DISCLAIMER

This is not a publication of the Society for Creative Anachronisms Inc., or of the S.C.A. College of Arms, and does not delineate official policy. It is an independent compilation made for scholastic purposes.

First edition, June XV (1980).

Second edition, February XVIII (1984).


PREFACE TO VOLUME TWO

"The original College of Arms did not begin by writing rules and then judging applications according to them. Rather, we first gave our personal reactions to applications, and then found reasons for them."

"Precedent: In Law, a previous decision, rule or practice which, in the absence of a definite statute, has whatever force and authority a Judge may choose to give it, thereby greatly simplifying his task of doing as he pleases."

Volume two of Precedents of the SCA College of Arms deals with the tenure of Mistress Karina of the Far West, who held the office of Laurel Queen of Arms from August 1975 through June 1979.

Mistress Karina corresponded extensively with the members of the College of Arms, individually as well as collectively. I have limited my sources for this document to the letters she wrote to the College as a whole. As illuminating as some of her non-public letters are (I have, for example, had to forego an opinion on the use of a marijuana leaf as an heraldic charge), they do not have the weight of a proclamation or final ruling, and would be misleading if taken from their original contest.

Many heralds are familiar with Mistress Karina's reputation for stubbornness and her penchant for sarcasm. Evidence of both is to be found in the contents of this volume. If the reader also finds signs of her wit and erudition, and of the high standard she set both for herself and for the College, then I will have done my job well.

The format of this volume differs in a couple of ways from that of Volume III. The most obvious difference is that it was printed with an elite type element; the corresponding changes to the layout will (I hope) make the pages easier to read. I have also added the date of the source document to each citation. This practice is at odds with the model I have been following, but it gives the reader a better idea of when a particular ruling was made, and it simplifies the proofreading enormously.

The notation [HB], which follows several of the entries in this volume, indicates a comment made by Master Harold Breakstone, Laurel Emeritus, whom Mistress Karina appointed to the office of Clarion King of Arms. His comments were quoted directly in a number of the Laurel rulings. Other people quoted were MacCailavaghn of MacRae, Codex Herald Advocate, and Master Alfgar the Sententious, Brigantia Herald and later Virgule Herald.

The revised edition of Precedents II owes much to Master Hrorek Halfdane of Faulconwood and Mistress Aelfwynn Gyrthesdohtor, both of whom read the manuscript in draft and suggested numerous improvements. I am also grateful to Master Wilhelm von Schlüssel, who filled in the holes in my collection of letters from Karina's tenure.

Baldwin of Erebor



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