To all of our esteemed colleagues in the Æthelmearc College of Heralds, greetings from Ailis Garnet and Roana Cornelian!
In the spirit of the recent holiday of Thanksgiving, we at the Garnet office would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation of all of the hard-working consulting heralds out there. That's most of you, at one time or another! But we've seen some problems lately with submissions that really concern us, and which we would like to address at this time.
Our primary concern: Name submissions need to be completed. A form that doesn't include documentation for all parts of the name is not a completed submission! As a courtesy, we have generally accepted submissions with missing documentation. However, we are not at all obligated to accept these incomplete submissions. It's one thing to include a note along the lines of 'This sounds reasonable to me but I don't have access to the sources I'd need to document the name, can you help?' But a form that utterly fails to document or even mention one or more parts of the name says to us that you're not even trying. We've been seeing an increasing number of these incomplete forms lately, and if they continue to appear we will begin returning them to the herald of record unconsidered.
Our secondary concern: We've been receiving some submissions that don't include the right numbers of copies. Here's a quick refresher on the Garnet office's requirements:
Please note that we no longer need reduced-size copies of devices or SASE's! Please, don't send them anymore.
We'd also like to extend to all of you an invitation to brush up on your name documentation skills. If you're feeling a little uncertain or rusty, take a look at a quick name documentation article we've written up here. Again, thanks for all of the hard work that you do, and now ... On to the newest 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.
This name is intended to be masculine.
Alaric is found in Withycombe, who states that it was "the names of several kings of West Goths."
Mæidesstana is found in Ekwall s.n. Maidstone, with the submitted spelling dated to 1321.
Herald of Record: Otfrid Ammerthaler
2. Aleyd von Kiel New name, New device
Azure, a crane in its vigilance and on a chief argent three roses azure.
This name is intended to be feminine. The submitter accepts minor changes only and requests authenticity for the German language/culture.
Aleyd is a variation of Adelheid dated to 1384 in Talan's "Medieval German Names from Silesia." No documentation is provided for this construction of the byname, but the city is documented at http://www.lodging-germany.com/info/Kiel/history.htm. This site states that "The city Kiel was founded bu the Count Adolf IV in the 1200's, at the end of the Kieler Fφrde (Kiel Bay) that carves 11 miles into the land."
Herald of Record: Finn Folhare
This name is intended to be masculine. The submitter cares most about the sound.
Damian is found in Withycombe dated to 1205.
Kennison is a suggested variant of both Kenison and Kennieson, which are header forms in Black with the latter dated to 1745. Both are forms of Cunieson which is also a header form in Black, with John Cunysoun dated to 1474.
Herald of Record: Matilda Bosvyle
4. Dmitrii Zhirov New name, New device
Argent, a chevron quarterly gules and sable.
This name is intended to be masculine. The submitter cares most about the Russian language/culture.
Dmitrii is a header form in Wickenden, which cites Great Prince Dmitrii in 1262.
Zhirov is cited as a patronymic for Gridia Zhirov in 1496-8 s.n. Zhir, ibid.
Herald of Record: Otfrid Ammerthaler
The submitter has no preferences about this name.
Emma is a header form in Withycombe, which states that it is Old German, also the English daughter of Richard Dukes of Normandy, and it was common from the 11th century onwards.
Idunn is found in Reaney & Wilson s.n. Iddon, which states that the header form derives from the Old Norse name Idunn, Iðuna.
Herald of Record: Cigfran Caer Gwalch
6. Hrothgar Ivarson New name, New device
Per chevron dovetailed gules and sable, in chief two lozenges and in base two wolves statant argent.
This name is intended to be masculine. The submitter cares most about the sound, and requests authenticity for the 10th-11th century.
No documentation was provided for this name.
Herald of Record: Cigfran Caer Gwalch
7. James of Hartstone New name, New device
Gules, a mouse rampant and on a chief embattled argent three apples gules.
This name is intended to be masculine. The submitter cares most about the sound.
James is a common English name.
Hartstone is a shire name registered in 06/01.
Herald of Record: Finn Folhare
The submitter cares most about the sound.
The submitter's primary name was registered in 02/02.
House is a standard household designator.
Isenfaust is a constructed byname already registered to the submitter. Isen is a variant of Eisen (Bahlow, sn. Isaibart & Isener), which means Iron (Bahlow, sn. Eisenbart). Faust means fist (Bahlow, sn. Faust). Similar formations include Eisenhaupt meaning 'iron head' (Bahlow, sn. Eisenhaupt), and Eisenbein meaning 'iron shin' (Bahlow, sn. Eisenbein).
A household name following the pattern "House <surname>" should be registerable based on the following precedent from Bruce:
House names in period don't seem to have been overly fantastic. For the most part, they come from the same linguistic well as period bynames. In particular, since a period house name was so often simply the surname, byname, or epithet of its founder, any such epithet that is acceptable in a Society personal name should be acceptable as a Society household name. This is the rule of thumb I've formulated for determining the acceptability of household names henceforth. If we would register John X, we should register House X as well. We would not permit John Starwalker, so we should not permit House Starwalker. We would register John of the Red Sickles (wincing, perhaps, but we would), so we should register House of the Red Sickles. (2 July, 1992 Cover Letter (June, 1992 LoAR), pg. 3)
As discussed by Aryanhwy merch Catmael in her commentary on House Lindau (Æ 69), this precedent was later ruled to only apply to household names generated from inherited surnames. However, since late period German naming practices included inherited surnames, this construction should be registerable.
Herald of Record: Finn Folhare
This name is intended to be feminine. The submitter requests authenticity for Scottish language / culture. Marioun is found in Talan's "A List of Feminine Personal Names Found in Scottish Records Part Three: Post-1400 Names."
No documentation was provided for the surname.
Herald of Record: Cigfran Caer Gwalch
10. Morien ap Rhys of Cardiff Badge Resubmission
(Fieldless) A triskele within and conjoined to an annulet argent.
This is a redrawing of the badge that was sent to Laurel on Æ 58 and returned in 11/02.
Herald of Record: Ailis Linne
11. Reynold Wolferton New device
Quarterly vert and argent, two wolves rampant argent.
His name was registered in 02/02.
Herald of Record: none
12. Wolfgang von dem Schwartzwald New badge
(Fieldless) A long cross paty Or, overall two swords in saltire argent.
His name was registered in 02/86.
Herald of Record: none
13. Zara the Quiet New household name Plant Ddraig, New badge
Per fess indented Or and azure, a dragon and a catamount passant counterchanged.
The submitter accepts minor changes only and cares most about the meaning "Children of the Dragon / Dragons' Children" and the language/culture. The submitter requests authenticity for 8th century Welsh.
No documentation was provided for this name.
Herald of Record: Egill the Dane