See also:
| Laurel: | Date: (year.month.date) | Precedent: |
| Shauna of Carrick Point | 2004.05 | This name was justified as a constructed English placename; however, the constructions are not plausible as submitted. Two possible derivations were presented by the submitters and the College to explain this construction, but neither held up under scrutiny:
We would change this name to one of the forms suggested above. However, the group will not accept changes. [Rivermoor, Shire of, 05/04, R-Trimaris] |
| Shauna of Carrick Point | 2004.04 | This item was listed on the LoI as belonging to Lochac, Kingdom of. Submissions for branches should be listed under the branch name, not the kingdom name. Names and armory of branches within a kingdom are owned by the branch, not by the Kingdom.[Saint Basil the Great, College of, 04/04, A-Lochac] |
| Shauna of Carrick Point | 2004.04 | Submitter as College of St Basil the Great, we have changed this to College of Saint Basil the Great; by precedent we do not register scribal abbreviations. [Saint Basil the Great, College of, 04/04, A-Lochac] |
| Shauna of Carrick Point | 2004.03 | This submission asked whether Lyceum was a valid alternate designator for a College. The Lyceum was the proper name of the garden in Athens in which Aristotle taught his philosophy. The word does not appear be have been used as a designator for a school until well after 1600. Barring such evidence, Lyceum cannot be used as a designator in non-personal names, although it could be used as part of the descriptive element of such names. In addition, even if such evidence were available, we are unwilling to declare Lyceum the equivalent of College and thereby reserve its use to official SCA groups, especially in light of the fact that there is already a Latin equivalent, Collegium. [Litoris Longi, Lyceum, 03/04, R-Caid] |
| François la Flamme | 2004.03 | Submitted as Shire of Bull Pytt, the submission mixed the Old English pytt with the late period English Bull. This combination is not registerable, as it violates RfS III.1.a, which require linguistic consistency within a name phrase (such as a placename). Siren was able to suggest possible registerable forms:
As Bull Pitte is the closest plausible Middle English form to the submitted Bull Pytt, we have changed the submitted name to that form to register it. [Bull Pitte, Shire of, 03/2004, A-Calontir] |
| François la Flamme | 2004.03 | Submitted as Sudentor, Incipient Canton of, we have dropped Incipient because the College does not track that status.
Sudentor was submitted as Middle English with the documentation:
However, there are a couple of issues with the proposed form Sudentor. First, the example of Sudendune dated to the Domesday Book is Old English (or a Latinized form of an Old English placename). It is not Middle English. Second, the cited examples of Dunstore and Eofede torr support -tore as the second element in a dithematic placename and torr as the second word in a two element placename. Neither supports -tor as a Middle English deuterotheme (second half) of a dithematic (two-element, one-word) placename. As a result, the submitted form Sudentor is actually a mix of Old English and Middle English. RfS III.1.a requires linguistic consistency within a name phrase. Therefore, this name must be changed to a fully Old English or a fully Middle English form in order to be registerable. Ekwall (s.n. Siddington) dates the form Sudingdone to 1286, showing Suding- as a Middle English form of the earlier Suden-. Therefore, a fully Middle English form of this name would be Sudingtore. Ekwall (s.n. Dunster) dates the form Torre to the Domesday Book. Therefore, Sudentorre would be a form of this name consistent for the language of the Domesday Book (mainly Latinized Old English). Of these two forms, Sudentorre is closer than Sudingtore in sound and appearance to the submitted Sudentor. As the submitters allow minor changes, we have changed this name to the form Sudentorre in order to register this name. [Sudentorre, Canton of, 03/2004, A-Atlantia] |
| François la Flamme | 2004.03 | This submission has multiple problems.
First, no evidence was presented that either element was dated to period. While evidence was presented of modern Welsh placenames beginning with Caer 'fort', the College looked and could find no evidence that Byrbryd (meaning 'snack' or 'luncheon') was used in period. Second, no evidence was presented that the construction was plausible. The justification presented referred to modern English placenames and local industries, not to period Welsh placenames. To be registerable, the submitters would need to demonstrate that Byrbrid was used in Welsh placenames in period and could be reasonably combined with Caer. Barring such evidence, this name cannot be registered. [Caer Byrbryd, Shire of, 03/2004, R-Middle] |
| François la Flamme | 2004.03 | Unfortunately, this name conflicts with Alcazar, or Alcazar de San Juan, a town located in La Mancha, which has its own entry in the 1911 Encyclopedia Brittanica (s.n. "ALCAZAR DE SAN JUAN, or ALCAZAR"), among other sources. The conflict could be cleared by adding a second element different from San Juan. [Alcazar, Shire of, 03/2004, R-Drachenwald] |
| François la Flamme | 2004.03 | This name conflicts with Griffindor, the name of one of the houses at Hogwarts in the Harry Potter books. In addition to the numerous members of the College who called this conflict, Pelican (who has not read these books and has only seen one of the movies so far) immediately recognized the name Griffindor. Given this level of recognition, Griffindor is important enough to protect under Administrative Handbook, section III.A.6, "Names of Significant Geographical Locations from Literary Sources", which states:
The change of one consonant cluster from <-nd-> to <-nst-> is not a sufficiently large change in sound to clear the conflict. [Griffon's Tor, Shire of, 03/2004, R-Drachenwald] |
| François la Flamme | 2004.02 | This name conflicts with Saint Helena, the island on which Napoleon lived out his final years.
Adding an element to create a placename such as Santa Elena de Losa would clear the conflict. Spanish placenames derived from saint's names often have a second element, such as Santa Eufemia de Pozancos, Santa Eugenia de Codouilla, San Martin de Losa, and San Martin de Felines (all from the "Indice de Toponimos" in Diez Melcon). [Stronghold Santa Elena, 02/2004, R-Atlantia] |
| François la Flamme | 2003.10 | Submitted as Bridget of Saint Katherine's, [...]
Branch names are only automatically registerable in locative bynames in the form in which the branch name was registered. In this case, the branch name was registered as College of St. Katherine in November of 1981. We have changed her byname to use the registered form of this branch name in order to register this name. [Bridget of St. Katherine, 10/2003, A-Æthelmearc] |
| François la Flamme | 2003.10 | Submitted as Deirdre of Saint Brendan's, Deirdre is SCA compatible.
Branch names are only automatically registerable in locative bynames in the form in which the branch name was registered. In this case, the branch name was registered as College of Saint Brendan in August of 1988. We have changed her byname to use the registered form of this branch name in order to register this name. [Deirdre of Saint Brendan, 10/2003, A-Æthelmearc] |
| François la Flamme | 2003.09 | This name is being returned for lack of documentation that the construction [placename]-sur-Mer was used in period.
The documentation submitted demonstrated only that Avallon was the name of a modern town. Siren was able to help with dating the placename: "<Avallon> is a header form in Dauzat and Rostaing; <Aballo> is dated to the 4th century." However, she also found evidence suggesting that the addition of sur-Mer to a placename is not a period practice:
As the submitter only allows minor changes, we are unable to change this name to the Latinized form Avallon super Mare in order to register this name. [Avallon-sur-Mer, Canton of, 09/2003 LoAR, R-Lochac] |
| François la Flamme | 2003.09 | This name was submitted as Ainnir of Hidden Mountain. The byname was changed at Kingdom because this branch name was registered as Barony of the Hidden Mountain in October of 1985. There was some question whether the originally submitted form of this byname is registerable. Names of SCA branches are only automatically registerable in locative bynames in the forms in which the branch name was registered, as can be seen in the ruling:
As the branch name was registered as Barony of the Hidden Mountain, the locative byname that is automatically registerable based on this branch name is of the Hidden Mountain, not of Hidden Mountain. [Ainnir of the Hidden Mountain, 09/2003, A-Atlantia] |
| François la Flamme | 2003.09 | This name was submitted as a constructed English placename formed from variant spellings of elements found in A. H. Smith, English Place-Name Elements; specifically: Ful- (from the Old English fugol, meaning 'bird', p. 188; or from the Old English f{u-}l, meaning 'foul', p. 189), Cann (from the Old English canne, meaning 'a depression, a hollow, a deep valley' in this usage, p. 80), and Forge (from the Old French Forge, Middle English Forge, meaning 'a forge, a smithy', p. 184).
The LoI stated that the examples of placenames listed in these entries in Smith, while undated, were pre-15th C. However, no support for this statement, such as photocopies of relevant pages explaining the dating of the placenames in these entries, were included among the photocopies pages from Smith included with this submission. Included in the submitted documentation, Smith (p. 188 s.n. fugol) identifies a location named Volehouse in Devonshire, and (p. 80 s.n. canne) identifes a location named Howcans in Yorkshire West Riding. These references are important because they each support a portion of the construction of the submitted name. Volehouse demonstrates a shift from Ful- to Vole- for the first element desired by the submitters. Howcans supports -cans as a deuterotheme and as a plural form for the second element desired by the submitters. However, the College was unable to find either of these placenames in a number of standard sources, including Ekwall and Mills. An entry, full-nautr, on one of the photocopied pages (p. 189) references Ekwall and, so, allows us to compare the forms of placenames listed in this entry to those included in Ekwall. This entry in Smith reads:
The corresponding entry in Ekwall (4th ed., p. 183 s.n. Follingsby) lists Fonaby, Fulletby, and Fulnetby as subheaders, but does not date these spellings to period. This information casts doubt on the reliability of the cited Volehouse and Howcans as forms used in period. The submitters allowed any changes. Therefore, the first issue could be resolved by changing the submitted Vul- to the documented form Ful-. However, the only support for -cans was the reference in Smith to a place named Howcans. Lacking support that Howcans is a plausible form in period, it can not support the spelling -cans as a deuterotheme in the submitted placename. Therefore, we must return this submission. [Vulcans Forge, Canton of, 09/2003 LoAR, R-Meridies] |
| François la Flamme | 2003.08 | Submitted as College of Southern Crossewaies, this name had two problems.
First, while evidence was offered that the adjective southern was used as a word, no evidence was presented, nor could any be found, that an English placename would be formed by adding Southern, rather than South, to the name of an existing placename. We have changed Southern to South in order to register this name. Second, no evidence was presented nor could any be found for the use of the plural -waies in a placename. The single period OED citation of crosse-waies, dated to 1590, clearly refers to multiple locations, not a single place. Lacking evidence that the plural -waies would be used in an English placename, we have changed the plural Crossewaies to the singular Crossewaie in order to register this name. [South Crossewaie, College of, 08/2003 LoAR, A-Caid] |
| François la Flamme | 2003.07 | There was some question about the plausibility of Rivers Run as a constructed placename following English placename models. There is a pattern in English, during the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, of placenames formed by appending a toponymic to a surname. Siren found some examples of this type of placename in A. D. Mills, Oxford Dictionary of London Place Names, including: Aldborough Hacche c. 1490 (s.n. Aldborough Hatch), Culling Deepe 1584 (s.n. Colindale), Coanie hatch 1593 (s.n. Colney Hatch), Fygmershe c. 1530 (s.n. Figge's Marsh), Gallion Reache 1588 (s.n. Gallions Reach), and Gallion Nesse 1588 (s.n. Gallions Reach).
Rivers is a surname dated to 1327 in the form Riuer (Reaney & Wilson, s.n. Rivers) and dated to 1602 in the form Rivers (F. K. & S. Hitching, References to English Surnames in 1601 and 1602, p. lxxi). The LoI included documentation for Run as an English toponymic referring to a clearing or log footbridge and provided dated examples of this element used in locative bynames:
Therefore, a clearing or log footbridge located on or near an estate owned by the Rivers family could come to be known as Rivers Run. [Rivers Run, Canton of, 07/2003 LoAR, A-Ansteorra] |
| François la Flamme | 2003.07 | No evidence was provided to support adding Sands to the end of an existing placename. However, there is a pattern in English, during the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, of placenames formed by appending a toponymic to a surname. Siren found some examples of this type of placename in A. D. Mills, Oxford Dictionary of London Place Names, including: Aldborough Hacche c. 1490 (s.n. Aldborough Hatch), Culling Deepe 1584 (s.n. Colindale), Coanie hatch 1593 (s.n. Colney Hatch), Fygmershe c. 1530 (s.n. Figge's Marsh), Gallion Reache 1588 (s.n. Gallions Reach), and Gallion Nesse 1588 (s.n. Gallions Reach).
As Desert is a surname, dated to 28 Henry III in the form le Desert and to 20 Edward I in the form del Desert (Bardsley s.n. Desert), a sandy place (Reaney & Wilson s.n. Sand) located on or near an estate owned by the Desert family could come to be known as Desert Sands. [Desert Sands, Stronghold of, 07/2003 LoAR, A-Drachenwald] |
| François la Flamme | 2003.07 | The submitted name West Dragonshire follows the long accepted practice of appending the designator -shire to the end of an English placename rather than including it as a separate element Shire of.
While precedent has not been clear on this topic, designators cannot be indivisible from the rest of the branch name. Because the status of the group may change over time (from a shire to a barony, et cetera), the designators must be able to change appropriately (from Shire to Barony, et cetera). Such has been the case when Wastekeepshire became the Barony of Wastekeep in April 1986, and when Peregrineshire became the Canton of Peregrine in May 1983. Therefore, the validity of a branch name must be considered independent from the designator. Removing the designator in the submitted West Dragonshire leaves West Dragon. Dragon- has been ruled SCA compatible for use in a placename:
This allows the use of Dragon- as the first part of a placename in English. It does not allow Dragon as a placename by itself. Adding a toponymic element (such as -ton, -ley, et cetera) to Dragon- would address this issue. For example, the SCA compatible ruling mentioned above would support a placename of Dragonton. Using this name as a basis, the submitter's documentation would support a place named West Dragonton. However, no documentation was presented and none was found that the name of an English shire would be formed by adding West to the name of an existing shire. While evidence has been found of towns whose names are based on the names of other towns in the forms North [town name], West [town name], etc., no evidence was found to support similar constructions for English shire names. Therefore, if a toponymic element is added to Dragon- in this name (we will use -ton for these examples, though other toponymics are certainly valid), then this name would be registerable as Shire of West Dragon[toponymic element] (for example: Shire of West Dragonton) or as Dragon[toponymic element]shire (for example: Dragontonshire) or as Shire of Dragon[toponymic element] (for example: Shire of Dragonton). [West Dragonshire, 07/2003 LoAR, R-Drachenwald] |
| François la Flamme | 2003.04 | The LoI stated that this name was submitted as an "[i]nvented name meaning Shire of the Dawn Star". No documentation was provided and none was found that a placename meaning 'Dawn Star' is plausible as an Italian placename in period. Lacking such evidence, this name must be returned as it does not comply with RfS III.2.b.i, Branch Names, which states "Names of branches must follow the patterns of period place-names". [Stella d'Alba, Shire of, 04/2003 LoAR, R-Trimaris] |
| François la Flamme | 2003.04 | Salesberie Glen cannot be justified as Salesberie, a dithemic placename, with the element Glen, meaning 'valley', appended. Glen is found only in a few placenames, all of which combine Glen with a simple descriptive element. As an example, Mills (p. 144 s.n. Glen) dates Magna Glen to 1247 and Parva Glen to 1242.
However, there is a pattern of English placenames created by appending surnames to existing placenames. Examples of this include Chilton Foliot 1221 (Mills, p. 78 s.n. Chilton), Northone Brun c. 1266 (Mills, p. 244 s.n. Norton), and Saunford Peverel 1275 (Mills, p. 284 s.n. Sampford). As Glen is a surname, dated to 1230 (Reaney & Wilson, p. 193 s.n. Glen), a location Salesberie located on or near an estate owned by the Glen family could come to be known as Salesberie Glen. [Salesberie Glen, Canton of, 04/2003 LoAR, A-Atlantia] |
| François la Flamme | 2003.04 | The branch designator in this name is -shire. As with other branches before them, if this shire becomes a barony, their name would become Barony of Benton. [Bentonshire, 04/2003 LoAR, A-Trimaris] |
| François la Flamme | 2003.04 | No evidence was presented, nor could any be found, that the Wylds is a plausible placename in period. Not all surnames of location are based on placenames; some are based on generic descriptions, such as 'woods' and 'well.' Wild appears to be this type of generic description. There is a modern placename Wild found in Ekwall, but period spellings do not include the final d, suggesting it is derived from wile, 'trick, contrivance' (such as a windmill or trap).
One pattern for naming colleges in period is to name them after the surname of their founder and benefactor; examples include Merton Colledge and Balliol Colledge, found in this form in Speed's The Counties of Britain (pp. 146-7, map of Oxfordshire, map dated 1605) This suggests that Wyld College would be a reasonable name for a college in period. Changing the order of significant elements in a name is a major change, which the submitting branch does not allow. Therefore, we are unable to change this name to Wyld College in order to register this name. [Wylds, College of the, 04/2003 LoAR, R-Caid] |
| François la Flamme | 2003.04 | Submitted as Bede's College, we have removed the apostrophe to follow period examples [Bedes College, 04/2003 LoAR, A-Outlands] |
| François la Flamme | 2003.02 | Listed on the LoI as Viterhem, the submission form showed this name as Viterheim. We have made this correction. As the documented period examples of a placename with this protheme both have an e as the first vowel, we have changed this name from Viter- to Veter-. [Veterheim, Shire of, 02/2003 LoAR, A-Drachenwald] |
| François la Flamme | 2003.02 | A question was raised in commentary regarding the registerability of the element Crossing. The documentation for crossing provided in the name submission for the Canton of Charlesbury Crossing (registered in August 2000) showed crossing as a term dating to 1575 referring to "a place or structure (as on a street or over a river) where pedestrians or vehicles cross". This meaning is also compatible with the current submission. [Kings Crossing, Shire of, 02/2003 LoAR, A-�thelmearc] |
| François la Flamme | 2003.01 | [Name change from Thorvaldr Gángl�re Vakkerfjell] There are multiple problems with the byname í Vakkerfjelli.
Vakkerfjell, the basis for the byname í Vakkerfjelli, was documented only as the name of a shire in the West Kingdom (registered May 1983). There are some limitations upon registerability of SCA branch names in a personal name:
The submitted byname í Vakkerfjelli does not use the actual registered spelling of this SCA branch name. Rather it uses a gramatically inflected form of the placename. Therefore, the allowance for automatic registerability of an SCA branch name in a personal name does not come into play. Instead, the byname í Vakkerfjelli is subject to the same requirements of any constructed byname. In this case, the file for Vakkerfjell shows it to have been submitted as meaning 'Beautiful Mountain' in Norwegian, using only a modern dictionary for documentation. Therefore, this is an example of the situation described in the above precedent - that, from the documentation in the file, we cannot assume that Vakkerfjell is a properly constructed period Norwegian placename. The submitted byname í Vakkerfjelli was documented as an Old Norse construction. Therefore, the byname í Vakkerfjelli violates RfS III.1.a, which requires linguistic consistency in a name phrase, because it attempts to form an Old Norse locative byname from a hypothetical Norwegian placename. Additionally, no documentation was provided and none was found that a locative byname in Old Norse would use a construction like í Vakkerfjelli. The LoI cited Lindorm Eriksson's article "The Bynames of the Viking Age Runic Inscriptions" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/lindorm/runicbynames/places.htm), which gives an example of a name which includes both a patronymic byname and a locative byname: Ólaf Erlendsson á Bygglandi 'Ólafr of Byggland, Erlendr's son'. From this example, if documentation were provided supporting Vakkerfjell as a plausible placename in Old Norse, Thórvaldr Thórólfsson á Vakkerfjelli would be a registerable form of this name. As the submitter does not allow major changes, we were unable to drop the problematic element in order to register this name. [Thórvaldr í Vakkerfjelli Thórólfsson, 01/2003 LoAR, R-Outlands] |
| François la Flamme | 2002.12 | The documentation submitted with this name did not support Nord du lac as a plausible French placename in period. The documentation supported (1) Nord du lac as the modern name of an area in Switzerland, (2) Nord du lac as the name of a modern parish in Quebec, (3) Nord as a personal byname meaning 'north', and (4) du Lac as a personal byname meaning 'of the Lake'. Documentation was also provided for period forms of the English placenames Southmere and Westbrook. However, evidence that places in English had names meaning 'south-mere' and 'west-brook' could be used to argue a place whose name means 'north-lake' in English. It does not support a placename in French whose name means 'north of the lake'. Lacking evidence that a placename meaning 'north of the lake' follows period French naming practices, it is not registerable.
Additionally, the status Incipient should be removed from this submission as the College does not track this status. [Nord du Lac, Incipient Shire of, 12/2002, R-Meridies] |
| François la Flamme | 2002.12 | Submitted as Wesbellford, Canton of, the submitters requested authenticity for a time period (rather than a language/culture), but did not specify a desired time period.
The documentation provided for this submission supports West- as the first portion of a two-theme placename such as Westbury. The submitted documentation did not support prepending West- to an already existing independent placename. Ekwall dates Westhalcton to c1240 (p. 253 s.n. Houghton), Westhamtonet to 1317 (p. 215 s.n. Hampnett), West Burton to 1279, and Westburgton to 1230 (both p. 77 s.n. Burton), which provides support for this type of construction. Authentic forms of this name can be determined from several examples. Ekwall (p. 34 s.n. Belford) dates Beleford to 1242 and Belleford to 1300. Reaney & Wilson (p. 37 s.n. Belford) dates James de Beleford to 1147, Thomas de Belfford to 1390, and William Belford to 1421. Given these examples, Westbeleford and West Beleford would be authentic forms of this name for the mid 13th C. Westbelleford would be an authentic form of this name for the late 13th C or early 14th C. We have changed the spelling of this name to Westbelleford, the closest of these authentic forms to the submitted form, to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.[Westbelleford, Canton of, 12/2002, A-Ealdormere] |
| François la Flamme | 2002.11 | This item was submitted under the branch name of An Tir. While the principality may be administratively under An Tir, the principality's name is registered as its own entity. We have made this correction.
Submitted as Tir Rioga, Crown Principality of, just as the College does not track the status Incipient, the College also does not track Crown status. Therefore we have dropped the element Crown from this submission. The elements contained in the name Tir Rioga, intended to mean 'Royal Land', were documented from a modern English-Irish/Irish-English dictionary. No evidence was presented and none was found that rioga would have been used in a Gaelic placename in period. Lacking such evidence, this name is not registerable. The submitters indicated that if Tir Rioga was not registerable, their preferred alternate was Tir Rígh, meaning 'King's Land'. A number of period locations exist that included the element Rígh, including Inis na Rígh 'Island of the Kings', Ath na Rígh 'Ford of the Kings', Druim Rígh 'King's Ridge', and Loch Rígh 'King's Lake'. Given these examples, Tir Rígh is registerable. There was a question raised regarding whether Tir Rígh should be considered a translation for the branch designator Crown Principality. Currently, there are very few translations for branch designators that have been registered and none of these are for groups larger than a shire. Given this historical lack of use of translations for large branch designators (to the point that no lists are available for translations of branch designators), we are unwilling to disallow registration of an otherwise acceptable name at this time. [Tir Rígh, Principality of, 11/2002, A-An Tir] |
| François la Flamme | 2002.11 | This is a resubmission of a previously returned branch name (Südentür, Canton of, returned in September 1999). Südentur was submitted as meaning "Southern Gate/Door" in German. However, all of the documentation provided was solely in German. Previous precedent requires that translations for non-English documentation be included with the documentation:
Metron Ariston provided information about a resubmission of this name that was returned at Kingdom in 2000:
The documentation provided for the current submission is solely in German. Since the required translation was not provided, the College is unable to evaluate whether or not the submitted documentation supports the submitted name. Lacking a translation of the submitted documentation, we are returning this name. [Sudentür, Canton of, 11/2002, R-Atlantia] |
| François la Flamme | 2002.10 | Submitted as Stowe on the Wald, Canton of, this name combined the Middle English Stowe on the with the Old English Wald. As a placename is a single name phrase, the submitted form was in violation of RfS III.1.a, which requires linguistic consistency in a name element. Mills (s.n. Stow, Stowe) dates Stowe on the Olde to 1574. Speed's The Counties of Britain (p. 83, map of Gloucestershire, map dated to 1610) lists Stowe on y(e) wowld ("(e)" represents a superscript 'e'). We have changed Wald to Wowld to make the entire name Middle English in order to register the name.
There was considerable discussion about whether this name conflicted with the historical place Stowe on the Wold, which was the site of the last armed conflict of the English Civil War in 1646. While this location is indeed significant, the question is whether or not it is significant enough to be protected. The College was unable to find a general encyclopedia that listed Stow on the Wold under its own entry. Therefore, this location is not as significant as London, Stonehenge, Cambridge, or Stratford on Avon, all of which have their entries in the online version of the 1911 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/) and in other general encyclopedias. Therefore, this location is not as significant as locations such as London, et cetera, and is not protected. [Stowe on the Wowld, Canton of, 10/2002, A-Lochac] |
| François la Flamme | 2002.10 | The byname von Aschehyrst violates RfS III.1.a, which requires linguistic consistency in a name element. Aschehyrst, the name of the submitter's group, is English, while the particle von is German. A similar case is shown in the precedent:
Submitted as Ulrich von Rudivale, we have changed the [von] to of since the rules require that prepositions must agree in language with the following noun, and Rudivale, which is the client's home group, is English. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR July 1996, p. 13) As the submitter allows no changes, we cannot change von to of and register his name. However, as the submitter allows a holding name, we have formed his holding name, Karl of Aschehyrst, according to the standard format of using the name of his branch, in order to permit registration of his armory. By having Karl of Aschehyrst as a holding name, rather than an (undesired) name change, we can register the device, which would otherwise have to be returned. [Karl von Aschehyrst, 10/2002, R-East] |
| François la Flamme | 2002.10 | Submitted as Tír Medóin, Incipient Canton, we have dropped Incipient from the submitted name, as the College does not track this status. We have also added the particle of to follow standard practice. [Tír Medóin, Canton of, 10/2002, A-Ansteorra] |
| François la Flamme | 2002.09 | Listed on the LoI as David Ben Leon, the name was submitted as David Ben Leon of Glaslyn. The locative based on the submitter's SCA branch name was dropped at Kingdom to meet the submitter's request for authenticity for a persona of a "14th Century male English merchant/alchemist of Hebrew descent". We have lowercased the particle ben to match documented forms. [David ben Leon, 09/2002 LoAR, A-Ansteorra] |
| François la Flamme | 2002.09 | Submitted as John Marshall of Hartshorn-Dale, the registered name of the submitter's group is Hartshorn-dale. Since only the registered form of a branch name is automatically registerable, we have changed the byname to use the registered form. [John Marshall of Hartshorn-dale, 09/2002 LoAR, A-East] |
| François la Flamme | 2002.09 | Submitted as Rio de Las Animas Perdidas, Shire of, the group allowed registration of Rio de Las Animas, Shire of if Rio de Las Animas Perditas, Shire of was not registerable. This name has previously been returned twice by Laurel, in September of 1997 (as Rio de las Animas, Shire of and in January of 2001 (as Rio de Las Animas Perdidas, Shire of). RfS III.2.b.i "Branch Names", states that "[n]ames of branches must follow the patterns of period place-names." In this submission, evidence has been provided that rivers were named for saints and other objects of veneration (such as Rio de Nombre de Dios 'River of [the] Name of God') in the early Spanish period in the Americas (16th to 17th C). Evidence was also provided that a settlement and a province were, in the same time period, named for river names.
Documentation was also provided for a number of locations in Spain whose names take the form [toponymic element] de Las Animas. It is unclear which of these locations was actually known by their de Las Animas name in period. However, given the number of locations and the fact that naming a location [toponymic element] de Las Animas follows the pattern of naming a location for an object of veneration, it is reasonable to assume that at least some of these locations had these names in period. In these names, Las Animas follows the pattern of naming a location for an object of veneration, since it is almost certainly a reference to the holy day Dia de las Animas (called All Souls' Day in English, celebrated on November 2nd). Documentation was provided that a confraternity (a lay order) existed in Spain named Cofradias de Las Animas (literally 'Confraternity of the Souls', referring to souls in purgatory) and that this confraternity dated to at least 1564. Documentation was also provided for a brotherhood named Hermanadad del Nino Perdido (literally 'Brotherhood of the Lost Child') that existed in Spain in the 16th C. However, while monastic orders, brotherhoods, and confraternities are suitable models for household or order names, they are not placenames as required for branch names in the RfS. Additionally, evidence that a brotherhood would be named 'of the Lost Child' in Spanish in late period is not support that a river would be named 'of the Lost Souls'. Lacking evidence that a river name would have included the element Perdidas, we have dropped this element, as the branch allows, in order to register this name. Had documentation been found supporting the element Perdidas in a river name, a branch name Rio de Las Animas Perdidas would conflict with the current real-world location in the area of this branch. This issue was recently addressed in the precedent:
As the river Rio de Las Animas Perdidas is in the same area as this branch, it may not be used as the name of this branch. Removing the element Perdidas clears this conflict. [Rio de Las Animas, Shire of, 09/2002 LoAR, A-Outlands] |
| François la Flamme | 2002.08 | Submitted as Sophia Veronica of Falcon Cree, the registered form of the branch name is Falconcree, Canton of. Since only the actual registered form of an SCA branch name is automatically registerable as part of a personal name, we have changed the byname to use the registered form of this branch name. [Sophia Veronica of Falconcree, 08/2002, A-Atlantia] |
| François la Flamme | 2002.07 | This name was submitted as Cuil Cholum and changed at Kingdom to the current form to add a designator and correct the grammar. The LoI stated that:
Unfortunately, the group only allowed the name to be changed to the form Shire of Cúil Cholum. Cholum is a nominative, lenited form. Since it follows Cúil, Gaelic grammar requires that it take the genitive, lenited form Choluim. This effectively parallels the possessive in modern English, giving the submitted name the meaning 'Columb's nook' or 'Columb's retreat'. As the submitting group only allowed the name to be changed to Shire of Cúil Cholum, the change to Shire of Cúil Choluim is not within the changes allowed. Therefore, we are unable to correct the grammar in this submission in order to register the name. [Cúil Choluim, Shire of, 07/2002, R-Middle] |
| François la Flamme | 2002.06 | Submitted as Elspeth of Tal Mere, registered names of SCA branches are automatically registerable as part of a locative byname only in their registered form. Any changes from that form requires that name element to be documented as any constructed locative. The branch's name was registered as Talmere, Shire of in January 1997. We have changed the byname to use this form. [Elspeth of Talmere, 06/2002, A-Meridies] |
| François la Flamme | 2002.05 | This submission has several problems. First, no petition was provided supporting this name. Included with the submission were copies of the polling ballots and a listing from the Society registry office showing the paid members in their area. The list from the registry office shows 42 paid members in their area. Of the 11 ballots provided, 6 favored the submitted name. Section IV.C.5 of the Administrative Handbook states that, "Submissions involving the branch name or arms of an active branch must include evidence of support for the action on the part of a majority of the active members of the branch." Six ballots supporting the submitted name does not constitute a majority when there are 42 paid members residing in this group's area. No information was provided to explain why only eleven ballots were included with this submission when there are 42 paid members in the area. Lacking evidence to the contrary, all 42 paid members must be considered active members. As such, six supporting ballots out of 42 paid members is not even close to being a majority and so does not meet the requirements set down in section IV.C.5 cited above.
One of the main purposes of a petition is to demonstrate that the group has come to a consensus on a name or device. Ballots do not serve the same purpose because they do not demonstrate that the members who did not favor the submitted name are aware that a name they did not vote for is being submitted for their group. For this reason, petitions are the preferred form of support for groups whose size makes a petition feasible. (Support for submissions for larger groups, such as kingdoms and principalities, is also addressed in section IV.C.5.) Lacking support for this submission which meets the requirements set down in section IV.C.5, this submission must be returned. The summary of supporting documentation provided in the LoI was inadequate. The names of a number of sources were listed, but no indication was given regarding what information in these sources was pertinent to this submission. Additionally, only one of those sources was listed in Appendix H of the Administrative Handbook, "Name Books That Do Not Require Photocopies to Laurel". Photocopies are required for supporting documentation for any sources not on this list. No photocopies of any documentation was provided with this submission. The submitted name was intended to mean 'Sandy Forest'. No examples were provided of similar constructions in Old Norse to demonstrate that such a pattern is plausible for that language. Metron Ariston found some support for this name:
The information provided by Metron Ariston addresses the documentation of the elements. However, the lack of a valid petition prevents registration of any form of this name. [Sandmork, Canton of, 05/2002, R-East] |
| François la Flamme | 2002.05 | This name combines two elements with similar meanings. No documentation was provided and none was found that such a combination is plausible. The element aerie came into English from French. In English, the meaning 'area, feeding place for animals' is dated to 1581 for aerie in Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (p. 60 s.n. aerie). (The meanings cited in the LoI were from the etymology section of the OED entry, rather than the meaning section.) The element gard derives from the Old English geard, meaning 'enclosure'. Therefore, the constructed Aeriesgard combines two elements that describe specific areas of land. In placenames that contain the element -geard, the protheme specifically indicates what items (plants, animals, etc.) that is in the area being enclosed. Some examples include Bromyard 'broom enclosure', Bruisyard 'cottage enclosure' or 'farmer enclosure', Rudyard 'rue enclosure' or '[type of fish] enclosure', and Plungar 'plum-tree enclosure'. The constructed Aeriesgard, which would mean 'area enclosure', does not match this construction pattern. [Aeriesgard, Shire of, 05/2002, R-An Tir] |
| François la Flamme | 2002.04 | Submitted as Cái Mór, Shire of, this name was intended to mean 'big mountain pass'. The branch requested authenticity for "Irish, any period" language and/or culture and stated "early preferred, but any time period will do."
The typical Irish Gaelic placename having this meaning is Bearnas Mór. Bearnas technically means 'gap'. It is used in placenames to refer to gaps in mountains, i.e. a pass. Beárnas Mór, meaning 'great/big gap (pass)', appears multiple times in the Annals of the Four Masters, including in 1592 (entry M1592.8, volume 6, http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100005F/). The element cái is Old Irish or Middle Irish and means 'way, road'. A placename combining this element with mór would have the meaning 'great way' or 'big road'. Harpy found the placenames Sliab Cae and cae bhéil átha na circe, which contain this element, listed as entries in Edmund Hogan, Onomasticon Goedelicum: Locorum et Tribuum Hiberniae et Scotiae (An Index, with Identifications, to the Gaelic Names of Places and Tribes) that contain forms of this element. We have changed the spelling cái to cáe to match these examples. While the group allows major changes, it was generally felt that the change from the submitted Cái Mór to Beárnas Mór, which better matches the group's intended meaning, was so dramatic that it went beyond the changes that could reasonably be expected when members of a group sign a name petition. [Cáe Mór, Shire of, 04/2002, A-An Tir] |
| François la Flamme | 2002.04 | This submission is an appeal of the return:
This appeal includes documentation of Lithuanian placenames that have forms of vilkas as the protheme, including Vilkakiemis (dated to the 16th C) and Vilku Kampas (dated to the 4th C or earlier). In the case of Lithuanian, the language did not start being written down until the 16th C. So the dates in these cases refer to the age of the settlement at the location, not the particular form of the name. No documentation was provided that urvas, meaning 'cave, grotto, cavern, cavity or hollow', has been used as an element in Lithuanian placenames even at the present time. Urvikiai and Urviskes are placenames in modern Lithuania (http://www.lietuva-jums.lt/IMI/i_en.jsp?nr=gyvenvietes_u). When compared to other placenames, particularly Vilkiskes (listed at http://www.lietuva-jums.lt/IMI/i_en.jsp?nr=gyvenvietes_v), these two placenames seem to use a form of urvas as a protheme. In conjuction with our traditional policy to be "somewhat more lenient with names from culutres for which we don't have adequate reference works", these examples, combined with the information and examples provided by the submitters, is sufficient evidence to register this branch name. The appeal expressed the submitters' belief that the originally submitted documentation had been sufficient to support registration of the name. Regardless, they provided additional documentation, and it is that documentation that is allowing this name to be registered (as specified above). The documentation accompanying the original submission in their file consists solely of photocopies from a Lithuanian-English pronunciation dictionary and a book entitled Lithanian Self-Taught. While these sources are good for determining meaning of elements and how to conjugate them properly, they do not address whether the elements in question were used in placenames in period. If documentation that these elements were used in placenames was included in the original submission, then that documentation was misplaced somewhere during the submission process. Though we "have traditionally been somewhat more lenient with names from cultures for which we don't have adequate reference works", we still need evidence that the submitted elements are ones that are used in placenames. That issue has been resolved with this appeal. [Vilk{u,} Urvas, Shire of, 04/2002, A-Middle] |
| François la Flamme | 2002.04 | This submission is being returned for lack of documentation of the element Sarum as a period placename element. The use of Sarum has previously been cause for return:
To address this precedent, the current submission provided documentation of use of Sarum from two documents. The first is a modern translation of a document, dating to 1227, referring to the church of Salisbury. As it is a modern translation, the use of Sarum is likely a rendering of the abbreviation described above. Regardless, without seeing the original Latin form of this document, this source gives no support for the use of Sarum as a placename element in period. The second source included in the documentation for this submission is an article on the Sarum Rite from an online Catholic Encyclopedia. This article is a modern description of a period rite. However, there is no indication of when the term Sarum Rite (also known as Sarum Use) came into use. As official documents of the Catholic Church in period were nearly exclusively in Latin, Sarum in this instance, is likely again a misinterpretation of an abbreviation for Salisbury as it derives its name from the bishop of Salisbury who organized it. Additionally, the LoI stated, "[t]here is also the Sarum Rite or Verse of Sarum, a variant of the Roman Catholic litergy[sic], mentioned in the OED with a date of 1570." This information supports Sarum Rite as an independent ecclesiastical term as of 1570. However, this is still not support for the use of Sarum in a placename. The crux of the problem is the derivation of Sarum. First there existed a place named Salisbury. That placename was abbreviated in documents. At some point, the abbreviation was erroneously expanded to Sarum. Therefore, Sarum is effectively a backformation; the element Sarum was not used as an element when the placename was created. Given the OED citation, the word Sarum existed by late period. However, no evidence has been found that a new place would have been named using this erroneous expansion rather than the original name of Salisbury, which was still dominant. Lacking evidence of Sarum actually used in a placename in period (rather than as an erroneous interpretation of an abbreviation), it is not registerable. Additionally, this branch name was submitted without a designator. A designator such as Shire, Canton, Barony, et cetera, is required for registration. [Sarum Tor, 04/2002, R-Atlantia] |
| François la Flamme | 2002.04 | No documentation was presented and none was found that Rest is a plausible toponymic element in a period English placename. The LoI stated that "[a] rest is a stopping place, or a lodging place, as for travelers or pilgrims, according to the Compact Oxford English Dictionary". Ferrule noted that the COED (p. 544) dates this use of rest to 1225. However, evidence that a word existed in English in period is not documentation that it is a plausible element in an English placename. As no member of the College could find any evidence that Rest was used as a toponymic in an English placename, it is not registerable in that use.
Rest has only been registered as a toponymic element a total of seventeen times (not including holding names based on a registered branch name). The most recent registration was of Household Stone's Rest (registered October 1998). The next most recent registration was in 1992. Therefore, the element Rest does not have the same level of popularity as elements that have been ruled SCA-compatible as toponymics in placenames, including Keep. Lacking such continuous popularity, this element is not SCA compatible. There are two differences between the elements Keep and -crest, which are SCA compatible, and Rest, which is not. As discussed in the November 2001 LoAR (s.n. Tristan Ravencrest), there are examples of period bynames that use forms of keep and crest, including Rogerus del Crest which Bardsley (p. 216 s.n. Crest) dates to 1379, and Thomas ate Kepe which Reaney & Wilson (p. 261 s.n. Keep) date to 1327. No bynames of this form have been found using a form of rest. Also, Keep and -crest have been more popular in recent years than Rest. It is these two main factors which grant Keep and -crest the benefit of the doubt and make them SCA compatible, where Rest is not. Ekwall (pp. 226-227) lists some placenames that include references to 'hawk' as their first element, including Hauxley, Hawkedon, Hawkhill, Hawkinge, Hawkley, Hawkridge, Hawkstone, and Hawkwell. These headers give examples of words meaning 'hawk' combined with a variety of toponymics and would provide examples of constructions that occured in period. The appropriate designator is Shire rather than Incipient Shire, as the College does not track this status. The device must be returned for lack of a name to which to register it. [...] [Hawk's Rest, Shire of, 04/2002, R-Atenveldt] |
| François la Flamme | 2002.03 | Submitted as Cortlandt Keep, Shire of, this mixed the Dutch Cortlandt with the English Keep in a placename. As a placename is a single name phrase, this combination is in violation of RfS III.1.a, which requires linguistic consistency within a single name phrase. The LoI noted that "If the mix is acceptable, the group would prefer the submitted spelling. Otherwise, they would prefer that the second element be changed to a Dutch term equivalent to 'keep'. No one in Æthelmearc was able to find an appropriate term." The Dutch word for a castle or keep is slot. Cortlandtslot and Slot Cortlandt are proper Dutch forms of this name. As Cortlandtslot is the closer of these two in sound and appearance to the submitted Cortlandt Keep, we have changed the name to that form. [Cortlandtslot, Shire of, 03/2002, A-Æthelmearc] |
| François la Flamme | 2002.03 | Listed on the LoI as Borders Cross, Shire of, the name was originally submitted as Bordars Cross and changed at the principality level as no documentation could be found for Bordar.
There was some discussion about whether or not this submission fit the model of an English placename. The LoI provided documentation for Borders Cross meaning 'cross used by boarders' or 'cross used by jesters'. However, neither of these meanings follow documented patterns for English placenames that include an element meaning 'cross'. The key point is that the modern usage of cross to mean 'crossroads' has not been found to be a period meaning. In English placenames, cross refers to a physical cross. So, the Horcros dated to 1230 in Ekwall (p. 243 s.n. Hoar Cross) meaning 'grey cross' that was cited in the LoI does not mean 'grey crossroads'. It refers to a physical cross that is grey. Similarly, the Staincros dated to the Domesday book in Ekwall (p. 435 s.n. Staincross) meaning 'stone cross' that was cited in the LoI does not mean 'stone crossroads'. Rather it refers to a cross made of stone. As both of these examples use the construction '[adjective] cross' where the adjective describes a physical attribute of the cross in question, the meanings 'cross used by boarders' and 'cross used by jesters' do not follow this pattern. A second documented construction using 'cross' as the second element in an English placename has the meaning '[given name]'s cross'. As an example, Ekwall (p. 471 s.n. Thruscross) dates Thorecros to c. 1180 and Thorescros to c. 1210, and gives the meaning of this placename as '�ori's cross'. Ekwall (p. 53 s.n. Bordesley) dates Bordeslegh to 1226-8 and gives the meaning of this placename as either 'Brodes l{e-}ah' or 'wood where boards were got'. Therefore, a hypothetical Bordescros would mean either 'Brodes cross' (which follows the pattern '[given name]'s cross' shown in Thorescross) or 'cross of boards' (which follows the pattern of an adjective describing the cross, as 'stone' does in Staincros). As the submitting group allows any changes, we have changed the name to this form which follows documented period placename construction patterns and which sounds nearly identical to the Borders Cross listed on the LoI. [Bordescros, Shire of, 03/2002, A-Lochac] |
| François la Flamme | 2002.02 | RfS III.1.a requires lingual consistency within a name phrase. A place name is a single name phrase. As Avallon is documented as a French placename and Keep is English, Avallon Keep violates this requirement. [Avallon Keep, Canton of¸ 02/02, R-Lochac] |
| François la Flamme | 2001.12 | The letter of intent listed this item as a device-only submission, and noted in the discussion that Kingdom had formed a holding name. This must be returned because neither the Kingdom nor Laurel may form a holding name for a branch. Without an associated name, armory may not be registered. [Brant County, Canton of, 12/01, R-Ealdomere] |
| François la Flamme | 2002.01 | Submitted as Gerhart von Cynnabar, RfS III.1.a requires lingual consistency within a name phrase. The branch name Cynnabar was documented as English when the name was registered in 1983. ...Use of von in conjunction with an SCA group name that is English has previously been ruled unregisterable:
[Ulrich of Rudivale] Submitted as Ulrich von Rudivale, we have changed the [von] to of since the rules require that prepositions must agree in language with the following noun, and Rudivale, which is the client's home group, is English. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR July 1996, p. 13)This submission has the same problem. Therefore, the submitted von Cynnabar is in violation of the linguistic consistency requirement in RfS III.1.a for mixing German and English in a single name phrase. As the submitter allows minor changes, we have changed the particle von to of in order to register this name. This submission raised considerable discussion about the languages of particles that have been registered with group names in the past. Of particular note was discussion regarding the following precedent: [Robert de Cynnabar] Cynnabar is the registered name of an SCA group. Since de was the most common medieval documentary locative preposition in both England and France, the two places where Robert is most likely to be found, we allow him to register the name of an SCA group with it. This was first done with the 11/92 registration of Robert de Cleftlands. (02/97)It was asserted that since de has been registered in conjunction with Cynnabar at that time, von should also be registerable as well. However, in the cases of both Robert de Cynnabar and Robert de Cleftlands, the group names are English. Since there is considerable documentation for use of the particle de in documents written in English, both of the bynames de Cynnabar and de Cleftlands comply with RfS III.1.a and are in a single language, i.e., English. In the recent registration of Lucas de Caid (October 2001), Caid is an acronym and is therefore not documentable in any language. For branch names registered long ago that are not documentable to any particular language (as is the case with Caid), we will treat them as part of the Society's official language, which is English. Therefore, the byname de Caid is treated as an all-English byname and complies with RfS III.1.a. [Gerhart of Cynnabar, 01/02, A-Caid] |
| François la Flamme | 2001.11 | This branch name is being returned for lack of documentation of the name construction. Koira points out the problems with this name:
The submitters have shown that native gods appear in British place names. However, they have not shown that Roman gods do so, even in cases where a Roman god was considered identical with a native one. Also, they have not shown that names of the form <name of god>'s <type of place associated with that god> appear in Britain. I'd expect to see some evidence to support both these points.... Barring evidence that the construction [Roman god's name] + [type of place associated with that god] is a period construction in Britain and that it was used for places that humans actually lived in, this name is not registerable. [Vulcan's Forge, Canton of, 11/01, R-Meridies] |
| François la Flamme | 2001.11 | Listed on the LoI as Fiodnach Eoghan, Shire of, the petition that accompanied this submission listed the name as Fiach Ogan. The word fiach means 'raven'. It is completely different from Fiodh, which means 'wood'. Additionally, Ogan is a completely different name from Eoghan. Both of these changes are major changes, which are not permitted according to the submission form. The submitters requested authenticity for Irish Gaelic. Fiach Ogan, listed on the petition, does not follow documented examples of place names in Irish Gaelic. As the name listed on the petition is not registerable and it would take more than minor changes to make this name registerable, it must be returned. [Fiodnach Eoghan, Shire of, 11/01, R-Trimaris] |
| François la Flamme | 2001.11 | No documentation was presented and none could be found that Venerable was included in English place names. As Bede was not officially a saint, the question is whether a place named for him would include Venerable, Saint, or no title at all. At least one church was dedicated to him in period since Farmer, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints (p. 506 s.n. Wulfstan) says of Saint Wulfstan (c. 1008-95), "He was specially devoted to the English saints, notably Bede, to whom he dedicated a church". Unfortunately, Farmer does not say what the actual name of the church was. Speed, The Counties of Britain, (p. 75, "map of Durham") includes the phrase, "which as Beda sayth" in a description of the city of Durham. So Speed did not use a title when he referred to Bede in this context. From this information, we know that at least one location (a church) was named for Bede, but we don't know what form it took. The location Bedminster, listed in Ekwall (p. 34 s.n. Bedminster), dates the forms Beiminstre and Betministra to the Domesday Book and gives the meaning of this name as 'B{e-}da's minster or church'. ({e-} represents 'Latin small letter e with macron', a lowercase e with a horizontal bar above, here Da'uded because not all programs can display it correctly via e.) These are the earliest forms found for the name of this location Bedminster, so perhaps this is the location of the church Wulfstan founded, as the Domesday Book dates from during his lifetime. Ekwall (p. 34) lists a number of places that incorporate the name B{e-}da, including Bedburn 'B{e-}da's stream' and Bedfont 'B{e-}da's spring', among others. A placename combining an element derived from 'B{e-}da's' and an element refering to a geographical feature or structute (stream, church, spring, etc.) would be registerable.
Since the submitted name does not use a naming pattern demonstrated to have been used in period English (specifically, the use of Venerable in a place name), this submission must be returned. [Venerable Bede, College of, 11/01, R-Outlands] |
| François la Flamme | 2001.10 | Since de was used regularly in 16th C England with English placenames, de Caid is as registerable as of Caid. [Lucas de Caid, 10/01, A-Outlands] |
| François la Flamme | 2001.10 | [Saint Vladimir] ... the element Saint is English and the element Vladimir is Russian. RfS III.1.a requires all elements in a single name phrase to be from the same language. A placename is a single name phrase. Therefore, Saint Vladimir is in violation of this rule. An exact parallel exists with the precedent:
[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]According to Paul Wickenden, the Russian form of Saint is Sankt. In period, a location named for Saint Vladimir in Russia would have simply have been named Vladimir. In fact, there are three locations with this name. Sankt Petrburg (Saint Petersburg) was intentionally named to follow European practices. Furthermore, it was so named in 1703, so even if it followed Russian naming practices, this example is outside our period. Given this information, we would have dropped Saint to follow documented practices in Russian, but the group allows no major changes. Major changes normally include language changes, which would prevent changing Saint to Sankt. However, the consensus at the decision meeting was that changing Saint to Sankt was more like changing the language of a particle in a personal name (which is normally viewed as a minor change) rather than changing the language of a substantial element (which is a major change). Therefore, we have changed Saint to Sankt in order to register the name. It was felt that the name construction was plausible enough to register. However, given that we have no concrete examples of this construction in Russian in period, it is a weirdness. [Sankt Vladimir, College of, 10/01, A-Atenveldt] |
| François la Flamme | 2001.10 | We have dropped Incipient from the submitted name, as the College does not track this status. [Dragonmarch, Shire of, 10/01, A-Artemisia] |
| François la Flamme | 2001.10 | Submitted as Campo di Fiamme, Stronghold of, the group requested an authentic Italian or Latin name. All period Italian placenames beginning with Campo that the College was able to find are shown as a single word and do not include the particle di. As such, we have removed the particle and combined the two elements into a single word. [Campofiamme, Stronghold of, 10/01, A-Drachenwald] |
| Elsbeth Anne Roth | 2001.07 | Gearasdan garrison appears to be a loan word from English. The College found only one instance of this word in 1598, but there is no evidence that it was used in period place names and some doubt as to whether the word itself was used at that time to refer to a physical structure. The most typical way to say what the submitters want would be Dun an Óir, but unfortunately there is already a Barony of Dun Or.
The submitters might consider either caiseal or ráth, both meaning ring fort; either Caiseal na Óir or Ráth na Óir would be reasonable place names with a meaning very close to that desired. [An Gearasdan Òir, Stronghold of, 07/01, R-An Tir] |
| Elsbeth Anne Roth | 2001.06 | [Torna, Canton of] The name is a 14th century form of the name of the real-world town within the Canton. Submitting it for the name of the canton raises the question of how we treat period forms of real-world names of SCA branches.
All in all, we can see three different reasons to return a name of this sort. First, of course, the submitted name may be well enough known to be protected under section III.A.5 of the Administrative Handbook. Thus, for instance, we would not register Birka, either to a group forming near the old site in Sweden or to anyone else. The submitted name does not appear in general encyclopaedias, like the Encyclopaedia Britannica, so by current practice it is not important enough to protect. Second, the submitted name may be presumptuous. Granted, section VI.3 of the Rules for Submissions addresses only names that unmistakably imply identity with or close relationship to a protected person or literary character. However, it seems appropriate to apply similar standards to personal and non-personal names, and Section VI.4 gives us enough discretion to do so. We would, therefore, return names that unmistakably imply identity with a protected place: for instance, while Londinium does not have its own article in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, London is protected and so registering the Roman name for the city would be presumptuous. In the current case, the modern town does not have its own entry in Britannica and the submission is thus clear on this count as well. Third, the name may run afoul of section III.A.9 of the Administrative Handbook: No name or device will be registered to a submitter if it is identical to a name or device used by the submitter for purposes of identification outside of a Society context. Thus, in the present case, we would not have registered Tornio or Torneå, those being the currently used names for the town. The submitted name differs from each of these by one syllable, and that is generally considered sufficient difference for personal names. Again, we see no point in treating place names differently. [Torna, Canton of, 06/01, A-Drachenwald] |
| Elsbeth Anne Roth | 2001.01 | The submitters have documented that the words used in the name are period. They have provided evidence that the river now known as the Rio de las Animas Perdidas was probably seen by Spanish explorers in the 16th century. They have also documented the use of Las Animas in modern Spanish place names and in the names of Spanish brotherhoods during the period 1558�1832. However, since no dates are given for specific brotherhoods or for the founding of those places, we have no way of knowing whether the brotherhoods and places in question were founded in period.
We still need evidence that rivers were named in this manner in period. In addition, we need evidence that nearby places were named after rivers. Since such evidence was not submitted, we have to return this name again. [Rio de Las Animas Perdidas, Shire of, 01/01, R-Outlands] |
| Elsbeth Anne Roth | 2000.09 | We have traditionally been somewhat more lenient with names from cultures for which we don't have adequate reference works, and we see no reason to change this policy. However, it does not mean that one can in such cases simply look up random words in a dictionary. At the very least we would expect the submitters to show, first, that the name is grammatically correct and, second, that similar constructions exist somewhere else. These examples of similar names would ideally be from nearby cultures. [Vilku Urvas, Shire of, 09/00, R-Middle] |
| Elsbeth Anne Roth | 2000.05 | [Dún na Laoich Ór] The name, meaning 'Fortress of the Golden Warriors,' isn't very plausible as a period Scots or Irish place name. Metron Ariston notes that the vast majority of place names beginning in Dun seem to be descriptive in nature, referring to a salient feature of the fort (e.g., its color or location). In a lesser number of cases, the Dun is combined with the name of an individual associated with the fort in history or legend. Relatively rare are names like Dumbarton deriving from groups of people (in this case from Dun Breatuin or Fort of the Britains) and even there we could not find any that do not use a proper noun. [Dún na Laoich Ór, Stronghold of, 05/00, R-An Tir] |
| Elsbeth Anne Roth | 2000.05 | Submitted as Mædshire , the name changed languages (from Old English to English) within a single word. We have made the name entirely Old English. [Mædscir, 05/00, A-Outlands] |
| Elsbeth Anne Roth | 2000.03 | Precedence bars the use of Phoenix in English in SCA group names. The return of the name Coombe Phoenix (March 1998) says -- The evidence that medieval English people were familiar with the legendary phoenix is not relevant unless one can demonstrate a pattern that they named places after legendary monsters. There are cultures where such a pattern might be demonstrated � Germany seems to be fairly prone to such things � but not for England...Therefore, barring evidence that Phoenix was used in English place-names, or at least that mythological animals were used, it cannot be used in English in SCA group names. [Phoenix River, Shire of, 03/00, R-Meridies] |
| Elsbeth Anne Roth | 2000.03 | [The Royal University of Meridies] With the exception of the University of Atlantia, registered in 1982, and the Royal University of Ithraall examples of universities are listed as references, not registered names. Therefore, we consider the name to be generic and thus not needing registration. [Meridies, Kingdom of, 01/00, R-Meridies] |
| Elsbeth Anne Roth | 2000.02 | The documentation for Kennasport was as a spelling variant of Keneport or "Cena's port". The "e" in Cena, however, is long, so it is not appropriate to double the "n". Also the additional "s" was not used in this type of formation. [Canton of Kennasport, 02/00, R-Middle] |
| Elsbeth Anne Roth | 2000.02 | While the forms did not include the designator Canton, the petition did. The element -port in this case can be a designator (although Corpora (V.C) then requires the group to be a military institution), or it can be a more integral part of the name similar to -ton. [Canton of Kennasport, 02/00, R-Middle] |
| Elsbeth Anne Roth | 2000.02 | [Valley of the Three Walls] The canton justified the construction Valley of the <number> <object> with three examples: Avenue of a Hundred Fountains (in Italy), the Valley of Five Polish Lakes, and the Valley of the Seven Castles (in Luxumbourg). None of the examples, however, are English, one is a street, and the others lack evidence that the names were used for these places in period (given that the places are not in England the period names are definitely not the ones given, although the given forms may be reasonable translations of the period place name). No one else was able to justify Valley as an element in an English place name. [Three Walls, Valley of the, 02/00, R-Middle] |
| Elsbeth Anne Roth | 1999.12 | Submitted as St. Crispin, we do not register scribal abbreviations. [Saint Crispin, College of, 12/99, A-Lochac] |
| Elsbeth Anne Roth | 1999.12 | The name as supposed to mean True North Wind, however, this is not a reasonable placename in either English or Latin. [Veraquilon, Canton of, 12/99, R-An Tir] |
| Elsbeth Anne Roth | 1999.08 | No one could come up with reasonable justification for this as a place name, and some commenters were bothered by the connotation of "Red Light District." [Luminaire Rouge, Canton de la, 08/99, R-Caid] |
| Jaelle of Armida | 1999.06 | [Panther Vale, Shire of] The college could find vale used in English place names, albeit rarely, but no documentation could be found for Panther in English place names. Barring documentation this name must be returned. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR June 1999, p. 9) |
| Jaelle of Armida | 1999.02 | [Scola Metallorum, College of] Submitted as Scola Metallorum, the group wanted to use Scola as an alternative for College. We are unwilling to declare Scola the equivalent of College and thereby reserve its use to official SCA groups, especially in light of the fact that there is already a Latin equivalent, Collegium. Please inform the group that the form Collegium Metallorum would also be acceptable. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR February 1999, p. 8) |
| Jaelle of Armida | 1998.12 | [Snorri of Nordwache] Submitted as Snorri of the Northern Watch. the locative is an English translation of the name of the submitter's barony. However, to use the name of an official SCA group [as part of a personal name], the name must be used exactly as it is registered, or it must be shown to be compatible with period naming practices and the rest of the submitted name. Since this was not done, we have changed the byname to the registered form of his group. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR December 1998, p. 8) |
| Jaelle of Armida | 1998.12 | [Wyvern's Lake, Shire of] No documentation was presented for the use of Wyvern in a place name, and none was found by the College. Barring such documentation, the name must be returned. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR December 1998, p. 15) |
| Jaelle of Armida | 1998.09 | [Aarnimetsä, Barony of. Household name for Korven kylä] A question was raised as to whether official SCA branches could register households which would be used as a designator for a subgroup of the branch. This has been done before, for the Borough of Felding (Barony of Carolingia) and the Household of Elmeston (Barony of Dragonship Haven.) The Administrative Handbook clearly states that Society branches may register household names and armory. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR September 1998, p. 4) |
| Jaelle of Armida | 1998.08 | [Bryn-a-Môr, Canton of] This name is being returned for conflicting with the college of Bryn Mawr which is important enough to have its own entry in The Encyclopedia Britannica. Since we do not form holding names for groups, the device must be returned as well. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR August 1998) |
| Jaelle of Armida | 1998.08 | [Fendrake Marsh, Shire of] Originally submitted as Fendrake Mersch it was changed in kingdom to Fen Drakemerschi. However, since Metron Aristron has documented Fenduck from 1620 in the OED, and Smith's English Place-Name Elements, specifically cites bird name + marsh as a type from this form (e.g., Crakemarsh, Henmarsh, Gunneymarsh and Titchmarsh), we have changed it to an English form closer to what was originally submitted. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR August 1998) |
| Jaelle of Armida | 1998.08 | [Windale, Shire of] This is being returned for lack of paperwork. No name forms were received and no petition was received. Without a petition showing group support, the submission must be returned. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR August 1998) |
| Jaelle of Armida | 1998.06 | [Roberto Raimondo de la Montana de Trueno] "De la Montana de Trueno" is intended to translate the name of his local branch (Mons Tonitrus) into the language of the name (Spanish). While this is a praiseworthy intent, only the actual registered form of an SCA branch name is automatically registerable as part of a personal name. If the name is translated into some other language, then it must be a plausible place-name in that language. Unfortunately, no one has been able to demonstrate that mountains were named after atmospheric phenomena, such as thunder, in Spanish in period. Given the lack of documentation standards in earlier years - particularly for SCA branch names - there is no reason to assume that a registered branch name is documentable even in the language it is registered in. In addition, a place name may be a reasonable construction in one language and culture but not necessarily in another. So even if a registered branch name is, in itself, a well-constructed period place name, translating it into another language may make it a historic impossibility. For example, the existence of the registered SCA branch name "Mists" should not be taken as licensing the use of words meaning "Mists" as locative bynames in any and all period languages. Therefore barring evidence for "Mountain of Thunder" as a plausible period place name in Spanish, this name must be returned. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR June 1998, p. 16) |
| Jaelle of Armida | 1998.06 | [Vale de Draco, Stronghold of] This is clear of the registered group name Dragon's Vale, because there is a significant difference between the elements Draco and Dragon. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR, June 1998, p. 11) |
| Jaelle of Armida | 1998.04 | [Shire of Chateau de Normandy] This combines two designators, Shire and Chateau. Barring documentation of such a combination, it must be returned. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR April 1998, p. 20) |
| Jaelle of Armida | 1998.04 | There has been a number of commenters counting the use of an SCA branch name in an SCA name submission as a "weirdness" if the official group name is in poor style -- i.e. not in the form of a documentable place-name. The use of any registered official groups will not count as a weirdness. To decide on a case-by-case basis if the group name is a weirdness in a personal name submission requires an additional, unnecessary level of decision. (Cover Letter 4/98) |
| Jaelle of Armida | 1998.03 | [Coombe Phoenix, Shire of] This is being returned for non-period construction. The use of coombe in otherwise-English place names is acceptable, since it is found in such
names as Combwich, Combwell, Comhampton, Compton, Combrook, and presumably Coombe Hill, assuming that this isn't a reanalysis of some
other element; all of which refer to the second element as being situated in a coombe. The use of coombe with an ownership element (indicating
either the family owning it, or a nearby town it is associated with) can have the element follow or precede, as in: Combe Raleigh, Combe Hay,
Combe Royal -- all of which have the owner following; or Abbas Combe, English Combe (from a personal name, not the adjective "English",
according to Ekwall), Castle Combe -- with the owner preceding. We presume that the Coombe Fishacre in Devonshire is associated with the
town of Fishacre, also in that shire (see Reaney & Wilson's entry for Fishacre). Combeinteignhead, as Ekwall notes, is simply identifying the
location of this particular coombe (in Tenhide).
There are actually very few examples where an ordinary adjective or noun is used to modify coombe -- Ekwall's North Coombe and South Coombe fall in this category, and perhaps Castle Coombe, depending on how one interprets it. But these all have the modifier first and the modifiers are quite ordinary topography-related terms. Based on these patterns, Coombe Phoenix would be plausible as a period English placename only if Phoenix were either a period English family name, the name of an existing town, village, or structure, or a period English topographic term. The evidence that medieval English people were familiar with the legendary phoenix is not relevant unless one can demonstrate a pattern that they named places after legendary monsters. There are cultures where such a pattern might be demonstrated -- Germany seems to be fairly prone to such things -- but not for England. The example of Compton Scorpion is not an example of this, but rather an example of the habit of re-interpreting unfamiliar archaic name elements. Ekwall shows period citations of this place name as Compton Scorfen 1279, Compton Scorefen 1316. (Unfortunately Speed's 1611 atlas fails to provide an end-of-period example, unless the location is identical with his Fenny Compton.) The name has nothing to do with scorpions and very much to do with boggy ground. Therefore, barring evidence that Phoenix was used in English place-names, or at least that mythological animals were used, it cannot be used in English in SCA group names. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR March 1998) |
| Jaelle of Armida | 1998.02 | [Owlhaven, Shire of] Submitted as Owl's Haven, Shire of, a period English place of this type would be one word and normally not use the genitive within a compound name. We have corrected this in order to register the group name. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR February 1998, p. 8) |
| Jaelle of Armida | 1998.02 | [Poukka, Canton of] A possible problem was mentioned with the name for this group since it appears to be similar to the word Pooka, which is an English malevolent spirit. There are often words in one language which appear to be similar to a word in another language. Since the group name is formed correctly in Finnish, the and two words do not sound the same in Finnish, we see no problem with registering this. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR February 1998, p. 5) |
| Jaelle of Armida | 1997.10 | [returning the College of Dragons Crossing] No evidence was presented in the LoI for the word dragon being used in English place name, and no one could find any evidence. Barring such evidence, we must return the name. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR October 1997, p. 13) |
| Jaelle of Armida | 1997.08 | While there is indeed a Barony of Knight's Crossing in Drachenwald, its existence is insufficient to justify her byname; that requires showing that Ritters Kreuzung is plausible as a period German place-name. We've not found any example of a German place-name containing the element Kreuzung. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR August 1997, p. 23) |
| Jaelle of Armida | 1997.07 | [registering Uggedei Minghan Nidun] The byname is Mongolian for Thousand Eyes, which is also the name of the submitter's Barony. Normally we do not register translations of SCA group names. However, the submitter has provided documentation that this follows period Mongolian practice; there was a Mongol chieftain in the court of Kubla Khan whose byname was Hundred Eyes. Since the byname follows documented Mongolian practice it is acceptable. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR July 1997, p. 7) |
| Jaelle of Armida | 1997.07 | [returning Armando de la Rama de Mil Ojos] This submission ... translates the name of his group into Spanish. Names of registered extant SCA groups are only automatically registerable in the language in which they are actually registered. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR July 1997, p. 15) |
| Jaelle of Armida | 1997.04 | [Riverhawk's Rest] No one could provide any documentation for rest being used as an element in English place names. Without such documentation, the name must be returned. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR April 1997, p. 22) |
| Jaelle of Armida | 1996.11 | [returning Shire of Azure Mere] This is being returned for non-period construction. Places were named using common, everyday words, which azure certainly was not. (The OED doesn't even have a citation for this meaning until the late 15th c.) Moreover, we can find no evidence for French azur in period English place-names, and OE mere `pool' would in any case normally be combined with an OE descriptive element. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR November 1996, p. 15) |
| Jaelle of Armida | 1996.11 | First, and most importantly, there was no petition. The name of an official SCA group and it's arms, must have documented support for the submission. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR November 1996, p. 14) |
| Jaelle of Armida | 1996.08 | [registering Stagridge, Shire of] Submitted as Stag Ridge we have combined the two words to make it into a more period form. (Stagridge, Shire of, 8/96 p. 7) |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 2nd year) | 1996.05 | [Canton of the Baronial Colleges of Nordleigh] This submission raises two separate issues, one stylistic, the other administrative. Stylistically the name is said to be modelled on that of Kings College (Cambridge), though the obvious analogical construction would be Barons College. This is probably too generic to be registered, but we see no serious stylistic bar to registering Barons College at Nordleigh, say. Barons Colleges at Nordleigh is another matter: it seems very unlikely that two colleges within a single university would have been given the same name. We are also reluctant to allow Baronial in lieu of Barons without some support from period usage. In addition to Kings College, there are the Queens Colleges at Cambridge and Oxford, Bishops Castle in Shropshire, Countesthorpe 'the countess's village' in Leicestershire, and other similar constructs to support Barons College; as a model for Baronial only Royal comes to mind. Moreover, the OED does not attest baronial until the middle of the 18th century (though it probably existed at least a bit earlier).
The change from the submitted name to Barons College at Nordleigh is formally not very large. However, it appears that the group specifically chose Baronial rather than Barons in order that the modifier might refer to both the Baron and the Baroness, and it chose Colleges because in the modern world it is based simultaneously at Carleton College and at St. Olaf College. Under the circumstances we are not willing to make these changes without permission and must therefore return the name. (Talan Gwynek, LoAR May 1996, p. 25). |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 2nd year) | 1996.05 | [returning Canton of the Baronial Colleges of Nordleigh] The administrative problem concerns the use of college, an officially approved designator for an institutional branch based at a school, research facility, or the like. The submitted name implies that the group is administratively a canton, and it is so listed in the most recent Middle Kingdom newsletter. The distinction is significant, since cantons and colleges are subject to different administrative requirements. If in fact the group is administratively a college, there is no problem: they need only drop the words Canton of (and indeed must do so). Assuming that it is a canton, however, the question arises: May a canton use the word college, which as a designator has a specific (and in this case inappropriate) meaning, as a non-designating part of its name? The relevant part of RfS III.2.b says that a branch name 'must consist of a designator that identifies the type of entity and at least one descriptive element' and that '[t]he designator must be appropriate to the status of the submitter'. In Canton of the Baronial Colleges of Nordleigh it is clear from the syntax that Canton is the required designator; the rule says nothing about the use of designators in the descriptive part of the name, so the first requirement is technically met, and if the group is a canton, the second requirement is met as well. In the absence of stylistic problems we would therefore not have returned the name. Nevertheless...the use of an administratively inappropriate standard designator in the descriptive part of a branch name is potentially confusing and urge the group to consider this issue before resubmitting their name. [The name was returned for a different reason.] (Baronial Colleges of Nordleigh, Canton of the, 5/96 p. 24) |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 2nd year) | 1996.05 | RfS III.2.b.i (Branch Names) requires names of branches to 'follow the patterns of period place-names'. However, no one was able to provide an example of a real period place-name that could serve as a model for this name, and there was a clear consensus that 'Eternal Bird' is simply not a reasonable place-name in any language. (Da'ud ibn Auda, LoAR May 1996, p. 23) |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 2nd year) | 1996.01 | [returning the Shire of Cloudy River] The name was chosen on account of a `large, murky river' running through the shire; however, cloudy does not seem to have been used in this sense in period place-names. The Old English place-name elements fûl `foul, dirty, filthy', fennig `dirty, muddy, marshy', blæc `black, dark-colored, dark', êa `river, stream', and wæter `water, an expanse of water; lake, pool; stream, river' can be used to construct a variety of period-style place-names with basically the desired meaning. In likely Middle English forms some of these would be: Fuleye, Fulewatere, Fennywatere, Blakeye, and Blakewatere (actually attested from 1279). (Talan Gwynek, LoAR January 1996, p. 24) |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 2nd year) | 1995.12 | According to the Administrative Handbook, Registerable Items, B.1 (Branch Name), `[b]ranch designations included in the Branch Name are determined by the current status of the branch, not by the designation used when the Branch Name is registered'. Requests to change the designation in the SCA Armorial are not name changes and should not be included in Letters of Intent; they should be addressed directly to Laurel and Morsulus. (Ealdormere, Principality of, 12/95 p. 10) |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 2nd year) | 1995.11 | [returning the Canton of Athanor Tor] While it is not especially unusual for place-names to refer to such common, visible pieces of equipment as mills, there is no evidence that topographic features were named after obscure pieces of alchemical equipment. (Talan Gwynek, LoAR November 1995, p. 13) |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 2nd year) | 1995.09 | [registering the hourshold name Ty Gafrewig Wen] `House of the White Antelope' does not seem to follow period Welsh practice in naming families and buildings, but it is well within our rather loose standards for household names. (Bronwen o Gyeweli, 9/95 p. 7) |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 2nd year) | 1995.09 | Order names and house names do not follow the same models in English. (Talan Gwynek, LoAR September 1995, p. 9) |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 2nd year) | 1995.06 | [Aliena von Bingen, Household of Saint Hildegard] There was a clear consensus from the commentary and from those attending the meeting at the KWHS that university is not an appropriate alternate designator for household. We will continue to reserve the designator university to groups approved at the kingdom or principality level either for a branch (in the same way that college is used currently as, for example, in the already registered L'Universite de la Tour d'Yvoire) or for educational institutions (for example, the already registered University of Atlantia, Royal University of Scirhafoc, University of the East Kingdom, and Royal University of Ithra). (Da'ud ibn Auda, LoAR June 1995, p. 1) |
| Da'ud ibn Auda | 1995.06 | [Whispering Pines] The name does not appear to be formed in a manner required by RfS III.2.b.i. ("Names of branches must follow the patterns of period place-names."). The only even remotely similar placename to this one that anyone was able to find was Loudwater (Ekwall, p. 305), and it doesn't really come close enough to support the construction here. (Da'ud ibn Auda, LoAR June 1995, p. 24) |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 2nd year) | 1995.02 | [Sunderoak, Canton of] Submitted as Sundered Oak, the use of the adjectival past participle in placenames has not been documented as a period pattern or practice. [The name was registered in the altered form.] (Da'ud ibn Auda, LoAR February 1995, p. 5 |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 2nd year) | 1994.11 | Submitted as [N] of Trollfen, the group's name is registered as two words. The use in a holding name by Laurel of Trollfen should not be considered as making the single word version appropriate or registrable -- it may be (and in fact was) that Laurel took the name as written on the submitter's forms without double-checking the registered spelling of the group name. (And if they're all going to spell it as one word anyway, you might consider suggesting a name change to them.) (Da'ud ibn Auda, LoAR November 1994, p. 7). |
| Da'ud ibn Auda | 1994.08 | Branch names are generally modeled on place names; "land of the unruly" does not appear to follow any period model of which we are aware. (Da'ud ibn Auda, LoAR August 1994, p. 19) |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 2nd year) | 1994.08 | Lyonesse is a mythical land which is not allowed as a locative in the SCA. Despite the assertion in the LoI, it has been registered only four times, not "many times previously", and the most recent registration was 1981. [Returned] (Da'ud ibn Auda, LoAR August 1994, p. 17) |
| 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 Frostheim, Canton of.] [It] is in conflict with Froscheim ... per RfS V.2. ... The differences in pronunciation appear to be analogous to "fish head" v. "fist head"; certainly much closer than "Auda/Ali" and not much more different than "Morgan/Morton". This is not "significantly" different. [6/94, p.13] |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 1st year) | 1994.06 | [Returning Frostheim, Canton of.] There was some question as to whether "frost-home" is a reasonable period-style placename, even in Swedish. [6/94, p.13] |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 1st year) | 1994.06 | [Returning Ryuugatani, Shire of.] There was a fair amount of commentary with the belief that a Japanese place-name does not appear to fall within the defined scope of the Society, which is pre-17th Century Western culture (RfS I.1. See also "Scope of the Society: Period and Culture" in the Organizational Handbook, pp. 74-75). "Its domain includes Europe and areas that had contact with Europe during this period." (RfS I.1.) It was noted that while there was clearly some contact in very late period between Europe and Japan, and evidence that some few Japanese actually visited Europe, the contact between Europe and Japan was not great enough to justify a Japanese place-name in pre-17th C. Europe. [6/94, p.17] |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 1st year) | 1994.03 | [Returning Swamp Keype.] Given the combination of weak evidence for this spelling of the noun "keep", the ... splitting into two parts ... (not a common English period practice, under the best circumstances) and then modifying the spelling of only the last element, we find the combination highly unlikely. [3/94, p.20] |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 1st year) | 1993.12b | [Registering Canton of Wintersedge.] Submitted as Canton of Winter's Edge. We have modified the name to match the grammar of the name with the documented form for English place names. [12b/93, p.8] |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 1st year) | 1993.12a | [Returning Canton of Chuzan.] The name still conflicts with that of Chusan, as noted in the return of September 27, 1992. However spelled and using whatever system of transliteration, as Lady Harpy notes, Chuzan and Chusan are more similar than Morgan de Grey and Morton the Grey. [12a/93, p.23] |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 1st year) | 1993.12b | [Returning March of the Wild Hares.] None of the commenters could find any period models for this placename formation, nor was any documentation supporting this form included with the submission. Additionally, the name is obtrusively modern in that the first association many of the commenters had was the tea party with the March Hare described so amusingly by Lewis Carroll. [12b/93, p.12] |
| Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme | 1993.08 | The other concern is not solely the province of the College of Arms. All the Powers That Be in a Kingdom should object to any illegal coercion such as I've described. A submissions herald might suspect, by a group's choice of name, that such coercion may be happening; if so, he should bring it to the attention of the Kingdom Seneschal, and the two officers should deal with the matter as seems best ... But the mere suspicion of possible future misconduct by a group is not, by itself, grounds for returning their name [name returned for mundane conflict]. (Windwardshire, August, 1993, pg. 14) |
| Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme | 1993.06 | Fortaleza should be acceptable as an equivalent for the SCA branch classification of "Stronghold." (Fortaleza de la Frontera, June, 1993, pg. 8) |
| Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme | 1992.09 | The current Rules do not contain that provision for obsolete placenames to be used by Society branches. I asked Mistress Alisoun, former Laurel Queen of Arms, and she told me the omission was deliberate. The 1986 Rules protected all mundane placenames, no matter how unimportant or obscure; a special dispensation for SCA branches was sometimes needed. The current Rules protect only famous or important placenames. Thus, if the obsolete name for a territory currently occupied by a Society branch is important or famous, it's protected against conflict by anyone (including the SCA branch); if the obsolete name is unimportant, there's no conflict in the first place, and any branch could use the name [name returned for a different conflict]. (Canton of Chuzan, September, 1992, pg. 53) |
| Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme | 1992.09 | There was some question as to whether the released name of a disbanded group could be used in a new personal name. Such new names must start from scratch, but the original documentation of the dead SCA branch might still be consulted. (Sebastian of Ventbarre, September, 1992, pg. 35) |
| Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme | 1992.07 | [Sigelhundas] Some commenters wondered whether the name's meaning ["sun-dogs"] was reasonable, but given such Anglo-Saxon terms as sigelwaras "sun-men" (their term for Ethiopians), we saw no reason not to accept the construction. The Saxons probably would have used the term to refer to African dogs, not to the refraction of sunlight by ice crystals in the upper atmosphere, but I suspect the submitters know that [dogs were used in the armory]. (Shire of Sigelhundas, July, 1992, pg. 2) |
| Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme | 1992.06 | [Shire of Fire Mountain Keep] Given that the Latin and Old Norse terms for volcano translate more-or-less to "mountain with fire", we can consider this name a translation into the Society's lingua franca. (Shire of Fire Mountain Keep, June, 1992, pg. 1) |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd year, 1st tenure) | 1992.02 | "The 'Barony of Dragon' does not make sense in German or English. At the very least it needs an article. As the clients allowed no changes, we are having to return this." (LoAR 2/92 p.19). |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd year, 1st tenure) | 1991.11 | [<Given name> of the <adjective-object>] "Regarding the question of [the personal name's] presumption versus the <Kingdom> Order of the Olde <adjective-object>, deletion of both the words 'Order of the' and 'Olde' should be sufficient to remove the appearance of presumption." (LoAR 11/91 p.2). |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd year, 1st tenure) | 1991.11 | [Isle of the Blue Mists] "Conflict with Barony of the Isles. Of the Blue Mists is a single adjectival phrase modifying the noun Isle. Adding a collection of adjectives after a noun is no different than adding a collection of adjectives before a noun for purposes of RFS V.2. {Arguendo, if the noun is Mists, then Isle of the Blue is the adjectival phrase, and the name conflicts with the Principality of the Mists. I don't really believe this argument, but either way we have a conflict.}" (LoAR 11/91 p.23). |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd year, 1st tenure) | 1991.10 | "Moonsea is not a period style name. Barring documentation of similarly constructed names in English, this must be returned." (LoAR 10/91 p.15). |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd year, 1st tenure) | 1991.10 | "The problem with this name is the designator Maschio. The primary meanings in the submitter's own documentation are 'male, manly, masculine, virile'. Several commenters had questions regarding its propriety as an alternate designator for 'stronghold.'" [Returned for this reason] (LoAR 10/91 p.18). |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd year, 1st tenure) | 1991.09 | [Blackmoore] "The Administrative Handbook Protected Items F notes that locations which play a significant role in the action of the modern literary work (of any genre) in which they appear will be protected. As a consequence, in spite of the five English Blackmoors, we are having to return this for conflict with the TSR entity." (LoAR 9/91 p.18). |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd year, 1st tenure) | 1991.08 | "The problem is that 'Newest South Wales' [the translation of the submitted place] presupposes a 'New South Wales', which is a provably post-period place." (LoAR 8/91 p.24). |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd year, 1st tenure) | 1991.07 | "Although Midhaven appears to be an actual medieval place, it is not a 'significant geographical location outside the Society' as defined in the Administrative Handbook, Protected Items, E." (LoAR 7/91 p.1). |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd year, 1st tenure) | 1991.07 | "Personal households may not incorporate the name of an SCA branch in their name." (LoAR 7/91 p.22). |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd year, 1st tenure) | 1991.07 | "While in the past arms have been registered to the regions of Ansteorra and Calontir, a number of commenters questioned whether this is a precedent we should still follow. In a discussion with the Chairman of the Board of Directors, she recommended against the registration of the names and armory of regions. Might we suggest that the region send in the paperwork for a change in status to that of principality?" (LoAR 7/91 p.18). |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (1st year of 1st tenure) | 1991.01 | "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). |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (1st year of 1st tenure) | 1990.11 | "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). |
| Da'ud ibn Auda (1st year of 1st tenure) | 1990.07 | [Leornung-has] "This is an appropriate Anglo-Saxon alternate for 'College'." (LoAR 7/90 p.4). |
| Alisoun MacCoul of Elphane | 1989.12.31 | There are problems with the use of the term "Borough" in the context of the current territorial structure. Since it has previously been registered for non-territorial "College/Canton" type groups in the East without official status, it cannot really be recognised as an official designation equivalent (unless or until all "unofficial boroughs" either become official or their registered items are released). On the other hand, ... the term is not really appropriate for a household or other non-territorial group. (LoAR 31 Dec 89, pp. 21-22) |
| Alisoun MacCoul of Elphane | 1988.07 | "There is a special allowance for SCA branches to use obsolete names for their territories, so an SCA branch actually in London could call itself Trinovantia -- but no one else may." Ironically, this group is in London, but the wrong one: London, Ontario. Given the mundane location, we suspect that the College would look favourably on a suitably modified name formed in the (late) period manner such as Nova Trinovantia. (LoAR Jul 88, p. 19) |
| Alisoun MacCoul of Elphane | 1987.11.28 | It has previously been ruled that translations of such generic names as these [Riversmeet, Aberafonydd] may be registered if the group with which it conflicts [by translation] gives permission. (LoAR 28 Nov 87, p. 11) |
| Alisoun MacCoul of Elphane | 1987.08 | Caer Aranrhod ("Castle of Aranrhod", the Welsh moon goddess) is the usual name for the Corona Borealis. Neither the abode of a goddess nor a constellation are usual places for a human to come from and these are the interpretations which the average Society member would put on the place of origin, not the obscure reef whose name is derived from the older legendary locations. (LoAR Aug 87, p. 10) |
| Alisoun MacCoul of Elphane | 1986.12.28 | [Shire of One Thousand Eyes (Pocatello, Idaho)] Almost without exception the commenting heralds felt this name was non-period in style. However, it is the sort of name which is not at all uncommon in the fantastic literature, period and modern, which also forms a background to our Society and therefore seems legitimate, if the populace of this group are prepared for the humorous jibes that will inevitably come their way. (LoAR 28 Dec 86, p. 5) |
| Alisoun MacCoul of Elphane | 1986.12.28 | The addition of a single word is not sufficient difference between Society branches (NR20). Therefore, [Name]gate would not be sufficiently different from [Name]. Logic then would indicate that [Name] should not be sufficiently different from the already registered name of [Name]gate. (LoAR 28 Dec 86, pp. 19-20) |
| Baldwin of Erebor | 1986.08.25 | [College of the Unspeakable Name.] This is an unsuitable name for a branch of the Society. Please choose another. [BoE, 25 Aug 85, p.13] |
| Baldwin of Erebor | 1986.04.25 | In those cases where two branch names conflict because one is a translation of the other into a different language, and one of the branches is defunct, permission may be granted jointly by the Crown of the Kingdom (who may delegate this authority, if they wish) and by the Principal Herald (who is responsible for seeing that local custom is maintained, and whose signature attests to this). [BoE, cvr ltr, 25 Apr 86, p. 6] |
| Baldwin of Erebor | 1986.01.19 | The term March has been used for many years as a branch title equivalent to Shire. I am not aware of any restrictions having been placed on the designation. [BoE, 19 Jan 86, p.13] |
| Baldwin of Erebor | 1985.08.10 | Names of defunct branches are protected, just as the names and arms of inactive and deceased SCA members (not to mention mundanes) are protected. While it may be true that the arguments supporting this practice are no better than the ones opposing it, the fact remains that a decision was made, long ago, to protect such names, and that this policy has been upheld more than once by the Board as well as by the College of Arms. We can stretch the point on occasion, when the forms of the names are different ... but this is out of the question when the two are nearly indistinguishable. [BoE, 10 Aug 85, p.4] |
| Baldwin of Erebor | 1985.06.09 | ["Shire of Welfengau."] I am not convinced that it is a good idea to permit the use of a recognizable dynastic name in the name of an SCA branch. It may set a precedent we will have difficulty living with (Tudorville? Hapsburghalle?); and this would seem to legitimize an SCA name such as HEINRICH VON WELFENGAU, which others may consider a claim to membership in a royal or dynastic house. On the other hand, the branch in question is located in Guelph, Ontario, and this ought to count for something. [BoE,9 June 85, p.9] [The submission was approved.] |
| Baldwin of Erebor | 1984.12.16 | The Rules for Submissions (article VIII.2) state that the name and arms of an SCA branch must have the approval of a majority of its members. With baronies, shires, and other "small" branches, this is usually dealt with by requiring a petition of some sort. There does not appear to be an established procedure for obtaining approval when the branch in question is a Kingdom or Principality. I am therefore promulgating the following: (1) Any planned change to the name or arms of a Kingdom or Principality must be announced in the official branch newsletter, and sufficient time must be allowed for the populace to respond to the proposal. (2) The branch herald (or representative) is responsible for tallying the responses and seeing to it that a summary is transmitted to the Laurel Sovereign of Arms. (3) The proposed change must be subscribed to by the sovereign and consort and their heirs (if any), and it must be ratified by the officers of the branch. Evidence that this has been done should be included with the submission. [BoE, 16 Dec 84, p.1] |
| Wilhelm von Schlüssel | 1981.07.29 | It is more period to put shire at the end of a name, like Rieslingshire, than to have a Shire of something. WVS [48] [LoAR 29 Jul 81], p. 6 |
| Wilhelm von Schlüssel | 1981.08.13 | You cannot use the name of a mundane city as part or all of a branch name. WVS [50] [LoAR 13 Aug 81], p. 8. [Reversed on appeal.] |
| Wilhelm von Schlüssel | 1981.03.10 | Groups (territorial branches, offices, guilds, clans, brotherhoods, etc.) that are not personal households may not make use of names or words or languages from fantasy sources in the name of the group. Specifically, a group name may not make use of the languages of Middle Earth ... This does not in any way restrict the use of words or names from fantasy for use by individuals or for the names of personal households. WVS [37] [CL 10 Mar 81], p. 1 |
| Karina of the Far West | 1979.06.30 | Both name and device are lifted from Zelazny's NINE PRINCES IN AMBER and however many sequels there are by now, both fictional and magical. This is not suitable for a branch of the Society. (KFW, 30 Jun 79 [25], p. 59) |
| Karina of the Far West | 1977.08.18 | I regard Lyon[n]esse as quasi-historical, as real as Narnia or Cornwall; it may be used in personal names but not branch names. (RIFE, 18 Aug 77 115], p. 2) |
| Karina of the Far West | 1976.10.29 | [Nytha d'Hui.] Explain the name. If the Lord Aten is not being facetious when he tells me that it comes from an exchange, "My lord, we have no record of a name for your SCA branch" -- "Well, Nytha to we!" ... it is unacceptable. (KFW, 29 Oct 76 19], p. 8) |
| Karina of the Far West | 1976.01.30 | We'd like a surname in addition to the name of her local branch of the Society. (KFW, 30 Jan 76 [2], p. 5) |
| Karina of the Far West | 1976.06.16 | The name of a branch should not be used as a surname, as it could not be used with the title of (Court) Baron or Baroness. (KFW, 16 Jun 76 [6], p. 4) |
| Harold Breakstone | 1972.01.16 | The Council of Seneschals has enquired whether baronies, cantons, and the like should choose a name before or after applying to the College of Heralds. It is answered that while they should check arms with a [herald], it is for the Imperium to rule on the choice of names. And they should not submit arms to the College until they have been accredited through the Imperial College of Electors [Board of Directors]. (KFW, 16 Jan 72 [22], p. 1) |