Collected Precedents of the S.C.A.: Grammar

Name Precedents: Grammar

Laurel: Date: (year.month.date) Precedent:

Shauna of Carrick Point 2004.05 al-Jamal notes that "as a general rule, Arabic places the bynames (like al-Tayyib) at the end of the name, unless such are being used as an 'ism, a given name, which is not the case here.". The submitter will not accept major changes, so this name must be returned. In resubmitting, we suggest the form Mikha'il ibn Khalid ibn Ahmad al-Gharnatii al-Tayyib. [Mikha'il al-Tayyib ibn Khalid ibn Ahmad al-Tayyib al-Gharnatii, 05/04, R-West]

François la Flamme 2002.01 Submitted as Vlasta von der weissen Sonne, the submitter requested authenticity for German language/culture. Documentation was provided for weissen Sonne as a sign name in German meaning 'white sun'. The documentation indicates that while von der weissen Sonne is plausible, the most likely form of this byname is zu der weissen Sonne. [Vlasta von der weissen Sonne, 01/02, A-West]

François la Flamme 2002.01 Both Ramon and Diego are masculine given names. As explained by Gage, "The structure <given name de father's given name> is a structure found in medieval Navarese censuses. <Ramon> is a typical Catalan name; <Diego> is found throughout the peninsula." Therefore, de Diego is a patronymic byname following the pattern found in the Navarese censuses. [Ramon de Diego, 01/02, A-Caid]

François la Flamme 2002.01 The particle mhic is the genitive form of mac in Early Modern Gaelic that is appropriate after 1200. The Middle Gaelic form is meic, which is appropriate for use with the spelling ingen. Also, 'M' does not lenite in Middle Gaelic. [Muirenn ingen meic Martain, 01/02, A-Caid]

François la Flamme 2001.09 [Japanese name] Additionally, though no is included in the spoken name, it is not included in the written name. [Kentsuki no Ujitora Kaito Tamashi, 09/01, R-Caid]

Elsbeth Anne Roth 2000.05 Submitted as Derdriu ingen Murcada , it was noted in commentary that Ó Corrain and Maguire indicate that Derdriu is mythological. However, Black, sub Deirdre , has Derdere, wife of Cospatric Earl in 1166; this leads us to believe that the name is registerable. We have lenited the patronymic, though, to match documentation and to make it grammatically correct. [Derdriu ingen Mhurchadha, 05/00, A-Middle]

Elsbeth Anne Roth 2000.04 Submitted as Cassandra Annabell O Seanacain, the name has two weirdnesses: the mixture of Gaelic and English spelling conventions and the use of two given names, particularly in an Irish context, where it is not allowed. It also used a masculine form of the patronymic with a feminine name. By Anglicizing the surname, we make this an English name for someone of Irish decent, making it registerable. [Cassandra Annabelle O Shannahan, 04/00, A-Atenveldt]

Elsbeth Anne Roth 2000.01 Submitted as the Order of the Gryphon's Eye, the apostrophe was not used until after period. [Artemisia, Kingdom of, 01/00, A-Artemisia]

Elsbeth Anne Roth 1999.12 Submitted as Eleri Mywn, the byname lenites after a feminine name. [Eleri Vwyn, 12/99, A-Atlantia]

Jaelle of Armida 1997.06 [registering Tymm Colbert le Gard] Submitted as Tymm Gard Colbert, this name had a severe problem. When in a medieval English name a patronymic and an occupational byname are found together, the patronymic invariably comes first. It's actually questionable whether the occupational byname is really part of the name or merely an indication of the bureaucracy's need to identify individuals unambiguously, since it is generally set off either by a comma or by the definite article. We have correct the name to the period form. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR June 1997, p. 8)

Jaelle of Armida 1997.05 [returning Freyja the Cunning] The byname is also problematic: on the 5/94 LoAR the name Eirik the Wandering was returned because `[n]o one was able to document an authentic English byname formed from the present participle of a word'. Cunning, earlier cunnand, is in origin the present participle of can `to know'. This is a borderline case, since it seems to have acquired independent status as an adjective fairly early, but it at least needs to be mentioned. (By the way, the LoI slightly misleads in appearing to date cunning to 1382; the actual citation is for kunnynge.) If she wants an attested English byname, she might try Slei, Slegh, Sley, le Slege, Sly, etc. These citations, all from the 13th c., are in Reaney & Wilson s.n. Slay and represent the modern English sly, from ON sloegr `sly, cunning, crafty'. Of course, if she returns with an ON forename, the ON byname would be even better. Its feminine forms would be sloeg and, with the definite article, in sloega. There are other possibilities if she prefers another shade of meaning, e.g., gör `skilled, accomplished' (or in göra `the accomplished'). Another possibility, this one etymologically related to cunning, is kunnandi `cunning, knowing, learned' (or in kunnandi). Freygerðr in sloega (in göra, in kunnandi) would be a perfectly acceptable ON feminine name.

Jaelle of Armida 1997.05 [returning the epithet the Amazed] [Alaric the Amazed] No evidence has been presented to show that fairly abstract past participles like this were used as nicknames in period. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR May 1997p. 8)

Jaelle of Armida 1997.01 [changing the byname atte Loncastre] [Franbald of Loncastre] The word atte is a ME contraction of at and the. It is normally used with topographical locatives, e.g., atte Brigge `at the bridge'. The contraction is inappropriate with a toponym (proper noun place-name): one wouldn't say 'at the Lancaster', for example. Therefore, we have changed it to of. Other possible forms include Franbald æt Loncæstere, if he wants an Old English name from c. 900. By the end of the 10^th c. it would probably become Franbald æt Loncastre. The normal English usage would be Frambald of Loncastre, though in documentary use of would probably become de. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR January 1997, p. 3)

Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 1st year) 1994.06 [Registering �vatý Sebesta, College of.] Submitted as College of Saint Sebesta, RfS III.1.a. requires that each phrase must be grammatically correct according to the usage of a single language. We have translated "saint" to the Czech form, as well as adding the correct "inverted caret" over the S in Sebesta (it is pronounced "Shebesta"). [6/94, p.9]

Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 1st year) 1994.06 [Returning Cynthia de Mantegna.] The preposition "de" is out of place here; were Mantegna either a placename or a given name, it would work, but Mantegna was only documented as a surname. [6/94, p.13]

Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 1st year) 1994.02 [Coley Cuthbert] The prepositional byname placed before the given here is fine ... . [2/94, p.12]

Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 1st year) 1994.01 [Returning Monsdraconis.] The grammar appears to be incorrect; normal Latin formation would keep the elements separate as either Mons Draco (dragon mountain) or as Mons Draconis (dragon's mountain). In addition, the locative would almost certainly use the preposition de, which takes the ablative case, as de Monte Dracone or de Monte Draconis. [1/94, p.13]

Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 1st year) 1993.12a [Fearghus Ó Siadhail] Submitted as Fergus ó Siadhail, the name was modified to correct the grammar by better matching the spelling of the given and the byname temporally. [12a/93, p.3]

Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme 1993.10 [Borhe Olafs] Lacking any direct evidence to the contrary, we will assume that the genitive form of the father's name [Olafr], with no suffixes or particles, is as acceptable here as it would be in English (e.g. Stevens). (Borhe Olafs, October, 1993, pg. 6)

Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme 1993.10 [James o' Gordon] Please make sure the submitter understands that the byname is not a patronymic; it is a toponymic, "of Gordon", the latter being a place. This would be acceptable even without the apostrophe: the OED cites o as a period spelling of "of". (James o' Gordon, October, 1993, pg. 1)

Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme 1993.09 [Magnus Bjornsson Fairhair] The current construction describes the submitter's father Bjorn as "fairhair" and not himself. If the submitter wishes to be the blond, he should resubmit as Magnus Fairhair Bjornsson. (Magnus Bjornsson Fairhair, September, 1993, pg. 13)

Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme 1993.09 [Uodalrica] There was some question in the commentary about the validity of the given name. The original root, Uodalric, is masculine by virtue of its masculine deuterotheme -ric. It's possible that the Latinized form Uodalricus is simply be the default spelling for that time and place --- and therefore, unlike classical Latin names such as Julius/Julia, incapable of being feminized by changing -us to -a. The question cannot be definitively answered, on the basis of the evidence presented for this submission. However, the Society has traditionally been tolerant of feminized forms of period masculine names, whether such feminized names were documented or not; in part, this is an acknowledgement that women's names simply weren't recorded as often as men's names. As a general rule, if the masculine form of a name is documented to period, we assume the feminized form is acceptable. In this particular case, barring any direct evidence to the contrary, we will give the submitter the benefit of the doubt. (Uodalrica MacDonnell, September, 1993, pp. 5-6)

Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme 1993.09 Lady Harpy has provided documentation from Socin of the use of zu in its older form ze in locatives with the names of towns and villages: ze Froberg, ze Bernowe (p. 272) and ze Tattenriet (p. 277). (Anna zu Euskirchen, September, 1993, pg. 9)

Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme 1993.03 A couple of our onomasticists have argued for increased standards of temporal compatibility in SCA names: that the English of the 5th and 16th Centuries are as culturally immiscible as Aztec and Viking, and should be as unacceptable, per Rule III.2. The College has mostly been concerned that the parts of a name be compatible geographically (e.g. French and Italian); we've never been strict about the equivalent temporal mismatches. Both Mistress Alisoun and Master Da'ud declined to make temporal compatibility a reason for return. To paraphrase Mistress Alisoun, in a Society where a 10th Century Viking can sit beside an Elizabethan lady at a feast, temporal requirements probably aren't worth the grief. Moreover, some names changed very little over time, in any given country (the modern English John hasn't changed in half a millennium); temporal problems are thus more difficult to demonstrate than geographic problems.
I've no intention of completely overturning the policy of my predecessors. However, in a number of my recent rulings, I've ruled that excessive temporal mismatching can be considered a "weirdness", costing the submitter the benefit of the doubt. With this LoAR, I hereby make the new policy official: If the elements of a submitted name are dated too far apart, then any other anomaly in the name may combine to force it to be returned. The greater the temporal divide, the greater the anomaly: a given name and byname whose spellings are documented within, say, a century of each other will probably be all right, but a three-century divide is pushing it.
By itself, temporal incompatibility is still not sufficient reason for return. I haven't yet been faced with a case so extreme (a couple of millennia, say) to require a return; our worst instance of temporal mismatch (Tamas of Midian) also involved geographic mismatch as well. But henceforth, excessive temporal mismatch may contribute to a name's unacceptability; another problem with the name may cause it to be returned. (8 May, 1993 Cover Letter (March, 1993 LoAR), pg. 4)

Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme 1993.01 A few recent registrations have left some commenters wondering about the exact status of the College's lingua franca rules. Originally, these were simply the acknowledgement of a hard fact: that the grand majority of SCA folk speak modern English, not Russian, Saxon, Latin, Old Norse, or whatever. The principle was first expressed as a Board ruling (after they'd received correspondence written in medieval Latin!), and codified in the 1986 edition of the Rules for Submissions:
"The official language of the Society is and shall be correct modern English ...Simple particles, such as 'of', may be used without necessarily increasing the counted number of languages contained in the name. The formula , whatever the original languages, is acceptable. This is the usual historian's manner, and therefore Otto of Freising is a familiar form, though he would have been Otto von Freising or some other more Geman or Latin version in most contemporary documents." [NR1]
The same allowance for of is found in the current Rules (Rule III.2.a), though not spelled out in such detail.
Less codified, but of long practice, has been the translation of epithets into our lingua franca. Again, this follows a common historian's usage: Harald I of Norway, for instance, is far better known as Harald Fairhair than by the untranslated Harald Haarfagr. Eric the Red, Philip the Good, Charles the Fat, all are translations of the period names, not the period names themselves. SCA names are permitted a similar translation: a simple epithet, documented as a period form, may be translated into English. (We prefer to register the untranslated form, but I concede that such rigor doesn't always serve our clients' best interests.)
The use of lingua franca translation is extended only to single, simple descriptives. Given names, for instance, may not normally be translated into their putative meaning: e.g. Bear may not be used as a given name, even though it's the lingua franca translation of the given name Björn. Placenames, hereditary surnames, and bynames from different languages (e.g. French and German) likewise don't fall under the lingua franca allowance.
The English translation should be chosen to minimize any intrusive modernity: e.g. the Old Norse byname kunta is better translated as "wench" than as the intrusive "bimbo". (Well, actually, neither of those is exactly right, but there may be children reading.) Period terms are always preferable, but when necessary, we will translate documented period epithets into the Society's common tongue. That seems to be the best compromise between the needs of authenticity and ease of use. (28 March, 1993 Cover Letter (January, 1993 LoAR), pp. 2-3)

Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme 1992.10 The use of four elements in an English name is anomalous (a "weirdness"), costing the submitter the benefit of the doubt (LoAR of July 92, p.18); it's permissible only if there are no other problems with the name. (Aric Thomas Percy Raven, October, 1992, pg. 30)

Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme 1992.09 According to Lord Palimpsest, [in Irish Gaelic] while the particle Ó prefixes an h to the following vowel, ni does not. (Caitriona Keavy ni Ainle, September, 1992, pg. 4)

Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme 1992.08 Pending a full discussion of Irish patronymics (called for in last month's LoAR cover letter), I am taking the grammatically correct route: female names should use the female patronymic particle. (Briana Nig Uidhir, August, 1992, pg. 3)

Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme 1992.07 Withycombe (p.xliii) mentions "very rare, isolated examples" of period names with multiple name elements: they grow more common in the late 16th Century, but don't become abundant until the 17th Century. Of those rare instances that do occur, three elements seem to have been the norm: e.g. John William Whytting, c.1386; Robert Browne Lilly, b.1593; Arthur Rous Russhe, b.1564. English names with four elements are so rare in period that I would consider the usage a "weirdness," costing a submitter the benefit of the doubt; and English names with five elements ...I must consider over the edge of acceptability. (Catherine Elizabeth Holly Winthrop of Lincolnshire, July, 1992, pg. 18)

Baldwin of Erebor 1986.03.09 He has provided ample documentation that the surname precedes the given name in Hungarian usage. [BoE, 9 Mar 86, p.1]

Laurel:	Date: (year.month.date)	Precedent:
Shauna of Carrick Point	2004.05	al-Jamal notes that "as a general rule, Arabic places the bynames (like al-Tayyib) at the end of the name, unless such are being used as an 'ism, a given name, which is not the case here.". The submitter will not accept major changes, so this name must be returned. In resubmitting, we suggest the form Mikha'il ibn Khalid ibn Ahmad al-Gharnatii al-Tayyib. [Mikha'il al-Tayyib ibn Khalid ibn Ahmad al-Tayyib al-Gharnatii, 05/04, R-West]
François la Flamme	2002.01	Submitted as Vlasta von der weissen Sonne, the submitter requested authenticity for German language/culture. Documentation was provided for weissen Sonne as a sign name in German meaning 'white sun'. The documentation indicates that while von der weissen Sonne is plausible, the most likely form of this byname is zu der weissen Sonne. [Vlasta von der weissen Sonne, 01/02, A-West]
François la Flamme	2002.01	Both Ramon and Diego are masculine given names. As explained by Gage, "The structure <given name de father's given name> is a structure found in medieval Navarese censuses. <Ramon> is a typical Catalan name; <Diego> is found throughout the peninsula." Therefore, de Diego is a patronymic byname following the pattern found in the Navarese censuses. [Ramon de Diego, 01/02, A-Caid]
François la Flamme	2002.01	The particle mhic is the genitive form of mac in Early Modern Gaelic that is appropriate after 1200. The Middle Gaelic form is meic, which is appropriate for use with the spelling ingen. Also, 'M' does not lenite in Middle Gaelic. [Muirenn ingen meic Martain, 01/02, A-Caid]
François la Flamme	2001.09	[Japanese name] Additionally, though no is included in the spoken name, it is not included in the written name. [Kentsuki no Ujitora Kaito Tamashi, 09/01, R-Caid]
Elsbeth Anne Roth	2000.05	Submitted as Derdriu ingen Murcada , it was noted in commentary that Ó Corrain and Maguire indicate that Derdriu is mythological. However, Black, sub Deirdre , has Derdere, wife of Cospatric Earl in 1166; this leads us to believe that the name is registerable. We have lenited the patronymic, though, to match documentation and to make it grammatically correct. [Derdriu ingen Mhurchadha, 05/00, A-Middle]
Elsbeth Anne Roth	2000.04	Submitted as Cassandra Annabell O Seanacain, the name has two weirdnesses: the mixture of Gaelic and English spelling conventions and the use of two given names, particularly in an Irish context, where it is not allowed. It also used a masculine form of the patronymic with a feminine name. By Anglicizing the surname, we make this an English name for someone of Irish decent, making it registerable. [Cassandra Annabelle O Shannahan, 04/00, A-Atenveldt]
Elsbeth Anne Roth	2000.01	Submitted as the Order of the Gryphon's Eye, the apostrophe was not used until after period. [Artemisia, Kingdom of, 01/00, A-Artemisia]
Elsbeth Anne Roth	1999.12	Submitted as Eleri Mywn, the byname lenites after a feminine name. [Eleri Vwyn, 12/99, A-Atlantia]
Jaelle of Armida	1997.06	[registering Tymm Colbert le Gard] Submitted as Tymm Gard Colbert, this name had a severe problem. When in a medieval English name a patronymic and an occupational byname are found together, the patronymic invariably comes first. It's actually questionable whether the occupational byname is really part of the name or merely an indication of the bureaucracy's need to identify individuals unambiguously, since it is generally set off either by a comma or by the definite article. We have correct the name to the period form. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR June 1997, p. 8)
Jaelle of Armida	1997.05	[returning Freyja the Cunning] The byname is also problematic: on the 5/94 LoAR the name Eirik the Wandering was returned because `[n]o one was able to document an authentic English byname formed from the present participle of a word'. Cunning, earlier cunnand, is in origin the present participle of can `to know'. This is a borderline case, since it seems to have acquired independent status as an adjective fairly early, but it at least needs to be mentioned. (By the way, the LoI slightly misleads in appearing to date cunning to 1382; the actual citation is for kunnynge.) If she wants an attested English byname, she might try Slei, Slegh, Sley, le Slege, Sly, etc. These citations, all from the 13th c., are in Reaney & Wilson s.n. Slay and represent the modern English sly, from ON sloegr `sly, cunning, crafty'. Of course, if she returns with an ON forename, the ON byname would be even better. Its feminine forms would be sloeg and, with the definite article, in sloega. There are other possibilities if she prefers another shade of meaning, e.g., gör `skilled, accomplished' (or in göra `the accomplished'). Another possibility, this one etymologically related to cunning, is kunnandi `cunning, knowing, learned' (or in kunnandi). Freygerðr in sloega (in göra, in kunnandi) would be a perfectly acceptable ON feminine name.
Jaelle of Armida	1997.05	[returning the epithet the Amazed] [Alaric the Amazed] No evidence has been presented to show that fairly abstract past participles like this were used as nicknames in period. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR May 1997p. 8)
Jaelle of Armida	1997.01	[changing the byname atte Loncastre] [Franbald of Loncastre] The word atte is a ME contraction of at and the. It is normally used with topographical locatives, e.g., atte Brigge `at the bridge'. The contraction is inappropriate with a toponym (proper noun place-name): one wouldn't say 'at the Lancaster', for example. Therefore, we have changed it to of. Other possible forms include Franbald æt Loncæstere, if he wants an Old English name from c. 900. By the end of the 10^th c. it would probably become Franbald æt Loncastre. The normal English usage would be Frambald of Loncastre, though in documentary use of would probably become de. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR January 1997, p. 3)
Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 1st year)	1994.06	[Registering �vatý Sebesta, College of.] Submitted as College of Saint Sebesta, RfS III.1.a. requires that each phrase must be grammatically correct according to the usage of a single language. We have translated "saint" to the Czech form, as well as adding the correct "inverted caret" over the S in Sebesta (it is pronounced "Shebesta"). [6/94, p.9]
Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 1st year)	1994.06	[Returning Cynthia de Mantegna.] The preposition "de" is out of place here; were Mantegna either a placename or a given name, it would work, but Mantegna was only documented as a surname. [6/94, p.13]
Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 1st year)	1994.02	[Coley Cuthbert] The prepositional byname placed before the given here is fine ... . [2/94, p.12]
Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 1st year)	1994.01	[Returning Monsdraconis.] The grammar appears to be incorrect; normal Latin formation would keep the elements separate as either Mons Draco (dragon mountain) or as Mons Draconis (dragon's mountain). In addition, the locative would almost certainly use the preposition de, which takes the ablative case, as de Monte Dracone or de Monte Draconis. [1/94, p.13]
Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 1st year)	1993.12a	[Fearghus Ó Siadhail] Submitted as Fergus ó Siadhail, the name was modified to correct the grammar by better matching the spelling of the given and the byname temporally. [12a/93, p.3]
Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme	1993.10	[Borhe Olafs] Lacking any direct evidence to the contrary, we will assume that the genitive form of the father's name [Olafr], with no suffixes or particles, is as acceptable here as it would be in English (e.g. Stevens). (Borhe Olafs, October, 1993, pg. 6)
Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme	1993.10	[James o' Gordon] Please make sure the submitter understands that the byname is not a patronymic; it is a toponymic, "of Gordon", the latter being a place. This would be acceptable even without the apostrophe: the OED cites o as a period spelling of "of". (James o' Gordon, October, 1993, pg. 1)
Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme	1993.09	[Magnus Bjornsson Fairhair] The current construction describes the submitter's father Bjorn as "fairhair" and not himself. If the submitter wishes to be the blond, he should resubmit as Magnus Fairhair Bjornsson. (Magnus Bjornsson Fairhair, September, 1993, pg. 13)
Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme	1993.09	[Uodalrica] There was some question in the commentary about the validity of the given name. The original root, Uodalric, is masculine by virtue of its masculine deuterotheme -ric. It's possible that the Latinized form Uodalricus is simply be the default spelling for that time and place --- and therefore, unlike classical Latin names such as Julius/Julia, incapable of being feminized by changing -us to -a. The question cannot be definitively answered, on the basis of the evidence presented for this submission. However, the Society has traditionally been tolerant of feminized forms of period masculine names, whether such feminized names were documented or not; in part, this is an acknowledgement that women's names simply weren't recorded as often as men's names. As a general rule, if the masculine form of a name is documented to period, we assume the feminized form is acceptable. In this particular case, barring any direct evidence to the contrary, we will give the submitter the benefit of the doubt. (Uodalrica MacDonnell, September, 1993, pp. 5-6)
Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme	1993.09	Lady Harpy has provided documentation from Socin of the use of zu in its older form ze in locatives with the names of towns and villages: ze Froberg, ze Bernowe (p. 272) and ze Tattenriet (p. 277). (Anna zu Euskirchen, September, 1993, pg. 9)
Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme	1993.03	A couple of our onomasticists have argued for increased standards of temporal compatibility in SCA names: that the English of the 5th and 16th Centuries are as culturally immiscible as Aztec and Viking, and should be as unacceptable, per Rule III.2. The College has mostly been concerned that the parts of a name be compatible geographically (e.g. French and Italian); we've never been strict about the equivalent temporal mismatches. Both Mistress Alisoun and Master Da'ud declined to make temporal compatibility a reason for return. To paraphrase Mistress Alisoun, in a Society where a 10th Century Viking can sit beside an Elizabethan lady at a feast, temporal requirements probably aren't worth the grief. Moreover, some names changed very little over time, in any given country (the modern English John hasn't changed in half a millennium); temporal problems are thus more difficult to demonstrate than geographic problems. I've no intention of completely overturning the policy of my predecessors. However, in a number of my recent rulings, I've ruled that excessive temporal mismatching can be considered a "weirdness", costing the submitter the benefit of the doubt. With this LoAR, I hereby make the new policy official: If the elements of a submitted name are dated too far apart, then any other anomaly in the name may combine to force it to be returned. The greater the temporal divide, the greater the anomaly: a given name and byname whose spellings are documented within, say, a century of each other will probably be all right, but a three-century divide is pushing it. By itself, temporal incompatibility is still not sufficient reason for return. I haven't yet been faced with a case so extreme (a couple of millennia, say) to require a return; our worst instance of temporal mismatch (Tamas of Midian) also involved geographic mismatch as well. But henceforth, excessive temporal mismatch may contribute to a name's unacceptability; another problem with the name may cause it to be returned. (8 May, 1993 Cover Letter (March, 1993 LoAR), pg. 4)
Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme	1993.01	A few recent registrations have left some commenters wondering about the exact status of the College's lingua franca rules. Originally, these were simply the acknowledgement of a hard fact: that the grand majority of SCA folk speak modern English, not Russian, Saxon, Latin, Old Norse, or whatever. The principle was first expressed as a Board ruling (after they'd received correspondence written in medieval Latin!), and codified in the 1986 edition of the Rules for Submissions: "The official language of the Society is and shall be correct modern English ...Simple particles, such as 'of', may be used without necessarily increasing the counted number of languages contained in the name. The formula , whatever the original languages, is acceptable. This is the usual historian's manner, and therefore Otto of Freising is a familiar form, though he would have been Otto von Freising or some other more Geman or Latin version in most contemporary documents." [NR1] The same allowance for of is found in the current Rules (Rule III.2.a), though not spelled out in such detail. Less codified, but of long practice, has been the translation of epithets into our lingua franca. Again, this follows a common historian's usage: Harald I of Norway, for instance, is far better known as Harald Fairhair than by the untranslated Harald Haarfagr. Eric the Red, Philip the Good, Charles the Fat, all are translations of the period names, not the period names themselves. SCA names are permitted a similar translation: a simple epithet, documented as a period form, may be translated into English. (We prefer to register the untranslated form, but I concede that such rigor doesn't always serve our clients' best interests.) The use of lingua franca translation is extended only to single, simple descriptives. Given names, for instance, may not normally be translated into their putative meaning: e.g. Bear may not be used as a given name, even though it's the lingua franca translation of the given name Björn. Placenames, hereditary surnames, and bynames from different languages (e.g. French and German) likewise don't fall under the lingua franca allowance. The English translation should be chosen to minimize any intrusive modernity: e.g. the Old Norse byname kunta is better translated as "wench" than as the intrusive "bimbo". (Well, actually, neither of those is exactly right, but there may be children reading.) Period terms are always preferable, but when necessary, we will translate documented period epithets into the Society's common tongue. That seems to be the best compromise between the needs of authenticity and ease of use. (28 March, 1993 Cover Letter (January, 1993 LoAR), pp. 2-3)
Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme	1992.10	The use of four elements in an English name is anomalous (a "weirdness"), costing the submitter the benefit of the doubt (LoAR of July 92, p.18); it's permissible only if there are no other problems with the name. (Aric Thomas Percy Raven, October, 1992, pg. 30)
Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme	1992.09	According to Lord Palimpsest, [in Irish Gaelic] while the particle Ó prefixes an h to the following vowel, ni does not. (Caitriona Keavy ni Ainle, September, 1992, pg. 4)
Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme	1992.08	Pending a full discussion of Irish patronymics (called for in last month's LoAR cover letter), I am taking the grammatically correct route: female names should use the female patronymic particle. (Briana Nig Uidhir, August, 1992, pg. 3)
Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme	1992.07	Withycombe (p.xliii) mentions "very rare, isolated examples" of period names with multiple name elements: they grow more common in the late 16th Century, but don't become abundant until the 17th Century. Of those rare instances that do occur, three elements seem to have been the norm: e.g. John William Whytting, c.1386; Robert Browne Lilly, b.1593; Arthur Rous Russhe, b.1564. English names with four elements are so rare in period that I would consider the usage a "weirdness," costing a submitter the benefit of the doubt; and English names with five elements ...I must consider over the edge of acceptability. (Catherine Elizabeth Holly Winthrop of Lincolnshire, July, 1992, pg. 18)
Baldwin of Erebor	1986.03.09	He has provided ample documentation that the surname precedes the given name in Hungarian usage. [BoE, 9 Mar 86, p.1]