There was some discussion whether the use of Odin in this name was presumptuous. Indeed, the byname Odinsson was ruled unregisterable long ago:
Of course he can't be "Odinsson" without proof of his parentage. (KFW, 17 Aug 78 [21], p. 9)
[N. Odinsson.] Let him submit a history form documenting whose son he is, or change his name. (HB, 5 Aug 72 [56], p. 1)
In this case, the submitted documentation shows that Odin is found as "a man's name found once in Nicolaa de Bracton's article, 'A Statistical Survey of Given Names in Essex Co., England'" (http://members.tripod.com/nicolaa5/articles/names.html). Sommelier also found that Reaney & Wilson (pp. 327-328 s.n. Oden, Othen) "date Oudon 1066, Odin Goldeberd 1327, and Thomas Oden 1332 (among others)." These examples are sufficient to support the use of Odin as a rare name used by humans in English. As such, it is registerable in the patronymic form FitzOdin so long as there are no additional references to the mythological Odin or a child of Odin.
Note, though, that no documentation was found of Odin used by humans in period in Old Norse. Lacking such evidence, it is continues to be unregisterable in an Old Norse patronymic byname.
Note: in Gaelic, T does not lenite if the previous word ends in an n. Therefore, the byname ingen Trena is grammatically correct.
Her previous name, Adelina die Bogenschützin, is released.
Submitted as Beowulf fitzMalcolm, there was some question of whether Beowulf was a unique legendary name, and thus not registerable. Reaney & Wilson (p. xl) say of this name:
In Old English the name Beowulf is known only from the Old English epic of which he is the hero. Since there are no other medieval references to the poem, it is impossible to know whether it or the name of its hero were at all widely known during the Old English period. But the name of Beowulf certainly survived until at least the end of the thirteenth century: Bowulf 1195 PN D 604; Bowulf de Rugeberge 1196 P (D); William Bewlf 1264-5 FFSx; William Bewolf 1296 SRSx; William Beowoulf 1297 MinAcctCo. This would suggest either that a knowledge of the poem and of its hero long survived the Conquest, or that Beowulf was a normal Old English name, and not simply an invention by the author of the poem.
Given the dated examples provided by Reaney & Wilson cited above, Beowulf is registerable as a Middle English name.
No support was found for the form fitzMalcolm. Reaney & Wilson (s.n. Malcolm) date Aleyn fitz Maucolum to 1296 with Black as the source. As the submitter allows minor changes, we have added a space after fitz in the byname in order to follow documented period practice in order to register this name.
Submitted as Bran Hammer MacNaughton, the construction in this name seemed particularly implausible. Pennon summarized these bynames:
[The byname] le Hammer (rather than Hammer) [is documented] as 1332 English, and MacNaughton (while documented from Reaney & Wilson as a header form) is Scots. [...] The 'le Hammer' appears to be a locative (Dweller in the hamme) or an occupational (metronymic for a maker or user of hammers) dated to period.
No evidence was found that an occupational or locative byname would appear before a Mac- byname in Scots. We have reversed the order of the bynames in order to register this name. Additionally, all examples found of bynames following a Mac- byname in Scots included a marker in the second byname. Therefore, we have added le to follow these patterns.
The "head" of the thistle is comprised of a ball of sepals with a tuft of petals at the top.
She has a letter of permission to conflict with a badge of Klement St. Christoph, Azure, a pale argent, in fess three trefoils slipped counterchanged.
He is a knight and is thus entitled to use an annulet of chain in his armory.
Submitted as Eoin Mac Cionaoith ui Reannachain, the submitter requested authenticity for 12th to 14th C Irish. In Gaelic names of this form, the mac 'son' is literal. In other words, this name indicates that Eoin is the son of Cionaodh ua Reannachain. We have lowercased mac to follow documented examples of this type of construction.
Nice device!
Nice device! Please advise the submitter to draw the bordure wider.
Submitted as Fiachrae the Bonesetter, the submitter requested authenticity for 13th to 14th C Ireland. As submitted, this name combined the Middle Irish (c. 900 to c. 1200) masculine given name Fiachrae with an English byname. Additionally, the term bonesetter was dated to c. 1510 as an English word. In the spelling boone setter, it was dated to c. 1470. Therefore, the submitted form of this name had two weirdnesses: one for combining Gaelic and English in a name, and a second for elements whose forms are dated more than 300 years apart. To remove the weirdness for temporal disparity in order to register this name, and to partially meet the submitter's request for authenticity, we have changed the given name to the Early Modern Irish (c. 1200 to c. 1700) form Fiachra. Lacking evidence that the Bonesetter would have been used as occupational byname for a Gael in Ireland, we were unable to make this name authentic for the submitter's requested time and culture.
Please advise the submitter to draw the pegasus so that the head does not overlap the wing.
Submitted as Ivak Martsch, Martsch was submitted as an undated form found in Bahlow (s.n. Martsch(ke), Martschick). This entry dates Marzik to 1376 in Prague. However, no evidence was found that the form Martsch was used in period. Nebuly explains:
[T]he byname is an undated German form of a Czech given name (Bahlow, s.n. Martsch(ke)). The spelling and grammar of the byname are certainly wrong for Czech and probably for Russian as well. [...]
There are some close forms in Polish (Rymut, s.n. Marcin) including Marcinek 1224, Marcisz 1374, Marciesz 1375, Marc 1400, Mercisz 1411, and others. Of these forms, Marc is pronounced most like the submitted one, but the spelling may not appeal to the submitter.
As the submitter allows minor changes, we have changed the byname from the undated form Martsch to the dated form Marzik. As this change does not change the language of the byname, it falls within the changes allowed as a minor change.
Submitted as Jane Attwelle, the submitter requested authenticity for 16th C England. F. K. & S. Hitching, References to English Surnames in 1601 and 1602 (p. xx) date Atwell to 1601. We have changed the byname to this form to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
Submitted as Caitríona M'Gilledoroughe, the submitter requested authenticity for Irish and allowed any changes. This name combines the Early Modern Gaelic (c. 1200 to c. 1700) feminine given name Caitríona with the Anglicized Irish byname M'Gilledoroughe. An authentic name that combined these elements in period would have been written all in Gaelic or all in Anglicized Irish depending upon the language of the document in which the name was recorded. A fully Gaelic form of this name would be Caitríona inghean mhic Ghiolla Dhorcha. Based on examples found in Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn's article "Names and Naming Practices in the Red Book of Ormond (Ireland 14th Century)" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/lateirish/ormond.html), a fully Anglicized Irish form of this name would be Katerina McGilledoroughe. As the Anglicized Irish form is closer than the Gaelic form to the submitted spelling, we have changed this name to the Anglicized Irish form in order to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
A question was raised in commentary regarding the registerability of the element Crossing. The documentation for crossing provided in the name submission for the Canton of Charlesbury Crossing (registered in August 2000) showed crossing as a term dating to 1575 referring to "a place or structure (as on a street or over a river) where pedestrians or vehicles cross". This meaning is also compatible with the current submission.
Nice branch device!
This does not conflict with Matthew de Wolfe, Per bend sinister embattled argent and sable, in bend two wolves rampant combattant counterchanged. To understand why there is no conflict, it is helpful to remove all blazon shortcuts and blazon each of these pieces of armory explicitly. Note that there are two important common blazon shortcuts which are found in both Matheus' and Matthew's current blazons. The first blazon shortcut is that two charges on a divided field are placed on opposite sides of a line of division by default. The other blazon shortcut is the use of the word counterchanged rather than using the tinctures argent and sable.
Thus, when we remove blazon shortcuts, Matheus' arms may be blazoned Per bend argent and sable, in sinister chief a hound rampant sable and in dexter base a hound rampant to sinister argent. Matthew's arms may be blazoned Per bend sinister embattled argent and sable, in dexter chief a wolf rampant to sinister sable and in sinister base a wolf rampant argent.
Precedent has consistently held that "you cannot 'blazon your way out of' a conflict" (stated succinctly in this quote from the LoAR of February 2000, which upheld years of previous precedent). Thus, we must compare these two pieces of armory using the "explicit" blazons. There is one CD for changing the field. There is no difference for changing the type of canine from wolf to hound.
The charges may not lie on a portion of the field with which they have no contrast. Matheus' charges could not be arranged like Matthew's (with the sable charge in dexter chief and the argent charge in sinister base) on a per bend argent and sable field, because each charge would have no contrast with half of the field on which it lies. The charges must change their arrangement. Because this change in arrangement is "caused by other changes to the design" (namely, the changes to the field) it is not worth difference per RfS X.4.g for arrangement changes. (This is often known as a "forced" arrangement change or "forced" position change.)
The second CD comes from the change of posture. Each canine is facing in the opposite direction from the corresponding canine in the other coat. This posture change is a CD by RfS X.4.h.
By this analysis we are expressly overturning the precedent set in January 1994 that stated in pertinent part:
[Per pale and per chevron argent and sable, in chief two <charges> counterchanged vs. Huffam, Per bend sable and argent, two <charges> counterchanged ] Because the charges are counterchanged, they could legitimately be placed anywhere on the field, even over the line(s) of division. As a consequence, the change in position of the <charges> cannot be considered to be "forced" by the field division (though in Huffam they are in the expected position, one on either side of the line of division), thus giving a CD for position on the field
By this precedent, the use of the word counterchanged would remove a conflict which would apply if the tinctures of the charges were explicitly sable and argent, which is contrary to long-standing SCA policy.
Submitted under the name Matheus Hunda-Maðr.
Good name!
The 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica (http://88.1911encyclopedia.org/G/GO/GORI.htm) states:
It was long supposed that the apes encountered on an island off the west coast of Africa by Hanno, the Carthaginian, were gorillas, but in the opinion of some of those best qualified to judge, it is probable that the creatures in question were really baboons. The first real account of the gorilla appears to be the one given by an English sailor, Andrew Battel, who spent some time in the wilds of West Africa during and about the year 1590; his account being presented in Purchas's Pilgrimage, published in the year 1613. From this it appears that Battel was familiar with both the chimpanzee and the gorilla, the former of which he terms engeco and the latter pongo-names which ought apparently to be adopted for these two species in place of those now in use. Between Battel's time and 1846 nothing appears to have been heard of the gorilla or pongo, but in that year a missionary at the Gabun accidentally discovered a skull of the huge ape; and in 1847 a sketch of that specimen, together with two others, came into the hands of Sir R. Owen, by whom the name Gorilla savagei was proposed for the new ape in 1848.
We require that animals used in our armory were known to Western Europeans. In the past this has not been taken as a requirement that Western Europeans were very familiar as a group with the animal in question. Rather, it has been taken as a requirement that the animal had been seen by some explorer or explorers. It appears from the 1911 Encyclopedia citation that a Western European explorer had seen a gorilla before 1600. Thus, this charge may be accepted.
The College should note that the standard heraldic ape, found in the crest of the Irish family of FitzGerald, has a long tail and is thus biologically a representation of a type of monkey.
Submitted under the name Tigernach Ó Fuathaigh.
The bird was originally blazoned as a nightingale. However, the drawing is not clearly a nightingale; it has a significantly longer tail than a nightingale, and has some other artistic details (such as wing bars) which are not present on a nightingale. According to Peterson's A Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe, a nightingale in nature is a brown bird with a buff underside and rusty tail. We have thus blazoned this bird as a generic bird.
This name was originally submitted as Bronwyn Rhiannon Mewer. Bronwyn is the submitter's legal given name. The element Rhiannon was dropped at Kingdom because it was felt that "this particular combination of names, one being a legal name variant on an SCA compatible name and the other being a purely SCA compatible name," was not registerable.
As this topic generated a variety of discussion, a clarification is in order. Precedent states:
Beginning with the 5/96 meeting, therefore, use of two individually permissible non-period elements in a single name will be considered two `weirdnesses' and will be grounds for return. Such elements include non-period names allowed under the Legal Name Allowance as well as those names, apparently not used by human beings in period, that have been declared `SCA-compatible', e.g., Briana, Ceridwen (in several variants), Gwendolen/Guendolen, R(h)onwen, and Rowena. (Talan Gwynek, Cover Letter to the January 1996 LoAR, pp. 3-4)
In the case of this name, no evidence has been found that Bronwyn was used as a name in period. Therefore, it falls in the category of a "non-period names allowed under the Legal Name Allowance" (emphasis added) described in the ruling cited above. Therefore, this name has one weirdness for the use of Bronwyn. The addition of Rhiannon would add a second weirdness, as Rhiannon is only registerable as an SCA-compatible name. We have left the name as modified by Kingdom, to avoid having two weirdnesses, in order to register this name. (For a clarification of some details regarding the Legal Name Allowance, please see the Cover Letter.)
The bird was originally blazoned as a raven, but it is neither in the raven's default posture nor is it otherwise clearly identifiable as a raven. We have thus blazoned it as a generic bird. Please advise the submitter to take care drawing the peacock feathers so that they may be clearly identified.
Please advise the submitter to draw the barry wavy with a greater number of waves with larger amplitude.
The birds were originally blazoned as ravens, but they are neither in the raven's default posture nor are they otherwise clearly identifiable as ravens. We have thus blazoned them as a generic birds.
Listed on the LoI as Schuola di Saint Thomas d'Aquino, this name was submitted as Schola of Saint Thomas Aquinas and was converted to Italian at Kingdom to follow the submitter's request for authenticity for 15th C Italian since the submitter allowed any changes. Kraken provided information about the construction of this name:
Household name itself: a 15th century Italian school would likely have still had a Latin name. In that case the name would be: Schola Sancti Thomae Aquini. (Thomas not being found in any available Latin sources, we used Aeneas as an analog to form the genitive.) The (modern) Italian form would be Scuola di San Tommaso d'Aquino.
D. S. Chambers, "Studium Urbis and Gabella Studii: The University of Rome in the Fifteenth Century", which appears in Cecil H. Clough, ed., Cultural Aspects of the Italian Renaissance; Essays in Honor of Paul Oskar Kristeller, mentions a reference to the Academia Bononiensis (the University of Bologna) in 1465. This Latin example supports Kraken's statement that a 15th C Italian school would have been referred to using a Latin name.
There was some question whether an institution of learning would have used the term schuola in its formal name in the submitter's desired time and culture. Therefore, we have changed Schuola to Academia and registered this name in a fully Latin form to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
Submitted as Marcelle de la Marché, the submitter requested authenticity for a 14th C or earlier French name and allowed any changes. As submitted, the byname de la Marché is not grammatically correct. Metron Ariston explains:
This is a case where the accent is important as it changes the meaning and gender of the noun. Marche is feminine and means a step or a gait or a march. Marché is masculine and means market. Either would work, but the preposition + article changes to match the gender of the noun. If you use the accent here, it would have to be du Marché. If you do not use the accent, it can be de la Marche, but the meaning and pronunciation of the noun changes.
As dropping the accent from the byname is a smaller change in appearance in the byname than changing de la to du, we have made this change in order to register this name.
As we were unable to find examples of Marcelle used in the 14th C or earlier, we were unable to confirm that this name is authentic for the submitter's requested time period.
Submitted as Markus Pfielschmidt, the submitter requested authenticity for the 14th C German. Brechenmacher (p. 125 s.n. Pfeilschmied) dates Orban Pheilsmid to 1462. This is the closest dated form we were able to find to the submitter's desired time period. We have changed the byname to this form to partially meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
Submitted as Thorbjorn inn sterki, the submitter requested authenticity for 10th C Norse and allowed minor changes. Thorbjorn was documented from Nara no Jebu's article "The Old Norse Name" (http://www.meridies.org/as/dmir/heraldry/1304.html). However, this article silently Anglicizes many characters, including thorn (þ), edh (ð), o-ogonek ({o,}), and any characters containing accents. We have changed the given name to match the form shown in Geirr Bassi in order to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
Submitted as Tiernan Mor, the submitter requested an authentic Irish name and allowed any changes.
There was some question regarding the registerability of Tiernan. Tiernan is an Anglicized Irish form of the Gaelic masculine given name Tighearnán. The question is whether or not Tiernan is a period Anglicized form of this name.
The given name Tighearnán was in use in late period, as can be seen in the "Annals of the Four Masters", vol. 6, (http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100005F/), entry M1590.3, which mentions Tighearnan Bán mac Briain mic Eoghain Uí Ruairc. Because this name was used in late period, it is logical that there was an Anglicized form of this name. Since no Anglicized forms of this given name have yet been found in period Anglicized records (probably due mainly to the scarcity of such records), we have only period Anglicized forms of bynames formed from Tighearnán to examine. Woulfe (p. 410 s.n. Mac Tighearnáin) dates M'Tiernane and M'Ternane to temp. Elizabeth I-James I. Woulfe (p. 652 s.n. Ó Tighearnáin) also dates O Ternane and O Tiernan to the same time period. Given these examples, Tiernan is reasonable as a period Anglicized form of Tighearnán.
As submitted, this name combines the Anglicized Irish Tiernan with the Gaelic Mor. An authentic name that combined these elements in period would have been written all in Gaelic or all in Anglicized Irish depending upon the language of the document in which the name was recorded. Fully Gaelic forms of this name would be Tighearnán Mór or Tighearnan Mor. Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn's article "Names and Naming Practices in the Red Book of Ormond (Ireland 14th Century)" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/lateirish/ormond.html) lists Moor as an Anglicized form of the byname Mór. Therefore, Tiernan Moor would be a fully Anglicized form of this name. As the Anglicized Irish form is closer than the Gaelic forms to the submitted form of this name, we have changed this name to the Anglicized Irish form in order to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
The submitter is a knight and is thus entitled to use a closed loop of chain in his armory.
Good name!
Nice device!
Her previous name, Aisline Bertrand de Langres, is released.
Note that the submitter's previous device also used a fimbriated compass star in base. Thus, the violation of RfS VIII.3, which states in pertinent part "Voiding and fimbriation may only be used with simple geometric charges placed in the center of the design", is grandfathered to this submitter.
The submitter's previous device, Vert, two cats sejant addorsed reguardant, tails entwined, erminois, in base a compass star sable fimbriated argent, is released.
The wild ginger flower in Ginevra's badge has the petals in pall inverted (with one petal to chief). This is the default for wild ginger flowers, which is the opposite of the default for the similarly three-petalled trillium (see the cover letter of the January 2003 LoAR for more details).
Ginevra's device, Argent ermined vert, a wild ginger flower purpure, was registered in September 2002. The registration explicitly called the device clear from Seamus a' Chnuic Ghuirm, blazoned at that time as Argent, a trillium inverted purpure barbed vert and seeded Or, and Elspeth of Harilow, A heartsease proper [Viola tricolor]. Thus any possible conflicts between this badge and either Seamus or Elspeth are grandfathered, as the same conflicts would apply to this submitter's device as well.
It is worth noting that Seamus' arms were reblazoned in January 2003 to Argent, a trillium purpure barbed vert and seeded Or. The two flowers are indeed in opposite orientations; Seamus' has one petal pointing to base and Ginevra's has one petal pointing to chief.
The submitter requested authenticity for "Scottish" and allowed minor changes. As submitted, this name combines the Scots (a language closely related to English) James with the Early Modern Gaelic (c. 1200 to c. 1700) Mac Murchadha. An authentic name combining these elements in period would have been written completely in Scots or completely in Gaelic depending upon the language of the document in which this name was recorded. Black (p. 546 s.n. MacMurchie) dates a number of Scots forms of this byname to the 15th and 16th C, including Makmurche to 1492, M'Murquhe to 1500, McMurthe to 1539, and McMurkka to 1541. A fully Scots form of this name would combine James with one of these forms, such as James McMurche. A fully Gaelic form of this name would be Seamus Mac Murchadha. As the submitter does not allow major changes, we were unable to change this name to a fully Scots or fully Gaelic form in order to make this name authentic.
Her previous device, Per pale sable and Or, ten crosses botonny counterchanged, is released.
Submitted as Ailleann inghean Riobeirt Fhrancaigh, no documentation was presented and none was found that Riobeirt is a plausible variant of the documented Roibeirt. We have changed this name to use the documented form Roibeirt in order to register this name.
Submitted under the name Alessandro delle Alpi.
Submitted as Eadric Longfellow, the submitter requested authenticity for an unspecified language/culture (presumably English based on the documentation) and allowed any changes. As submitted, this name combines an Old English given name with a Middle English byname dated only to 1475 and later.
Combining Old English and Middle English in a single name is a weirdness because of the dramatic linguistic and orthographic differences between the two languages. A modern English speaker can usually read unmodernized versions of plays by Shakespeare with few difficulties. Many can read unmodernized versions of works by Chaucer, though with more difficulty. If you hand them a copy of Beowulf that is not modernized (or translated), very few will be able to make heads or tails of it. These differences are the basis for the weirdness for using Old English and Middle English in the same name.
The weirdness for a temporal disparity of greater than 300 years is a different issue from the lingual mix of Old English and Middle English. As explained recently:
Not only did languages change over time, the pool of names that were in use changed over time as well. Therefore, when one element in a name is only dated early and another is only dated late, it is unlikely that these two elements would have been appeared in the same name. The greater the temporal disparity, the less likely these name elements would have appeared together. RfS III.1 states in part that "Each name as a whole should be compatible with the culture of a single time and place." Currently, there is no weirdness for elements that are dated within 300 years of one another, but there is a weirdness for elements dated between 300 and 1000 years apart. Elements that are dated more than 1000 years apart are not registerable, due to the significant temporal disparity. [Sáerlaith an Einigh, November 2002 LoAR, A-Æthelmearc]
Therefore, the submitted form of this name had two weirdnesses; one for the lingual mix of Old English and Middle English, and a second for a temporal disparity of greater than 300 years. As the submitter indicated that the sound of the name was most important to him, we have changed the given name to the form Edric, which is dated to the 13th C in Talan Gwynek's article "Men's Given Names from Early 13th Century England" (http://www.s_gabriel.org/names/talan/eng13/eng13m.html), to change this name to a completely Middle English form in order to register this name.
Eric was submitted under the Legal Name Allowance. However, no documentation (such as a photocopy of a driver's license) was provided to support Eric as the submitter's legal given name. Lacking such evidence, Eric is not registerable via the Legal Name Allowance.
Siren found that Sveriges Medeltida Personnamn (vol. 5, column 735, s.n. Erik) shows several examples of Eric as a Swedish masculine given name, including Eric Stook dated to 1460. Therefore, this submission is registerable as a Swedish given name with an English byname.
It is acceptable for charges on charges to be a close variant of charges on the field. This sort of design does not run afoul of the design strictures colloquially known as the "sword and dagger" problem:
[...on a chevron between three hearts argent three hearts sable] There is no problem with having the same type of charge as both secondaries and tertiaries. Submissions are only returned if the same type of charge is used as primary and secondary charges. (LoAR September 1999.)
Listed on the LoI as Haakon Thorgiersson, the form showed the submitted name as Haakon Þorgeirsson. The submitter requested authenticity for Icelandic/Norse and allowed minor changes. The only documentation presented for the spelling Haakon was a list of kings of Norway that had been assembled for this submission. Included in the listing for each king was an abbreviation indicating source(s) for the reference. However, a bibliography was provided for only one of the abbreviations, and that source was a modern genealogical website. Additionally, no photocopies were provided for any of these sources. As none of them are included in the list provided in the Administrative Handbook "Appendix H - Books That Do Not Require Photocopies to Laurel", this documentation is not complete and so does not support the submitted name. Lacking evidence that Haakon is a period form, it is not registerable. Geirr Bassi (p. 11) lists the form of this name as Hákon. Therefore, we have changed this name to Hákon Þorgeirsson in order to register this name and to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
The central conjunction of chevrons was blazoned on the Letter of Intent as a chevron inarched. A standard SCA chevron enarched has each arm embowed outwards (curved in the opposite direction from the arms of a chevron ployé). The SCA chevron enarched is an artistic variant of a standard chevron deriving from attempts to show the curvature of a shield. The combination of chevrons in this submission is found in Legh's 1591 Accedens of Armory, where the combination is blazoned as a chevron enarched. Parker, in his Glossary of Terms used in Heraldry, blazons this combination as a chevron inarched. To avoid confusion with the already established SCA definition of a chevron enarched we have blazoned this device using standard SCA blazon terms. If there is any question about what this conjunction of chevrons looks like, we direct the reader to Parker's Glossary under chevron inarched. The book may be found in libraries and there is an on-line version at http://www002.upp.so-net.ne.jp/saitou/parker/jpglossc.htm#Chevron.
The central conjunction of chevrons was blazoned on the Letter of Intent as a chevron inarched. A standard SCA chevron enarched has each arm embowed outwards (curved in the opposite direction from the arms of a chevron ployé). The SCA chevron enarched is an artistic variant of a standard chevron deriving from attempts to show the curvature of a shield. The combination of chevrons in this submission is found in Legh's 1591 Accedens of Armory, where the combination is blazoned as a chevron enarched. Parker, in his Glossary of Terms used in Heraldry, blazons this combination as a chevron inarched. To avoid confusion with the already established SCA definition of a chevron enarched we have blazoned this device using standard SCA blazon terms. If there is any question about what this conjunction of chevrons looks like, we direct the reader to Parker's Glossary under chevron inarched. The book may be found in libraries and there is an on-line version at http://www002.upp.so-net.ne.jp/saitou/parker/jpglossc.htm#Chevron.
Submitted under the name Alizaunde Thorgeirrson.
Listed on the LoI as Ragnar Gunnarsson, both the submission form and the submitted documentation list the given name as Ragnarr. We have made this correction.
Submitted under the name Ulfgar Thegnson.
Listed on the LoI as Tóra Sværradottir, the submission form shows Tóra Svaerradottir. The submitter requested authenticity for 10th C Norse and allowed minor changes. We have modified this name to a consistently Old Norse form in order to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
Her previous device, Per chevron gules and argent, two lions double-queued combattant argent and a Bowen cross azure, is released.
Nice badge!
Submitted as Diarmuid McConnell, previous research has found no evidence that Diarmuid is a period form of Diarmaid:
Submitted as Diarmuid de Rosas, this name had two separate problems. First, there was no evidence that the spelling Diarmuid was period. ... Fortunately for the submitter, Ó Corráin and Maguire, Irish Names, list period forms of the given name. [Diarmaid de Rossa, 11/00, A-An Tir]
As no evidence was found this time to support Diarmuid as a form used in period, it remains unregisterable. We have changed the given name to the period form Diarmaid in order to register this name.
Note: McConnell is his legal surname.
Her previous name, Manuela Ponçe, is released.
Listed on the LoI as Genna inghean Braonain ui Amann, the name form shows Genna inghean Braonaín uí Ámann. Gaelic names are registerable with accents used or omitted consistently. Since the submission form uses the accents, we have placed them back in this name.
The accent was misplaced in the element Braonaín. The genitive form of the masculine given name Braonán is Braonáin, rather than Braonaín. We have made this correction.
No documentation was found to support Amann as a period form of this name rather than as a modern form. Additionally, Amann is in the nominative case. Gaelic grammar requires that it be put into the genitive case when used in a byname. Orle found a period example of Amann in a personal byname in the "Annals of the Four Masters", vol. 2, (http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100005B/), which lists Pól mac Amaind in entry M1103.10. We have changed Amann to the form documented to period in order to register this name.
Her previous name, Genna as an Fhraoich, is retained as an alternate name.
Submitted as Hrolfr Asbjornasson, the submitter requested authenticity for 9th to 10th C Norse. We have changed this name to a fully Old Norse form in order to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
The submitter's previous badge, Per pale azure and argent, all semy of bees counterchanged, is released.
Wyvern Heyghts was registered as the household name to the submitter's parents, Sean Vuibhearn and Elyramere of Tymbrelyne Heyghts, in July 1992. Therefore, the submitter may register the byname of Wyvern Heyghts under the Grandfather Clause.
Her previous name, Pagan le Chaunster, is released.
Submitted as Caoilfhionn ingen Chathassaich, the submitter requested authenticity for 11th to 12th C Irish. As submitted, this name combined the Early Modern Irish Gaelic (c. 1200 to c. 1700) form Caoilfhionn with the Middle Irish Gaelic (c. 900 to c. 1200) ingen Chathassaich. Additionally, the byname ingen Chathassaich is not quite correct. In Middle Irish Gaelic, the genitive and lenited form of the masculine given name Cathassach is Chathassaig rather than Chathassaich. We have changed this name to the fully Middle Irish form Cáelfind ingen Chathassaig in order to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
Nice device!
Please advise the submitter to draw the open book so it does not appear to be tilted back into the shield.
Submitted as Daimhín le Milner, there was some question whether the name Daimhín appears only as a legendary name. Ó Corráin & Maguire (p. 68 s.n. Daimíne) list only "Daimíne Damargait, king of Airgialla" as a legendary bearer of this name. Donnchadh Ó Corráin & Mavis Cournane, ed., "The Annals of Ulster" (http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100001/), entry U565.3, list the death of Daimin Daim Airgit, the same person as mentioned in the entry in Ó Corráin & Maguire. His death is also mentioned in Donnchadh Ó Corráin, ed., "Annals of Inisfallen" (http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100004/), entry I564.2, where he is called Daimín mc. Domongairt. Entries for early years in Irish annals are less likely to be historical the earlier the date. The general rule of thumb is to give entries after about A.D. 500, especially in older annals such as "The Annals of Ulster", the benefit of the doubt. However, this is the only person found with this name (both in Ó Corráin & Maguire and in the annals), implying that the name seems to be unique to this individual. Lacking evidence that this given name is not unique to this (possibly legendary) king, it is not registerable.
Aryanhwy merch Catmael found a similar name under a different header in Ó Corráin & Maguire:
[In Ó Corráin & Maguire], s.n. Damán, of virtually identical etymology, they list one saint by the name and an early king who died in 633. The later form there is <Damhán>; this may be a better choice than <Damán>, so that there aren't problems with temporal compatibility along with linguistic compatibility.
As the submitter allows any changes, we have changed the given name to Damhán, which is similar in both sound and appearance to the submitted Daimhín (both entries list Davin as an Anglicized form), in order to register this name.
Note: Dana is her legal given name.
Submitted as l'Ordre de l'Antilope Dorée, the return of the previously submitted order name, The Order of the Gilded Antelope, stated:
[The Order of the Gilded Antelope] No documentation was submitted for the construction of this order name ... it is not sufficient to show that the individual words were used in period, one must demonstrate that the overall name is formed in a period manner as well. As the College did not provide such evidence either we have to return this. [Dun Or Barony of, LoAR 03/2001, R-Caid]
In the current submission, the LoI stated that l'Antilope Dorée "is a French phrase meaning 'The Golden Antelope'" and referenced two websites (http://www.heraldica.org/topics/orders/ordhist.html and http://www.hyw.com/hywdocs/medieval.htm) citing the period orders Order of the Golden Fleece (1430) and Compagnie of the Black Swan (1350) to support the construction of this order name.
Metron Ariston noted that:
L'Antilope Dorée does not mean "the Golden Antelope" as stated on the Letter of Intent, but is a direct translation of the returned "Gilded Antelope".
Whereas Gold and Golden are colors, Gilded is not. The cited examples could be used to support an order name meaning 'Order of the Gold Antelope' or 'Order of the Golden Antelope'. However, lacking evidence that Gilded would have been used as a color in an order name, an order name meaning 'Order of the Gilded Antelope' is not registerable.
As the barony allows all changes, we have changed this order name to l'Ordre de l'Antilope d'Or 'the Order of the Golden Antelope' in order to register this name.
Submitted as Dýrfinna Eyverska, the submitter requested authenticity for 10th to 12th C Norse and allowed minor changes. We have lowercased the byname to follow the submitted documentation.
Submitted as Edward the Sinister, the submitter requested authenticity for 12th to 14th C and allowed minor changes. The LoI provided documentation for this byname from Weekley, Ernest, M.A., Surnames, (p. 304, footnote 3) which states: "Cf. Sinister, O.F. senestre, left-handed, awkward [Simon Senestre, of Dieppe, Close R.]. Lefthand is a ME. name." The LoI also noted that the Close Rolls dated to 1205. We have changed the byname in this submission to use the documented form Senestre in order to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
The LoI also noted that Kingdom had been unable to find examples of Sinister or Left-handed as bynames in Reaney & Wilson or Bardsley. The byname meaning 'left-handed' is difficult to find in Reaney & Wilson because the byname became corrupted over time. It is found on p. 275 s.n. Leffan. This entry dates Robert Lifthand to 1204, Ralph Lefthand to 1258, and John Leftehand to 1390. The LoI did not specify whether the submitter preferred a byname that sounded like Left-handed rather than Sinister. Therefore, we have registered this name with the documented form Senestre. We have provided the information from Reaney & Wilson in case the submitter preferred a byname that sounds like Left-handed.
Listed on the LoI as Gudrin in spaka, this name was submitted as Gudrin inn spaki. The byname was changed at Kingdom from the masculine form inn spaki to the feminine form in spaka. No evidence was found to support Gudrin as a variant of the documented Gudrun. Therefore, we have changed the given name to the documented Gudrun in order to register this name.
Nice device!
Please advise the submitter to draw the estoiles larger.
She has a letter of permission to conflict from Dafydd Chwith Nanheudwy, Per fess Or and sable, a pale counterchanged.
Good name!
Nice device!
Submitted under the name Ifanwy ferch Morien.
Listed on the LoI as Lachlan of Sutherland, this name was submitted as Lachlann of Sutherland and was changed at Kingdom to follow documented examples. Black (p. 410 s.n. Lachlan) dates Lachlann to 1436 as a byname. As this is an unmarked patronymic byname in Scots (a language closely related to English), Lachlann is also plausible as a given name spelling in Scots. Therefore, we have returned this given name to the submitted spelling.
Submitted as Lara Chéri, no documentation was found to support Chéri as a byname in period. Therefore, we have changed the byname to Chery, as allowed by the submitter, in order to register this name.
The LoI noted that "[i]f possible, [the submitter] would like Dubh to be spelled Du{b.}, where the b has a dot over it." The "dot" over a letter in Gaelic is called a punctum delens. When Gaelic is being represented using the Roman alphabet, letters with the punctum delens are rendered with an appended h; thus, b with a punctum delens becomes bh in standard transliteration. For registration purposes, we use this standard transliteration method and so have registered this name using the standard form Dubh, as submitted. The submitter is welcome to use the form Dub with the punctum delens over the b when writing his name, if he wishes.
The submitter requested authenticity for 15th to 16th C Portuguese and allowed no changes. The given name Lucia was documented from Elsbeth Anne Roth's article "16th Century Spanish Women's Names" (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/spanish.html). Aryanhwy merch Catmael found a Portuguese form of this name:
<Luzia> is found 6 times in my (in-process) "Portuguese Names from Lisbon, 1565" (http://www.sit.wisc.edu/~sfriedemann/names/lisbon1565.htm). <da Silva> is found three times, and <da Sillva> once.
From this information, Luzia da Silva and Luzia da Sillva would be authentic forms of this name for the submitter's desired time and culture. As she allows no changes, we have registered this name in the submitted form.
Submitted as Máiréad inghean Thraolaigh, both Máiréad and Thraolaigh are Modern Gaelic (c. 1700 to present) forms. Lacking evidence that these forms would have been used in period, they are not registerable. We have changed this name to its Early Modern Gaelic (c. 1200 to c. 1700) form in order to register this name.
Listed on the LoI as Medb ingen Mathghamhain, this name was submitted as Medbh inghean Mathghamhain and was changed at Kingdom to match documented forms.
The byname ingen Mathghamhain combined the Middle Irish (c. 900 to c. 1200) ingen with the Early Modern Irish (c. 1200 to c. 1700) Mathghamhain, and so violated RfS III.1.a, which requires linguistic consistency in a name phrase. Additionally, Mathghamhain is a nominative form, not a genitive form as required by Gaelic grammar in a byname. The fully Middle Irish form of this name is Medb ingen Mathgamna. The fully Early Modern Irish form of this name is Meadhbh inghean Mhathghamhna. As the Early Modern Irish form is the closer of these to the originally submitted form of this name, we have changed this name to that form in order to register this name.
Listed on the LoI as Michelle de la Couer, the submission form listed this name as Michelle de la Coeur. The submitter requested authenticity for French.
No documentation was found to support Michelle as a period name in French. Colm Dubh's article "An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris" (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html) lists Michièle la ventrière. We have changed the given name to Michièle to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
The documentation provided for the byname de la Coeur mixed examples from several different bynames that had different meanings and grammatical constructions. The phrase de la Coeur is not grammatically correct. The word coeur 'heart' is masculine and so would take du rather than de la, making the grammatically correct form of this phrase du Coeur. The word court (shown in the documentation as the post-period form Delacour) is feminine, hence de la Court. The College was unable to find examples of du Coeur used as a byname in period. Hercule Geraud, Paris sous Philippe-le-Bel: d'aprés des documents originaux et notamment d'aprés un manuscript contenant Le Rôle de la taille imposée sur les habitants de Paris en 1292 (p. 48, column 1) lists Pierre, de la Court. Marie-Therese Morlet, Etude d'anthroponymie picarde, les noms de personne en Haute Picardie aux XIIIe, XIVe, XVe siecles (p. 330 s.n. De la Cour) dates Jehan de la Cour to 1401. As the submitter allows any changes, we have changed this byname to the documented de la Cour in order to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
The Letter of Intent raised the question of a possible conflict with Iago Benitez, Quarterly gules and Or, a cross bottony within a bordure counterchanged. There is one CD for removing the bordure. A second CD must come from the type difference between a cross bottony and a cross patonce.
SCA precedent has so far consistently held that there is a CD between crosses bottony/crosslet and crosses fleury/flory/patonce. Kraken provided some citations from Papworth's Ordinary of British Armorials, taken from the beginning of the section on single crosses. In these examples, we find armory using both crosses bottony/crosslet, and crosses fleury/flory/patonce, belonging to people with the same surname. He therefore rightly raised the question of whether we should continue to consider these types of cross to have been distinct in period (and thus worth a CD for the change in type), or whether we should consider them to have been artistic variants of each other in period (with no CD for the change in type).
In researching this question, we have used Kraken's examples, and added further research from Papworth, as well as Brault's The Rolls of Arms of Edward I ("Aspilogia III"), Cecil Humphery-Smith's Anglo-Norman Armory II, and the Dictionary of British Armorials (henceforth abbreviated DBA). We realize that these sources provide an unfortunately Anglocentric view of heraldry, but the sources at our disposal which allow this sort of research are largely English - and the research is being used to elaborate on some initial information that is also English.
The first, and most important question to ask, is whether changing the type of cross could ever be a change indicating different branches of the family (cadency). A change which could indicate cadency is a change which could be worth a CD. It appears that at least in some cases, the change in the type of cross indicates cadency. One good example is the family of Ward, as seen in the various sources cited above, where different branches of the family are specifically cited as using distinct cross types. As a general rule, type changes are one of the more common types of cadency change in period - much more common than cadency changes in posture and arrangement. So it is unsurprising that changing the type of a cross is, in some cases, a cadency change.
Since changing a cross type may sometimes indicate cadency, we must therefore determine whether the changes in cross type which we have found are indicative of cadency, or if they are indicative of artistic variation. Some ways of demonstrating that two types of charge are artistic variants of each other are:
Demonstrating a general pattern of interchangeability between the two types of charge: most armory using one sort of charge is also found using the other sort of charge, or there is a temporal trend so that earlier versions of the charge are drawn in one way and later forms are drawn in the other way.
Demonstrating that the choice of how to draw the charge was most likely due to the artist, because the artist of one roll would draw the charge consistently in one fashion and the artist of another roll would draw the charge consistently in another fashion.
Demonstrating that there are numerous cases in which a single individual bore variations of the same sort of cross.
In all the cases above, the analysis should consider the source material and remove any erroneous material.
We were unable to demonstrate a general pattern of interchangeability between these two types of cross. It appeared that most of the time, a family used exclusively either crosses bottony/crosslet (henceforth abbreviated "bottony") or crosses patonce/fleury/flory (henceforth abbreviated "patonce"). This was particularly evident in the examination of the better-researched sources; as a general rule, Papworth's research is considered to be less authoritative than Brault's, Humphery-Smith's, or that of the compilers of the DBA. Note that the DBA does not extend through the "cross" category yet, but DBA includes a fair number of examples of armory using either "bottony" or "patonce" crosses as secondary or tertiary charges in the company of bends, cantons, and chevrons.
We were unable to demonstrate that the choice of how to draw the cross was due to stylistic variations between artists. As Kraken noted, Harleian MS 1407 shows the family of Goldisbrgh/Goldesbry in both "patonce" and "bottony variants". The families of Brerlegh and Aton both are shown as using "patonce" and "bottony" variants in Glover's Ordinary.
We were unable to find any trend where a single individual was noted as using both "bottony" and "patonce" types of cross. We freely admit that we were not able to isolate many cases where we could attribute armory to a specific individual, so our researches in this area were not particularly compelling.
Lastly, it seemed apparent that Papworth's citations from Glover's Ordinary were responsible for a disproportionate number of the cases where one family appeared to use "bottony" and "patonce" crosses. These examples include the families of Aton, Brerlegh, Ward, and Taddington/Tuddington. If Papworth's interpretation of Glover's Ordinary is viewed as suspect, we are left with almost no reason to consider crosses "bottony" and "patonce" to be artistic variants of each other.
Thus, until new evidence is presented, we affirm the following precedent: "...there is still a CD between a cross flory and a cross bottony" (LoAR August 1999).
Submitted as Muirenn ingen Donndubán, the byname was not in the genitive case as required by Gaelic grammar. We have made this correction.
This submission has been reblazoned by Laurel many times since it was originally registered. The blazon previous to this correction was Or, a falcon displayed voided sable, grasping in sinister talon three carnations gules, stemmed sable; a chief urdy gules.
The falcon has been blazoned variously as a falcon silhouette and a falcon voided. This is a falcon silhouette: the bird is drawn in a solid tincture with no internal details. While we would blazon this simply as a falcon in a new piece of armory, it seems reasonable to allow the submitter her preferred term, as it has already been used previously in an official blazon. This is not a falcon voided, as the field is not showing through the center of the charge.
We have confirmed that her original form did use vert slips on the carnation, not black slips. We have thus corrected this tincture from the previous blazon.
Some commenters questioned the blazon of the chief as urdy, as it has somewhat rounded lines. This chief has consistently been blazoned as urdy in her long and varied reblazon history, and at this point we are happy to grandfather this odd depiction of urdy to this submitter. However, should this somewhat "onion-domed" depiction of urdy be presented by anyone else, it must be accompanied by documentation.
Please advise the submitter to draw the bend sinister closer to a 45-degree angle. It is drawn somewhat too steeply in this emblazon, with the result that it lies low on the field.
Listed on the LoI as Roes Meurdoch, this name was submitted as Roes' Meurdoch. The apostrophe was removed at Kingdom as the College does not register scribal abbreviations. The submitter requested authenticity for 14th to 16th C Scottish and allowed minor changes.
Reaney & Wilson (p. 383 s.n. Rose) date Roes' de Killum to 1219. The apostrophe in this entry indicates a scribal abbreviation. However, none of the forms listed in this entry support Roes as a form of this name. Instead, the form Roese, listed in this entry, seems to be the form of this name that is abbreviated as Roes' in the above citation. We have, therefore, expanded the scribal abbreviation Roes' to its full form of Roese in order to register this name.
Both elements of this submission were documented as English. No evidence was found that any form of Roese/Rose was used as a given name in Scotland in period. While forms of Murdoch appear as a byname in Scotland (Black, p. 620 s.n. Murdoch), the College found no examples of this byname in the submitter's desired period in Scotland. Therefore, we have registered this name in the form submitted, but were unable to make it authentic for the submitter's requested time and culture.
The submitter requested authenticity for "late period English (16th to 17th C.)". Rosalind is registerable under the guidelines for the registerability of literary names (see the Cover Letter for the February 1999 for details). However, no evidence has been yet been found that this name was actually used by humans in late period England. Ildhafn is the name of the submitter's SCA branch. While registerable in the form of Ildhafn in a personal name, no evidence has been found that this placename is appropriate for 16th or 17th C English. As we were unable to find support for either of these elements being used in personal names in 16th to 17th C England, we were unable to make this name authentic for the that time period as requested by the submitter.
His previous name, Stephen Montfort of Huntington, is released.
Submitted as Úlfr Sigmundsson, the submitter requested authenticity for 10th C Norse. The Old Norse patronymic formed from the masculine given name Sigmundr is Sigmundarson rather than Sigmundsson. We have made this correction.
Listed on the LoI as Vincenzo Pasquale d'Anzio, this name was submitted as Vincénzo Pasquale D'Anzio. Vincénzo was documented from De Felice. Kingdom removed the accent from this name because the accents are used in De Felice as a pronunciation guide, not as part of the actual names. The capitalization in the byname was changed to follow standard period forms.
The form Anzio was documented only from L. E. Seltzer, ed., The Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World (p. 81). Though this entry supports the location Anzio as having existed in period, it gives no indication that Anzio is the period Italian form of this placename. As the submitter allows minor changes, we have changed this byname to use the form Anza, which is found in Maridonna Benvenuti's article "Mercator's Place Names of Italy in 1554: Central Italy" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/maridonna/mercator/center.html), in order to register this name.
Submitted as Ysabel d'Outremer, the submitter requested authenticity for 14th C France and allowed minor changes. Hercule Geraud, Paris sous Philippe-le-Bel: d'aprés des documents originaux et notamment d'aprés un manuscript contenant Le Rôle de la taille imposée sur les habitants de Paris en 1292 (p. 62, column 2), lists the entry Jehan d'Outre-mer, ou d'Outre-Sainne. We have changed the byname to use the form dated to 1292 to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
The field drawn here is an acceptable per chevron throughout field.
SCA precedent has been consistent, if somewhat unclear, regarding per chevron throughout fields (which may have charges in each portion of the field without violating any style rules) and chapé fields (which may only have charges in the lower portion of the field).
Both per chevron throughout and chapé fields have the top of the line touch the top of the escutcheon. However, the proportions of the rest of the line of division can make a difference in whether the armory is viewed as per chevron throughout or chapé in the SCA. If the line of division provides a roughly equal balance between the top and bottom halves of the field, it is considered a reasonable depiction of per chevron throughout. If the line of division leaves the bottom half of the field much larger than the top half, then it is considered chapé. It is not uncommon for the bottommost charge on a per chevron throughout field to be larger than the chiefmost charge(s), but the bottommost charge should not be so large as to force the field division up to the fess line and therefore contribute to the appearance of a chapé field (requiring its return).
As a general rule, the sides of a charged per chevron throughout field hit the sides of the escutcheon significantly lower than the fess line, while in charged chapé fields, the line of division hits the sides of the escutcheon at the fess line or higher. This follows from the need for per chevron throughout fields to balance the top and bottom halves of the field. Note the following precedent from the LoAR of June 2002 (quoting, in part, an earlier precedent from January 2000). This precedent is also consistent with earlier precedents on the topic (bolded emphasis added):
The submission was blazoned on the LoI as Per chevron in chief. It is a clear drawing of modern chapé: it's throughout and high on the field. Note the following precedent: "Listed on the LoI as having a per chevron line of division, the location of the line of the division and the relative sizes of the charges makes this an example of chapé. Therefore, it must be returned ... for charging its upper portions" (LoAR January 2000).
These precedents specifically set SCA policy for SCA stylistic rules concerning charged fields which are per chevron throughout and chapé. Period armory almost never uses any charges on a chapé field. In period armory using uncharged chapé fields, the line of division often extends down so that the field division could be interchangeable with per chevron throughout. Thus, we will continue to allow the use of the blazon term chapé for uncharged armory which resembles the period armory described above.
There was some question whether the name Judas was actually used in period. Reaney & Wilson (p. 258 s.n. Jude) date John Judas to 1191. Given this example, Judas is registerable.
Please advise the submitter to draw the schnecke larger.
Submitted as Halla Gullihar, we have lowercased the byname to use standard transliteration conventions. (See the Cover Letter for the October 2002 LoAR for more information.) As shown by various descriptive bynames in Geirr Bassi, including gullskeggr 'golden beard', gulli 'gold' takes the form gull- when used as a protheme in a descriptive byname. We have, therefore, removed the i from this byname.
Submitted as Herman von Mandel, no evidence was found that a place named Mandel existed in period. Metron Ariston explains:
The examples in Bahlow do not include any exemplars of Mandel as a place name. He does show Mandelkern as a grocer name from 1312 and Mandelmann from 1336, both being derived from the usage of Mandel as the German for almond. He also cites Mandel Rubeyn from 1408 and Peter Mandl from 1399. Based on that, the likely period form would be Herman Mandel or Herman Mandl.
Lacking evidence that Mandel was a placename in period, the byname von Mandel is not registerable. As the submitter allows any changes, we have dropped the particle von in order to register this name.
Submitted as Iain MacPhilip, this name had two weirdnesses, which has been reason for return. There was one weirdness for use of an SCA-compatible name (Iain). There was also a weirdness for combining Gaelic and Scots (a language closely related to English) in a name. As the submitter allows any changes, we have changed the Gaelic form Iain to the Scots form Ian in order to render this name a single language. As the form Ian MacPhilip has only a single weirdness for use of the SCA-compatible name Ian, it is registerable.
Submitted as Martinus Draco Byzantios, the submission form notes that his intended culture was 5th C Eastern Roman but that he did not request authenticity. Metron Ariston provided information regarding a form of this name appropriate for the submitter's desired time and culture:
I have to note that Byzantios is NOT a Latin term, but is Greek in form. (The masculine nomintive is -os rather than -us is the dead giveaway!) If he wants the name to be Latin the adjective should be Byzantinus. If he really wants a fifth-century eastern Roman as the Letter of Intent indicates, it will be difficult if not impossible to fulfill this without some significant changes, as the name as a whole should be changed into Greek. Chavez' "Common Names of the Aristocracy in the Roman Empire During the 6th and 7th Centuries" (www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/byzantine/early_byz_names.html) shows Martinus, but this is a normalized Latin form, as is usual for the source on which Chavez draws, as he himself notes in his introduction. The actual Greek form would be [Mu {alpha'} rho tau iota nu omicron sigma], which could be transliterated to Martinos. The cognate Greek word for dragon or snake is [delta rho {alpha'} kappa omega nu], which would be transliterated as Drakon. The usual descriptive for a Byzantine in Greek is [Beta upsilon zeta alpha nu tau iota nu {omicron'} sigma], which translates out to Byzantinos. Thus the eastern form of the name should be [Mu {alpha'} rho tau iota nu omicron sigma space Delta rho {alpha'} kappa omega nu space Beta upsilon zeta alpha nu tau iota nu {omicron'} sigma], which would transliterate to Martinos Drakon Byzantinos. While I have some other works by Mango, I do not have the volume cited, but I would be rather surprised if the cited form Byzantios were not a typographical error for Byzantinos which is what Mango regularly uses elsewhere.
Examining the photocopied page from Mango provided by the submitter, it is indeed likely that Byzantios is a typographical error for Byzantinos.
As the submitter did not request authenticity, we have made the minimum changes necessary in order to register this name and simply corrected the spelling of Byzantinos. A fully Latin form of this name would be Martinus Draco Byzantinus. A fully Greek form of this name would be Martinos Drakon Byzantinos.
Submitted as Mairin Mac an Thilidh, the submitter requested authenticity for "Irish/Highland Scot" language/culture, allowed any changes, and indicated that sound was most important.
The LoI documented Mairin from Woulfe (p. 212). However, Woulfe (p. 212) lists Máirín, not Mairin. This entry cites Máirín as being a diminutive of Máire. Many of the names that Woulfe lists in his given name sections are modern. Maille, another diminutive of Máire, was returned in 1999:
The name is being returned for lack of a period given name. While it is true that it appears in Woulfe's Irish Names and Surnames, that is no guarantee that it is a period. Ó Corrain and Maguire (Gaelic Personal Names, p. 133) under Máire lists Maille (with no marking) among pet-forms of Máire with no date. However, given their previous note that the name Máire itself was extremely rare before the seventeenth century, it is quite unlikely that Máire formed a pet-form during our period. Barring documentation that it was used in period, it is not acceptable for use in the SCA. [Máille ingen Bhrain Cadal, LoAR March 1999, R-Atlantia]
The information in Ó Corráin & Maguire (s.n. Máire) similarly indicates that Máirín is unlikely to have occured in period. Lacking evidence that Máirín was used in period, it is not registerable.
There are also issues with the byname Mac an Thilidh. Aryanhwy merch Catmael summarized these issues:
Black s.n. MacNeillie gives the Gaelic as <mac an Fhileadh> or <mac an Fhilidh>, with an <F>, not a <T>. Given that <Mairin> is a feminine name, the byname must be in the appropriate gender: <inghean an Fhilidh>. However, if the client would really like something that is pronounced like <MacNielly>, perhaps she should go with an anglicized form of the name, e.g., <Mary Maknely>. <M'Nely> is dated to 1426 and <Macknely> to 1473.
A registerable Gaelic form of this name would be Máire inghean an Fhilidh. An Irish or Highland Scot woman with this name could have been recorded in Anglicized Irish, English, or Scots (a language closely related to English) records as Mary Maknely. As the latter form is closer in sound to the submitted name than the Gaelic form, we have changed this name to the form Mary Maknely in order to register this name.
Please advise the submitter to draw the weaver's knots larger.
Submitted as Norvella Francesca Caterina Zancani, the submitted documentation for Norvella was the statement that "client dates name to 1428 on p110 of the 1984 KWHS Proceeding (Caid)". The LoI also stated that:
Kingdom finds Novella (no "r") in the on-line article, "Italian Renaissance Women's Names" by Rhian Lyth of Blackmoor Vale. Url: http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/rhian/italian.html (Copies Provided.)
Kraken found that the citation from the KWHS Proceedings was in error. He states that "Rhian's article was in the 1989 KWHS proceedings. The print version has no R in Novella either." We have changed the submitted Norvella to match the documented form Novella in order to register this name.
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.
This name was submitted as three given names and a byname. As this name only has a total of four elements, it is not affected by the bar against five element names in Italian (ruled unregisterable in September 1992 with the return of Marco Giovanni Drago Bianco Vento).
Please advise the submitter to draw the arrows more boldly.
Submitted as Phoebe apo Korinthos, this name was intended to mean 'Phoebe of/from Corinth'.
Phoebe is a modern English rendering of the Classical Greek name [phi-omicron-iota-beta-eta], which is transliterated as Phoíbë. Examples of this Classical Greek name found before A.D. 600 are found at P. M. Fraser and E. Matthews, "The Lexicon of Greek Personal Names" (http://www.lgpn.ox.ac.uk/). Forms of this name came into use in late period England as shown in J. W. Garrett-Pegge, A Transcript of the First Volume, 1538-1636, of the Parish Register of Chesham, Buckingham County, which dates Phebe to 1590 (p. 66) and Phebee to 1583 (p. 52). Lacking evidence to support combining an English given name with a Classical Greek byname, this combination is not registerable. As the submitter allows any changes, we have changed the given name to the Classical Greek Phoíbë in order to register this name.
The phrase apo Korinthos is not grammatically correct. Korinthos is in the nominative case. When used with apo, it needs to be in the genitive case. As Korinthou is the genitive form of Korinthos, apo Korinthou is the grammatically correct form of this phrase.
However, there is a larger problem with this byname. No evidence was found that a construction such as apo Korinthou 'from Corinth' would have been used as a descriptive byname in Greek. We have changed this byname to Korínthia [Kappa omicron rho {iota'} nu theta iota alpha], meaning '[the] Corinthian', to follow documented Greek byname construction in order to register this name.
Submitted as Ricardo El Oso, Ricardo is the submitter's legal given name.
The byname El Oso was intended to mean 'the Bear'. Clarion found evidence of bynames in Spanish formed from the names of animals:
Diez Melcón, pg. 274, lists a number of bynames derived from animals, so the use of Oso is not a problem. None of the examples, however, included the article.
Lacking evidence that bynames derived from animals in Spanish would contain the article el 'the', we have dropped this article in order to register this name.
Nice device, with a good cant on the surname!
Submitted as Svana Lútasdottir, the byname formed from the given name Lúta is Lútudóttir, not Lútasdóttir. We have made this correction. Old Norse names are registerable with accents used consistently or omitted consistently. As the byname used an accent for one letter, we have added the missing accent to the byname in order to register this name.
Her previous name, Ana la Sinestra, is retained as an alternate name.
Good name!
Listed on the LoI as Viterhem, the submission form showed this name as Viterheim. We have made this correction. As the documented period examples of a placename with this protheme both have an e as the first vowel, we have changed this name from Viter- to Veter-.
In this submission, Mai was documented as an English byname. While documentation was provided for order names formed from the given names of saints, no documentation was provided to support an order name formed from a period byname or surname. Lacking such evidence, such an order name is not registerable.
Happily, Mai is also a given name in period. Reaney & Wilson (s.n. May) date Johannes filius Maie to 1274, Elena filia May to 1301, and May de Hindley to 1379. Kwellend-Njal Kollskeggsson's article "Period Order Names" (KWHS Procedings 1999, pp. 46-57) shows some examples of orders named for saints where the word Saint is omitted from the order name. Given these examples, this order name is registerable based on the examples of order names formed from the given names of saints.
Submitted as The Coribant Compaignye, the LoI provided documentation that "There is a citation dated to 1380 in Chaucer Bo. (Benson-Robinson) 4.m.5.20: 'Ther is a maner peple that hyghte Coribantes [vr. coribandes] that .. betyn hir basyns with thikke strokes.'" This supports Coribantes as a term used in period for a type of musicians. However, the singular non-possessive noun Coribant does not make sense in this instance. A parallel could be drawn with a name meaning 'the musician company'. Such a name would combine two nouns, meaning 'musician' and 'company', which does not make sense. A possessive form meaning "musician's" or "musicians'" would resolve this problem. Based on period possessive forms, the plural of Coribant would be Coribantes. As the submitters allow minor changes, we have changed this household name to the possessive form Coribantes in order to register this name.
Submitted as Sigriðr inn rauða Þorvaldsdottir, inn is the form used in masculine names. We have changed the byname to the completely feminine form in rauða in order to register this name.
Listed on the LoI as Theresa Boncheval, the given name on the submission form was Tessa. We have made this correction.
Submitted as Hákon Refr, we have lowercased the byname to use standard transliteration conventions. (See the Cover Letter for the October 2002 LoAR for more information.)
None.
Listed on the LoI as Alvegard van Bomwedded, the submission form lists the form Bomwedde. The form Bomwedde is supported by the submitted documentation. We have, therefore, corrected this name to the submitted form Bomwedde.
Please advise the submitter to draw the per chevron line higher on the field and to draw the orle thicker.
Submitted as Angelo Benintendi D'Amico, the submitter requested authenticity for 13th to 14th C Italian and allowed any changes. As the College was unable to find evidence of double given names used in Italian in this time period, we have dropped the second given name in order to make this name authentic for the submitter's requested time and culture. We have also lowercased the initial letter in the byname d'Amico in order to follow period examples of names of this type.
His previous name, Uilleam Catach O'Maoilbhreanainn, is released.
Submitted as Osa Hrafnsdóttir, the submitted form of this name had two weirdnesses. Osa was documented as a Swedish given name dated to 1406. Hrafnsdóttir is an Old Norse patronymic byname. Combining Swedish and Old Norse in a name has previously been ruled a weirdness (Bjarki Einarson, April 2002). Since Old Norse dates to the 11th C and earlier, this name had a second weirdness for a temporal disparity of greater than 300 years. We have changed the given name to Asa, the Old Norse form of Osa, in order to register this name.
Submitted as Caoillain Rose Maddox, the submitter requested authenticity for an Irish given name and an English surname. Ó Corráin & Maguire (p. 41 s.n. Cáelfind) lists Caoilinn, not Caoillain. Lacking evidence that Caoillain is a plausible period form of Caoilinn, it is not registerable. We have changed this name to the documented form Caoilinn in order to register this name.
Since two bynames sometimes occurred in a single name in late period England, we have left both Rose and Maddox in this name. However, lacking evidence that a Gaelic given name, rather than an Anglicized Irish given name, would be combined with English bynames in period, this name is not authentic for forms of names found in England or Ireland in period.
Please advise the submitter to draw the orle thicker.
Submitted as Cristina Maria Angelini, the submitter requested authenticity for 13th to 14th C Italian. No evidence was found that two given names were used in Italian this early. As the submitter allows any changes, we have dropped the given name Maria in order to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
Good name!
Nice device, which goes well with the German name.
Submitted as Saeunn Egilsdottir, the submitter requested authenticity for "Viking/Icelandic" and allowed minor changes. The submitted form of this name uses spellings found in a modern translation of The Sagas of Icelanders. We have modified this name to use forms listed in Geirr Bassi to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
Please advise the submitter to redraw the embattlements so that they have even widths and so that they are as deep as they are wide.
The text on the bordure was intended to mean "in service to Albrecht von Halstern." Unfortunately, the phrase as submitted has severe construction problems, including using a word, diece, which the College has been unable to document as a German word.
Precedent holds:
"As blazoned, the words do not make a sensible phrase, but they are not required to make sense, only to be non-offensive." (LoAR July 2000)
However, we feel that a phrase used in armory should consist of actual words. Without documentation that this is, at worst, a poorly-formed German phrase, this may not be accepted.
Metron Ariston gave some suggestions for translating this phrase per the submitter's intended meaning:
The usual word for service in German today is Dienst and that appears to be true in period as Bahlow (Deutsches Namenlexikon, s.n. Dienst) shows Frauendienst from 1504. The general word for servant in German is Diener so "Diener von. . ." might work. The German phrase for "on duty" might also work and be closer: "im Dienst". ("Im Dienst Seiner Majestät" is the usual German translation of "On His Majesty's Service" so the analogue would be very close.) If you chose the latter, you would drop the preposition and use the genitive which would give you "im Dienst Albrechts von Halstern".
In addition, the College had concerns about the fact that this armory contains text using another SCA member's registered name (Albrecht von Halstern) without permission from that SCA member. Note that RfS I.3 states (emphasis added) "No name or armory will be registered which claims for the submitter powers, status, or relationships that do not exist." We decline to rule on this issue at this time, as we would like to see more commentary from the College on this topic. However, we strongly suggest that any submitter whose armory contains text that is a registered SCA name should obtain a letter of permission from the referenced person or branch.
This name conflicts with Thomas Francis Bayard, American statesman, diplomat, and lawyer, who has an entry in the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica. In the case of a protected historical person, we protect that person under the names by which they were known. Therefore, this submission conflicts with this person in the form of his name Thomas Bayard. There is insufficient difference in both sound and appearance between Baird and Bayard.
The field has unacceptable contrast. The pertinent rules for submission concerning contrast in divided fields or other armorial elements are:
RfS VIII.2.b.iii: Elements evenly divided into two parts, per saltire, or quarterly may use any two tinctures or furs.
RfS VIII.2.b.iv: Elements evenly divided into multiple parts of two different tinctures must have good contrast between their parts.
RfS VIII.2.b.v: Elements evenly divided in three tinctures must have good contrast between two of their parts.
While the rules for contrast do not explicitly discuss fields which are divided unequally into multiple parts, the overriding principle of the rules for divided fields is that fields must have good contrast between their parts unless they are "evenly divided into two parts, per saltire, or quarterly." Here no portion of the field has good contrast with any other portion of the field, so the overriding principle of the rules for contrast are not met.
Precedent does not allow a compony ordinary to share a tincture with an underlying plain field:
[Per pale, a pale compony counterchanged] The use of a compony ordinary that shares a tincture with its field has been disallowed since at least the LoAR of July 85; the precedent was confirmed Sept 87, April 89, and Aug 90. This submission is an excellent illustration of the reason for the ban: the visual appearance is not of a pale, but of a group of billets straddling the field division. The lack of identifiability is sufficient reason for return. We suggest making the pale a solid tincture. (LoAR August, 1993, pg. 20)
Because of the identifiability issues, this must be returned for violating RfS VII.7.a. If documentation can be provided for this practice in period armory, we can then consider whether the identifiability issues should be overridden based on a documented exception.
Conflict with Massaria da Cortona, Sable mullety argent, a continental panther rampant to sinister Or vomiting flames gules. There is one CD, but not substantial difference, between a heraldic (as opposed to natural) panther and a lion, just as there is only one CD between a heraldic tyger and a lion per RfS X.4.e. There is no additional difference for adding the maintained charge.
The submitter requested authenticity for 1500s Alsatia, Germany, and allowed minor changes. The LoI stated that Drucker "is intended to be an occupational byname meaning 'printer.' Drucker is the modern German word for printer, but we were unable to find a period form of this word."
The College found evidence of Drück- / Drücke-, meaning 'press', used as a protheme in period German occupational bynames. Sommelier found some examples of these types of names: "Bahlow Gentry 2nd on p. 87 under Drückhammer (press hammer) dates Drücketunne (press the barrel/ = cooper) 1377 and Drückebeker (press the beaker) 1379." However, no evidence was found that Drucker was used as a byname in period. Lacking evidence that Drucker is a plausible byname in period, it is not registerable.
This armory uses a flag that appears to be a display of Per fess gules and sable. According to precedent,
"[... sustaining a banner quarterly sable and gules, seme of fraises Or] ... we do not allow a depiction of heraldic display which conflicts with registered armory..." (LoAR September 2000).
The flag maintained by this griffin (Per fess gules and sable) conflicts with the real-world flags of Monaco and Indonesia (important non-SCA flags), Per fess gules and argent. There is only one CD by RfS X.4.a for changing the tincture of half the field of the flag.
Some members of the College noted that another piece of armory with similar design was accepted without comment, and asked if the September 2000 precedent had been overturned due to that acceptance. Please note that registrations without comment do not establish precedent.
The LoI stated that Hunda-Maðr "is found in Bertil Thuresson's Middle English Occupational Terms s.n. Hundeman. Thuresson says the name is Old Norse." This source is not included in the Administrative Handbook under "Appendix H - Name Books That Do Not Require Photocopies to Laurel". As photocopies from this source were not included with this submission, the required standard of documentation was not met and this name must be returned.
Additionally, there was some question regarding whether Hunda-Maðr is an appropriate form for Old Norse. Hund notes:
The correct form of the by-name would be hundamaðr see Geirr Bassi for Hrafna- which becomes, in combination hrafnasveltir with all lower case and no hyphens.
His armory has been registered under the holding name Matheus of Coppertree.
By previous precedent, "Ermine fimbriation is disallowed (LoAR of 3 Aug 86, p.17), as are overall charges surmounting fimbriated ordinaries (9 March 86, p.12)". This armory uses a fimbriated ordinary surmounted by an overall charge, and thus is not acceptable.
Ó Fuathaigh was documented from MacLysaght (s.n. (O) Fuohy), which describes this name as "an east Cork name." Woulfe (p. 535 s.n. Ó Fuathaigh) lists no period examples of the name and gives the meaning of the name as 'des[cendant] of Fuathach'. There is some doubt whether this name would have been used in period. Metron Ariston explains:
MacLysaght in the place cited really does not give any evidence that this is a period byname nor does he indicate that it is derived from a given name. Indeed, based on the evidence of MacLennan's Gaelic Dictionary (s.n. fuathach), this byname would mean "descendant of a spectre" or "descendant of a monster" and leaves one to wonder if it is a claim to non-human descent.
Given the meaning of this name, and the lack of evidence of its use in period, Ó Fuathaigh is not registerable.
His armory has been registered under the holding name Tigernach of Silvan Glen.
This name conflicts with Robert Under The Wood. RfS V.1.a.ii.(b) states in part that "Undertheclyf is equivalent to del Clif and Cliff". Based upon this example, Attewode conflicts with Under The Wood.
Conflict with Elizabeta de Ravenna (registered in August 2002), Or, on a hand vert a sun argent. There is one CD for removing the tertiary sun.
The submitter requested authenticity for 15th to 16th C Northern Italy and allowed no changes. The only documentation provided for the byname delle Alpi, intended to mean 'of the Alps', was from a modern Italian dictionary. This gives no indication whether such a byname would have been used in Italian in period. Several commenters found that Fucilla (p. 100) stated:
Unless it refers to a place name Alpe, dall'Alpi is difficult to explain since the vast mountain system of the Alps is too big and indefinite to have produced a cognomen.
Lacking evidence that any form of delle Alpi is a plausible Italian byname in period, it is not registerable.
His armory has been registered under the holding name Alessandro of Tir Ysgithr.
No documenation was presented and none was found to support Alizaunde as a plausible name in period. Lacking such evidence, Alizaunde is not registerable.
Regarding Thorgeirrson, the LoI stated that, "The submitter is using this as a marriage name, as Haakon Thorgeirrson is her legal husband." There are two problems with this name. First, no documentation was presented for this relationship other than this statement in the LoI. Lacking such evidence, the submission is not eligible for the Grandfather Clause. (See the Cover Letter for the October 2002 LoAR "Clarification of the Grandfather Clause" for more details.)
Were documentation provided as required for the Grandfather Clause, her husband's Norse patronymic byname would still not be registerable with a feminine given name. Precedent states:
As is explained in the 22 February 1993 Cover Letter, we have extended the principle in two ways. First, we allow the original submitter to register further instances of the problematic element provided that they introduce no new violations of the rules; and secondly, we extend the allowance to the original submitter's nearest kin. [Roxanne Blackfeather, December 1995 LoAR, R-East]
Throughout period, bynames were literal in Scandinavia. Metron Ariston explains:
[This byname] would not in period have been used as to indicate the wife of someone whose patronymic was Þorgeirsson as married women in Scandinavia retained their own patronymics as they do to this day in Iceland. And, if you changed it to the period Þorgeirsdóttir, you would be implying she was her husband's sister, which I suspect she does not want to be. (Also note that the heading on Haakon'[s] name submission has the patronymic as Thorgiersson, not the form used here.)
Therefore, a name combining any form of Thorgeirrson with a feminine given name is grammatically incorrect and is not registerable. Further, because her husband's name does not have this violation, her name submission introduces a new violation of the rules as prohibited in the precedent cited above.
Her armory has been registered under the holding name Lori of Mons Tonitrus.
No documentation was presented and none was found to support Ulfgar as a plausible Norse given name in period. It is possible that Ulfgar may be a plausible variant of the Old English name Wulfgær, but the plausibility of such a variation would need to be examined. Searle (p. 507) includes an entry that lists both the forms Wulfgar and Ulgar. Many of the second forms in Searle's headers are Latin forms of the names in question and the loss of the f may (or may not) be an aspect of the Latin form.
The byname Thegnson is presumptuous. As noted by Black Pillar:
<Thegn> is on the Alternate Titles List, as the Old English equivalent of both "Viscount" and "Baron." This puts the name afoul of RfS. VI.1, Names Claiming Rank, which states, "Names containing titles, territorial claims, or allusions to rank are considered presumptuous."
This name is being returned for using a form of Thain as a byname, which has previously been prohibited:
[Lucius Thayne] A thane (or thegn) was a free retainer in pre-Conquest England, and in Scotland up to the 15th Century; the term denotes a member of territorial nobility corresponding to the Norman baron or knight. The title was one step below the eorl, and might be either earned or inherited. In the SCA, the term is used as the Old English equivalent of "baron", and is therefore reserved. Old English usage puts the title after the name: Ælfred cyning, Leofric eorl, Lyfing arcebisceop. The submitted name is thus exactly in the form that would have been used by a period thane. That fact, along with the Society use of the title, and its hereditary nature in period, outweighs the documented use of Thane, Thaine as a surname later in period. It must therefore be returned as presumptuous. (OED, under the entries for earl, king and thane; '93 E.Brit., vol.11, p.672; Reaney DBS II, pp.112, 345). (Lucius Thayne, July, 1993, pg. 15) [Chromán Thein, 11/01, R-Trimaris]
His armory has been registered under the holding name Scott of Tir Ysgithr.
The mini-emblazon on the Letter of Intent showed a large death's head clearly centered on the shield. However, this submission shows a smaller and differently drawn death's head placed in chief. The College was not able to comment on the submission as submitted, as they were not provided with an accurate mini-emblazon. The Cover Letter for the April 2002 LoAR stated:
In the last few months, there have been cases where the mini-emblazon included with the Letter of Intent did not accurately represent the emblazon on the submission form. If the emblazon does not match the form, the CoA cannot produce useful commentary, which in turn does not allow a decision on that item. The CoA has enough to review without commenting on the "wrong" item. A mismatch between the LoI emblazon and what is on the submission form can be reason for administrative return. If you produce LoIs, please double-check that the mini-emblazons on your letters are a good representation of the emblazons on the submission forms.
Photoreduction is recommended over redrawing. Scanning can be used with care. Many complaints have been received about mini-emblazons which were produced by scanning at inappropriate settings, rendering elements of the armory invisible or otherwise unidentifiable.
This submission must therefore be returned.
The swan was originally blazoned as displayed, which would show the legs and tail of the swan and would show the breast of the swan straight towards the viewer. This emblazon shows a swan swimming in a posture halfway between affronty and to sinister. As a result, it is in trian aspect and it is not acceptable, because it cannot be blazoned accurately.
Baker's peels are wood-colored when proper.
This submission violates the current precedent banning overall charges on fieldless badges except in designs involving long skinny charges where the area of overlap is small. This precedent has been in effect since the November 1992 LoAR.
This submission, had it been registered, would have been the defining instance of a beehive oven. The provided documentation does not support the emblazon. The dated ovens in the documentation are arched brick ovens: they are straight-sided with an arched top. The oven in this emblazon arches from the top of the oven all the way to the ground. The one example given in the documentation which appears to be very close in form to the submitted oven is stated to be a terracotta bread oven found in a province of Léon, Spain, and has no associated date. As a defining instance of a charge, this should be provided with clear documentation.
The submitter's legal name is Courtney Dallas Houghton. By modern standards, Courtney D. Houghton is a normal and expected use name. Section III.A.9 of the Administrative Handbook states:
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.
The level of difference between the submitted name Courtney de Houghton and the submitter's use name of Courtney D. Houghton is equivalent to the difference between David Kellahan and David Callahan addressed in the ruling:
Submitted as David Kellahan, this is too close to his legal name, David Callahan, which is a violation of III.A.9 Protected Names: Name Used by Submitter Outside of Society of the Administrative Handbook. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR November 1997, p. 9)
Therefore, the submitted Courtney de Houghton conflicts with her use name Courtney D. Houghton, since there is insufficient difference in pronunciation. Since a small change in pronunciation is sufficient to clear a conflict between a Society name and a submitter's use name, this name would be registerable as Courtney of Houghton. As the submitter allowed no changes, we were unable to change de to of in order to clear this conflict.
The brushes in the Letter of Intent were blazoned as sable handled proper. However, the brushes in the emblazon have sable handles and brown bristles. There is no defined default tincture for an artist's brush. Thus, this is not a reasonable depiction of a proper brush. As the brush cannot otherwise be blazoned accurately, it must be returned.
Conflict with Rosalind Bennett, Per bend argent and sable, in sinister chief a fleur-de-lys vert. There is one CD for fieldlessness but no difference for location on the field versus a fieldless badge.
The spear is mostly a wood-brown charge. This has inadequate contrast with the sable field. The enflaming does not remove the requirement that the charge should have good contrast with the field on which it lies. This is thus in violation of RfS VIII.2.b.i.
Conflict with Thalassa Ilona of Soilka, Purpure, a chevronelle Or between in chief two scimitars fesswise conjoined at the point proper and in base a flamed tulip proper. There is one CD for changing the type of secondary charges. The flamed tulip is a tulip with petals constituted of flames proper. There is thus no additional difference for changing only half the tincture of the basemost charge, and a very small amount of the tincture of the chiefmost charges (the hilts of the scimitars), as these tincture changes are substantially less than half the group. There is no difference between a single chevronelle and a chevron; at this time we would blazon any single central "chevronelle" as a chevron regardless of how narrowly it was drawn, to be in keeping with period armorial practices.
We also advise the submitter that, while a compass star is defined as a mullet of four greater and four lesser points, the lesser points need to be drawn larger, perhaps about half the length of the primary rays of the mullet. Here they are so small that they are very hard to see.
Conflict with Leonardo Giovanni (registered in September 2002), Per bend argent and vert, a single-horned anvil sable. There is only one CD for changing the field.
This submission is not simply a designator change. Household names and order names are different types of items and were formed in different manners in period. In this situation, the branch may submit a registration of an order name with a note that the equivalent household name be released upon registration of the order name.
As designators are transparent for conflict purposes, Order of the Cherubim and House Cherubim are identical and so may not both be registered, even to the same owner. The single exception to this policy is that a branch may register a heraldic title and an order name that are identical except for the designators. This exception is due to the period practice of deriving heraldic titles from the names of orders.
One type of name (such as a household, order, or heraldic title) may not simply be switched to a different type of name by changing the designator. The one exception to this requirement is that heraldic titles may be formed from registered order names without redocumenting the order name. The reason for this exception is that there is sufficient examples of heraldic titles being drawn from order names in period to support such registrations.
Additionally, no documentation was provided and none was found that Order of the Cherubim is a plausible order name in period. Meradudd Cethin's article "Project Ordensnamen OR What do you mean that the Anceint[sic] and Venerable Order of the Most Holy and Righteous Wombat's Toenail isn't period?" (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/order/) dates the order name Seraphim to 1280 in Sweden. Given this example, Order of the Cherubim is registerable, if House Cherubim is released.
The flowers in chief were originally blazoned as roses, but they were clearly rosebuds, rose flowers whose petals are still mostly closed tightly. Rosebuds are not registerable, as they are not compatible with period heraldic style. The Cover Letter of November 1994 stated "Commentary was nearly as strong in favor of banning garden rosebuds from armory. Consequently, we will accept whatever garden rosebuds may be in LoIs issued before December 1994, but no further registrations of this charge will be made."
Please advise the submitter to draw the cross wider on resubmission.
Conflict with a badge of Catrin ferch Dafydd, Azure, a rose, slipped and leaved, within a bordure dovetailed argent. There is one CD for changing the bordure to an annulet but no difference for removing the slips and leaves from the rose.
Please advise the submitter to draw the annulet thicker.
When an animal's head is collared, the neck shows above and beneath the collar, and the collar is treated as a tertiary charge. In this armory, the cat's head rests atop a disproportionately wide and deep collar. The cat's neck is not visible beneath the collar. This does not appear to be a period way of depicting a collared animal's head, and the size of the collar raises questions both about period depiction and about charge groups; it is too large to be a small maintained charge, but is too small to be co-primary. Without documentation for this design, it cannot be accepted.
If the submitter redraws this design with the cat's neck showing beneath the collar, the collar will count as a tertiary charge. However, if the submitter removes the collar entirely, this will be in conflict with Lenore of Lynxhaven, Or, a lynx's head cabossed sable, orbed Or. There is one CD for fieldlessness but no difference between a lynx's head and a cat's head.
No documentation was presented and none was found that an order name would specifically mention more than one color for an item. Lacking such evidence, an order name meaning 'Order of the Blue and Gold Tower' is not registerable.
Additionally, no evidence has been found that heraldic tinctures (rather than common color terms such as bleu) were used in order names. Therefore, heraldic tinctures may not be used in order names.
Precedent indicates: "Ermine fimbriation is disallowed (LoAR of 3 Aug 86, p.17), as are overall charges surmounting fimbriated ordinaries (9 March 86, p.12). (LoAR October 1992, pg. 26)". This armory uses a fimbriated ordinary surmounted by an overall charge, and thus is not acceptable.
Please advise the submitter to draw the fimbriation wider.
This name is being returned for lack of documentation of the byname Collingebourne Ducis. No evidence was found that Ducis was appended to the place name Collingebourne in period. Additionally, were evidence found of Ducis used in this place name in period, no evidence was provided and none was found that a personal byname would be formed using the full name of this location, rather than the simpler form Collingbourne. The LoI stated:
Collingbourne Ducis is found on p. 117 in Ekwall under the headings Collingbourne Ducis & Kingston where the dated spellings included at Colingburne (on) Collengaburnan 921, and Collingeburne 1199. Under the heading Collingbourn on p. 106, R&W have Ruald de Colingeburna 1179, Sarah of Colingburn 1249, and John Colyngborn 1373. They note this name is from Collingbourne Ducis, Kingston.
These examples support the existence of this location in period, but not with the element Ducis. Additionally, none of these dated examples spelling Collingbourne as -bourne. We would have changed this name to Eliane Collingburne in order to register this name. However, dropping Ducis dramatically changes the sound and appearance of the byname and so is a major change, which the submitter does not allow.
The device is overly complex by RfS VIII.1.a. The number of types of charge and tinctures add to nine. In addition, the leaf in the emblazon is not the default leaf, and no documentation was presented indicating what type of leaf it is. A default leaf is oval-shaped, possibly with a pointed tip. This leaf has five pointed lobes. We were unable to identify it as any particular sort of leaf, and were thus unable to blazon it correctly. Without the ability to blazon the leaf correctly, this may not be accepted by RfS VII.7.b.
Ifanwy was documented from Gruffydd (p. 60). However, this entry gives no date for this name. Undated names in Gruffydd are generally modern. Regarding this name, Metron Ariston stated that "[t]he only instances I could find were relatively modern (nineteenth and twentieth centuries)." Lacking evidence that Ifanwy was used as a name in period, it is not registerable.
Her armory has been registered under the holding name Katherine ferch Morien.
Conflict with Clarissa Wykeham, Or, a seeblatt azure. There is only one CD for changing the field.
Previous precedents have indicated that design elements which are only found in Japanese mon may only be registered if they can be blazoned in European heraldic terms. Previous precedent has also held that a Japanese stream cannot be blazoned in European heraldic terms. No evidence has been presented which either overturns the philosophical basis of the previous precedents, or which presents an acceptable European blazon for the Japanese stream. Thus, the Japanese stream design element continues to be unregisterable.
In general, Mon-like designs are acceptable in Society armory only if they can be blazoned in European heraldic terms - as though a period Japanese, visiting Europe, were attempting to register his Mon with one of the kings of arms. Tomoe cannot be blazoned in European terms, and so cannot be considered compatible with European heraldry. This submission, though a splendid Japanese design, may not be registered in the Society. (LoAR November 1992, pg. 15)
[returning a Japanese stream] The primary charge is not blazonable in standard heraldic terminology, as required by RfS VII.7.b. (LoAR September 1995, p. 23)
The submitter provided evidence that the ankh with the four crossbars had a particular hieroglyphic meaning in ancient Egypt. The submitter also provided evidence there was some Egyptian artwork extant in our period which used this design as the head of a staff in representations of the god Ptah. Thus, this design might have been seen by medieval and Renaissance viewers of the ancient Egyptian artwork.
No evidence was presented that hieroglyphs, as a class, are appropriate for heraldic use. They cannot be considered as acceptable charges analogous to letters or other abstract symbols, as their text meaning was not known during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. They may have been known as artistic designs, but as noted in RfS VII.2, "Use of an element in period art does not guarantee its acceptability for armory. Use of the Greek key design, which was common in period decorative art, never carried over into armory."
This charge combination must therefore be accepted, or not, on its own merits as a heraldic design element. An ankh (or crux ansata) is accepted for use in SCA heraldry, even though it is not a period heraldic charge, as it is a straightforward variant of a Latin cross. However, crossing the basemost leg of a crux ansata four times changes the charge so much that it is no longer an acceptable variant of a period cross. The charge is too far from period practice to be accepted as a Compatible Armorial Element under RfS VII.6, given the evidence known to the College at this time. Without documentation showing such a charge used in heraldry, it may not be accepted for registration.
No documentation was presented and none was found to support Marandon as a plausible given name in period. Metron Ariston explains:
I was not able to find any instances of the root form or the diminutive in period as either a given name or a surname. Indeed, the earliest example I could find was in the mid-eighteenth century with the military engineer Francesco Marandon who was active in Malta in the 1740's. Indeed, since the earliest instances I was able to find for Marand in genealogical materials were associated with Marennes and Marans in the vicinity of La Rochelle in France, I have every reason to believe that the surname Marand and Marandon is actually locative in nature, probably from Marans.
As Marand, from which the diminutive Marandon derives, appears to originate from a place name rather than a given name, it is highly unlikely that Marand was used as a given name in period, much less that it spawned a diminutive such as Marandon in period. Therefore, lacking evidence that Marandon is plausible as a given name in period, it is not registerable.
The submitter requested authenticity for Scots Gaelic and allowed minor changes. Mouren was documented from Black (p. 616 s.n. Mouren). However, this entry does not support the form Mouren as being used in period. No time frame for the form Mouren is mentioned in this entry at all, implying that the name is a modern Scots (a language closely related to English) name. Instead, this entry gives Muirgen as Old Irish and Morgen as Old Welsh forms of this name. Lacking evidence that Mouren is a plausible name in period, it is not registerable.
As the submitter only allowed minor changes, and changing the language of the given name from Scots to Welsh or Gaelic is a major change, we were unable to change this name to a documentable form in order to register this name.
Similar sounding names that may interest the submitter include Muirenn, an Irish Gaelic name dated to the 9th C in Ó Corráin & Maguire p. 131 s.n. Muirenn, and Morina, which is a Latinizied Irish name dated to the 14th C in Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn's article "Names & Naming Practices in the Red Book of Ormond" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/lateirish/ormond.html). Tangwystyl's article gives Morin as the hypothetical Gaelic name represented by the Latin Morina.
This name violates RfS VI.1, "Names Claiming Rank", which states in part:
Names containing titles, territorial claims, or allusions to rank are considered presumptuous.
[...] Names documented to have been used in period may be used, even if they were derived from titles, provided there is no suggestion of territorial claim or explicit assertion of rank. For example, Regina the Laundress is acceptable but Regina of Germany is not.
As Rayne is a variant of Regina, the restrictions regarding the use of Regina also apply to the name Rayne. Therefore, Rayne of Skye is presumptuous as it could be interpreted as 'Queen of Skye'.
A schnecke should fill most of the field. This schnecke is constrained almost entirely in the sinister chief quarter of the field. This needs to be redrawn in order to be acceptable, which will require drawing the annulet somewhat smaller.
This name was withdrawn by the submitter.
This name is too evocative of the Order of the Rose. Precedent states:
[Order of the Anvil and the Rose] The name is being returned conflict with the Order of the Rose (SCA peerage order). RfS VI.4 Other Presumptuous Names states:
Some names not otherwise forbidden by these rules are nevertheless too evocative of widely known and revered protected items to be registered.
Such items include the peerage orders of the Society and such well-known items outside the Society as the Order of the Garter. The House of the Rose and Laurel does not conflict with the Order of the Rose or the Order of the Laurel, but it is too evocative of both to be registered. Similarly, the Award of the Blue Garter is too evocative of the Order of the Garter, whose badge is a blue garter.
The rules specifically say the Order of the Rose and the Laurel is too evocative of both names to be registered. [Blackstone Mountain, Barony of, 07/97, R-East]
House of the Sword and Rose and Order of the Anvil and the Rose have the same level of difference from the Order of the Rose. Therefore, House of the Sword and Rose is too evocative of the Order of the Rose to be registered.
The hand and the knife are the same size. As a result, the hand, dagger and oak trees are all in the same group of secondary charges around the pall. This violates RfS VIII.1.a, which puts a maximum of two types of charge in any charge group. Also, the number of types and tinctures of the charges adds to nine, which exceeds the complexity rule of thumb in RfS VIII.1.a.
Conflict with Suzanne of Ravenhill, Or, a raven contourny sable maintaining a broken tilting spear banded sable and gules. There is one CD for adding the bordure but no difference for changing the maintained charge.
The SCA does not allow charged tierces: "On and after June 1, 1991, the College will no longer register charged sides or tierces." (CL 3/8/91 p.1)
Conflict with Eric of Bhakail, Azure, a chevron throughout between three mallets fesswise Or and with Edmund Middleton of York, Azure, a chevron between three estoiles Or. In each case, there is only one CD for changing the type of the group of secondary charges around the chevron.
No documentation was found that Siridean was used as a given name in period.
Siridean was submitted based on the Gaelic surname form Ó Sirideáin found in MacLysaght's The Surnames of Ireland (s.n. (O) Sheridan). However, not all Mac and Ó surnames derive from given names. Some derive from descriptive bynames. For example, the surname Ó Balbháin (Woulfe, p. 433 s.n. Ó Balbháin) means 'descendant of the stammerer'. Metron Ariston describes the uncertainty regarding the origin of this name:
There has been a great deal of controversy over the etymology of Sheridan and its Irish antecedent over the years. Some people state that the putative Ó Sirideáin meant "son of the Searcher", i.e., is an attributive patronymic rather than a patronymic formed from a given name. Others insist it must have been derived from a rare given name (based largely on its use as a patronymic as far as I can tell). The Clan Sheridan web site itself (www.longfordtourism.com/genealogy/sheridan.html) notes "O' Shiridean literally translates as decendants of Sheridan the meaning of which is uncertain." I was not able to find a clear instance of its use as a given name (as opposed to a portion of a patronymic) in period [...].
Lacking evidence that Siridean is plausible as a given name in Gaelic in period, it is not registerable as a given name.
The device conflicts with the important non-SCA arms of Bohun, Earl of Hereford, Constable of England, Azure, a bend argent cotised between six lions rampant Or. There is no difference for changing the type of one of a group of six lions, leaving only one CD for changing the number of secondary charges.
Conflict with Timothy of Arindale, Sable, a winged bear segreant within a bordure embattled Or. There is one CD for removing the wings but no difference for adding the maintained charge.
This name introduces a single German element Johannes in an otherwise Frisian name. In a name that consists of more than two elements, it makes sense to judge the construction of the name in terms of the language of the majority of the elements in the name. Therefore, the construction of this name must be evaluated as a Frisian name. No evidence has been presented that double given names were found in Frisian. Therefore, this name cannot be registered as submitted.
As the submitter does not allow major changes, we cannot drop the second given name Johannes to register the name.
This order name was submitted under the Grandfather Clause based on the order name The Sigillum Principissae, which was registered to Drachenwald in January 1993. However, 'crown' and 'princess' are not similar items. The word 'princess' is a title used by royalty. No evidence was provided and none was found that 'crown' was used as a title by royalty in period. Lacking such evidence, this order name is not registerable.
Metron Ariston provided information about parallels for the structure in the registered order name The Sigillum Principissae:
[S]ince the old order name is actually a Latin translation of the Princess' Cypher, originally derived from the East Kingdom's Queen's Cypher, this is not really a grandfathered pattern. For this to be analogous, the name would have to be Sigillum Regis or Sigillum Reginae.
One of these forms would be a registerable parallel for the construction seen in the registered order name The Sigillum Principissae.
Conflict with Cerdic Weyfare, Gyronny arrondy of six gules and argent, and Ottar Hrafnsson, Gyronny arrondy Or and azure. There is no difference between gyronny of eight and gyronny of six, and since both devices share a tincture with Hallr's, there is only one CD for changing the tincture of the field.
Gyronny should always be drawn with one of its constituent lines fesswise. With straight lines, one can blazon a field like this one as per pale and per saltire, but this is not possible when the lines are arrondy. This design has been returned for redrawing in the LoAR of September 1996:
[Gyronny arrondi of six argent and gules] This is being returned for a redraw. As Master Bruce as Laurel said in his 3/93 cover letter "Parker, p.301, states that gyronny of six should be symmetric around the horizontal axis, not the vertical axis; and this is borne out by such period examples as I've been able to uncover."
The submission was originally blazoned with sable rather than with argent. However, the coloring of the emblazon used the palest of grey to depict the sable. Very pale grey is argent, not sable. While we do give allowances for the fact that colored pencil, the medium used to color this emblazon, is often a light shade of the represented tincture, this emblazon is unacceptable in any medium. The Cover Letter for the LoAR of June 1997 color letter stated:
We want to remind the College that we register what is submitted, and not the blazon... If the copier/printer [or other medium] can not produce recognizable tinctures, it shouldn't be used. If it is used, the submission may be returned.
This name is being returned for violation of RfS III.1.a, which requires linguistic consistency in a name phrase. In this case Ordre du is French and Meritum Martialis is Latin. As the submitters allow no changes, we were unable to change this name to a registerable form.
This name was intended to mean 'Order of Martial Merit'. Metron Ariston provided information regarding correctly constructed Latin and French forms of this order name:
Note that meritum does NOT come from the French merite, as stated on the Letter of Intent. The French form is derived from the well-documented classical Latin word meritum. An all-Latin form would be Ordo Meriti Martialis though Ordre Meriti Martialis would probably also work. An appropriate all-French form would be Ordre du Mérite Martial.
The invected line on the chief is not drawn identifiably. The repeats are too numerous and too shallow. This is a reason for return per RfS VII.7.a. In addition, please advise the submitters to draw the laurel wreath with leaves on both the inside and outside of the wreath, rather than just on the outside of the wreath as drawn in this emblazon.
With the best will in the world, we could not identify the charge in chief as a candle or as any other heraldic charge. This is not acceptable by RfS VII.7.a. A lit candle is much easier to identify, as the flame helps the overall identifiability of the charge. It is possible to draw an unlit candle in an identifiable fashion but this candle is drawn unusually, with spiky shapes at the wick end (possibly meant as wax drippings) that confuse the outline of the charge. Candles are almost always depicted palewise, so the unusual orientation of the charge may also contribute to the difficulty in identifiability.
Please advise the submitter to draw the chevron so it is centered on the field.
No forms were received for this submission.
MacLeister was submitted as an undated header in Black. The submitter requested authenticity for 15th to 16th C Scottish and indicated that if MacLeister was not registerable, he would accept McInleister, which is dated to 1613 in Black (s.n. MacLeister). If sound is important to the submitter, he may wish to know that Metron Ariston found that this entry in Black also dates Johnne McClester to 1541, showing a form in his desired time period that is also closer in pronunciation to his desired MacLeister than McInleister.
This armory violates our rules on marshalling. RfS XI.3 states "Divisions commonly used for marshalling, such as quarterly or per pale, may only be used in contexts that ensure marshalling is not suggested. Such fields may only be used when no single portion of the field may appear to be an independent piece of armory." This badge appears to be impaling the arms Purpure, a roundel argent charged with a letter P purpure with Argent, a roundel purpure charged with a triskele argent.
This badge also conflicts with the SCA's registered badge for the Children's Officer, Per pale purpure and argent, two roundels counterchanged. There is only one CD for adding the tertiary charges.
Lastly, we note that the Letter of Intent did not state the intended purpose for the badge. As noted in the Cover Letter to the November LoAR, "We believe that badges should only be registered for current or identified need." We thus request that, on resubmission, the submitters identify the intended use for this badge.
This name conflicts with the Argonauts of Greek legend, who have their own entry in the online version of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica (s.n. Argonauts).
A chi-rho is functionally a single abstract symbol. Although most two-letter combinations would not be so considered, the chi-rho has, through long use in religious symbolism, achieved an independent identity as a single abstract symbol. "Current precedent disallows the registration of solitary abstract symbols" (July 2000 LoAR, reaffirmed in August 2001).
The mini-emblazon depicted the wolves so that they were notably larger than the mullet of eight points pierced, matching the original blazon, Argent, two wolves combatant azure and in chief a mullet of eight pierced gules. However, on the submission form, the three charges are of roughly equal size. As a result, the College has not had an opportunity to correctly comment on the armory presented for submission. The Cover Letter for the April 2002 LoAR stated:
In the last few months, there have been cases where the mini-emblazon included with the Letter of Intent did not accurately represent the emblazon on the submission form. If the emblazon does not match the form, the CoA cannot produce useful commentary, which in turn does not allow a decision on that item. The CoA has enough to review without commenting on the "wrong" item. A mismatch between the LoI emblazon and what is on the submission form can be reason for administrative return. If you produce LoIs, please double-check that the mini-emblazons on your letters are a good representation of the emblazons on the submission forms.
Photoreduction is recommended over redrawing. Scanning can be used with care. Many complaints have been received about mini-emblazons which were produced by scanning at inappropriate settings, rendering elements of the armory invisible or otherwise unidentifiable.
This submission must therefore be returned.
The caltrops are too many and too small to be recognized. This is a reason for return by RfS VIII.3.
The mini-emblazon on the letter of intent was not representative of the full-sized emblazon and had a smaller number of larger caltrops. As a result, the College was not able to adequately comment on the armory. The Cover Letter for the April 2002 LoAR stated:
In the last few months, there have been cases where the mini-emblazon included with the Letter of Intent did not accurately represent the emblazon on the submission form. If the emblazon does not match the form, the CoA cannot produce useful commentary, which in turn does not allow a decision on that item. The CoA has enough to review without commenting on the "wrong" item. A mismatch between the LoI emblazon and what is on the submission form can be reason for administrative return. If you produce LoIs, please double-check that the mini-emblazons on your letters are a good representation of the emblazons on the submission forms.
Photoreduction is recommended over redrawing. Scanning can be used with care. Many complaints have been received about mini-emblazons which were produced by scanning at inappropriate settings, rendering elements of the armory invisible or otherwise unidentifiable.
This name conflicts with Order of the Raven registered to the Barony of Raven's Fort in October 2002. As designators are transparent for conflict purposes, there is no difference for the change from Order to Pursuivant.
This emblazon does not clearly use a point pointed, nor does it clearly use a per chevron division. This is reason for return by RfS VII.7.a.
The top of the point pointed is slightly above the fess line in the large sized emblazon. The mini-emblazon showed a standard point pointed, which was notably shorter than the one in the full-sized emblazon. Therefore, the difference between the mini-emblazon and the full-sized emblazon did not allow the College to comment properly on this submission. The Cover Letter for the April 2002 LoAR stated:
In the last few months, there have been cases where the mini-emblazon included with the Letter of Intent did not accurately represent the emblazon on the submission form. If the emblazon does not match the form, the CoA cannot produce useful commentary, which in turn does not allow a decision on that item. The CoA has enough to review without commenting on the "wrong" item. A mismatch between the LoI emblazon and what is on the submission form can be reason for administrative return. If you produce LoIs, please double-check that the mini-emblazons on your letters are a good representation of the emblazons on the submission forms.
Photoreduction is recommended over redrawing. Scanning can be used with care. Many complaints have been received about mini-emblazons which were produced by scanning at inappropriate settings, rendering elements of the armory invisible or otherwise unidentifiable.
No forms were received for this submission.
The original blazon, Per chevron vert and per pale Or and gules, a chevron dovetailed on the upper edge argent between in fess three compass stars and a fleur-de-lys florency counterchanged, was unclear about the tincture of the counterchanged charges on this field, as there is no well-defined behavior for counterchanging charges on a field per chevron and per pale. In particular, the College was unable to ascertain the tincture of the compass stars. This must therefore be pended for further conflict research.
There were some questions about the contrast of this field. We note that the Cover Letter for the LoAR of October 2000 gives substantial discussion of "medium contrast" fields, defined as fields "divided so that half was a solid color and half was evenly divided between color and metal." Such fields are, given the Cover Letter discussion, clearly acceptable as long as the charges on them have acceptable contrast (which is the main topic of discussion in the Cover Letter). By the guidelines in the Cover Letter for the October 2000 LoAR, in this submission, both the field and the charges upon it have acceptable contrast.
The submitter should be advised, at the completion of the pend of this armory, to draw fewer and larger dovetails on the chevron.
(This submission was item number 14 on Ansteorra's LoI of October 20, 2002.)
The non-SCA arms of the Earl of Atholl, Paly Or and sable, were presented for possible protection in the LoAR of August 2002 (printed November 14, 2002). This submission conflicts with those arms, with one CD for changing half the tincture from Or to sable and no further difference for reversing the order of the tinctures of a paly field. This submission is thus pended until the March 2003 Wreath meeting, when the Atholl arms will be considered.
Nota bene: this is an exception to the pend-to date at the top of this section. This item has already been ruled on and will be in the March LoAR.
The pale was not blazoned as argent on the Letter of Intent, which (given the rest of the blazon) led the College to believe that the pale was Or. This is thus pended for further conflict research.
(This submission was item number 12 on Caid's LoI of October 25, 2002.)
This item appeared in different forms in the electronic and paper copies of the LoI. As a result, some commenters provided commentary on Sea-Dog Herald and some on Sea-Griffin Herald. The forms indicate that the submitted name was Sea-Griffin Herald, which matches the paper LoI rather than the electronic LoI.
The text for this item that appeared in the paper copy of the LoI is as follows:
New title "Sea-Griffin" Herald. Sea-Griffin is listed as a heraldic charge in the Pictoral Dictionary of Heraldry as used in the SCA, s.n. Sea-Monster and is therefore acceptable as a heraldic title under RfS III.2.b.iii.
We are pending this item to allow the College to provide commentary.
(This submission was on Trimaris's paper LoI of October 15, 2002.)
Created at 2003-05-22T23:38:53