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Charges must be drawn in their period form (per Rule VII.3), so that they can be identified (per Rule VIII.3). This is especially true when a wrongly drawn charge can be mistaken for some other charge (Federico Arcière dal Fióre, July, 1992, pg. 18)
The black widow spider does not appear to have been known to period Europeans. It didn't even get the name until the early 20th Century; and it appears to have been introduced into America in the late 19th Century (from China, according to the best speculations). Without evidence that the black widow spider was known to period Europeans, it may not be registered. (Novia the Widow, July, 1992, pg. 20)
The Great Dane is a period breed of dog, according to Mistress Ammalynne's monograph in the Meridean Symposium Proceedings, 1982. (Kristoff McLain Cameron, August, 1992, pg. 5)
Adding horns to inanimate objects doesn't appear to have been a period treatment; certainly, we would like to see some evidence of what is, at first glance, a highly improbable usage ...the reason for its improbability --- the fact that the elk-horned mask cannot be identified as such --- is ...grounds for return. (Erc Mortagh the Pict, August, 1992, pg. 24)
Hummingbirds are a New World species, but they appear to have been known to period Europeans. The OED cites the first use of the English word to 1637, within our fifty-year "grey zone" for documentation, and I suspect the Spaniards or Portuguese were familiar with the bird even earlier. (Caitriona Keavy ni Ainle, September, 1992, pg. 4)
[A musimon sable] The charge ...was submitted as a Jacob ram, a breed of sheep noted for its piebald coloration and double horns. (The name comes from a story in Genesis, chapter 30, where Jacob indulged in a remarkable feat of early genetic engineering.) Unfortunately, the breed dates only to the 18th Century; and since a Jacob's sheep is piebald by definition, it loses its distinctiveness when made a solid tincture, as here.
We've reblazoned this as the heraldic monster known as the musimon, defined to be a cross between a ram and a goat, with the horns of both. It is described in Guillim's Displaie of Heraldry, 1632. (Deborah bat Yosef, September, 1992, pg. 5)
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The owl was submitted as a Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) --- which, as the Latin implies, is a North American species. With no evidence that it was known to period Europeans, we have substituted the eagle owl (Bubo bubo), known through most of Western Europe; it has the same tufts of feathers on the head, and much the same brown coloration. ( Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe, pp.165, 194) (Laurencia the Fletcher, September, 1992, pg. 20)
The demon is a period heraldic charge, as found in the arms of the city of Brussels (Gules, the archangel Michael Or vanquishing a demon underfoot sable). (Asher Truefriend, September, 1992, pg. 30)
[A winch] Since this seems to be the defining instance of a winch in SCA armory, we need some documentation of this form as a period charge or artifact. [returned for this and for being drawn in trian aspect] (Sylvia Schirenhoferin, September, 1992, pg. 42)
It hasn't yet been established that the humpback whale (as a distinct species) was known in period; the OED 's first citation of humpback whale dates to 1725. [Device returned for this and for artistic problems] (Canton of Berley Court, September, 1992, pg. 44)
The charges on the chief were blazoned as rapiers, but drawn as modern fencing foils. While the LOI noted that the submitter would be told how to draw the charges henceforth, this doesn't make the device, as submitted, acceptable. We can wink at minor emblazonry problems, but not blatantly non-period artifacts. [See also Fernando Juan Carlos Remesal, October 1992 LoAR, pg. 29] (Thorun Geiri, September, 1992, pg. 50)
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Bagpipes in period had at most two drones. Specifically, Scots bagpipes did not add the third, longer drone until the 18th Century. The set shown here [with three drones] is no more period than a saxophone. (Connor Mac Loghan, September, 1992, pg. 52)
[A mariner's astrolabe] Lord Green Anchor has provided ample documentation for this form of astrolabe, dating it to c.1480. Visually, it differs from an astronomer's astrolabe in the large cutout areas (so the wind won't keep blowing it aside and make readings more difficult). Where the astronomer's astrolabe is visually a roundel with diapering, the mariner's astrolabe is visually a wheel with diapering (Vincent McThomas, October, 1992, pg. 5)
As a rule, baby animals are not used in SCA heraldry: they're visually indistinguishable from adult animals, and period examples of their use are rare. Lambs appear to be an exception: not only is the Paschal lamb often found in period armory, but lambs were used for canting purposes (e.g. the arms of Lambert --- or the current submission). (Agnes Margaret de Grinstead, October, 1992, pg. 12)
The starfish is not, to the best of our knowledge, a period heraldic charge; it seems to have started use in Victorian heraldry (Elvin, plate 32) [reblazoned as mullets, leaving internal markings as artistic license, see also pg. 19] [See also Ríoghnach Sláine ní Chonaill, same letter, pg. 19, and Meulsine d'Argent, same letter, pg. 21](Branwen ferch Madoc, October, 1992, pg. 18)
[a "Mongol helm"] We were given no evidence to support this form of helm as a "Mongol helm", or indeed as any nationality of helm. Such examples of Mongol helms as we could uncover did not show the submitted helm's fur trim or the hanging drapery; our best contemporary example (from an illustrated history of the Mongols by Rashid ad-Din, c.1300) showed a plain pointed cap with "ear muffs" on either side. Since this submission would be the SCA's defining instance of a Mongol helm, it's important that it be documented in this form. (Raven Helmsplitter, December, 1992, pg. 15)
The ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus torquatus) appears to be a 19th Century import from China, according to the 1911 E.Brit., vol.XXI, p.361. This wasn't noticed for her original submission, probably because the birds were heraldically tinctured; they could as easily have been any kind of pheasant, and indeed we've amended her current blazon accordingly. But when tinctured proper, the problem of compatibility can no longer be ignored; we would need evidence that this breed of pheasant was known to period Europeans before we could register it. (Wilhelmina Brant, December, 1992, pg. 20)
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The Venus-hair fern was known by that name in period, according to the OED; it's also called maiden-hair. (Kateline MacFarlane, January, 1993, pg. 2)
While the standard heraldic spindle has its weight to base by default, this submission uses a drop spindle with its weighted disk in chief. Evidently, this is a valid variety of drop spindle: usually called a "high whorl spindle", it dates from ancient Egyptian times. ( The Spinner's Encyclopedia, Enid Anderson) The term inverted drop spindle can apply either to this variety, or to an heraldic spindle inverted --- the results are equivalent, technically and visually. (Maryam al-Baghdadi, January, 1993, pg. 2)
As a breed, Welsh corgies date back to the 12th Century, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. (Rosalynde y Corgwyn, January, 1993, pg. 21)
The pronghorn antelope lives in the western United States; we have no evidence that it was known to period Europeans. Without such evidence, we cannot register the beast, or his attire. (Eoghan O'Neill, January, 1993, pg. 23)
We were given no documentation of the zalktis [a squared off `S' shape, set on its side] as an heraldic charge, or even as a religious symbol. It cannot be found in our standard references --- the OED, for instance, has no entry for it. As this would have been the defining instance of the charge in SCA heraldry, documentation becomes even more important; pending such documentation, this must be returned. (Gundras no Dzintara Krasta, January, 1993, pg. 28)
No documentation was provided to support a grinding wheel as a period charge, or indeed as a period artifact. As this submission would be the defining instance of the charge in SCA heraldry, such documentation is necessary. (Wolfric Hammerfestning, January, 1993, pg. 35)
The step-cut gem is found in period jewelry, if not armory; see some of Holbein's portraits of Henry VIII, for instance. (Ælfwynn Elswith, March, 1993, pg. 7)
The Arabic ceremonial saddle (qubbah) is a highly stylized charge from Moslem heraldry, according to the article by Lord Clarion in The Islamic World (Complete Anachronist #51, p.63). (Salim ibn abd al-Rahman al-Rashid, March, 1993, pg. 17)
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We have no evidence that the gopher was known to period Europeans: the OED, for instance, dates gopher in this context only to 1818. (There's also the Biblical gopher-wood, but that doesn't apply to this submission.) Since the gopher is a rodent from the North American plains, we can't automatically assume that it was known to period Europeans; we need some hard evidence before we can accept the charge. (Gerrich de la Foy, March, 1993, pg. 23)
[A cross "formy convexed"] This badge had been returned on the LoAR of May 92 for lack of documentation on the type of cross. (It had been blazoned in the previous submission as a cross formy globate, which term we couldn't find in any of our references.) The submitter has appealed that return, providing evidence of this cross as an artistic motif on a suit of armor c.1630. The term "convexed", referring to the bulge of the outer edges of the cross's limbs, is documented in Elvin's Dictionary of Heraldry.
Unfortunately, my main concerns about this cross remain unaddressed. It's not readily blazonable: as drawn, it resembles a roundel with four semi-elliptical notches, not a variant of a cross formy. It's been documented only to within our 50-year "grey area", and only as an artistic motif, not an heraldic charge. The only terms that adequately describe it are found in a 19th Century work, compiled by an author whose lack of scholarship is legend. I simply have no grounds for believing this cross to be compatible with period heraldic style.
This cross has been submitted before, and returned for the above reasons; v. Jamys Ellyn Rothesay of Bannatyne Hall, LoAR of Sept 92, p.49. I'm tempted, I admit, to simply give the cross its own SCA name. (In the immortal words of Baldwin of Erebor, "Spring is in the air, and the fit is upon me; let me name but one cross before I die!") But this would do no service to the heralds and scribes who will follow us; we need some assurance that any blazon we devised would be reconstructable. In this case, at the very least we'd need to find this cross mentioned by name in some accessible reference. Failing that, or better evidence that it's a period motif, I must continue to return it. (Stanislaw Jan Ossolinski, March, 1993, pg. 28)
The device had been returned on the LoAR of March 92 for lack of identifiability of the aloe vera plant ...The submitter has appealed that return, providing evidence that the aloe vera was known in period, and that it was used in (post-period) armory in the form shown here. I agree that the charge would probably have been as recognizable as, say, the lotus flower; it should be acceptable for SCA use. (Randwulf the Hermit, June, 1993, pg. 2)
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We have no evidence that chipmunks were known to period Europeans: the OED's first citation of the word is dated 1842 [device registered as problem was not noted in previous return]. (Anne de Silva, July, 1993, pg. 4)
The stag's horn or stag's attire --- singular, as opposed to the full rack of antlers -- is a period charge; the arms of the Duchy of Wuerttemberg are the most famous example of its use. (Alberto Accorsi, July, 1993, pg. 7)
The Russian firebird is a creature of Eastern European folklore, represented in art from the late 16th and early 17th Centuries. Heraldically, it is indistinguishable from a peacock. (Krzysia Wanda Kazimirova, August, 1993, pg. 6)
Some commenters raised the question of whether the hammered dulcimer is a period instrument. The exact form shown in this submission, played with hammers, is found in the Flemish painting "Mary Queen of Heaven", c.1485. (Mary Remnant, Musical Instruments: An Illustrated History, p.117) In theory, the modifier hammered is superfluous; this was the only period form of dulcimer. In practice, enough people are acquainted only with the post-period Appalachian dulcimer that it seems safer to specify. (Dulcinea Margarita Teresa Velazquez de Ribera, August, 1993, pg. 11)
The bouvier de Flandres does not seem to be a period breed of dog. According to Simon & Schuster's Guide to Dogs, #43, "There is no real agreement concerning the origin of this Franco-Belgian breed. Probably it was formed by crossing the griffon and the Beauceron..."; the griffon and Beauceron breeds, in turn, were developed in the 19th and 18th Centuries respectively. (Jean Philippe des Bouviers Noirs, August, 1993, pg. 18)
The mandrake is a plant of the genus Mandragora and is native to Southern Europe and the East. It is characterized by very short stems, thick fleshy, often forked, roots, and by fetid lance-shaped leaves (OED). Of the two examples cited in Parker, p. 390, one (de Champs) blazons them as plantes de mandragore (plants of mandrake). The other cited example, the only one in English armory, is actually shown in Rodney Dennys' The Heraldic Imagination, p.130, as more humanoid. Dennys states that "the Mandrake is not, of course, a monster or chimerical creature in the strict sense of the term, but in heraldic art it has acquired such anthropomorphic characteristics that it can be rated as one of the more fanciful of the fabulous creatures of heraldry" (p. 129). We feel there is a CD between a mandrake and human figures as there is between other fanciful heraldic creatures (e.g. angels) and human figures. (Leandra Plumieg, September, 1993, pg. 12)
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The primary charge was submitted as a broach. The broach (more fully blazoned an embroiderer's broach) is a period charge, dating to 1558, in the arms of the Worshipful Company of Broderers; but it should be drawn with a pointed tip, not with the U-shaped tip drawn here. The charge drawn on the emblazon is also found in period armory in the arms of Waldstromer von Reichelsdorf (Siebmacher, plate 108); but I don't know what it's called. Rietstap blazons it simply as forche (fork), which in French can refer to almost any bifurcated artifact. Society blazonry calls the charge a handgun rest and we have so blazoned it here. (Alina Mika Kobyakovna, September, 1993, pg. 15)
Hamsters were known in period: the OED cites the use of the term in 1602, well within our 50-year "grey area" of documentation. (Ammyra of House Mouse, October, 1993, pg. 8)
Claddagh rings (also called fede rings or friendship rings) are found in period in a variety of forms. (David Hinton, Medieval Jewellery, plates 13, 14) The motif is quite period. The claddagh ring normally used today shows the heart conjoined to a crown; so even were it a protected design, this submission [In fess a heart supported by a pair of hands issuant from the flanks argent] would be clear of it [badge returned for having hands issue from the edge of a fieldless badge]. (Myles of Falkon Hold, October, 1993, pg. 15)
The chevron écimé [with a blunted top] does not appear to be a period charge. The single registration in the SCA of the term was in 1973 (Eiolf Eriksson); and that wasn't even a correct blazon for the device (which has been reblazoned elsewhere in this LoAR). The current submission would thus be the defining instance of the charge, and we need to see evidence of its use in period before allowing its registration. We will defer any discussion of its difference versus an ordinary chevron until its validity as a period charge has been demonstrated. (Vladimir Heraldsson, October, 1993, pg. 15)
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