Society for Creative Anachronism
College of Arms
For the March 2025 meetings, printed April 28, 2025
To all the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive, from Birgitta Laurel, Sara Pelican, and Iago Wreath, greetings.
Maestra Magdalena Lucia Ramberti's time in office is drawing short, and so we're putting out the call for applications. In order to encourage and promote the use and equality of Sign Heraldry at all courts and events in which the entire populace attends, and to assist the sign heralds in their dealings with the Crown, the Sign Heraldry Deputy of Laurel Sovereign of Arms coordinates efforts and communication throughout the SCA. Sign Heralds in the Society are heralds who express auditory information into visual and/or tactile information used by D/deaf and hard-of-hearing people. In some kingdoms this function may be under the DEI office, but in any case the goal of the Laurel office is to facilitate communication and coordination.
This deputy is tasked with the following duties, plus other such tasks as assigned by Laurel:
Working with Kingdoms to improve the organization of sign heraldry and its integration with other court and event heralds.
Working with Kingdoms and Laurel to improve education regarding sign heraldry, both for sign heralds themselves and the general populace.
Acting as a resource for sign herald programs.
Preparing quarterly reports to Laurel on the status of such programs.
Please email your resume (SCA and modern if appropriate) as well as a short description of your experience related to this job to Laurel at [email protected]. The application period ends on June 15.
The way that stag's attires have been blazoned in the past leads to confusion. Are three stag's attires three single antlers in the default fesswise orientation or three pairs of antlers palewise? To prevent this confusion, we will use the term a pair of stag's attires conjoined when there are two antlers conjoined at the base. As noted in August 2024 a pair of stag's attires defaults to palewise and counts as two charges ([Iofurr Ormarsson, 08/2024, A-Middle]).
The default massacre is a deer or stag's massacre. Palimpsest is directed to add this to Table 8 in the Glossary of Terms. A massacre has a scrap of flesh where the horns are conjoined. However, it is often not possible to distinguish between this scrap of flesh and the stumps of attires that are conjoined. For this reason, a massacre, despite being considered a single charge, receives no difference for type or number from a pair of stag's attires whether the attires are conjoined or not (much the same as how we treat a vol versus a pair of wings). A massacre does have a difference in type from a single attire. As with a pair of stag's attires, a massacre is palewise by default. Palimpsest is directed to add this fact to Table 5 of the Glossary of Terms.
In 2024 it was ruled that the default bag or pouch is "closed at the top by a drawstring or wrapped cord" ([Agneß Scherer, 08/2024, A-An Tir]). A review of the registered pouches showed a default orientation was assumed but never explicitly ruled on. Bags and pouches, including a palmer's or pilgrim's scrip, are palewise with the opening to chief by default. When fesswise, the opening is to dexter. Palimpsest is directed to add this information to Table 5 of the Glossary of Terms.
A submission this month caused us to consider in what situations an ordinary charged with the same type of ordinary (such as a pallet on a pale) should be treated as equivalent to fimbriation. Based on period examples of fimbriated ordinaries, we are adopting the following guideline:
If the larger ordinary is less than twice the width of the smaller ordinary it will be considered equivalent to fimbriation. If it is more than twice the width of the smaller ordinary, it will be treated only as an ordinary charged with another ordinary.
As proposed on the Palimpsest December 2nd Rules Letter, smer is accepted as a gender-neutral Middle Egyptian title for use by those with an award or grant of arms. The List of Alternate Titles, https://heraldry.sca.org/titles.html, will be updated within a few days.
As proposed on the December 2nd Palimpsest Rules Letter, SENA Appendix A is updated to show feminine patronymic forms for Norwegian. The updates will be available at https://heraldry.sca.org/sena.html#AppendixAScandinavian within a few days.
As proposed on the Palimpsest December 2nd Rules Letter, SENA Appendix D is updated to discuss transliteration of Korean. This will be available at https://heraldry.sca.org/sena.html#AppendixD4 within a few days.
As proposed on the December 2nd Palimpsest Rules Letter, SENA Appendix E2b is updated to add Order of the <Descriptive Adjective>+<Heraldic Charge> as a generic pattern for awards and orders. Note that <Descriptive Adjective> does not allow all types of adjectives to be added to a heraldic charge to create an order name. The Descriptive Adjective must be a clear visual description of the charge itself, like Double, Crowned, or Winged. Adjectives that describe heraldic postures or arrangements of charges are not acceptable without additional supporting evidence. This pattern appears as "Other Adjective + Charge" in "Medieval Secular Order Names" by Juliana de Luna. Updates will be available at https://heraldry.sca.org/sena.html#AppendixE2b within a few days.
The updates to SENA PN2C2 proposed on Palimpsest's December 29th Rules Letter are accepted. These changes include allowing the combination of name elements dated within 500 years of each other from any single language not found in SENA Appendix C. The updates will be available at https://heraldry.sca.org/sena.html#PN2C2 within a few days.
At the Golden Rivers "War of the Baronies" event on February 15, 2025, Their Majesties Fabian and Eli{sv}ka of the West named Ræv Kolfinsson to the Grant-level Order of the Scarf of Merit. Ræv's work in heraldic consultation and assisting with updating digital versions of armory in the West for people has been invaluable and Their Majesties thanked him for it.
At Mists Fall Coronet Tournament on March 29, 2025, Da'ud ibn Ali won the Tournament for his wife Moira of Kent, Green Crown Herald of the West Kingdom. They were named Lord and Lady of the Mists, and will step up as Prince and Princess of the Mists on May 17, 2025.
At the Drachenwald Crown Tourney on April 5, 2025, Their Majesties Æríkr and Jacquelyna named Birittha Wf, Laurel Queen of Arms, a Companion of the Laurel for her heraldic, onomastic, and linguistic work.
At the Outlands Crown Tournament on April 12, 2025, Simon Montgumery, Scorpion Pursuivant for the Barony of al-Barran, fighting for Countess Aria de Châtillon, was victorious in Crown Tournament and was named Crown Prince of the Outlands.
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 uploaded to the OSCAR packet for that letter. For armory, only colored forms are required.
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.
To subscribe to the mailings of the LoAR, please see the bottom of https://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 https://oscar.sca.org/index.php?action=137.
The March Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Saturday, March 22, 2025 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, March 8, 2025. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Atlantia (30 Nov, 2024) (pushed due to too many items) , Palimpsest Rules Letter (02 Dec, 2024), Calontir (06 Dec, 2024), Northshield (09 Dec, 2024), Laurel (10 Dec, 2024), Meridies (10 Dec, 2024), Artemisia (14 Dec, 2024), Northshield (16 Dec, 2024), Æthelmearc (21 Dec, 2024), Avacal (21 Dec, 2024), East (27 Dec, 2024), Palimpsest Rules Letter (29 Dec, 2024), Ansteorra (31 Dec, 2024), Atenveldt (31 Dec, 2024), Drachenwald (31 Dec, 2024), Ealdormere (31 Dec, 2024), Gleann Abhann (31 Dec, 2024), Lochac (31 Dec, 2024), Middle (31 Dec, 2024), Laurel LoPfR (09 Feb, 2025). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Friday, February 28, 2025.
The April Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, April 13, 2025 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, April 5, 2025. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Atlantia (31 Dec, 2024) (pushed due to late finalization), Trimaris (31 Dec, 2024) (pushed due to late finalization), Calontir (07 Jan, 2025), An Tir (09 Jan, 2025), Laurel LoPaD (12 Jan, 2025), Meridies (15 Jan, 2025), Artemisia (21 Jan, 2025), West (23 Jan, 2025), Outlands (27 Jan, 2025), Æthelmearc (30 Jan, 2025), Ansteorra (30 Jan, 2025), Atenveldt (30 Jan, 2025), Drachenwald (30 Jan, 2025), Lochac (30 Jan, 2025), Atlantia (31 Jan, 2025), Caid (31 Jan, 2025), East (31 Jan, 2025), Middle (31 Jan, 2025), An Tir (01 Feb, 2025), Laurel LoPfR (01 Mar, 2025). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Monday, March 31, 2025.
The May Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican meeting held on Saturday, May 17, 2025 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, May 10, 2025. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: Ealdormere (31 Jan, 2025) (pushed due to lack late finalization), Calontir (02 Feb, 2025), Laurel LoPaD (04 Feb, 2025), Palimpsest Rules Letter (10 Feb, 2025), An Tir (11 Feb, 2025), Meridies (11 Feb, 2025), Avacal (22 Feb, 2025), Gleann Abhann (22 Feb, 2025), Northshield (22 Feb, 2025), Artemisia (24 Feb, 2025), Ealdormere (24 Feb, 2025), Outlands (25 Feb, 2025), East (26 Feb, 2025), Trimaris (27 Feb, 2025), Ansteorra (28 Feb, 2025), Atenveldt (28 Feb, 2025), Drachenwald (28 Feb, 2025), Lochac (28 Feb, 2025), Middle (28 Feb, 2025), Laurel LoPfR (07 Apr, 2025). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Wednesday, April 30, 2025.
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.
Be assured that I remain
In service
Birgitta Lulli
Laurel Queen of Arms
Created at 2025-04-28T20:57:56