Society for Creative Anachronism
College of Arms
For the November 2018 meetings, printed January 27, 2019
To all the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive, from Juliana Laurel, Alys Pelican, and Cormac Wreath, greetings.
This month we considered a couple of submissions with two charges placed on either side of a chevron or per chevron line of division, which caused the charge at the business end of the chevron to be markedly smaller than its counterpart on the opposite side. This has long been a problem for submitting artists, who often struggle to avoid blurring the distinction between charge groups due to the size discrepancy.
Most examples we have of charges on either sides of chevrons have three charges arranged two and one. Variants on this are incredibly rare, and most involve more than two charges in chief. In order to make a determination of whether to continue allowing a single charge to be centered above the point of a chevron or per chevron line of division under the rules of Core Heraldry, I ask the College's assistance in finding period armorial examples of this practice.
This month we considered a submission that had a small maintained charge that was itself charged. Commenters were unanimous in reporting their difficulty in being able to identify the tertiary charge, with several not noticing the charge at all. The submission was returned in part due to lack of documentation for the practice of charging a held charge that is not a means of heraldic display such as an escutcheon or banner. Absent such documentation, charging maintained charges that are not normally forms of heraldic display will not be allowed, due in large part to issues with identification as described above.
This month we considered a submission from Caid that involved both a trillium flower and a charged bevilled field, which would have been grounds for return for using two steps from period practice. Eridana Dolphin provided an impressive amount of documentation for French trefoils or "tiercefeuilles," including period depictions of European flowers that closely resemble New World trilliums. Because evidence was provided for the existence of such a flower in European flora known in period, this flower shape is no longer considered a step from period practice. However, we will maintain the term "trillium" to specify the leaf-shaped petals that come to a pinched point, as opposed to the rounder English trefoils or other, more stylized depictions of tiercefeuilles.
This month we considered a submission that featured a hangman's noose which was returned for the use of offensive imagery. Per an entry from the Anti-Defamation League, "The hangman's noose has come to be one of the most powerful visual symbols directed against African-Americans, comparable in the emotions that it evokes to that of the swastika for Jews. Its origins are connected to the history of lynching in America, particularly in the South after the Civil War, when violence or threat of violence replaced slavery as one of the main forms of social control that whites used on African-Americans. The noose quickly became associated with the Ku Klux Klan." Use of nooses as a hate symbol and tool of intimidation has continued to this day. Commenters were unanimous in their view that the charge was offensive and inappropriate in the SCA, and we concur. Hangman's nooses are no longer registerable in the SCA.
On January 5, 2019, at the celebration of Twelfth Night in the Kingdom of the East, Their Majesties invested Kirsa Oyutai, Badger Herald (Regional Deputy for Tir Mara), as a Baroness of Their Court.
At the same event, Their Majesties invested Eginhard d'Aix la Chapelle (Herault Hibou Blanc - French translation Deputy) as a Baron of their Court.
On January 5th, at Coronation/Twelfth Night in the Kingdom of Caid, Their Majesties Agrippa and Dawid elevated Mary Dedwydd verch Gwallter, former Bellows Pursuivant, to the Order of the Laurel.
At the same event, Their Majesties elevated Lachlan of Cromarty, Duellist Herald, to the Order of the Pelican.
Please send information about happenings to major heralds and major happenings to all heralds to Laurel, so that it can be published here.
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. While black-and-white emblazons must be included in the Letter of Intent, only colored armory forms need to be posted in the forms area.
Cheques or money orders for submissions, payable to "SCA Inc.-College of Arms" are to be sent to Stephanie Ray-Solum, Blue Bug Bookkeeping, 2144 Westlake Ave. North Suite F Seattle, WA 98109.
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.
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 November Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, November 11, 2018 and the Wreath meeting held on Sunday, November 18, 2018. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Trimaris (02 Jul, 2018) (pushed due to missing packet), Gleann Abhann (03 Aug, 2018), Calontir (08 Aug, 2018), An Tir (16 Aug, 2018), Ęthelmearc (19 Aug, 2018), Avacal (21 Aug, 2018), Middle (24 Aug, 2018), Atenveldt (25 Aug, 2018), Ealdormere (26 Aug, 2018), Outlands (28 Aug, 2018), Laurel LoPaD (29 Aug, 2018), Atlantia (30 Aug, 2018), Caid (30 Aug, 2018), Drachenwald (30 Aug, 2018), Lochac (30 Aug, 2018), Ansteorra (31 Aug, 2018), Artemisia (31 Aug, 2018), Meridies (31 Aug, 2018), and Northshield (31 Aug, 2018). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Wednesday, October 31, 2018.
The December Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, December 2, 2018 and the Wreath meeting held on Sunday, December 9, 2018. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: East (05 Sep, 2018), Calontir (08 Sep, 2018), Ęthelmearc (09 Sep, 2018), Caid (14 Sep, 2018), Artemisia (17 Sep, 2018), An Tir (19 Sep, 2018), Atenveldt (20 Sep, 2018), Ealdormere (24 Sep, 2018), Avacal (27 Sep, 2018), Lochac (28 Sep, 2018), Outlands (29 Sep, 2018), Ansteorra (30 Sep, 2018), Artemisia (30 Sep, 2018), Atlantia (30 Sep, 2018), Caid (30 Sep, 2018), Drachenwald (30 Sep, 2018), Laurel LoPaD (30 Sep, 2018), Meridies (30 Sep, 2018), Middle (30 Sep, 2018), Northshield (30 Sep, 2018), and Trimaris (30 Sep, 2018). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Friday, November 30, 2018.
The January Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Saturday, January 6, 2018 and the Wreath meeting held on Sunday, January 13, 2019. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Calontir (06 Oct, 2018), Palimpsest Rules Letter (07 Oct, 2018), Ęthelmearc (16 Oct, 2018), Middle (21 Oct, 2018), Ealdormere (24 Oct, 2018), Atlantia (25 Oct, 2018), Avacal (25 Oct, 2018), Lochac (26 Oct, 2018), West (28 Oct, 2018), Ansteorra (29 Oct, 2018), Atenveldt (30 Oct, 2018), An Tir (31 Oct, 2018), Artemisia (31 Oct, 2018), Caid (31 Oct, 2018), Drachenwald (31 Oct, 2018), East (31 Oct, 2018), Gleann Abhann (31 Oct, 2018), Laurel LoPaD (31 Oct, 2018), Meridies (31 Oct, 2018), Northshield (31 Oct, 2018), Outlands (31 Oct, 2018), and Trimaris (31 Oct, 2018). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Monday, December 31, 2018.
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.
Pray know that I remain,
In service,
Juliana de Luna
Laurel Queen of Arms
Created at 2019-01-27T16:45:44