ÆTHELMEARC COLLEGE OF HERALDS - commentary archive
Letter of Intent #126
Myfanwy ferch Rhiannon

                                                                              Feast of St. Hugh of Cluny
                                                                              29 April, AS XLIV         
 
Greetings from Myfanwy!
Herein pray find commentary on Æ LoI #126 [I actually managed to get it done before the last minute, for a change. :-) ]  Everything has been conflict-checked through the January 2010 LoARs.
I remain your servant and the Society’s.
 
Lady Myfanwy ferch Rhiannon
Ruth Morrisson
myfanwy@consolidated.net
 
      1. Æthelmearc, Kingdom of (Order Name) -- Order of the Silver Stirrup”
The Compact OED [vol. II, pp. 2825-26, (reproducing vol. Si.-St.., pp. 49-56), sn. Silver ] dates the submitted spelling to 1340, with the meaning of “the metal regarded as a valuable possession or medium of exchange”.  The submitted spelling, in the submitted meaning, dates to 1669; the closest to the submitted spelling for this definition is <siluer>, dating to 1300.
The Compact OED [vol. II, p. 3058, (reproducing vol. Si.-St.., pp. 981-84), sn Stirrup] dates the submitted spelling to 1686; the closest period spelling I found is <stirrop>, dating to 1585.
      conflict with  the Kingdom of the Outlands’ “Order of the Silver Stirrup” (10/99 Outlands)
 
      2. Æthelmearc, Kingdom of (transfer of Heraldic Title Comet Pursuivant to Barony-Marche of the Debatable Lands
Seems pretty straightforward.  Is there any sort of other paperwork that has to be involved?  I know that group armory has to have a petition of support.
 
      3. Aileisaabai{th} Hlasa
The facsimile is interesting, but I couldn’t actually decipher it; another page is from the same site is for Luke 1:5 [URL: http://app.ub.uu.se/arv/codex/faksimiledition/
jpg_files/135lc1f.html]; there is a gloss in the margin which appears to show some partial form of the submitted given name: <Aelizaber-> is about all I can make out since the edge of the page appears to be cut off.
The St. Gabriel docs are as cited.
I tried to follow the discussion on the grammar.  I’m willing to give the submitter the benefit of the doubt, because I can’t tell enough about Gothic language and grammar to tell if the byname is formed correctly (or for that matter, whether a strong or weak ending form is appropriate).
My recommendation is to forward this on to Laurel with a request for assistance from someone better at the omnastics and grammar.
 
      4. Alessandra Grazzini -- Gules, a decrescent argent and in chief three mullets Or.
The docs for both name elements are as cited.
Nice armory!
      clear of: Drusticc inigena Eddarrnonn (6/05 Lochac) -- Gules, a crescent bendwise sinister argent.
There is a CD for changing the orientation of the crescent, and one for adding the secondary charge group.
      clear of: Lourana Moonwind (10/85 Atenveldt) -- Gules, a decrescent moon within an orle of mullets Or.
There is a CD the tincture of the decrescent and at least one for changing the number and arrangement of the mullets.
      clear of: Aigiarn Aljin (12/03 Outlands) -- Gules, three crescents in pall inverted horns to center argent between three mullets of six points Or.
There is a CD for changing the number of crescents, and one for for the arrangement of the charges (but nothing for type of secondary).
      clear of: Conrad von Regensburg (badge, 1/74 ??) -- Gules semy of decrescents argent.
There is a CD for changing the number of the primary charge group and one for adding the secondaries.
      clear of: Croatia, Ancient (important non-SCA arms, 1/00 West) -- Azure, in pale a mullet of six points Or and a crescent argent.
There are CDs for changing the field, for orientation of the crescent, and for number (but not type) of mullets
Note that this registration may be incorrect: when double-checking what the Ancient Croatian flag actually looks like I found a website showing the flag with the field as being gules [URL: http://www.squidoo.com/croatianflag]; this would still clear, however, with a CD for orientation of the crescent and one for the number of mullets.
      clear of: Randal of Elfsea (5/07 Ansteorra) -- Gules, a heart and in chief three mullets Or.
This is a case of X.2 , with both this and the submission being simple armory, and the type of primary charge substantially changed.
      clear of: Aelfric MacRancan (10/02 An Tir) -- Vert, a decrescent and in chief three mullets of eight points Or.
There is a CD for changing the field and one for the tincture of the decrescent.  There may also be one for changing the mullets of 8 points to standard mullets of 5 points.
possibly not a CD -- type of secondaries
 
      5. Alethea Cowle
The Withycombe docs for the given name are as cited.  The online docs are also as cited.
The Reaney and Wilson docs for the byname are not quite as cited: while the submitted for is dated as cited, the beginning of the entry actually says <Henry de Cuwell [sic], dated to 1196.  The online docs are as cited.
 
      6. Cristiano Martelli
The docs for both name elements are as cited.  In addition, the given name is found in Ferrante LaVolpe’s “Italian Renaissance Men’s Names” [URL: http://www.s-gabriel.
org/names/ferrante/catasto/names.txt], working from the “Online Catasto of 1427” which cites 2 instances of the name [URL: http://www.stg.brown.edu/projects/
catasto/newsearch/first_names.html].
 
      7. Debatable Lands, Barony-Marche of  the (acceptance of transfer of Heraldic Title Comet Pursuivant from Kingdom of Æthelmearc)
Seems pretty straightforward.  Is there any sort of other paperwork that has to be involved?  I know that group armory has to have a petition of support.
 
      8. Egill the Dane (badge resub) -- (Fieldless) An acorn bendwise Or.
      clear of: Tearlach na Drochaide (badge, 9/97) -- (Fieldless) An acorn argent.
      clear of: Fjorleif in Haga (badge, 12/98 An Tir) -- (Fieldless) An acorn inverted slipped and leaved argent.
      clear of: Aldgudana Gunnarsdóttir (badge, 4/03 An Tir) -- (Fieldless) An acorn per pall sable argent and Or.
      clear of: Caid, Kingdom of (badge for the Order of the Acorn, 3/00) -- (Fieldless) An acorn proper.
In each of these, there is a CD for fieldless vs. fieldless, and one for changing at half the tincture; in the case of the Caidan badge, the default tincture of an acorn “proper” is brown, which, according to the table of Conventional  “Proper” Colorings in the Glossary of Terms website [URL: http://heraldry.sca.org/coagloss.html#proper], falls under the “Color” (i.e., as opposed to “Metal”) tincture class.  There should also be a CD in each of these for orientation.
      probably clear of: Drei Eichen, Barony of (badge, 10/96 Drachenwald) -- Azure, an acorn Or.

      probably clear of Rivenoak, Shire of (badge, 12/88 West) -- Gyronny argent and sable, an acorn inverted Or.
In each case there is a CD for field vs. fieldless, and there should be one for orientation.
      probably clear of: Wealdsmere, Barony of (badge for Sergeants of Wealdsmere, 3/06 An Tir) -- Per bend wavy Or and bendy wavy azure and argent, in chief an oak leaf inverted conjoined at the stem with an acorn all bendwise proper.
There is a CD for field vs. fieldless, and one for tincture of the acorn.  There may or may not be one for removing the leaf.
      possibly clear of: Ammalynne Sternjekrakki Haraldsdottir (badge for Hüs Løk, 9/80 Meridies) -- (Fieldless) A sprouting yellow onion bendwise proper. [Liliacae [sic] Alium cepa]
      possibly clear of: Ysabelot Clarisse (badge, 2/06 An Tir) -- (Fieldless) A turnip bendwise proper.
In each case there is a CD for fieldless vs. fieldless, and there might be one for type; I can’t tell whether there is one for tincture.
 
      9. Maeve ni Siurtain (badge) -- (Fieldless) A chamfron azure charged on the forehead with a crescent argent.
The docs for the charge are pretty much as cited (except that there was a typo during transcription -- it’s <c{a-} mus> not <c{a-}us>).  Note that the emblazon, which is in the default orientation, is similar to what is shown in the PIC-DIC [fig. 100].
      clear of: Taliba bint Ihsan (9/80 Caid) -- Argent, a horse’s head affronté couped at the neck azure, blazed of a crescent argent, between three roses sable.
There is a CD for field vs. fieldless, and one for the removal of the secondary charges.  There may also be one for type of primary, but given that both are affronty, and the tertiary charge is identical for type tincture and (probably) position, it may need a visual inspection.
      possibly not clear of: Constancia Tattersall (9/02 An Tir) -- Argent goutty, on a chamfron azure a cross patonce argent.
There is a CD for field vs. fieldless; there is only a change of type of tertiary, and a chamfron is probably too complex to qualify for X.4.j.ii: a Precedent from Shauna’s tenure says:
            [Sable, on a compass star argent a Maltese cross azure and in base two swords
            inverted crossed at the tips argent] [sic]  The device conflicts with Conner
            McAuliffe FitzJames, Sable, within a sun throughout argent, eclipsed azure,
            a goshawk displayed argent [sic], which could also be blazoned as Sable, on
            a sun throughout argent, a roundel azure charged with a goshawk displayed
            argent [sic].  This emphasizes the quaternary nature of Conner's goshawk,
            and we ignore quaternary charges completely when checking for conflict.
            We give no CD between a compass star and a sun, nor for throughout vs.
            not-throughout for non-ordinaries. Since compass stars are not eligible for
            X.4.j.ii, there is no CD for type only between a roundel and a Maltese cross.
            Thus there is only one CD between this armory and Conner's for adding
            the secondary swords. [John the Wanderer, 05/04, R-Caid] [sic]
 
      10. Ottilige von Rappoltsweiler
I don’t have Bahlow.  The form <Otilge> can be found as a variant of <Ottilie> in Scott’s “Medieval German Given Names from Silesia” [URL: http://www.s-gabriel.org/
names/talan/bahlow/bahlowFem.html] dated to 1370; the form <Ottilig> is found (as a single instance) in Uckelman’s “German Names from Kulmbach, 1495” [URL: http://
www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/german/kulmbach1495.html].
The Dauzat and Rostaing docs are as cited; note that while the entry does not give a dated citation, it suggests that <Rappoltsweiler> is the German form of the name, with the form <Ratbaldo villare [sic]> apparently dated to 768.
 
      11. Petr Kotok (badge) -- Quarterly gules and sable, a sickle within a bordure Or.
The sickle is in its default orientation [c.f. PIC-DIC, sn Sickle, and fig. 669].
      clear of: Rorik Gunnulfsson (10/76 ??) -- Sable, a sickle fesswise, blade to chief, within  a bordure, all Or.
There is a CD for changing half of the field, and one for the orientation of the sickle.
      clear of: Tristan Giles Richardson (3/86 West) -- Quarterly gules and sable, a narwhal haurient to sinister within a bordure Or.
      clear of: Imran Yosuf le Scorpioun (8/87 Atlantia) -- Quarterly gules and sable, a swan rousant wings displayed, argent, beaked and membered, within a bordure Or.
      clear of: Karl Redstone (9/94 An Tir) -- Quarterly gules and sable, a sword inverted proper within a bordure Or.
These should all be clear by X.2 (complete difference of primary charge).
      clear of: Drosten Sutherland (4/06 An Tir) -- Gules, a fishhook reversed Or within a bordure per pale sable and argent.
There is a CD for changing half the field, and one for changing the tincture of the bordure; there may also be one for type/orientation of the primary charge, but it might need a visual comparison.
 
      12. Raven Whitehart (device resub) -- Per chevron embowed argent and vert, two ravens purpure and a stag salient argent.
While this seems to be better (check old submission to be sure, I think this still blurs the distinction between per chevron and a point pointed somewhat.  The line does seem to start above the tick marks on the edges of the escutcheon, but the point of the line probably should come up to at least halfway between the ravens (possibly as much as two thirds of the way in between them.
Moving the line up would have the added effect of giving the stag a bit more room to be a bit larger.
I don’t think that “embowed” is the correct terminology here.  Parker [pp. 224 -25, sn Embowed] says:
                  Embowed, [sic] (fr. courbé [sic]: bent, or bowed; applied to the arm
            [sic] of a man, and still more frequently to dolphins [sic]....
                  [p. 225] With French heralds the word courbé [sic] is more frequently
            applied to the fesse [sic], bend, &c., when either are slightly bent upwards. 
            English heralds also speak of the bend, &c., as arched, enarched, or embowed
            [sic], but such devices, though common in French arms, and more so still
            in German arms, are very seldom, if ever, found in true English heraldry.
The margin illustration for “a bend embowed” [p. 225] shows a gentle convex curve, not the steeper concave curves of the line of division in the submission.  Woodward [p. 88, in the section describing “chapé” and “chausse” fields, says:
            When the chapé [sic], or chaussé [sic], is formed by arched or concave
            lines it is said to be ployé [sic], as in the Bavarian coat of VON SCHLEICH
            (Plate VI., fig. 9) [sic]; de Gueules chausse-ployé d’argent [sic].
Likewise, in the discussion of chevrons [p. 137], Woodward says:
                  In foreign coats the chevron is often drawn ployé [sic], i.e. [sic], with
            its limbs curved inwards.
An example of a chevron ployé is given on Plate XIII, fig. 4, with the arms of Moll [von Moll?] and blazoned in Woodward [p. 137] as “Azure, a chevron ployé between three estoiles Or”. 
 The original return’s blazon was “a point pointed ployé” and I suspect that “per chevron ployé” better describes the line of division here.
Reblazon: Per chevron ployé argent and vert, two ravens purpure and a stag salient argent.
      possibly clear of: Volradus Tammius (12/00 Atlantia) -- Per chevron argent and vert, three birds volant contourny wings addorsed one and two purpure and a plate.
There is a CD for changing the number of charges; there may be a CD for cumulative changes to the charge group (changing just the type of bottom-most charge alone is not sufficient, as it is less than half of the charge group, but the change of posture of the birds may push it to the clear side.
      probably clear of: Einarr inn spaki (2/07 Calontir) -- Per chevron argent and vert, two ravens addorsed sable and a bear rampant argent.
      probably clear of: Gwalchmai Wynber vap Bran (11/88 An Tir) -- Per chevron argent and vert, two ravens rising addorsed, wings displayed, sable, and a fir tree argent.
      probably clear of: Kian hrafn af Dyrnesi (8/93 Atenveldt) -- Per chevron throughout argent and vert, two ravens respectant sable and a reindeer’s head erased argent, collared sable and chained Or.
      probably clear of: Gwyn Chwith ap Llyr (11/96 West) Per chevron argent and vert, three owls contourny counterchanged.
In each case, there is a CD for changes to the birds (either tincture or posture) and one for changing type of the bottom-most charge; there may or may not be one for changing the orientation of some of the birds.
      probably clear of: Lillias Collingbourne (8/01 Meridies) -- Per chevron argent and purpure, two hummingbirds rising respectant wings addorsed and a lotus in profile counterchanged.
There is a CD for changing half the field.  There may be a CD for changing the posture of the birds (but possibly not type) and there should be one for changing the type of the bottom-most charge;  there may or may not be one for changing the orientation of some of the birds.
      clear of: Victoria Pringle (5/08 Atlantia) -- (Fieldless) Three birds close conjoined in annulo purpure.
There is a CD for field vs. fieldless and one for arrangement of the charges; there is not, however, one for changing the type of only one, since the registered armory does not have the charges in the default arrangement of two and one.
 
      13. Ullrych Sturm -- Paly bendy azure and argent, three chevronels sable.
The chevrons should probably be a bit thicker, but may be acceptable as is (it would just need an artist’s note).
Nice armory.  Unfortunately, there’s a conflict.
      conflict with: Sitric McConnaill (9/99 Artemisia) -- Checky vert and Or, three chevronels sable.
There is only a single CD, for changing the field.
      probably clear of: Daniel the Defender of Silvertere (8/79 ??) -- Bendy paly barry bendy sinister argent and azure, on a fess azure goutty d’eau a sword reversed argent.
     probably clear of: Damian of Silvertere (7/79 ??) -- Bendy, paly, barry, bendy sinister argent and azure, a fess azure, goutty d’eau.
In each case, there is at least one CD for cumulative changes to the primary charge group (type, number, and tincture), and there should be one for removing the tertiary charges; there may also be one for changes to the field.
      probably clear of: Margrethe Anelsesløs (10/94 East) -- Checky argent and azure, on a pale sable three crosses crosslet argent.
There is at least one CD for cumulative changes to the primary charge group (type and number) and there should be one for removing the tertiary charges; there may also be one for changes to the field.
 
Bibliography:
[no author]  The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary: Complete Text
      Reproduced Micrographically [2 Vol.].  Oxford, London, et. al.: Oxford University
      Press, 1971, 1981.
 
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. 
 
Dauzat, A. and Ch. Rostaing.  Dictionnaire étymologique des noms de lieux en France,
      2nd. Ed.  Paris: Librairie Guénégaud, 1963, 1978.
 
http://heraldry.sca.org/coagloss.html#proper
 
http://heraldry.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/precedents.html
 
http://heraldry.sca.org/heraldry/loar/
 
http://heraldry.sca.org/laurel/admin.html
 
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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.
 
Woodward, John, and George Burnett.  Woodward's Treatise on Heraldry, British
      and Foreign.  Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle Co., Inc., 1969, 1971.
 
other URLs as cited