Author: Sofya la Rus

Where do I find a good name?

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This is the fourth in a series of educational articles about heraldry in Calontir. 

A previous article covered the basic requirements for registerable names, but where do you find a good name?

It’s very helpful if you have already decided on a persona with a defined culture and time period.  In that case, you can look through on-line references for your culture at:

SCA College of Arms, Names Articles – http://heraldry.sca.org/names.html

Medieval Names Archive – https://www.s-gabriel.org/names/

 

If you don’t know what culture you want, there are a few options.

One, find a period version of your real name, a family name, or the name of someone else important to you.

Two, pick a name that was used in many different cultures.  A name like Elizabeth was popular all across medieval Europe (with variations) so you could use it for many different personas.

Third, explore the Database of Medieval Names or the Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources (DMNES).  These sources collect names from multiple cultures in one place, so you can see what sort of names you like.  Often, you’ll find that a certain culture has multiple names that appeal to you – a useful clue about what persona you might want to adopt.

Fourth, wander around events without a name until your friends give you one.  Such names are usually fun and descriptive and come with good stories, although they can be devilishly hard to document after the fact (unless your friends happen to be heralds).

Unfortunately, baby names books and websites usually do not have historical spellings, much less dates.  History textbooks and Wikipedia have dates, but often have modernized or anglicized the spelling of names.  For example, Charles I of Spain was actually called Carlos in Spanish.  A good book will explain in the Table of Contents how they dealt with “foreign” names.  If you’re not sure of the source, look for the name in one of the websites listed above to document it better.

Once you find a name you like, make sure to record where you found it, with the date.  You’ll want that for the paperwork when you want to register it.

Whatever your inspiration, the heralds of Calontir are ready to help. Find us on-line or bring your ideas to a consult table and show us what you’ve got!

Heraldic Helpers – http://falconbanner.gladiusinfractus.com/2017/09/09/heraldic-helpers/

Virtual Consult Table – http://falconbanner.gladiusinfractus.com/2017/10/07/calontir-virtual-consult-table/

 

At your service,

Sofya la Rus, Habicht Herald

Calontir Heraldic Education Deputy

habicht@calontir.org

What’s in a Name?

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This is the third in a series of educational articles about heraldry in Calontir. 

Picking a name is one of the first things a SCAdian has to do, but is also one of the more tricky things to do “properly”.  There are no “heraldic police” in the SCA, so you can use any name you can get people to call you.  But if you want to register the name eventually, it’s good to be aware of the basic rules before getting too attached to a name.

In order to be registered, a name has to be documentable – with a period spelling and period date.  Everyone knows that Mary is a period name, but was it written as “Mary” in 11th century Ireland or did they use a unique Gaelic variation?

A registerable name must also have two parts – generally a first name and a byname.  We know that some cultures in SCA period tended to use only single names, but for administrative purposes, paperwork is filed under your SCA name and it wouldn’t work very well to have multiple people named “Anne”.

Both parts of your name need to go together – compatible genders, and ideally from the same time period and culture, or at least cultures that had close contact with each other.

A name does NOT have to match your persona (especially with the way people change personas in the SCA).  The name doesn’t have to match YOUR gender, either (although it has to be internally consistent with itself, as noted above).

There are some other important restrictions to keep in mind.

First, your SCA name cannot be identical to your real-world name.  It can be similar, but there needs to be at least a couple differences, for example, Mikhail instead of Michael.

Second, a name cannot be offensive.  Offensiveness includes scatological references, sexist or racist stereotypes, or religious disrespect.  This is, admittedly, subjective.

Third, a name cannot be presumptuous – making a claim to rank or power.  For some names, it depends on the culture.  Jesus might be an acceptable name in Spain, but maybe not in England.  Sometimes, a name by itself may be okay, but not when combined with a particular coat of arms.  James York might be registerable, but not with armory that resembles the Yorkist branch of the English royal family.

Fourth, a name cannot be “obtrusively modern”.  Such names have such an obvious modern reference that it pulls us out of the Middle Ages.  An example is “Porsche Audi”.  “Joke names” are registerable, but the joke needs to be medieval, not modern.

 

All of this maybe a little confusing, but there are plenty of people to help.

Heraldic Helpers – http://falconbanner.gladiusinfractus.com/2017/09/09/heraldic-helpers/

Virtual Consult Table – http://falconbanner.gladiusinfractus.com/2017/10/07/calontir-virtual-consult-table/

 

At your service,

Sofya la Rus, Habicht Herald

Calontir Heraldic Education Deputy

habicht@calontir.org

Calontir Virtual Consult Table

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This is the second of a series of educational articles about heraldry in Calontir.

Calontir has a fairly robust cadre of local heralds and a strong contingent of heralds-at-large who are ready to help with researching and registering names and devices.

But we recognize that sometimes you just can’t get to the consult table at an event with all the other great things going on.  And it can be a challenge to pigeon-hole your local herald at a meeting long enough to hammer out some good ideas.

So, we are offering a brand new service – the Calontir Virtual Consult Table.

The Virtual Consult Table is a place where Calontiri with questions about heraldry can request a herald to work with them on-line to research a name, design a device, and get through the submission paperwork.

If you would like to use the Calontir Virtual Consult Table, go to the Virtual Consult Request Form.

You should receive an email from your assigned consulting herald within two weeks.

After your consultation, please let us know how we did and if you have suggestions for improvement with the Virtual Consult Feedback Form.

Heralds who are interested in helping with Virtual Consults do not have to be “senior” heralds or even “experienced” heralds. You just have to have to be service-oriented, familiar with the key resources (especially SENA and the Calontir Heralds Handbook) and able to ask other heralds for help when you find yourself with a question you can’t answer. And, of course, you need to have reliable email service.  Virtual Consult Volunteer Form.

When you finish a Virtual Consult, please report back so the Herald-in-Charge knows you’re ready for a new client:  Virtual Consult Heralds Report Form.

The Calontir Virtual Consult Table is in beta testing at the moment, but if all goes well, it will find a permanent home on the Calontir Heralds website.  For now, you can find it here:

http://calontiri.wikispaces.com/Virtual+Consult+Table

Please try it out!

Heraldic Helpers

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This is the first of a series of educational articles about heraldry in Calontir.

There are two main types of heralds in the SCA:  voice heralds and book heralds.

The voice heralds came first, historically.  In the SCA, they make announcements at tournaments and events (hence the name, herald) and run court and other ceremonies.  Sign heralds are included in the tradition of the voice heralds, since they convey messages also.

Book heralds help people pick names and design coats of arms.  Originally, heralds got into the business of names and armory just to keep track of the people they were announcing.  That evolved into a role in designing coats of arms for new noble families.  And in the SCA, heralds got involved in researching and registering names since you need a name in order to file armory registrations.

Most local groups in Calontir have a herald among the local officers.  Local heraldic officers have varying levels of expertise, from rank novice to grizzled expert, but they will be able to find someone to help you, if your problem is beyond their resources.

Since not everyone has a local herald easily available, Calontir has a system of regional heralds to cover any gaps.  You can contact your regional herald at any time for assistance on heraldic issues.

  • Northeast: Axed Root, Coeur d’Ennui, Deodar, Flinthyll, Heraldshill and Shadowdale. kite@calontir.org
  • Northwest: Carlsby, Crescent Moon, Lonely Tower, Lost Moor and Mag Mor sparrowhawk@calontir.org
  • Central: Amlethsmore, Aston Tor, Bellewode, Cúm an Iolair, Forgotten Sea and Loch Bheathrach. harrier@calontir.org
  • Southeast: Calanais Nuadh, Oakheart, Standing Stones, Three Rivers and Wyvern Cliffe. buteo@calontir.org
  • Southwest: Bois d’Arc, Crystal Mynes, Grimfells, Spinning Winds, Theobald, Vatavia and Westumbria. gerfalcon@calontir.org

Calontir also has a strong contingent of active heralds-at-large who are ready to help.  You can find them and other heralds at the heraldic consult table at many of our events – including Lilies War.

You can also find us online:

At your service,

Sofya la Rus, Habicht Herald
Calontir Heraldic Education Deputy
habicht@calontir.org