Æthelmearc Letter of Report Æ67
May 1, 2003


Happy May, and thank you to all of our commenters this month: Aryanhwy, Cigfran, Cnute, Dagonell, Elsbeth, Emily Beckwith, Fridrikr, Jehan, Keinven Ragnarsdottir, Leonor Farfan, Malcolm Fraiser, Pendar, and Yvonne Kridler. Way to go, guys!

The items accepted in the letter have been forwarded to Laurel on XLoI Æ67; they will be decided on in September 2003.


1. Adelheidis Spätauf -- New device

Per chevron inverted azure and sable, in chief a cinquefoil Or, in base two arrows in chevron inverted argent.

Her name was on Æthelmearc’s Letter of Intent dated October 22, 2002. Her device was pended at that time for a technical conflict (we had hoped to get a letter of permissions to conflict). In the meantime, Laurel has made statements that confuse the issue of whether or not the technical conflict is really a conflict. We have forwarded the device to Laurel requesting clarification of the issues; please see the text of the XLoI for the full discussion.


2. Æthelmearc, Kingdom of -– Acceptance of transfer of heraldic title – Seedling Pursuivant

As some of you noted, there ended up being some administrative confusion on this one. It was published on ILoI Æ67, but then we discovered that it needed to be bumped up to XLoI Æ66 so that it’d arrive before Laurel in the right month. In any case, the transfer has made it out of Kingdom.


3. Áine ingen uí Áengusa – New name and device accepted

Pean, a horse’s head couped contourny and on a chief embattled argent three towers vert.

Submitted as Aine ingen uí Mac Aonghus, we have changed the name to an internally consistent and correct form, after consulting with the submitter to determine her preferences. The device has been redrawn to address several commenters’ concerns.


4. Angus MacBain -– New badge accepted

(Fieldless) A thistle per pale sable and Or.


5. Aurenca Mouly –- New name and device accepted

Or, on a chief gules three crosses moline Or.

Nice!


6. Bataar Sogdo – New name pended

Given the large amount of discussion on the list, the ambiguity of the submission, and a general desire to research this matter further, we are pending the name for exactly one month. If after that time we decide to pass the name, it will appear on XLoI Æ68.


7. Fintan na Coilled– New name and device accepted

Argent, a stag rampant gules and on a chief azure two pairs of arrows in saltire argent.


8. Hrefna in heppna Þorgímsdóttir – Name change from Raven Jäde vom Schwartzwald accepted


9. Máel Coluim map Vipogwench – New name and device returned

Vert, a serpent in annulo argent and a chief rayonny ermine.

This name is being returned for a variety of reasons.

Primarily, the name violates the Linguistic Consistency rules: "map Vipogwench" uses the Brythonic patronymic marker map with the presumably Pictish name Vipogwench. Combining two different languages (Brythonic and Pictish) in the same name element (i.e. within a patronymic byname) is specifically disallowed by the RfS III.1.a Linguistic Consistency.

Secondarily, there is a temporal disparity of approximately 400 years between the various name elements, which is at best a weirdness.

Third, the submitter’s own documentation of the patronymic marker map says that map "may have been in use during the 6th and 7th centuries and earlier" and that "There is only one questionable example of it." This documentation fails to support the use of map in a Pictish name, and especially fails to support its use in an authentic 8th-10th century Pictish name, which the submitter requested.

Fourth, the submitter’s own documentation was not sufficiently complete to tell us whether or not Vipogwench is a Pictish given name, and no conclusive documentation could be found to support its being a given name (Pictish or otherwise) at all.

In addition to the fact that his name is being returned for more work, this device is in conflict with Ragnachar Radagaist’s badge, Vert, a serpent in annulo argent, with 1 CD for the addition of a chief. (Only one CD – you can’t get two CD’s for adding a chief with a complex line!)


10. Mairi ni Raghaillaigh – New alternate name Maria Agrissa Sgourina accepted