Unto the fine and upstanding members of the Æthelmearc College of Heralds, greetings from Garnet and Cornelian! Happy April to everyone - we hope that the weather throughout the Kingdom has been as delightful as it is here in the Debatable Lands. :) We have not produced an April Fool's LoI this year, just a regular April LoI. Our apologies to anyone who was looking forward to a gag letter - we just didn't find the time. If anyone in the College is particularly interested in the idea, we'd be happy to have someone else produce an April 1 letter next year. In any case, commentary on this month's (plain old serious) letter will be due on April 30.
We'd like to try something a little different this month, in response to ideas forwarded by several of our commenters in February. Specifically, we invite all of you to post your commentary directly to the aethel-heralds e-mail list (instead of sending it to the Garnet Office). This is on a trial basis; we may or may not decide to continue handling commentary this way in the future - watch this space for further developments. If you don't feel comfortable posting your commentary to the whole list, please continue to send electronic copy to Ailis (wanderingpixie@livejournal.com), Roana (roana@angelfire.com), and Cadell (owaru@myfamily.org). Now, some information germane to posting your commentary to the mailing list!
Cadell will continue to archive all letters of comment on the webpage. We're curious to see what kind of dynamic evolves out of having commentary available on the list - please, feel free to take the opportunity to respond directly to your fellow heralds' comments! If you have opinions about this proposed new policy, either now or after commentary begins to appear, we welcome your comments: either privately (to Ailis and Roana at the aforementioned addresses) or publicly on the mailing list.
And now, with no further ado, on to the newest Internal Letter of Intent!
It is the intent of the Æthelmearc College of Heralds that the following items be considered for registration. Unless otherwise noted, submitters will accept all changes. Commentary on this letter is due by April 30.
1. Aengus MacBain– New badge
(Fieldless) A thistle per pale sable and Or.
Can someone tell us when his name was registered?
Herald of Record: Cadell Blaidd Du
This title is being transferred to us from the East Kingdom; both a letter of transfer from Brigantia and a letter of acceptance from Silver Buccle are included with the submission. Can someone tell us when the title was originally registered?
Herald of Record: Edmund Tregelles
3. Aine ingen uí Mac Aonghus– New name, New device
Pean, a horse's head couped contourny and on a chief embattled argent three towers vert.
This name is intended to be feminine. The submitter cares most about the language/culture.
Aine is found "on p. 19 Ó Corráin & Maguire." Can someone give us a more complete citation?
ingen uí is a patronymic marker meaning "daughter of."
Mac Aonghus is found "on p. 148 Ó Corráin & Maguire." Can someone give us a more complete citation, and also find the right form for a feminine patronymic byname?
Herald of Record: Gilles de Beauchamps
4. Aurenca Mouly – New name, New device
Or, on a chief gules three crosses moline Or.
This name is intended to be feminine. The submitter is interested in an Occcitan name (but does not specifically request authenticity); she cares most about the given name's sound and the surname's meaning, "mill" or "windmill".
Aurenca is a header form in Anne Brenon's book, Le petit livre aventureux des prénoms occitans au temps du catharisme. The entry says "Il fut porté notamment, au milleu do XIIIe siècle, par un Parfaite des Cassès ..." (Notably, it [the name] was borne in the 13th century by a Prefect of Cassès ...) and lists the name as Occitan. The submitter also included documentation showing that this spelling of the name (there are other forms listed in the Petit livre) is the one appropriate to her persona. :)
Mouly is found at Villeneuve d'Aveyron's history page, where one E. Mouly was a signatory to the creation of the town's new motto in 1584. Mouly is also listed as a variant spelling in Morlet Noms de Famille s.n. Moulin (which is the French word for 'mill').
Herald of Record: Cadell Blaidd Du
The submitter has no gender preferences concerning this name.
Baatar is found in the list of personal names in "Names and Their Sources" (http:// www.9v.com/crystal/kerij-e/docs/names.htm) meaning brave, courageous, or hero. This same source declares that Bataar is the only Mongolian title recognized in the SCA, and it is used to denote knighthood. The spelling Baatar is also found dated to the 12th century in "What is the Script On the Chinggis Khan's Stele About?" (http://www.atarn.org/mongolian/mongol_1.htm).
Sogdo comes from the Mongolian translation for the English word 'intoxicated.' According to the English – Mongolian dictionary at MobiNet (http://www.mobinet.mn/en/dictionary/index.jsp) the translation is "sogtuu".
Herald of Record: Juliana de Luna
6. Fintan na Coilled– New name, New device
Argent, a stag rampant gules and on a chief azure two pairs of arrows crossed in saltire argent.
This name is intended to be masculine. The submitter cares most about the meaning "white fire / ancient of the woods."
Fintan is found 28 times in Tangwystyl's "100 Most Popular Men's Names in Early Medieval Ireland."
na Coilled is cited as early as 1270 in the Toponymics section of Mari's "Index of Names in Irish Annals: Descriptive Bynames" article – look in the alphabetic list of all descriptive bynames. It means "of the wood."
Herald of Record: King's Crossing Demo
This name is intended to be feminine. The submitter allows minor changes only, cares most about language/culture, and requests authenticity for 10th century Norse. If her new name passes, she wishes to release her old name.
Hrefna is found on p. 11 of Geirr Bassi, and occurs once in the Landnamabok.
in heppna is the feminine version of 'in heppni,' which appears on p. 22 of Geirr Bassi. It is from the Landnamabok and has been feminized according to the rules on p. 19 of Geirr Bassi.
þorgímsdóttir is a patronymic byname meaning 'daughter of þorgímr.' þorgímr is found on p. 16 of Geirr Bassi; it occurs 41 times in the Landnamabok. The patronymic has been formed according to the rules on p. 17 of Geirr Bassi.
Herald of Record: Hrefna in heppna
8. Máel Coluim map Vipogwench – New name, New device
Vert, a serpent in annulo argent and a chief rayonny ermine.
This name is intended to be masculine. The submitter allows major changes but not minor changes, and requests authenticity for 8th-10th century Pictish.
Máel Coluim is taken from The Kings of Celtic Scotland by Bejamin Hudson, on p. 110, which gives a biography of 'Máel Coluim II mac Cináeda' who lived or ruled from 1005-1034. He "took the kingship of the Scots after the death of his cousin Cináed III, the son of his father's brother Dub."
map is a patronymic marker found in Tangwystyl's article "A Consideration of Pictish Names." The article states that "'Map' is the Brythonic equivalent to 'mac' and may have been in use during the 6th and 7th centuries and earlier. There is only one questionable example of it."
Vipogwench is found in Appendix 1 of The Age of the Picts by W. A. Cummins. Neither the documentation on the forms nor the single page photocopied from the book gives any indication of what Vipogwench really is. (A given name? A surname? Something else entirely?) The word appears in a list labeled "Group B (1187, 1251, 1280, 1317)" and lists Vipogwench under "Name," with a second column "Reign (years)" reading 30.
Herald of Record: none
This name is intended to be feminine. The submitter allows minor changes only, requests authenticity for Byzantine, and cares most about the meaning, where Agrissa is a byname meaning "wild" and Sgourina is her husband's byname meaning "curly."
The name pattern <given name><descriptive byname><husband's byname> is documented from "Personal Names of the Aristocracy in the Roman Empire During the Later Byzantine Era" by Bardas Xiphias.
Maria is found in "Byzantine Seals 1025-1261" (http://www.kcl.ac.uk/humanities/cch/PBE/seals/).
Agrissa is a feminized version of the Greek word "agrios," which means "wild." The feminization was done according to the rules explained in "Personal Names of the Aristocracy in the Roman Empire During the Later Byzantine Era" by Bardas Xiphias.
Sgourina is a byname also found in "Personal Names of the Aristocracy in the Roman Empire During the Later Byzantine Era" by Bardas Xiphias.
Herald of Record: Cadell Blaidd Du