Society for Creative Anachronism
College of Arms
For the April 2023 meetings, printed June 13, 2023
To all the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive, from Emma Laurel, Elisabetta Pelican, and Iago Wreath, greetings.
The Administrative Handbook will be updated as proposed on the January 17th Laurel Rules Letter. In summary:
Electronic signatures (e-signatures) will be accepted on forms, letters, and petitions. E-signature will replace "or facsimile of" throughout.
AH IV.C.1 is modified to match precedent:
Only a single copy of the name form, color armory form, and supporting documents is required.
Forms require the submitter's common use (or legal) name, and at least one form of contact (email, mailing address, or phone number).
Explicit submitter consent is required for changes to emblazons.
AH IV.C.2 is modified to match precedent:
A translation for non-English descriptive bynames must be included (whenever possible) so that they may be properly evaluated.
Requirements for documentation of the Legal Name Allowance are identified, including having two heralds or a herald and warranted officer attest to documentation that cannot be photocopied.
AH IV.D is modified to clarify that requests for reconsideration are like other resubmissions - no fees at the Laurel level; however, kingdom may charge a fee after a year.
AH IV.E is modified to clarify the appeals process at the Laurel level.
AH IV.G is modified to match precedent. A heraldic will may transfer control of items and/or release them. The heir for each registered item may be a different person. A heraldic heir may be a specifically named individual or may be an office (such as Principal Herald).
The complete revised text will be available in the online version of the handbook about a week after the July 2023 Board of Directors meeting.
I am pleased to announce the appointment of Wu Yun to the position of Clarion Herald. This education office will focus on expanding our educational material available at the Society level. Specifically, Clarion will search for eager writers to help write new articles and refresh existing articles, will review and update the organization of content on the website, and will work to build inter-kingdom educational communication and community. If you're an education herald, a would-be article writer, or simply see something on the website you think needs to be updated or added, feel free to email [email protected].
Many of our rules regarding overall charges have been in place in one form or another for decades. As our understanding of period armory has expanded, and the number of sources for armory outside of England has increased, it is worth revisiting these rules to see what these new sources of data can tell us about period practice. Therefore, we request that commenters research period sources for examples of overall charges and how they were used. The type of data that would be useful includes, but is not limited to:
What categories of charges (compact, long, animate) were used in overall arrangements, both as the surmounting charge and the charge being surmounted?
Was there ever more than one overall charge group in a design?
Did overall charges typically contrast with the field, or with the charge they surmount?
Did overall charges ever overlie both a primary and secondary charge group? Or a peripheral group?
When and where did various patterns of overall charge use occur?
We will include this request on a forthcoming Letter of Pends and Discussion.
For consistency, and to avoid complications in determining the "long axis" of animate charges, when the term palewise is used for an animate or compact charge on a bend, chevron, pall, or saltire, it means the charge has the same orientation as it would have when placed directly on the field, rather than following the tilt of the ordinary. So, for example, the hypothetical Sable, on a bend Or three fish naiant palewise gules would have the fish with their heads to dexter, while the same blazon with three fish haurient palewise would have the heads to chief. This is, in general, how we have been blazoning such things for a while, but as we have not always been consistent with this usage we will reblazon affected armory as they are identified and as time allows.
This month, a submitter used "Anglo-Saxon Women's Names from Royal Charters" by Marieke van de Dal (https://www.s-gabriel.org/names/marieke/anglosaxonfem/) as sole documentation for a given name. This name was not in the nominative form, which is the form that we require for registration of an element as a given name. We have previously cautioned against using this article to document given names, as not all of them appear in the nominative form [April 2017 Cover Letter]. As of this Cover Letter, this article is no longer suitable as sole documentation for a given name.
To reinforce this, Palimpsest is directed to add this article to Appendix F of the Administrative Handbook under "Sources to be Used with Caution" with the following note: When using this article, remember that not all of the name variant spellings listed are in the nominative case. Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England (https://pase.ac.uk/) is a better choice.
This month, we considered the name Cempestrae sjón í Holti. The original documentation for this name used "Viking Bynames found in the Landnámabók" by Aryanhwy merch Catmael (https://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/norse/vikbynames.html) for the element sjóna; this article takes its information from The Old Norse Name by Geir Bassi. A recent examination of the original source material used by Geir Bassi did not find the spelling sjóna but instead found the spelling sjóni. The Old Icelandic adjective sjóni is masculine but its feminine counterpart is sjón, not sjóna.
Therefore, as of this Cover Letter, we will no longer register the Old Norse element sjóna as a feminine form of sjóni. Palimpsest is directed to update the Source Errata article for both The Old Norse Name and Aryanhwy's article.
On May 20, 2023, at Northkeep Castellan, Their Majesties Gabriel and Sonja of the Kingdom of Ansteorra did advance Thomas de Groet, former Bordure Herald, to the Order of the Star of Merit, Ansteorra's grant level order for service.
Also on May 20, 2023, at the Ansteorran Heraldic and Scribal Symposium, Their Majesties Gabriel and Sonja did award unto long-time herald Robin of Gilwell the Award of the Sable Thistle in heraldic arts. The Sable Thistle is Ansteorra's AoA level award for arts.
And on that same day, at Fruits of Our Labours in the Kingdom of Ealdormere, Nika Trillium Principal Herald did name Rylyn Buchanan, former Trillium and Green Mantle Herald, as a Herald Extraordinary.
Also on May 20, 2023, at evening Court of Their Crown Lists, Athanasios Belisarios and Alianora Greymoor, King and Queen of An Tir entered Elisabeth de Rossignol, Terpsichore's Fox and Pomegranate Herald, and Laurel Sovereign of Arms emerita among many other offices, into Their Order of the Lions Strength, in honor of her many years of loyal service to Their and other kingdoms, and to the Society. The Order of the Lion's Strength is a non-armigerous award given for consistent and significant contributions to the kingdom for 20 years or more.
On the same day, Their Majesties An Tir elevated Pompeia Rufina, Black Lion Principal Herald, into the Order of the Laurel.
And finally on that same day, Their Majesties An Tir granted Juliana de Luna, Siren Herald and Pelican and Laurel Sovereign of Arms emerita, an augmentation of arms in recognition of her many years of heraldic service to the kingdom and the Society.
On May 26, 2023, at Kingdom A&S in the Kingdom of the Midrealm, Alzbeta Dragon Principal Herald did name Ragna stórráđa Úlfsdóttir, recent external submissions herald for Midrealm and our own Quarterstaff Herald, as a Herald Extraordinary. Huzzah! On the following day, Ragna also received a Dragon's Heart, Midrealm's grant level service award, for service as a herald as well as in other roles.
Also on May 26, 2023, Alzbeta Michalik stepped down from her office of Dragon Principal Herald, with Gilebert le braceeur taking her place. Many thanks to Alzbeta for her work, and we can't wait to see what Gilebert accomplishes!
On May 27, 2023, at Egils Skallagrimsson Tournament 47 in the Barony of Adiantum, Their Majesties Athanasios and Alianora of the Kingdom of An Tir did elevate Elisabetta Tommaso di Carduci, Pelican Queen of Arms, to the Order of the Pelican.
The next day, at this same event, Their Highnesses Weylyn and Lindis of the Principality of the Summits bestowed upon Beatrice Domenici della Campana, Green Staff Herald, the Friend of the Summits for her many years of service in the heraldic arts to the Principality despite never having lived inside its borders.
Finally and sadly, on May 26, 2023, Yin Mei Li, former Baronial Herald of One Thousand Eyes and former Golden Pillar of Artemisia died while hospitalized in Idaho Falls, Idaho. She will be missed.
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.
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 Sunday, April 2, 2023 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, April 8, 2023. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Calontir (03 Jan, 2023), Atlantia (06 Jan, 2023), Meridies (09 Jan, 2023), Gleann Abhann (12 Jan, 2023), An Tir (13 Jan, 2023), Laurel LoPaD (13 Jan, 2023), Artemisia (16 Jan, 2023), Middle (16 Jan, 2023), Laurel Rules Letter (17 Jan, 2023), Ansteorra (21 Jan, 2023), Ansteorra (24 Jan, 2023), Atenveldt (24 Jan, 2023), Lochac (24 Jan, 2023), Ealdormere (25 Jan, 2023), Outlands (27 Jan, 2023), West (27 Jan, 2023), Caid (29 Jan, 2023), East (29 Jan, 2023), Ćthelmearc (31 Jan, 2023), Avacal (31 Jan, 2023), Drachenwald (31 Jan, 2023). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Friday, March 31, 2023.
The May Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, May 14, 2023 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, May 6, 2023. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Meridies (02 Feb, 2023), Palimpsest Rules Letter (12 Feb, 2023), An Tir (15 Feb, 2023), Atlantia (15 Feb, 2023), Trimaris (18 Feb, 2023), Ansteorra (25 Feb, 2023), Atenveldt (25 Feb, 2023), East (25 Feb, 2023), Lochac (26 Feb, 2023), Caid (27 Feb, 2023), Outlands (27 Feb, 2023), Palimpsest Rules Letter (27 Feb, 2023), Avacal (28 Feb, 2023), Drachenwald (28 Feb, 2023), Northshield (28 Feb, 2023), Laurel LoPaD (05 Apr, 2023) (redraws). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Sunday, April 30, 2023.
The June Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, June 11, 2023 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, June 17, 2023. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Gleann Abhann (05 Mar, 2023), Laurel LoPaD (07 Mar, 2023), Meridies (09 Mar, 2023), An Tir (12 Mar, 2023), Ealdormere (13 Mar, 2023), Caid (20 Mar, 2023), West (20 Mar, 2023), Calontir (21 Mar, 2023), East (22 Mar, 2023), Atlantia (24 Mar, 2023), Middle (26 Mar, 2023), Lochac (28 Mar, 2023), Avacal (29 Mar, 2023), Atenveldt (30 Mar, 2023), Drachenwald (31 Mar, 2023), Gleann Abhann (31 Mar, 2023), Northshield (31 Mar, 2023). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Wednesday, May 31, 2023.
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 2023-06-13T09:54:59