THE FOLLOWING SUBMISSIONS ARE APPROVED:

Kingdom of Atenveldt

Bryon l'Ours d'Argent de Bourgogne. Name and device. Sable, two swords inverted in saltire surmounted by a bear's head cabossed between two fleurs­de­lys in fess and another in base, all argent.

Since "silver bear" would be "ours d'argent" in French, the submitted name, Bryon l'Ours Argent de Bourgogne, has been modified to the proper French form.

Marcus le Silex. Badge for Maison du Silex. A bend couped vert, overall a maunch vert, counterchanged argent.

Randal Benton. Name only (see RETURNS for device).

Symond Bayard the Grey. Badge for Kameyama Bakumaru. Sable, a Japanese tapir sejant, head raised, within an annulet argent.

Kingdom of Atlantia:

Alaric Kydde of Foxboro. Name and device. Argent, upon a cross fleury azure between in chief a scimitar bendwise and a scimitar reversed bendwise sinister sable, a fox rampant argent.

Note that this would be much better style with four swords in saltire.

Alejandro the Far Traveller. Name only (see RETURNS for device),

Alexander of Cumberlande. Name and device. Argent, semy of crescents gules, an eagle inverted and displayed within a bordure embattled azure.

Brig Kieran. Name only (see RETURNS for device).

The name found in the sources cited is Bridget, not Brie, which was the name submitted. Since Brie is also a well­known place in France (not to mention the name of the cheese deriving from that area!), solid evidence for the name is required. As none was provided, we have modified the given name to the well­documented period feminine given name Brig, pronounced "Bree" (see O'Corrain and Maguire, Gaelic Personal Names, p. 36).

Candace the Horse Trader. Name and device. Or, a horse rampant to sinister gules within a bordure sable.

Her mundane given name is Candace. If it were not, we would have serious qualms about the given name since this is the title of the Queen of Ethiopia in the Old Testament and the evidence for its use as a personal name in period is dubious at best.

Elizabeth Ryan of Rosewood. Name and device. Lozengy sable and argent, a boot gules.

John of Storvik. Holding name and device. Per bend sinister argent and azure, two eagles displayed counterchanged.

The submitted name, Erbor the Wanderer, could not be accepted since the given name not only did not follow the naming conventions of the dominant language, as our conventions for made­up names require, but seemed far too similar to the Tolkienic geographic name of Erebor to be acceptable to much of the populace. We therefore used his mundane name of John to form a holding name. Unfortunately, the natural holding name of John the Wanderer proved impossible since this would conflict with the registered name of John Shark the Wanderer.

Fergal Kerstetter. Name and device. Vert, a moose head erased Or within a bordure argent.

Since vowel modification in Irish is not random, the submitted form of the given name "Forgal" is not a plausible variant form. (Irreverent comment from the Laurel meeting: bet we know what his favourite beer is!).

Guillaume Lion de Mer. Holding name and device. Argent, a lion­headed triton naiant to sinister maintaining a paintbrush palewise and in chief a bar, dovetailed to chief, all gules.

The submitted given name of Glynn is a primarily a geographic term in period and today and there is no evidence for its use as a given name in period so we have substituted the French form of his given name to match the byname. We have also corrected the grammar of the French to make the double allusion to "sea­lion" and "lion from the sea" syntactically correct. Note that the submittor's picture and the emblazon on the letter of intent differ significantly: the submittor's beast was quite distinctly a lion­headed triton and was naiant, not erect, and the bar was actually dove­tailed, not embattled as it was depicted on the letter of intent.

Gwaeddan o Ystad Llangollen. Name only (see RETURNS for device).

Leannan of Cambion. Name and device. Per chevron dovetailed gules and vert, in chief two domestic cats combatant guardant and in base on a triskelion Or, a triangle inverted vert.

The Xerox provided from Yonge to support the form Lann is merely from the glossary which includes many linguistic elements which are not in actuality free­standing names. We have substituted the well­documented period Irish name Leannan, pronounced "Lanan", which means "lover" or to sweetheart" (O'Corrain and Maguire, Gaelic Personal Names, p. 122).

PRECEDENT AND DEFINITION: For the purposes of AR2c, where it is stated that "in simple cases only, a party field tinctured either all dark or all light may use a complex line of partition", a simple case shall be defined as follows:

1. No charge shall overlie the line of division.

2. The line of division shall be one of those specified in

AR2a, i.e. shall divide the field into no more than four parts.

3. Where two colours are involved, they must be of sufficient contrast, i.e. must be a combination of gules with sable, vert or azure.

Loric Bane. Name and device. Per chevron vert and argent, in chief two swords, crossed at the tips, and in base an escarbuncle within an orle of mullets, all counterchanged.

Mustafa al Jabal Tariqi. Name and device. Argent, a palm tree couped gules within a bordure sable.

The submitted byname of al Jabal Taria has been modified to the proper Arabic form for one from Gibraltar.

Tancred of Carcassonne. Name only (see RETURNS for device).

The occupational byname "Ermite" has been dropped since it was the consensus of opinion in the College that this fell under the ban on conjoining titles or honourifics with a place name. He may be Tancred the Hermit or Tancred of Carcassonne, but not Tancred the Hermit of Carcassonne (while in "real life" hermit might not have been a title or honour, in the world of the period romances upon which so much of our ethos is bases it frequently was used as a title as much as vicar or priest was sued in period legal documents).

Ulrich von Brake. Name and device. Per bend sinister sable and vert, on a bend sinister between a griffin rampant to sinister argent and a winged lion rampant Or, a bend sinister fusilly gules.

Vespacia Capricornica Kareliae. Device. Pily bendy Or and vert, a natural chameleon gules.

Volodimir of Cambion. Holding name and device. Argent, two foxes courant gules within a bordure embattled sable.

His submitted name of Volodimir Vsevolodovitch is in direct conflict with Vladimir II of Kiev, son of Vsevolod I. We have used his household name in his holding name rather than his group at his request as conveyed by Triton.

Ysolde of Summerhall. Name and device. Per pale vert and Or, two unicornate pegasi rampant addorsed and an escallop within a bordure engrailed, all counterchanged.

Kingdom of Caid

Alessandra Ippolita di Montefiori. Name only.

Collette la Fleur des Jardins. Device. Per bend sinister purpure and Or, two sea birds volant Or and in bend sinister three violet plants purpure, slipped and leaved vert.

Dale Atthill. Name and device. Per chevron inverted vert and azure, in pale a unicorn's head, couped and sinister facing, Or and two chevronels inverted argent.

Evron Beaumaris the Gallowglass. Device. Per chevron gules and Or, three suns counterchanged.

Mela de Prion. Name and badge. An apple vert, winged argent.

Her mundane given name is Mela. Note that there is no field that this can "legally" be placed upon with adequate contrast (gules would provide adequate visual contrast, but would technically be colour on colour since the apple is the primary element here). However, since both tinctures are united in a single charge, this is legitimate according to AR13b.

Morgan of the Gray Mists. Name only.

Natalya de Foix. Change of device. Sable, a lion couchant, its head a sun in splendour, Or.

Her former device ("Purpure, a dove migrant to base argent, ducally gorged Or.") becomes a badge.

Olivia della Chiesa. Name only.

Roger Carpenter of Rye. Blazon correction. Or, in pale a carpenter's axe reversed and a carpenter's square, point to base, and on a chief azure three annulets Or.

Kingdom of the East

Alistair Malcolm MacAlpine. Device. Or, a mullet of eight points and on a sinister gore sable, a leaf slipped Or.

Andrew of Cork. Name only.

Atai Tetsuko. Name only.

Some commentors raised the issue of the suffix "­ko" as potentially a reserved title suffix indicating a prince or duke. However, substantial evidence has been presented that the suffix of itself should not be reserved. I.V.Gillis in the preface to Japanese Personal Names says "Women's ordinary personal names, are commonly written in hiragana, but more formally with Chinese characters as with men. These names are usually short, consisting of but one or two syllables, rarely three or more. The diminutive ko is often suffixed. . ."

Bowman's Rest, Canton of. Device. Azure, a dexter hand bendwise sinister proper, maintaining a drinking horn, all within a laurel wreath argent.

Cuan Cameron. Name only.

Darius Tranquillus. Name and device. Per bend Or and gules, a wyvern displayed between in pale a sword and an olive branch, both fesswise, all counterchanged.

The adjective "tranquillus" can mean both calm or silent and is an acceptable Latin byname (it is the usual Latin translation for the epithet of the Dutch prince William the Silent).

Deonora Riddyhough. Device. Per pale vert and Or, a rose gules, seeded Or, barbed azure, within a bordure engrailed counterchanged.

Eloise Aurelia Childebert. Device. Azure, a key palewise Or between two flaunches wavy ermine.

"The Society's convention, the opposite of that in most mundane heraldry, is that the wards of the key, though they are drawn to dexter, are shown downward." (Precedents I, p.13)

Eva van Oudeachterkol. Change of device. Vert, vetu, an elm leaf bendwise sinister between in cross four roses argent.

Her old device ("Vert, an elm leaf in bend sinister environed of a cartouche voided argent." should become a badge under the designation of Embla Willsdottir, which is her former Society name. Note that Master Baldwin, in his letter for the 18 May meeting indicated that she would have to register a badge to protect her name. This was erroneous: even if it had not been attached to a badge or registered as such, it would be eligible for protection under NR15b "The College of Arms reserves the right to protect the unregistered names of past monarchs and great officers."

Harold Wilkinson. Name only.

Hazelden, Canton of. Name only.

Ian Saint Clair. Name and device. Potenty argent and vert, a fess gules, overall a female figure proper, vested and crined sable, maintaining in the dexter hand a sword and in the sinister an open book, both Or.

Justin Lymner. Device. Erminois, a dragon segreant within a bordure azure, charged with three fleurs­de­lys argent.

Katarina Helene von Schonborn. Device. Vert, a unicorn's head couped close argent, armed and crined Or, and a sinister gore Or.

Larissa della Casa Esterrefatta. Name only.

Larissa the Shrew. Name only.

Lucan von Drachenklaue. Name only.

Note that the name is parallel to imaginative name constructions (like Dragonstooth or Dragonshead) used to describe notable geographical features in several Germanic languages. Thus it seems a reasonable place name and would not require an article.

Marion Gwendolyn Morgan. Name only.

Megan Douglas. Device. Per chevron azure and argent, two cauldrons Or and a domestic cat couchant sable.

Morgan Sheridan. Badge. A mullet Or between two sword bendwise and two swords bendwise sinister fretted proper.

It should be suggested to the submittor that the star be drawn more prominently than on the emblazon sheet.

Morwyn Edain. Name and device. Vert, a triquetra and a chief embattled argent.

Morwyn Edain. Badge. Argent, a penguin affronty sable, bellied argent, within a bordure embattled vert.

Sebastien de la Main Gauche. Device. Argent, a pall cotised sable and overall a falcon's head erased and sinister facing gules, armed Or.

Seraq Barok's Penance. Name only.

Torin Geffries. Name only (see RETURNS for device).

Traidenis Vilkas of Winter Oak. Badge for House Winter Oak. On an acorn sable a wolf's head cabossed argent.

William of Arindale. Badge for Wilhelm Klingelbart. Paly Or and azure, a human head affronty argent, crined and bearded sable, the beard ornamented with bells Or.

Note: the submitted alternate persona name of Klingenbeard has been modified to the proper German for "Bellbeard".

Kingdom of the West

Alexander of Iffhaven. Name only.

Anne of Alanwyck. Name and device. Per pale sable and azure, a stag at gaze within a bordure argent.

Celynnen Cigfran. Name and device. Or, goutte de sang, a raven displayed and on a chief sable, three suns Or.

William's Welsh Grammar (p. 14) indicates that Celynnen (with three "n"'s is the singular of the noun for holly. The fact that this is a translation of her mundane given name does not lend grace, but the evidence of Gruffudd for Celynen (two "n"'s) as a period Welsh given name outweighs the existence of the name as a common noun. (Here the distinction between the single and double nasal does not appear to add a change of meaning as it could, for instance, in Spanish.)

Coranna of Cavan. Name and device. Per pale gules and Or, a mullet within an orle counterchanged.

Douglas FitzAlan. Name and device. Sable, a chevron cotised and in chief two water bougets argent.

Note that some of the (feminine) examples of Douglas in Withycombe (p.88) date to the middle or late 1500's.

Eirik Blackhawk Ulfsson. Name and device. Argent, a chevron embattled azure between two mullets of four points elongated to base and a hawk's head, erased and sinister facing, sable.

Ekaterina Tarasova. Name and device. Per chevron gules and argent, two crescents each enclosing a mullet Or and a double­headed eagle displayed sable.

The name was originally submitted as Ekaterina Petrovna Tarasov. The last element has been modified to the proper Russian feminine form. The consensus was that Crescent was correct in feeling that the conjunction of the names Catherine and Peter in a Russian context were arguably "too much". Taken with the double­headed eagle sable, used by both the Holy Roman Empire and the Russian Empire as symbol of their being the "New Rome", it becomes definitely "too much". In order to pass the device, the patronymic has been dropped.

Eleazar Valentine von Mindelheim. Change of name from Eleazar Graymalkin only (see RETURNS for device).

Elffin of Mona. Name only (see RETURNS for device).

There was a general nervousness about this name. Many felt that the given name combined with a device that was strongly reminiscent of the heirs of Elendil would be offensive to many. Even more worrisome to the Laurel staff was the fact that Elffin is the name of the individual whom Welsh myth claims plucked the infant Taliesin from the sea, Taliesin who becomes a byword in literature for Druidic knowledge, knowledge particularly associated with the isle of Anglesey (Mona), last stronghold of the Druids. The name itself, which caused some twitches, becomes intolerable in the context of the oak tree under the "summer stars". Giving the submittor the benefit of the doubt on intent, we have compromised by accepting the name and returning the device.

Francesca the Fiery. Name only (see RETURNS for device).

Note that the submission forms used the normal modern spelling rather than the unusual (though period) spelling on the letter of intent.

Gleda Eiriksdottir. Name and device. Argent, a serpent with a head at either end, heads erect and addorsed, its body nowed in a Stafford knot inverted, above a base engrailed vert.

Since Geirr Bassi shows the masculine name Gloedir, this is a reasonable variant on the analogy of the pairing of the feminine form Halla and the masculine Hallr. However, she might want to use the spelling Gloeda to guarantee the pronunciation for the meaning she wants since the Old Norse byname "gleidr", which is how the current spelling will be pronounced, means "bowlegged".

Gregory of Grand Sea. Name correction.

Due to a classic scribal dittography, this gentle's name was transformed to Geraint of Grand Sea on the letter from the September session (p. 7). It should not have been.

Innilgard, Barony of. Name for the Order of the Fretted Goblet.

Innilgard, Barony of. Badge. Argent, a fret gules within a bordure embattled azure.

Isabella Contarini. Name and device. Per chevron argent and gules, in base a fleur­de­lys argent within a bordure counterchanged.

Iver of the Black Bow. Name and device. Azure, two estoiles and in base a unicorn's head cabossed, all within a bordure argent.

Note that the unicorn's head cabossed is rather poor style: in this

posture the distinguishing features of the unicorn's head are nearly unidentifiable.

Jilara of Carrowlea. Name only (see RETURNS for device).

Judith of Stormholde. Holding name and device. Sable, three lightning bolts palewise in fess and a chief embattled Or.

Since no reliable documentation was provided for the period use of Yuta (Kolatch is notoriously unreliable as a source for period names), we have used the equivalent standard English form, which is period: Judith.

Kalida Ivanovna. Device. Sable, within a fireplace argent, masoned sable, flames of fire proper.

She has permission for the technical conflict with the Corporate Arts and Sciences badge.

Kenneth ap Howell. Holding name and device. Or, a dragon's gamb erased bendwise, clutching a torteau.

The name Nissyen would seem to be a unique name which should not be used in the Society. Therefore, the submittor's mundane name of Kenneth has been substituted.

Lochan Blackmane. Name only (see RETURNS for device).

Marc the Lazy. Name and device. Or, on a pile sable a crescent enhanced Or, and on a chief sable, three mullets Or.

Marco Nibbione. Name only (see RETURNS for device).

The family name was submitted as Nibbioni from the Italian word "nibbio" or hawk. We have changed this to the proper singular form of the noun with its augmentative suffix. (Before you ask, the augmentative suffix in Italian is the opposite of the diminutive: it adds the meaning "large" or "big". Thus Nibbione would mean "Great Hawk".)

Marianna of Northumbria. Name and device. Or, on a pall invected gules, a sexfoil argent.

Mariel Dreamseeker. Change of device (see RETURNS for name change). Azure, on a bend sinister argent, an arrow inverted sable, in canton a mullet of four points argent.

Melody of Windymeades. Holding name and device. Gules, a decrescent between three plates and a chief embattled erminois.

The name was submitted as Tasleem bint Noor. Whilst Noor (or Nur) is a relatively common feminine name (popular in the Muslim world at the moment because of the Queen of Jordan), the use as here in a matronymic is unusual. For both name elements no documentation was given beyond page references to relatively non­standard volumes not available to the Laurel staff at this point. Moreover, questions were raised as to the meaning and period use of the given name. Therefore, a holding name has been issued and the submitted name held pending the receipt of more solid documentation (I will accept Xeroxes from the sources cited, even though they be not the best).

Michael of Worcester. Name only (see RETURNS for device).

Rhonwen Meillion. Device. Or, six trefoils vert within a bordure gules.

Rodrigo de los Lobos. Badge. Argent, on a wolf's pawprint sable, a crescent argent.

He has permission from Eric Bearsbane to conflict with his registered badge of "Argent, on a bear's pawprint sable, a flaming sword proper."

Rowan Leah. Name and device. Quarterly argent and Or, an owl close to sinister purpure.

Rowan Ramsay MacDiarmaid. Name and device. Per bend vert and Or, a crescent inverted Or and a thistle proper.

The name was submitted as Rowan Lea Ramsay MacDiarmaid. By analogy with the examples in NR7, this would conflict with Rowan Leah above ' so we have dropped that element in order to register the name and device.

Scirlaf Rockbreaker. Name and device. Gules, a sun of twelve straight rays argent, on a chief Or, a mallet fesswise sable.

On the emblazon sheet the mallet was neither truly fesswise not truly bendwise. Please ask the submittor to draw this more definitely.

Sean the Tenacious. Name only.

Yiannis Damianos Draco. Name only (see RETURNS for device).

Ysabeau Chanteuse. Name and device. Ermine, a stringless harp vert within a bordure sable.

Ysabelle le Notere. Name only.

Yusuf al­Isfahani. Name only.

THE FOLLOWING SUBMISSIONS ARE RETURNED:

Kingdom of Atenveldt

Randal Benton. Device. Gules, a sun argent, eclipsed sable, between three polehammers in triangle inverted argent.

Conflict with Conroy der Rote ("Gules, on a sun argent, a falcon's leg couped a la quise proper.").

Kingdom of Atlantia:

Alejandro the Far Traveller. Device. Gules, on a pale bretassed argent three broken spears sable, ribboned gules.

Conflict with the badge of the Barony of Southdowns ("Gules, on a pale bretassed argent, a raven striking gules.).

Brig Kieran. Device. Per fess argent and azure, in chief two unicorns couchant respectant, horns crossed, azure, armed and crined Or, and in base a crescent argent.

Conflict with Margaret Penistone of Ravenglas ("Per fess argent and azure, in pale an oak tree eradicated vert and a crescent argent.")

Gwaeddan o Ystad Llangollen. Device. Or, two gripping beasts in annulo, that to dexter gules, that to sinister azure.

The beasties are not clearly identifiable and the emblazon could not be reasonably reconstructed by a competent heraldic artist as our traditions require. In point of fact, the rendition on the emblazon sheet and the letter of intent were quite different (the former quite lacked any of the sexual connotations some commentors saw in the rendition on the letter of intent).

Hasan al Tajer. Name and device. Per chevron azure and vert, a chevron Or between two senmurvs combattant argent and a phoenix of flames displayed proper.

The name was given as meaning "Hasan the Merchant"in Arabic. This would seem to conflict with the Arabian Nights character who is the hero of at least one of the tales you usually have to go to Burton to read and has been borrowed as a character by several modern authors writing in the picaresque/fantasy mode. As the phoenix is actually gules, delineated and fimbriated Or, this comes up against our strictures on contrast and "thin line heraldry". Additionally, if the senmurvs are drawn properly, there is a technical conflict with Sterling of Toad Hall ("Vert, a chevron Or, between in chief two bulldogs statant respectant argent, each gorged of a collar sable, studded argent, and in base a squirrel sejant erect Or, holding in its forepaws an acorn argent.")

Tancred de Careassonne. Device. Sable a cross crosslet Or between in chief two caltrops and in base two water bougets argent.

Although there are two kinds of charges in the group, there is only one group of secondary charges here, in a standard arrangement about the central cross. Therefore, technically and visually, there is only a single major point of difference (for the addition of the secondaries) from Alan ("Sable, a cross crosslet Or.") cited by Brachet.

Kingdom of Caid

Caldera Keep, Canton of. Device. Sable, a three­legged cauldron argent, spouting three flames one and two proper, all within a laurel wreath argent.

Visual conflict with Brekke Franksdottir ("Sable, a cooking pot hanging from a tripod above a flame in base argent."). After a comparison of the emblazons, there was general agreement that the two devices could and would be confused.

Dreiburgen, Barony of. Badge for the Order of the Illuminated Tower of Dreiburgen. Or, on a pile inverted throughout gyronny from base azure and argent, a tower Or.

In referring to an "off­center" gyronny in the return of the device of Arval Benicoeur in February, 1982, Master Wilhelm noted "this sort of division is not heraldic". Whilst this referred to a gyronny of two colours, the general principle holds true. It was the consensus of the meeting that the unequal division of the tinctures on the pile taken together with the low contrast between the argent and the Or of the field and the tower creates too great a complexity for a badge.

Kingdom of the East

Richard Tyler of Swiftwater. Device. Or, chausse azure, a fountain.

Conflict with Jaromir Mikhailovitch ("Azure, on a pile Or, in chief a sun gules.")

Torin Geffries. Device. Argent, a beardless unicorn's head couped sable,

maintaining in its mouth a red garden rosebud, slipped and leaved proper, all within a bordure gules.

Since his unicorn is bearded and the difference between a thistle and a rosebud at the scale used here is negligible, there seems a strong visual conflict with Lyralen du Lac Noir ("Argent, a beardless unicorn's head couped sable, maintaining a thistle proper, on a chief azure three mullets argent.")

William of Ravenwood. Device. Argent, a bend sinister gules and in dexter chief a raven displayed sable, all within a bordure compony gules and sable.

Under the current rules, AR2 prohibits divisions of charges as well as fields into multiple parts of the same class of tincture. Thus the bordure compony here is deemed to have insufficient contrast technically, even though contrast with the field is good and the two colours are from the "good contrast" category.

PROPOSAL: That fields and charges multiply divided of two colours (e.g., chequy, compony, paly, etc.) be permitted on a case by case basis providing the contrast is adequate (i.e., be a combination of gules with sable, vert or azure). Comment on this is strongly solicited and a decision will be made at the January meeting.

Kingdom of the West

Dikran Aivazian. Device. Per chevron azure and Or, two cinquefoils and a cross bottonny azure.

The consensus was that the visual resemblance to Deporodh of Rannoch ("Per chevron abased azure and argent, two mullets argent and a birch leaf erect proper."), cited in the letter of intent, was simply too strong.

Eleazar Valentine von Mindelheim. Per pale gules and sable, an eagle displayed within an orle Or.

Unfortunately, as Woodward (p. 249 ff.) makes clear, not only the two­headed eagle but also the single­headed was borne by the emperors at Constantinople in their famous bearing of "Gules, an eagle displayed Or." As this is only a major and minor from these royal arms, it must be returned.

Elffin of Mona. Device. Vert, upon a mount an oak tree, in chief an arc off five mullets of eight points argent, all within a bordure Or.

As noted above in the discussion on this gentle's name, the conjunction of the name with this device with its strong allusions to both the Druidic tradition of Taliesin and to the Tolkienic elven tradition was considered of too much".

Francesca the Fiery. Device. Per pale embattled azure and sable, a unicorn's head erased and sinister facing Or.

The field contrast here is extremely low and the line of division is partially obscured by the high contrast charge so that it is virtually impossible to determine the precise line of division. Note that two of the three conditions for the use of complex partition lines stated in the case of Leannon of Cambion (listed under the acceptances for the Kingdom of Atlantia) are absent here, making it an excellent antithetical example.

Jilara of Carrowlea. Device. Sable, a dolmen of three uprights standing on a mound argent, in chief three oak leaves Or.

Visual conflict with Gwyneth merch Macsen ("Sable, a dolmen and in chief a mullet of eight points argent.")

John Theophilus. Device. Azure, a cross formy throughout and on a chief argent three hearts gules.

Unfortunately, there is a technical conflict with Eric Lyon of St. Michael's ("Azure, a celtic cross and on a chief argent a lion statant azure.").

Lochan Blackmane. Device. Per saltire Or and azure, a bay horse rampant to sinister reguardant proper, crined and hooved sable.

It was the consensus of those present at the Laurel meeting that the contrast between the azure portion of the field and the brown and black of the horse was so great as to render the position of the beast unclear at any distance.

Marco Nibbione. Device. Per saltire sable and argent, a heart counterchanged charged with another gules.

This is a classic instance of the "op art style" referred to in X3. Note that the comments on discouraged practices say "A submission may incorporate one of these discouraged practices and still be marginally acceptable, but it costs the submittor the benefit of the doubt." This does not mean that particularly flagrant examples of any of the discouraged practices may not be in and of themselves grounds for return (I am sure that every member of the College can think of cases, particularly concerning offensive or excessively complex designs, where this should apply). So striking an example of "modern" heraldry is this that the consensus of the meeting was that it must be returned.

Mariel Dreamseeker. Change of name to Marielle i Raundal.

She indicates that she wishes to be "from Raven Valley". Judging by the grammar and analogies presented in Geirr Bassi, the byname should be "in Hrafndoelska". The masculine for a "man from Hawksdale" is "inn Haukdoelski", while the feminines end in "­a" with the particle "in". As the word for raven in Old Norse is "hrafn", we arrive at the form "in Hrafndoelska". Since the forms indicated that no changes were allowable to the name, we could not modify the name.

Michael of Worcester. Device. Or, in pale a fox statant to sinister sable, maintaining in its mouth a squirrel purpure, and a mount sable.

This is a case where the tally of anomalies adds up to a device which is not acceptable. In period style, the fox would more normally be statant atop the base, not floating in mid­air; the addition of the minor charge in purpure, which has low contrast with the sable, is another anomaly, while others felt that the dead squirrel bordered on the morbid. Taken individually, each of these items would have been acceptable; cumulatively, they were considered to create a non­period device.

Thomas of Foxhaven. Badge. Argent, a fox's mask gules between in cross four thistles conjoined to a bordure purpure.

The "bordure thistly" (on the analogy of the bordure flory) would seem to be an introduction that we are not quite ready to make and certainly not on a badge.

Wilhelm Leopo Schwarz. Device. Sable, bezanty, three pallets argent.

The visual difference in pieces of the field is negligible from paly of six or eight, despite our tradition of blazoning even numbers as paly and uneven as charges. This being so, the visual resemblance to Burgate ("Paly of six sable and argent.") becomes striking and, since this is visually "Paly sable, bezanty, and argent." Rules AR19 comes into play (which requires two distinct visual differences between fields).

Yiannis Damianos Draco. Device. Barry Or and sable, a reremouse displayed between three gouttes de sang.

It was the consensus of the commenting heralds that the bat with the drops of blood was too suggestive of a vampiric persona which might be offensive to a substantial portion of the populace (and would be demonstrably a claim to powers beyond the normal sphere), even without the allusion to Dracula involved in the byname Draco.