ÆTHELMEARC
COLLEGE OF HERALDS - commentary archive
Letter of Intent #116 Myfanwy ferch Rhiannon
Feast of St. Walburga
25 February, AS XLIII
Greetings from Myfanwy!
Herein pray find commentary on Æ LoI #116. No conflict checking
this
month, I’m afraid -- time just slipped away and too many mundane
things were happening in the past month or so; plus, I get a needle
stuck in my back tomorrow afternoon, so I’m getting this out tonight
in case I’m not in any shape afterwards to do much of anything. :-(
I tried to be pretty thorough with style and name stuff, however.
I remain your servant and the Society’s.
Lady Myfanwy ferch Rhiannon
Ruth Morrisson
myfanwy@nauticom.net
1. Æsileif Úlfrúnardóttir -- Sable, on a
mullet of eight points
between eight Bowen knots in annulo Or a wolf’s head erased sable, all
within a bordure Or.
The Geirr Bassi docs for both name elements are as cited.
There may be a problem with the arrangement/orientation of the Bowen
knots. I would think that they should all be upright, rather than
being oriented facing inwards like this. There is a Precedent from
François’ second tenure (giving the blazonable difference
between
“[charges] in orle/in annulo”, vs. “an orle/an annulo of [charges] in
orle/in annulo”:
[Or, in annulo eight ladybugs tergiant in annulo
gules, marked sable.]
[sic] The ladybugs on this submission are placed head to tail. The
question
was raised if this was a blazonable arrangement. The following
precedent
is relevant:
In a charge group blazoned as An orle of [charges] in
orle [sic],
the charges are arranged in orle and the postures
of the charges
tilt so that they follow each other. Thus, an orle of fish
naiant [sic]
would all be in the default naiant (fesswise) [sic] posture, but an orle of fish naiant in orle [sic] swim head to
tail. [Olivia de Calais,
09/03, A-Ansteorra]
This concept is as applicable to charges in annulo as to charges in
orle.
We have thus used the superficially redundant blazon to indicate
first
the arrangement and second the relative postures of the charges.
[Roxana Greenstreet, LoAR 06/2004, Atlantia-A]
In this case, however it isn’t clear whether the Bowen knots are
(strictly speaking, as it were), head to tail; it might help if there
are more of them, but I don’t think that this would improve the
overall style of the armory.
Complexity count of six -- two tinctures and
four types of charges.
2. Æthelmearc, Kingdom of (new Order Name) -- Order of the
Golden Thorn
any clue what this is to be associated with
I checked for both name elements in the CompactOED [my slightly belated Christmas present --
happy dance! :-) :-), along with a supplement volume -- a local used
bookstore had them in the window for less than half the price of
new!]. <Golden>, in the specified meaning and spelling, dates to
1398, i.e., closer temporally to the other name element
[CompactOED, vol. I,
pp. 1171-72, sn Golden (reproducing pp. 277-84)]. <Thorn> is as
cited [CompactOED, vol
II, p. 3297, sn Thorn (reproducing pp. 330-33); note however, that a
1382 mss. of the text where it was found gives the spelling
<thorunn>.
Project Ordensnamen [URL:
http://heraldry.sca.org/laurel/names/order/welcome.html] gives “Colour
[sic] + Thing” and “Adjective + Thing” as amongst the patterns
comprising up to 5% of the data set; in the table of order names by
pattern [URL: http://heraldry.sca.org/laurel/names/order/Pattern.htm],
“<Golden> + Thing” gives numerous examples, dating from 737
<Golden
Stole> to 1559 <Golden Spur>. The formation can be found
various
places in Europe but most especially in France and the Vatican.
3. Aíbell ingen Chernacháin (device resub) -- Argent, a
dragon
displayed sable maintaining a chalice and a needle Or threaded sable
and on a chief triangular argent a decrescent argent.
complexity count of 9, technically (4 tinctures, 5 types of charges)
-- and this *before* reading of the commentary on the LoI giving the
history of the prior submission....
4. Boi Quickfoot -- Argent, in pale two rapiers inverted in
saltire and a lion rampant, a bordure sable.
The docs for the given name may be as given (certainly <B{o-}i>
appears to be listed as a masculine name, but I don’t read Swedish and
I can’t decipher the rest of the listing). (A Google search for
<Bói> got a lot of hits for what appears to be Vietnamese
or
Cambodian.)
The Reaney and Wilson cite is not entirely correct: the actual cite is
for the locative form, in the name <Adam del Quyk
[sic]>. There is a dated citation for the submitter’s desired
meaning
in the name <William Quik [sic]>, dated to 1282. I
don’t have Bardsley; the docs from The Corpus of Middle English Prose
and Verse appear to be as cited.
Have photocopies been included for the Hjertsteddt docs? It doesn’t
appear to be on the “do not photocopy list” [URL:
http://heraldry.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/admin.html#APPENDIXH].
The rulings on the language combinations can be found at [URL:
http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/sca/weirdness_table.html].
5. Caitlin Stedefast -- Purpure, a triskellion [sic?] of unicorn
heads reversed argent, a bordure argent mullety of six purpure.
Online docs are as cited (would be nice if they actually supported the
submitted spelling in some manner). ÓC & M [p. 45, sn
Caiterína]
says:
The name became popular in Ireland through Norman and English
influence
and was well-established [sic] among the Irish aristocracy by the
fifteenth
century. The Old French forms Caterine [sic] and
Cateline [sic] gave rise to
the Irish forms Caitríona [sic]
Caitilín (Caitlín) [sic].
Withycombe [pp. 186-87, sn Katharine] says:
The Irish Caitlin [sic], Cathleen
[sic], Kathleen [sic], from Middle English
Catlin
[sic], is now often used in England.
Reaney and Wilson [p. 87] gives <Catlin> as a (surname) header
form,
and cites Robert Catyln [sic].
The docs for the byname are as cited.
The combination of Gaelic with either English, Old English, or
Anglo-Norman is one step from period practice [URL:
http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/sca/weirdness_table.html].
Is “reversed” the best blazon for the head
position? Would
“contourny” be better?
6. Desiderata Drake (device resub) -- Azure, in pale a duck’s head
and two swords in saltire, on a chief wavy argent three hearts gules
enflamed proper.
The name is listed on the January ‘07 LoAR [URL:
http://heraldry.sca.org/heraldry/loar/2007/01/07-01lar.html].
Yeah, looking at the enlarged version, the hearts are in fact enflamed
(and correctly, at that) but it’s weird, and somewhat hard to
distinguish -- there should probably be larger and fewer flames.
The previous submission wasn’t legal, but at least it was better
armory. :-(
Complexity count of eight (nine if you count the flames, which add an
additional tincture as well as a possible additional type of charge)
Reblazon: Azure, in pale a duck’s head erased
and two rapiers in
saltire, on a chief wavy argent three hearts gules enflamed proper.
7. El{z.}bieta Traidenyt{e.}
The docs for both name elements are as cited.
8. Finnr jafnkollr (device resub) -- Gules, in bend a merlin rising
contourny sustaining an axe bendwise sinister Or.
The name was registered June ‘08 [URL:
http://heraldry.sca.org/heraldry/loar/2008/06/08-06lar.html].
Possible reblazon: Gules, in bend a merlin
rising contourny sustaining
an axe bendwise sinister contourny Or.
9. Gaius Sergius Vettius -- Per pale gules and argent, three fish
hooks and in chief a lucy counterchanged.
The docs for the praenomen are as cited.
Most of the docs for the nomen are as cited, but the Farlex website
docs appear to be on a site that one must register for in order to
access article the article. However, I did find <Sergius> also
listed as a nomen on the NovaRoma website [URL: http:
//www.novaroma.org/nr/Category:Gens_Sergia_%28Nova_Roma%29], which
says:
SERGIA GENS [sic], patrician. The Sergii, like many other ancient
Roman gentes, traced their descent from the Trojans. They regarded
Sergestus as their ancestor (Virg. Aen. v. 121) : —
" Sergestusque, domus tenet a quo Sergia nomen."
[sic]
The Sergii were distinguished in the early history of the republic,
but
obtained an unenviable noto-riety [sic] at a later age by Catiline
belonging
to them. The first member of the gens who obtained the consulship
was
L. Sergius Fidenas, in b. c. 437. The Sergii bore the cognomens of
Catilina,
Esquilinus, Fidenas, Orata, Paulus, Plancus, and Silus. Silus is the
only
cognomen which occurs on coins.
The docs provided for the cognomen are as cited.
I don’t know enough about Roman name structure in order to determine
whether nomen were used as cognomen; or (as Fridrikr suggests)
changing the cognomen to <Vetus>.
Is this a lucy? It seems to be depicted fairly closely to what is
shown in Parker [p. 385, sn Lucy]; Parker says:
...the fish now commonly called a pike....
It is, as will be seen, found frequently in ancient arms, where it
plays upon the names. The large head and long mouth dis- [sic]
tinguish it in the drawing from other fishes.
The hooks should be bigger, given that they are the primary charges.
10. Hrafna-Erlendr inn rau{th}i -- Per pale indented argent and
gules, a raven maintaining a tankard counterchanged.
The docs for all name elements are as cited [the LoAR cite is for the
name {Th}órdís gjallandi eyverska].
This armory *did* look familiar....
11. Isabella of Sylvan Glen -- Or, in saltire a rapier inverted and a
rose gules slipped and leaved vert, a bordure purpure.
The docs for both name elements are as cited.
complexity count of eight (5 tinctures, 3 types
of charges)
12. Jacques of Sylvan Glen -- Azure, two chevronels between four
estoiles, those in chief one and two, Or.
The docs for both name elements are as cited.
The estoiles in chief are only *barely* “one and
two” and the chevrons
should be somewhat higher up on the field (and with a bit more acute
of an angle, although this angle is probably registrable) -- this
would have been SO much nicer if it had just been “between three
estoiles in chief and one in base”, because then the chevrons could
have been larger to fill the space better
13. Lei{th}ólfr grímr -- Argent, a wolf rampant and in
chief three
bones gules.
The name can be found on the October ‘07 LoAR [URL:
http://heraldry.sca.org/heraldry/loar/2007/10/07-10lar.html].
check for orientation of bones -- do they need to be blazoned as
palewise?
Nicely drawn.
14. Marcus Claudius Cincinnatus -- Vert, a lotus blossom in profile
within a bordure Or.
The docs for all name elements are as cited.
15. Padraig au’Chaeleichair -- Sable, a lightning bolt bendwise
argent between two quinces slipped and leaved Or.
ÓC&M gives the submitted spelling of the given name as a
post-1200
header form but gives no dated citations for the name as a stand-alone
(i.e., as <Patrick> rather than as a form such as <servant of
Patrick>. Most of the raw data in the Annals Index article gives the
name with the prepended form <Mael> or <Maol> , even for
the
genitive forms of the name, except in an obviously Latin context. The
documentation for the given name generally seems to suggest that a
more authentic Irish name would be <Maol Padraicc>,
<Máel Pátraicc>
and the like; the name <Mael Padraig h-Ua Sgandail> is dated to
1268. I did double-check the meaning of <Comarba> (in the name
<Comarba
Padraig>, also dated to 1268) on an online dictionary of Medieval
Irish [URL:
http://www.dil.ie/results-list.asp?mode=BAS&Fuzzy=0&searchtext=comarba&findlet=+&findcol=&sortField=
ID&sortDIR=65602&resperpage=10&bhcp=1&respage=3] and
the word appears
to mean “heir” or “successor”. The docs from Black are as cited, but
there are no actual dated citations.
The registration of the form <Padraig> in 2005 doesn’t specify,
but
it appears to be for a later time period than what the submitter is
looking for here.
The docs for the byname are as cited. It isn’t entirely clear from
however, if there is a different genetive form of of the name besides
what’s cited.
I would suggest possibly changing the name to <Mael Padraig
uá
Chaeleichair>, since it gives the spelling form the submitter wants
and is an authentic form for the submitter’s desired time period.
I would have called these apples. What makes them specifically
quinces? arker [p. 486, sn Quince] says:
... this fruit, drawn like a pear, is found blazoned according to
Glover’s
Ordinary on one coat of arms.
Given that Parker’s depictions of pears are pretty obviously pear-like
[p. 449, sn Pear], I’m not sure what heraldic quinces are supposed to
actually look like, and was unable to find any other depictions of
either quinces or pears (or even apples, for that matter).
16. Phelan the Wayfarer (name and badge) -- Per chevron inverted
azure and gules, an increscent, a decrescent and a wolf ululant argent.
What changes (if any) does the submitter allow?
The raw data in the Annals Index article gives the form
<Faolán>,
dated to 1423, in the name <Faoléan Mac an Goghann>. I
don’t have
MacLysaght, but the other docs for the given name are as cited.
The docs for the byname are mostly as cited. I checked in the
CompactOED, vol. II [p.
3715 (reproducing pp. 208-11), sn Wayfarer; the meaning is as cited,
with the earliest form of the submitted spelling cited dated to 1514.
Okay, I’ll bite. *Why* is this a badge (other than being on a badge
form)? It looks like it should be a device.
This is *NOT* inverted -- it’s just “per chevron”. The wolf is sejant,
and should also be larger, to fill the space better.
Reblazon: Per chevron azure and gules, an increscent, a decrescent and
a wolf sejant ululant argent.
17. Raven Whitehart -- Per chevron embowed argent and vert, two
ravens purpure and in base a stag salient argent.
The Reaney and Wilson docs for both name elements are as cited. I
don’t have Bardsley; the Hjerstedt book does not appear to be on the
“Do Not Photocopy” list [URL:
http://heraldry.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/admin.html#APPENDIXH] -- have
copies been provided?
This field is *not* “per chevron embowed” -- for something similar to
the blazon, see the “Chevron enarched” in PIC-DIC [fig. 113]. This
appears to be a point pointed [c.f. PIC-DIC, sn Point, and fig. 576];
although a tad on the high side, it’s probably registrable (any
higher, and it would blur the distinction between per chevron and a
point). Note that according to the PIC-DIC:
The point is most often used in a modified form called a “point
pointed”
[sic]: a triangular shape issuant from base, extending roughly
one-third the
height of the shield [574] [sic]. The sides are properly drawn with
concave
sides, but flat sides seem to be within the artist’s license.
Woodward [p. 148, and Plate XVI, fig. 9] calls this a “Pointe
entée”; in the section describing piles, it says:
It should be noticed that the Ordinary [sic] in its proper English
form
of a wedge, issuing from the chief is, I believe, absolutely unknown
to
French Armory [sic]. The pile-reversed [sic] issuing from the base
is,
however, not rare, and is called a pointe [sic].
If this pointeˆ[sic] is gradually curved upwards
the shield is blazoned
enté en pointe [sic]. Plate XVI., fig. 9, is the
coat of LERNOUT [sic] in
Flanders, and is: d’Or, à la pointe entée de sable
chargée
d’un fleur-de-lis
champ [sic].
Reblazon: Argent, two ravens purpure and on a point pointed vert a
stag salient argent.
Nicely drawn.
18. Sampson Feldman -- Per chevron throughout argent and sable, two
mallets inverted sable and a lion’s head cabossed Or.
The docs for both name elements are as cited.
Okay, is it my screen, or are my eyes just going wonky from two much
Superbowl coverage? ‘Cause this doesn’t look sable -- it looks like
dark brown -- sort of like the color of the icing on the Superbowl
cake I made, where I added (not enough) black food coloring to
homemade chocolate buttercream icing....
19. Suzanne Angelique Moscherosh -- Per bend sinister argent and
chequy azure and argent, a fleur-de-lys azure.
I don’t have Bahlow, but the other docs for the given name and middle
name are as cited.
The Britannica listing for Johann Michael Moscherosch can be found at
[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/393382/Johann-Michael-Moscherosch].
The Roots Web docs are not quite as cited (but this time it’s actually
in the submitter’s favor!) -- the individual cited was actually *born*
ca. 1575.
I did a Google search for the submitted spelling of the byname; most
of the hits were post-period, but a few seemed to be referring to the
same person in the Britannica article; I can’t tell if these are
misspellings or variant spellings of the same name.
The ruling about the combination of French and German can also be
found at in the Lingual Weirdness Table {URL:
http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/sca/weirdness_table.
html]
Nice armory.
Black, George F. TheSurnamesofScotland:TheirOrigin,Meaning,andHistory.
Edinburgh: Birlinn Ltd., 1999, 2004 [copyright: The New York Public
Library, 1946].
Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme [Bruce Miller] and Akagawa Yoshio
[Kevin Munday]. APictorialDictionaryofHeraldryAsUsedinTheSocietyforCreativeAnachronism,
2nd Ed., 1992.