ÆTHELMEARC COLLEGE OF HERALDS - commentary archive
Letter of Intent #101
Myfanwy ferch Rhiannon

Feast of St. Columba of Sens
31 December, AS XLI


Greetings from Myfanwy!

Enclosed pray find commentary on Æ LoI #101. Everything was conflict checked up through the August 2006 LoARs.
This would have been out a bit sooner (I really meant to get this out *before* the last minute) but life intruded -- including having an MRI done the day after Christmas, and last-minute problems with transferring a file from one computer to another.
I remain your servant and the Society’s.

Lady Myfanwy ferch Rhiannon
Ruth Morrisson
myfanwy@nauticom.net

1. Barbary Rose -- Gules, a dragon displayed and in chief a rose Or.
The online docs for the given name are as cited. Additionally, Withycombe [pp. 41-42, sn Barbara] says:
The English form of the name was Barbary [sic], and CMY says it was still so
pronounced by poor people in her time.
That spelling is, however, undated in Withycombe, although <Barbery> is dated to 1581.
The docs for the byname are all as cited.
I did a Google search [URL: http://www.google.com] and after weeding out a bunch of sites -- probably not nearly enough -- found that there is a Barbara Rose who is an art historian and another that is a New Age medium, among numerous others. I doubt that any of them are important enough to protect. [A second search, for the actual submitted spelling, got both the submitter and an Arabian horse(!)]
clear of: Geoffrey Mandragora (6/84 East) -- Gules, a wyvern displayed Or charged with a rose sable.
There is a CD for the addition of the secondary charge, and one for removing the tertiary charge. I’m not sure, especially given the postures, whether there is a CD for the difference between a dragon and a wyvern.

2. Clarice Roan (resub) -- Per fess azure and argent, a dove rising wings displayed and inverted argent and a serpent embowed counter-embowed gules.
I checked to see what the postures for snakes looked like, since some of the blazons I found were for “glissant”. According to the PIC-DIC [sn. Serpent], that term means “wavy”, but was not depicted. Parker [p. 529, sn Serpent] describes one of the postures found as “gliding” (which I presume is the same); the illustration for a serpent “erect” seems to have a wavy body. I’m unsure whether the serpent in the submission should be reblazoned as “glissant”, since it isn’t quite the same posture.
possibly clear of: David of Bagulaly (4/06 West) -- Per fess azure and argent, a dove rising, wings displayed, and three lozenges counterchanged.
There is at least one CD for significant changes to the co-primaries; I don’t think you get anything for the wing position on the dove, however.
possibly clear of: Gwladys Chittenden (5/92 East) -- Per fess azure and argent, a dove volant argent and three fir trees couped proper.
There is at least one CD for changes to the co-primaries; there may also be one for the the bird’s posture.
possibly clear of: Gregory Whitehawk (7/99 Atenveldt) -- Per fess azure and argent, a hawk displayed argent and a rose slipped and leaved fesswise proper.
There is at least one CD for changing the type and partial tincture of the co-primary; there may or may not be one for changing the type of bird.
probably clear of: Damhnat Bebhinn Nic Oisdealbhaigh (8/86 East) -- Per fess azure and argent, in pale an eagle striking, wings addorsed, bearing in its beak a heart Or, and a double-rose sable, barbed and seeded proper.
There is at least one CD for changes to the co-primary’ there is probably also one for the wing position on the bird (i.e., changing from addorsed to displayed inverted).


3. Clarice Roan (badge) -- (Fieldless) A dove rising wings displayed and inverted argent sustaining in its claws a serpent embowed counter-embowed gules.
I checked to see what the postures for snakes looked like, since some of the blazons I found were for “glissant”. According to the PIC-DIC [sn. Serpent], that term means “wavy”, but was not depicted. Parker [p. 529, sn Serpent] describes one of the postures found as “gliding” (which I presume is the same); the illustration for a serpent “erect” seems to have a wavy body. I’m unsure whether the serpent in the submission should be reblazoned as “glissant”, since it isn’t quite the same posture.
no conflicts found

4. Gunnar of the Endless Hills -- Purpure, two horses combattant Or and on a chief argent, four roses gules.
The docs for the given name are as cited. Note, however, that both citations are much later than what is generally considered “Viking” age. Additionally, I’m not sure whether Finnish names can be equated to Icelandic ones; however, Geirr Bassi [p.10] gives the name <Gunnarr>, with 11 occurrences in the Landnámabók.
Roses appear to be barbed and seeded proper in color html copy. Additionally, the tincture of the field seems to be pretty dark -- somewhere between blue and purple (although when looking at the dolor html page on my desktop it wasn’t as bad as it appeared on the laptop.
clear of: Frederic Martel (11/96 Calontir) -- Sable, two horses combatant and on a chief argent three roses proper.
There is a CD for change of field (all things being considered) and one for the tincture of the horses. Note, however, that there is only change of number of tertiaries.

5. Onóra inghean Chonaill -- Vert, a seahorse argent and on a chief Or three shamrocks vert.
I tried to do a Precedent dive to figure out if there is a CD between a sea-horse and any other type of sea-creatures (at least the fish-tailed type), but the rulings were few and far between. The most relevant one I found was during Elsbeth’s tenure as Laurel, giving a CD between a sea-bull and a sea-lion:
[a sealion vs. a seabull] [sic] There is a CD between the two charges, but
while there is substantial difference between a bull and a lion, there is not
a substantial difference between the two sea-beasts as the sea tails sharply
reduces the difference between the two. [Ealasaid Nic Shuibhne and Robert de
Bere
, 07/01, [sic] R-Atenveldt]
As a result, some of the potential conflicts may be clear, due to having a CD between the types of sea-creatures.
clear of: Karen of the Emerald Sea (1/85 West) -- Vert, a seahorse erect argent and a chief invected Or.
There is a CD for changing a complex line of division on the chief, and one for adding the tertiaries.
possibly clear of: Rowan Brianna MacLellan (1/90 Atlantia) -- Vert, a sea-griffin and on a chief Or, three crosses crosslet fitchy vert.
There is a CD for changing the tincture of the primary charge (and possibly one for type); there is only change of type of tertiary, however.
possibly clear of: Rowena Jade of the Lion Isles (8/94 Atlantia) -- Vert, a sealion and on a chief argent three stepcut gemstones vert.
There is a CD for changing the tincture of the chief; there may or may not be one for changing the type of primary charge, and there is only change of type of tertiary.
clear of: Artemisia di Serena (2/02 Caid) -- Vert, a sea-fox guardant between in chief two tripod pipkins argent.
It is unclear from the blazon (and unclear from the LoAR) whether a sea-fox is a sea-horse type creature (like a sea-horse) or a variant of a sea-dog (which does not have a fish tail). However, there is at least one CD for changing the pipkins to a chief, and another for adding the tertiaries.
clear of: Jesse ap Cedivor (10/87 Middle) -- Vert, a seawolf erect, on a chief Or three paw prints gules.
There is a CD for changing the tincture of the primary charge (and possibly one for type); there is also a CD for changing the type and tincture of the tertiaries.
clear of: Isobel FitzGilbert (3/00 An Tir) -- Vert, a seagoat and on a chief wavy argent three escallops inverted vert.
There is a CD for changing the tincture of the chief, and one for adding the complex line. There may or may not be one for type of primary, and there is only change of type of tertiary.


6. Verederosa Dal Sol -- Per fess argent and vert, a rose vert barbed and seeded and a sun in splendor Or.
The docs for both name elements are as cited.
clear of: Alaric the Fool (4/95 Outlands) -- Per fess argent and sable, a fool’s cap per pale gules and vert, and a sun Or.
There is a CD for changing half the field, and one for changing the type and partial tincture of one of the charges.

Bibliography:
Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme [Bruce Miller] and Akagawa Yoshio [Kevin Munday].
A Pictorial Dictionary of Heraldry As Used in The Society for Creative Anachronism,
2nd Ed., 1992.

Geirr Bassi Haraldsson [G. Fleck]. The Old Norse Name. Olney, MD: Yggssaldr Press,
1977. [Studia Marklandia I]

http://oanda.sca.org

http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/precedents.html

http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/rfs.html

http://www.sca.org/heraldry/loar

Parker, James. A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry. Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle
Co., Inc., 1970.

Reaney, P. H. and R. M. Wilson. A Dictionary of English Surnames, Rev. 3rd Ed.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.

Withycombe, E. G. The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, 3rd Ed.
Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1977.

other URLs as cited