28 March 2005
From the Office of
White Stag
Principal Herald
Lady Sorcha MacLeod
(Tammy
Ackerson)
whitestag@outlandsheralds.org
Note: This letter was
finally
finished and published on 29 May 2005, having been delayed due to a
lengthy
illness and the resulting backlog. The complementary Letter of Intent
was sent
on time. My apologies to the submitters
who may have been waiting for notification of their kingdom results.
The following items
were sent on
to
1- Alexander
O'Neill. New
Name and Device. Argent, in fess three serpents glissant palewise
gules and
on a chief azure a rapier fesswise argent.
2- Ambrose atte
Redehulle.
New Name. (see returns for device)
3- Aodhan
O'Maolalaidh.
New Name.
4 - Bjorn inn gauzki. New Device. Sable, in bend a compass star and a drakkar prow Or.
Quoting the Letter of Intent argument for the submitter's information:
This is the exact design previously returned at kingdom (Sep04), for conflict with Luxandra of Altumbrea, Sable, semée of suns in splendour Or (1/80, Caid). The submitter requests that it be sent on for consideration. While there is no difference granted between a compass star and a sun in splendour, I think that we are looking at two steps between these pieces of armory - one for number and one for change-of-half-of-type. The original return was on the basis of the following precedent:
Dyan du Lac des Calandres. Badge. Gules, in fess a tassel Or between a decrescent and an increscent argent.
Conflict with a badge of Conrad von Regensburg, Gules semy of decrescents argent. In Conrad's arms, there is a single group of primary charges consisting of (six or more) evenly strewn argent decrescents. In Dyan's arms, there is a single group of primary charges consisting of one argent decrescent, an Or tassel, and an argent increscent. The LoAR of December 2003 gave a lengthy analysis of the way to count difference in a similar situation, where the charge group changed from a registered group of charges on the field consisting of six lions Or, to an in-submission charge group consisting of a lion and a tower Or. That analysis summarized the change as follows:
It
should be recalled that the SCA protects REGISTERED
armory.
Because of this, the SCA considers changes to have been made from the
registered armory to the armory currently under submission, and has
interpreted
the Rules for Submission in the manner that gives the greatest
protection to
the registered armory, and allows the fewest possible differences for a
change
to armory. This implies a certain lack of symmetry to the ruling,
because the
interpretation of a change from "registered" to
"considered" does not necessarily match the change from "considered"
to "registered"...
In [this] case, the submitter is changing one of the lions into a
castle, which
leaves us with a charge group consisting of five lions and one castle.
This
change is to less than half of the charges in that group, so there is
no CD
under RfS X.4.e.
After the change of the type (a lion into a castle), we apply the
change to the
number by removing all but one of the lions and the castle. Of six
charges, we
remove four of the lions, leaving a total of two charges in the group,
which is
a change from six to two. RfS X.4.f notes that two and six are
signficantly
different, and therefore, entitled to a CD.
In this case,
we
have changed the charge group on the field from [semy of]
decrescents
argent to a decrescent argent, an increscent argent, and a
tassel Or.
The strewn ("semy") charges are considered to be equivalent to any
charge group with six or more charges for purposes of the rule for
difference
in the number of charges on the field (RfS X.4.f).
Thus, when changing Conrad's badge to Dyan's, we are changing one of
the (six
or more) argent decrescents into an argent increscent, and one of the
(six or
more) argent decrescents into an Or tassel, and leaving (four or more)
of the
argent decrescents as argent decrescents. The change in type of two of
six (or
more) charges (the single tassel and the single increscent) is a change
to less
than half of the charges in the group, so there is no CD under RfS
X.4.e. The
change in tincture to one in six (or more) charges (the tassel) is also
a
change to less than half the charges in the group, so there is no CD
under RfS
X.4.d.
After the changes to type and tincture (six or more decrescents argent into four or more decrescents argent, one increscent argent, and one tassel Or), we then remove (three or more) of the decrescents, leaving a total of three charges, which is a change from six (or more) charges to three charges. RfS X.4.f notes that three and six are significantly different, and therefore entitled to a CD.
As a result, there is only one CD between these two pieces of armory, and they are therefore in conflict.
LoAR 03/04 R - ANSTEORRA
I find no evidence of
period
armory that was cadenced by changing the type of only one of several
identical
charges and then removing all but the changed one and one other. Without solid period evidence that this sort
of pattern would suggest one cadency step, this ruling seems
unnecessarily
narrow in its interpretation, and I therefore respectfully request that
it be
revisited with an eye to period cadency.
5- Blackwater Keep, Shire of. Change of Device. Or, a tower within a laurel wreath gules and a base engrailed sable scaly Or.
The original change
of device
submission was returned from kingdom on the January 2005 Letter of
Response for
a redraw, because the wreath had room for a charge between the tips and
the
base was so large as to blur the distinction between a base and a per
fess line
of division. The redraw corrects the
problems. The above name is listed on
the January 2005 Outlands LoI, and the current name, Scorpions Hollow,
Shire
of, was registered in March 1987 and corrected in December 1999.
6- Branwen ferch
Gruffudd
Rhodri. New Name and Device. Gules, on a pale between two vols
argent,
three chaplets of four arum lilies sable.
All elements are documented from A Welsh Miscellany by Heather Rose Jones. Branwen is found on page 31 as a female name. Gruffudd is found on page 31 as a male name. Rhodri is found on page 31 as a male name, and ferch is found on page 28 as a patronymic element meaning "daughter of." "Name construction is based on a combination of the female name and a patronymic where the 'ap' has been removed from the patronymic (as described on page 29 of [the same source]). Green Anchor helpfully provides dates from Gruffud: Branwen - "character in The Mabinogi, which makes it comfortably early," Gruffud - "from 1055 to post-period," and "Rhodri Fawr was a Welsh king in 877." If necessary to pass the name, the 'ap' could be added to the name to result in Branwen ferch Gruffudd ap Rhodri." Submitter will not accept major changes, cares most about language/culture, desires a feminine name, is interested in authenticity for "Welsh" language and/or culture, and will permit the creation of a holding name.
Originally blazoned Gules, on a pale between two vols of raven's wings argent, three chaplets of four calla lilies sable, the blazon has been changed because there were no particular features that would identify the vols as ravens' wings in specific, and because of the following precedent regarding calla lillies:
We have reblazoned the calla lily as an arum lily. The calla lily is not a Western European flower, but the very similar arum lily is a Western European flower. [Serena Gethin and Evelun Lambert, 04/03, A-Ansteorra]
One commenter felt
that between
the extreme elongation of the vols and the odd arrangement and
conjoining of
the flowers, that this device was in violation of RfS VIII.3,
Identifiability,
but we have left that for Wreath's judgement, since no other
commenter
mentioned it.
7- Brian mag Uidir. New Name.
Brian is found
in
"Index of Names in Irish Annals: Brian" by Mari Elspeth nic Bryan
dated as a masculine given name in this spelling to both Middle Irish
Gaelic
and Early Modern Irish Gaelic, with a range from 925 to 1582. The byname is found in Academy of S. Gabriel
Report #2361 as mag Uidir, which says that "the byname remained
in
use until at least the 16th/17th centuries."
Originally submitted as Brian MagUidir, the patronymic has
been changed
to match the documented spelling. Submitter accepts all changes, cares
most
about unspecified language/culture, desires a masculine name, and has
no
requests for authenticity.
8- Ceara inghean Rónáin. New Name. (see returns for device)
Originally submitted
as Ceara
ingean Rónáin, the patronymic marker has been
corrected to most closely
match the time period of the other name elements.
9- Cecilia Corr Mháire. New Badge. (Fieldless) On an amphora vert a passion nail argent.
Her previous
submission was
returned by Rampart September 2003 for lack of documentation of a lucet
as a
period charge or artifact. This design
does not incorporate a lucet. Name
registered August 1995 via Outlands.
10 - Daffyd of Emmett. Blanket Letter of Permission to Conflict.
Permission is granted to any future submitter to register a name or armory that is at least one countable step different from his registered names and armory, listed on the letter as the following items:
This name was registered in August of 1979 (via Atenveldt).
The following device associated with this name was registered in March of 1987 (via the Outlands):
Gyronny of twelve
gules and
Or, an emmet (ant) sable.
The following badge associated with this name was registered in June of 1990 (via the East):
(Fieldless) A
mullet of six
points gyronny of twelve Or and gules.
The following badge associated with this name was registered in September of 1997 (via the Outlands):
Argent, on a cross
purpure a
garb Or.
for Evlyn Death
This alternate name
was
registered to Daffyd of Emmett in September of 1997 (via the Outlands).
11- Elissent Silverleaf. New Change of Holding Name from Elissent of Unser Hafen
Her original name
submission Elissent
of Silverleaf was returned, and the holding name registered, on the
August
2004 LoAR, which stated, in part, "The submitted documentation supports
the nickname Silverleaf. To change the byname from a locative
to a
nickname, we would drop the preposition of. However, the
submitter will
not accept changes." The original documentation was summarized thusly
on
the April 2004 Letter of Intent: "Elissent is found in 'Feminine Given
Names in A Dictionary of English Surnames' by Talan Gwynek
(http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/reaneyAG.html) under the header
Elisant,
although it is an undated secondary header form. Silverleaf is a
constructed
byname. Reaney and Wilson's A Dictionary of English Surnames had
Greenleaf (p
205, 1327, 1577), Blackhill, Blackbrook (p 47, 1279), Whitefield (p
486, 1237),
Silverside (p 409), Silver Eye (p 409), Silvermouth (p 409). From these
examples, 'Silverleaf' seems a plausible construction."
12- Ingvarr
Halvarson. New
Name and Device. Gyronny arrondi gules and Or, a raven reguardant
sable.
Ingvarr is
listed on page
12 of Geirr Bassi as a masculine given name.
Halvar is found as a header form dated to 1554 in Svenska
förnamn by Roland Otterbjörk. Submitter will
not accept major changes, cares
most about language/culture, desires a masculine name, is interested in
authenticity for "Viking Age" time period and language and/or culture,
and will permit the creation of a holding name.
Halvarson is not a Viking age patronymic, but the
submitter's
real-world brother recently registered "Ulrich Halvarson," the
registration of which is noted on the forms.
Some commenters felt that this depiction of gyronny arrondi was
incorrect, having no apparent fesswise line.
Because Mistress Gunnvor, "The Viking Answer Lady" depicts
this exact division on her website, she undertook a discussion with
various
folk in the Academy of Saint Gabriel, which turned up from Arval
Benicoeur,
"For what it's worth, a field drawn your way appears in the arms of
Erling
Amundsson in 1303 [Huitfeldt-Kass, Henrik Jo?rgen, Norske Sigiller
fra
Middelalderen, 8 vols. (Kristiania/Oslo: 1899-1950), entry 30, p.3
and plate
8]." A possible conflict was noted
with Serlo of Litchfield, Gyronny gules and Or, a vulture close
sable
(Dec85, Atenveldt). Commentary suggests
a visual comparison with Serlo's armory to determine if it is a
heraldic
vulture or the much different North American turkey buzzard is needed.
13- Jenne McGill. Change of Device. Vert, on a chevron enchanced throughtout Or, a decrescent sable and in base a willow tree Or.
If registered, she
wishes her
previous device, Or, on a chevron sable, a decrescent Or and in
base a
willow tree vert registered March of 1999 (via the East) to be
released. Name registered March 1999 via
East.
14- Jenne McGill.
New
Badge. Quarterly purpure and vert, a thistle argent.
Name registered March
1999 via
East.
15- Kristrún
Hrafnsdóttir.
New Name.
Kristrún is
found on page
13 of Geirr Bassi as a feminine given name. Hrafn is found on
page 11 of
Geirr Bassi as a masculine given name.
The patronymic is formed according to the discussion in Geirr
Bassi
beginning on page 17. Submitter will not
accept major changes, cares most about the meaning of
Hrafnsdottir,
which she gives as Daughter of Raven, desires a feminine name, and is
interested in authenticity for "10th C. Norse" time period
and language and/or culture.
Authenticity is unlikely, per commentary by Mistress Gunnvor,
who says
that Kristrún is a feminized version of "Christ" and
would
therefore not have appeared in Norse naming practices prior to the
introduction
and spread of Christianity in that culture.
16- Lucrezia
Landino. New
Name and Device. Per saltire azure and argent, a leopard's mask
erminois
between four wine amphorae counterchanged
Lucrezia is found in Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia Vol. 2, Anne Commire, Editor, in entry "Borgia, Lucrezia (1480-1519)." Landino is found in Encyclopedia of the Renaissance Vol. 3, in entry "Landino, Cristoforo (c.1424-1498)." Submitter accepts all changes, cares most about an unspecified language/culture, desires a feminine name, is interested in authenticity for "16th Century" time period and language and/or culture.
The device is
submitted on a
lozenge, which is among those Outlands forms approved by Laurel. Originally blazoned Per saltire azure and
argent, a leopard's mask erminois between four amphora counterchanged, the
blazon has been changed to correct for grammar and to differentiate
these
amphorae from the default, which has a flat bottom.
There is some concern that the size of the
ermine spots may be insufficient to tell them from standard leopard
spots.
17- Murchadh Mac
Diarmada.
New Name and Device. Per pale Or and sable, a cross formy
throughout
counterchanged.
Murchadh is dated as a masculine given name to Early Modern Irish Gaelic (1200-1700) in "Index of Names in Irish Annals: Murchad/Murchadh" by Mari Elspeth nic Bryan (Kathleen M. O'Brien) at:
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/Masculine/Murchad.shtml. Diarmada is not found in this spelling in the enclosed documentation "Index of Names in Irish Annals: Diarmait/Diarmaid" by Mari Elspeth nic Bryan (Kathleen M. O'Brien) at:
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/Masculine/Diarmait.shtml. Mistress Bronwen helpfully provides a
citation, "Woulfe, p. 349; s.n. mac Diarmada." Submitter
accepts all changes, cares most
about language/culture, desires a masculine name, is interested in
authenticity
for "Irish" language and/or culture, and will permit the creation of
a holding name.
18- Murchadh Mac Diarmada. New Household Name and Household Badge. Or, a chevron gules overall a legless wyvern displayed, head to sinister, tail nowed sable. Ráth Nathrac.
The documentation is somewhat unclear, and lacks the required copies of the front page of each of the cited websites. The summary says that Ráth is found in "MacBain's Dictionary," and the photocopy gives a url of
http://www.ceantar.org/Dicts/MB2/mb30.html and lists:
"++ràth: a fortress, residence, Irish ráth, Early Irish ráth, ráith, g. rátha, Gaulish ratin, Argento-ratum: *râti-s,*râto-n; cf. Latin prâtum, a mead. Welsh rhath, cleared spot; borrowed from Gaelic? (Rhys)." [The acute/grave switch is present in the printout.] It also says that Nathrac is found in "Gaelic-English Dictionary" and the photocopy gives a url of http://www.clanmacrae.org/documents/gaelic-n.htm and lists:
"[nathair] nf. g. -rach; pl. -raichean, serpent, snake, adder [nathrach] See nathair" No documentation of this construction is provided. Per Musimon, Rath Nathrac is established as a household in the online fantasy game "The Dark Age of Camelot" at http://nathrach.republicofnewhome.org/, but I cannot say if it should be important enough to protect. Submitter accepts all changes, cares most about meaning given as "Serpent's Fortress" and is interested in authenticity for "Irish" language and/or culture.
Originally
blazoned Or, a chevron gules overall a wyvern displayed tail nowed
sable,
this did not reflect the legless state of the wyvern, nor the position
of its
head.
19- Taliesin ab
Iago. New
Household Name and Household Badge. Sable three pine trees each
within a
hexagon voided and fracted per pall, one and two, argent. Uji
Takaki.
Elements and
construction are
documented from Name Construction in Mediæval Japan 2004 Revision by Solveig Throndardottir:
"Takaki is a historical surname meaning "Tall Tree" dated
to 1568" on page 327. Uji is "Clan" per page 426.
"Proper pronunciation of the name would be 'Uji no Takaki' but the
possessive article 'no' is only used in spoken references and is not
written." (p. 35) Name registered April 1995 via Outlands.
20- Theodor von
Oldenburg.
New Device. Or, on a tankard azure a rabbit's head erased argent
and a chief
embattled sable.
The previous submission Or, on a tankard azure, a rabbit's head erased argent was returned by Rampart in January 2005 for conflict with Kathryn atte Unicorn, (Fieldless) On a tankard azure a unicorn's head erased argent armed Or. The addition of the chief clears the conflict. Name appears on the January 2005 Outlands LoI.
The following items
were returned
for further work:
1- Ambrose atte Redehulle. New Device. Barry of six azure and gules, an elephant statant Or.
This device is returned for violation
of RfS
VIII.2.b.iv, which states, "Elements evenly divided into multiple parts
of
two different tinctures must have good contrast between their parts.
For
example, checky argent and gules is acceptable, but checky
azure and
gules is not." See also RfS VIII.2.b.iii: " Elements evenly
divided into two parts, per saltire, or quarterly may use any two
tinctures or
furs." Because barry is more than two parts, and neither quarterly nor
per
saltire, it does not qualify for VIII.2.b.iii.
This device is also returned for conflict with Cynnabar, Shire
of -
January of 1996 (via the Middle):
(Fieldless) An elephant statant Or.
2- Ceara ingean
Rónáin. New Device. Argent, a dragon rampant vert
and a chief engrailed
purpure.
Returned for multiple conflicts, similarly to the armory returned by this precedent:
…Conflict with Erik of Flamewood, Argent, a wyvern erect vert maintaining an oak leaf and a fireball gules, and Minimoto Akataro, Argent, a dragon rampant vert holding in the dexter forepaw a Latin cross trefly Or. In both cases there is nothing for the maintained charges, and there is no difference given between a wyvern and a dragon (the wyvern being simply a continental variant of the dragon), therefore there is only one CD for the addition of the bordure. LoAR 01/2000 Gylmyne Ardrossane R-MERIDIES
Similarly, the
submitted device
has a single CD for the addition of the chief.
3- Gundahar Magnusson. New Name and Device. Azure, two battleaxes in saltire Or, in chief a heart and in base a cup argent.
Name is returned for more information from the submitter - who does not allow major changes. Because of a six-century temporal disparity, the name requires several minor changes, any one of which I would be comfortable making per the permitted changes on the forms, but the cumulative changes will result in a rather different name. One commenter writes at length:
King Gundaharius of Burgundy died in the 5th c. A.D. at the hands of
the Huns. The name appears in Latin as <Gundaharius>, reflecting a
vernacular <Gundahari>, which Newark apparently Anglicizes by dropping the <-i>. This historical person gave rise to the characters of
<Gunther> in the Nibelungenlied and <Gunnar> in Völsungasaga. (See
http://www.bartleby.com/211/0305.html).
During the Viking Age, Scandinavians were familiar with the stories
based around King Gundahari via Völsungasaga, where the king has the
Old West Norse name of <Gunnarr>. This name was common in West
Scandinavia from the Icelandic Settlement onwards. It was also common
in Danish sources, including runic inscriptions, as well as in Sweden
and in the Danelaw.
See:
Geirr Bassi p. 10 s.n. <Gunnarr>.
Fellows-Jensen, Gillian. _Scandinavian Personal Names in
Lincolnshire and Yorkshire_. Copenhagen. Akademisk
Forlag. 1968. pp. 113-114 s.n. <Gunnarr>.
Lena Peterson. _Nordiskt runnamnslexikon_. Språk- och
folkminnes-institutet. http://www.sofi.se/SOFIU/runlex/
s.n. <Gunnarr>
Regarding the patronymic, Academy of St. Gabriel Report #1957
(http://www.s-gabriel.org/1957) says:
"<Magnús> is probably not appropriate for your period.
The first recorded instance of the name is King Magnús
den Gode of Norway and Denmark, who died in 1047. His
name subsequently became very popular [3]...
[3] Lind, E.H., _Norsk-Isla:ndska Dopnamn ock Fingerade
Namn från Medeltiden_ (Uppsala & Leipzig: 1905-1915,
sup. Oslo, Uppsala and Kobenhavn: 1931), Magnús, -brandr."
This means that there is about a six-century temporal disparity
between <Gundahari>/<Gundaharius> and <Magnús>.
<Magnús> is listed in Geirr Bassi on p. 13. The genitive form is
<Magnúsar>, making the correct patronymic <Magnúsarson>. See Academy
of St. Gabriel Report #2624 (http://www.s-gabriel.org/2624) for the
formation of the genitive.
If the client wants a Viking Age persona dating to the mid-11th
century or later, then <Gunnar Magnúsarson> would be a fine name.
There is no way to combine the father's name <Magnús> from the 11th
century with the 5th century Continental Germanic name that resulted
in the Latinized form <Gundaharius>.
Device is returned
for lack of a
name to send it on with. Submitter is
requested to resubmit on current forms - found at:
http://outlandsheralds.org/Rampart/index.html
4- Taliesin ab Iago. Change of Device Resubmission (K). Sable, a pine tree within a hexagon voided and fracted per pall argent.
Returned for conflict
with
al-Haadi abd-al-Malik Husam ibn Khalid - April of 1993 (via Caid) Sable,
a
hexagon voided within another argent, with a single CD for change
of type
of half of the primary group.
5- Vasilii Volchogo Zuba syn. Device Resubmission (L). Per saltire vert and sable, in pale three bears passant to sinister argent.
Returned for conflict with Ursus of Rydborg - August of 1984 (via the West) Gules, in pale three bears statant to sinister argent with a single CD for changes to the field. If this herald may be so bold as to suggest, the submitter may wish to consider a variation such as Vert, on a pale gules fimbriated, three bears passant argent which would be a green field with a wide red vertical stripe edged on both sides by a narrow white stripe, with the original bears on the red stripe. A cursory conflict check indicates that this suggested design is clear of conflict.
Thus ends my Letter
of Response.
In service and duty,
Sorcha,
White Stag