Society for Creative Anachronism
College of Arms
For the April 2020 meetings, printed June 14,2020
To all the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive, from Juliana Laurel, Alys Pelican, Cormac outgoing-Wreath, and Oddr incoming-Wreath, greetings.
In recognition of the developments over the past few years, some people with registered names and armory that are, or have become, unintentionally offensive may wish to change their registrations. For example, the phrase the Gypsy has been identified as hate speech by the Roma people and the United Nations. A submitter might wish to change that byname to one that indicates Roma ancestry but does not have the same connotations. Others feature heraldic charges that have been coopted by hate groups.
Starting immediately, the College of Arms will allow submitters to request name and armory changes to address offensiveness concerns free of charge (including both Laurel and kingdom charges).
From Pelican: This month I wish to thank Elizabeth Turner de Carlisle, currently An Tir's Sable Chime Herald, for her hard work in commentary and in the Pelican decision meetings.
This month we asked for input on a proposed change to PN3C2, which currently states: "If a vowel and the consonant or group of consonants on one side of this vowel is different between the two names, we consider a syllable to be substantially changed." Further PN3C2 gives the following example:
The proposed change would allow a single syllable to be clear of conflict if both the vowel and any part of the consonant cluster on either side of the vowel is different. If this change were adopted, Margery Catter would be clear of Margerie Clutter.Margerie Clutter is not substantially different in sound from Margery Catter, because the given names sound identical and, although the first syllables of the bynames are different, the cl and c groups of consonants share a sound and the other consonant group is identical.
Unfortunately, we received little to no commentary on this proposed change. Therefore, in the hope of provoking commentary, we ask Palimpsest to issue a letter making a specific proposal for this change for both PN3C2 and NPN3C2.
This month marks the first of three transitional decision meetings for the position of Wreath Sovereign of Arms. For the month of April, Cormac wrote the decisions for Æthelmearc, An Tir, Ansteorra, Artemisia, Atenveldt, Atlantia, Avacal, Caid, Calontir, Drachenwald, Ealdormere, East, Gleann Abhann, Lochac, and Meridies, while Oddr wrote the decisions for Middle, Northshield, Outlands, Trimaris, and West.
This month, a submission raised a question about about whether a DC existed between a falcon and an owl. Prior decisions have been contradictory, and we take this time to reaffirm existing precedent that there does exist a DC between owls close and falcons close.
SENA Appendix M, referencing the November 2003 LoAR Cover Letter, discusses conflict between bird types. While Appendix M indicates falcons belong to the "regular-shaped" category, it makes no specific mention of owls. That information is found in the November 2003 Cover Letter, defining regular-shaped birds as "including martlets, ravens and other corbies, raptors (hawks, eagles, and owls), and doves [...]".
Further, Appendix M only directly addresses SCs, leaving DCs to prior rulings based on the November 2003 Cover Letter. While the Cover Letter provides a more complete discussion and additional references, the general process for determining a DC between birds of the same category is outlined in the acceptance of Sable, two ravens addorsed argent [Hróðgeirr Hrafnsson, 05/2010, Atlantia-A], discussing ravens close vs owls close:
For [a DC], we must ask if both are period charges, which is the case. In that situation, we assume that there is [a DC] unless the two charge types are shown to be interchangeable in period armory. Owls and ravens do not appear to have been used interchangeably in period, so there is [a DC] between them.
Questions of conflict with other birds have thus been addressed over the past decade, including:
owl rising vs falcon, eagle, or snowy egret rising: Gules, an owl rising wings displayed argent [Sofya la Rus, 06/2014, Calontir-A]
owl close vs dodo close: (Fieldless) An owl vert [Lelia Corsini, 04/2018, Calontir-A]
For more information on this venerable topic, see SENA Appendix M (SC between bird categories), the November 2003 Cover Letter that it references (DCs within a bird category, and categorizing owls), the associated "Some birds and the postures in which they are found in period English heraldry" by Zenobia Naphtali, and the January 2000 acceptance of Wojciech Bobrowski, Azure crusilly formy argent, a falcon rising wings addorsed maintaining a horseshoe inverted Or, as well as the Cover Letter of the same month, which underpins the whole.
In sad news, on May 14, 2020, Eógan Mac Ailpein, Silver Hare Herald and Triton Herald Emeritus, passed from this world. He was a good herald and a good man and will be greatly missed by many of us.
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 Trent Le Clair, 928 Frazier Dr, Walla Walla WA 99362
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 April Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Saturday, April 11, 2020 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, April 18, 2020. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Calontir (03 Jan, 2020), Æthelmearc (04 Jan, 2020), An Tir (08 Jan, 2020), West (20 Jan, 2020), Middle (22 Jan, 2020), Æthelmearc (24 Jan, 2020), Ealdormere (24 Jan, 2020), Northshield (26 Jan, 2020), Artemisia (27 Jan, 2020), Avacal (29 Jan, 2020), Outlands (29 Jan, 2020), Atenveldt (30 Jan, 2020), Lochac (30 Jan, 2020), Ansteorra (31 Jan, 2020), Atlantia (31 Jan, 2020), Caid (31 Jan, 2020), Drachenwald (31 Jan, 2020), East (31 Jan, 2020), Gleann Abhann (31 Jan, 2020), Laurel LoPaD (31 Jan, 2020), Meridies (31 Jan, 2020), Trimaris (31 Jan, 2020), and Laurel LoPaD (01 Mar, 2020) (redraws). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Tuesday, March 31, 2020.
The May Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, May 10, 2020 and the Wreath meeting held on Sunday, May 3, 2020. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Middle (02 Feb, 2020), Calontir (07 Feb, 2020), An Tir (14 Feb, 2020), Æthelmearc (23 Feb, 2020), Ealdormere (24 Feb, 2020), Northshield (25 Feb, 2020), Artemisia (27 Feb, 2020), Atlantia (27 Feb, 2020), Avacal (27 Feb, 2020), Laurel LoPaD (27 Feb, 2020), Outlands (28 Feb, 2020), Ansteorra (29 Feb, 2020), Atenveldt (29 Feb, 2020), Caid (29 Feb, 2020), Drachenwald (29 Feb, 2020), East (29 Feb, 2020), Meridies (29 Feb, 2020), and Laurel LoPaD (24 Mar, 2020) (redraws). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Thursday, April 30, 2020.
The June Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican and Wreath meetings held in June 2020. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Palimpsest Rules Letter (03 Mar, 2020), Avacal (04 Mar, 2020), Gleann Abhann (04 Mar, 2020), Calontir (06 Mar, 2020), An Tir (10 Mar, 2020), Laurel LoPaD (23 Mar, 2020), Outlands (23 Mar, 2020), Æthelmearc (24 Mar, 2020), Ansteorra (24 Mar, 2020), Caid (24 Mar, 2020), Ealdormere (24 Mar, 2020), Northshield (26 Mar, 2020), Atlantia (27 Mar, 2020), Palimpsest Other Letter (27 Mar, 2020), Artemisia (29 Mar, 2020), Avacal (29 Mar, 2020), Atenveldt (30 Mar, 2020), East (30 Mar, 2020), Drachenwald (31 Mar, 2020), West (31 Mar, 2020), and Laurel LoPaD (24 Apr, 2020) (redraws). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Sunday, May 31, 2020.
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 2020-06-14T20:30:59