Æthelmearc Internal Letter of Intent #55
December 1, 2001




1. Angus Langaxe - Name and Device

Per chevron pean and gules, on a chevron rayonny Or a wyvern displayed gules maintaining an axe fesswise proper.

Withycombe says that Angus is a common Scottish name, and says that it was the name of a 7th century saint as well as a legendary hero.

Langaxe is an invented byname constructed of "lang" meaning "long" and "axe." Reaney and Wilson give many "Lang-" names including Langbridge and Langbain. Under "Long-", Reaney and Wilson list Longspey "long sword" dated to 1375. This same entry lists Richard Langknyf, dated to 1332 (p. 284). Also listed under "Longstaff" is Richard Longstaf in 1210.


2. Ástridr Brandsdóttir - Name and Device

Per pale gules and vert, three cat's heads cabossed Or.

Ástridr and Brand are both found in Geirr Bassi (p. 8). The byname is constructed according to the rules on p. 17.


3. Brigit ingen Fhaíltigirn - Badge

(Fieldless) A crescent purpure.


4. Caradawc Mendwr - Name and Device

Per pale sable and argent, three towers within a bordure counterchanged.

Caradawc is given as an alternate spelling in Morgan and Norgan (s.n. Caradog, p. 67). Mendwr is an occupational byname in "Names and Naming Practice in the Merioneth Lay Subsidy Roll 1292-3" by Keridwen (now Tangwystyl) verch Morgan Glasvryn (1991 KWHS Proceedings).


5. Charles de Cayeux - Badge

(Fieldess) A crescent per pale Or and ermine.


6. Daimhin Sinna - Badge

(Fieldless) An ermine spot sable.


7. Edana inghean an Druaidh - Name appeal

Her name was registered in December of 2000 as Edan inghean an Druiadh. The given name was originally documented as the feminine form of Aedan from Coughlin, a source which gives modern forms only. The College of Heralds of Æthelmearc found evidence of Edan dated to 1379 (Withycombe s.n. Edith) and the name was changed accordingly. However, the client argues that Edan could reasonably be Latinized Edana and points to the forms Edine dated to 1273 (under the same heading) for evidence of the name being used with two syllables. In addition, she would point to the fact that Edana was registered twice as recently as 1996 (as Edana O'Donnelly and Edana of Dreiburgen).

The byname was simply misspelled; MacLysaght gives the form as Druaidh, not Druiadh.


8. Geoffrey de Montgomery - Change from Holding Name

His armory was registered under the name Geoffrey of Sunderoak in April of 2000. His name submission Geoffrey Montgomery was returned for being insufficiently different from his numdane name Jeffrey Montgomery. The addition of de is sufficient to allow registration, according to precedent.

Geoffrey is found in Withycombe p. 61. Reaney and Wilson list a Hugo de Montgomeri in 1086 (s.n. Montgomery).


9. Geraine Morys - Device

Vert, on a pile Or, a fox's mask sable, two arrows point to base Or.


10. Katherine Kiersey - Name and Device

Quarterly azure and sable, two butterflies respectant argent.

She will allow changes to the given name but none to the surname

Katherine -- Withycombe (s.n. Katharine) gives this as a variant of Katharine, and states that the name came into England by the 12th century through Saint Katharine.

Kiersey is identified in Reaney and Wilson as a variant of Kersey. Adam de Kersey is dated to 1325. MacLysaght p. 174 lists the name as a variant of Keirsey, with the statement that it is a Norman toponymic that came to Co. Waterford in the 13th century.


11. Madelina de Angeles - Device

Argent, a lightning bolt palewise sable between three cinquefoils gules.


12. Marc MacLave - Badge

Per fess rayonny sable and gules, a horse courant contourney and a chief embattled argent.


13. Mathias Mendel - Name and Device

Per fess gules and vert, on a chief embattled Or three suns sable.

Mathias is dated to 1332, 1375, and 1388 in Talan Gwynek "Medieval German Given Names from Silesia" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/bahlow/bahlow)

Brechenmacher cites Mendel Swellenpeck in 1381 and Christoph Mendel zu Eichstätt in 1497.


14. Ruadhan Baird - Badge

(Fieldless) A chess rook argent.


15. Sara Charmaine of Falkensee - Change of Device

Per chevon ermine and gules, a chevron Or between two gowns purpure and two needles in saltire, points to chief, threaded by a single thread argent and enfiled of a pearled coronet of six points Or.

So, folks, is the coronet a maintained charge, worth no difference, or is it a co-secondary with the needles and gowns?


16. Sayyida al-Zahra - Name

Sayyida is found in "Andalusian Names - Arabs in Spain" by Juliana de Luna (http://www.s-gabriel.org/juliana/andalusia). The byname al-Zahra 'the radiant' is found in the same source. Originally associated with Fatima, the byname became a devotional name that remains in wide use today according to Annemarie Schimmel. While women more frequently have a patronymic byname as well, this pattern is found in period.


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