Unto the members of the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive do Dame Elsbeth Anne Roth, Laurel Queen of Arms, and Master Pietari Pentipoika, Pelican King of Arms, send greetings.
The May Laurel meeting was held Saturday, May 5, 2001 and considered the following letters of intent: Artemisia (December 31) (redated to January 2 by kingdom), Atenveldt (January 1), West (January 15), Atlantia (January 21), Lochac (January 21), Middle (January 23), Drachenwald (January 27), Trimaris (January 28), An Tir (January 29), Meridies (January 30), and Ansteorra (January 31). The Pelican meeting was held Sunday, May 6, 2001. A Laurel road show was held, April 29, 2001, in An Tir.
The June Laurel meeting is scheduled for Saturday, June 16, 2001, and will consider the following letters of intent: Æthelmearc (January 1) (redated to February based on postmark), Æthelmearc (January 6) (redated to February based on postmark), Æthelmearc (January 10) (redated to February based on postmark), East (January 29) (redated to February based on postmark), Atenveldt (February 1), Artemisia (February 11), Middle (February 12), Drachenwald (February 18), Atlantia (February 21), Lochac (February 21), An Tir (February 27), Ealdormere (February 27), and Meridies (February 28). The Pelican meeting is scheduled for Sunday, June 17, 2001. A Laurel and Pelican road show was held Sunday, June 3, 2001, at the Knowne World Heraldic Symposium in Northshield.
The July Laurel meeting is scheduled for Saturday, July 14, 2001, and will consider the following letters of intent: Ansteorra (February 22) (redated to March based on postmark), Atenveldt (March 1), Middle (March 4), Drachenwald (March 12), Outlands (March 15), Lochac (March 18), Atlantia (March 21), Calontir (March 24), West (March 27), An Tir (March 28), Calontir (March 29), Artemisia (March 30), and Meridies (March 31). The Pelican meeting is scheduled for Sunday, July 8. Responses and rebuttals to commentary must be in the College's hands no later than June 30, 2001.
Not all letters of intent may be considered when they are originally scheduled on this cover letter. The date of mailing of the LoI, date of receipt of the Laurel packet, or other factors may delay consideration of certain letters of intent. Additionally, some letters of intent received may not have been scheduled because the administrative requirements (receipt of the forms packet, receipt of the necessary fees, etc.) have not yet been met.
REMINDER: Until the packet containing the paperwork is received, the letter may not be scheduled.
The Board of Directors has selected my successor: I am pleased to announce that the next Laurel King of Arms will be Francois la Flamme. Francois stepped down as Star Principal Herald last year after a very successful term. He will be handling the administrative duties and has assembled a team to handle submissions. Mari Elspeth nic Bryan will serve as Pelican Queen of Arms and make name decisions, Zenobia Naphtali will make armory decisions (see the discussion of her title below), and Daniel de Lincoln will be Laurel Clerk and Keeper of the Records.
They will be making decisions as of the August LoAR, so as of now please send all submissions packets to
Kathleen M. O'Brien
7323 Potters Trl
Austin, TX 78729-7777
Additionally, electronic copies of Letters of Intent, Comment, Response, et cetera, should be e-mailed to submissions@sca.org.
I hope that you will give them all the support you have given me and Pietari.
I am excited to have been designated the next Laurel and I look forward to the challenge of the office. You will notice a difference in the staff structure I am putting in place. The organization of my team is designed to distribute the work into manageable units that are focused on areas of interest and expertise. The decisions on name and armory submissions have been delegated, and I will be focusing on the communication and administration of the College. I will be ruling on name and armory appeals.
Many of you already know this team from their work in the CoA. Mari Elspeth nic Bryan has been an active commenter in the CoA for the last few years. She has published many articles on onomastics. Mari will be making the decisions on name submissions. Zenobia Naphtali has been active in CoA since 1988. Zenobia Naphtali will be making decisions on armory submissions. She has published papers on armory and compiled the precedents for two years of Da'ud ibn Auda's tenure as Laurel. Daniel de Lincoln has been tapped as the Laurel Clerk and Keeper of the Records. Daniel has also been active in the CoA for many years. Those who know Daniel know of his legendary attention to detail and precision. Every member of the team continues to participate in his or her Kingdom College of Heralds and is dedicated to helping our submitters. I have confidence that this team will keep the quality of the submission process at the high level we have become accustomed.
I have been active in the administration at all levels of the Ansteorran College of Heralds, including a recent term as the Star Principal Herald. I have been a consulting herald for the last ten years working at a local and Kingdom level. I believe that the success of heraldry in our Society comes from having effective communication from the local herald up to and including the CoA and providing education to the populace. My goal is to work with all the heralds in our Society and provide support and encouragement to the various Kingdom Colleges and the Society as a whole. Over the next few weeks I will be contacting each of the Principal Heralds to introduce myself and get to know you and the problems you are facing.
We need a title for the Armorial Sovereign of Arms. The title will have to sound good on its own and in combination with a first name: William, who was Garter King of Arms, could be known as William Garter.
Preliminary research indicates that the majority of King of Arms titles (rather than Heralds' titles) are taken from place names, or derived from place names: Anjou, Clarenceux etc. The place names are usually references to the area assigned to that King of Arms, although they can be famous place names (Agincourt). King of Arms' titles are also taken from Orders, mottoes, and heraldic charges (from arms or badge).
The Herald and Pursuivant ranks add titles drawn from regalia items, and have a higher proportion of titles taken from heraldic charges.
Since the SCA already has Laurel and Pelican Sovereigns of Arms, many believe that the third title should refer to the Chivalry. "Chivalry King of Arms"/"William Chivalry" sounds funny to most on first hearing. It is however a plausible King of Arms formation, following the "motto style" or "Order name style" model.
Some titles allusive to the regalia of the Chivalry have been suggested. These would be more "pursuivant type" formations, but might not have the twitch factor that some have felt from "Chivalry". These have included:
If the Chivalry is not the source of the title name, the Order of the Rose could be used to generate a herald's title. "Rose" was a real-world pursuivant's title (no longer in use). It could be re-used by the SCA.
Your comments would be appreciated by 31 August. These preliminary comments will be used to generate a title submission, which will (of course) go through the usual submission process. Please send new suggestions and research, as well as comments on the material above (does the title need to reference the Chivalry at all? Does "Chivalry King of Arms" sound any more intrusive than "Laurel" or "Pelican"?) If you cannot send your comments in a standard Letter of Comment, please send your comments directly to me (Zenobia).
An Tir has a new Black Lion Principal Herald: Marco Valentino, Jeremy Tate, 8622 Edgewater Drive SW, Lakewood, WA, 98499, (253) 983-9599, marcoval@qwest.net. The former Black Lion, Elisabeth de Rossignol, remains on the mailing list and roster as Lions Blood Herald.
Ansteorra has a new Arbalest Herald: Eirik Halfdanarson, Ronald Blackman, 6701 Rein Drive, Killeen, TX, 76542, 254-702-3678, arbalest@ansteorra.org. He is on the roster but not the mailing list. The former Arbalest, Daniel de Lincoln, remains on the roster as Laurel staff.
Francois la Flamme, currently Estencele Herald (Ansteorra) has been added to the mailing list.
Blaise de Cormeilles (Atlantia) has a new address: Jim Trigg, 6161 Edsall Road Apt. 603, Alexandria, VA, 22304, 703-370-0229. He is also no longer Ponte Alto Pursuivant but a Pursuivant at Large.
Jeanne Marie Lacroix (Caid) has a new title: Sommelier Herald.
Alban St. Albans, Lanner Herald (Calontir) has a new e-mail address: alban@socket.net.
Wulfred Hansard of Richmond, Ruby Pursuivant (Meridies) has a new e-mail address: dabeeve@bellsouth.net.
The Middle has a new Oaken Herald: Konrad Mailander, Dale Niederhauser, 11992 Van Dyke Road., Curtice, OH, 43412, konrad@gte.net. He is on the roster but not the mailing list. The former Oaken Herald, Anna of the Western Hill, is no longer on the roster.
The Outlands has a new White Stag Principal Herald: Juan Balthazar de Tigrerro, Jonathan Ibarra, 5408 Aztec NE, Albuquerque, NM, 87110, 505-881-2405, MstrBalthazar@aol.com. The former White Stag, Timothy O'Brien, is no longer on the roster.
Send roster changes, roster corrections, to Lord Symond Bayard le Gris, Bruce R. Nevins, 2527 E. 3rd St., Tucson, AZ, 85716-4114, (520) 795-6000, (520) 795-0158 (fax), bnevins@nexiliscom.com. College of Arms members can also request a copy of the current roster from Symond. Send all submission-related information to submissions@sca.org. Send all other administrative requests or payments to Laurel.
For subscriptions to the paper copy of the LoAR, please contact Symond, above. The cost for an LoAR subscription is $25.00 a year. Please make all checks or money orders payable to "SCA Inc. – College of Arms." For subscriptions to the electronic copy of the LoAR, please contact Laurel at herald@sca.org. The electronic copy is available free of charge.
Until then, I remain
In service,
Elsbeth Anne Roth
Laurel Queen of Arms
Created at 2001-06-17T15:26:23