Society for Creative Anachronism
College of Arms
For the January 2012 meetings, printed Wednesday, February 29, 2012
To all the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive, from Gabriel Laurel, Juliana Pelican, and Emma Wreath, greetings.
Items listed below in square brackets have not been scheduled yet. For information about future scheduling, please review the status table located on the Web at http://oscar.sca.org/index.php?action=137.
The January Laurel decisions were made at the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, January 14, 2012 and at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, January 15, 2012. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Northshield (06 Aug, 2011) (pushed due to lack of packet and scans), Laurel LoPaD (08 Oct, 2011), Trimaris (09 Oct, 2011), East (12 Oct, 2011), Atenveldt (20 Oct, 2011), Drachenwald (22 Oct, 2011), Middle (23 Oct, 2011), Ansteorra (25 Oct, 2011), Lochac (25 Oct, 2011), Meridies (26 Oct, 2011), An Tir (29 Oct, 2011), Caid (30 Oct, 2011), Gleann Abhann (31 Oct, 2011), Northshield (31 Oct, 2011), Outlands (31 Oct, 2011), and West (31 Oct, 2011). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Saturday, December 31, 2011.
The February Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, February 5, 2012 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, February 18, 2012. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Ęthelmearc (01 Nov, 2011), Laurel LoPaD (06 Nov, 2011), Atlantia (11 Nov, 2011), Caid (13 Nov, 2011), Ansteorra (15 Nov, 2011), Atenveldt (15 Nov, 2011), West (20 Nov, 2011), Drachenwald (22 Nov, 2011), Lochac (24 Nov, 2011), An Tir (27 Nov, 2011), Outlands (28 Nov, 2011), Artemisia (30 Nov, 2011), Ealdormere (30 Nov, 2011), Gleann Abhann (30 Nov, 2011), and Northshield (30 Nov, 2011). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Tuesday, January 31, 2012.
The March Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican meeting held Sunday, March 4, 2012 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, March 24, 2012. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: East (04 Dec, 2011), Laurel LoPaD (05 Dec, 2011), Caid (11 Dec, 2011), Ęthelmearc (16 Dec, 2011), Ęthelmearc (17 Dec, 2011), Meridies (17 Dec, 2011), Ansteorra (18 Dec, 2011), Atenveldt (20 Dec, 2011), Atlantia (21 Dec, 2011), Lochac (21 Dec, 2011), Drachenwald (28 Dec, 2011), An Tir (29 Dec, 2011), Calontir (29 Dec, 2011), Gleann Abhann (30 Dec, 2011), Outlands (31 Dec, 2011), and Trimaris (31 Dec, 2011). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Wednesday, February 29, 2012.
The April Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican and Wreath meetings held in April 2012. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: [Middle (21 Dec, 2011)] (pushed for lack of packet), Ęthelmearc (01 Jan, 2012), Laurel LoPaD (07 Jan, 2012), Gleann Abhann (14 Jan, 2012), Atenveldt (15 Jan, 2012), Caid (15 Jan, 2012), Lochac (16 Jan, 2012), East (19 Jan, 2012), [Northshield (20 Jan, 2012)], Atlantia (22 Jan, 2012), [Middle (22 Jan, 2012)], Calontir (23 Jan, 2012), Lochac (26 Jan, 2012), Ealdormere (30 Jan, 2012), West (30 Jan, 2012), [An Tir (31 Jan, 2012)], [Ansteorra (31 Jan, 2012)], Artemisia (31 Jan, 2012), [Drachenwald (31 Jan, 2012)], Laurel LoPaD (31 Jan, 2012), Lochac (31 Jan, 2012), Meridies (31 Jan, 2012), Outlands (31 Jan, 2012), [Trimaris (31 Jan, 2012)]. All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Saturday, March 31, 2012.
Not all letters of intent may be considered when they are originally scheduled on this cover letter. The date of posting of the LoI, date of receipt of the Laurel packet, or other factors may delay consideration of certain letters of intent. Additionally, some letters of intent received may not have been scheduled because the administrative requirements (receipt of the forms packet, receipt of the necessary fees, et cetera) have not yet been met.
REMINDER: Until all administrative requirements are met, the letter may not be scheduled.
As advertised, Laurel has been seeking a new intake clerk for paperwork. That job has been filled. We would like to welcome Wu Yun to our staff as Ragged Staff. All submissions heralds should note the new address that all packets must be sent to, below. All packets for January LoIs should be sent to Shauna, in Montana, and are due by the 29th of February. All packets for February LoIs should be sent to Wu at the new address in Virginia, and are due by the 31st of March.
We would like to thank Shauna of Carrick Point for her tireless efforts working with us as Ragged Staff. She is not going away completely though, and will remain the archivist for this office.
Note that the address for checks remains the same - they still go to Rory, our Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Admin Handbook IV.C.1.e, Completed Paperwork - Submissions forms, currently reads:
e. If names are changed by kingdom, the forms must be changed to match the name submitted on the letter of intent. Kingdoms are encouraged to add the submitted blazons on the forms as well However, kingdoms should not remove or black out information that the submitter has given (original spellings of names and blazons of armory). Drawing a single line through an original blazon or name is acceptable so long as the original information can still be read and understood.
Effective immediately, we are changing this to read:
e. If names, blazons, or documentation are changed by kingdom, the forms do not need to be altered to match the information submitted on the Letter of Intent. If the forms are altered, kingdoms should not remove or black out information that the submitter has given (original spellings or documentation of names, blazons of armory). Drawing a single line through an original blazon or name is acceptable so long as the original information can still be read and understood.
Unfortunately, we are all human. This means we make mistakes. Since there have been multiple questions, recently, asking how to fix these errors, we figured we should remind everyone what the procedure is. The Administrative Handbook, Section VI. "Requests for Correction and Change of Registered Items", has the requirements for this:
A. Blazon and Spelling Corrections may be requested if an error derives from a typographical error or omission in a Letter of Acceptances and Returns and/or the Armorial and Ordinary.
1. Corrections to a Letter of Acceptances and Returns must be requested in writing to Laurel. The request must clearly indicate the specific error or omission and the letter of acceptances and returns on which the error occurred. Requests for correction should not be included on letters of intent or letters of commentary and need not be circulated to the membership of the College of Arms prior to action.
2. Corrections to the Armorial and Ordinary not involving errors in a letter of acceptances and return may be requested in writing to the Morsulus Herald. Requests for correction should not be included on letters of intent or letters of comment and need not be circulated to the membership of the College of Arms prior to action.
B. Blazon and Spelling Changes must be reviewed by the College of Arms if the error derives from an error on a Letter of Intent. Such changes should be included on a Letter of Intent for the consideration of the College of Arms just as if the submitter were requesting a specific change to the name or armory.
This means that, if the original error was on a LoI, it must be corrected by issuing another LoI item. If the error was on a LoAR, the correction should be requested directly to Laurel, Pelican, or Wreath, and the correction will be issued as part of a new LoAR. If the error is in the Ordinary and Armorial, but is correct on the LoAR, a request for correction should be made directly to Laurel or Morsulus, and the correction will appear in the following quarterly update to the O&A.
The three requests for correction to the O&A, noting that the LoAR was correct, which appeared on LoIs decided this month, have been forwarded directly to Morsulus and were fixed in the recent 4Q11 release.
Submitters are often interested in persona stories (and names) that involve culturally mixed backgrounds. We allow the registration of certain language mixes, but that's not what I want to deal with today. Instead, I want to talk about what the documented cultural mixes look like.
The first occasion when we see "culturally mixed" names is when people move from one part of Europe to another. There are a handful of famous examples. The English mercenary John Hawkwood was known in France as Jehan Haccoude and in Latinized Italian as Johannes Acutus (Giovanni Acuto). The Spanish princess Catalina de Aragon was known in English as Katharine of Aragon. Note that in each case, the name is written following the standards of a single language, with the given name "translated" into the local equivalent. The bynames are dealt with differently: sometimes translated, but also sometimes rendered phonetically.
We see the same thing in the Gaelic-speaking areas of Ireland and Scotland. Names are rendered either completely in Gaelic or completely in Anglicized forms. An amazing collection of Anglicized forms of Gaelic names can be found in Mari ingen Briain meic Donnchada's "Names Found in Anglicized Irish Documents" (http://medievalscotland.org/kmo/AnglicizedIrish/). You can see the opposite - English family names rendered in Gaelic - at http://medievalscotland.org/kmo/AnnalsIndex/Feminine/DescriptiveBynames.shtml (in the section labeled "Hereditary Surnames found in Feminine Names").
So, while we allow a name to be registered that mixes a given name written in Gaelic and a byname that's Anglicized, that's not how they would have been written down in period. Instead, the name would exist in two forms, one completely Gaelic and the other completely Anglicized.
The same is true of these other language mixes: while people moved from one place to another, their names changed as they went. So, while we allow names to be registered that mix certain languages, it's not the period way to solve the problem.
Letters of Intent, Comment, Response, Correction, et cetera are to be posted to the OSCAR online system. No paper copies need be sent.
Submission packets (one copy of each name form plus documentation, including petitions; two colored copies of each armory form plus two copies of any associated documentation, including petitions) to the SCA College of Arms, PO Box 17207, Bristol VA 24209.
Cheques or money orders for submissions, payable to "SCA Inc.-College of Arms" are to be sent to David Duggar, Attn: Laurel Chancellor of Exchequer, 1705 Holiday Pl, Bossier City, LA 71112-3706.
Send roster changes and corrections to Laurel. College of Arms members may also request a copy of the current roster from Laurel.
For a paper copy of a LoAR, please contact Laurel, at the address above. The cost for one LoAR is $3. Please make all checks or money orders payable to "SCA Inc.-College of Arms". The electronic copy of the LoAR is available free of charge. To subscribe to the mailings of the electronic copy, please see the bottom of http://heraldry.sca.org/heraldry/lists.html#lists for more instructions.
For all administrative matters, please contact Laurel.
Pray know that I remain,
In service,
Gabriel Kjotvason
Laurel Principal King of Arms
Created at 2012-02-29T23:36:08