tertiaries.

Gregorii Konstantinovich Paltin. Name and device. Argent, two triskelions arrondy purpure and a mountain issuant from base sable, all within a bordure embattled vert.

The name was submitted as Gregori Konstantinovich Paltin. With Crescent's consent, the given name has been modified to the older form of Gregorii.

Hagar Stromburg Blackrune. Name and device. Per chevron throughout sable and argent, two double-bitted axes Or and a double-prowed drakkar, oars in action, proper.

Jihan um Omar. Device. Gules, a lotus blossom in profile between two scimitars addorsed in pile Or.

Marguerite Lofftus. Name and device. Per bend sinister sable and gyronny from the line of division Or and vert.

Michael Städtler Zweihänder. Change of name from Michael Stadtler Zweihanderer.

Michael of the Daugava. Name and device. Per bend gules and Or, a reindeer statant to sinister sable, in chief a mullet argent.

Natalya de Foix. Release of badge. Purpure, a dove migrant to base argent, ducally gorged Or.

Rebekah bat Samuel Alfasi. Holding name and device (see RETURNS for name). Per fess indented azure and gules, in pale a shofar, bell to sinister, and an estoile of eight rays Or.

The name was submitted as Rivka bat Shmuel Alfasi. Since the name was unacceptable and no modifications to the name were permitted, we attempted to use the nearest Hebrew form of the submitted name as a holding name.

Selene of the Sable Fox. Badge. A stalk of celery between two fox's tails palewise proper.

Styrbjorn Ulfhamr of Uppsala. Device. Argent, a legless wyvern erect and sinister facing, tail curled in annulo, within a serpent in annulo widdershins, head to base and biting its own tail, vert.

Note that the position of the wyvern's tail must be specified since it is not the norm. NOTE: At the time the name was passed in April, 1987, the preposition was modified from the proposed "af" to the common English "of". The explanation should have been included at that time was accidentally omitted: by the submittor's own documentation, the Old Norse preposition requires a following dative form, which is not present and which would neither look nor sound as close to the modern name of the Swedish university city. To keep the name as close as possible to the submitted sound we used the English equivalent.

KINGDOM OF THE WEST

Ademar d'Excideuil. Name and device. Per chevron azure and argent, two unicorn's heads erased argent and a rose gules, barbed and seeded, proper.

Alexandria Sylverhawke. Name and device. Gules, two hawk's heads erased respectant argent.

As Crescent has noted, the heads here are drawn more like heraldic eagle's heads than hawk's heads, although the lady's intent is clear. Please advise her of the proper depiction for a hawk's head.

Algrin the Dark. Name only.

Aneala, Shire of. Name and device. Azure, issuant from chief a demi-sun Or, on a chief argent a laurel wreath vert between two swan's heads and necks erased respectant sable.

Bardolph Dragontower. Name only.

Conachar MacAlpin. Change of name from Ulfstan Garwiga.

Cyneswith aet Caldhaefen. Change of name from Asta Wolfmaer.

Decion of Trefriw Wold. Name and device. Per pale vert and argent, a stag rampant counterchanged, attired and unguled sable, within a bordure wavy counterchanged.

David of Aneala. Holding name and device (see RETURNS for name). Argent, two eagles displayed sable between two bars gemel purpure.

The name was submitted as Del Delson.

Dermid Ross. Device. Per pale sable and argent, in fess two mullets of four points saltirewise counterchanged.

Dominic Tremayne. Name only (see RETURNS for device).

The name was submitted as Dominic Tremayne of Baldivis. Since no evidence for Baldivis could be adduced other than its demonstrably out-of-period usage for the submittor's home town in Australia, that portion of the name has been dropped in order to register the remainder of the name.

Eleanor la Sincère. Name and device. Azure, on a chevron enhanced and cotised Or, three fleurs-de-lys azure, in base a lion dormant Or.

Elizabeth Severn. Name and device. Argent, an urchin statant proper, on a chief vert, three trefoils Or.

Note that the urchin (porcupine) is dark brown.

Gabriella Okehorn. Name and device. Or, a straight trumpet fesswise gules between two annulets sable, on a chief gules three bezants.

Although the collocation of Gabriel(la), horn and a straight trumpet created a few iconological twitches, it is legitimate.

Gareth de Mountayne. Name only.

Gareth Lionmane. Name only.

Geoffrey Jeffries. Name and device. Azure, on two bendlets Or, six mullets azure, all within a bordure Or.

Gregory of Loch Swan. Name only.

Jean le Montebank. Badge. A cup inverted distilling a goutte sable.

Judith la Foncée. Name only.

She should be informed that the adjective "fonce" is usually used with colours to indicate that they are deep in tone or with chairs or baskets to indicate that they are "bottomed".

Lillian Guy of Swanton. Name and device. Sable, a swan naiant to sinister Or within an orle of fleurs-de-lys argent.

The name was submitted as Lillian Guy of Swanson. Since there is no evidence for the use of the patronymic formation for town names in period, we have substituted the well-documented period place name Swanton.

Miguel of Southern Shores. Holding name and device (see RETURNS for name). Per pale argent and azure, an hourglass within a bordure counterchanged.

The name was submitted as Miguel de Asturias.

Myfanwy of Innilgard. Holding name and device (see RETURNS for name). Per bend sinister azure and argent, ermined azure, in chief a dragon rampant to sinister argent.

The name was submitted as Myfanwy o Dyfed.

Philip MacAldin of Cape Wrath. Name only.

The name was submitted as Philip MacAuldrin of Cape Wrath. Since no evidence could be found for the patronymic, we have substituted the nearest documented form.

Rodney Wilhelm Czesny. Name and device. Argent, three hawk's heads erased and sinister facing gules between two chevronels, all between three decrescents sable.

The name was submitted as Rodney Wilhelm Czisny. Acting on Crescent's suggestion, we have modified the spelling of the last name to "Czesny". Note that the submittor's mundane name is Rodney.

Snorri Ottarson. Name only.

Ventbarré, Shire of. Name only.

The name was submitted as "Ventbarre", which the group translated as "wind helm". Since a "barre" is the helm of a ship, this does not make a great deal of sense. However, a nearly identical form is the perfect passive participle form of the French verb "barrer" which means to stop or to bar (a "rue barrée" is a street with no exit) so that name would be appropriate for a place typified by a "stopped wind", i.e., a location where wind is diverted or blocked by geographic features.

Warrior's Gate, Shire of. Name only.

Wilhelm Leopard der Schwarze. Device. Sable, in chief five ermine spots in fess Or.

William MacFie. Device. Chequy azure and argent, on a chief Or, four fox's masks gules.

THE FOLLOWING SUBMISSIONS ARE RETURNED:

KINGDOM OF ATLANTIA

Gillain Clayshaper. Name and device. Azure, semy of mullets of eight points argent, a woman affronty proper, garbed argent, crined Or, holding in both hands a crescent gules.

The argument for Gillain as a given name derived from "gille" and "Aine" and meaning "servant of Anne" is not really plausible. In the first place this is a documented family name from "giolla" meaning boy or servant (commonly appearing as Gillan or Gillen or in the Irish patronymic "O Giollain", cited by MacLysaght in Surnames of Ireland, p. 124). Secondly, Aine is a separate pre-Christian Irish name which is only confused with the Biblical Anne at a late date. Thirdly, there is no evidence that the name formation ever coalesced the Irish name elements in quite this manner: in most Irish sources until a very late period the component parts of such compounded names retained their separate identities and were properly inflected. Whether one is a devotee of the old religion or the newer one, this device is "a bit much". The lady is quite correct that human figures were used in period heraldry and even divine figures occasionally appeared on non-ecclesiastical heraldry. However, given the religious pluralism of the Society and modern attitudes towards the symbols of religion, this device could cause inadvertent offense. The maiden garbed in white and set upon a blue sky set with silver stars is the classic depiction of the Virgin in Baroque and modern iconography. This particular depiction in fact could be derived directly from the holy pictures of the Virgin that many of those who attended Catholic School collected in their youth. This is excessive in itself and, taken with a name constructed to mean "servant of Anne", becomes even more problematic (Anne was, of course, the mother of Mary in medieval tradition). It should be noted, incidentally, that this depiction is directly assimilated from the depiction of the goddess in the older religion (even to the adornment of the Virgin with the heavenly symbols of stars and the moon) and the name Aine, although used for human women in historical times, is particularly associated with aspects of the goddess in early Irish myth (O Corrain and Maguire, Gaelic Personal Names, pp. 19-20). Finally, it also conflicts with Gilrae of Moorburn ("Azure, a fox-headed woman affronty statant, hands crossed at the waist, vested argent.")

Ian Sinclair of Cowgate. Name only.

The name conflicts with that of Ian Saint Clair, registered in October, 1986. Note that Sinclair is merely a phonetic spelling of the family name Saint Clair (see Reaney, p. 321).

Sigurd Ericsson of Bergen. Device. Argent, two single-horned anvils addorsed, horns to base, sable, a bordure of flames proper.

There are two problems with the device as submitted. The anvils in the position in which they are placed are extremely difficult to identify. Several of those looking at the emblazon without reading the blazon mistook them for mallet or axe heads. Additionally, although the flames are blazoned as proper, they are in fact Or, delineated gules.

KINGDOM OF CAID

Rivka bat Shmuel Alfasi. Name only.

The submittor's documentation for given names indicated that "Rivka is the Hebraic pronunciation of Rebecca as Shmuel is the Hebrew pronunciation of Samuel." and copies of the Hebrew and English versions of the Torah were provided to demonstrate that these were Old Testament names. Unfortunately, the Torah uses the actual Hebraic forms, not the forms used here which are in fact Yiddish. Since Yiddish is indeed a period vernacular, largely compounded of German and Hebrew, this would be no barrier to registration. However, although Shmuel seems to be the regular Yiddish form for Samuel, Rivka appears to be a Yiddish diminutive form for Rebekkah (equivalent to the English "Becky"). The current rules do not allow the registration of diminutives not documented as independent names in period. As she allowed no changes to her name, a holding name had to be assigned.

KINGDOM OF THE WEST

Arian of Shadowvale. Device. Sable, mulletty argent, a wave issuant from base, cresting to sinister, argent, charged in base with a fret couped sable.

As noted by Crescent and others, the wave crest has, by consensus of the College, been barred from general use in Society heraldry since 1983. Given the strong feeling on the part of the commentors that this usage is not acceptable style and the lack of indication of period usage in the citation from Woodward (which is from the section on "curious" Continental partitions), there seems no reason to change this precedent.

Bjorn Kathrynson. Device. Per pale sable and gules, a winged bear rampant Or.

Vesper appealed the original return of this device for conflict with Orly ("Sable, a bear rampant Or.") on the grounds that the two minors, one for change to half a low contrast field and another for the addition of the wings, were so strong that they should be counted as the equivalent of a major and a minor point of difference. It was specifically asked "whether this is a valid application of the principle that occasionally two large minors may be sufficient to clear a conflict with mundane arms." The phrasing here implies that such a principle has and should be accepted by the Laurel Office and the College of Arms. It has not been and should not be. If the principle is not valid then the question of an application of the principle is moot.

Crescent and Elmet, however, raised another issue, i.e., whether the addition of the wings is indeed a minor point of difference or should be counted as a major point of difference. After consideration of the rulings in similar situations, we have concluded that the determination of difference depends not only the proportion of the charge which is modified but also on the "pattern of recognition" involved. In other words, if the modifications create a beast which has a separate identity of its own, either in period or modern heraldry (e.g., a lion as opposed to a sea-lion), it is feasible for the modifications to produce a major point of difference. If the modifications produce a beast which is clearly derivative (e.g., a winged sheep), then the difference created will be minor. In this case, the beast will always be "processed" as a bear with wings so that the difference created must be considered minor.

Del Delson. Name only.

The forms (e.g., Dealla, Dela) cited in the letter of intent from Redin are all "weak" masculine nouns which would appear not to form this sort of name modification. In this case the "plausibility" of the construct is rendered somewhat irrelevant by the documented modern use of "Del" as a diminutive form. As Crescent has noted in discussing name documentation, arguments from plausibility must give way to actual evidence and, in this case, a theoretical radical usage must give way to actual diminutive usage. A very close form could be derived from the documented Old Norse given name "Dalli": Dalli Dallason (Geirr Bassi, p. 9).

Dominic Tremayne. Device. Azure, two chevronels between two fleurs-de-lys and a sword argent.

Conflict with Latham ("Azure, two chevrons argent." as cited in Papworth, p. 541) and Brayton ("Azure, two chevrons between three mullets argent.", ibid., p. 547).

Miguel de Asturias. Name only.

The name is in direct conflict with Miguel Asturias, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1967. Several commentors noted as well that the title "de Asturias" has been used since the thirteenth century as the title of the heir to the Spanish throne.

Myfanwy o Dyfed. Name only.

The evidence indicates that the usage "given name + kingdom name" is regularly used in Welsh to indicate a member of the ruling family of that kingdom (e.g., Owain Gwynedd). It should be noted that the preposition "o" normally would require the soft mutation: "Ddyfed".

THE FOLLOWING SUBMISSIONS ARE PENDING:

KINGDOM OF ATLANTIA

Sacred Stone, Barony of. Badge for the Order of the Phoenix's Claw. Argent, in pale two spears in saltire and a phoenix's claw vert, issuant from flames of fire proper.

The badge was returned in November, 1986, for the use of metal on metal. Triton has appealed this on the grounds that the Laurel Office should have directed the submittor to "draw the flames properly" and passed the badge. We register the emblazon, not the blazon. The only conclusion to be drawn from the carefully drawn emblazon provided by the submittors was that they desired, not flames of fire proper, but flames Or. This was not a situation where confusion might be attributed to incompetence on the part of the artist or confusion on the part of the submittor. At this point, the College has still not been provided with evidence that flames proper, i.e., gules on the outer edges and Or on the inner portion of the flame, is what the Barony desires and will use, since Triton included no properly drawn emblazon sheet with the "appeal". Note that, if a proper resubmission had been made with a new emblazon sheet, the submission would have passed with no problem. Since the College as a whole has no objections to the basic blazonry, if the tincture problem is removed, and since the Barony should not be unduly penalized, if they are indeed prepared to "play by the rules", we are prepared to register this armoury as soon as we receive a properly drawn emblazon sheet to evidence that they have consented to the change to their original submission and will use the registered form.

Sacred Stone, Barony of. Badge for the Order of the Phoenix's Eye. Argent, the head of a phoenix vert, issuant from flames of fire proper.

See the comments above on the Badge for the Order of the Phoenix's Claw.

KINGDOM OF ANSTEORRA

Alaric Liutpold von Markheim. Name only.

The submission is pended until the September meeting to permit further commentary from the College on the issues involved in the proposed use of the name "von Markheim".