Society for Creative Anachronism
College of Arms
For the January 2022 meetings, printed March 13, 2022
To all the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive, from Emma Laurel, Elisabetta Pelican, and Oddr Wreath, greetings.
Submission heralds know that a submission is not typically considered complete until the forms and necessary documentation have been uploaded to the packet within the packet check deadline. However, it is not uncommon for a submission to need more documentation in the packet beyond what was originally provided: whether a Letter of Permission to Conflict, a proof of legal name, or an otherwise missing piece of documentation. Frequently, this need for extra documentation is pointed out by commenters, which is yet another reason why submission heralds should be paying attention to commentary on their open Letters of Intent. This additional documentation needs to be uploaded to the packet BEFORE the close of commentary whenever possible; missing documentation may be cause for an administrative pend, or at worst a return.
This month, we considered the name Gisla v{o,}lva Hrefnudottir and whether or not the byname v{o,}lva constituted a claim to magical powers via SENA PN4C. This rule says, explicitly, "There are examples of attested given names and bynames that are claims to magical abilities or other superhuman abilities. Such names will not be registered unless they can be demonstrated to have been used in contexts that are not claims to magical abilities. Use of them by multiple individuals is often sufficient to do so, unless they all were understood to have the same magical power." When considering the term v{o,}lva, this is the question we set to answer: were all those considered as v{o,}lva in the Sagas considered to have the same magical power?
First we considered current precedent, which says,
V{o,}lva appears in Geirr Bassi, p. 29, as a variant of the byname v{o,}lu. According to Cleasby and Vigfusson, An Icelandic-English Dictionary, pp. 721-722 (http://lexicon.ff.cuni.cz/html/oi_cleasbyvigfusson/b0722.html), the words v{o,}lu and v{o,}lva both mean seeress/prophetess/sibyl/wise-woman. By precedent, the byname V{o,}lu is not presumptuous:
Commenters questioned whether the byname V{o,}lu "seeress" was presumptuous. It is not. This byname (and the occupation it is derived from) refers to real women who did real things. As such, it is not an unmistakable claim to magical powers. It is parallel to the Norse byname sjóna, ruled registerable in August of 2008, and Gaelic bynames with similar meanings, ruled registerable in December 1997. [V{o,}lu-Helena in Flamska, 10/2012 LoAR, A-Ansteorra]
Given that the word v{o,}lva is a variant of v{o,}lu, and that both words have the same meaning and refer to the same job, the byname V{o,}lva- also is not presumptuous and can be registered. [V{o,}lva-Kaðlín knútr, 1/2020, A-East]
In light of our increased understanding and cultural awareness, we felt it was time to revisit what this section of SENA means by "claims to powers". When the original precedent was set in 1997, we had a very different standard and set of rules in use in the Society. Since this time, our awareness of differences in period practice between cultures has increased dramatically, as have our standards for registration and our access to sources that continue to challenge what we previously thought to be true.
Primarily, we referred to the article "Women and Magic in the Sagas: Seiðr and Spá", by Gunnvor Orle, found online at http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/seidhr.shtml to answer this question. We also referenced "Old Norse Nicknames" by Paul R. Peterson (https://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/handle/11299/172669/Peterson_umn_0130E_15864.pdf). From the data presented therein, this question became very easy to answer. No humans in the Sagas were called v{o,}lva unless they were understood to possess the power of prophecy.
Therefore, as of this Cover Letter, we explicitly overturn the January 2020 precedent and we will no longer register the elements v{o,}lva and v{o,}lu, including their prepended forms, as they constitute a claim to powers as described in SENA PN4C.
The Dictionary of British Arms: Medieval Ordinary (DBA) has been added to Appendix H, Sources That Do Not Require Photocopies to Laurel. All four volumes of DBA can be viewed online or downloaded as PDF files through OAPEN Library (https://library.oapen.org/). The first volume, to get you started, can be found at http://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/31216.
In accepting the device of Tatiana Belaia, Argent, a fox sejant guardant proper winged sable between three hellebore flowers purpure slipped and leaved vert this month we ruled that adding wings to animals proper is allowed. SENA A3B1 is hereby updated to reflect this. The revised wording for that section is:
1. Tinctures and their Classifications: Tinctures are primarily divided into colors and metals. Colors and metals are said to have good contrast with one another. Each tincture may be depicted in a variety of shades; contrast is determined not by their shade, but by their categorization into color and metal. Shades that are overly pastel may be considered too light to be registered; baby blue is not an acceptable shade of azure.
The colors are azure (blue), gules (red), sable (black), vert (green), and purpure (purple).
The metals are argent (white or silver) and Or (yellow or gold). We capitalize Or for clarity, but do not capitalize other tinctures.
Furs are a group of named patterns used as tinctures. For the purposes of tincture, ermined furs are grouped in the same way as their background color. Ermine (a white background with black tails) and erminois (a yellow background with black tails) are metals. Counter-ermine (a black background with white tails) and pean (a black background with yellow tails) are colors. Furs such as vair and potent are two different patterns of multiple pieces in blue and white by default. As they are made up of multiple pieces, divided evenly between a color and a metal, they are treated as neutral and are considered to have good contrast with both colors and metals, as long as they do not share a tincture with the color or metal.
Proper is a term used for a charge in its "natural" or "standard" tincture. Items that were used in proper tinctures in period armory may be used. A list of proper tinctures is found in the Glossary of Terms. Any animal (not including monsters) that can be brown in nature can be blazoned as a brown X proper. Such an animal would be expected to be completely brown (with the exception of minor artistic details), as opposed to drawn naturalistically. Similarly, tools that can reasonably be wooden can be described as a wooden X proper, and are brown. Brown is considered to be a color, not a metal, and it is not identical to black or sable. While a few monsters have a defined proper, most of them do not because they do not exist in nature. Thus, monsters constructed from animals which can otherwise be proper may not be proper. Animate and inanimate charges proper may have wings of a heraldic tincture (or tinctures) added to them.
For example, a rose proper is defined to be gules barbed vert seeded Or. Some proper animals include: a brown bear proper, a brown falcon proper, and a brown rabbit proper. Tools and other wooden objects include: a wooden staff proper, a barrel proper, and a harp proper. A heraldic dolphin proper is vert with gules fins while a natural dolphin proper is light grey (effectively argent).
For example, a barrel proper winged argent, a sword proper winged gules, and a fox proper wings argent are all registerable as they are charges proper with wings added. However, a bear-headed fox proper, a monster with the forequarters of a fox and the hindquarters of a bear proper, and a monster with the forequarters of a bear proper and the hindquarters and wings of dragon vert may not be registered as monsters cannot be created by combining animals proper. Similarly, a fox with brown wings proper may not be registered as brown is not a heraldic tincture.
The remainder of A3B1 is unchanged.
The insert/delete version of these changes:
1. Tinctures and their Classifications: Tinctures are primarily divided into colors and metals. Colors and metals are said to have good contrast with one another. Each tincture may be depicted in a variety of shades; contrast is determined not by their shade, but by their categorization into color and metal. Shades that are overly pastel may be considered too light to be registered; baby blue is not an acceptable shade of azure.
The colors are azure (blue), gules (red), sable (black), vert (green), and purpure (purple).
The metals are argent (white or silver) and Or (yellow or gold). We capitalize Or for clarity, but do not capitalize other tinctures.
Furs are a group of named patterns used as tinctures. For the purposes of tincture, ermined furs are grouped in the same way as their background color. Ermine (a white background with black tails) and erminois (a yellow background with black tails) are metals. Counter-ermine (a black background with white tails) and pean (a black background with yellow tails) are colors. Furs such as vair and potent are two different patterns of multiple pieces in blue and white by default. As they are made up of multiple pieces, divided evenly between a color and a metal, they are treated as neutral and are considered to have good contrast with both colors and metals, as long as they do not share a tincture with the color or metal.
Proper is a term used for a charge in its "natural" or "standard" tincture. Items that were used in proper tinctures in period armory may be used. A list of proper tinctures is found in the Glossary of Terms. Any animal (not including monsters) that can be brown in nature can be blazoned as a brown X proper. Such an animal would be expected to be completely brown (with the exception of minor artistic details), as opposed to drawn naturalistically. Similarly, tools that can reasonably be wooden can be described as a wooden X proper, and are brown. Brown is considered to be a color, not a metal, and it is not identical to black or sable. While a few monsters have a defined proper, most of them do not because they do not exist in nature. Thus, monsters constructed from animals which can otherwise be proper may not be proper. Animate and inanimate charges proper may have wings of a heraldic tincture (or tinctures) added to them.
For example, a rose proper is defined to be gules barbed vert seeded Or. Some proper animals include: a brown bear proper, a brown falcon proper, and a brown rabbit proper. Tools and other wooden objects include: a wooden staff proper, a barrel proper, and a harp proper. A heraldic dolphin proper is vert with gules fins while a natural dolphin proper is light grey (effectively argent).
For example, a barrel proper winged argent, a sword proper winged gules, and a fox proper wings argent are all registerable as they are charges proper with wings added. However, a bear-headed fox proper, a monster with the forequarters of a fox and the hindquarters of a bear proper, and a monster with the forequarters of a bear proper and the hindquarters and wings of dragon vert may not be registered as monsters cannot be created by combining animals proper. Similarly, a fox with brown wings proper may not be registered as brown is not a heraldic tincture.
The remainder of A3B1 is unchanged.
On February 5th, at An Tir's Ethereal Court, Her Majesty Rauokinn did recognize Natasha Orionova, long-time herald of the Kingdom of An Tir, for her excellence in matters ceremonial, both wordsmithing and heralding court.
On February 19, 2022, at Winter Crown Tournament in the Kingdom of Avacal, Sadb Jófreysdóttir, then-current Sanguinaris Principal Herald, was made Crown Princess. Coronation will be on March 26th. She is leaving the office in the capable hands of Fáelán O Dálaigh. Vivat!
On February 26th, at An Tir's Ethereal Court, Their Majesties Sven and Raoukinn bestowed upon Ragna in Valska an Award of Arms for her work with silent heraldry, among other contributions to the Kingdom.
Also on February 26th, at An Tir's Ethereal Court, Their Majesties Sven and Raoukinn bestowed upon Maral of Dragon's Mist an Award of Arms for her work with Chinese onomastics.
On March 5th, 2022, at Kingdom Arts and Science Festival in the Kingdom of Atlantia, Their Majesties Eckhardt and Jane did elevate Hagar the Black, long time Atlantian herald and current Pearl Herald (ceremony and protocol deputy), 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 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 January Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, January 23, 2022 and the Wreath meeting held on Friday, January 22, 2021. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Atlantia (04 Oct, 2021), Calontir (04 Oct, 2021), Meridies (07 Oct, 2021), An Tir (10 Oct, 2021), Artemisia (15 Oct, 2021), Middle (17 Oct, 2021), Avacal (22 Oct, 2021), Laurel LoPaD (23 Oct, 2021), Ansteorra (24 Oct, 2021), Ealdormere (24 Oct, 2021), East (24 Oct, 2021), Lochac (25 Oct, 2021), Atenveldt (26 Oct, 2021), Outlands (27 Oct, 2021), Caid (30 Oct, 2021), Caid (31 Oct, 2021), Drachenwald (31 Oct, 2021), Northshield (31 Oct, 2021), Laurel LoPaD (14 Nov, 2021) (redraws), Ansteorra Other Letter (30 Jan, 2022). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Friday, December 31, 2021.
The February Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, February 13, 2022 and the Wreath meeting held on Friday, February 5, 2021. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Calontir (05 Nov, 2021), Gleann Abhann (06 Nov, 2021), Meridies (06 Nov, 2021), Æthelmearc (10 Nov, 2021), An Tir (11 Nov, 2021), Gleann Abhann (14 Nov, 2021), Laurel LoPaD (14 Nov, 2021), Middle (14 Nov, 2021), Middle (18 Nov, 2021), Æthelmearc (23 Nov, 2021), Atlantia (23 Nov, 2021), East (23 Nov, 2021), Ealdormere (24 Nov, 2021), Ealdormere (24 Nov, 2021), Outlands (24 Nov, 2021), Lochac (25 Nov, 2021), Atenveldt (26 Nov, 2021), Ansteorra (27 Nov, 2021), Artemisia (27 Nov, 2021), Drachenwald (28 Nov, 2021), Northshield (28 Nov, 2021), Caid (29 Nov, 2021), West (29 Nov, 2021), Avacal (30 Nov, 2021), Laurel LoPaD (08 Jan, 2022) (redraws). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Monday, January 31, 2022.
The March Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, March 6, 2022 and the Wreath meeting held on Friday, March 5, 2021. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: Palimpsest Rules Letter (01 Dec, 2021), Meridies (02 Dec, 2021), Trimaris (07 Dec, 2021), Calontir (09 Dec, 2021), An Tir (10 Dec, 2021), Lochac LoItP (10 Dec, 2021), Artemisia (14 Dec, 2021), Laurel LoPaD (15 Dec, 2021), Atlantia (16 Dec, 2021), Caid (19 Dec, 2021), Æthelmearc (21 Dec, 2021), Ealdormere (24 Dec, 2021), Middle (24 Dec, 2021), Lochac (27 Dec, 2021), East (28 Dec, 2021), Ansteorra (30 Dec, 2021), Atenveldt (30 Dec, 2021), Avacal (31 Dec, 2021), Drachenwald (31 Dec, 2021), Northshield (31 Dec, 2021). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Monday, February 28, 2022.
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,
Emma de Fetherstan
Laurel Queen of Arms
Created at 2022-03-12T19:43:50