Æthelmearc Letter of Intent Æ109
February 25, 2008 (AS 42)

1: Æthelmearc, Kingdom of - New Order Name

Order of the Golden Stirrup

Authenticity NOT requested.

Meradudd Cethin, "Project Ordensnamen" (www: Timothy Shead, 2002) [http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/order /] lists general construction elements and construction patterns of period order names. "Places and things" are listed as the second most common types of element in period order names, comprising over 26% and 29% respectively. Color adjectives and groups were frequently used as period order name elements, with almost 8% and 10% respectively being used. Of interest, no heraldic names for colors were used, and most examples were the color gold. Among construction patterns listed as "frequently used" (comprising up to 5% of the data set), the first listed is <color> + <thing>, citing as examples : Le Cordon Bleu, Golden Apple, Gold Escutcheon.

2: Aíbell ingen Chernacháin - New Device

Argent, a dragon displayed maintaining a chalice and a needle threaded and on a chief triangular sable a decrescent argent.

The submitter's name was registered in October 2007 via AEthelmearc.

3: Benedict Fergus atte Mede - New Device

Per pale vert and sable, a salamander contourny argent enflamed proper and on a chief embattled argent three mullets of seven points azure.

The submitter's name was registered in June 2003 via Aethelmearc.

4: Boris Dragons Bane - New Device Change

Gules, in pale a chevron enhanced and a griffin passant between three pairs of two axes argent crossed in saltire.

Old Item: Per chevron gules and argent, a griffin passant in base gules between three pairs of axes in saltire counterchanged, to be released.

The submitter's name was registered in May 1988 via the East.

The submitter's current device, Per chevron gules and argent, a griffin passant in base gules between three pairs of axes in saltire counterchanged, was registered in November 1990 via the East.

5: Bridget Cordelia of Beau Fleuve - New Name & New Device

Per pale sable and argent, three fleurs-de-lys counterchanged.

Submitter desires a feminine name.
Authenticity NOT requested.

Bridget - Aryanhwy merch Catmael (Sara L. Uckelman), "16th Century Gloucestershire Names" [http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/english/late16.htm l] counts one occurrence of this spelling as a female given name in the data set taken from five Gloucestershire marriage registers.

Cordelia - Withycombe cites the burial of one <Cordelia Harvey> in 1636 in St. Martin-in-the-Fields.

The LoAR of November 1995 states:

Cordelia must be given the benefit of the doubt: according to Withycombe, it was in actual use by 1636, and close variants can be found in period, at least in literature. [LoAR 11/95, s.n. Cordelia Wynne]

Beau Fleuve - the SCA group name <Beau Fleuve, Canton of> was registered in October 1979 via the East.

If ony a single given name may be registered, the submitter prefers to register Cordelia and drop Bridget.

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6: Ceindrech merch Elidir - New Name

Submitter desires a feminine name.
Client requests authenticity for 4-9th c. Welsh.
Sound most important.
Language (Welsh / Brythonic) most important.
Culture most important.

Submitted to Kingdom as _ verch _ Albion noted: "For the period that she's interested in, and the period that the elements are dated from, she needs the Old Welsh spelling <merch>, not the medieval Welsh spelling <verch>."

Ceindrech - Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, "Names of Women of the Brythonic North in the 5-7th Centuries: Ceindrech" [http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/brythonic/ceindrech.htm l] gives this as the name of a daughter born to Efrddyl c. 530. The article discussed the available documentation, and states that the submitted spelling is both the standardized modern form, and the spelling found in Peniarth Ms. 50, indicating that the forms of the name available reflect medieval-era spellings.

merch - Welsh relational indicator for "daughter".

Elidir - Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, "Names of Women of the Brythonic North in the 5-7th Centuries" [http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/brythonic/brythonic.htm l] gives the submitted form as a masculine name in a pedigree "centering around the prominent early 6th century figures Urien Rheged (king of Rheged)" and dated the name to c. 500.

7: Finnr jafnkollr - New Name & New Device

Gules, a merlin striking wings addorsed sustaining an axe bendwise Or.

Submitter desires a masculine name.
Authenticity NOT requested.

Finnr - Geirr Bassi, p. 9, counts 8 occurences in the Landnámabók.

Jafnkollr - Geirr Bassi, p. 23, counts one occurrence in the Landnámabók and gives the meaning of this descriptive byname as "even-mind, level-head."

8: Grímkell bogsveigir - New Name & New Device

Per chevron sable and Or, an arrow fesswise point to sinister Or and a hammer sable.

Submitter desires a masculine name.
Authenticity NOT requested.
Language (Viking) most important.
Culture (Viking) most important.

The name was submitted to kingdom as Bogsveigir. Per current SCA practice, Norse bynames are not capitalized.

Grímkell - Geirr Bassi, p. 10, counts 2 occurences in the Landmámabók.

bogsveigir - Geirr Bassi, p. 20, under Nicknames, counts one occurence of bogsveigir in the Landmámabók, meaning "bow-swayer, archer."

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9: Gwen Telynores - New Name

Submitter desires a feminine name.
No major changes.
Client requests authenticity for 13th c. Welsh.
Meaning ("harper") most important.

Gwen - Tangwystyl verch Margant, "A Simple Guide to Constructing 13th Century Welsh Names" [http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/welsh13.htm l] lists this name among the womens names with at least five examples in the The Merioneth Lay Subsidy Roll of 1292-3. Gwen is listed among the documented spellings, and is given as the standard spelling.

Telynores - Academy of St. Gabriel report #1627 states:

Some women were also known by other types of bynames (nicknames). The most common byname indicating a ruddy complexion or red hair is <Goch>, pronounced GOHKH, where the kh is the sound of <ch> in Scottish <loch> or German <bach>. There are also two different nicknames with a meaning "female harp player": <Crouthores> and <Telynores>. <Crouthores> derives from the Welsh <crwth>, an instrument similar to the harp. [3] These are pronounced krooth-OR-ess and tell-uh-NOHR-ess, respectively. These three bynames are all found in 1292.

Of these two name elements, the submitter cares most about the given name Telynores.

Internal commentary noted the registered name Gwenhwyvar Telynores, registered August 1996 via the East. While this submission would appear to be a case of a diminutive (Gwen) conflicting with its full counterpart (Gwenhwyvar), this may not be the case. "Women's Names in the First Half of 16th Century Wales: Given Names" by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn [http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/welshWomen16/given.htm l] lists both Gwen and Gwenhwyvar as separate header names. Academy of Saint Gabriel reports 1125 [http://www.s-gabriel.org/112 5] and 2567 [http://www.s-gabriel.org/256 7] also treat the two as separate and distinct names. Further correspondence from Tangwystyl clarifies the basis for the possibility that the two are distinct names. She states:

The first question is: do we have good evidence for "Gwen" being used as a given name in any sense (and not as a scribal abbreviation)? This is a slippery question because unless a document clearly avoids using abbreviations entirely, there are rarely clear clues that whether something that _could_ be an abbreviation is or is not. Not all abbreviations include suspension marks.

The second question is: do we have good evidence for "Gwen" being used as a diminutive of _any_ name (as contrasted with an abbreviation for some other name)?

The third question is: do we have evidence for "Gwen" being used specifically as a diminutive for Gwenhwyfar?

Item 1 -- Do we have unambiguous evidence for Gwen as a given name?

Evidence from legal records isn't definitive because they're extremely prone to abbreviations. (Consider, for example, that about a third of all examples of Gruffudd in these records appear as the abbreviation "Gr", and a third of Davids are recorded as "Dd".) So while we have examples of "Gwen" showing up in legal records, we can't assume that this _isn't_ an abbreviation for some name beginning in "Gwen-".

This uncertainty is less applicable to various legendary and saintly Gwens show appear in early genealogies, as these texts rarely abbreviate given names, but the texts also are less certain as a source for ordinary use in the later part of period.

The documentary source for the above-mentioned article (Chancery records) is a summary transcription made in the early 20th century, so the lack of abbreviations in it _may_ be due to editorial expansion (although the variability of spellings suggests that the editors weren't normalizing -- at least for the Welsh names). But I've found at least one entry that preserves an abbreviation, possibly due to the unfamiliarity of the editor with the name: "Gwen verch Eden" where "Eden" is best understood as the very common abbreviation for Ednyfed (via the usual Anglo-Latin spelling Edenyved). So even here there's an absence of complete certainty that "Gwen" can't be an abbreviation. On the other hand, the one example of "Gwenne" in this source can't be a simple truncation of any longer name beginning with Gwen-, so it falls on the side of establishing Gwen as an independent name in at least some cases.

A much stronger piece of evidence is the numerous examples of "Gwen" in the parish record from the late 16th/early 17th century known as "Y Cwtta Cyfarwydd". This record includes virtually no abbreviations of given names, so we can be quite confident that the names written "Gwen" represent an independent name "Gwen".

Item 2 -- Do we have unambiguous evidence that Gwen was used either as an abbreviation or as a diminutive of any name?

The immediate question is, how would we know? Well, the texts of legal records that mention the same person multiple times are a good context for this sort of information. For example, in the 1294 Rhuthin court records, the same man appears as "Adam le Verdon" and "Ad' le Verdon~", similarly "Kenwric ap Wervilla" and "Ken~ ap Wervilla", "Wladusa Lotice" (i.e., Gwladus) and "Wlad' Lotice".

Similarly, the 1429 Broniarth court records mention the same person as "Hol' ap Ieuan ap Ieuan ap dd'" and "Hoel ap Ienc' ap Ieuan ap dd'" (i.e., "Ieuan" and "Ienc[yn]" are the same person). But this sort of example is a bit rarer in the data.

So there exists the possibility of establishing if "Gwen" could be used as an abbreviation for "Gwenllian" or "Gwenhwyfar" (or "Gwendydd" or other rare possibilities). However, when it comes down to it, I haven't yet found any examples of this type for Gwen. So ... not proven. However in order to establish clearly that "Gwen" could be used as a diminutive, and not simply an abbreviation, we'd need to find not only a matched pair of references like the Ieuan/ Iencyn example, but one where the spelling rules out abbreviation (like the Gwenne example) or where there's meta-commentary in the original source identifying the short form as a diminutive. So ... not proven.

This makes Item 3 moot.

So the preponderance of evidence says that "Gwen" existed as an independent name and that we have no unambiguous examples of it being used as either an abbreviation or a diminutive of any other name -- although statistically speaking, even if it were, we'd be unlikely to happen across evidence that proved it.

I'll add as an appendix that -- setting aside the difficulties of the evidence -- period Welsh diminutives are most typically formed by taking the first syllable of the root name (sometimes with a slight shift in the vowel) and adding one of a set of diminutive suffixes. So there isn't an established pattern in period that would be expected to generate Gwen as a diminutive.

10: Gwion ab Willim - New Name

Submitter desires a masculine name.
Client requests authenticity for 11-13th c. Welsh.
Language most important.
Culture most important.

Gwion - Tangwystyl verch Margant, "A Simple Guide to Constructing 13th Century Welsh Names" [http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/welsh13.htm l] lists this name among the mens names with at least five examples in the The Merioneth Lay Subsidy Roll of 1292-3. Gwion is listed among the documented spellings, and is given as the standard spelling.

Willim - Tangwystyl verch Margant, "A Simple Guide to Constructing 13th Century Welsh Names" [http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/welsh13.htm l] lists this name among the mens names with at least five examples in the The Merioneth Lay Subsidy Roll of 1292-3. Both Wilim and Gwilim are listed as documentary spellings, while William is given as the standard form. THe introductory material states that the scribes of the source document were familiar with English and Latin, but not necessarily with Welsh, so names do not necessarily appear in "classic" Welsh spellings. The submitted speling of Willim seems a plausible documentary form.

ab - Tangwystyl verch Margant, "A Simple Guide to Constructing 13th Century Welsh Names" [http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/welsh13.htm l] states that "a common convention is to use ap before consonants and ab before vowels, but in this document one scribe used ap all the time and the other ab all the time."

Morgan and Morgan, Welsh Surnames, give Willim ap Meiler dated 1610.

The submitter states that the element he most cares about is Gwion.

11: Maghnus an Chnoic na n'Iora - New Badge

Azure, in pale a chevron couped and a single-headed chess knight argent.

The submitter's name was registered in May of 1983 (via the East).

The device uses a chess knight from an image labeled "Chessmen from Lucena, 1497" found on p. 31 of Chessmen by Donald M. Liddell (Harcourt, Brace & Company, New York, 1937). A scan of this page was posted to OSCAR by Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme. It can be seen at http://www.aeheralds.net/Letters/AE109/armory/LucenaChessmen.jp g

12: Onnen Greg - New Name

Client requests authenticity for Northern Brythonic-speaking.
Language (Welsh / Brythonic) most important.
Culture (Welsh / Brythonic) most important.

Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, "Names of Women of the Brythonic North in the 5-7th Centuries: Onnen Greg" states:

In one genealogical source, Gwallog ap Lleenog (the brother of Dwywai above) is given a daughter Onnen Greg. This would presumably give her a calculated date ca. 520. Some modern writers have interpreted the two elements as a single name "Onnengreg" while others have interpreted it as a given name and byname.

Onnen grec uerch Wallawc - Bonedd y Seint (Bartrum EWGT), from one 14th c. and some later mss (plus other, more corrupt, variants)

13: Robert l'Etourdi - New Device

Per saltire Vert and sable, six bezants one, two and three and on a chief Or three pellets.

The submitter's name was registered in March 2007 via AEthelmearc.

A previous submission of Vert, six bezants one, two and three and on a chief Or three pellets appeared on the AEthelmearc Letter of Intent dated November 30, 2007. That submission was withdrawn by the submitter via OSCAR on January 27, 2008, due to the uncertainty surrounding the possible conflict with Corinne of Grenvelt (reg. 07/1997 via Atenveldt), "Vert, nine roundels arranged as a lozenge, on a chief Or, six roundels in fess gules."

14: Thorolf the Blak - New Device

Quarterly embattled sable and Or, in bend sinister a Thor's hammer and a wolf's head ululant couped contourny sable.

The submitter's name was registered in September 2007.