Society for Creative Anachronism College of Arms 2212 S. 64th Plaza, #418 Omaha, NE, 68106 +1 952 412 4112 laurel@heraldry.sca.org For the November 2013 meetings, printed January 1, 2014 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 November Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, November 10, 2013 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, November 16, 2013. These meetings considered 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), {AE}thelmearc (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 were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, December 8, 2013 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, December 14, 2013. These meetings considered 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), {AE}thelmearc (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 have been entered into OSCAR by Saturday, November 30, 2013.* The January Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, January 19, 2014 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, January 11, 2014. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: Laurel LoItP (10 Oct, 2013), Laurel LoPaD (13 Oct, 2013), Northshield (14 Oct, 2013), Atenveldt (15 Oct, 2013), Outlands (20 Oct, 2013), Middle (21 Oct, 2013), East (22 Oct, 2013), Drachenwald (23 Oct, 2013), Atlantia (26 Oct, 2013), Caid (29 Oct, 2013), Calontir (30 Oct, 2013), {AE}thelmearc (31 Oct, 2013), An Tir (31 Oct, 2013), Ansteorra (31 Oct, 2013), Ealdormere (31 Oct, 2013), Meridies (31 Oct, 2013), Trimaris (31 Oct, 2013). * All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Tuesday, December 31, 2013.* The February Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican and Wreath meetings held in February 2014. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: Laurel LoPaD (06 Nov, 2013), Atenveldt (10 Nov, 2013), [Lochac (10 Nov, 2013)], Caid (18 Nov, 2013), Calontir (18 Nov, 2013), [Outlands (22 Nov, 2013)], [Ealdormere (25 Nov, 2013)], [Northshield (25 Nov, 2013)], [Drachenwald (27 Nov, 2013)], [Middle (27 Nov, 2013)], [Meridies (28 Nov, 2013)], [Gleann Abhann (29 Nov, 2013)], [West (29 Nov, 2013)], {AE}thelmearc (30 Nov, 2013), [An Tir (30 Nov, 2013)], Atlantia (30 Nov, 2013), [East (30 Nov, 2013)]. * All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Friday, January 31, 2014.* _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 Laurel: Job Opening - Wreath Sovereign of Arms **** The Wreath Sovereign of Arms is an educational deputy of the Laurel Principal Sovereign of Arms, responsible for the consideration of and decisions concerning armory submitted for registration by the College of Arms. Wreath is an unpaid position, currently requiring approximately 20 hours a week. Some knowledge of period heraldry is useful; knowledge of SCA heraldry is essential. The position requires considerable tact and patience, research and reasoning ability, a clear understanding of the Rules for Submission and past Laurel rulings, the ability to write clearly and succinctly, the ability to work within tight deadlines and coordinate closely with Pelican, Laurel and other staff to produce a Laurel Letter of Acceptance and Return monthly, computer literacy and word processing skills, reliable e-mail and telephone access, and time and ability to travel. Given the current structure of the office, a high-speed internet connection is highly useful but it is not required. Resum{e'}s must be sent electronically to Laurel at bids@heraldry.sca.org. Resum{e'}s must be received by Saturday, March 31, 2014, with an expected start date of June 2014. **** From Pelican: Alternative Titles in Dutch **** In August 2013, Schwarzdrachen pointed out that some of our current Dutch alternative titles were inappropriate and suggested appropriate period forms. Thanks to Schwarzdrachen for her hard work. For _Lady_, the current alternate title is _Gebiedster_. This is a rare modern word, whose meaning is more like "mistress" than lady. We are removing this item from the Alternate Titles List. Its replacements are _Vrouwe_ (for married women) and _Joncvrouwe_ (for unmarried women), which were used in period as titles (that is, before given names or whole names) in contexts that are equivalent to Latin _Domina_. For _Lord_, the current alternate title is _Gebieder_, again an uncommon modern word. We are removing this item from the Alternate Titles List. Its replacement is _her_ or _heer_, which is used before names for minor noblemen. For _Sir_, the current alternate title is _Mijnheer_, which is actually equivalent to _Milord_. We are removing this item from the Alternate Titles list, and encouraging this as a Dutch form equivalent to Milord. Its replacement is _Ser_, which is the period form equivalent to _Sir_. **** From Pelican: Some Name Resources (an ongoing series) **** After a digression, I am returning to our trip through Eastern and Central Europe. This month, I want to talk about German languages and naming practice. First, a reminder: Germany as a country only came into existence in the 19th century. Before that "the Germanies" were a grouping of smaller units bound together in the confines of the Holy Roman Empire (which as the joke goes, was neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire). This entity extended in the west to include the Low Countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg), in the east to Poland, and in the south through Austria and Switzerland into Italy. Not surprisingly, residents of many of those areas speak some kind of German to this day (though those of the Low Countries do not). We divide up the dialects spoken in this area into two language groups: High German and Low German. High German is the modern standard national language of Germany, and was always found mainly in central and southern Germany. It is also the national language of Austria and one of the national languages of Switzerland. In the Middle Ages, the various dialects of High German were quite different, with Swiss German particularly different from the German of N{u:}rnberg. Some scholars consider northern dialects of this language Middle German, but in the SCA we consider those dialects part of High German. Low German is another Germanic language, spoken along the northern coast of Germany. It's called "Low" because it's the language of the lowlands. Historically, it was the language spoken in all the coastal areas controlled by "Germans:" Poland, Lithuania, and even parts of Russia. It was the language of the Hanseatic League. While these languages and the naming pools that go with them are different, the naming pools are related in ways that make it hard for the non-expert to always distinguish between them. Published books on German names (like Bahlow and Brechenmacher) rarely distinguish Low German and High German names. An expert reader can identify which names are which: sometimes by recognizing spelling or grammar associated with one language or the other, at other times by noting the location in which the name was recorded and identifying that area as speaking Low or High German. As this is too high a standard to hold submitters (or submission heralds) to, we treat Low and High German as part of a single language pool under SENA. However, we will continue to distinguish between the two for purposes of authenticity requests. Next month, we'll put this into practice, with some recommended articles for information on High German and Low German names. **** From Wreath: Required Elements and Style Rules **** A submission this month included the motif of _an X within a laurel wreath_. We regard this as being two separate charge groups, typically a primary charge surrounded by a secondary laurel wreath. By long-standing precedent, two separate charge groups may not be placed as tertiary charges on the same underlying charge. This is repeated in SENA Appendix I, which states that "A single charge group may only have one tertiary charge group on it." Without documentation of this sort of pattern in period, placing this motif on an underlying charge is not ordinarily registerable. We do, however, recognize the inherent difficulty in design as a laurel wreath is required in all branch arms. A crown or coronet is additionally required for kingdoms, and optionally for principalities. We have long relaxed some of the style rules for augmentations. SENA A3A3 explains, "Because an augmentation adds complexity, augmented devices are often allowed to violate certain style rules, such as allowing charges on tertiary charges or a complexity count of greater than eight, as long as the identifiability of the design is maintained. However, they may not violate the rules on contrast." Because required elements add complexity to an armorial design, we are similarly willing on a case by case basis to allow branch armory with required elements to violate certain style rules, as long as identifiability of the design is maintained. **** From Wreath: Frauenadler and Harpies **** We had several submissions this month featuring a frauenadler. A frauenadler, a typically German charge, is displayed by default and consists of the head and torso of a beautiful woman with an eagle's body and wings. Frauenadler is both a singular and plural word. A similar period charge, the harpy in English armory, faces dexter by default, and consists of only a woman's head, frequently with frightful hair, with a bird's body. While we grant no difference between the two for type, we do grant difference for posture. For better reproducibility, we have reblazoned some older submissions in which frauenadler were blazoned as harpies. **** From Palimpsest: Changes to SENA **** The August 18th Palimpsest Letter proposed 5 changes to SENA: one to bring the rules in alignment with prior precedent regarding charges whose voiding is considered part of their type; three to bring the rules in alignment with newer precedent regarding "Company" as a designator; and one to clarify temporal compatibility requirements for languages/cultures not listed in Appendix C. All of these proposals are being implemented (some with minor editing for clarity). *** _Voided Charges_ *** Section A.3.C, by implying that mullets of any number of points could be voided and interlaced as part of their type, inaccurately reflected precedent and this was not intentional. Therefore, we are changing the next to last paragraph of SENA A.3.C, effective immediately, to read: Charges which are voided as part of their type, such as _mascles_, _rustres_, or _mullets of five points or six points voided and interlaced_, are not affected by these restrictions. They may even be tertiary charges or maintained charges, and may be used in fieldless designs. The remainder of A.3.C remains unchanged. *** _Company as Designator_ *** On the May 2013 LoAR Cover Letter, Pelican ruled that "company and other similar words" should be allowed as designators for any suitable non-personal name, including both order and award names and household names. Thus we are making three changes to reflect this ruling. We are changing SENA NPN.1.B.2, effective immediately, to read: *2. Order and Award Designators*: The designators for order names must follow a documented pattern for medieval order names. The standard designators are _Order_ and _Award_. Any pattern suitable for one such designator is suitable for the other. These designators may take the _lingua Anglica_ form, using the forms above regardless of the language of the substantive phrase. Alternately, they may take the language of the substantive element. A list of some translations of these designators is listed in Appendix E; any other designators should be documented. In general, designators which are used for household and association names cannot be used for orders and awards; however, those which were used in period to refer to multiple kinds of groups of people, including both those that we would call households and those that we would call orders, such as _company_, may be used for either. For example, either _Order of the Levrier_ or _Ordre du Levrier_ is registerable for the meaning 'order of the hound', but _Order du Levrier _and _Ordre of the Levrier_ are not; in each one, the preposition and article do not match the language of the designator. For example, _Company of the Levrier_ is registerable as a household name or as an award or order name as _Company_ was used in period for military groups, guilds, and knightly orders. However, _House of the Levrier_ would only be registerable as a household name, as _House_ was not a term used for orders or awards. We are changing SENA NPN.1.B.3, effective immediately, to read: *3. Household and Association Names*: The designators for household names must be documented as a form describing a group of people in a particular culture. It must be compatible with the substantive element in terms of content and style. There is no standard designator which is considered compatible with all types of names for groups of people. Several kinds of groups of people have served as models for household names. They include a noble household, a military unit, a guild, a group of people associated with an inn or tenement house, a university or school (noting that the word college is reserved for branches), clans, and an organized group of musicians or actors. Designators may be registered in the original language or may take the _lingua Anglica_ form. Suitable substantive elements (like simple descriptions) may take the _lingua Anglica_ form as well. In general, designators which are used within the SCA for orders and awards cannot be used for household and association names; however, other than "Order", those which were used to refer to multiple kinds of groups of people, including both those that we would call households and those that we would call orders, such as _company_, may be used for either. For example, either _Compagnia di Santa Lucia_ or _Company of Santa Lucia_ is registerable for the meaning 'company of Saint Lucia, but _Company di Santa Lucia _and _Compagnia of Santa Lucia _are not; in each one, the preposition and article do not match the language of the designator. For example, _Compagnia di Santa Lucia_ is registerable as a household name or as an order name as _Compagnia_ was used in period for military groups, guilds, and knightly orders. However, _Order of Santa Lucia_ is registerable as an award or order name, but not a household name. We are changing the initial paragraph of SENA Appendix E, section B, effective immediately, to read: *B. Award and Order Names*: The appropriate English and _lingua Anglica_ forms for order names are_ Award_ and _Order_. Terms like _Companions_ and _Defenders_ are not registerable as designators for orders and awards. _Companions_ can be used to describe the members of an order, but such terms were not used in order names, and will not be registered. _Defenders_ may be used in the substantive element of an order, but may not be registered as a designator. However, _Company_ is allowed as the designator both for award and order names and for household and association names, as it was used in period to refer to multiple kinds of groups of people, including both those that we would call households and those that we would call orders. The remainder of Appendix E, section B remains unchanged. *** _Temporal Compatibility_ *** SENA PN.2.C. as currently written does not address the temporal compatibility required for languages not listed in Appendix C. We are changing PN.2.C.2.a to explicitly say that they must be within 500 years and from a single language (rather than regional naming group). We are changing SENA PN.2.C.2.a, effective immediately, to read: a. The name mixes name phrases, dated to within 500 years of one another, either found in a single regional naming group as listed in Appendix C, or else from a single language not listed in Appendix C. The remainder of PN.2.C remains unchanged. **** 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 know that I remain, In service, Gabriel Kjotvason Laurel Principal King of Arms =============================================================================== Created at 2014-01-01T22:58:56