Copyright © 1995 - Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.
The 1st Tenure of Da'ud Ibn Auda (1st year)
"The use of a matronymic in Arabic [was not] documented. (Laurel believes that the two instances he could find, that of 'Isa ibn Maryam {Jesus the son of Mary, clearly a unique case} and one other instance noted in The Fihrist of al-Nadim do not establish a pattern of general usage. We would prefer to see more examples before allowing this exception to the rule of the use of patronymics in Arabic)." [The name was returned for this reason and for the non-documentability of a byname] (LoAR 10/90 p.16).
"Submitted as <given name> bint-Aamir, we have deleted the obtrusive hyphen. Aamir (pronounced AH-mir) is not the same as the restricted alternate title Amir (pronounced ah-Meer)." (LoAR 12/90 p.5).
"The Scottish patronymic particle [Mac] was sometimes used with an English given name." (LoAR 6/90 Symposium pps. 1-2).
"We do not normally register names with phrases in them like 'called X'. In this case, we have modified the name as the submitter's forms allowed to register the epithet...to him." (LoAR 9/90 p.4).
"Submitted as <given name> <locative> of <locative>, such a form (X of X, or X of that Ilk) is a claim not only to chieftanship of a clan but implies overlordship of a territory, and rank and title. Such a claim is improper in the SCA." (LoAR 9/90 p.7).
[Hagarson] "Regarding the matronymic, sufficient examples were presented by various commenters to show a 'pattern of use' of forming patronymics and matronymics in Scandinavian and English languages from Biblical names that we feel we have to allow this. (Mind you, we do not like helping to perpetuate a misconception that 'Hagar' is a Norse name simply because of the popularity of a certain comic strip which prominently features a 'Viking' named Hagar.)" (LoAR 9/90 p.7).
"Submitted as <given name> Sinclair of Wick, we have dropped the locative to avoid the appearance of presumption that the submitter is the clan chief of the Sinclairs, Earls of Caithness, whose stronghold is Girnigoe Castle, just north of Wick in Caithness." (LoAR 10/90 p.2).
"<Given Name> the Breton should no more conflict with <same Given Name>, Duke of Brittany, than Richard the Englishman would with Richard, King of England." [Note that this overturns a precedent of Master Baldwin's regarding Wladislaw Poleski] (LoAR 10/90 p.2).
[<given name> of Orange] "While William of Orange did appear to be the most famous member of the House, given the facts that there is a town of that name in France and that no evidence was presented that the House of Orange was strictly a royal household in the manner of the Hohenstauffens, but something more along the lines of the families of York and Lancaster, we felt that this name was acceptable." (LoAR 10/90 p.4).
[Sunblocker] "Nearly every commenter remarked on the modern connotations of the epithet, hence we are dropping it because of obtrusive modernity." (LoAR 10/90 p.8).
[<given name> ap Gryffydd ap Cynan o'r Wyddfa] "The name is a claim to descent from Gryffydd ap Cynan, king of Gwenedd of which y Wyddfa is the highest point." (LoAR 10/90 p.21).
[Clan Stewart of <place>] "There is in the name 'Stewart of <place>' an implication of title, but not of landedness (since <place> does not exist as a place). See Scots Heraldry by Sir Thomas Innes of Learney, pp. 203-205, for a fuller discussion of 'Territorial Designations'." [The clan name was registered] (LoAR 11/90 p.6).
"Submitted as <given names> an Bheac�in Bh�in, 'of the White Mushroom' is simply not a reasonable epithet in any language. We have therefore dropped it." (LoAR 11/90 p.7).
[<Given name> Skala-Bjornsson] "This is sufficiently different from <given name> Bjornsson by the addition of an element. This is functionally and aurally equivalent to '<given name>, son of Bjorn the Bald." (LoAR 11/90 p.7).
[Samhioldanach] "There was a question as to whether the byname is unique to the god Lugh, but given the lack of documentation for this objection, we are giving the submitter the benefit of the doubt." (LoAR 11/90 p.9).
"Submitted as <given name> of Sableswan, the byname does not appear to be a reasonably formed placename. As it is a reasonable epithet, we have dropped the 'of' to register the name." (LoAR 11/90 p.9).
" 'Acquaintance traveller' is not a reasonable epithet or byname in any language we could think of." (LoAR 11/90 p.14).
" 'Of Many Blue Waters' was not considered by any commentary to be a reasonable placename or byname." (LoAR 11/90 p.14).
" 'Of Sunshine' does not seem to be a reasonable epithet in any language, including Hebrew." (LoAR 11/90 p.16).
[Guild of the Enchanted Needle] "We have serious qualms about registering 'enchanted' anythings. See RfS VI.2., Names Claiming Powers." [Guild name returned also because no given name present] (LoAR 11/90 p.16).
"To respond to Lord Trefoil's... request for clarification of the registration of <given name> Skala-Bjornsson, I was applying V.2, Addition of One Phrase, versus <given name> Bjornsson. It was my feeling that since both names consisted of three phrases or less and <given name> Bald Bjornsson would not be considered to conflict with <given name> Bjornsson in English that the same standard should apply in Norse (or any other language), subject of course to audial conflict and correct grammar for the language." (CL 1/4/91 p.3, referring to the LoAR of 11/90 p.7).
[Huscarl] "Huscarl is not a restricted title, any more than is 'the Apprentice', or, perhaps more appropriately, 'the Fighter'." (LoAR 12/90 p.8).
[Wulf Thorunsson] "This is clear of Wulf Thoraldsson... There is a significantly sufficient change in the pronunciation of the patronymic to consider these clear." (LoAR 12/90 p.12).
[Lairdragyn] "The locative does not make sense as constructed. Does she perhaps want 'Dragynlair'?" (LoAR 12/90 p.15).
[an Brionna] "One cannot be 'the Dream', even in Irish Gaelic. This is not an epithet that would have been given one in period." (LoAR 12/90 p.16).
"While it is not particularly common for the descriptive to precede the given name, it is not unheard of." (LoAR 1/91 p.2).
"Submitted as <names> of the Rose, the byname implies membership in the Order of the Rose as much as 'of the Laurel', 'of the Chivalry', or 'of the Pelican' imply membership in those orders. We have dropped the byname..." (LoAR 1/91 p.10).
"Submitted as <names> of Starfyre, the byname was not something that a person could be 'of' or 'from', so we have dropped it on order to register the name." (LoAR 1/91 p.18).
"Submitted as <names> of Moonshaven, the locative does not appear to be a place that a human may be 'of', so we have dropped it to register the name and device." (LoAR 1/91 p.18).
[Armuin, submitted as a given name] "The submitter's own documentation is very clear that 'armuin' is a title meaning 'steward', 'warrior', or 'hero.' It is not a given name." (LoAR 1/91 p.20).
"The name MacLeer ('son of Leer') should not be used in connection with sea symbology because it will appear to be a claim to descent from the sea god Lir." (LoAR 1/91 p.27).
"Although Levesque means 'bishop', which is a restricted title in the SCA, it is also a documentable period surname. It is Laurel's opinion that Levesque should be registrable under the same general restrictions as Regina; that is, so long as it is not used in such a way as to appear like a title." (LoAR 3/91 p.5).
[Of the Fretted Mind] "The epithet does not make sense in any of the meanings given in period from the OED." (LoAR 4/91 p.11).
[<name> de Navarre] "We have historically registered ' 'name' of 'Kingdom' ' so long as the given name was not identical to that of one of the rulers of 'Kingdom'. The only exception Laurel remembers offhand to this is the name Hohenstaufen which name was only used by the ruling family." (LoAR 5/91 p.2).
[de Spenser] "Although derived from the French 'le Despencer', Reaney in his The Origin of English Surnames, p.158, notes a son of Hugh le Despencer was called Hugh de Spencer (thirteenth century). Thus, this form of the name should be fine." (LoAR 5/91 p.4).
[Forgalwoman] "Submitted as <name> Forgal's Woman, we have modified the name to follow period practice in forming this sort of byname, which appears not to use the possessive 'X's' ('Tomwyf, 'Smythwyf', both noted in the LoI). While a number of commenters noted that they would much prefer a form which smacked less of 'property', Lord Lanner notes that the OED dates 'woman' as meaning 'wife' in 1450, so if 'wife' is acceptable, so is 'woman'." (LoAR 6/91 p.5).
[of Windsor] "As the locative is that of a place in England from which a number of people could be, and only comparatively recently adopted as a dynastic name, it is not seen as presumptuous to the ruling family of England." (LoAR 6/91 p.13).
"Lord Yale's discussion of the Wade-Giles and Pinyin transliteration systems for Chinese convinced us that the name would be better if spelled in only one or the other rather than a hybrid which used parts of each. Accordingly, we have used the Pinyin transliteration system as that was closest to the form submitted." (LoAR 10/90 p.9).
[Eisenweber] "Submitted as <given name> Eisen Weber, normal German construction would combine the epithet into a single word, which we have done here." [Eisen = iron, Weber = weaver] (LoAR 11/90 p.4).
"The name Olwen may not be combined with the use of trefoils on armory." (LoAR 6/90 Symposium p.1) "There is some evidence of Bruce being used as a given name in period (Sir Bruce sans Pit� in Malory's Morte d'Arthur)." (LoAR 6/90 Symposium p.1).
"Geirr Bassi, p.10, notes Garthr (with a thorn), which in common practice would drop the final 'r', making Garth a reasonable form. This is a departure from previous rulings, based on new documentation." (LoAR 7/90 p.5).
"Unfortunately, no one could document Candace as other than a name which became a title for Ethiopian queens. We need evidence that it was used as a name in period by others before it can be registered." (LoAR 7/90 p.13).
"Sufficient similar exemplars were given in the documentation to convince us that Rosabel is formed in a period manner." (LoAR 8/90 p.12).
[Thor, used to form the byname Thorsen] "No documentation was presented supporting the use of Thor, by itself, as a given name in period. All of the examples found by commenters used it as part of a compound (Thorvald, Thorbjorn etc.)" (LoAR 8/90 p.16).
"Thanks to Lady Ensign for her assistance in documenting Louise in period." (LoAR 9/90 p.2).
"Although some evidence was submitted that Maleah may be a modern Arabic name, its existence as a word in Hebrew prevents its being considered a made-up name, and no other evidence was presented that it is either a period Arabic name or that it follows the rules for constructing names in Arabic." [the name Maleah was dropped from the registered name] (LoAR 9/90 p.3).
"Enough evidence was presented of a pattern of t/c switch in Latin that Valencia appears to be a very reasonable form of Valentia (the latter being noted in Morlet (Vol. II, p.115)." (LoAR 9/90 p.4).
[Je Nell, a mundane given name, used as an SCA middle name] "While the addition of Je Nell was somewhat intrusive, it was not sufficiently so to cause return of the name." (LoAR 9/90 p.5).
"No additional evidence was given to demonstrate that Vanessa either was a period name or that it should be considered SCA-compatible." [the name was returned] (LoAR 9/90 p.14).
"No evidence has been presented that Joe is not a period diminutive of Joseph, and its extensive use post-period [sic] and there is certainly a common pattern of English diminutives formed this way; hence it should be as registerable as any other English diminutive (e.g., Will)." (LoAR 9/90 p.17).
"Submitted as Cairistrena <surname>, the given did not appear to be a reasonable variant of the documented Caristiona, so we have substituted the form documented by the submitter." (LoAR 10/90 p.2).
"Applying what I have come to term the 'Auda/'Ali' test, Arian <bynames> should be sufficiently different from Aron <same bynames>." [the submitter had a Letter of Permission not mentioned in LoAR but mentioned in the Letter of Intent] (LoAR 10/90 p.5).
[Aynia] "Considering that the given is found with this spelling in the submitter's documentation, it seemed acceptable. (That it is most likely a variant of Aine is noted in the documentation.)" (LoAR 10/90 p.7).
[Cainwen] "Lady Harpy found additional documentation for this name." (LoAR 10/90 p.8).
"Submitted as Chantal <surname>, the submitter was requesting a compromise of the mundane name allowance to permit a less obtrusive spelling of her mundane given name. The bulk of the commentary on this issue was not in favor of such a relaxation of the mundane name allowance, especially given that 'Chantal' was a placename in period." (LoAR 10/90 p.11).
"Shala is a reasonable transliteration of the Arabic name often transliterated as Shahlaa." (LoAR 10/90 p.16).
"Samia could be considered as an acceptable alternative to the name Samihah." (LoAR 10/90 p.16).
[Rob Roy <Surname>] "After much consideration and discussion, it was determined that 'Rob Roy' is so well known and closely associated with Rob Roy McGregor that it must be considered a unique name. 'Rob' is fine, and so is 'Roy', but 'Rob Roy' is not." (LoAR 10/90 p.17).
[Keriwyn] "The given is not a reasonable variant of Keridwen. No one could demonstrate that the 'd' would have been dropped in any variant of the name." (LoAR 10/90 p.21).
[Nichelle, documented as a combination of Nicole and Michelle] "One cannot take various name elements at random and combine them to form a new name. Such a practice does not follow the naming conventions of most languages. Given its modern use in the name of Nichelle ('Lt. Uhura') Nichols we need better documentation that this construction is reasonable in period French." (LoAR 11/90 p.14).
"Samrah is not a reasonable alternate of Sameera/Sam�rah, since the 'ee' is a long vowel and is the accented syllable here and would not be dropped." (LoAR 11/90 p.16).
[Lora Leigh] "It was our feeling that the registration of Lora Leigh <surname> (from which this name is sufficiently different by the Rules) established a precedent in not calling conflict with the classical Lorelei, more so since there were no allusions to Lorelei in the armory." (LoAR 12/90 p.4).
"Submitted as <given name> bint-Aamir, we have deleted the obtrusive hyphen. Aamir (pronounced AH-mir) is not the same as the restricted alternate title Amir (pronounced ah-Meer)." (LoAR 12/90 p.5).
[Katriona an Brionna] "There is... an aural conflict with the registered Caitriona ni Bhriain." (LoAR 12/90 p.16).
"Pandora appears to be a unique name, borne only by the half-human heroine of myth. Barring documentation that the name was given to people in period, we cannot register it. [re: the device] The chest was... too great an allusion to the mythical Pandora (along with the anchor, the symbol of hope, the last thing to be released from Pandora's box)." (LoAR 12/90 p.16).
[Armuin, submitted as a given name] "The submitter's own documentation is very clear that 'armuin' is a title meaning 'steward', 'warrior', or 'hero.' It is not a given name." (LoAR 1/91 p.20).
[Morgan de Grey] "Aural conflict with the registered name of Morton the Grey." (LoAR 1/91 p.25).
"While it was a surname in period, Lynne is also a diminutive of a given name. Hence we felt that II.4 (Legal Names) could be applied here." (LoAR 2/91 p.1).
[Rhiannon of the Hollow Lands] "The name is simply too evocative of the Welsh Goddess Rhiannon, who rode out of the Gorsedd Arberth, a hill (resumably hollow) with supernatural properties." (LoAR 2/91 p.20).
[Gryffn] "There seems to be no justification in dropping the second vowel in Gryffin; it does not appear that this would be done in Welsh." (LoAR 2/91 p.21).
[Gryffn <bynames>] "Aural conflict with the already registered Tryffin <bynames>." (LoAR 2/91 p.21).
"Submitted as Reina de <place>, that form of the name takes on the aspect of a title 'Queen of <place>.' We have deleted the article 'of' in order to remove the appearance of presumption and to register the name." (LoAR 3/91 p.5).
[Arafel] "The name was submitted as invented by C.J. Cherryh (in The Dreamstone). However, the name there was used only by an elf (the last living one in that world), and hence not suitable for humans. The purported derivation by Cherryh of Arafel from Aoibheil seems extremely unlikely. And although the two themes of the name, 'ara' and 'fel', appear in Searle's Onomasticon Anglo-Saxonicum (pp. 72 and 240, respectively), the fact that they appear without any examples of their use in actual names (and that they are not in his extensive list of themes on pp. xv-xix) makes them suspect, to say the least. (Searle seems to indicate that '-fel' may be a misreading of '-wulf', and 'ara' revers the reader to 'Haraldus', where it is more clearly not a protheme.)" [the name was returned] (LoAR 3/91 p.7).
[Gerard <bynames>] "While Laurel has some qualms about this versus the already registered Gerald <bynames>, the majority of the commenters felt it passed the 'Auda-'Ali test' by changing the 'l' to an 'r' and accenting the second syllable of the given." (LoAR 4/91 p.3).
"Given that Gandalfr is cited in Geirr Bassi as a name clearly given to a human in period, and that there are no other references to Gandalf the Gray, I can see no real bar to registering the name. It seems to me to be in the same class as the name Conan, which may have very strong associations for many people with one specific character, but which is none the less an acceptable Society name." (LoAR 4/91 p.4).
"Kveldulf is a unique name, applied to the grandfather of Egil Skallagrimsson, given to him because he came alive only at night and apparently had werewolf-like tendencies. As a unique name, its use in a patronymic form is a claim to relationship, which is disallowed by RfS V.5." (LoAR 4/91 p.14). [Jackline] "The presence of Jacklin and Jakelina in Withycombe lend credence to this spelling of the given name." (LoAR 6/91 p.3).
"Barring evidence that Terwyn is not period, we are giving the submitter the benefit of the doubt." (LoAR 6/91 p.3).
[Roseanna] "The presence of Rosianno in Morlet lends credence to this combination of Rose and Anna." (LoAR 6/91 p.10).
[Leornung-has] "This is an appropriate Anglo-Saxon alternate for 'College'." (LoAR 7/90 p.4).
[Gaesatae, used as the group designator for a household] "It seems unclear from the commentary whether the Gaesatae were a specific clan of Celtic nobility or a specific tribe (noted primarily for the use of the spear and going naked into battle). Either way it is not appropriate for registration." (LoAR 7/90 p.13).
[Entertainer's Guild] "It was felt that the name was too generic to be registered to a single group." (LoAR 10/90 p.21).
[Rolling Thunder] "That the natural phenomenon of 'a long drawn-out thunderclap' existed in period has never been an issue in previous returns of this name; the modern connotations of the name have been. The OED does not cite instances of 'roll' with either drums or thunder until well after period (1688 and 1700, respectively). The name is not period style but is obtrusively modern." (LoAR 4/91 p.13).
"The name is in conflict with the period site from which it was documented. Were the group actually located in the Barony of Duffer, County Down, Ireland, they would be able to use this name." (LoAR 11/90 p.17).
"Submitted as Company of the Chequered Shield of <Barony name>, the geographic name was dropped since it implied that the Company was an official group of the <Barony>. Were it such, the name should be registered to the Barony and not to an individual who happens to reside there." (LoAR 1/91 p.6).
"We have strong doubts about the propriety of the College registering an unofficial designation like 'borough' to an SCA group, past registration notwithstanding. If it's a household, let's call it a household and register it to the head of the household. If it's a geographic group like a canton or shire, let's register it as a canton or shire." (LoAR 1/91 p.24).
[Elmeston] "While one root meaning for -ton is 'farm,' the much more common meaning is the geographic designator 'town.' 'Town' is not a suitable designator for a 'household', particularly one based on geography. Might we suggest 'House Elmeston'?" [The household name was returned.] (LoAR 6/91 p.19).
[Submitter appealing and suggesting, if appeal fails, that the existing holding name be changed] "Regarding the proposed change of the holding name, even while knowing the submitter's desires and the reasons therefore, Laurel had to agree with Trefoil that changing an existing holding name at the request of the submitter sets a bad precedent, and it is believed would be tantamount to a name change, which would require the submitter to pay for her next name (re)submission. In the interests of fairness to all submitters, the holding name...remains unchanged." (LoAR 9/90 p.14).
"The Scottish patronymic particle [Mac] was sometimes used with an English given name." (LoAR 6/90 Symposium pps. 1-2).
"Submitted as <given name> <locative> of <locative>, such a form (X of X, or X of that Ilk) is a claim not only to chieftanship of a clan but implies overlordship of a territory, and rank and title. Such a claim is improper in the SCA." (LoAR 9/90 p.7).
"The use of a clan name with an actual place in Scotland implies landedness in the possession of a feudal barony. See Scots Heraldry by Sir Thomas Innes of Learney, pp. 203-205, for a fuller discussion of 'Territorial Designations'." (LoAR 11/90 p.17).
"The use of the Gaelic patronymic is inappropriate with an anglicization of the patronymic name." [the name was returned: note that this is may be anomalous as it is contrary to later acceptances in LsoAR of 1/91, 2/91, which allowed combinations such as nic Lowry, nic Andrew and nic Bryan] (LoAR 12/90 p.14).
"There was...some discussion about the Mundane Name Allowance (not the 'Mundane Name Loophole'). Such allowance is neither 'vile' nor purposeless; it is a courtesy we extend to those who wish to use a single given name within and without the Society. If someone who wishes us to remove this courtesy from the Rules for Submissions can present evidence that the occasional abuse which is made of it heavily outweighs the benefits of good public relations and simplifying the lives of those members who choose to use it, we will discuss the possibility of rescinding it. Until such time as that, however, the Allowance remains." (CL 11/5/90 p.3).
"Submitted as Chantal <surname>, the submitter was requesting a compromise of the mundane name allowance to permit a less obtrusive spelling of her mundane given name. The bulk of the commentary on this issue was not in favor of such a relaxation of the mundane name allowance, especially given that 'Chantal' was a placename in period." (LoAR 10/90 p.11).
[<given name> the <epithet>] "Conflict with the submitter's legal name, <given name> <epithet>. Society names should not be the same as the members' legal names. (See Administrative Handbook, Protected Items I.) Addition of the article 'the' is insufficient. (See RfS, V.4.) Addition of a given, surname, adjective or adjectival phrase would clear this." (LoAR 1/91 p.23).
"While it was a surname in period, Lynne is also a diminutive of a given name. Hence we felt that II.4 (Legal Names) could be applied here." (LoAR 2/91 p.1).
"Submitted as [name, with accent marks], the accent marks in Unbegaun are simply a guide to pronunciation, and not a part of the written name, so we have removed them." (LoAR 9/90 p.6).
[The byname von An Tir] "The languages of the locative do not match (German and Welsh)." [The submission was returned solely for this reason. This ruling implies that SCA places are not entirely part of the "lingua franca" and are subject to the style rules for linguistic consistency] (LoAR 8/90 p.14).
[Mont Saint Michel] "It is Laurel's belief that the presence or absence of hyphens in the name is not, considering most period (and even much post-period) orthography, a real issue." (LoAR 9/90 p.10).
"Submitted as Elspeth Isabeau <byname>, the given names are two variants of Elizabeth. We have dropped the second in order to register the name." (LoAR 10/90 p.12).
[the epithet al-Bodmani, an Arabic-style locative formed from a British town] "I can do little better than to quote Mistress Alisoun...'...the fact that the structure is compatible with Arabic naming practise makes the name admissible'. That the locative is extremely unlikely...does not make it unregisterable. It is formed in a manner consistent with Arabic practice." (LoAR 12/90 p.3).
"Submitted as <given name> bint-Aamir, we have deleted the obtrusive hyphen." (LoAR 12/90 p.5).
"The combination of a Russian given with a Norse patronymic ending was so unlikely as to be disallowed by the Rules for Submission III.2.a and Laurel precedent." (LoAR 12/90 p.7).
"The use of the Gaelic patronymic is inappropriate with an anglicization of the patronymic name." [the name was returned: note that this is may be anomalous as it is contrary to later acceptances in LsoAR of 1/91, 2/91, which allowed combinations such as nic Lowry, nic Andrew and nic Bryan] (LoAR 12/90 p.14).
[Re: '<name> daughter of...'] "Admittedly, <name> is a masculine name, and has not been documented as a feminine given name in period. However, Mistress Alisoun MacCoul of Elphane (LoAR of 25 January 1987, p.7) noted that 'cross-gender names are so well-established a tradition in the Society that it would be pedantic to object' when she registered a masculine byname form with a feminine given. As a consequence of this long-standing acceptance of cross-gender names, I felt I could not but register this name." (CL 3/21/91 p.2).
[FitzMungo] "The documented names FitzNeill and Fitzpatrick, as only two examples of mixed Norman/Gaelic patronymics, lend credence to this usage." (LoAR 3/91 p.1).
[MacGunther] "Given the citation from Forssner's Continental-Germanic Personal Names in England of Gunter, Gonther, and Gonter as given names, this usage with a Scots patronymic becomes much more reasonable." [the name was registered] (LoAR 4/91 p.8).
"Technically the first 'E' in Eire should have the fada. However, it is commonly written in English without it so we are registering Eire without change." (LoAR 5/91 p.6).
[Fran] "The submitter wished the correct Swedish for 'of', and so we have given him what appears to be the most likely form." (LoAR 12/90 p.7).
"The use of 'ap' in a feminine name is late period usage and not all that common, but not unheard of." (LoAR 11/90 p.5) "Lady Harpy lent some support for the use of a Welsh patronymic particle with the Old English Ulfin." [the name was registered] (LoAR 11/90 p.5).
[A German version of the gurges, a.k.a. a snail, a.k.a. (and finally blazoned as) a schneke] "Given that the College of Arms has already adopted such German charges as the seeblatt and nesselblatt into its blazonry, we saw no reason not to accept the German blazon for this charge as well." (LoAR 1/91 p.7).
"After carefully reviewing the research of Lords Crescent, Batonvert, and Yale, I have come to the conclusion that we are going to have to treat mundane mon as tinctureless armory for purposes of conflict checking. I do not do this lightly (or even happily), but the unescapable conclusion from the research is that mundane mon were treated in period as tinctureless: that is to say, they could legitimately have been displayed in any color/metal combination. Because the purpose of our conflict rules is to avoid identity, and because a mon which is black and white in a book could legitimately be displayed and used in any contrasting tincture combination (by our definition, tinctureless), I do not believe that we can allow difference for tincture. (Any other course would leave us open to someone taking the mon of, say, Tokugawa, submitting it in Or and vert, and getting it registered. Yet any Japanese would see it only as Tokugawa, not differenced at all.)" [Note that personal communications with Laurel have established that this ruling really does mean no tincture differences at all will be counted: this means there is no "fieldless difference" as there would be in tinctureless S.C.A. armory] (CL 3/21/91 p.1)
[Argent, three piles in point gules, overall an estoile, all within a bordure sable charged with the words 'honesto', 'dignidad', and 'vertud' between three crosses crosslet fitchy, points to center, argent] "While (marginally) simpler than the previous submission, this is still too complex...
In considering 'appropriateness' to have more value than 'arbitrary standards' as requested in the LoI, this device is appropriate for a man displaying Marshalled arms during the Spanish Renaissance (Husband's arms: Argent, three piles in point gules, overall an estoile sable. Wife's arms: Sable, crucilly fitchy, the words 'honesto', 'dignidad', and 'vertud' argent). The wavy-armed estoile is not a Spanish charge, but an English one. No evidence has been produced to show that piles in point were used in Spanish armory in period, and the use of mottos then was extremely limited. In other words, it isn't truly Spanish armory, though it is designed with a Spanish influence.
In the end, any armory submitted for registration by the College of Arms must be judged by SCA standards, not British, Scottish, French, German, Polish, Russian, Saracenic, or Japanese. This must be so because we do not register British, Scottish, etc. armory - we cannot. That is left by law to the Colleges of Arms of those respective nations. We are the Society for Creative Anachronism, and what we register is SCA heraldry, what we use and display is SCA heraldry, and what we have to use to determine appropriateness are SCA standards. Visually, this submission is still too complex." (LoAR 2/91 p.21).
"I have not seen any examples yet of 'Saracenic' heraldry which combined script and charges. There are hundreds of examples of armory with charges, and hundreds of examples of 'armory' consisting only of script, but none which combined the two." [The device was returned for complexity reasons] (LoAR 2/91 p.22).