Society for Creative Anachronism
College of Arms
103 E. 30th St. Bldg 1 Apt 203
Austin, TX, 78705
+1 512 942 700 5
laurel@heraldry.sca.org
For the August 2014 meetings, printed October 13, 2014
To all the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive, from Andrewe Laurel, Lillia Pelican, and Brunissende 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 August Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, August 24, 2014 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, August 16, 2014. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Laurel LoPaD (04 May, 2014), Trimaris (05 May, 2014), East (07 May, 2014), Calontir (13 May, 2014), Caid (14 May, 2014), Middle (17 May, 2014), Northshield (17 May, 2014), Palimpsest Rules Letter (22 May, 2014), Atenveldt (27 May, 2014), Ealdormere (28 May, 2014), An Tir (29 May, 2014), Atlantia (29 May, 2014), Drachenwald (29 May, 2014), Æthelmearc (31 May, 2014), Ansteorra (31 May, 2014), Artemisia (31 May, 2014), Meridies (31 May, 2014), Outlands (31 May, 2014), West (31 May, 2014).  All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Thursday, July 31, 2014.
The September Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, September 28, 2014 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, September 20, 2014. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Lochac (04 Jun, 2014) (pushed due to lack of issued June 4) , Laurel LoPaD (05 Jun, 2014), Trimaris (08 Jun, 2014), East (09 Jun, 2014), Middle (09 Jun, 2014), Northshield (20 Jun, 2014), Atenveldt (21 Jun, 2014), Calontir (23 Jun, 2014), Atenveldt (25 Jun, 2014), Æthelmearc (30 Jun, 2014), An Tir (30 Jun, 2014), Ansteorra (30 Jun, 2014), Atlantia (30 Jun, 2014), Caid (30 Jun, 2014), Drachenwald (30 Jun, 2014), Ealdormere (30 Jun, 2014), Gleann Abhann (30 Jun, 2014), Lochac (30 Jun, 2014), Meridies (30 Jun, 2014), Outlands (30 Jun, 2014), West (30 Jun, 2014).  All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Sunday, August 31, 2014.
The October Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, October 19, 2014 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, October 11, 2014. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: Laurel LoPaD (10 Jul, 2014), East (14 Jul, 2014), Atenveldt (20 Jul, 2014), Calontir (20 Jul, 2014), Northshield (21 Jul, 2014), Atlantia (22 Jul, 2014), Drachenwald (22 Jul, 2014), Ealdormere (24 Jul, 2014), Outlands (26 Jul, 2014), Æthelmearc (27 Jul, 2014), Caid (28 Jul, 2014), Artemisia (30 Jul, 2014), Middle (30 Jul, 2014), An Tir (31 Jul, 2014), Ansteorra (31 Jul, 2014), Atenveldt (31 Jul, 2014), Gleann Abhann (31 Jul, 2014), Lochac (31 Jul, 2014), Meridies (31 Jul, 2014), West (31 Jul, 2014).  All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Tuesday, September 30, 2014.
The November Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, November 9, 2014 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, November 22, 2014. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: Middle (11 Aug, 2014), [Northshield (15 Aug, 2014)], East (16 Aug, 2014), Calontir (17 Aug, 2014), Laurel LoPaD (18 Aug, 2014), Gleann Abhann (22 Aug, 2014), Atenveldt (25 Aug, 2014), [An Tir (28 Aug, 2014)], Artemisia (29 Aug, 2014), Caid (29 Aug, 2014), West (29 Aug, 2014), Ansteorra (30 Aug, 2014), Ealdormere (30 Aug, 2014), Æthelmearc (31 Aug, 2014), [Atlantia (31 Aug, 2014)], Drachenwald (31 Aug, 2014), [Lochac (31 Aug, 2014)], Meridies (31 Aug, 2014), Outlands (31 Aug, 2014), [Trimaris (31 Aug, 2014)].  All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Friday, October 31, 2014.
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: A Herald Extraordinary
The College of Arms has a rank of Herald Extraordinary that has a long and honored history. The rank was formally created and defined in the July 1981 cover letter by Wilhelm Laurel. The intent of the rank is to recognize and reward "... those heralds who have greatly served the College of Heralds and/or the College of Arms and have achieved the highest level of competence in heraldry."
In light of his considerable contribution to the College of Arms through his efforts as my predecessor as Laurel King of Arms, I confer upon Gabriel Kjotvason the rank and style of Herald Extraordinary. I charge him to register a title of his choosing with the College of Arms.
From Pelican: A Clarification regarding Russian lingual mixes
While discussing several names this year, multiple commenters have stated that Appendix C of SENA does not allow Russian and Scandinavian elements to be combined after 1100. The basis for this statement appears to be an item on the May 2013 Cover Letter that allows Russian to be combined with Old Norse; however, this interpretation of that statement is incorrect. Russian/Scandinavian lingual mixes from post-1100 have always been and are still allowed under SENA. This precedent merely expanded the allowable time period to also include 550-1100. With the help of Palimpsest and Codex, Appendix C has been modified to reflect this expansion.
From Wreath: Compass stars elongated to base
Previous precedent, from the October 2013 Cover Letter, declared mullets elongated palewise to be unregisterable:
We had two submissions this month that featured a mullet elongated palewise. We have no evidence that such artistic treatment of a mullet was ever done in period armory at all, and we grant no difference between a mullet and a mullet elongated palewise.
However, we do have period evidence of mullets elongated to base (i.e., only the basemost ray is stretched out), but those appear to be a variant of a comet, not normal mullet. An example of such a comet can be seen in the 16th century Italian armorial Insignia Nobilium Patavinorum, BSB Cod.icon. 275, on f.65r (found at http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db/bsb00001422/image_137).
Therefore, as we would like to avoid confusion between comets and mullets, mullets elongated pale wise will no longer be registerable after the April 2014 decision meetings.
Per that precedent, mullets elongated to base are considered to be a variant of comets, and will be blazoned as comets. However, these variants are constructed from mullets, and not compass stars. Barring period evidence of compass stars elongated to base, that charge will not be registerable after the March 2015 decision meeting.
From Palimpsest: Further Discussion Needed for SENA PN.4.B.1
On the May Palimpsest Rules Letter, there was a proposal to modify SENA PN.4.B.1 to make it clearer that the titles listed in the Alternate Titles list were not the only titles which might be considered presumptuous. Commentary and discussion at the meetings indicated that further discussion is needed about our approach to titles, their use historically and in the SCA, and how/when we consider their use presumption. We will call for further, more general discussion of the topic on an upcoming Palimpsest Rules Letter; in the meantime, this section of SENA remains the same.
From Palimpsest: Electronic Permission to Conflict and You
The Laurel office has long been known for its requirement to get it in writing - so much so that 'non scripta, non est' is the motto of the College of Arms - and has held to the requirement of a physical signature as its standard for letters and other attestations by submitters and the owners of registered items. These days, however, it is sometimes difficult to get the owner of a registered item to physically sign a piece of paper to give permission to conflict and send it somewhere. When they can rightly point out that they have already given permission by email and that email conversations can be legally binding in the real world, our paper-only stance is increasingly outdated and difficult to defend.
One difference, however, is that in those real world, binding conversations, all parties can be confirmed by someone reliable. That is to say, they are known to each other directly, or their email addresses are verified to each other by someone else. It is this vetting and verification that allows these conversations to proceed and be binding upon the participants.  In the case of heraldic submissions, the parties which are known to Laurel are the kingdom Principal and Submissions Heralds, and so they are the ones who can confirm.
This item was originally discussed in the August 31, 2013 Palimpsest Rules Letter, item 2.
The current relevant portion of AH IV.C.3 reads:
3. Permission to Conflict - If permission to conflict has been granted, a written statement of permission must be included, signed by the owner of the registered conflicting item with both Society Name and name used outside the Society. (See Appendix D for a standard form for granting permission to conflict.) The physical signature (or a facsimile thereof) of the owner is required; electronic permission does not remove this requirement. If a blanket permission to conflict exists, reference to this must be included on the Letter of Intent. In no case will permission to conflict be granted to identical submissions.
We are changing this portion of AH IV.C.3., effective immediately, to read:
3. Permission to Conflict - If permission to conflict has been granted, a statement of permission from the owner of the registered conflicting item is required. The statement must be dated and include the Society Name and legal name of said owner, the Society Name and legal name of the submitter, and the name or blazon of the conflicting items. (See Appendix D for a standard form for granting permission to conflict.)
The physical legal signature (or a facsimile thereof) of the owner is preferred. If this is not available, an emailed statement of permission is permitted, but the identity of the person giving that permission via e-mail must be confirmed through the personal knowledge of a Kingdom Principal Herald or a Kingdom Submissions Herald. In general, that means face to face or voice contact with the person giving permission.
If a blanket permission to conflict exists, reference to this must be included on the Letter of Intent. In no case will permission to conflict be granted to identical submissions.
For those of you who like seeing the deletion/insertion version:
3. Permission to Conflict - If permission to conflict has been granted, a ~~written~~ statement of permission ~~must be included, signed by~~from the owner of the registered conflicting item is required. The statement must be dated and include the ~~with both~~ Society Name and legal name of said owner, the Society Name and legal name of the submitter, and the name or blazon of the conflicting items.~~name used outside the Society.~~ (See Appendix D for a standard form for granting permission to conflict.)
[paragraph break]  
The physical signature (or a facsimile thereof) of the owner is preferred~~required; electronic permission does not remove this requirement~~.  If this is not available, an emailed statement of permission is permitted, but the identity of the person giving that permission via e-mail must be confirmed through the personal knowledge of a Kingdom Principal Herald or a Kingdom Submissions Herald. In general, that means face to face or voice contact with the person giving permission.
[paragraph break]  
If a blanket permission to conflict exists, reference to this must be included on the Letter of Intent. In no case will permission to conflict be granted to identical submissions.
The remainder of AH IV.C.3. remains unchanged.
Society Pages
On August 30th, Marie Chantal Delaire was made a Herald Extraordinary by Konstantia Gold Falcon for her service to Vatavia, the Southwestern region of Calontir, and Calontir's College of Heralds for the past two decades.
Alana O'Keeve and Joscelin le esqurel of the East were formally wed in front of friends and family on August 31st of this year! They promise to be back at Point next year!
Please send information about happenings to major heralds and major happenings to all heralds to Laurel, so that it can be published here.
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. All submission forms plus documentation, including petitions, must be posted to the OSCAR online system.
Cheques or money orders for submissions, payable to "SCA Inc.-College of Arms" are to be sent to John C. Sandstrom, New Mexico State University, PO Box 30006/MSC 3475, Las Cruces, NM 88003.
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.
For all administrative matters, please contact Laurel.
Pray know that I remain,
In service,
Andrewe Bawldwyn
Laurel Principal King of Arms

COVER LETTER	Page  of 4	August 2014 LoAR