Copyright © 1997 Society
for Creative Anachronism, Inc.
|
College of Arms, Mistholme Annex, Box 1329, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266-8329 10 June 1993 |
Here are the Acceptances and Returns from the Laurel meeting of Sunday, 9 May 1993. The following Letters of Intent were considered: West, 11 Jan 93; Middle, 11 Jan 93; Calontir, 15 Jan 93; Trimaris, 15 Jan 93; Atlantia, 18 Jan 93; An Tir, 20 Jan 93; East (Drachenwald), 23 Jan 93; Atenveldt, 24 Jan 93; and East, 27 Jan 93.
Schedule
The June meeting will be held on Sunday, 13 June 1993, and will consider the following Letters of Intent: Ansteorra, 6 Nov 92; Outlands, 17 Jan 93; Caid, 30 Jan 93; Middle, 11 Feb 93; West, 14 Feb 93; An Tir, 15 Feb 93; Calontir, 16 Feb 93; Atlantia, 21 Feb 93; Meridies, 22 Feb 93; and East, 24 Feb 93. The Ansteorra LOI of 5 Nov 92 will be considered 27 June 1993, at the Known World Heraldic Symposium. Responses and rebuttals to commentary on these LOIs should have been in my hands by 31 May 93.
The July meeting will be held on Sunday, 25 July 1993, and will consider the following Letters of Intent: Atenveldt, 28 Feb 93; Caid, 8 March 93; East, 10 March 93; Middle, 11 March 93; Atenveldt, 15 March 93; West, 15 March 93; Atlantia, 16 March 93; Calontir, 19 March 93; Trimaris, 22 March 93; An Tir, 24 March 93; and Meridies, 29 March 93. Responses and rebuttals to commentary on these LOIs should be in my hands by 30 June 93.
The August meeting will be held on Sunday, 15 August 1993, and will consider the following Letters of Intent: Atenveldt, 31 March 93; Caid, 2 April 93; West, 5 April 93; Outlands, 7 April 93; Middle, 8 April 93; Atlantia, 11 April 93; An Tir, 14 April 93; East, 23 April 93; Atenveldt, 24 April 93; and Meridies, 25 April 93. Commentary on these LOIs should be in my hands by 30 June 93; responses and rebuttals to that commentary, by 31 July 93.
The September meeting will be held on a Sunday in September, 1993, and will consider the following Letters of Intent: Ansteorra, 12 April 93; Ansteorra, 13 April 93; Ansteorra, 14 April 93; An Tir, 5 May 93; West, 10 May 93; Middle, 11 May 93; Caid, 14 May 93; Calontir, 17 May 93; Atlantia, 17 May 93; East, 20 May 93; Atenveldt, 26 May 93; and Meridies, 27 May 93. Commentary on these LOIs should be in my hands by 31 July 93; responses and rebuttals to that commentary, by 31 Aug 93.
Roster Updates
The biggest changes this month come from the East: Please move Lady Schwartzdrachen from the East Kingdom College to her own entry as Schwartzdrachen Principal Herald for the Kingdom of Drachenwald. She should be selecting a staff shortly.
Lord Brigantia has asked that Lord Treblerose be removed from the roster, and Lord Maunch from the mailing list. Please add to the mailing list the Eastern Crown Herald and the Silver Buccle Herald (already on the roster). Finally, note the changes in office for the Blue Tyger and Pantheon Heralds:
The Pale Herald of the Midrealm has moved. His new address is: Richard Morgan of Cumberland (Richard Darnell), 1604 68th Ave. NE, Fridley, MN 55432.
The Kestrel Herald of Calontir has also moved. His new address is: Christopher Amber (Dean Kinsey), 6006 Antioch, Merriam, KS 66202; (913) 432-5251.
The List of Protected Armory: An Update
Recently, in the LoAR cover letter of 28 March 93, I added several sources to Appendix E of the Administrative Guidelines, wherein we list exactly what's protected from conflict. The additions were based on relevance, availability, and frequency of conflict calls over the last several months. One further source meets those conditions, but I forgot to add it at the time. Therefore, please add to Appendix E:
Alternative Titles
I've recently had several inquiries about the List of Alternative Titles. This List gives the College's accepted translations of the Society's titles (King/Queen, Duke/Duchess, etc.) in a variety of languages. It was originally compiled by Master Wilhelm von Schlüssel, back in 1981, and published in the Caerthan Symposium Proceedings. These Proceedings were available through the Stock Clerk for several years, but are now out of print. As a result, many people have no access to the official list of titles, and confusion has arisen over what's acceptable and what isn't.
The 1981 List of Alternative Titles was never perfect, of course; it had to deal with the SCA title structure, which bears only passing resemblance to the title structures of the Middle Ages. (For one thing, we use Lord/Lady as our lowest rank, and Master/Mistress as a peerage rank -- exactly the reverse of, e.g., late-period England.) Thus, many titles cannot be directly translated into another language, but must account for the SCA's relative ranks: was it better to translate Lord/Lady as the lowest title in a given culture, or to use the literal translation for Lord/Lady (even though such a translation might imply a higher rank)? I suspect most of the current list was direct translation, resulting in some errors. Add to that the changes made since 1981 (e.g. the acceptance of Don/Doña as a title for any Spanish armigers), and you see the need for updating the List -- and publishing it in a more accessible medium.
During his tenure, Master Da'ud had delegated the responsibility of revising the List to Lord Yale. The project was put on hold, however, when the possibility arose of reforming the Orders of the Laurel and the Pelican as Orders of Knighthood. Had that proposal been accepted, it would have required a major overhaul of the SCA title structure (and thus of the List of Alternative Titles): among other things, Master/Mistress would have been available for non-peers. It didn't make sense to update the List while this proposal was pending, so nothing was done. Now that the Triple Knighthood proposal has died, we need to again consider revising the List.
Enclosed is the currently accepted List of Alternative Titles. I've included Mistress Keridwen's list of Welsh titles (replacing those in the 1981 List), Master Da'ud's list of Arabic titles, a list of Japanese titles suggested by Master Morimoto Koryu, and a list of Croatian titles suggested by Lord Sovány Barcsi János, former Star Herald. There are still gaps in the List -- for instance, we don't have the female equivalents for many of the titles in Old Norse, and I don't know how far to trust the Hungarian titles -- but this is currently the best we've got.
I'd like some solid suggestions for updating and revising this List, making it more suitable to the Society's current standards. I'll start the process with my own suggestion: I'd like to see the title Dame no longer reserved to female Knights, but available for any female Peer. A survey of the female Knights in all the Kingdoms showed none who used the title Dame, so we'll hardly be usurping any prerogatives; and I've had requests from several Peers who would like to use some title with fewer demeaning connotations than Mistress.
Please consider my suggestion, and present your own as well; don't forget to provide documentation to support whatever you propose. By the end of the year, I'd like to offer the updated List to the editor of the Known World Handbook; that seems to be the most appropriate venue for publication. In the meantime, feel free to distribute this List to your respective Colleges, scribes, royalty, and whoever, with the caveat that the List of Alternative Titles is known to be incomplete and may be revised within the next few months.
Holding Names and how they form
Lord Rocket has asked whether we've changed our policy on the formation of holding names. I wasn't aware that I'd made any changes -- if anything, I've tried to follow the policy as I'd learned it, as outlined in the LoAR of 19 Jan 86. Unfortunately, nowhere in the current Rules do we explicitly state how holding names are to be formed; precedent and "tradition" must therefore be our guides.
When he first took over the Laurel office, Master Da'ud began a series for Tournaments Illuminated; his first column (Winter 90, p.8) discussed holding names. In re-reading that column, I note at least one statement with which I seriously disagree: the statement that a holding name "is NOT your 'registered' name, nor are you 'stuck' with it." Au contraire: the holding name is indeed a submitter's registered name, until such time as a corrected name is resubmitted. It's in the A&O, it's on the file folder in Laurel's files, we check it for conflict and protect it afterward -- that fits the definition of "registered" in Laurel's eyes. The holding name is to be used in court, on scrolls, on the tourney field, and for all official functions -- until the submitter changes it. We encourage the submitter to change it: by definition, a holding name is used when we would otherwise have to return the armory submission for lack of a name, and we charge no fee for changing a holding name.
That being the case, the holding name should serve "to emphasize the fact that this was a temporary measure, not an unauthorized modification. (Timothy of Carraig Ban ... is more obviously a temporary substitute than [the submitted name with the objectionable phrase omitted].) The idea is to encourage the submitter to correct the problem himself." [LoAR of Jan 86, p.7]
Depending on the case, I will usually form a holding name by combining the submitter's mundane given name with the name of his/her SCA branch. Exceptions may be made when the submitter has specified the holding name he/she would like to receive, or when the use of the mundane given name would sound modern to the ear. In the end, it shouldn't matter exactly how the holding name was formed; submitters with holding names should still be encouraged to resubmit their names, with the problems corrected.
"....and I have bought
Golden opinions from all sorts of people."
Macbeth, act I, scene vii
Of late, there's been discussion in the Letters of Comment over who is, or isn't, entitled to comment on the issues before the College. Before anyone begins to feel disenfranchised, let me state the Laurel Office position: every member of the College of Arms, by virtue of that membership, is entitled to comment on any issue before the College. That includes submissions, Rules discussions, "issue" discussions (e.g. religious symbolism), and anything else that may grace our correspondence.
This is not to say that all voices have equal weight. Few of our issues can be decided by a simple majority vote (and if they could, then Laurel would have 51% of the voting stock). Far more weight is given to reasoned opinion, backed by facts. A shiny new commenter can provide such an opinion as easily as our most seasoned "pro from Dover" -- by virtue of a local university reference library, for instance. Newness is no reason to be denied a voice.
So: The best commentary contains reasoned opinion, backed by facts. The relevant facts in any particular discussion may be documentation from period sources; or an account of Society practice two, or five, or ten years ago; or an exacting dissection of the wording of a proposed Rule, showing any unexpected implications; or an awareness of the (non-heraldic) populace's feelings, gathered by talking with folks. Depending on the discussion, any of these are valid contributions; and any of these can be provided by anyone on the roster, be they long-time, brand-new, or in-between.
By including new heralds in the College of Arms, and thus in our discussions, they read, learn, and eventually become seasoned heralds. To that end, I'd like to see more of the College of Arms become regular commenters: we're always short of commenters, and the really interesting (and sometimes intense) parts of a debate are found in the LOCs, not in the LoARs. Commenters should be welcomed, and encouraged by kindly responses -- for that matter, more kindly responses to our long-time commenters would be welcome, too -- and newcomers can rest assured that I read every LOC I receive. After all, like everyone else, I too am still learning heraldry.
|
In service to the Society, I remain,
Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme,
|