Society for Creative Anachronism
College of Arms

601 S Washington #137
Stillwater OK 74074
+1 405 428 3662
[email protected]

For the November 2022 meetings, printed January 12, 2023

To all the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive, from Emma Laurel, Elisabetta Pelican, and Oddr Wreath, greetings.

* From Wreath: Transition Schedule

Starting with the January 2023 meetings, Oddr and Iago begin the transition from one Wreath to the next. In January, Oddr will make the decisions on approximately two thirds of the items, and Iago the remaining third. In February, Iago will take two thirds and Oddr the remainder. Starting in March, Iago will be fully vested in the decision process, and Oddr will be sent to pasture. [He said this, really. He even typed it. -- OÞ]

* From Pelican: Kudos!

This month I would like to commend the work of Sadhbh Bheag inghean Toirrdhealbhaigh, Lions Blood Herald, submissions for the Kingdom of An Tir. The An Tir external Letter of Intent dated 2022-08-12 is an excellent example of how submissions should be summarized between Kingdom commentary and appearance on a external letter. I encourage anyone interested in the submissions office to read this letter and use it as a teaching tool for others. Well done, Sadhbh!

* From Pelican: Sources That Do Not Require Photocopies to Laurel

This month we considered a submission documented from Diplomatarium Islandicum. As other Scandinavian-language diplomataria have been added to the Administrative Handbook Appendix H, we hereby direct Palimpsest to add Diplomatarium Islandicum to this appendix under the heading "Advanced Online Sources That Do Not Require Copies". This resource can be found online at https://www.google.com/books/edition/Diplomatarium_islandicum_bd_1262_1536/P38lAQAAMAAJ.

Several commenters have noted that Gunnv{o,}r silfrahárr's articles at The Viking Answer Lady are also not included in this appendix. Accordingly, Palimpsest is directed to add these articles under "General Online Resources That Do Not Require Copies".

* From Wreath: Standard Augmentations and Permissions to Conflict

This month a trio of submissions involving a trio of kingdoms revealed a misunderstanding of the nature of standard augmentations, specifically in how they relate to permission to conflict.

To clarify, we take this time to state a trio of points:

Standard augmentations and (more generally speaking) blanket permissions to conflict represent a trade-off between convenience and control. If someone wishes specific control over their armory in matters of conflict, the blanket permission to conflict is an inappropriate choice. If someone wishes to avoid having to field individual requests for conflict, then the blanket permission to conflict is an excellent choice. In cases of augmentations of arms, designating a kingdom badge as a standard augmentation provides the convenience benefit (as well as a ready-made list of suggestions), but with that comes the ability for persons honored in other kingdoms to make use of them.

* From Pelican: SENA NPN4D1 - Non-SCA Entities Protected from Presumption

As proposed in Palimpsest's August 12th Rules Letter, SENA NPN4D1 Non-SCA Entities Protected from Presumption is updated to make it explicit that names of indigenous tribes and other groups of people are among the names we protect from presumption. We are also clarifying that consideration of encyclopedia entries for determining if a non-SCA person is important enough to protect under this section is not limited to English-language encyclopedias, nor must the encyclopedia be a print version. The revised wording is:

1. Non-SCA Entities Protected from Presumption: A non-personal name submissionssubmission is only considered to presume on protected non-personal names. Names of important non-SCA entities are protected from presumption. Entities that we protect include places (countries, regions, and cities), names of indigenous tribes and other groups of people, chivalric orders and heraldic titles, and the names of organizations (colleges, businesses, and other such entities).

Places and organizationsEntities that are not important enough to have an entry in a standard print encyclopedia, such as the Encyclopedia Britannica or an equivalent non-English encyclopedia, are not important enough to protect. Entities that do have an entry must be further considered to determine if they merit protection. In general, entities recognized (without having to look in a reference) by a significant number of people in the Society as the name of a single unique place or entity are likely to be important enough to protect. Historical places and other entities that are still influential today or significantly shaped the course of world history, science, or the arts are generally important enough to protect.

In rare cases, places and other entities from fiction may be considered important enough to protect, when both a significant number of people in the Society recognize the name of the entity without prompting and the use of the name of the entity would generally be considered by those people a clear reference to that entity.

The revised version will be available at https://heraldry.sca.org/sena.html#NPN4D1 about a week after the April 2023 Board of Directors meeting.

* From Pelican: SENA PN4D1 - Non-SCA People Protected from Presumption

As proposed on Palimpsest's August 12th Rules Letter, SENA PN4D1 is updated to clarify that consideration of encyclopedia entries for determining if a non-SCA person is important enough to protect under this section is not limited to English-language encyclopedias, nor must the encyclopedia be a print version. The revised wording is:

1. Non-SCA People Protected from Presumption: A personal name submission is only considered to presume on protected personal names. Names of important non-SCA individuals are protected from presumption. People who are not important enough to have an entry in a standard print encyclopedia, such as the Encyclopedia Britannica or an equivalent non-English encyclopedia, are generally not important enough to protect. Newly famous individuals may rarely be considered important enough to protect even if they have not yet appeared in a print encyclopedia. Individuals who do have an entry must be further considered. People are considered important enough to protect if they meet the following standards.

The rest of section PN4D1 is unchanged. The revised version will be available at https://heraldry.sca.org/sena.html#PN4D1 about a week after the January 2023 Board of Directors meeting.

* From Wreath: SENA and Attested Depictions of Fantastical Plants and Animals

As proposed in Palimpsest's August 31st Rules Letter, SENA is modified to remove the step from core practice for the use of attested depictions of fantastical plants and animals under SENA A2B4a. They will instead be treated as constructed elements under SENA A2B2b. We are also modifying A2B4a to clarify that when we refer to "period people" we mean people of any culture, not just Europeans. The revised wording for A2B2 Constructed Elements is:

b. Plants and Animals: There is a pattern of creating new charges from plants and animals. Thus an item that can be documented as a plant or animal known in period is registerable.

Plants and animals that did not appear until after 1600, such as many breeds of dogs, are not registerable. Those attested during the gray period receive the benefit of the doubt, unless there is a reason to believe they first appeared after 1600.

Attested depictions of fantastical plants or animals are also registerable under this rule, if they can be shown to be known before 1600 and have a standard enough depiction to be identifiable. However, their postures and orientations must be describable in standard blazon in order to be registered.

The revised wording for A2B4 Elements which are a Step from Core Practice is:

a. Plants and Animals: Plants and animals which cannot be documented to before 1600 (from the interior of Africa, northern Asia, or parts of the Americas that were not systematically explored by Europeans before 1600, for example) but that can be shown to have likely been known to period people of any culture are registrable with a step from core practice. While grey period citations will be considered, the great expansion of knowledge gained about the rest of the world between 1600 and 1650 means that the burden of proof of pre-1600 knowledge here is slightly higher.

Attested depictions of fantastical plants or animals are also registerable with a step from core practice under this rule, if they can be shown to be known before 1600 and have a standard enough depiction to be identifiable. However, their postures and orientations must be describable in standard blazon in order to be registered.

The revised version will be available at https://heraldry.sca.org/sena.html#A2B about a week after the April 2023 Board of Directors meeting.

* From Wreath: SENA Appendix J - Documented and Forbidden Arrangements of Charge Groups on Armory

As proposed on Palimpsest's August 12th Rules Letter, we are clarifying that the single item in the list under the heading "Designs with One or Two Charge Groups On the Field that We Don't Allow (barring evidence that they were used in period)" applies only to charges in a single group. The revised wording is:

Designs with One or Two Charge Groups On the Field that We Don't Allow (barring evidence that they were used in period):

The revised version will be available at https://heraldry.sca.org/sena.html#AppendixJ within a few days.

* Society Pages

On December 3, 2022, at the Yule celebration of the Barony of Glymm Mere, Their Majesties of An Tir Octamasades and Achaxe welcomed Natasha Orionova Zateeva into Their Order of the Lion's Strength, in recognition of decades of service to the kingdom in multiple heraldic offices. The Lion's Strength is a non-armigerous award given by the Crown of An Tir to those individuals who have given twenty or more years of service to the Kingdom.

On January 7, 2023, at Caid's Coronation, Mary Dedwydd verch Gwallter, Crescent Principal Herald, elevated Ariana verch Gwenllian to the rank of Herald Extraordinary. Congratulations! Afterwards, Mary took her well-earned retirement from office as Crescent; the new Crescent Principal Herald is Tachibana Kitsogoro Takayoshi. Thank you to both of you for your service!

More extraordinariness on January 7, 2023, this time at East Kingdom 12th Night. Yehuda ben Moshe, Brigantia Principal Herald, elevated Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin to the rank of Herald Extraordinary. Congratulations! Yehuda then stepped down from his office as Brigantia Principal Herald. His successor is Thyra Eriksdotter. Again, thank you both for your service!

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. 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.

* Scheduling

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 6, 2022 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, November 5, 2022. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Gleann Abhann (06 Aug, 2022), Atlantia (07 Aug, 2022), Meridies (10 Aug, 2022), An Tir (12 Aug, 2022), Calontir (12 Aug, 2022), Palimpsest Rules Letter (12 Aug, 2022), Artemisia (15 Aug, 2022), Middle (16 Aug, 2022), East (18 Aug, 2022), Ealdormere (24 Aug, 2022), Outlands (26 Aug, 2022), Ansteorra (29 Aug, 2022), Caid (29 Aug, 2022), Drachenwald (29 Aug, 2022), Atenveldt (30 Aug, 2022), Avacal (31 Aug, 2022), Lochac (31 Aug, 2022), Palimpsest Rules Letter (31 Aug, 2022). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Monday, October 31, 2022.

The December Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, December 4, 2022 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, December 10, 2022. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Trimaris (04 Jul, 2022) (pushed due to lack of packet) , Trimaris (01 Sep, 2022), Atlantia (04 Sep, 2022), Calontir (09 Sep, 2022), An Tir (12 Sep, 2022), East (16 Sep, 2022), Artemisia (20 Sep, 2022), Gleann Abhann (23 Sep, 2022), Laurel LoPaD (24 Sep, 2022), Æthelmearc (25 Sep, 2022), Atenveldt (25 Sep, 2022), Ealdormere (25 Sep, 2022), Lochac (25 Sep, 2022), Middle (25 Sep, 2022), Outlands (26 Sep, 2022), Avacal (30 Sep, 2022), Caid (30 Sep, 2022), Drachenwald (30 Sep, 2022), Palimpsest Rules Letter (30 Sep, 2022), West (30 Sep, 2022), Laurel LoPaD (12 Nov, 2022) (redraws). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Wednesday, November 30, 2022.

The January Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, January 15, 2023 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, January 21, 2023. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: Trimaris (01 Oct, 2022), Atlantia (06 Oct, 2022), An Tir (11 Oct, 2022), Artemisia (15 Oct, 2022), Ealdormere (24 Oct, 2022), Gleann Abhann (24 Oct, 2022), Ealdormere (25 Oct, 2022), Ansteorra (26 Oct, 2022), Lochac (26 Oct, 2022), Atenveldt (27 Oct, 2022), Middle (30 Oct, 2022), Outlands (30 Oct, 2022), Æthelmearc (31 Oct, 2022), Avacal (31 Oct, 2022), Caid (31 Oct, 2022), East (31 Oct, 2022), Middle (31 Oct, 2022), Northshield (31 Oct, 2022). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Saturday, December 31, 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 2023-01-12T20:51:00