June 2012 Letter of Acceptances and Returns

Society for Creative Anachronism
College of Arms

2212 S. 64th Plaza, #418
Omaha, NE, 68106
+1 952 412 4112
[email protected]

For the June 2012 meetings, printed Sunday, August 5, 2012

To all the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive, from Gabriel Laurel, Juliana Pelican, and Emma Wreath, 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 June Laurel decisions were made at the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, June 9, 2012, the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, June 10, 2012, and the Joint Laurel Road Show at KWHSS on Sunday, June 24, 2012. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Laurel LoPaD (29 Feb, 2012) (issued in March), Æthelmearc (02 Mar, 2012), Northshield (02 Mar, 2012), Caid (11 Mar, 2012), Ansteorra Other Letter (15 Mar, 2012), Atenveldt (20 Mar, 2012), West (24 Mar, 2012), East (26 Mar, 2012), Ansteorra (28 Mar, 2012), Atlantia (29 Mar, 2012), Lochac (29 Mar, 2012), Drachenwald (30 Mar, 2012), Meridies (30 Mar, 2012), Northshield Other Letter (30 Mar, 2012), Ealdormere (31 Mar, 2012), and Outlands (31 Mar, 2012). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Thursday, May 31, 2012.

The July Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, July 1, 2012 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, July 28, 2023. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: Artemisia (31 Mar, 2012) (pushed due to lack of packet), Caid (01 Apr, 2012), An Tir (02 Apr, 2012), Calontir (03 Apr, 2012), Atlantia (07 Apr, 2012), Laurel LoPaD (08 Apr, 2012), Northshield (08 Apr, 2012), Ealdormere (19 Apr, 2012), Middle (20 Apr, 2012), Atenveldt (25 Apr, 2012), East (25 Apr, 2012), West (27 Apr, 2012), Lochac (28 Apr, 2012), An Tir (29 Apr, 2012), Ansteorra (30 Apr, 2012), Gleann Abhann (30 Apr, 2012), Meridies (30 Apr, 2012), and Outlands (30 Apr, 2012). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Saturday, June 30, 2012.

The August Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican and Wreath meetings held in August 2012. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: Æthelmearc (04 May, 2012), Trimaris (04 May, 2012), Laurel LoPaD (06 May, 2012), East (12 May, 2012), Northshield (18 May, 2012), Atenveldt (20 May, 2012), Caid (25 May, 2012), Artemisia (28 May, 2012), An Tir (29 May, 2012), Lochac (29 May, 2012), Ealdormere (30 May, 2012), Middle (30 May, 2012), Outlands (30 May, 2012), Ansteorra (31 May, 2012), Atlantia (31 May, 2012), Drachenwald (31 May, 2012), Gleann Abhann (31 May, 2012), Meridies (31 May, 2012), and West (31 May, 2012). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Tuesday, July 31, 2012.

The September Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican and Wreath meetings held in September 2012. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: Laurel LoPaD (07 Jun, 2012), Middle (07 Jun, 2012), [Atenveldt (25 Jun, 2012)], East (25 Jun, 2012), [Æthelmearc (27 Jun, 2012)], Lochac (27 Jun, 2012), [Atlantia (28 Jun, 2012)], [Caid (29 Jun, 2012)], [Æthelmearc (30 Jun, 2012)], [An Tir (30 Jun, 2012)], [Ansteorra (30 Jun, 2012)], Drachenwald (30 Jun, 2012), [Gleann Abhann (30 Jun, 2012)], Meridies (30 Jun, 2012), [Outlands (30 Jun, 2012)], Palimpsest Rules Letter (30 Jun, 2012). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Friday, August 31, 2012.

Not all letters of intent may be considered when they are originally scheduled on this cover letter. The date of posting 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: KWHSS 2012 Thank Yous and KWHSS 2013 Announcement *

The 2012 Known World Heralds and Scribes Symposium has come and gone. The Symposium was fantastic in no little part because of the event staff and the teachers who volunteered to share their knowledge with all. I very much appreciate all the hard work the event staff put in to this, and thank the teachers for their help.

We have decided! The 2013 Known World Heralds and Scribes Symposium (KWHSS) will be held in the Barony of Bjornsborg in the Kingdom of Ansteorra (San Antonio, Texas) on June 28-30, 2013. More information to follow.

From Pelican and Wreath: Submissions Analysis for June *

Just like last month, we are sharing our counts of the results of considering submissions this month under both the Rules for Submissions and the Standards for Evaluation. These counts include registered or returned items only; no administrative actions such as transfers or acceptances, associations of existing armory, heraldic wills, or other such letters will be included in these counts.

"Armory style" and "armory conflict" indicate if a submitted item could only be passed under one rule set or the other due to conflict or style issues. For example, a submission that could not be registered under the old rules due to conflict but could be registered without conflict under the new standards will be counted as "passed under the new standards, but not old" as armory conflict.

If math is not your thing, it may be interesting to note that if all submissions were considered only under the Rules for Submissions, there would be an 86% success rate. Considered only under the Standards for Evaluation, there would be an 87% success rate.

From Palimpsest and Pelican: Tidying up Some Typos *

It has come to our attention that there are two minor errors in the Standards for Evaluation of Names and Armory. As these were unintentional errors that do not seriously affect the Standards or their implementation, we are simply correcting them.

First, in the Table of Regional Naming Groups and Their Mixes in Appendix C, Italian is shown as a compatible Naming Group for Iberian, but the reverse is not true. This is an oversight, and Iberian should be listed as a compatible Naming Group for Italian for both time periods.

Second, in Appendix F, under A Partial List of Registerable Tinctures, it says that the "main heraldic tinctures are listed in A.4.B.1". This is a pure typo, and it should instead refer to A.3.B.1.

From Pelican: Lingual Mixes in the Standards for Evaluation *

Several questions have emerged about how to use Appendix C: Regional Naming Groups and their Mixes. This aims to clarify these issues.

The temporal divisions in Appendix C (550-1100 and 1100-1600) are not two different naming groups. A single regional naming group as described in PN2C2 exists from 550 until the end of period. The reason that we distinguish an "early" period from a "late" period is that the allowable lingual mixes change over time. Thus, a given name dated to 1010 can be mixed with a byname dated to 1500 if both are in a single naming group. On the other hand, an Arabic given name dated to 1050 cannot be mixed with a byname from Turkish, as Turkish is only compatible with Arabic names found in the "late" period.

Additional lingual mixes may be registered, but the combination of name elements must be documented. The Standards say "Names that mix name phrases from different times and/or places are allowed if the name meets one of the following conditions.... c. The name mixes name phrases from naming pools that can be documented as having been used together in the personal names of real people." This is a higher standard than the standard of the Rules for Submissions, in which substantial contact between two cultures was sufficient to allow elements from two languages to be combined. This is in part because "substantial contact" was never well defined, so that the standards had varied over time for how much contact was required. Additionally, decisions varied depending on who had commented and hence presented evidence when the decision needed to be made. Now, European cultures who lived in close contact are allowed under the standards of Appendix C and do not need to be documented individually.

The Standards for Evaluation also remove the problem of "steps from period practice" from names. Under the Rules for Submissions, temporal and linguistic incompatibility were treated as steps from period practice. An item with two steps from period practice was returned, while an item with a single step from period practice was registered. This created confusion, as we defined multiple "languages" separated by time in some regions, while treating other regions as a single "language" over time. Under the Standards for Evaluation, we are not using steps from period practice. Instead, a name (including lingual and temporal mixes) is either registerable or unregisterable. As such, only those mixes that were not a "step from period practice" are allowed outside of the framework of Appendix C.

From Pelican: Some Name Resources (an Ongoing Series) *

This month, in honor of the discussion of Appendix C, I'm going to discuss the philosophy behind the regional naming groups. They are not intended to be groups of languages that are closely related linguistically. Instead, they are intended to be groups of languages that share a set of names in common. Thus, Welsh, a Brythonic Celtic language, is grouped with English, a Germanic language, because names were borrowed freely back and forth by the 16th century. Likewise, Basque is grouped with other languages spoken in modern Spain and Portugal, although it is not related to them. This is because names were borrowed back and forth.

This reminds us, then, that names and languages are not identical: typically "English" names may be Aramaic, Greek, Latin, French, German, Norse, or Welsh in origin, to name a few languages. However, once these names are used by English people, we talk about them as English names.

Let us also be clear: just because we allow these naming groups to be mixed between elements does not remove the requirement that a name phrase (a given name or byname) be consistent with a single time and place.

From Wreath: Presumption Due to Name and Armory Combination *

A submission this month required us to consider whether the use of an escarbuncle of chain Or in combination with the surname de Navarra is presumptuous. The arms of Navarre are Gules, an escarbuncle of chain within and conjoined to an orle of chain Or. The combination of an escarbuncle of chain Or with the surname Navarre would be a possible violation of section XI.2 of the Rules for Submissions, which says that "Armory that asserts a strong claim of identity in the context of the submitters name is considered presumptuous," and of section A6E of the Standards for Evaluation, which states "the use of a piece of historical armory combined with the family name of the holder may be presumptuous."

The October 2001 Cover Letter says "Note that if a real-world coat of arms is not considered important enough to protect in the SCA, a CD will certainly suffice to remove any problem of presumption due to the combination of name and armory." This precedent is repeated in section A6E of the Standards for Evaluation. Precedent also says:

Like with the Beaufort yale, there are three CD/DCs between the arms of Navarre and the submitted device in question. In this case, the kingdom and royal family of Navarre are certainly more important than the Beaufort family. No evidence was presented, nor any found, that indicated that the escarbuncle of chain with or without the orle of chain was used as a charge by anyone outside of the royal family of Navarre. Similarly, as with the Tudor rose, the arms of Navarre are not considered specialist knowledge.

It should be noted that the charge used here is an escarbuncle of chain throughout Or, not within and conjoined to an orle. However, the escarbuncle of chain, alternatively described as a cross and saltire of chain, seems unique to the royal family of Navarre. Examples could be found in Iberian armory of a saltire and orle of chain, a chain in bend, orles of chain, and other uses of chains as charges, but no other escarbuncles of chain. The orle of chain itself seems unremarkable, although it may run afoul of our reserved charge of an orle of chain to members of the chivalry. However, given the variety of ways chains were used as ordinaries, we are disinclined to restrict the use of an escarbuncle of chain entirely.

Therefore, similar to the combination of a red rose and the surname Lancaster, or the white rose and the surname York, the use of an escarbuncle of chain Or in combination with the surname Navarre is considered presumptuous.

Society Pages *

In May, Tanczos Istvan, Wreath Emeritus, and Alia Marie de Blois, Palimpsest and Clarion, became engaged to be married.

On Saturday, June 23, 2012, at Known World Heraldic Symposium at the court of their Majesties Kenrick and Avelina of the East, Rowen Brigantia created Alys Mackyntoich, Eastern Crown Herald, and Ulric von der Insel as Heralds Extraordinary and granted them personal heraldic titles.

Also at that same court, Lillia de Vaux, Diademe Herald, was made a Companion of the Maunch, the East Kingdom's kingdom-level arts award, largely for her heraldic research.

Also on June 23, 2012, Ælfwynn Leoflæde dohtor was inducted into Drachenwald's Order of the Panache. This is an award for "long and consistent excellence in the arts and sciences" and carries an Award of Arms.

On Saturday, June 20, 2012, Percival de la Rocque, formerly Trillium Principal Herald of Ealdormere, was created a Herald Extraordinary and given an augmentation of arms.

Also in June, Anthony Hawke, Black Lion Principal Herald of An Tir, became engaged to be married.

On Saturday, June 30, 2012, at Northern Region War Camp at the court of their Majesties Kenrick and Avelina of the East, Rowen Brigantia created Ernst Nuss von Kitzingen as a Herald Extraordinary and granted him a personal heraldic title.

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 17207, Bristol VA 24209.

Cheques or money orders for submissions, payable to "SCA Inc.-College of Arms" are to be sent to David Duggar, Attn: Laurel Chancellor of Exchequer, 1705 Holiday Pl, Bossier City, LA 71112-3706.

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". The electronic copy of the LoAR is available free of charge. To subscribe to the mailings of the electronic copy, please see the bottom of http://heraldry.sca.org/heraldry/lists.html#lists for more instructions.