ÆTHELMEARC
COLLEGE OF HERALDS - commentary archive
Letter of Intent #88 Ailis Linne
Unto the members of the College of Heralds of AEthelmearc does Ailis
Linne send greetings.
I apologize for the tardiness of my commentary. I‘ve been putting off
sending it in hopes of getting more done. It’s still woefully
incomplete. If I don’t mention something it means I didn’t get to it.
Also, given my lack of a heraldic library, I was unable to check most
book citations. When possible, I have found supporting documentation
from other sources. However, if the book citations are correct, the
supporting docs are unnecessary. I did not have any time for conflict
checking, either name or armory.
1. Aleksander Regulanka - New name, New device
Per bend sable and argent, a decresent and a hound dormant
counterchanged.
The docs for Aleksander are as cited, although they don’t prove that
this spelling was used in period. Wickenden, online ed
(http://www.sca.org/heraldry/paul/),
shows both Ale_x_ander and
Ale_ks_andr appearing in the 14th-15th centuries in Russia, which
suggests that the submitted spelling is plausible.
2. Alide van Spaarnwoude - New name, New device
Azure, a castle and on a chief rayonny argent three elm trees couped
vert.
The online docs are as given.
3. Ambrose Kyrielle - New name, New device
Per chevron purpure and Or, a chevron rompu counterchanged.
The spelling of Ambros can be documented from an article on Project
Muse (http://muse.jhu.edu/
- subscription required) entitled “Two
Medieval Plague Treatises and their Afterlife in Early Modern England”
by George R. Keiser. It includes quotes from an adaptation of the
popular John of Burgundy plague treatise by Thomas Moulton, a Dominican
friar, ca. 1475, one of which states:
I finde bi the saying of iiij doctours, the iiij perelles [pareils?
pelleres?] of holi chirch—Jeromye, Austyn, Gregory, and Ambros—where
thei speken of this mater, they seyen holi that syn that regneth amonge
comones
I don’t really read it well enough to know what the context is, but
Ambros definitely seems to be included in a list of people.
In addition to all of the forms of Kerrell found by Aurenca, there is
also Keriell, which is found in “Faire Names for English Folk: Late
Sixteenth Century English Names” by Chris Laning
(http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/christian/fairnames/).
And the Reaney
and Wilson entry also cites John Kyriel in 1332. With all those
variants, Kyriell should be plausible, although I am also uncertain
about the final e.
The identifiability of this charge is questionable, but I disagree with
the reblazon proposed by the Heronter Heralds "Per chevron rompu, a
chevronelle counterchanged." This is not what a field “per chevron
rompu” would look like, if it could even be drawn; the lower, Or,
portion starts much too low on the edges.
4. Antonius Hasebroek - New name, New device
Per pale purpure and Or, a pair of jointed trews vairy potent azure and
argent.
The docs for Antonius are as cited. The spelling of the surname given
in the docs is actually Hasebroe_ck_.
This should be reblazoned “Per pale purpure and Or, a pair of jointed
trews potenty.”
5. Arianwen verch Rhys ap Gwalter - New name, New device
Azure, a pine tree and on a chief argent three arrows point to chief
azure.
According to Academy report 1942, Arianwen is the modern spelling of an
early medieval Welsh name that has been documented to the 5th century,
although they provide plausible spellings for it in the 7th-10th
centuries. While all of the documentation is as given, I’m a little
concerned about a name that has elements ranging across the 5th, 13th,
and 16th centuries.
This should be reblazoned “Azure, a pine tree and on a chief argent
three arrows point_s_ to chief azure.” The miniature emblazon in
missing the line for the chief. It needs to be added before going out
on an external letter.
6. Bj{o,}rn Einarsson - New name, New device
Gules, a squirrel per fess Or and azure.
The given names are both as cited, although I can’t check the formation
of the patronymic online.
8. Corbinus of Æthelmearc - New name, New device
Per saltire vert and argent, in fess two ravens close respectant sable.
I was unable to document this given name from online sources. The
pattern “of SCA-group name” is used commonly, especially in the
formation of holding names by the Laurel office.
9. Deianeira Carmen Rodriguez y Aragonés - New name, New device
Purpure, on a chevron argent between two bull's heads erased contourney
and a straight-rayed demi-sun issuant from base Or three crosses flory
sable.
There are a number of problems with this name, most importantly that
the first given name is not documented in a way that seems to make it
compatible with the rest of the obviously late-Spanish name. I have
not gotten a chance to look into specifics. My apologies.
10. Drogomir Von Litwin - New name
Drogo_mir_ is not actually documented in the website provided, only
Drogo. However, the very similar Dr_a_gomir can be found in Wickenden
2nd ed (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/paul/)
dated to 1393.
I can’t check the docs for Litwin, but I don’t know why it is being
used with “von”. That would only make sense if it was the word for
Lithuania, not Lithuanian. However, I think that dropping “von” is a
major change.
11. Eoin of Argyll - New name, New device
Per pall Or, sable and purpure, a chief vert.
Among the other concerns raised about this device, I would like to
point out that poor contrast may be an issue. The field is mostly
(2/3) color and so is the chief. It won’t matter if there is a
conflict, but if there isn’t (or if a letter of permission to conflict
is obtained) that may be a problem.
There is extensive discussion about “Medium Contrast Fields” in the
October 2000 LoAR Cover Letter, the most important section states that
“a charge or field that is primarily (that is, at least two thirds) a
metal should be considered equivalent to a metal and a charge or field
that is primarily a color should be considered equivalent to a color.”
This seems like it would fall clearly under that precedent, but I’m not
sure it’s that simple, since the peripheral ordinary has good contrast
with the only portion of the field that it touches. It would almost
definitely need to be a decision made by Wreath, but the submitter
should know that there is a concern.
10. Eudoxia Antonina - New name, New device
Or, an apple tree gules fructed Or, on a chief gules a crescent between
two roundels all Or.
This should be item #11, not #10.
This could more succinctly be blazoned “Or, an apple tree eradicated
gules fructed Or _and_
on a chief gules a crescent between two
roundels_Or.”
I don’t see any reasoning for changing the documented Eudo_c_ia to the
submitted Eudo_x_ia. Since Eudoxius is the only male name on the cited
list that ends in –xius, there is no pattern for keeping the x in the
feminization.
There is no discussion of patronymic bynames in the cited article.
There is some discussion of them in “Personal Names of the Aristocracy
in the Roman Empire During the Later Byzantine Era”, also by Chavez
(http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/byzantine/introduction.html).
He does not give any evidence for making a patronymic surname from a
male given name.
12. Gabrán Glas - New name
This should be item #15, not #12.
19. Isabella FitzRandolph - New device
Per pale vert and ermine argent with sable, a trefoil per pale argent
and sable.
This should be reblazoned as “Per pale vert and ermine_, a trefoil _pierced_ per pale argent and sable.”
20. Isabella FitzRandolph - New badge
This should be reblazoned “(Fieldless) a trefoil _pierced_ per pale
vert and ermine_.”
25. Lodowick of Greys Inn - New badge
This should be reblazoned “(_F_ieldless) A spiders_web purpure.”
26. Luceta di Cosimo - New name, New device
This should be reblazoned “Sable, a r_e_remouse between three
fleaurs-de-lys one and two Or. “
27. Mendel Wisebegere - New name, New device
Per chevron vert semy of cogwheels Or and argent, two open books argent
and a right triangle voided vert .
There is a record that he paid for this name at Pennsic, but no copy of
the name form. I’m sorry if it slipped through the cracks somewhere.
If necessary, I can write up a new one for you.
28. Mendel Wisebegere - Household name: Schmiedekamp Haus
There is a record that he paid for this name at Pennsic, but no copy of
the name form. I’m sorry if it slipped through the cracks somewhere.
If necessary, I can write up a new one for you.
31. Pádraig an Fhasaigh - New name, New device
Quarterly Or and gules, on a chief sable three harps Or.
There is a problem with the emblazon. When a field is divided below a
chief (I’m not sure about other peripheral ordinaries) it should be
treated as if the whole field exists below that chief, as opposed to
continuing under the chief. Therefore, the quarterly should be moved
down on the shield to evenly divide the visible portion of the field.
I’m sorry I can’t site the rule for that, but I really need to finish
up.
35. Rayne le Fey - New name, New device
Purpure, a cat couchant gardant contourney, a chief indented argent.
This should be reblazoned “Purpure, a cat couchant g_u_ardant
contourney, a chief indented argent.”
37. Sabrina Godolphin - New name, New device
Azure a unicorn rampant, in chief five pointed croses Or.
I believe that these are crosses clechy. I am not sure what position
this unicorn is in, but it looks more salient than rampant, to me.
Therefore, this should be reblazoned “Azure a unicorn _salient_, in
chief five_ cro_s_ses _clechy_
Or.”
39. Shea Rose O'Donnell - New name, New device
Purpure a rose argent with leaves vert.
This should be reblazoned “Purpure_,_ a rose argent _barbed_ vert.”
40. Shishido Tora - New device
Per chevron Gules and Argent, in pale a riding bit Or and an eagle
Sable.
This should be reblazoned “Per chevron _g_ules and _a_rgent, in pale a
riding bit Or and an eagle _s_able.”
41. Skalla-Valgar{d/}r Gunnarsson - New badge
Purpure, on a pile argent a raven Volant wings displayed bendwise
sinister sable.
I can’t remember if Volant is to base or to chief by default. If it’s
to chief, then “to base” needs to be added after “volant” in the
blazon. Otherwise, this should be reblazoned “Purpure, on a pile
argent a raven _v_olant bendwise sinister sable.”
43. Sorcha inghean Airt - New name, New device
Vert, on a lozenge argent, a butterfly displayed azure.
This should be reblazoned “Vert, on a lozenge argent_a butterfly
displayed azure.”
49. Vladimir Mechnik - New name, New device
Sable, two natural panthers combatant and on a point pointed argent a
rosesable slipped and leaved vert.
This may be a point pointed ploye. However, the PicDic implies that
it’s that way by default. It is, however, not the best source for that
kind of detail.