Æthelmearc Letter of Intent Æ100
December 20, 2006 (AS 41)

It is the intent of the Æthelmearc College of Heralds to register the following devices. Unless otherwise noted, submitters will accept any changes and will allow holding names.

1.  Alicia Hennenberg – New Device

Per pale sable and vert, two peacocks pavonated addorsed argent.

Her name was registered in February 2004 via Æthelmearc

A previous submission, Per pale vert and sable, two peacocks pavonated addorsed and in chief two acorns slipped and leaved inverted argent, submitted internally on Æthelmearc ILoI Æ93 dated March 1, 2006, was returned at Kingdom level for violating RfS against the appearance of marshalling on Letter of Report Æ 93 dated April 20, 2006.

2.  Artán Becc – New Name

The name is intended to be masculine. The submitter will not accept major changes and cares most about sound. The submitter is not requesting authenticity.

Artán – OCM, p. 24, s.n. Artán, state that the name is a diminutive of Art, and that “[t]hough never widely used as a name, it gave rise to the surname Meic Artáin (MacCartan) of Down.”

Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, “Index of Names in Irish Annals: Domnall / Domhnall” (WWW: Kathleen M. O'Brien, 2003) [URL: http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/Masculine/Domnall.shtml] cites one <Domhnall ócc mac Mec Artain> dated to 1486.

Becc – Submitted to kingdom as <Bécc>, the byname was changed at kingdom to <Becc>, as none of the supporting documentation we found included an accent over the vowel. The submitter allows minor changes.

Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, “Names and Naming Practices in the Red Book of Ormond (Ireland 14th Century” [http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/lateirish/ormond-glossary.html] lists Becc as a modern form of the descriptive byname 'becc' meaning 'small'.  Dated forms include Beche (1305) and  Beg (1304, 1308). Tangwystyl further states that “[t]he overwhelmingly most popular descriptive byname is becc, accounting for over half the examples. The number might be cut in half if duplicate references to the same person were eliminated, however the name would still be the runaway favorite.”

Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, “Index of Names in Irish Annals: Descriptive Bynames: Becc/Beag” [http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/DescriptiveBynames/Becc.shtml]), gives Becc as the standard spelling for Old Irish Gaelic (700-900) and Middle Irish Gaelic (900-1200) and dates the 10 occurrences in the annals to 568, 593, 725, 738, 995, 1170, 1184, 1189, 1201, 1259, 1260, 1584.

3.  Connor M’Eleam – Change of Device

Per fess dovetailed azure and argent, in pale two greyhounds courant argent collared Or, and a portcullis sable.

His name was registered in September 1997 via Æthelmearc. His old device, Azure, a cubit arm sustaining a double-bitted axe palewise argent, a bordure argent semy of roses proper, is to be released.

The submitter informed us that he has mundane armory registered through the Imperial Ethiopian College of Heraldry [URL: http://www.solomoniccrownheraldry.org] with the following blazon:

Per Fess embattled, in first Azure two greyhounds courant Argent collared Or in pale; in second Argent a portcullis Sable; in the  Crest, issuant from a torse wreath Azure and Argent, a greyhound's  head couped Argent collared Or; for the Motto, Virtute & Valare.

The Administrative Handbook III. B. 6. states:

Armory Used by the Submitter Outside the Society - No armory will be registered to a submitter if it is identical to an insignia used by the submitter for purposes of identification outside of a Society context. This includes armory, trademarks and other items registered with mundane authorities that serve to identify an individual or group. This restriction is intended to help preserve a distinction between a submitter's identity within the Society and his or her identity outside of the Society. Any change that causes a blazonable difference between mundane and Society arms is sufficient to allow registration by Laurel. Further, submitters may register either a name or armory which is a close variant of a name or insignia they use outside the Society, but not both.

The difference in the line of division (embattled versus dovetailed) provides a blazonable difference between the submitter’s mundane armory and his armory submitted here.

4. Isabele of Dunbar – New Name

The name is intended to be feminine. The submitter will accept any changes and cares most about sound. The submitter is not requesting authenticity.

Isabele – Black, Surnames of Scotland, p. 177, s.n. Covington, gives Isabele de Colbanston dated to 1296.

of Dunbar - Black, Surnames of Scotland, p. 227, s.n. Dunbar gives Adam of Dunbar dated to 1269.

5.  Nikolai Bearslayer – New Name

The name is intended to be masculine. The submitter will not accept any major or minor changes, except as stated below, and does not state a preference for meaning, sound, language/culture or authenticity.

Nikolai – Wickenden, Dictionary of Period Russian Name , 3rd ed., p. 237, s.n. Nikolai, states that this is the Russianization of Nicholas and dates the spelling Nikolai to 1291. The name remains in use into modern times.

Bearslayer – no documentation was supplied on the submission forms. We find the following:

An online Russian dictionary gives the Russian word for bear as медведь which transliterates to Medved’. 

Wickenden, Dictionary of Period Russian Name , 3rd ed., p. 207, s.n. Medved’, lists this as a masculine name meaning “bear” and dates this spelling to c. 1495.

Ibid., s.n. Medvednikov, gives this as a byname meaning “bear keeper” and dates this spelling to c. 1495. Here, the sense of “keeper” seems to by conveyed by adding –nik to the root word for “bear,” followed by the patronymic or byname suffix “-ov”

Wickenden, “Occupational Bynames in Medieval Russia” [URL: http://www.goldschp.net/archive/jobnames.html], under  “Agricultural/Hunting” gives:

Hunter, Bear -- Medvednikov (c1495)

Here, the suffix –nik is translated as conveying the meaning “hunter”

Paul Wickenden, via e-mail, confirms that the suffix “-nik” carries the sense of “one that has something to do with [X]” and is akin to the English suffix “-ist”.  He further informs us that the article  “Occupational Bynames in Medieval Russia” was released a year after his Dictionary of Period Russian Names and that the definition of Medvednik as “bear hunter” is a revision of the previous translation of “bear keeper.”

For another example in which the suffix –nik, is translated as “hunter”, we find:

Wickenden, p. 106, s.n. Gribovnikov, gives this as a byname meaning "mushroom hunter" dated to 1603.

An online translator gives the Russian word for “mushroom” as гриб, which transliterates Grib.

Thus, Medvednikov is  a documented period byname with the probable meaning “bear hunter”. The Lingua Anglica allowance should allow for the byname to be registered in English, with “slayer” as a proposed equivalent of “hunter."

Should the byname <Bearslayer> be deemed unregisterable as a Lingua Anglica equivalent of <Medvednikov>, the submitter will reluctantly accept registration of <Medvednikov> as his byname. That said, he very strongly prefers that the byname be registered in English.

6.  Rashid al-Tayyib – New Device

Argent ,two gophers courant contourny and another courant proper.

His name was registered in April 2004.

His previous submission, Per fess argent and vert, two gophers courant contourny and another courant proper, submitted on ILoI 73 dated November 1, 2003, was returned for contrast problems at Kingdom on LoR Æ 73 dated January 1, 2004.

7.  Uesugi Kutarou Ietoyo – New Name, New Device

Vert, three dragonflies in pall inverted tails to center argent.

The name is intended to be masculine. The submitter will accept all changes and cares most about the Japanese language and culture. The submitter is not requesting authenticity.

Uesugi – Solveig Throndardottir, Name Construction in Mediaeval Japan, p. 328, lists <Uesugi> as a historic surname dated to 1332.

Kutarou – Solveig Throndardottir, Name Construction in Mediaeval Japan, p. 371, lists <Kutarou> as a historical masculine yobina dated to 1568.

Ietoyo – Solveig Throndardottir, Name Construction in Mediaeval Japan, p. 335 lists <Ietoyo> as a historical masculine nanori dated to 1572.

Solveig Throndardottir, Name Construction in Mediaeval Japan, p. 4 states:

A masculine Japanese name can consist simply of a family name followed by a yobina and ending with a nanori.

A previous device design of Vert, three dragonflies argent was erroneously published at kingdom on Æthelmearc ILoI AE99 and subsequently withdrawn at kingdom and replaced with this design on Æthelmearc ILoI AE100.

8. Veronica d'Artusio – New Name

The name is intended to be feminine. The submitter will accept any changes and cares most about language/culture. The submitter is not requesting authenticity.

Veronica – De Felice, Dizionario dei Nomi Italiani, p. 352, cites “santa Veronica di Binasco” who died in 1479.

Arval Benicoeur, “Feminine Given Names from the Online Catasto of Florence of 1427” [www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/catasto/] cites three instances.

Arval Benicoeur, “Feminine Given Names from Thirteenth Century Perugia” [www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/perugia/perugiaFemAlpha.html] cites one occurence.

d'Artusio – Arval Benicoeur and Talan Gwynek, “Fourteenth Century Venetian Personal Names” [http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/venice14/venice14sur.html#table] lists this as a patronymic surname formed from Artusio, an Italian form of Arthur.

This concludes the Æthelmearc External Letter of Intent dated December 20, 2006. We count 4 new primary names, 3 new devices, and 1 change of device for a total of 8 payable items. A check for $32 will be forwarded to Laurel separately.