ÆTHELMEARC
COLLEGE OF HERALDS - commentary archive
Letter of Intent #109 Myfanwy ferch Rhiannon
Feast of St. Gildas the Wise
29 January, AS XLII
Greetings from Myfanwy!
Herein pray find commentary on Æ #109. Everything was
conflict-checked up through the September 2007 LoAR. (I meant to get
this done and out a bit sooner, but I was sort of a slug last week,
and still needed to check prior commentary on the resubmissions.)
I remain your servant and the Society’s.
Lady Myfanwy ferch Rhiannon
Ruth Morrisson
myfanwy at nauticom.net
1. Æthelmearc, Kingdom of (order name “Order of the Golden
Stirrup”
and badge)
-- (Fieldless) A stirrup Or.
The order name seems fine. Note, however, that the Kingdom of the
Outlands has registered the <Order of the Silver Stirrup> (10/99
Outlands) -- although the badge is completely clear of this submission
According to the PIC-DIC (c.f. Stirrup) the mundane default for
stirrups is to include the leather strapping, while for SCA armory the
strapping is not and needs to be specifically blazoned. I agree that
this is going to have to be a Laurel judgment call as to whether there
is a visual conflict with James Ericsson’s badge (registered 1/91
West). I don’t have access to the CDs of scanned files, and was
unable to find the emblazon on line (he apparently lives in Lochac,
but that kingdom’s online Roll of Arms [URL:
http://www.sca.org.au/herald/LRoA/name_search.php] only shows his
arms).
probably clear of: Gisela vom Kreuzbach (badge, 9/05 East) --
(Fieldless) A pair of barnacles Or.
There is a CD for fieldless vs. fieldless, and probably one for type
(although they are somewhat similar in shape visually).
possibly clear of: Aureliane Rioghaill (badge 10/82 Ansteorra --
(Fieldless) A pair of hames Or.
There is a CD for fieldless vs. fieldless. I found a depiction of a
hame (also called “a pair of hames”) in Parker [p. 302, sn Hame];
hames are horse collars, and shaped somewhat like a lyre. While
similar in shape to a stirrup, there may be a CD for type; this will
probably have to be a judgment call by Wreath.
clear of: Guillaume de Bracy (badge, 7/05 Atlantia) -- (Fieldless) A
squirrel sejant erect counter-ermine maintaining a caltrop argent
within and standing upon a fetterlock Or.
There is a CD for fieldless vs. fieldless, and
one for removal of the
co-primary; given its shape, I would not necessarily give a CD between
a stirrup and a fetterlock.
2. Æthelmearc, Kingdom of (badge for the Æthelmearc
Minister of the
Lists) -- Sable, a scroll unrolled bendwise argent, overall a sword
bendwise sinister and a rapier bendwise crossed in saltire Or.
While looking for something completely different, I found the
following Precedent from François’ tenure as Laurel:
Please note that when blazoning items in saltire
[sic], the bendwise charge
is blazoned first and the bendwise sinister charge is blazoned
second.
[Malise of Sundragon, 01/04 [sic],
A-Atenveldt]
Possible reblazon: Sable, an open scroll bendwise argent, overall a
rapier and a sword in saltire Or.
Possible reblazon: Sable, an open scroll bendwise argent, overall in
saltire a sword bendwise sinister [bend sinister-wise?] and a rapier
bendwise Or.
Does this fall afoul of the “sword and dagger” rule? I recall
something got returned recently for having both ducks and geese (I
drew the original submission so I particularly remembered the armory).
While I’m not sure when precisely that happened (barring looking
through six to nine months of LoARs for the specific return, there is
a Precedent from Jaelle’s tenure as Laurel which states:
By combining rosebuds and roses the submission violates our "sword
and
dagger" rule, by using two variants of the same charge on the same
piece of
armory. Armory is used for identification. Using two variants of the
same
charge in the same piece of armory is visually confusing. [The
submission
was returned for this and another reason, with the statement that
either was
sufficient cause for return.] [sic] (Uilleam Nial McAndrew, 4/98 p.
19)
possibly clear of: An Tir, Kingdom of (badge for Lists Office, 8/87
An Tir) -- Sable, a scroll unrolled bendwise argent, overall a sword
Or.
There is a CD for addition of the second sword/rapier. There may be
one for orientation of the overall charges.
3. Aíbell ingen Chernacháin -- Argent, a dragon displayed
maintaining
a chalice and a needle threaded and on a chief triangular sable a
decrescent argent.
The dragon is not particularly well drawn: it looks almost as if it
were tergiant, with the head twisted around, rather than actually
being displayed, and the wings should probably have more sections to
them.
The chief triangular appears to be emblazoned as
shown in the PIC-DIC
[fig. 119] (I had checked because it seemed to be somewhat crowded by
the dragon).
clear of: Draco de la Rose (2/01 Artemisia) -- Argent, a
dragon displayed and on a bordure sable three roses argent seeded
azure barbed vert.
There is a CD for changing the type of peripheral, and one for the
type and number of tertiaries on it.
probably clear of: Robert FitzAlwyn (2/87 Middle) -- Argent, a dragon
sejant affronty, wings elevated and displayed, on a chief triangular
sable a broad arrow gules, enflamed Or.
There should be a CD for the change of posture (although nothing for
wing position), and there is one for significant changes to the
tertiary charge on the chief.
4. Benedict Fergus atte Mede -- Per pale vert and sable, a salamander
argent flamed [sic] proper and on a chief embattled argent three
mullets of seven points azure.
The salamander is “enflamed”. It is, BTW, also contourny.
Reblazon: Per pale vert and sable, a salamander contourny argent
enflamed proper [and] on a chief embattled argent three mullets of
seven points azure.
Complexity count of at least seven: there are four tinctures (six if
you count the enflaming) and three types of charges.
Note that the tincture of the mullets may be a bit hard to distinguish
on some monitors (they were very dark -- almost black -- on my laptop,
although on the monitor for my desktop computer the tincture was fine.
no conflicts found
5. Boris Dragons Bane (device change) -- Gules, in pale a chevron
enhanced and a griffin passant between three sets of two axes crossed
in saltire.
The blazon is missing the tincture of the charges (which I presume,
given the color html version, are all argent).
The chevron is a bit on the shallow side (it should be a 90° angle
at
most), but is possibly registrable given that it has to have the other
charges fitting around it. There is a possibly relevant Precedent
from François’ tenure as Laurel:
Armorial designs of the form A chevron... and in base a
[charge] [sic] are
often drawn with the chevron higher on the field than normal, to
best fill
the space: "[Per chevron gules and vert, a chevron and in base a
Latin cross
parted and fretted Or] [sic] Though, as a number of commenters
noted, the
field division and chevron were drawn higher on the field than
normal, in
a design like this the chevron will normally be enhanced. It is not
necessary
to blazon the fact" (LoAR of December 1994) [sic]. Even given this
period
tendency, please advise the submitter to draw the chevron lower on
the
field: it is drawn quite high on the field in this emblazon, even
for this sort
of armorial design. [Otto von Aken, 01/04
[sic] , A-Outlands]
However there may be an additional problem with the chevron: are
enhanced charges still okay? Another Precedent from François’
tenure
as Laurel may apply; while it specifically refers to an abased chevron
submitted, it says in part:
Overly enhanced ordinaries have been a reason for return for many
years
as non-period style: "These bendlets are enhanced so much to chief
that the
style becomes unacceptably modern" (LoAR January 1992)."....
[Muirgius
mac Con Mara hui Ségdai,
11/02, [sic]
R-Trimaris]
Possible reblazon: Gules, in pale a chevron enhanced and a griffin
passant, all between three pairs of axes in saltire [and addorsed?]
argent.
no conflicts found
6. Brandr húslangr -- Azure, on a bend argent a rose gules
barbed, stemmed and leaved vert.
Reblazon: Azure, on a bend argent a rose gules barbed, slipped and
leaved vert.
possibly clear of: Robert
of Spelsbury (7/80 Middle) -- Azure, on a bend argent an ivy vine
throughout vert, in sinister chief a squirrel counter-sejant erect
argent.
possibly clear of: Gerdis Leontindotter af Bure (2/99 Drachenwald) --
Azure, on a bend argent between a sheaf of keys wards to base and a
lute Or an ivy vine vert
possibly clear of: Franz Joder von Joderhübel (7/91 East) --
Azure,
on a bend between two doves argent a serpent glissant vert.
possibly clear of: Anne of Flaming Gryphon (7/91 Middle) -- Azure, on
a bend between two horse’s heads couped argent a deadly nightshade
vine vert flowered purpure.
In each case there is a CD for removal of secondaries; there may be a
CD for changes to the tertiary charge.
7. Bridget Cordelia of Beau Fleuve -- Per pale sable and argent,
three fleurs-de-lys counterchanged.
The docs for all name elements are as cited (the LoARs cited are for
Calontir, 11/95 and East, 10/79 respectively).
I’m unsure whether double given names are found in England in this
time period (16th-early 17th centuries).
Nice armory!
no conflicts found
8. Ceindrich verch Elidir
The docs for both name elements are as cited. However, I’m not
certain at what point that spelling of the patronymic designator comes
in (given how early this name is otherwise).
9. Erlendr rau{dh}hrafn -- Per pale indented argent and gules, a
raven maintaining a tankard counterchanged.
The docs for the given name are as cited.
The docs for the byname elements are also as cited; however, I
question the construction somewhat: while I can see people calling
bears and wolves “red” I’m not sure I can see them calling ravens
“red”.
no conflicts found
10. Finnr jafnkollr -- Gules, a merlin striking wings elevated and
addorsed sustaining an axe bendwise Or.
The docs for both name elements are as cited.
What makes this specifically a merlin (i.e., rather than any other
type of raptor)? Does it matter, or should it be reblazoned as “a
hawk”?
I checked to see if the term “striking” was still allowed, and found
the following Precedent from François’ tenure as Laurel:
[Per bend azure and argent, an eagle striking to sinister,
wings elevated and
addorsed, Or and a Lebanon cedar proper] [sic] The
previous blazon was Per
bend azure and argent, an eagle rising to sinister, wings elevated
and addorsed,
Or and a Lebanon cedar proper [sic]. The submitter's
request for reblazon
asked that we change the eagle's posture to
striking [sic]. Striking [sic] is an
SCA blazon term describing a hawk terminating its dive by braking
with
its wings and extending its claws down in order to, with luck, send
some
smaller animal into the afterlife. It is different from
stooping [sic], which
depicts the hawk in the midst of the dive. Striking
[sic] is similar to the
period posture rising [sic] and no difference is
given between these postures,
but the SCA has continued to use striking [sic]
when the posture seems
appropriate. The eagle here is drawn in a posture that is at least
somewhat
characteristic of striking [sic] and we may
therefore accede to the submitter's
request. [Jamal Damien Marcus, 09/02,
[sic] A-Caid]
I am not certain how best to describe the wings,
but I don’t think
the blazon adequately (or correctly) denotes them; unfortunately, this
was an instance where Parker wasn’t really much help, since the
closest illustration I could find was for wings “endorsed” [c.f.,
Parker, p. 626, sn Wing]. I would not, however, describe the merlin’s
wings here as “elevated and addorsed” (possibly just “addorsed”,
possibly as “addorsed and inverted”.
probably clear of: Highland Foorde, Barony of (badge, 10/99
Atlantia) -- Gules, a lark rising, wings elevated and addorsed,
sustaining in its beak an open scroll Or.
There is a CD for type of co-primary and there should be one for the
arrangements of the charges [c.f., URL:
http://highland-foorde.atlantia.sca.org/awards.shtml]. There may also
be one for the type of bird (although I would not give much -- if
anything -- for the wing position.
possibly clear of: Owain of Corn Valley (1/01 An Tir) -- Gules, a
peregrine falcon rising wings displayed Or maintaining in both talons
a halberd bendwise sable.
There is a CD for changing the tincture of the ax/halberd, and there
may be a CD for the difference in wing position. This may have to be
visually compared, however, to see whether the halberd is really
maintained, or is large enough to be considered a sustained charge,
especially given that it is blazoned as being in the same orientation.
11. Grímkell bogsveigir -- Per chevron sable and Or, an arrow
fesswise point to sinister Or and a hammer sable.
The emblazon is much improved. I still am not sure that this would be
identifiable as a (generic) hammer, rather than some sort of mallet,
or specifically as a “sledgehammer” [c.f. PIC-DIC, fig. 334b].
no conflicts found
12. Gwen Telynores
The docs for both name elements are as cited. However, I have not
been able to find the byname as such in the source material (i.e.,
Jones’ “Names and Naming Practices in the Merioneth Lay Subsidy Roll
1292-3” cited in the St. Gabriel letter. I did find <Telynor> as
an
occupational byname, but am unsure whether this is a masculine form,
or whether the submitted byname is a feminine one.
13. Gwion ab Willim
The docs for the given name and the patronymic designator are as
cited; however, I’m not sure that the leap from “Wilim/Gwilim” to
“Willim” is plausible, given that <ll> is effectively a different
sound/letter in Welsh. That being said, however, in Jones’ “Names and
Naming Practices in the Merioneth Lay Subsidy Roll 1292-3” [sn
William] it says (in the section on masculine given names):
There may be two independent names here: Willelm [sic]
and Gwilym
[sic]. However they are randomly used in both Welsh and non-Welsh
contexts so it’s hard to tell. Bartrum has one example of
Gwilym [sic].
*Guilin, Gwilim [1], Wilim [7/11], Will(elm)o [1], Willelmo [3],
Wilmym
[1], Wylim [0,1]; Total [13, 12 = 25].
[According to the introduction, the numbers in the text refer to the
number of “generations” in the names, such as: “X ap Y” (two
generations); “X brother of Y” (also two generations); or “the wife
of X ap Y” (three generations).]
Since the submitter has requested authenticity it seems from this that
<Gwion ap Wilim> (having the least amount of change) or <Gwion
ap
Willemo> (having the <ll> spelling the submitter liked) might
be good
suggestions as to more authentic names.
14. Maghnus an Chnoic na n’Iora (badge) -- Azure, in pale a chevron
couped and a single-headed chess knight argent.
probably clear of: Genevieve l’Etoile Brilliante (8/79 ??) -- Azure,
a chevron enhanced above a compass-star, one ray extended to nombril
point, all argent.
There is a CD for changing the type of ordinary, and probably one for
couping the chevron; a Precedent from François’ tenure as Laurel
states:
PRECEDENT: As a general rule, ordinaries couped will be given a CD
from ordinaries throughout. This general rule does not apply to
specific
ordinaries for which evidence has been presented that the ordinary
and its
couped variant were used interchangeably in period. In accordance
with
RfS X.4.e, if a particular ordinary throughout and its couped
variant are
both found in period armory, but were not considered to be "separate
[charges] in period" [sic], no difference will be granted between
them. If
the ordinary throughout, or its couped variant, were not found in
period
armory, then it will only "be considered different in type if its
shape in
normal depiction is significantly different" [sic] from the period
form of
the ordinary. [06/02, CL] [sic]
possibly clear of: Caid, Kingdom of (badge for Academy of Equestrian
Arts, 9/88 Caid) -- Azure, a horse’s head couped at the shoulders
within a bordure embattled argent.
There is a CD for changing the bordure to a
chevron, and probably one
for the complex line. There may not, however be one for changing the
horse’s head to a single-headed chess
knight
15. Meadhbh of Clan McBain of Harlaw -- Vert, a griffin segreant
within a bordure dovetailed Or.
The docs for the given name are as cited.
The docs for the byname elements seem to be reasonable, especially
given that the submitter has a letter of permission to use the
household name as registered.
The griffin is poorly drawn -- it appears to be salient, rather than
segreant, since both rear legs are down. I would be happy to redraw
this; however there are conflicts with the armory as submitted (which
is too bad, since it’s nice armory otherwise).
probable conflict: Ursula von Liste (5/84 Middle) -- Azure, ermined
argent, a gryphon segreant queue-forchee within a bordure embattled Or.
probable conflict: Ysabeau Anais Roussot du Lioncourt (badge, 6/06
Caid) -- Per pale gules and pean, a wingless griffin rampant, incensed
and queue-fourchy, within a bordure embattled Or.
In each case there is only a single CD, for changes to the field;
there is a Precedent from François’ tenure as Laurel which
states:
There is no difference for changing the type of the bordure as there
is
"nothing for dovetailed vs. embattled" (LoAR of July 1999).
[Jenet Froste, 02/04 [sic], R-Atlantia]
16. Onnen Greg
The name docs are as cited. However there is a problem: either the
name was lifted whole-hog from the documentation (in which case I’m
unclear whether this is a name important enough to protect), or it is
a single name (in which case there is no byname to go with it).
Certainly the documentation provided suggests that there should be
another name element (as in the cited name <Onnen grec uerch
Wallawc>.
17. Robert l’Etourdi -- Per saltire Vert [sic] and sable, six bezants
one, two and three and on a chief Or three pellets.
Is there any indication why the previous submission was withdrawn?
clear of: Nigel the Byzantine (badge, 10/95 Caid) -- Purpure bezanty
and a chief Or.
There is a CD for changing the field, and one for adding the tertiary
charges to the chief.
clear of: Corinne of Grenvelt (7/97 Atenveldt) -- Vert, nine roundels
arranged as a lozenge, on a chief Or, six roundels in fess gules.
There is a CD for changing half the field, and one for number and
tincture of tertiaries. This registration had been a potential
conflict with his previous submission “Vert, six bezants one, two and
three and on a chief Or three pellets” (although I had argued that it
was possibly clear); changing the field clears that potential conflict.
18. Thorolf the Blak -- Quarterly embattled sable and Or, in bend
sinister a Thor’s hammer and a wolf’s head ululant couped contourny
sable.
The complex lines of division solve the problem about the appearance
of marshalling; however there should be a note to the submitter to
make fewer and somewhat larger embattlements. The new emblazon does
not solve the previous potential identifiability issues of the Thor’s
hammer (which looks like a badly drawn anchor).
The wolf’s head should probably have a little internal detailing as
well, but this could be an artist’s note to the submitter (assuming it
is registered).
Do you need me to redraw this?
no conflicts found
Bibliography:
Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme [Bruce Miller] and Akagawa
Yoshio [Kevin Munday]. APictorialDictionaryofHeraldryAsUsedinTheSocietyforCreativeAnachronism,
2nd Ed., 1992.
Ó Corráin, Donnchadh, and Fidelma Maguire. IrishNames.
Dublin:
The Lilliput Press,
1981. 1990.
Tangwystyl verch Morgan Glasvryn (formerly Keridwen ferch Morgan
Glasfryn)
[Heather Rose Jones]. “Names and Naming Practices in the Merioneth
Lay Subsidy
Roll 1292-3.” (Y Camamseriad, #1, Summer,
1992).