February 25, 1983 A.S. XVII 

TO:   The Members of the College of Arms 

FROM: Master Wilhelm von Schlüssel, Laurel King of Arms 

Greetings: 

Enclosed is the LOA&R for this month, containing 94 acceptances and 47 rejections, for a total of 141 actions. I will need by March 5, 1983, the LoCs on the following LoIs: Meridies (10/26), West (11/14), Atenveldt (11/20), Atlantia (11/22), East (11/25), Caid (12/13), An Tir (12/IS), and Middle (12/20). 

I will need by April 9, 1983, the LoCs on the following LoIs: West (12/12), Atenveldt (12/18), Atenveldt (12/23), Middle (I/S), and Caid (1/2s). 1 will need by May 14, 1983, the LoCs on the following Lols: Meridies (1/4), West (1/9), and Middle (2/1), plus any other Lols received by the end of February. 

There have been more changes to 'the mailing list. Please add the following people: Berowne of Arden, Eastern Crown Herald (Jim Reynolds, 33 Cove Avenue, Norwalk, CT 06855); Arval Benicoeur, Sycamore Herald (Joshua D. Mittleman, 425 Risley Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 1.4853); and Johan Carl Otto Maximillian von Adlertum (John Carl Fuhrmann, AAFES‑EUR‑EDG‑PL‑P, APO New York 09143). Please remove Ensign Pursuivant and Trillium Pursuivant from the list. Trillium has resigned and Edward is no longer Ensign. I need to receive LoCs from Black Lion, Brigantia, and Beacon. 

I have some good news: Clarion tells me he is ready to begin the data entry for the new Ordinary. He will first try to generate a supplement to the previous Ordinary, with all LoA&Rs since then incorporated. Then he will merge the two into a new, complete Ordinary. 

Next month I will try to compose a short form of the Rules for use as a handout. I would appreciate any suggestions. I would also like to make a last request for your ideas on what constitutes good and poor practice in heraldry and names. Beginning next month, I will compose a set of guidelines, and I really want your suggestions. I have only received a handful of responses so far. 

In response to the expressed sentiments of the College, I have decided to treat the combination of two widely separated languages as a discouraged rather than a restricted practice. The College should not be involved in one's persona story. I do feel, however, that the use of three widely separated languages is too far‑fetched to allow. 

I have also been asked to come up with giuidelines for what constitutes an acceptable made‑up name. The Rules for Heraldic Submissions state that it is up to the submittor to convince the College that a made‑up name satisfies our requirement that made‑up names be consistent with period naming practices CV.5.). When a submittor does make this attempt, then the problem is simply one of looking over the documentation to see if it is reasonable. This makes life much easier for everyone. The time needed for a submittor to check out his/her name is really no greater than the time needed to make the submittor's first set of SCA garb. One's SCA name is certainly as important as one's SCA clothing, and thus this amount of time is not excessive, especially considering the fact that the submittor will wear the name much longer than that first set of garb. 

But when a submittor simply sends in a made‑up name with no explanation at all, the College is at a loss to know what is intended. In order for us to‑say a name is consistent with period naming practices, we have to be able to say which practices it is consistent with. This means we have to be able to point to a particular language and say that the naming practices of that language are., what the name is consistent with. Thus the submittor needs to say what language or languages are involved. 

Let us first look at how a submittor can show that the name is acceptable. The best method is to provide reliable documentation that that exact name was used in period. This clearly shows that the name is acceptable. The next best method is to show that the name exists in the real world, but that a date of origin is not available. Then the name will be acceptable unless the College can find some other reference showing that the name is either out of period in its creation date or that it is otherwise unacceptable, such as being a surname used as a given name. 

Anything which was not used in the mundane world as a name is by definition a made‑up name. This means there is a wide variety of possible made‑up names. The SCA is trying to recreate pre‑17th century Western culture, and so the College requires that made‑up names be consistent with the naming practices of pre‑17th century Western culture. 

The most authentic of the made‑up names are those that are only variations of an existing period name. When a submittor wants such a name, s/he should submit documentation showing that the original name is in period and demonstrating how the original name has been modified to produce the desired submitted name. Variations in spelling of names did occur in period because language was created as a spoken system and is thus aural in nature. Writing came later, and standardized spelling came even later. Different scribes in different centuries in different areas would spell the same name differently, as the pronunciation would have been different, and the scribes tried to write down the names phonetically. This does not mean that just any spelling variation is acceptable. These changes of pronunciation and their resulting changes in spelling followed known linguistic laws and are well documented for each language. Such variations exhibit ablaut and, to quote my Lady Cynthia, "Ablaut is not random." 

Here are some examples of such spelling variations in English. From Reaney and Withycombe (3d ed.) we find that there were a number of spelling variants that preserved the pronunciation. It seems that in the middle of a name the letters i and y are interchangeable, as in Alise/Alys or Martin/Martyn. In the middle of names one can interchange th and d (Athelard/Adelard), f and ph (Amphelisia/Amfelisia), p and b (Annabel/Annaple), and ch and k (Michael/Nlikael). The letter c before e or i sounds like an s and, in such cases, these can be interchanged (Ancel/Ansell, Avis/Avice). The letter c before a sounds like k and, in such cases, can be interchanged (Catherine/Katherine). Many (but not all) consonants can be doubled without changing the pronunciation significantly (Amelia/Amellia, Moris/Morris). There were also a number of changes in pronunciation in period that produced changes in spelling. For example, Harry comes from Henry, because that's how Henry was pronounced by the Normans. These changes are more complex and submittors/heralds should be careful to check references. 

The next category of authentic made‑up names consists of names that are formed in accordance with the principles of the Indo‑European dithematic naming system. Withycombe, on p. xiv of her Introduction (3d ed.), states, "Of the great Indo‑European family of languages the general principle was also that of one name for each individual, the majority of names being compounded of two elements chosen from a stock of special name‑words." These name‑words are called themes. If a theme is used as the first half of a name, it is called a protheme, and if it is used as the second half of a name, it is called a deuterotheme. If it is used as the entire name (possibly with an ending tacked on), it is called a monotheme. Names with two themes are dithematic names, and names with one theme are mono‑ thematic names. The gender of the name is determined by the deuterotheme. Some themes were only used as prothemes, some only as deuterothemes, and some could be used as either. These themes were originally words, but in many cases they ceased to be used in speech and survived only as parts of names. 

The Indo‑European family of languages was not the only user of the dithematic naming system. Others used it as well, in particular the Semitic names in the Old Testament. It is a natural system, since the desire is for each person to have a unique personal name. If you just use monothematic names, the number of possible names is small. By combining two themes‑‑ you square the number of possible names. 

Most of the languages within the scope of the SCA are Indo‑European. There seems to be no evidence of the use of trithematic names in the Indo‑European system, and so SCA members should not try to construct a name from three themes. A theme had either one or two syllables, and so the period names had from one to four syllables. 

There are a number of combinations of period name‑words that do not show up in the listings of names. This doesn't mean they were never used, just that there is no record of them having been used. These are all acceptable, so long as they are combined correctly. Be careful to never use as a protheme a theme that can only be used as a deuterotheme, and vice versa. 

A person wishing to submit a coined dithematic name should state the language of the name and then give examples of period names in that language that used those two themes. As an example, a man could construct the Norse name Hargrim from the protheme Har‑ (as in Harald) and the deuterotheme ‑grim (as in Thorgrim). The recent rejection of Roncor Woodcleaver illustrated the false use of a protheme as a deuterotheme. Ron‑ (as in Ronald) and Cor‑ (as in Corwyn) are both prothemes. I could not find ‑cor as a deuterotheme in English or Anglo‑Saxon. This confirmed the suspicion that was aroused by the fact that the name sounded wrong. It sounded like something from a modern fantasy novel or a fantasy role‑playing game. It didn't sound like a period English or Anglo‑Saxon name, and the fact that it violated the dithematic system confirmed this. Therefore the name was not consistent with period naming practices and it was rejected. 

Not all languages use the dithematic naming system. If one of those that do not is specified for the name then that language's naming system is what needs to be followed. For example, the Romans did not use the dithematic naming system, even though Latin is Indo‑European. (There is some speculation that this is because the Romans' naming system was influenced by that of the Etruscans. The Etruscans, whom the Romans conquered, spoke a language that was not Indo‑European.) 

In the case of monothematic names, these were generally prothemes used without a deuterotheme. Usually this was a short form of the complete dithematic name, used as an informal name. Some of these became independent names. Monothematic names were more popular among the peasantry than the nobility. The protheme could also have a diminutive ending tacked on to make it a diminutive. (Thus Thomas → Tom → Tommy.) These diminutives generally did not become independent names until after 1600, although some did. Since the Society name registered with the College of Arms is the name that will appear on all formal documents, it is obvious that the College registers a submittor's formal name, not the use name. A person should submit a formal name to the College. Then s/he is free to use any diminutive or nickname version of the name as a use name. A 12th‑century sharecropped named Roger was probably always referred to as either Hogge or some other nickname, but his formal name was still Roger, and this is what was used when he was baptized, married, buried, christened a child, or was otherwise formally entered in the records. The registration of informal names is a discouraged practice in the SCA. 

So far we have dealt with the cases where a person has submitted all necessary documentation. Many times this is not the case. When a submittor specifies the language but does not give the derivation of the name, it is up to the local or receiving herald to either return it for such documentation or to try to document it himself. 

The herald should consult as many name books  in that language as are available to see if there are other names that use the protheme and deuterotheme used in the submitted name. If you cannot find them exactly, look for cases where the difference can be ascribed to spelling variations or mutations. If you can find nothing like it, then the name is probably wrong for that language. Ask 
the submittor where s/he got the idea for the name. Perhaps s/he has the wrong language, and you will have to look under a different language. 

You may find yourself left in the situation where the person has not specified a language, or the specified language wasn't correct. Whenever there is no specified language, the default case shall be that it is an Indo‑European language and therefore the dithematic system must be followed. Search through various languages to see if you can find those prothemes and deuterothemes. You should avoid combining themes from different languages. This was extremely rare and even then only occurred when different cultures co‑existed and both used the dithematic naming system. Give particular attention to finding the deuterotheme. This is what carries the gender and is the most important part of making the name sound right. (The protheme is much easier to find, anyway, since it comes first and thus you need only look in a dictionary of names to find it.) 

If the name cannot be supported properly and the submittor still insists on it, then s/he should be warned that the submission will be at the mercy of the College, since then the only test available is whether or not it sounds right. During the grace period (which will last until the Names Pamphlet is in print), I have been accepting those made‑up names that were not properly documented but which sounded right, either to me or to those knowledgeable in the language involved. I am uncomfortable with this process, since it is necessarily a subjective one. However, until the Names Pamphlet comes out, I see no alternative short of just requiring proper documentation and rejecting the name if documentation is not provided. I would rather educate the membership first and urge them to provide the documentation than to suddenly require it. On the other hand, I cannot accept those names which are clearly inconsistent with period practice. I there‑ fore ask the local heralds, through the Principal Heralds, to do their best to see that the names are properly documented before passing them on. 

So far we have dealt mainly with the given name. Things are much easier with the by‑name one adds to the given name for differentiation from others with the same given name. There are vastly more possibilities for by‑names than there are for given names. In the Indo‑European system the bynames can be grouped into four classifications. There are bynames of relationship, locality, occupation, and personal description. Ingrid could have the byname Godwinsdottir, or she could be Ingrid of York, Ingrid the Midwife, or Ingrid the Fair. The words of and the could be omitted from the latter names. Occupational names often consisted of the name of the object the person worked with, so the name of almost any domestic animal or plant or object can be a byname. 

Spelling variations were greater in bynames than in given names because the number of given names was smaller and thus they were more often known to the scribes. When the bynames became hereditary surnames, the meaning of the byname was frequently lost in time and so spelling variations, followed by changes in pronunciation, followed by spelling "corrections" could cause considerable variation in the final spelling. I am much more liberal as to what is acceptable as a made‑up surname or byname. There are lots of books that deal with the types of surnames and how they vary in spelling. The submittor need only give a reasonable attempt at justifying the name. If the submittor does not provide any derivation of a made‑up surname, try to come up with one yourself or consult with the submittor as to which of the four classes of surname it is intended to be. 

I would like to remind everybody that. effective with Letters of Intent postmarked on or after May 1, 1983 (A.S. XVIII), I am charging $1.00 per item registered, be it name, device, or badge. Kingdom Principal Heralds can make life easier for their local heralds by just raising the general rates by $1.00. If a person submits a name and a device to be registered, then both systems yield the same fee. If the person just submits a name or a badge, then the Kingdom Herald's office gains $1.00. If the person submits a name, badge, and name linked to the badge (household or alternate persona), then the Kingdom Herald's office loses $1.00. It averages out. That way, only the nine Kingdom Principal Heralds have to deal with my system. At that level it makes a lot of sense. If a person's name is passed at the kingdom level but the device is not, then the name and $1.00 are sent to me. Later the device and the other $1.00 can be sent to me. This fee system provides a clear incentive to the Principal Herald to check to see if the person has previously registered his/her name and whether the submission is a resubmission (there is no fee for a resubmission), and to indicate this on the Letter of Intent. 

As of March 1, 1983, I am raising the subscription rate to my letters to $12.00/year, with warranted heralds/pursuivants getting a $2.00 discount. The cost for back issues is $1.00 per issue, with no discount. Postage is included in the per‑issue cost. This cost increase was made necessary by the increased size of the mailings resulting from the increased number of submissions. This rate should be good for at least a year. 

Pray believe, my Lords and my Ladies, that I remain 

Your servant, 

Master Wilhelm von Schlüssel 
Laurel King of Arms 

WvS:CFCvS