May Letter of Acceptances and Returns

The Bavarian Herald Jörg Rügen around 1510. Public Domain in the US

Greetings, Calontir!

The May Letter of Acceptances and Returns was published on Sunday, July 7th.  Here are the results for Calontir.  Most of these submissions were the result of the Krist Kinder consultation table.

CALONTIR acceptances

Alcione de Louens. Name and device. Per chevron throughout purpure and azure, two plates and a seahorse argent.

This name combines an English given name and a French byname, an acceptable lingual mix per SENA Appendix C.

The submitter has permission to conflict with the device of Úlfkell Hrafnhauss, Per chevron purpure and azure, two plates and a vulture displayed argent.

Andreas Seljukroctonis. Heraldic title Argyroglossa Herald.

Submitted as Argyraglossa Herald, this title is not constructed correctly. The substantive element Argyraglossa was intended to be ancient Greek for ‘silver tongue’. However, the Greek construction is not correct. Ancient Greek uses a standard compounding form to construct compounds using the word ‘silver’, Argyro-, which does not change gender to match whatever noun or adjective it is modifying. Therefore, even though the noun for tongue, glossa, is feminine, the compounding form ‘silver’ does not change gender to match it. This results in the compound word argyroglossa ‘silver tongue’. As changing a vowel is the smallest change we can make to register this name, we have done so.

Berakha bat Mira v’Shlomo. Badge. (Fieldless) On a pomegranate gules a crescent pendant argent.

The pomegranate in this badge has no visible seeding. This is a rare variation found in period armory.

Brynki Fálkason. Name change from Brynjólfr Fálkason.

The name element Fálkason is already registered to the submitter and used here via the Existing Registration Allowance.

The submitter’s prior name, Brynjólfr Fálkason, is retained as an alternate.

Cadfael Shotwell. Name and device. Or, a fountain between in cross four holly leaves, stems to center, fructed proper.

Shotwell is the submitter’s legal surname; however, they need not rely on the legal name allowance. Shotwell is a plausible Middle English constructed byname based on the family name Shot and the toponym -well.

Caspar von Görlitz. Name.

Nice 15th century German name!

Develin Ó Sirideáin. Device. Per bend sinister vert and gules, a triskelion of spirals and a lion Or.

There is a step from core practice for the use of a triskelion of spirals.

Dmitrii Zinonovich. Device. Argent, a double-headed eagle sable maintaining a warhammer fesswise within a bordure azure.

Dýrfinna Tonnudóttir. Reblazon of badge. (Fieldless) On a flame purpure an ananas argent.

Blazoned when registered in August of 2023 as (Fieldless) On a flame purpure a New World pineapple argent, we are removing the term New World from our blazons. Ananas is a widely used term globally for what we today call a pineapple. See the Cover Letter for details.

Eleanor Deyeson. Badge. Argent, in pale three escallops between flaunches azure.

This badge does not conflict with the device of Johannes Piper, Argent, three seeblätter in pale between flaunches azure. There is an SC between seeblätter and escallops.

Elisabetta da Bolzano. Name and device. Vert, an increscent and on a bordure Or three ivy leaves vert.

Submitted as Elisabetta of Three Rivers, the submitter requested a byname meaning “of Three Rivers” in Italian, or a city known to be on three rivers in a compatible regional naming group with Italian. The city of Bolzano meets this criteria, as it is located at the confluence of the Torrente-Talfer, Isarco-Eisack, and Adige rivers. Heralds at the Pelican meeting found evidence of this city during our period in Vita del B. Henrico de Bolzano, a book published in 1600 (https://books.google.com/books?id=n0s8AAAAcAAJ). SENA Appendix A says that locative bynames in Italian can be formed with the articles da, de and di. The submitter expressed a preference for da Bolzano. We are happy to make this change for registration.

Gabrielle des Chats Noirs. Device. Or, on a bend sinister azure between two natural panthers passant respectant sable three annulets argent.

Nice cant!

Gamla-Nereiðr. Name and device. Or, a ladybug bendwise and in canton a violet purpure seeded Or.

Hirsch Ross Eichmann. Augmentation of arms. Or, an oak tree fructed proper and on a chief gules three stag’s attires Or, for augmentation on a golpe conjoined in base to the tree a cross of Calatrava Or.

Hrafnhildr ingean Cormaic. Name.

This name combines an Old West Norse given name from Iceland with an Irish Gaelic byname, an acceptable lingual mix per SENA Appendix C.

Hrafnhildr ingean Cormaic. Household name Strays House.

Hrafnkell Festargarmr. Name and device. Per fess sable and gules, a raven volant to sinister wings addorsed and a wolf passant argent.

Nice 11th century Icelandic name!

Isibel Helsingr. Device. Argent, a winged unicorn rampant contourny sable crined and armed gules, in canton a decrescent azure.

Jamette de la Roche. Name.

Joachim Courtenay der Marxbruder. Device. Per fess indented gules and lozengy sable and argent, a sword fesswise argent and a bull rampant gules.

Artist’s note: Please draw the lozengy with fewer repeats. Most period depictions of lozengy had somewhere between 3 and 6 repeats across the width of the shield.

Juan Pablo Villalobos. Name change from Jean Pierre d’Armand and device. Gules, a wolf passant and on a chief argent two pairs of rapiers in saltire sable.

Nice 16th century Spanish name!

The submitter’s prior name, Jean Pierre d’Armand, is released.

Nice cant!

Lugaid mac Erca. Device. Per chevron azure and argent, a mullet of eight points and a coracle counterchanged.

Magdalena vander Meere. Augmentation of arms. Argent, a mermaid, in her vanity and sinister facing, on a chief gules, three escallops argent, and for augmentation balanced on the mermaid’s tail a golpe charged with a cross of Calatrava Or.

Nadyha Helming. Badge. Sable, in pale a rainbow proper and a cock Or, on a chief argent in fess four cucumbers palewise vert.

This badge has a complexity of nine, which is allowed for designs that include rainbows.

Nesscia inghean Chearnaigh. Heraldic will.

Upon the submitter’s death, all names and/or armory registered to them are to be released.

Nordman Mischkovich. Name and device. Purpure, a phoenix and on a chief raguly argent three nails gules.

Submitted as Norðmaðr Mischkovich, this name is in violation of SENA PN1B1 which says in part, “A registerable name phrase must follow the rules of grammar and structure for a single time and place.” As submitted, the Danish given name (dated to 1065-1075) and the Russian byname (dated to 1552) are roughly 490 years apart. Elements in a name that is a mix between compatible regional naming groups must be dated no more than 300 years apart. ffride Morelle found evidence of the Danish byname Nordmanson dated to 1422, giving us the expected given name Nordman in a time and place compatible with the byname Mischkovich. We have therefore made this change for registration.

The submitter requested authenticity for 6th century Rus-Byzantine. This name does not meet that request. It combines a 15th century Danish given name with a 16th century Russian byname. While this lingual mix is registerable per SENA Appendix C, such names are not considered authentic.

Olivera Woll. Name.

Riberlin Halderman. Name and device. Per bend Or and purpure, a lady’s slipper orchid counterchanged.

Sancha Lestrange. Badge. (Fieldless) A rat sejant erect reguardant vert ermined Or sustaining a wand sable.

Submitted as simply a staff, the maintained charge is not our default staff, which is a simple, smooth pole, but rather has a rough, natural outline (though not rough enough to be considered a ragged staff). We have instead blazoned this as a wand, which implies a more natural-looking stick.

Valeriano di Rossi. Badge. (Fieldless) A chevron inverted couped gules, overall an hourglass Or.

Submitted as an hourglass Or, sanded sable, the tincture, and even the presence, of sand in an hourglass is an unblazoned artistic detail.

Zilia Silvani. Name and device. Gules, in bend a rose slipped and leaved inverted argent seeded Or and a frauenadler close contourny reguardant argent armed and crined Or.

Zoran Dvorak. Name change from April Dvorak.

The name element Dvorak is currently registered to the submitter and used here under the Existing Registration Allowance.

The submitter’s prior name, April Dvorak, is released.

CALONTIR returns

Ása lúfa. Badge. (Fieldless) A pair of smith’s tongs sable surmounting in chief a flame proper.

This badge is returned for an undocumented style of enflaming. Precedent says:

Heraldic enflaming generally surrounds the enflamed charge with small tongues of flame issuant from the charge’s entire perimeter. In this submission, the depiction of the “enflam[ing] to chief” effectively fimbriates the top half of the wheel with flame, rather than issuing small tongues of flame from the top portion of the wheel. Such fimbriation of flame is not registerable: “The flames here act only as a very complex fimbriation, which has been previously disallowed” (LoAR of May 1995, p. 14). [Shih Tan Po, 01/2004, R-Middle]

Similarly, the tongs in this submission are not enflamed, but rather the top portion (everything above the pivot) is effectively surrounded by, or lying on, a single flame.

This badge is also returned for enflaming only part of a charge. The same precedent continues:

In this submission, only part of the wheel is enflamed, not the entire wheel. Usually, an entire charge must be enflamed, although at times the SCA has allowed a clearly separable portion of a charge to be enflamed (such as enflaming only the blade of a sword). It was the opinion of the College that it is not appropriate to only enflame the top of a wheel. Thus, even if the enflaming were redrawn so that it did not appear to be fimbriation of flame, this submission has a stylistic problem. Without supporting documentation, this motif may not be registered.

The top section of a pair of smith’s tongs is not ‘a clearly separable portion’ of the tongs.

Tongs, pincers, and pliers are palewise handles to base and closed by default.

Eleanor Deyeson. Badge. (Fieldless) A dove volant bendwise Or, tailfeathers enflamed proper.

This badge is returned for an undocumented style of enflaming. Precedent says:

In this submission, only part of the wheel is enflamed, not the entire wheel. Usually, an entire charge must be enflamed, although at times the SCA has allowed a clearly separable portion of a charge to be enflamed (such as enflaming only the blade of a sword). It was the opinion of the College that it is not appropriate to only enflame the top of a wheel. Thus, even if the enflaming were redrawn so that it did not appear to be fimbriation of flame, this submission has a stylistic problem. Without supporting documentation, this motif may not be registered. [Shih Tan Po, 01/2004, R-Middle]

We do not consider a bird’s tail to be a “clearly separable portion” for the purposes of this precedent, and, absent period examples, we will not register animate charges with only a single limb or extremity enflamed.

This badge is also returned for conflict with the device of Marina Teresa Caminante, Gules, a swallow volant bendwise Or. In the acceptance of the badge of Caitríona le Fox on the January 2024 LoAR, we established a two-part test to determine if flames are worth difference: they should be large enough to count as secondary charges, and their arrangement should be able to be explicitly blazoned. As the exact arrangement and orientation of the flames here can’t be unambiguously blazoned, they are not worth difference, leaving only a single DC for fieldlessness against Marina’s device.

Gyða glóra. Badge. (Fieldless) A tufted titmouse azure, face and breast argent.

This badge is returned for conflict with the badge of Merlyn Elzebeth von Preßela, (Fieldless) A merlin azure and with the device of Reginleif Ragnarsdottir, Or chape gules, a raven azure. The bird in this submission is azure with argent markings, giving no difference for tincture. This bird, the merlin, and the raven are all regular-shaped birds. Birds within a single category may be considered to have a DC between them if they were different in period armory; no evidence was presented that a tufted titmouse was known in period armory. Barring that, there would need to be significant visual difference between the birds; commenters agreed that the tuft on the head is not significant enough to be worth difference. This leaves only a single DC for fieldlessness against both of these pieces of armory.

This badge does not conflict with the badge of Lyrel-Phillipa of Eden’s Hall, Azure, a martlet voided argent. As noted in the February 2023 acceptance of the badge of Sefa Randsdóttir, “For conflict purposes the mar[t]let [in Lyrel-Phillipa’s badge] is azure”, so we are comparing two azure regular-shaped birds. On the July 2020 acceptance of the device of Vrsula Fey, Wreath partially overturned an older precedent and granted a DC between martlets close and ravens close. Due to a lack of evidence that martlets were ever used interchangeably with other birds in period armory, we extend this precedent to granting a DC between martlets close and all other regular-shaped (and non-martletted) birds close.

If registered, this would have been the defining instance of the tufted titmouse in Society armory. This bird’s year-round range covers the entire eastern half of the United States, so it existed in the same areas and times as humans and is therefore registerable.

Jane Fox of Foxhall. Badge. Sable, a fox rampant contourny maintaining a cloud argent.

This badge is returned for conflict with the device of Dorcas Dorcadas, Sable, a three-headed hound rampant contourny, one head reguardant, argent. There is a DC for adding the maintained cloud, but no difference for the number of heads.

The submitted blazon was issuant from its mouth a cloud. In the submitted emblazon, the cloud appears to be held in a forepaw next to the mouth, rather than issuing from the mouth. If this is redesigned and resubmitted, the question of whether clouds or other things issuing from the mouth of a beast or monster would be worth difference should be addressed.

Kitsumi Hisamoto. Device. Per pall Or, sable and gules, a katabami counterchanged gules, Or and Or.

This device is returned for multiple reasons. First, it is returned for violation of SENA A3b3b, which states: “Elements divided per pall or per pall inverted must have one part that has good contrast with the other two parts. No two parts may share a background tincture, but a part may share a tincture with another part which is multiply divided as long as identifiability is maintained.” The katabami is divided into three parts, two of which are Or.

Had this been registered, it would have been the defining instance of a katabami, a stylized wood sorrel leaf found in Japanese kamon. Despite being a leaf, this charge is treated as a few-petaled flower affronty for the purposes of conflict due to its stylization.

Under that interpretation, this device conflicts with the device of Cealmhain Realt Dubh, Tierced per pall argent, sable and gules, in chief rose branch fesswise, flowered of a single rose, slipped and leaved sable. There is no difference for changing the tincture of one third of the field. Examination of Cealmhain’s blazon shows the charge in chief to be effectively a rose slipped and leaved. The katabami is equivalent to a few-petaled flower affronty, which gets no difference from a rose. There is no difference for the placement of Cealmhain’s rose in chief, as this is forced by the tinctures of the field. This leaves only a single DC for the change in tincture of the primary charge.

This device is also returned for conflict with the Kingdom of Caid’s badge for Legion of Courtesy, (Fieldless) A rose Or barbed and seeded vert, and with the badge of Ragna Dzintara of Amberhall, (Fieldless) A rue flower Or slipped and leaved vert [Ruta graeveolens]. The katabami is over half Or, so there is a single DC against both of these pieces of armory for adding a field.

This device does not conflict with the badge of Dananir bint Zang al Tabib, (Fieldless) A tiger lily affronty proper. There is a DC for adding a field, and a DC for the tincture of the primary charge – Dananir’s lily is effectively gules, which we request Morsulus to note in the O&A. Palimpsest is directed to note that tiger lilies proper conflict with gules in Table 4 of the Glossary of Terms.

Lugaid Mac Scannlán. Name change from Lugaid mac Erca.

The submitter has withdrawn this name change.

Saito Takauji. Badge. Sable, a bend erminois between two coronets Or pearled argent.

This badge is returned for the use of a charge, the coronet, which is reserved for Royal Peers and the Court Baronage. Precedent says:

Just as a sitting king/queen/prince/princess cannot put a coronet on their arms until after they have attained the rank of count/ess or viscount/ess, since, while it is rare, there have been cases of royalty who have not completed their reign, neither can a territorial baron/ess, unless they are already a court baron/ess, use a coronet, since they have not attained a permament barional rank.” [Tsivia bas Tamara of Amberview, 05/1999, A-Middle]

The submitter is currently a landed Baron, and kingdom argued that, as Calontir Kingdom Law stipulates that landed Barons are made Barons of the Court upon stepping down, the submitter should be allowed to register this charge. In the interests of fairness, we will not make an exception to Society-wide rules based on individual kingdoms’ laws, and we uphold the 1999 precedent. The submitter is welcome to resubmit this badge once they are entitled to use a coronet.

CALONTIR pends

Berakha bat Mira v’Shlomo. Badge. (Fieldless) On a sun Or a star of David azure.

This badge is pended to redraw the sun in a period style. As submitted, the sun more closely resembles a roundel engrailed, which is not a registerable charge.

March Letter of Acceptances and Returns

The Bavarian Herald Jörg Rügen around 1510. Public Domain in the US

Greetings, Calontir!

The March Letter of Acceptances and Returns was published on Friday, May 3rd.  Here are the results for Calontir:

CALONTIR acceptances

Georgette Durning. Device. Purpure, a tyger sejant contourny argent.

This device does not conflict with the badge of Temair ingen Muiredaich, Purpure, a fox sejant contourny argent within a bordure ermine nor with the badge of Yuri Murasaki, Purpure, a fox sejant to sinister maintaining a lily affronty slipped and leaved argent. In each case there is a DC for removing the secondary charge, and there is at least a DC between a fox and a tyger.

This device also does not conflict with the device of Sabine d’Orliens, Purpure, a cat sejant contourny argent in chief three fleurs-de-lys Or, the device of Isabella Hawke, Purpure, a natural panther sejant contourny between three hawk’s legs erased à la quise belled and jessed argent, or the device of Siobhán ingen Tigernaich, Purpure, a natural tiger sejant contourny argent marked sable within a dragon involved in annulo head to chief Or. In each case there is a DC for removing the secondary charge group, and another DC for changing a feline to a tyger.

Havarr Refskegg. Device. Per pale wavy vert and argent, a stag’s attire palewise and an oak leaf counterchanged.

A stag’s attire defaults to fesswise with its stump to dexter. When palewise, it defaults to having its stump to base. We ask Palimpsest to add this information to Table 5 of the Glossary of Terms.

Helenos ben Simon. Name (see RETURNS for device).

Lucius Aternius Calidus. Name and device. Gyronny sable and Or, a torch gules and a serpent entwined argent.

Oddný Óttarsdóttir. Name change from Kenda Óttarsdóttir and device. Quarterly gules and sable, two otters statant counter-statant Or.

The submitter’s prior name, Kenda Óttarsdóttir, is released.

Nice cant!

Oddný Óttarsdóttir. Badge. (Fieldless) A sea-otter Or maintaining a drinking horn argent.

Nice cant!

Oddný Óttarsdóttir. Badge. Per chevron sable and gules, two ravens volant in chevron respectant argent and a boar rampant contourny Or.

Richard Wolfwood. Name and device. Or, a Bowen knot crosswise sable braced with an annulet vert.

This device does not conflict with the badge of Dianora Lizabetta di Cellini, (Fieldless) A Lacy knot within and conjoined to an annulet vert. Though by precedent [Úna inghean Shéamuis, 07/2004, A-Middle] there is no difference between a Lacy knot and a Bowen knot crosswise braced with an annulet, there is a DC for fieldlessness, a DC for changing the tincture of at least half of the primary charge, and a DC for removing the secondary annulet from Dianora’s badge.

This device also does not conflict with the device of Edana O’Donnelly, Or, a Donnelly knot sable. There is an SC for type between a Donnelly knot and a Bowen knot.

This device also does not conflict with the device of Elisabetta Camilla di Raffaello, Or, a knot of two hearts voided and braced to form a single cord azure. There is a DC for the tincture of the primary charge, and at least a DC between a knot of two hearts voided and braced to form a single cord and a Bowen knot.

Þióðrikr Ulfsbani. Name reconsideration from Þeodric Ulfsbani.

When we registered the name Þeodric Ulfsbani, we offered this form to the submitter. We are happy to accept this request for reconsideration!

Verena Näherin. Badge. (Fieldless) A winged dog passant maintaining in its mouth by the chain a morning star flail Or.

Submitted as a morningstar, there has been some confusion in terminology in our blazons, as a morningstar is actually a word for what we typically blazon as a spiked mace: a rigid weapon with no chain. The chained weapon is more accurately referred to as a type of flail. Going forward we will blazon this weapon as a morning star flail. Existing armory is reblazoned elsewhere on this letter.

Our last registration of this type of weapon was in 2015, so we take this opportunity to re-document this charge. The morning star flail appears to have been quite rare in period warfare, but examples can be found in period artwork, such as in the early 15th C “Livre des Merveilles du Monde” (BnF, Français 2810), ff. 245v and 253r.

CALONTIR returns

Helenos ben Simon. Device. Sable, on a sun Or an eye azure irised argent.

This device is returned for conflict with the badge of Leon de Asturias for House Cinqfoil, Sable, a cinquefoil azure en soleil Or. An examination of Leon’s badge shows it to be equivalent to Sable, on a sun Or a cinquefoil azure, so there is a single DC for changing the type of the tertiary charge.

In service,
Dorcas Saker

Announcement: March LoAR Published

Greetings, Calontir!

The Bavarian Herald Jörg Rügen around 1510. Public Domain in the US

The March Letter of Acceptances and Returns was published on Friday, May 3rd. Here are the results for Calontir:

CALONTIR acceptances

Georgette Durning. Device. Purpure, a tyger sejant contourny argent.

This device does not conflict with the badge of Temair ingen Muiredaich, Purpure, a fox sejant contourny argent within a bordure ermine nor with the badge of Yuri Murasaki, Purpure, a fox sejant to sinister maintaining a lily affronty slipped and leaved argent. In each case there is a DC for removing the secondary charge, and there is at least a DC between a fox and a tyger.

This device also does not conflict with the device of Sabine d’Orliens, Purpure, a cat sejant contourny argent in chief three fleurs-de-lys Or, the device of Isabella Hawke, Purpure, a natural panther sejant contourny between three hawk’s legs erased à la quise belled and jessed argent, or the device of Siobhán ingen Tigernaich, Purpure, a natural tiger sejant contourny argent marked sable within a dragon involved in annulo head to chief Or. In each case there is a DC for removing the secondary charge group, and another DC for changing a feline to a tyger.

Havarr Refskegg. Device. Per pale wavy vert and argent, a stag’s attire palewise and an oak leaf counterchanged.

A stag’s attire defaults to fesswise with its stump to dexter. When palewise, it defaults to having its stump to base. We ask Palimpsest to add this information to Table 5 of the Glossary of Terms.

Helenos ben Simon. Name (see RETURNS for device).

Lucius Aternius Calidus. Name and device. Gyronny sable and Or, a torch gules and a serpent entwined argent.

Oddný Óttarsdóttir. Name change from Kenda Óttarsdóttir and device. Quarterly gules and sable, two otters statant counter-statant Or.

The submitter’s prior name, Kenda Óttarsdóttir, is released.

Nice cant!

Oddný Óttarsdóttir. Badge. (Fieldless) A sea-otter Or maintaining a drinking horn argent.

Nice cant!

Oddný Óttarsdóttir. Badge. Per chevron sable and gules, two ravens volant in chevron respectant argent and a boar rampant contourny Or.

Richard Wolfwood. Name and device. Or, a Bowen knot crosswise sable braced with an annulet vert.

This device does not conflict with the badge of Dianora Lizabetta di Cellini, (Fieldless) A Lacy knot within and conjoined to an annulet vert. Though by precedent [Úna inghean Shéamuis, 07/2004, A-Middle] there is no difference between a Lacy knot and a Bowen knot crosswise braced with an annulet, there is a DC for fieldlessness, a DC for changing the tincture of at least half of the primary charge, and a DC for removing the secondary annulet from Dianora’s badge.

This device also does not conflict with the device of Edana O’Donnelly, Or, a Donnelly knot sable. There is an SC for type between a Donnelly knot and a Bowen knot.

This device also does not conflict with the device of Elisabetta Camilla di Raffaello, Or, a knot of two hearts voided and braced to form a single cord azure. There is a DC for the tincture of the primary charge, and at least a DC between a knot of two hearts voided and braced to form a single cord and a Bowen knot.

Þióðrikr Ulfsbani. Name reconsideration from Þeodric Ulfsbani.

When we registered the name Þeodric Ulfsbani, we offered this form to the submitter. We are happy to accept this request for reconsideration!

Verena Näherin. Badge. (Fieldless) A winged dog passant maintaining in its mouth by the chain a morning star flail Or.

Submitted as a morningstar, there has been some confusion in terminology in our blazons, as a morningstar is actually a word for what we typically blazon as a spiked mace: a rigid weapon with no chain. The chained weapon is more accurately referred to as a type of flail. Going forward we will blazon this weapon as a morning star flail. Existing armory is reblazoned elsewhere on this letter.

Our last registration of this type of weapon was in 2015, so we take this opportunity to re-document this charge. The morning star flail appears to have been quite rare in period warfare, but examples can be found in period artwork, such as in the early 15th C “Livre des Merveilles du Monde” (BnF, Français 2810), ff. 245v and 253r.

CALONTIR returns

Helenos ben Simon. Device. Sable, on a sun Or an eye azure irised argent.

This device is returned for conflict with the badge of Leon de Asturias for House Cinqfoil, Sable, a cinquefoil azure en soleil Or. An examination of Leon’s badge shows it to be equivalent to Sable, on a sun Or a cinquefoil azure, so there is a single DC for changing the type of the tertiary charge.

In service,
Dorcas Saker

Announcement: February LoAR Published

The Bavarian Herald Jörg Rügen around 1510. Public Domain in the US

Greetings, Calontir!

The February Letter of Acceptances and Returns was published on Friday, April 12th. Here are the results for Calontir:

CALONTIR acceptances

Adalyde Heloyz la Cantora. Device change. Gyronny of twelve Or and azure, a peacock in his pride argent within a four-lobed quadrate cornice gules.

The submitter’s prior device, Gyronny of twelve Or and azure, a peacock in his pride argent and on a base sable a moon in her plenitude Or, is released.

Anne Renarde. Name change from Anne Renaud (see RETURNS for device).

Nice 14th century French name from Picardy! The submitter’s previous name, Anne Renaud, is released.

Dagný ingen Murchada. Name change from Eleanor of Shrewsbury.

This name combines an Old Norse given name with an Irish Gaelic byname, an acceptable lingual mix per SENA Appendix C. The submitter’s prior name, Eleanor of Shrewsbury, is released.

Elizabeth Hathaway. Device. Vert, an owl and on a chief argent three rue sprigs vert. Halfdan inn auðgi Ívarsson. Name.

Ivan Povarnin. Name and device. Vert, a frog rampant within an annulet of icosahedral dice Or. Submitted as twelve icosahedral dice, twelve is too many charges to enumerate in blazon when arranged in such a way that the number can’t be recognized at a glance.

Jean Jolivet. Name (see RETURNS for device).

Nice 15th century name from Paris, France!

Mór Hoistlair. Device change. Quarterly vert and sable, a wolf passant atop a snake glissant argent.

The submitter’s prior device, Quarterly vert and sable, in pale a wolf couchant and an eagle maintaining in each foot an olive branch argent, is retained as a badge.

Thomas Bacon. Reblazon of device. Purpure, between in fess two pens a hand maintaining a torch, in chief five mullets in fess Or.

Blazon when registered in March of 1989 as Purpure, a hand maintaining a torch palewise between in fess two quill pens palewise, in chief five mullets in fess, all Or, we are clarifying the charge groups. The pens are the primary charges, the torch and hand are secondary charges.

Þorkatla in skygna. Name.

Nice 9th-11th century Old Norse name from Iceland!
Ysabel de la Oya. Badge. Argent goutty de sang, a cross of Santiago sable.

CALONTIR returns

Anne Renarde. Device. Azure, on a sun in splendor between three mullets Or an increscent moon argent.
This device is returned for having a low contrast tertiary charge, in violation of SENA A3B4a.

Submitted as a moon in her plenitude irradiated Or waxing crescent argent, we have no evidence for moons in their plenitude with the faces divided this way, so we must consider the argent increscent as a tertiary charge which has poor contrast with the Or charge it lies upon.

Even if we were to allow a moon divided this way, the primary charge is effectively a roundel irradiated, which is a sun by definition. And since the primary charge is more than half Or, considered this way the device would conflict with the device of Wendryn Townsend, Azure, a sun in glory Or, and with the device of Paul of Sunriver, Azure, a compass star Or, with a single DC in both cases for adding the secondary mullets.

Jean Jolivet. Device. Argent, on a pale vert between two lilies of the valley vert flowered argent three hummingbirds hovering argent.

This device is returned for the lack of contrast between the flower blossoms and the field, in violation of SENA A3B4b. Despite lilies of the valley taking their tincture from the slip and leaves for contrast and conflict purposes, the flowers are an identifying feature which is too important for identifiability to have no contrast with the field.

October 2022 Letter of Heraldic Acceptances and Returns

FROM THE OFFICE OF SAKER HERALD

The latest Heraldic Letter of Acceptances and Returns was published December 15, 2022. These items have been processed through the College of Heralds and have been made official or returned for further work.

CALONTIR ACCEPTANCES:

* David de la Cloude. Name and device. Argent, in pale two clouds gules. Nice 13th-14th century English name! Nice cant!
* Hamilton fitzHugh. Name change from holding name Jack fitzHugh. This is an appeal of the original February 1991 return for using a surname as a given name. At the time, precedent required that “the use of surnames as given names should be limited to surnames actually shown to have been used as given names in period.” This precedent was overturned in April 2010, when a more general pattern of late period surnames in England being used as given names was established, and so we may joyfully register this name.
* Irial mac Uilliam. Name. Nice 15th century Irish Gaelic name!
* Numerius Volusius Germanicus Secundus. Device. Quarterly gules and sable, a cross counter-vairy Or and gules between a pair of wings in bend Or.
* Rúna Úlfsdóttir. Device. Per saltire Or and azure, a wolf’s head erased argent between in cross the runes algiz, rahu, fehu, and urhuz counterchanged.
* Sancha Lestrange. Badge. (Fieldless) Issuant from a snail shell opening to chief Or a flame proper. Nice badge!
* Sem’iyye bint Tahir al-Hindi. Name change from Miakushka Loshkina. This name combines a Turkish given name and an Arabic byname, an acceptable lingual mix post-1100 per SENA Appendix C.
* Týki Mikaelsson. Name. Submitted as Týki Mikaelson, this byname is not constructed correctly. The patronymic byname formed from the Old Norse given name Mikael is Mikaelsson. We have made this change for registration.
* Volusia Zoe. Name and device. Argent, a rat rampant sable vested purpure and hooded Or. The Roman cognomen Zoe is found in several inscriptions cataloged in the Epigraphic Database Heidelberg as documented by Gwen Recorder. Nice Imperial Roman name!

CALONTIR RETURNS:

* Visvamitra Yavana. Badge. Per fess argent and vert semy of acorns Or, atop a tree a brown squirrel proper maintaining an acorn Or. This badge is returned per the August 2015 Cover Letter: “A held or conjoined charge which is not identifiable will render the design unregisterable. A charge may be rendered unidentifiable through the usual methods, including reduction in size, poor contrast, etc…” [emphasis added]. As the held acorn has poor contrast with the field, this design is unregisterable.
You can find the entire Letter here: http://heraldry.sca.org/loar/2022/10/

Heraldic Wills and Letters of Permission to Conflict

This is the ninth in a series of educational articles about heraldry for Calontir. (See bottom of page for links to previous articles.)

The previous article in this series discussed “conflict” – the rule that no two people in the SCA can have names or armory that are too similar to each other.

On a regular basis, someone trying to register a new item will discover it conflicts with an item that has already been registered.  But all is not lost.  If you can track down the owner of the item that conflicts, you can ask for a “Letter of Permission to Conflict”.  They don’t have to give you permission, of course, but a lot of times they will.  (You might request a letter preemptively, if you’re not sure if your item conflicts or not.)

Some people have been kind enough to file “Blanket Letters of Permission to Conflict” with the College of Arms which is nice to save hassle in the future.  Even with Permission, no one can register a name or device that is exactly like yours.

On a related note, the names and heraldry registered with the SCA are considered legal property, and the SCA has committed to protect your heraldic property in perpetuity.

So what happens to your registered names and armory when you die?  Their ownership passes to your legal heirs.  This may be fine, or you might prefer someone else in your biological or adopted SCA family inherit your items.  Some people choose to completely release their heraldic items from protection when they die, or release some of them.  Others designate their Kingdom Herald as their heraldic heir so that Letters of Permission to Conflict can be issued as needed.

You can do any of these things by filing a Heraldic Will with the SCA College of Arms.  There is no fee for this.

There are sample letters and wills here:  http://heraldry.sca.org/admin.html#APPENDIXD

As always, there are lots of “Heraldic Helpers” to guide you through all this.

At your service,

Sofya la Rus, Habicht Herald

Calontir Heraldic Education Deputy

habicht@calontir.org

 

Previous articles in this series:

Heraldic Helpers

What’s in a Name?

Where do I find a good name?

How do I create a coat of arms? Part four, embellishments.

Conflict is bad (in Heraldry and elsewhere)

Conflict is bad (in Heraldry and elsewhere)

This is the eighth in a series of educational articles about heraldry for Calontir.  (See bottom of page for list of previous articles in this series)

Hopefully at this point, you have developed some ideas for your name and/or your heraldry.  But before you fall in love with one of them, it’s a good idea to make sure you don’t conflict with (are too similar to) someone else.

Names conflict if they look or sound too much alike.  It would be awkward if a herald called your name in court and someone else answered the call.  Most of the time, no other name is even close, but sometimes it’s tricky to decide if your name is different enough from name that has already been registered.

Items of armory conflict if they look too much alike.  There are actual period guidelines for this, called marks of cadency.  A mark of cadency would be a small change that a son would make to the family coat of arms to show he was related to the head of the family, in SCA-speak that’s a “distinct change”.  So your device needs to be enough different from someone else’s, that you’re not implying that you’re their heir.

Over the years, heralds have come up with a system of what counts as a major change (significant change or SC, just need one), minor change (distinct changes or DC, need two) and what doesn’t count at all for difference – based as much as possible on period research.

Go here to see what names have already been registered (check multiple different spellings of each of the parts of your name): https://oanda.sca.org//oanda_np.cgi

Here are the official rules about names conflict: SENA PN.3. Personal Names Conflict – http://heraldry.sca.org/sena.html#PN3

Go here to look up what other coats of arms have been registered with your charges: https://oanda.sca.org/ordinary/

Here are the official rules about armory conflict: SENA A.5. Armory Conflict – http://heraldry.sca.org/sena.html#A5

Articles to explain the rules: http://scaheraldry.info/index.php?title=Conflict_Checking

Admittedly, “conflict” is one of the most challenging parts of researching names and heraldry.  Even experienced heralds get confused, argue, and miss things (a lot), but you can at least start the process and get ideas for what other people have done.

As always, there are lots of “Heraldic Helpers” to guide you through all this (see article below).

At your service,

Sofya la Rus, Habicht Herald

Calontir Heraldic Education Deputy

habicht@calontir.org

 

Previous articles in this series:

Heraldic Helpers

What’s in a Name?

Where do I find a good name?

How do I create a coat of arms? Part four, embellishments.

How do I create a coat of arms? Part four, embellishments.

This is the seventh in a series of educational articles about heraldry for Calontir. (See bottom of page for links to previous articles.)

Previously, we discussed the basic ingredients for a coat of arms.  Now how can we embellish those basic ingredients?

Furs.

Furs are treated like tinctures in most ways.  The most common fur in heraldry is ermine.  Plain ermine is black ermine tails on a white background, but versions can be done using all the heraldic tinctures.

Vair is another fur, meant to mimic squirrel fur, and is traditionally blue and white, but can be done in other tinctures also. Furs obey the contrast rules, so you can have red ermined white, but not red ermined green.

Lines of Division

The field (background) of a device, and many charges (motifs) can be divided into different-colored pieces.  These pieces do NOT have to obey the contrast rules if they’re simple enough to be identifiable.  (This because the color is considered “next to” the color, not “on” the color, i.e. you’ve divided layer 1 into different colored pieces, not placed a dark-colored layer 2 ON a dark-colored layer 1.)

Here are some options:

   

Complex Lines

The lines of the above divisions don’t have to be straight line, and these complex lines can also be applied to the edges of some simple geometric charges.

Here are some examples:

Diapering

In heraldry, diapering is adding tone-on-tone patterns to embellish an otherwise plain area of a device.  For example, a plain blue background can be dressed up with light blue foliage swirls.

As you can see, even with all the rules in heraldry, there are millions of amazing options available.  We’re happy to help if you can’t make up your mind.  (See “Heraldic Helpers“.)

 

At your service,

Sofya la Rus, Habicht Herald

Calontir Heraldic Education Deputy

habicht@calontir.org

 

Previous articles in this series:

Heraldic Helpers

What’s in a Name?

Where do I find a good name?

Sign Ups for Virtual Heralds Point 2 Are Open

Gleaned from the SCA Heralds email list:

The SCA College of Arms will be hosting a Virtual Heralds Point for approximately 2 weeks, from Aug. 8-22, with a Zoom event for consultations from Aug. 14-15.

Links to the sign-up forms can be found at http://heraldry.sca.org/heraldspoint/

All submitters must pre-register before August 5 to take part. That’s this Thursday.

We will again be taking electronic payments via PayPal for submissions. So if you’ve been putting off submitting, this is the time to do it!

The hope is that it will be very flexible, a submitter can enter their ideas and preferred forms of contact, and a herald will get in touch and try to help them through the process, either slowly by email over the course of a number of days, or in one hit over a Zoom meeting, whatever it takes.

Yours in Service,

Dame Lillia de Vaux for Virtual Heralds Point Staff

The Bavarian Herald Jörg Rügen around 1510. Public Domain in the US

Virtual Heralds Point

The SCA College of Arms will be hosting a Virtual Heralds Point for three weeks beginning on Sunday, Jan 24th. Whether you’ve been meaning to get something registered for a while but can’t find your local herald, or you’re a herald looking for a little more consulting work, this is a great opportunity to get something moving. Links to the sign-up forms can be found at http://heraldry.sca.org/heraldspoint/

The best part of this consulting table is that we’ll be taking electronic payments via PayPal for submissions. So if you’ve been putting off submitting, this is the time to do it!

The hope is that it will be very flexible, a submitter can enter their ideas and preferred forms of contact, and a herald will get in touch and try to help them through the process, either slowly by email over the course of a number of days, or in one hit over a zoom meeting, whatever it takes. Sign up today over at http://heraldry.sca.org/heraldspoint/

The Bavarian Herald Jörg Rügen around 1510. Public Domain in the US