Society for Creative Anachronism
College of Arms
For the April 2018 meetings, printed June 5, 2018
To all the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive, from Juliana Laurel, Alys Pelican, and Cormac Wreath, greetings.
The Kingdoms of Lochac and Drachenwald both use the term "Hamlet" to apply to entities that fall somewhere between branches and households. No one had attempted to register names for these entities until recently. Therefore, the Laurel office had not established policy for whether and how names for Hamlets should be registered.
The Barony of Southron Gaard within the Kingdom of Lochac submitted two Hamlet names over the last several months. The name Hamlet of Gildenwick appeared on the June 26, 2017, Lochac Letter of Intent and then on the November 2017 Letter of Pends and Discussion. The name Hamlet of Wildmoor appeared on the October 24, 2017, Lochac Letter of Intent; it was pended awaiting the outcome of the larger discussion on Hamlets. Having now received instructions from the Board of Directors concerning the status of Hamlets, decisions on these two specific Hamlet names are included in this month's Letter of Acceptances and Returns.
Effective as of the date of issuance of this Letter, registration of the names of Hamlets is subject to the following rules:
Only Lochac and Drachenwald may submit names and badges for Hamlets. Any other Kingdom wishing to do so must first obtain the same variance from the Board of Directors as Lochac and Drachenwald.
Hamlet names are considered branch names for the purposes of the College of Arms. Hamlet is the designator and the substantive elements of the name must be appropriate for a place name.
Hamlet of is considered neutral in language and time period, just like any other branch name designator. Because of the special status of Hamlets we are not currently accepting translations of the term "hamlet" into other languages.
Hamlets may register badges but they may not register arms.
Hamlets may not display a laurel wreath as part of their armory unless and until they transition to being official SCA branches.
A petition of support will be required to register a name or badge for a Hamlet. We are consulting with Lochac and Drachenwald about the most practical form of such a petition given the special status of Hamlets.
This month we dealth with the question of whether a household name based French inn-sign patterns could use the heraldic color term sable. French inn-sign names such as la maison du Chappeau rouge, l'enseigne de la Rose blanche use ordinary vernacular color terms to describe the heraldic charges. Thus, until evidence is found supporting the use of heraldic tinctures in French inn-sign names, French household names relying on the pattern heraldic charge + color must use vernacular color terms such as rouge and blanche as opposed to heraldic tincture terms.
The color terms Or and argent were used both as terms for heraldic tinctures and ordinary color terms. Thus, they may be used in inn-sign household names. In addition, period examples of period French inn-sign names show these color terms were used with the preposition de: for example, hostel du Lion d'argent and l'enseigne de la Croix d'or.
We welcome additional research on the subject of French household names and naming patterns.
A submission this month asked us to consider whether the motif of a serpent glissant palewise vorant of a demi-human was sufficiently peculiar to the Visconti family and their supporters that use of the motif should be considered presumptuous under SENA A6B1. The charge combination, blazoned by the Italians as a biscione, was used by the Visconti family almost exclusively, and chiefs of allegiance displaying the biscione were used by Visconti supporters, indicating that use in SCA armory in any form would be presumptuous. However, the tinctures of the serpent were exclusively vert or azure when used for this purpose. Therefore, we are adding the biscione, defined for our purposes as a serpent glissant palewise (vert or azure) vorant of a demi-human (of any tincture), to the list of restricted charges.
The College of Arms has a rank of Herald Extraordinary that has a long and honored history. The rank was formally created and defined in the July 1981 cover letter by Wilhelm Laurel. The intent of the rank is to recognize and reward "... those heralds who have greatly served the College of Heralds and/or the College of Arms and have achieved the highest level of competence in heraldry."
There are a handful of people who have served for many years as our experts on specific topics and it is right that they be recognized. Ęlfwynn Leoflęde dohtor is one of those people: she has been the go-to person on German names since before I stepped up as Pelican in 2010 and has continued that to the present. She's always been there, even though our meetings run deep into the evening in Drachenwald. For that invaluable long-term service, it pleases me to confer upon her the rank and style of Herald Extraordinary, and charge her to register a title of her choosing with the College of Arms.
On April 7, at Meridies' Spring Coronation, Katerina filia de Jehan, Trumpet Herald, was elevated into the Order of the Pelican.
On May 19, Vladimir Andreivich Aleksandrov, Sinister Gauntlet Herald, was admitted to the Order of the Pelican by the Crown of An Tir, for his many years of service to the Kingdom and to Their Principality of Tir Rķgh.
On May 26, at Ealdormere's Crown Tourney, Their Majesties Baldric and Breyla gave Sciath ingen Chaennaig, Trillium Principal Herald, a writ to contemplate elevation to the Order of the Laurel at some event in the near future.
On May 27, at Trimaris' Memorial Tournament/Crown List, Milesenda de Bourges, Clarion Herald and former Triskele Principal Herald, was elevated into the Order of the Pelican by TRM Baldar and Brithwynn.
On June 2, at Gyldenholt Anniversary, Their Majesties Wilhelm and Tsyra of Caid elevated Paul fitz Denis, Crescent Principal Herald, to the Order of the Laurel.
And finally, in sadder news, on June 1, Taliesynne Nychymwrh yr Anghyfannedd Llanrhyddlad, Baron Wyvernwoode, Principal of the Order of the Pelican for Trimaris, and one of the great founders of that Kingdom passed away. He was a former Triskele Principal Herald and a great pillar of the College of Heralds of Trimaris.
Please send information about happenings to major heralds and major happenings to all heralds to Laurel, so that it can be published here.
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. While black-and-white emblazons must be included in the Letter of Intent, only colored armory forms need to be posted in the forms area.
Cheques or money orders for submissions, payable to "SCA Inc.-College of Arms" are to be sent to Stephanie Ray-Solum, Blue Bug Bookkeeping, 2144 Westlake Ave. North Suite F, Seattle, WA 98109.
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.
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 April Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, April 15, 2018 and the Wreath meeting held on Sunday, April 22, 2018. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Calontir (06 Jan, 2018), An Tir (15 Jan, 2018), Ansteorra (16 Jan, 2018), Ęthelmearc (18 Jan, 2018), Artemisia LoItUP (18 Jan, 2018), West (19 Jan, 2018), Artemisia LoItP (24 Jan, 2018), Lochac (24 Jan, 2018), Ealdormere (25 Jan, 2018), Laurel LoPaD (26 Jan, 2018), Middle (26 Jan, 2018), Middle (27 Jan, 2018), Outlands (29 Jan, 2018), Artemisia (30 Jan, 2018), Atenveldt (30 Jan, 2018), Drachenwald (30 Jan, 2018), Artemisia (31 Jan, 2018), Atlantia (31 Jan, 2018), Avacal (31 Jan, 2018), Caid (31 Jan, 2018), East (31 Jan, 2018), Gleann Abhann (31 Jan, 2018), and Northshield (31 Jan, 2018). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Saturday, March 31, 2018.
The May Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, May 6, 2018 and the Wreath meeting held on Sunday, May 13, 2018. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Calontir (06 Feb, 2018), Palimpsest Rules Letter (10 Feb, 2018), Middle (13 Feb, 2018), West (15 Feb, 2018), Ęthelmearc (17 Feb, 2018), An Tir (20 Feb, 2018), Atenveldt (20 Feb, 2018), Palimpsest Other Letter (23 Feb, 2018), Ealdormere (25 Feb, 2018), Atlantia (27 Feb, 2018), Lochac (27 Feb, 2018), Ansteorra (28 Feb, 2018), Artemisia (28 Feb, 2018), Drachenwald (28 Feb, 2018), East (28 Feb, 2018), Meridies (28 Feb, 2018), Northshield (28 Feb, 2018), Outlands (28 Feb, 2018), and Palimpsest Rules Letter (01 Mar, 2018). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Monday, April 30, 2018.
The June Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, June 17, 2018 and KWHSS and the Wreath meeting held on Sunday, June 3, 2018 and KWHSS. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: Gleann Abhann (06 Mar, 2018), Ansteorra (09 Mar, 2018), Calontir (09 Mar, 2018), Ęthelmearc (12 Mar, 2018), An Tir (18 Mar, 2018), Atlantia (23 Mar, 2018), Ealdormere (24 Mar, 2018), Lochac (24 Mar, 2018), Atenveldt (25 Mar, 2018), Middle (28 Mar, 2018), Caid (29 Mar, 2018), Laurel (29 Mar, 2018), Drachenwald (30 Mar, 2018), Outlands (30 Mar, 2018), West (30 Mar, 2018), Artemisia (31 Mar, 2018), Avacal (31 Mar, 2018), East (31 Mar, 2018), Laurel LoPaD (31 Mar, 2018), Meridies (31 Mar, 2018), and Northshield (31 Mar, 2018). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Thursday, May 31, 2018.
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.
Pray know that I remain,
In service,
Juliana de Luna
Laurel Queen of Arms
Created at 2018-06-05T22:30:33