Unto all of our fine College and our extra-Kingdom commenters, greetings once again from the Garnet office! Although it includes neither lions nor lambs, nevertheless March brings us a new Internal Letter of Intent Commentary on this letter is due on March 31 ... Please post your comments to aethel-heralds@lists.andrew.cmu.edu as usual (or e-mail us privately at garnet@aethelmearc.org if you prefer). Thanks!
It is the intent of the Æthelmearc College of Heralds that the following items be considered for registration. Unless otherwise noted, submitters will accept any changes.
1. Ælfgyfu seo hearpestre – New name, New device
Azure, a three-headed goose displayed argent and in chief five suns in fess Or.
This name is intended to be feminine. The submitter requests authenticity for Anglo-Saxon language / culture and cares most about the meaning 'elf-gift the harpist.'
Ælfgyfu is found in Marieke van de Dal's article at St. Gabriel, "Anglo-Saxon Women's Names from Royal Charters." It is listed s.n. Ælfgifu, and dated to 1042. Furthermore, an image from Trinity College's collection of Anglo-Saxon manuscripts (http://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/sdk13/LibVitNM.html - click on 1 'whole page' or 2 'detail') shows a leaf dated to 1031 bearing the inscription "Ælfgyfv regina Cnvt rex."
seo is the nominative feminine form of the Anglo-Saxon / Old English definite article 'the,' according to the Online Etymology Dictionary (http://www.etymonline.com/t3etym.htm).
hearpestre can be found on p. 151 of A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary by John R. Clark Hall, available online at http://www.ling.upenn.edu/kurisuto/germanic/oe_clarkhall_about.html The entry gives hearpestre as '(female) harper.'
Herald of Record: Alheydis von Körckhingen
2. Beatrice de Winter – New device
Argent, a chameleon statant contourny vert and on a chief embattled sable three hangman's nooses argent.
Her name was forwarded to Laurel on XLoI Æ72 (Nov 2003).
Concerning the registerability of the chameleon, the consulting herald has included a citation from the OED (s.n. chameleon) showing the word in use as early as 1340, spelled gamelos.
Herald of Record: Otfrid Ammerthaler
3. Bryan Adyngton – New name, New device
Sable, on a pile inverted throughout between two crosses urdee argent, a cross urdee vert.
This name is intended to be masculine. The submitter requests authenticity for 14th century English, accepts minor changes only and cares most about the sound.
Bryan is found once (s.n. Brian) in Mari's article, "Masculine Given Names Found in the 1332 Lay Subsidy Rolls for Lincolnshire, England," and also once in Julian Goodwyn's "Brass Enscription Index" where it is cited in 1529.
Adyngton is also found in Mari's 1332 Lay Subsidy Rolls article, with one John de Adyngton' as well as a Philip de Adington'.
Herald of Record: Leonor Farfan
4. Gyles de Blair – New name, New device
Gules, three frets couped argent and a chief Or.
This name is intended to be masculine. The submitter cares most about the sound.
The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology has a compilation of names taken from brass rubbings, available online at http://www.ashmol.ox.ac.uk/ash/departments/antiquities/brass/ lists in the Buckinghamshire rubbings a 'Gyles Eyre & wife Elizabeth' in 1500 and in the Dorset section a 'Sir Gyles Strangewayes' in 1562.
The Academy of St. Gabriel report #2457 states:
"We find <Giles> as a vernacular (spoken) form of the name as early as 1281, and it continued in use through the 16th century, also spelled <Gyles>. [1,7]
[1] Bardsley, Charles, _A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames_ (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1980). s.nn. Argent, Burleigh
[7] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988). s.n. Giles"
Reaney & Wilson, s.n. Giles, gives one William Gyles in 1296. Furthermore, Symon Freser's article, "13th & 14th Century Scottish Names," cites the spellings Gelis and Gylys in a 1487 manuscript of John Barbour's 'The Bruce," suggesting Scottish usage of the name and making its use nicely compatible with the lowland Scottish byname 'de Blair.'
de Blair is found in Black s.n. Blair, with Brice de Blair and Alexander del Blair in 1205.
Herald of Record: Alheydis von Körckhingen
5. Reynold Wolferton – Resubmitted device
Quarterly vert and argent, two wolves rampant vert.
His name was registered in 02/02. His previous device (Quarterly vert and argent, two wolves rampant argent) was returned in January of this year for conflict.
Herald of Record: Roana d'Evreux
6. Thescorre, Barony of – New badge
Per bend sinister sable and Or, an oak leaf bendwise sinister and an ink bottle counterchanged.
The Barony's name was registered "at some point." This badge is intended to be associated with the Baronial Scriptorium.
Herald of Record: Matilda Bosvyle