Edana was submitted as a hypothetical Latinized form of the feminine given name Edan, which is dated to 1379 in Withycombe (s.n. Edith). However, the form Edan appears in a Latin context as seen in Bardsley (p. 265 s.n. Eden), which dates the entries "Robertus Busby, et Eden uxor ejus, smyth" and "Johannes Slipar, et Edan uxor ejus" to 1379. In these cases, Eden and Edan are used as nominative case Latin forms. The form Edine cited in the LoI may be found in the same entry in Bardsley in the name Nel fil. Edine which is dated to 1273. In this case, Edine is a genitive form, which would not have been used in the given name position in a name. Since Edan and Eden are the documented Latinized forms of this name, and their forms contradict the hypothetical construction Edana, Edana is not a plausible variant of this name based on the submitted documentation.

We have corrected the misspelling in the byname.

Her previous name, Edan inghean an Druiadh, is released.

Name Used by the Submitter Outside the Society - No name will be registered to a submitter if it is identical to a name used by the submitter for purposes of identification outside of a Society context. This includes legal names, common use names, trademarks and other items registered with mundane authorities that serve to identify an individual or group. This restriction is intended to help preserve a distinction between a submitter's identity within the Society and his or her identity outside of the Society. A small change in the name is sufficient for registration, such as the addition of a syllable or a spelling change that changes the pronunciation. However, a change to spelling without a change in pronunciation is not sufficient. For example, Alan Miller could not register the name Alan Miller or Allan Miller but he could register the name Alan the Miller. Further, submitters may register either a name or armory which is a close variant of a name or insignia they use outside the Society, but not both.

Similarly, the current submission is clear of the submitter's modern name by addition of the syllable de.

Note: the former name of this group, Orion's Gate, Shire of, was released in December 1989.

The tips of the sphinx's wings touched the back of the sphinx's head in this emblazon, which impaired the identifiability of the charge at a distance. Please advise the submitter to separate the wings and the head of the sphinx.

Some members of the College questioned the stylization of the wings, which were somewhat increscent-shaped. According to Metron Ariston, this shape of wing is found on archaic Greek statues of sphinxes, and people at the end of our period knew of these statues. The attendees at the road show meeting generally felt that these were identifiable as wings, as long as they were separated from the sphinx's head.

The submitter has now resubmitted adding a counterchanged bordure, which removes the previous conflict. In general, we consider a single primary charge within a bordure to be a "simple case" of armorial design. Adding a solid-tinctured bordure to the submitter's previous armory would certainly appear to be a simple case. However, the counterchanged bordure adds substantially to the visual complexity of the device, which led the College to question whether this submission should be considered a simple case.

In this submission, all the charges maintain their identifiability despite the visual complexity of the device. While the salamander's identifiability is somewhat confused by the field, it is no less identifiable than the salamander in Johannes' previous submission, which Laurel ruled to be stylistically acceptable. The counterchanged bordure is clearly identifiable as well. This submission is therefore acceptable. However, it is at the absolute limit of complexity for accepting gyronny of sixteen without documentation showing that the overall design of the armory is consistent with period practice.

Please advise the submitter to draw six or more traits in the bendy sinister part of the field division.

Please advise the submitter to draw the bull somewhat larger. As drawn in the full-sized emblazon the bull is clearly a secondary charge (with the leaf primary). This is acceptable design, but the bull would be much more identifiable if it were a bit larger. More room could be made on the field by making the bordure narrower.

His previous device, Vert, on a bend sinister Or, between two oak sprigs argent, a water buffalo's rack azure, is released.

This does not conflict with Eva van Oudeachterkol for Embla Willsdottir, Vert, an elm leaf in bend sinister environed of a cartouche voided argent. An elm leaf is a regular "leaf-shaped" leaf with an edge that has miniscule indentations (if such indentations were on an ordinary, they would be too small to be acceptable style). An oak leaf has large distinct lobes. Therefore, there is a CD between an oak leaf and an elm leaf and a second CD for changing the type of secondary charge from a cartouche voided to a bordure.

The hat (which functions as a maintained charge) and the maintained bottle both have insufficient contrast with the field. This is acceptable for maintained charges, which are not worth difference, as long as the charge in question has some contrast with the field.

The currently protected Cunningham arms are protected due to a balance of the "arms" and the "man" school of prominence. The Cunningham Earls of Glencairn have some historical prominence. The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica and britannica.com both give entries for these earls under the heading "Glencairn", and the holders of this earldom in the encyclopedia entries were all members of the Cunningham family. The "shakefork" version of their arms is also relatively well-known in its own right, as that version of the Cunningham arms is the defining example of the shakefork in many standard heraldic texts.

The "pall" form of the Cunningham arms, however, is not nearly so well known in its own right as the "shakefork" form. The balance of the "man" and "arms" schools for this coat is therefore not sufficient to protect it in the SCA.

In the LoAR in which this submission was pended, we asked:

In this month's cover letter, we are also asking the College to consider whether we should be giving difference shakeforks and palls. Current precedent does give difference between these charges, and the current standard will continue to apply to this submission, as it was submitted under that standard. Therefore, regardless of the outcome of that discussion, this submission will be considered clear of conflict with the currently protected "shakefork" arms of Cunningham of Glencairn, Argent, a shakefork sable, with one CD for changing the type of primary charge and another for adding the secondary charges.

This submission may therefore be accepted. See the Cover Letter for a discussion of the current policy on difference between palls and shakeforks.

The College should note that a grace period when a new policy is implemented is not required by Laurel policy, but is implemented at the discretion of Laurel and the pertinent Sovereigns of Arms. The wording of the December 2001 Cover Letter on this issue was interpreted by some to mean that a grace period was required. This is not so. A grace period did seem to be appropriate in the case of this submission.

I note the masculine name "Deo" from the article "Italian Men's Names from Florence, 1427" by Ferrante laVolpe. There is the masculine name "Dion" from Wickendon's Dictionary of Period Russian Names, online 2nd edition. There is also the Welsh masculine name "Deyo," given as a variant of "David" in "A Simple Guide to Constructing 16th Century Welsh Names" by Tangwystl verch Morgant Glasvryn. Those are the closest that I have found in looking through my resources.

The LoI specifically noted that if the submitted name was not registerable, the submitter would accept Melissa Dawn the Dark. Dawn was documented as a header form in Reaney & Wilson (p. 128 s.n. Dawn). In most cases, header forms are plausible for period and so are registerable. However, precedent (most notably regarding modern forms in Ó Corráin & Maguire) has ruled that header forms which are modern might not be registerable. This has been handled on a case by case basis. In this instance, the only example given under this header in Reaney & Wilson is Roger Dawen, dated to 1332. Dawen is derived from Daw/Dawe, a diminutive of David, via an -en diminutive ending. Lacking evidence that the e would have been dropped in period, Dawn is not registerable. As Dawen is a diminutive of a given name, it is registerable as a given name and does not require Melissa to be added as a given name to make this name registerable.

The bird was originally blazoned as a demi-hawk but it is clearly drawn as a stylized eagle. We have therefore reblazoned it.

This device does not conflict with Aébfhinn ni Thigearnaigh, Ermine, an alphyn passant between three crescents inverted sable. The standard comparison between these two devices would be that Fiona's device has deleted a primary charge, the alphyn, from Aébfhinn's device. The alphyn is clearly primary in Aébhfhinn's device because it is a central charge surrounded by an group of identical charges. Just as the hypothetical arms Ermine, a chevron between three crescents inverted sable would have the chevron as a primary charge group, the alphyn in Aébfhinn's device is also a primary charge group. Addition/deletion of primary charge is sufficient difference between two pieces of armory by RfS X.1.

Morlet, Dictionnaire Étymologique des Noms de Famille (the updated Dauzat), pg. 905, s.n. Soleil, gives Soleil as a hamlet name, which makes du Soleil plausible.

It is important to note that this entry in Morlet lists Le Soleil as a variant of this placename. Therefore, du Soleil (du being a contraction of de le) is a valid locative byname based on the placename referenced in Morlet.

Many commenters indicated that this reminded them of some sort of cartoon face. This resemblance does not appear to be obtrusively modern, since some period armory did resemble faces, and because this does not strongly resemble any of the classic "smiley face" logos or their common variants.

This does not conflict with Deadra Colin Madoc, Argent, a drover's whip bendwise sinister, lash in action sable. There is one CD for adding the co-primary crescents and another for changing the posture of the bottommost charge of the group of three, which functions as half the group.

His previous device, Argent goutty de sang, a cup sable, a chief gules, is released.

Submitted under the name Tamás Búndas.

Submitted under the name Melchior der Grauwulf.

This also does not conflict with Erika Segenlein, Azure crusily Latin flory Or, a stork statant argent. There is a CD for changing the type of the strewn charges. There is another CD for changing the type of bird from a stork statant (which is equivalent to a stork close) and a falcon close. Quoting from the Cover Letter for the January 2000 LoAR: "I will be more likely to grant difference between different types of birds when they are (a) different in period, (b) in a period posture, (c) drawn correctly, and (d) there is some visual difference". All four of these criteria are true when comparing storks close and falcons close.

This also does not conflict with Sheryl of Thespis, Azure, a swan naiant argent crowned Or. There is one CD for adding the strewn apples. There is no posture difference between birds naiant and birds close. However, there is another CD for changing the type of bird from a swan naiant to a falcon close. When comparing the type difference between swans naiant and falcons close, the four criteria for giving difference between birds stated in the Cover Letter for the January 2000 LoAR are all true.

Nice device!

Her previous device, Or, mullety of six points azure, in canton a coronet embattled sable, is retained as a badge.

Long thin charges such as arrows, swords and recorders default to the fesswise posture when placed on a chief or a fess. Thus, even though all these charges are palewise by default when on the field, it is also necessary to blazon them as palewise when they are on a chief.

It is an incorrect oversimplification to state that "charges on an (ordinary) are oriented (ordinary)-wise by default". A crescent or fleur-de-lys charged on a fess is in its default palewise posture, not fesswise. If a saltire were charged with a cross crosslet, the cross crosslet would be in its default palewise (or crosswise) posture, not saltirewise.

A more complicated rule of thumb, but one which recreates period practice with greater accuracy, would be:

(1) Charges on a bend are bendwise by default, and charges on a bend sinister are bendwise sinister by default.

(2) Charges on any other ordinary have the same default for such a charge on the field (which is generally palewise.) This statement has the following exceptions.

(2a) "Long thin" charges such as arrows tilt to follow the ordinary on which they lie.

(2b) When charging an ordinary such as a chevron, saltire, or pall, which has some diagonal arms, the charges may all be drawn using the same default for the charge on the field. They may also be drawn with the centermost charge in the default posture but the outermost charges tilted to follow the arms of the charge. (There is a fair amount of evidence indicating that the difference between these two forms of emblazon may be purely artistic in period. However, the SCA has so far always blazoned this distinction and given corresponding difference for changing the posture of the charges.)

Once again we are reminded that while blazon is a type of technical language, the people who developed it in the Middle Ages weren't computer programmers, and the people listening to it weren't computers, so blazon also partakes of natural language.

Some commenters felt that a period fess indented may not look like this, but must look like a fess lozengy or fusilly. However, an indented ordinary may include a center space, like the center space of an engrailed ordinary. The arms of Pacanha in Godinho's early 16th C Portuguese Libro da Nobreza are Argent, on a bend indented gules three fleurs-de-lys argent. Pacanha's bend has approximately nine distinct indentations on each side and a wide central area upon which the fleurs-de-lys are placed. The fess here has similar proportions, but with four indentations on each side of the ordinary.

Some commenters noted that the tertiary charge is not quite a natural salamander: it lacks the webbed feet of a salamander and it has slightly different proportions. They suggested that this be blazoned as a lizard. When one considers the vast divergences from standard heraldic or naturalistic depictions that we routinely accept in the College of Arms as artistic variants, it seems inappropriate to reblazon the type of this animal because of its toes. We have therefore retained the submitter's blazon for the tertiary charge. The submitter may wish to take the commenters' advice in drawing the animal in the future so that it is more clearly identifiable as a natural salamander.

The evidence from Withycombe is not really supportive of the use of this name in the English context at an early enough period for the byname: "There was a 3rd-C Carthaginian St. Terentius, but it has not been used as a christian name, except in Ireland, where Terence or Terry is commonly used for the native Toirdhealbhach or Turlough." This statement seems supported by Reaney and Wilson (Dictionary of English Surnames, s.n. Terrey) where all the Terry forms seem to come from Theoderic or one of its variants rather than from Terence.

Regarding the use of Terence as an Anglicized form of the Irish Gaelic Toirdhealbhach, Withycombe's use of the verb "is" indicates that this use is modern, which is confirmed by Anglicized Irish forms found in John O'Donovan, Annals of Ireland, by the Four Masters, vol. 5. This volume includes transcriptions of the text of several late 16th C indentures in footnotes. Several names in these indentures include Anglicized forms of Toirdhealbhach, specifically Tirrelage O'Bardan of Dromhishen (February 10, 1570, pp. 1651-1652), Tirreloghe Mc Morighe of Ballinemone (June 26, 1570, pp. 1649-1650), Tirlogh Mc Rorie and Tirloghe O Doyne (March 8, 1576, pp. 1690-1691). Lacking evidence that the form Terence was known in period, it is not registerable. In order to register this name, we have changed the given name to the saint's name cited by Withycombe, as that name could have been known in English in period.

Additionally, the submitted byname does not have the meaning desired by the submitter. Reaney & Wilson (p. 113 s.n. Coward) gives this byname as being derived from the Old Engish c{u-}hyrde meaning 'cow-herd'.

Would-be users of the valknut should take note of the fact that its "thin-line" nature can make it difficult to identify. Poor contrast, small size or overlying charges are all likely to render it unidentifiable. Since this device uses the valknut as the only charge on a high contrast field, it maintains its identifiability splendidly.

Her previous name, Melek of Ancrya, is released.

Her previous name, Catrina of Whitemoor, is released.

I would like to note that it is possible for de to be dropped in a locative byname; volume III of the Catálogo, #2686, lists an Isabel Jerez where Jerez is noted elsewhere in the index as a place name. The use of the preposition, however, is much more common.

As the submitted form is authentic for the submitter's desired time period, we have registered it unchanged.

Please advise the submitter to draw the fox somewhat larger, as befits a primary charge.

Black, sn Fergus gives Fearghus as the modern Gaelic, and Fergus as the Middle Gaelic spelling. Fergus is ALSO the standard English spelling and occurs in 16th C Scotland, I find an example of <Fergus> in the data from the Orkney Islands (http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~grm/orkney-masc.htm). It's also found in Black sn MacMuirray in 1530 and 1553.

Black (p. 537 s.n. MacLennan) dates Adam M'Clenane to 1586, James Makclennand to 1594, and the byname M'Clanan to 1592. Given these examples, MacLennan is a plausible 16th C Scots form. Therefore, the submitter's desired Fergus MacLennan is authentic for his originally desired culture of 16th C Scotland.

Unfortunately, the modern practice of combining patronymic and matronymic surnames using <y> is not in general use before 1600. Instead, paternal and maternal name elements are combined in a variety of ways in period. I could find no examples of names with the structure the submitter desires; the closest exemplars I could find were <López de Mendoza y de la Vega> and < de Lili y Hurtado de Mendoza>. However, there are numerous examples of a patronymic followed by multiple placenames, and some genealogies make it clear that they combine paternal and maternal elements. I'd expect <Fernando>, the son of <Juan Rodriguez de Avilles> and <Isabel de Leon>, to be <Fernando Rodriguez de Avilles y León> (using all the possible elements) though a name like <Fernando Rodriguez de Avilles>, <Fernando Rodriguez de León> or <Fernando de Avilles y León> or is equally likely.

We have changed the byname construction to the first form suggested by Garnet to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

Some commenters asked whether adding a "random" charge on the field is a period form of augmentation. Anthony Wagner and Arthur Colin Cole co-authored "The Venetian Ambassador's Augmentation" in The Coat of Arms, volume III (old series) numbers 19 (July 1954) and 20 (October 1954). The article states that "during the reigns of Henry VII to George III it was customary for the Ambassador of the Republic of Venice in London, at all events if he remained in office for some length of time and rendered distinguished service, to be knighted and granted an augmentation of arms under the Great Seal ... Occasionally other Venetians also were honoured by receiving grants of augmentation." It then describes these augmentations. This article shows a number of types of augmentation: creating entirely new arms, adding quarterings, adding charged cantons, adding charged chiefs, and adding charges to the field. As period (or near-period) examples of the last practice, on February 12, 1550, Edward VI granted an augmentation to Daniel Barbar of Venice. The original arms were Argent, an annulet gules, and the augmentation placed a Tudor rose within the annulet, much in the same way as the augmentation in this device places a triskele within the laurel wreath. In 1608, James I knighted and granted an augmentation to George Giustinian, Ambassador of the Republic of Venice. The original arms were Gules, on a double-headed crowned eagle Or an escutcheon Gules charged with a fess Or, and the augmentation was in chief a lion passant guardant maintaining a Scottish thistle Or.

<Eolalia> is an early period name in Spain, dated to 1146 in Menendez Pidal Órigines de Español; <Xerez> did not fall under Spanish rule until later. Moreover, the article is generally only used with a final byname (tacked onto a more typical byname). So, I'd expect <Eolalia Roja de Xerez>[...]

Clarion found other examples of these elements:

Diez Melcon, pg. 90, s.n. Johannes, lists an Eulalia Johannes in 1113. On pg. 174, s.n. Eulalius, he dates both an Eicta Eolaliz in 1067 and a Maria Eulaliz in 1114. Thus the given spelling should be fine. I could not find la roja in Diez Melcon, but I did find the descriptive byname Roio which also means red. I believe that la Roja (note capitalization) is fine for at least later Spain. The article "Spanish Names from the Late 15th Century" lists de Xerez as a locative byname. I did not find it in Diez Melcon. [...] Eolalia Roia should be very authentic for 12th century Leon.

Diez Melcon (p. 284 s.n. Sta. Eulalia) dates Rodrigo St. Olalia to 1221, showing an O- form of this name. It is forms of this type that survive in late period. Elsbeth Anne Roth's article "16th-century Spanish Women's Names" (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/spanish.html) lists Olall as a feminine given name. Juliana de Luna's article "Spanish Names from the Late 15th Century" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/juliana/isabella/) lists Olalla. This article also lists two names including colors: Juanica (la negra) and Alonso el Negro. Therefore Eolalia Roia is an authentic form of this name for 12th C Leon. Olalla la roja and Olalla Roja de Xerez are authentic forms of this name for 15th C Castile. As this last form is closest to the submitted name, we have changed this name to that form to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

A blue flag is an acceptable fieldless badge. It is not a display of the arms Azure, but is merely a blue charge. As noted in the April 2002 LoAR, "A 'shield shape' which is also a standard heraldic charge will be acceptable as a fieldless badge in a plain tincture, as long as the tincture is not one of the plain tinctures that is protected armory in the SCA". Since Azure is not protected armory in this SCA, a fieldless badge consisting of a banner azure does not appear to be an independent display of arms and is acceptable.

Please advise the submitters that it would not be heraldically correct to display this badge by making and carrying a blue flag. Such a blue flag would appear to be a display of the arms Azure. The correct way to display this badge on a flag or standard would be to paint the badge of A banner azure on a flag or standard made of some other color (or colors) of material.

For an authentic name, the best source is probably the article "Spanish Names from the Late 15th Century," [http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/juliana/isabella/] which contains names taken from the account books of Isabel of Castile in the last part of the 15th century. In that source, we find Constança rather than Constanza; in the Catálogo I also found that the switch from ç to z happened in the first part of the 16th century so either form should be fine, but the ç form is probably more typical for her time period. The same applies to the byname: de Mendoça is more typical for her time period, and is listed in the above article.

As the submitted form is authentic for her requested time and culture, we have made no changes to the name.

Her previous name, Bridgit ferch Teleri, is released.

Please see the cover letter for a solicitation of further discussion about crowned animals and crowned animals' heads.

The device conflicts with Artur of Daeyrnmoore, Quarterly sable and argent, a lozenge fesswise throughout Or voided gules. The basic policies for fimbriated and voided charges have not changed since the Cover Letter for the November 1992 LoAR, which stated:

The arguments presented in [the] submission provide a rule of thumb we can use. We consider voiding to have the same visual weight as adding a tertiary charge --- i.e. Sable, a cross Or voided gules and Sable, a cross Or charged with another gules are interchangeable blazons, yielding the same emblazon. This view is supported by period heraldic treatises: e.g. Guillim's Display of Heraldrie, 1632, in discussing chevrons voided, says "if you say voided onely, it is ever understood that the field sheweth thorow the middle part of the charge voided. If the middle part of this chevron were of a different metall, colour, or furre from the Field, then should you Blazon it thus: A Chevron engrailed Or, surmounted of another, of such or such colour."

We can use the equivalence between voiding and adding tertiaries to determine when voiding is acceptable: if the voided charge can be reblazoned as On a [charge], another --- that is, if the inner line and the outer line of the voided charge are geometrically similar --- then it's simple enough to void.

There is no evidence in the standard sources that voiding and fimbriation would be drawn differently in real-world heraldry for those charges that would be considered "simple enough to void" by the ruling in the cover letter for the November 1992 LoAR. (The standard sources checked included Brooke-Little's An Heraldic Alphabet, Friar's A Dictionary of Heraldry, and Parker's A Glossary of Terms used in Heraldry.) Voiding is described as removing the center of the charge, and fimbriating is described as adding another color around the outside of the charge. However, none of these sources describe the outlining as being more prominent or wider in one case than in the other.

In SCA armory, it is clear that a lozenge voided could be emblazoned just in the same way as a lozenge fimbriated. There is SCA precedent that indicates that even if there were some small systematic difference between the way voiding and fimbriation were drawn in real-world armory, they are considered interchangeable in the SCA:

[The appeal stated] that there is a difference between a [charge] fimbriated and one voided because in the case of fimbriation the metal here would be narrower than is the case.... Even if period blazon practice were reflected in this distinction, if one had to use calipers to tell whether an ordinary was fimbriated or voided, then no difference could be derived from the issue and there is no point to quibbling over blazon. (LoAR 18 Sep 1988)

The SCA has copious precedent stating that the addition of fimbriation is not worth difference. For example:

"There is not a CD for fimbriation ..." (LoAR July 2000)

"In each case there is ... nothing for the addition or change in tincture of the fimbriation" (LoAR December (a) 1993)

"This conflicts with [a pall fimbriated of flame]. There's a CD for the secondary charges, but the fimbriation is worth no difference" (LoAR August 1992)

Because a voided charge can be drawn exactly the same as a fimbriated charge, Artur's arms could also be blazoned Quarterly sable and argent, a lozenge fesswise throughout gules fimbriated Or. (In fact, those people who are inclined to use the term fimbriated for thin outlining would probably use it here: Artur's emblazon shows a very thin Or line around the gules lozenge.) Because "you cannot 'blazon your way out of a conflict'" (LoAR of February 2000), these arms are in conflict with Cecily's arms, with one CD for changing the field but no difference for removing the fimbriation.

We can thus see that the three following very dissimilar-sounding blazons can all be drawn identically, and thus should be considered heraldically equivalent: A lozenge Or charged with a lozenge gules, A lozenge Or voided gules, and A lozenge gules fimbriated Or. This heraldic equivalence will apply for any charge "simple enough to void" by the criteria stated in the Cover Letter for the November 1992 LoAR. When checking for conflict with armory using fimbriation or voiding, all these interpretations should be considered when checking for conflict, and if one of the interpretations conflicts, the two pieces of armory conflict. This does not seem overly restrictive when one considers the rarity of armory in period featuring voided or fimbriated charges, or arms with the design of A "charge" charged with "the same type of charge". These are very uncommon designs in period. Period viewers probably had the same sorts of problems that we have when interpreting such designs.

Note that charges which are voided by definition are generally given one CD from their solid equivalents: mascles are given a CD from lozenges, and annulets are given a CD from roundels. If one interpreted these charges as voided, fimbriated, or charged charges, the guidelines above would also give exactly one CD between them. Comparing Azure, a lozenge Or vs. Azure, a lozenge Or charged with a lozenge azure: one CD, for adding a tertiary charge. Azure, a lozenge Or vs. Azure, a lozenge Or voided azure: equivalent to the previous case of adding a tertiary charge. Azure, a lozenge Or vs. Azure, a lozenge azure fimbriated Or: one CD for changing the tincture of the lozenge from Or to azure, and no additional difference for removing the fimbriation.

Durr was submitted as "a word meaning 'pearls' which has been used in bynames". Evidence that a name element has been used in bynames does not address whether it is appropriate as an 'ism or given name. No evidence was provided and the College found none that Durr is plausible as a Arabic masculine given name in period. Lacking such evidence, it is not registerable as a given name.

The submitter has been trying for a number of years to register a locative byname in Arabic based on his group's name, Barony of the Hidden Mountain. He has attempted to document his byname as a locative byname based on an Arabic placename because of the policy that names of SCA branches are only automatically registerable in their registered form. This policy was recently upheld with this ruling:

[returning Armando de la Rama de Mil Ojos] This submission ... translates the name of his group into Spanish. Names of registered extant SCA groups are only automatically registerable in the language in which they are actually registered. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR July 1997, p. 15)

The major problem in the current submission is that no documentation was provided, and the College found none, that the underlying placename in this locative byname is plausible as a period placename in Arabic. In order to support a constructed locative byname, several steps need to be addressed. First, the placename that the locative byname will be based upon needs to be documented as a plausible placename in period. The byname min al-Jabal al-Mukhfi was submitted with the intended meaning 'of the hidden mountain'. Documentation was provided that the phrase min al-Jabal al-Mukhfi is grammatically correct in modern Arabic and means 'from the mountain of the concealer' or 'the mountain that hides [itself]'. However, that the phrase is grammatically correct as a modern Arabic phrase, does not address its use as a period Arabic byname. Lacking evidence that this phrase is plausible as a period Arabic byname, it is not registerable.

Additionally, as stated in the December 1995 return, "[t]he preposition min 'from, out of' is not used in Arabic names." No evidence was provided in the current submission to contradict this point. Lacking evidence that min was used in period Arabic names, it is not registerable.

What is needed to construct an Arabic locative byname referring to a hypothetical location is the following:

First, an Arabic placename needs to be constructed according to period Arabic patterns of usage for placenames. The documentation for this constructed placename needs to include citations of period placenames in Arabic that show parallel constructions.

Secondly, this placename needs to be incorporated into a locative byname. We have an example of the latter, which the submitter may find useful: the city of Cordoba, which in Arabic is Qurtaba. A persion who wished to be known as 'of/from Cordoba' would literally be 'the Cordoban'. This byname would take the form al-Qurtubi in a man's name and al-Qurtubiyya in a woman's name. (Examples taken from Juliana de Luna's article "Andalusian Names: Arabs in Spain", http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/juliana/andalusia/. The Arabic form of Cordoba is found in Ahmed's A Dictonary of Muslim Names (pp. 318-319), courtesy of al-Jamal.)

His armory has been registered under the holding name John of Stelton Wald.

Her armory has been registered under the holding name Katherine of Rhydderich Hael.

This device conflicts with Katherine Mercer, Azure, two chevronels argent between three mullets Or. There is a CD for changing the number of chevronels but there is no difference between mullets of five points and mullets of six points. There is a wealth of period evidence showing that mullets may be drawn either with five or six points as artist's license, with Continental armorists showing a preference for six-pointed mullets and British artists showing a preference for five-pointed mullets. The general SCA practices for difference of mullets of various numbers of points have been unchanged for some years but were summarized in the February 2002 LoAR: "The rules for change of type of mullets follow the rules for change of number of charges. Mullets of n points will get a CD from mullets of m points if RfS X.4.f gives a CD for changing the number of charges from n to m." RfS X.4.f does not give difference between groups of five charges and six charges, and therefore our general SCA practice for determining difference between these types of mullets conveniently matches the period practice.

The device conflicts with Christian du Glaive, Gules, a grenade Or, enflamed proper, within a bordure rayonny Or. There is one CD for changing the type of secondary charge from a bordure rayonny to an annulet. There is no difference for changing less than half the tincture of the primary charge from mostly Or to entirely Or. There is no difference between a grenade and a fireball:

[Argent, a chevron rompu sable between three grenades proper.] This conflicts with... Argent, a chevron sable between three fireballs of the last fired proper. There's a CD for making the chevron rompu, but not another for type of secondary charge. (LoAR September 1992)

This does not conflict with Eachann na Beinne Léithe, Gules, a horse rampant to sinister within an annulet Or. The annulet functions here as a surrounding secondary charge, like a bordure. This is therefore clear by RfS X.2, as the type of the primary charges has substantially changed, and this is simple armory for purposes of that rule ("no more than two types of charge directly on the field and has no overall charges.").

Please advise the submitter that the center circle in a fireball is generally proportionally larger than in the fireball drawn in this submission, and that the flames of a fireball are conjoined to the central circle. The flames in this emblazon are slightly separated from the circle.

Bahlow (p. 620 s.n. Wolf(f)) dates Ortlof der Wolf to 1300 and Elbel Wolf to 1365. This entry also lists (undated) Weißenwolf 'Whitewolf' and zum grauen Wolf 'at the Gray Wolf' as house names. Brechemacher (p. 829 s.n. Wolf) dates Haus zum Wolf and Zum grauen Wolf to 1460. Therefore, registerable forms of this name include Melchior der Wolf, which uses a descriptive byname meaning 'the Wolf', and Melchior zum grauen Wolf. Given the undated example of Weißenwolf, combined with the dated examples of zum grauen Wolf, a locative form such as Grauenwolf is also plausible. We would have changed the name to one of these forms in order to register the submitter's name, but changing the byname to any of these forms is a major change, which the submitter does not allow. In the first case, the byname is still a descriptive, but it lacks the element meaning 'gray'. Since dropping that element significantly alters the meaning, look, and sound of the byname, it is a major change. In the second and third examples, the byname retains the element meaning 'gray', but instead of describing Melchior as 'the Gray Wolf', it means that Melchior lives at or is from a place whose name means 'the gray wolf'. Since changing the byname from a descriptive byname to a locative byname significantly affects the meaning, it is a major change.

His armory has been registered under the holding name Melchior of Saint Georges.

If the submitter wants a Slovakian name, then he will need to look for Slovakian resources. The submitted name is entirely Hungarian. Slovakian is a Slavic language, in the same group as Czech and Polish, whereas Hungarian is not an Indo-European language at all - its closest European relatives are Finnish and Estonian. Slavic cultures and Hungarian have different naming practices, though the general principles still seem to apply. I will address this submission as a Hungarian name, since it is in the Hungarian language.

The given name Tamás is the Hungarian form of Thomas. It does appear in our period, but without the accent (Kázmér, s.n. Tamás). There is no byname Búndas; it is correctly spelled Bundás, with the accent over the a. The name means "long-haired" in reference to dogs or other animals (Kázmér, s.n. Bundás). Its use as a byname appears to be an occupational name for one who raises long-hairs. Unfortunately, the earliest record of this byname in Hungary dates only to 1716.

My Slovakian and Czech resources are limited. My Slovak dictionary indicates that a bunda is an anorak or parka in the modern language.

The LoI neglected to mention that the submitter intentionally rendered his name in Hungarian. The "Notes" section of his name submission form explains that

Slovakia was a region in Hungary with naming conventions common to Magyar & Hungarian systems. Since Slovak did not exist as a written language until 19th C. Therefore using Magyar naming conventions of given name, then by or descriptive.

As no evidence was found that any form of Búndas is a period word, we are unable to register this name.

The problem [of lack of contrast] is not unique to this field division: Per bend gules and Or is a neutral field, but Per bend gules and Or, a chief sable still suffers a lack of contrast. (LoAR June 1993)

Please advise the submitter on resubmission that the snake would have better identifiability if more of it fell on the high-contrast argent portion of the field. Currently, the majority of the snake, including its head and tail, lie on the gules portion of the field.

The LoI stated that "The 'Turtle ship' is a period iron-clad warship used by the Korean Admiral Yi Sun Shin to defeat various Japanese Armadas in a series of naval battles between 1592-1598".

However, no accompanying documentation was submitted with this title, and the College did not find any evidence that Turtle Ship was the period name for this type of ship. Presumably, the name would have been in Japanese or Korean.

Metron Arison found the following references to 'Turtle Ship': "Turtle Ship Dock at Seoul in Korea (a replica turtle ship) and [in] a couple of arcade or role-playing game books".

However, none of these sources give dated evidence of the name turtle ship in period.

Without such documentation, this submission must be returned.

Black Pillar concisely summarized the issues with the additional documentation provided with this appeal:

The submitter has proven that there were iron-clad warships in period, that they were called kôbuksôn, and that they are now called "turtle ships." None of the documentation presented in this appeal actually dates the term "turtle ship" to period, which is what Laurel asked for in the return.

Several points came up during commentary that need to be addressed. The largest issue is whether names from Korean are registerable. No documentation was presented and none was found (either in the current submission or in the previous submission) that Korea had significant contact with pre-17th C Western culture. Such documentation is necessary in order to be able to register a Korean name. Lack of such documentation has been cause for return in the past:

More important, significant interaction between Tibet and pre-seventeenth century Western culture has not been demonstrated. The Encyclopædia Britannica dates the first visits to Tibet by Western missionaries to the 17th century, and the fact that the 8th century Tibetan kingdom had some contact with the Arab conquerors of Iran still leaves Tibetans at least two removes from Western Europe. (Talan Gwynek, LoAR November 1995, p. 16)

If evidence is found of significant contact between Korea and Western Europe and a Korean personal name is deemed to be registerable, Korean may not be registerable for a non-personal name. Japanese placenames have been disallowed as group names, even though Japanese personal names are registerable:

[Returning Ryuugatani, Shire of.] There was a fair amount of commentary with the belief that a Japanese place-name does not appear to fall within the defined scope of the Society, which is pre-17th Century Western culture (RfS I.1. See also "Scope of the Society: Period and Culture" in the Organizational Handbook, pp. 74-75). "Its domain includes Europe and areas that had contact with Europe during this period." (RfS I.1.) It was noted that while there was clearly some contact in very late period between Europe and Japan, and evidence that some few Japanese actually visited Europe, the contact between Europe and Japan was not great enough to justify a Japanese place-name in pre-17th C. Europe. [6/94, p.17]

Part of this issue is the question of whether heraldic titles in Oriental languages are registerable in general. There have been only three registrations of heraldic titles from Oriental languages. Both Monsho Herald and Nihonyama Pursuivant were registered long enough ago that the O&A is unsure of the date. Monsho Herald was released in June 1986 and Nihonyama Pursuivant was released in December 1990. Chagama Herald Extraordinary was registered in December 1987. In this case, the LoAR noted that chagama was Japanese for 'tea pot'. Of specific relevence is the fact that the return of the name for the Shire of Ryuugatani is more recent than any of these three heraldic title registrations. As noted by Brachet:

There is still no evidence that the artifact or the name were known in period IN EUROPE. No evidence is presented that Europeans even knew of these ships. The only way this makes sense as a title is as a translation from the Korean/Japanese, and the fact that the famous battles are in 1597-1598 argues (in our minds convincingly) that this is simply not a probable English heraldic title in period.

The current submission provided documentation that the type of ship called a kôbuksôn dates to the mid-fifteenth century, though the famous battles in which they were used occured in 1597-1598. However, none of the documentation indicated that this type of warship was known to Western Europeans or that the term turtle ship is anything but modern.

In addition to the issues discussed so far, there is the fact that limitations have been placed on the use of the Lingua Anglica Allowance:

The use of lingua franca translation is extended only to single, simple descriptives. Given names, for instance, may not normally be translated into their putative meaning: e.g. Bear may not be used as a given name, even though it's the lingua franca translation of the given name Björn. Placenames, hereditary surnames, and bynames from different languages (e.g. French and German) likewise don't fall under the lingua franca allowance. (28 March, 1993 Cover Letter (January, 1993 LoAR), pp. 2-3)

The Lingua Anglica Allowance has been used in conjunction with only one household name, one branch name, and one order name. Of these, only the household name is more recent than the Lingua Anglica ruling quoted above. The household name was for the Brotherhood of the Seven Holy Sleepers of Ephesus (registered May 1996). While the household name was submitted as a Lingua Anglica form of the same household name in Finnish that was also registered at that time, the legend of these saints was likely known in England, making this a plausible household name in English, regardless of the Lingua Anglica Allowance.

To summarize the issues with this submission:

No documentation has been provided to demonstrate that Korea had significant contact with Western Europe in period to make even Korean personal names registerable.

Registerability of personal names and non-personal names from non-Western European cultures require different levels of contact. Sufficient contact for a personal name to be registerable is not necessarily sufficient contact to allow registration of non-personal names such as branch names, order names, and heraldic titles.

The scope of the Lingua Anglica Allowance has been extended to descriptive bynames used in personal names. In that ruling, it was specifically stated that the Lingua Anglica Allowance did not apply to placenames and surnames. As the normal pattern of heraldic titles is to preserve the title in its original language, it is not appropriate to extend the Lingua Anglica Allowance to heraldic titles. (For example, in period English documents, French heraldic titles are routinely rendered in French or in phonetic English equivalents rather than being translated into English.)

No evidence has been provided that Turtle Ship Herald, or even Kôbuksôn Herald, follows the pattern of period heraldic titles as required by RfS III.2.b.iii. It would seem that the theory is that the ship in question might be registerable as a heraldic charge. And that if it were, it would then be a plausible source for a heraldic title. However, there is no ruling allowing a kôbuksôn as a heraldic charge and no evidence of one has been found in period armory. Lacking either evidence of an item used in period heraldry or a ruling that an item may be used as a charge in SCA armory, that item (in this case, a kôbuksôn) is not a candidate for a heraldic title based on the name of a heraldic charge.

In the case of this submissiion, this name was listed on the LoI as Þorfinna grafeldr, but the form lists Þorfinna Grafeldr. The form indicated that the submitter allowed major changes, but did not allow minor changes and contained no explanation clarifying this choice. Consultation tables regularly see submitters who misinterpret the checkboxes as meaning changes are allowed rather than are not allowed. In other cases, submitters have glanced at the form and interpreted the checkboxes as a "check one of the following" setup. So they have checked "no minor changes" believing that they have indicated that they wish to allow no minor or major changes. Because of these situations, we take the more cautious path and interpret the form to mean that the submitter allows no changes. Therefore, the change from Grafeldr to grafeldr, which is a minor change, is not within the submitter's allowed changes. As the byname is not currently registerable with the first letter capitalized, this name must be returned under current precedent. We have pended this item awaiting resolution of the issue of capitalization of Old Norse descriptive bynames.