Society for Creative Anachronism
College of Arms
For the October 2023 meetings, printed December 11, 2023
To all the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive, from Emma Laurel, Elisabetta Pelican, and Iago Wreath, greetings.
Appendix D of the Admin Handbook, Suggested Standard Form Letters, is being updated to be more neutral in tone, which makes for less editing! For example, "[his / her / their] name" will be "the name." We'll also make similar changes to other places these suggested form letters are scattered about our website. Folks should remember that these are suggested wordings, not mandatory wordings.
This month we registered the new branch name Canton of Appleholm while allowing the canton to retain their previous name as an Ancient Branch Name. This designation will appear in the Ordinary and Armorial in the same way that Ancient Arms do. Branches may utilize this option as of the publication of this letter. Palimpsest is directed to issue a Rules Letter to update both the Administrative Handbook and SENA to allow for registration of Ancient Branch Names and to provide direction on how items designated as Ancient may be used in regards to the Branch Name Allowance and the Existing Registration Allowance (for both names and armory).
There seems to be uncertainty about when the posture terms rampant, salient, and statant erect, and related beast-specific terms should be applied, so we'd like to take this opportunity to summarize and consolidate the decades of precedent on these postures. This is a question of blazon, not conflict, as these postures are all considered the same for conflict purposes.
In general:
Rampant: body is upright between palewise and bendwise, front legs are apart, hind legs are apart and can be on the same level or one can be raised [Christophe de Lorraine, 11/2003, A-Atenveldt], [Erich der Suchenwirth zum Schwarzenkatze, 07/2005, A-Caid], [Kaios Alexandrou, 08/2005, A-Calontir] [Ragnbj{o,}rn inn digri, 06/2018, R-Lochac]
Salient: body is upright between palewise and bendwise, front legs are together or apart, and hind legs are together [Christophe de Lorraine, 11/2003, A-Atenveldt], [Obata Kenjirou Torashi, 01/2009, R-Middle], [Ragnbj{o,}rn inn digri, 06/2018, R-Lochac]
Statant erect: body is palewise, front legs are apart or together, hind legs are apart or together and are on the same level [Erich der Suchenwirth zum Schwarzenkatze, 07/2005, A-Caid], [Ragnbj{o,}rn inn digri, 06/2018, R-Lochac]
Springing: used for deer and their close relatives, equivalent to salient [Stierbach, Barony of, 11/2001, A-Atlantia]
Clymant: used for goats, equivalent to both rampant and salient, can be used for either [Christophe de Lorraine, 11/2003, A-Atenveldt]
Segreant: used interchangeably with rampant for winged quadrupeds [Feme inghean Donnabháin, 10/2001, A-Trimaris]
Because these postures were often interchangeable in period armory, per the Christophe de Lorraine precedent cited above, ambiguity between rampant, salient, and statant erect will not be a reason for return. Since neither the distance between legs nor the angle of the body are binary states, there is a lot of potential overlap between the various postures. If a beast's posture could be equally well blazoned by more than one of these terms, we will give preference to the submitted blazon; if there is no submitted blazon, or if the submitted blazon uses a term that doesn't match the emblazoned posture, we will use whatever term matches most closely.
I want to commend the recent work of Sneferu ex Artemisias, Golden Pillar Herald for the Kingdom of Artemisia. Their work on the Artemisia Letter of Intent dated 2023-07-15 is an excellent example of how to summarize information between an internal and external letter. In addition, they have been incredibly responsive to questions and concerns raised in commentary so that these things can be addressed well before the relevant decision meeting happens. Well done, Sneferu!
The changes to the Welsh alternate titles list proposed on Palimpsest's July 23rd Rules Letter are accepted with some changes. The updated list will be available at https://heraldry.sca.org/titles.html#Welsh within a few days. We thank Nest verch Gwilim, Crane Herald for her work updating these titles.
The proposals to update SENA PN1B2a, Attested Name Phrases, and PN1B2b Constructed Name Phrases, which appear on Palimpsest's July 16th Rules Letter are accepted. These changes guide those wishing to submit name elements based on oral tradition or that are reconstructed from languages that pre-date written records. The revised wording will be available at https://heraldry.sca.org/sena.html#PN1B2 within the next several days.
This month we registered the name olafR hinn litli without capitalization of any element. This decision builds on prior precedents. As noted in the April 2002 Cover Letter, the runes that serve as the written alphabet for Old Norse "don't distinguish between upper and lower case". Further, in the April 2012 Cover Letter, we wrote, "Based on the data found by commenters, we can say that capitalization in period Latin alphabet documents was uneven, with some capitalizing no elements and others capitalizing only given names and bynames derived from given names." We hereby overturn all previous precedents requiring standard capitalization in Old Norse names, bringing the treatment of this language in line with our treatment of other documentary forms.
On Saturday November 11th, at Fall Crown List in the Kingdom of Meridies, Sara al-Garnatiyya, Beacon Principal Herald, conferred upon Taran the Wayward the rank of Herald Extraordinary. Huzzah!
Also at this event, Sara al-Garnatiyya handed over the office of Beacon Principal Herald to Penelope de Bourbon. We look forward to seeing what Penelope will do in the office and wish Sara success in whatever she chooses to do next.
On November 11th at Kingdom Rapier Champions, Their Majesties of the East inducated Kolosvari Arpadne Julia, known throughout the Society for her work in the Hungarian language and naming practices, into the Order of the Maunche. The Maunche is the Kingdom of the East's grant-level award for arts.
Also on November 11th at this same event, Their Majesties of the East inducted Liadan ingen Chineada, active court herald and most recently Eastern Crown Herald for the reign of Brennan and Caoilfhionn IV, into the Order of the Silver Crescent. The Silver Crescent is the Kingdom of the East's grant-level award for service.
On December 2, 2023, at Wassail in the Kingdom of Ealdormere, Arwyn of Leicester was made a Herald Extraordinary by joint proclamation of Nika Trillium Herald of Ealdormere and Sadb Sanguinaris Herald of Avacal. Huzzah!
Ealdormere would also like to spread the news that for his creation of the design for the new Kingdom Tabards, Master Cormac Mor, Beare Herald Extraordinary, was placed on the Ealdormere Scroll of Honour by TRM Baldric and Breyla.
Another Principal Herald move! This time in Ealdormere, Nika Dmitrieva doch' Zvezdina has stepped down from Trillium Principal Herald. Her successor is Matthäus Lindenhayn von Schaffhausen. Many thanks to both of you for your service!
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 Trent Le Clair, 928 Frazier Dr, Walla Walla WA 99362
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 October Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, October 15, 2023 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, October 14, 2023. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Gleann Abhann (06 Jul, 2023), Meridies (06 Jul, 2023), Trimaris (09 Jul, 2023), Æthelmearc (11 Jul, 2023), Laurel LoPaD (11 Jul, 2023), Calontir (12 Jul, 2023), Artemisia (15 Jul, 2023), Palimpsest Rules Letter (16 Jul, 2023), Palimpsest Rules Letter (23 Jul, 2023), East (24 Jul, 2023), Middle (24 Jul, 2023), Ealdormere (25 Jul, 2023), Æthelmearc (27 Jul, 2023), Meridies (27 Jul, 2023), Lochac (28 Jul, 2023), Ansteorra (30 Jul, 2023), Avacal (30 Jul, 2023), An Tir (31 Jul, 2023), Atenveldt (31 Jul, 2023), Drachenwald (31 Jul, 2023), East Other Letter (31 Jul, 2023), West (31 Jul, 2023). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Saturday, September 30, 2023.
The November Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, November 12, 2023 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, November 11, 2023. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: An Tir (01 Aug, 2023), Ansteorra (03 Aug, 2023), Gleann Abhann (05 Aug, 2023), Laurel LoPaD (14 Aug, 2023), Caid (16 Aug, 2023), Calontir (16 Aug, 2023), Ansteorra (24 Aug, 2023), Ealdormere (24 Aug, 2023), Lochac (28 Aug, 2023), Æthelmearc (29 Aug, 2023), Atlantia (29 Aug, 2023), East (29 Aug, 2023), Palimpsest Rules Letter (30 Aug, 2023), Atenveldt (31 Aug, 2023), Avacal (31 Aug, 2023), Drachenwald (31 Aug, 2023), Middle (31 Aug, 2023), Northshield (31 Aug, 2023), Palimpsest Rules Letter (31 Aug, 2023), Laurel LoPaD (17 Sep, 2023) (redraws), Laurel LoPaD (10 Oct, 2023) (redraws). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Tuesday, October 31, 2023.
The December Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, December 17, 2023 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, December 9, 2023. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Palimpsest Rules Letter (02 Sep, 2023), Calontir (05 Sep, 2023), An Tir (08 Sep, 2023), Gleann Abhann (09 Sep, 2023), Meridies (10 Sep, 2023), Artemisia (14 Sep, 2023), Laurel LoPaD (18 Sep, 2023), An Tir (23 Sep, 2023), Ealdormere (23 Sep, 2023), Ealdormere (24 Sep, 2023), Ansteorra (25 Sep, 2023), East (26 Sep, 2023), Outlands (26 Sep, 2023), Middle (27 Sep, 2023), Lochac (28 Sep, 2023), Æthelmearc (29 Sep, 2023), Atenveldt (30 Sep, 2023), Atlantia (30 Sep, 2023), Drachenwald (30 Sep, 2023), Northshield (30 Sep, 2023), West (30 Sep, 2023). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Thursday, November 30, 2023.
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,
Emma de Fetherstan
Laurel Queen of Arms
Created at 2023-12-11T20:37:59