Society for Creative Anachronism

College of Arms

16308 SE 165th St

Renton, WA 98058-8221

+1-425-277-0763

herald@sca.org

For the August 2007 meetings, printed November 26, 2007

To all the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive, from Elisabeth Laurel, Jeanne Marie Wreath, and Margaret Pelican, greetings.

Items listed below in square brackets have not been scheduled yet. For information about future scheduling, please review the status table located on the Web at http://oscar.sca.org/index.php?action=137.

The August Laurel decisions were made at the Pennsic roadshow held on Monday, August 6, 2007, at the Pelican meeting held at Pennsic, and at the Wreath meeting held on August 19, 2007. These meetings considered the following Letters of Intent: East (3 Apr 2007), Northshield (6 Apr 2007), Æthelmearc (15 Apr 2007), Middle (15 Apr 2007), Drachenwald (21 Apr 2007), Caid (25 Apr 2007), Meridies (25 Apr 2007), West (25 Apr 2007), Ansteorra (27 Apr 2007), Atenveldt (25 Apr 2007), Laurel LoPaD (27 Apr 2007), Outlands (27 Apr 2007), Atlantia (29 Apr 2007), and An Tir (30 Apr 2007). Original commentary on these letters should have been in the College's hands no later than June 30, 2007. Responses and rebuttals to commentary should have been in the College's hands no later than July 31, 2007.

The September Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held Sunday, September 23, 2007 and at the Wreath Meeting held on Sunday, September 30, 2007. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: [Trimaris (30 Apr 2007)(pushed for administrative reasons)], Calontir (06 May 2007), Lochac (13 May 2007), Æthelmearc (15 May 2007), [Drachenwald (20 May 2007)], Laurel LoPaD (21 May 2007), East (21 May 2007), Artemisia (22 May 2007), An Tir (23 May 2007), Lochac (27 May 2007), Atlantia (28 May 2007), Ansteorra (29 May 2007), Atenveldt (29 May 2007), and West (31 May 2007). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by August 31, 2007.

The October Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Saturday, October 27, 2007, and at the Wreath meeting held Sunday, October 14, 2007. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Middle (03 Jun 2007), Outlands (03 Jun 2007), Laurel LoPaD (14 Jun, 2007), West (19 Jun 2007), Gleann Abhann (20 Jun 2007), Calontir (20 Jun 2007), East (24 Jun 2007), [Drachenwald (25 Jun 2007)], Lochac (25 Jun 2007), Outlands (27 Jun 2007), Æthelmearc (28 Jun 2007), An Tir (28 Jun 2007), Atlantia (28 Jun 2007), Meridies (28 Jun 2007), [Trimaris(28 Jun 2007)], Atenveldt (29 Jun 2007), Palimpsest Rules Letter (29 Jun 2007), Ansteorra (30 Jun 2007), Caid (30 Jun 2007), Ealdormere (30 Jun 2007), and Northshield (30 Jun 2007). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by September 30, 2007.

The November Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Saturday, November 17, 2007 and at the Wreath meeting held on Sunday, November 4, 2007. These meetings considered the following Letters of Intent: East (03 Jul, 2007), [Gleann Abhann (05 Jul, 2007)], Loyall (10 Jul, 2007), Laurel (15 Jul, 2007), [Drachenwald (20 Jul, 2007)], West (27 Jul, 2007), Meridies (25 Jul, 2007), Calontir (26 Jul, 2007), Atlantia (26 Jul, 2007), Atenveldt (28 Jul, 2007), Outlands (30 Jul, 2007), Lochac (30 Jul, 2007), Ansteorra (31 Jul, 2007), Siren (31 Jul, 2007), [An Tir (31 Jul, 2007)], and Artemisia (31 Jul, 2007). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by October 31, 2007.

The December Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican meeting held on Saturday, December 15, 2007 and at the Wreath meeting held Sunday, December 16, 2007. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: [Middle (04 Aug, 2007)], Northshield (09 Aug, 2007), East (10 Aug, 2007), East (16 Aug, 2007), Æthelmearc (17 Aug, 2007), [Drachenwald (20 Aug, 2007)], Laurel LoPaD (22 Aug, 2007), Calontir (25 Aug, 2007), Outlands (27 Aug, 2007), Atlantia (28 Aug, 2007), [An Tir (30 Aug, 2007)], [Lochac (30 Aug, 2007)], [Meridies (30 Aug, 2007)], and Caid (31 Aug, 2007). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Friday, November 30, 2007.

The January Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican and Wreath meetings held in January 2008. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: [Atenveldt (01 Sep 2007)], East (06 Sep 2007), Caid (20 Sep 2007), [Gleann Abhann (20 Sep 2007)], [Drachenwald (24 Sep 2007)], Northshield (27 Sep 2007), [West (27 Sep 2007)], [Ansteorra (29 Sep 2007)], Calontir (29 Sep 2007), Outlands (29 Sep 2007), [An Tir (30 Sep 2007)], Atlantia (30 Sep 2007), Æthelmearc (30 Sep 2007), Calontir (30 Sep 2007), [Meridies (30 Sep 2007)], and the Siren LoItP (30 Sep 2007). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Monday, December 31, 2007.

The February Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican and Wreath meetings held in February 2008. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: Laurel LoPaD (08 Oct 2007), [Middle (14 Oct 2007)], [Atenveldt (15 Oct 2007)], [Drachenwald (20 Oct 2007)], [Caid (26 Oct 2007)], Laurel LoPaD (28 Oct 2007), [Atlantia (29 Oct 2007)], [An Tir (30 Oct 2007)], [Ansteorra (30 Oct 2007)], [Lochac (30 Oct 2007)], [Meridies (30 Oct 2007)], [Artemisia (31 Oct 2007)], [Caid (31 Oct 2007)], [Calontir (31 Oct 2007)], [East (31 Oct 2007)], Northshield (31 Oct 2007), [Outlands (31 Oct 2007)], [Trimaris (31 Oct 2007)], [West (31 Oct 2007)]. All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Thursday, January 31, 2008.

Not all letters of intent may be considered when they are originally scheduled on this cover letter. The date of mailing of the LoI, date of receipt of the Laurel packet, or other factors may delay consideration of certain letters of intent. Additionally, some letters of intent received may not have been scheduled because the administrative requirements (receipt of the forms packet, receipt of the necessary fees, et cetera) have not yet been met.

REMINDER: Until all administrative requirements are met, the letter may not be scheduled.

From Laurel: Submissions Heralds List and the LoAR

As some of you are aware, there is a list specifically for submissions heralds on sca.org. However, it has come to my attention that not everyone knew this.

This list may be subscribed to at http://lists.sca.org/listinfo/submissions_heralds I would Very Strongly Urge all Kingdom external submissions heralds to subscribe to this list, as well as any other interested parties, especially Principal Heralds.

While of course discussion about the ways and means of heraldic submission may take place elsewhere, I would prefer that discussion among those heralds whose specific task this is be on an sca.org list, particularly when questions of policy come up.

There also seems to be some confusion about how to receive the electronic LoAR (which is the only kind we have now). This is available to anyone. Send an e-mail in the subject to the following addresses, depending on your preferred format(s):

HTML format: loar-htm-request@scadian.net

PDF format: loar-pdf-request@scadian.net

RTF format: loar-rtf-request@scadian.net

Da'uded text format: loar-txt-request@scadian.net

WordPerfect format: loar-wp5-request@scadian.net

This information is available on the Laurel web site, as well.

If you have questions, please contact Laurel.

From Wreath: Bleu-Celeste and Other Tinctures

Recently there have been calls to return armory that uses a light azure. Commenters quote the precedent:

The real point that I am trying to make here is that the SCA has always "picked and chosen" from among what period heralds did to apply to our own "game".

I'm surprised that no one told you we follow pre-1485 English (i.e. Plantagenet) usage.... We are not restricted to Plantagenet usage; we accept other charges and conventions on an individual basis, and invent our own at need. Thus we will accept a Norse Jelling-beast, not to mention the Hrassvelg monster, while refusing to employ sanguine or bleu-celeste.

(Da'ud Laurel quoting Karina Laurel in the October 1991 Cover Letter)

Also quoted is:

We have known for a considerable number of years that there were numerous instances of "false heraldry" (violations of the rule of tincture) in Continental armory, not to mention JERUSALEM. Appendix F of Woodward is devoted to proving the "multitudinous instances" of Les Armes Fausses. We have also known of the "other tinctures" to be found on the Continent - bleu-celeste and iron-grey, for example - and of the "stainand [sic] colors" (murrey, sanguine, tenné). The point is that we have steadfastly refused to allow such practices to "intrude upon the purity of Society heraldry" (HB, 20 Sep 71, p. 3); and that chief among the arguments against them is the issue of contrast... [LoAR 04/1986]

We do not blazon bleu-celeste, but it is undoubtedly blue and is thus registered as azure. The fact that the color is a light blue, rather than the standard blue is almost never mentioned. As long as the color is clearly blue (and not so light that it lacks contrast with argent or Or) it will be registerable, and blazoned as azure. We continue to decline the use of bleu-celeste in blazon and note that no difference will be granted between any shade of blue.

As to the other tinctures in mentioned in the 1986 precedent, we accept a tincture if it can clearly be associated with one of the standard heraldic tinctures. Thus sanguine, when it is clearly red, is usually registered as gules, while murrey is generally returned as it is neither clearly purpure nor clearly gules. Grey is generally registered as argent, though occasionally it has been registered as sable when it is very dark or returned for blurring the distinction between argent and sable. Tenné is not registered because orange is neither clearly Or nor clearly gules.

From Wreath: On Falcons and Ravens

The submission this month from Merlyn Elzebeth von Preßela raised the issue of whether or not there is a CD between a raven and a merlin. A merlin is a type of falcon and is considered heraldically identical to a standard falcon. In February 2001 Laurel ruled: "As rising is a reasonable posture for both ravens and hawks, we would normally give a CD for the change of type of the bird." In January 2002 the opposite was ruled, with the Cover Letter noting: "Falcons close are not entitled to difference from corbies close." (Corbie and raven are essentially two names for the same bird.)

In February 2006 it was ruled that:

This [(Fieldless) A popinjay vert] is not a conflict with Hrefna in heppna Þorgrímsdóttir, (Fieldless) A raven vert. Both popinjays and ravens are period charges and no evidence has been found that the two were interchangeable in period heraldry. We can, in fact, show that when the two birds were rendered by the same artist, pains were taken to keep them distinct. Typical is the Zurich Roll, which has both popinjays (in the arms of Sanct Johann, d'argent au perroquet de sinople acc. de deux etoiles de sable rengees en barre) and crows (in the arms of Schifer, de gueules au chef d'argent charge d'un corbeau de sable). The popinjay's beak is the typical hooked form we associate with parrots, macaws, budgies, etc, while the crow's beak is long and pointy. The popinjay also has a long, pointed tail. The raven has a long but raggedly square tail and a shorter neck than the popinjay. Other examples include the Armorial Bellenville, the Grand Equestrian Armorial, de Bara's Blason des Armoiries, and Siebmacher (von Rabenstein, plate 105, and von Puchenaw, plate 141). While the differences vary from artist to artist, in each case ravens and [sic] drawn distinctly different from popinjays.

Both Hrenfa's and Catherine's birds are in their standard period posture (close), are drawn correctly, and there is a visual difference. Thus the criteria laid out by Laurel in the January 2002 Cover Letter are met; we will therefore grant a CD between a raven and a popinjay.

There is still no difference granted between a falcon and raven, nor between a falcon and a popinjay; however, conflict is not transitive and -- until it is shown that popinjays and ravens were interchangeable in period -- we will grant a CD between properly drawn ravens and popinjays.

Since February 2006 additional research has been done by Batonvert on period depictions of falcons and ravens. He notes:

I've attached a few scans from the Zurich Roll, from Stemmario Trivulziano, from Guillim, and from Siebmacher [not included in this letter - Wreath]. In each case there's a crow/raven/corvid and a falcon (in most cases, the cant on the name makes that clear). And in every case, there's one consistent difference between the falcon and the corvid: The falcon has a hooked beak. While the corvid's beak is straight -- every time.

The consistency here suggests that period heralds *did* distinguish between these two birds. They certainly tried to draw them differently -- a rendition might vary between artists, but each individual artist made the distinction. This was the argument that let us grant a CD between ravens and parrots, some months past, and I don't see why it shouldn't apply here.

The examples that Batonvert provided were as follows: the canting arms of Kromair and of Falcke (Siebmacher, plates 63, 189); the arms of Schifer and the canting arms of Falkenstein (Zurich Roll #413, #454); the canting arms of de Corbis and the arms of di Iorsenove (Stemmario Trivulziano, pp. 99, 180); and the canting arms of Corbet and the arms of Weele (Guillim, pp. 230, 229).

Normally a detail as small as a beak would not be grounds for a CD; however, RfS X.4.e states in part "Types of charges considered to be separate in period, for example a lion and an heraldic tyger, will be considered different." As a merlin/falcon close and a raven close are both period heraldic charges, in their period posture (close), and as period heralds consistently distinguished, in their heraldic art, the birds in these positions, we will grant a CD between a merlin/falcon close and a raven close.

Send What to Whom

Letters of Intent, Comment, Response, Correction, et cetera are to be posted to the OSCAR online system. No paper copies need be sent.

Submission packets (one copy of each name form plus documentation, including petitions; two colored copies of each armory form plus two copies of any associated documentation, including petitions) to the SCA College of Arms, PO Box 31755, Billings, MT 59107-1755.

Cheques or money orders for submissions, payable to "SCA Inc.-College of Arms" are to: Laurel Chancellor of Exchequer, 4N400 Church Rd, Bensenville, IL 60106-2928.

Send roster changes and corrections to Laurel. College of Arms members may also request a copy of the current roster from Laurel.

For a paper copy of a LoAR, please contact Laurel, at the address above. The cost for one LoAR is $3. Please make all checks or money orders payable to "SCA Inc.-College of Arms". For subscriptions to the electronic copy of the LoAR, please contact Laurel at herald@sca.org. The electronic copy is available free of charge.

For all administrative matters, please contact Laurel.

Pray know that I remain,

In service,

Elisabeth de Rossignol

Laurel Principal Queen of Arms