Society for Creative Anachronism
College of Arms

2212 S. 64th Plaza, #418
Omaha, NE, 68106
+1 952 412 4112
[email protected]

For the September 2013 meetings, printed November 6, 2013

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 September Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, September 15, 2013 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, September 14, 2013. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Laurel LoPaD (05 Jun, 2013), Drachenwald LoItUP (06 Jun, 2013), Atlantia (08 Jun, 2013), Middle (11 Jun, 2013), Northshield (12 Jun, 2013), Artemisia (13 Jun, 2013), Outlands (20 Jun, 2013), Drachenwald (23 Jun, 2013), Atenveldt (25 Jun, 2013), Ealdormere (25 Jun, 2013), East (26 Jun, 2013), An Tir (27 Jun, 2013), Gleann Abhann (27 Jun, 2013), Calontir (29 Jun, 2013), Ęthelmearc (30 Jun, 2013), Ansteorra (30 Jun, 2013), Caid (30 Jun, 2013), Lochac (30 Jun, 2013), Meridies (30 Jun, 2013), Trimaris (30 Jun, 2013), West (30 Jun, 2013). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Saturday, August 31, 2013.

The October Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, October 20, 2013 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, October 19, 2013. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Laurel LoPaD (09 Jul, 2013), Northshield (09 Jul, 2013), Atlantia (12 Jul, 2013), Middle (13 Jul, 2013), Ealdormere (21 Jul, 2013), Drachenwald (22 Jul, 2013), East (27 Jul, 2013), Artemisia (28 Jul, 2013), Caid (29 Jul, 2013), An Tir (31 Jul, 2013), Ansteorra (31 Jul, 2013), Atenveldt (31 Jul, 2013), Gleann Abhann (31 Jul, 2013), Outlands (31 Jul, 2013), West (31 Jul, 2013). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Monday, September 30, 2013.

The November Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, November 10, 2013 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, November 16, 2013. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: Meridies (31 Jul, 2013) (pushed due to lack of posting date) , Calontir (06 Aug, 2013), Atlantia (13 Aug, 2013), Drachenwald Other Letter (13 Aug, 2013), Palimpsest Rules Letter (18 Aug, 2013), Laurel LoPaD (19 Aug, 2013), Outlands (19 Aug, 2013), Middle (23 Aug, 2013), Atenveldt (25 Aug, 2013), Caid (25 Aug, 2013), Ealdormere (25 Aug, 2013), Ęthelmearc (27 Aug, 2013), East (28 Aug, 2013), An Tir (30 Aug, 2013), Atenveldt (30 Aug, 2013), Ansteorra (31 Aug, 2013), Meridies (31 Aug, 2013), Palimpsest Rules Letter (31 Aug, 2013). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Thursday, October 31, 2013.

The December Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, December 8, 2013 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, December 14, 2013. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: [Lochac (14 Aug, 2013)] (pushed due to lack of no packet or scan) , [Gleann Abhann (03 Sep, 2013)], [Trimaris (03 Sep, 2013)], [Artemisia (07 Sep, 2013)], [Atlantia (17 Sep, 2013)], Laurel LoPaD (17 Sep, 2013), [Middle (20 Sep, 2013)], [Northshield (20 Sep, 2013)], [Outlands (21 Sep, 2013)], [Ęthelmearc (22 Sep, 2013)], [Middle (23 Sep, 2013)], [Drachenwald (24 Sep, 2013)], [Drachenwald (25 Sep, 2013)], [Atenveldt (26 Sep, 2013)], [Ealdormere (27 Sep, 2013)], [Calontir (28 Sep, 2013)], [East (28 Sep, 2013)], [Caid (29 Sep, 2013)], [An Tir (30 Sep, 2013)], [Ansteorra (30 Sep, 2013)], [Caid (30 Sep, 2013)], [Lochac (30 Sep, 2013)], [Meridies (30 Sep, 2013)], [West (30 Sep, 2013)]. All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Saturday, November 30, 2013.

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.

* From Pelican: Some Name Resources (An Ongoing Series)

In recent months, we have discussed Eastern European naming practices. This month, I am discussing Polish names. Polish is most closely related to Czech and Slovak; we label those three and related languages the North Slavic regional naming group in Appendix C of SENA.

Poland has a complicated history, and has over time included many areas that are not part of modern Poland. From the 14th century until well after 1600, Poland was part of a union with Lithuania (see the Cover Letter from July 2013 for more information about Lithuania). But the area in which Polish was dominant historically is mostly covered by modern Poland.

The simplest and most typical structure for a Polish name is to a given name followed by a relationship byname formed from a relative's given name, usually the father's name. For women, it could also be constructed from a husband's name. Luckily, our most readily available sources are all lists of given names, making it relatively simple to construct a full name.

First, we have "Polish Given Names in Nazwiska Polak{o'}w" by Walraven van Nijmegen and Arval Benicoeur (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/walraven/polish/). This article provides an undated list of given names "reverse engineered" from relationship bynames. For dated lists of given names, we have "Polish Feminine Given Names, 1600-1650" by Aryanhwy merch Catmael (http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/polish/polishfem.html), and Lillia de Vaux, "A Preliminary Survey of Names from the Historical Dictionary of Personal Names in Bia{l/}ystok" from the 2011 KWHSS Proceedings (http://st-walburga.aspiringluddite.com/docs/Bialystok.pdf). The latter includes male and female given names mostly dating from c1450 to 1650, and discusses basic construction of relationship bynames.

Patronyms can be marked or--for men only--unmarked. Marking in Polish is accomplished in several ways. For men, the suffix -wic(z)/-wicc can be added to the father's given name (e.g., Andrzeiewicz), or syn "son" can be added before the father's full name (Jeromin syn Wojciecha Klepacskiego). In addition, a diminutive suffix, -ik/-yk can be added to the father's given name (Krystoncyk "Little Krystyn"). Women in period always bear feminized bynames formed by adding a suffix to their father or husband's given name or surname. Married women generally use the suffix -owa or -ina/-yna (Jakubowa and Czayczyna), and unmarried women -owna or -anka (Falkowna and Kisczanka). Which suffix is used depends on the relationship and the ending of the name being modified. Widows are often identified with wdowa before the patronymic byname. Unfortunately in many cases, the woman's own given name is not known, as only the feminized bynames are recorded. Such a name would not be registerable in the SCA, as our standards require a given name.

Locative surnames are either formed by using a genitive (possessive) form of the place name with the preposition z, or by using an adjectival form (ending in -ski for men or -ska for women). Descriptive, toponymic, and occupational bynames are also attested, and can be feminized just as the other types of bynames. In addition, Latinized given names and locative bynames, and particles like filius are appropriate for our period, even when combined with Polish surnames. Name patterns include double given names (for men), and double and triple bynames. However, it is not always clear if the second given name is a true given name or an unmarked patronym. Women with multiple bynames generally bear their maiden name and married name, with or without a locative.

* From Pelican: Reconsidering Mac and Mc (and ending up at the same place)

In September 2007, Pelican ruled that Mc and M' were scribal abbreviations for Mac and hence unregisterable. Since then, we have found considerable quantities of new Scots language and Anglicized Irish data. Thus, we revisited the question of whether Mc was only an abbreviation through 1600, or if it had begun to take on life as an independent element. Alys Mackyntoich did considerable research in the Records of the Parliaments of Scotland, all of which suggested that Mc remained a variant of (and presumably abbreviation of) Mac until after the end of our period. Thus, we will not change precedent: both Mc and M' will be expanded to Mac for registration purposes. Individuals with names expanded to Mac should of course feel free to use abbreviated forms like Mc and M' as documentary forms of their name.

* From Wreath: Bordures -- Can You Really Be Too Thin?

One of the tenets of good heraldic art is often quoted as "big, bold, and butch." While for the most part this is entirely true, bordures in period heraldry were drawn with a variety of widths. Other ordinaries, even when uncharged, are nearly always drawn quite thick, but perhaps because of their placement around the edge of the design bordures simply don't have to try as hard to be properly noticed. Some examples of rather thin bordures:

On the other hand, heralds do need to be aware that some armorials, such as the 15th century German Ortenburger Wappenbuch, BSB Cod.icon.308u, use thin white frames around every piece of armory, as a matter of decoration. These are not bordures, and should not be used in documentation of an Individually Attested Pattern as such. For am example, see f.3r (http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/bsb00001755/image_7).

In general, only when a bordure could be confused with a thick outline of the escutcheon, or when any charges on it are hard to identify, is it too thin. We will continue to register thin bordures without comment.

* From Laurel & Wreath: No More Paper!

On the July 2013 Cover Letter, we noted that only one physical copy of the colored armory submission form needed to be sent to Ragged Staff. In our further attempts to reduce the amount of paper at the Society level, we are eliminating this last physical copy. As usual, all submission forms and associated documentation, letters, and so forth must be scanned and uploaded into OSCAR by the packet due deadline.

* Society Pages

On September 28 at Ealdormere's Coronation, Trillium Herald Cainder ingen Hui Chatharnaig accepted Their Majesties' invitation to join the Order of the Pelican; she will sit vigil at a date yet to be determined.

* Send What to Whom

Letters of Intent, Comment, Response, Correction, et cetera are to be posted to the OSCAR online system. No paper copies need be sent. All submission forms plus documentation, including petitions, must be posted to the OSCAR online system.

Cheques or money orders for submissions, payable to "SCA Inc.-College of Arms" are to be sent to John C. Sandstrom, New Mexico State University, PO Box 30006/MSC 3475, Las Cruces, NM 88003.

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 that I remain,

In service,

Gabriel Kjotvason
Laurel Principal King of Arms


Created at 2013-11-06T23:21:25