Eve of All Hallows
31 October, AS XL
Greetings from Myfanwy!
Herein pray find commentary on Æ #89. It was conflict checked in
the O&A,
and also in the LoARs up through July 2005 (the most recent posted on
the
Laurel website.
I remain your servant and the Society’s.
Lady Myfanwy ferch Rhiannon
mka Ruth Morrisson
myfanwy@nauticom.net
1. Catherine Sheffield (resub) -- Per chevron argent and gules, two
sheafs
[sic] of wheat and a cross bottony counterchanged.
The line of division is a bit too shallow, but may be registrable with
an
artist’s note. The garbs are not particularly well drawn. The cross
fills the
space, but is extremely large in relation to the garbs -- shouldn’t
they all be
co-primaries? Note that if the line of division were drawn with a more
acute
angle, the cross would necessarily have to be a bit smaller.
Reblazon: Per chevron argent and gules, two garbs and a cross bottony
counterchanged.
no conflicts found
2. Marija Kotok -- Azure, a lion-dragon passant Or, an open book
argent.
The docs for the given name are as cited. Note, however, that the
Walraven cite
is not for a Ukrainian name, and the Wickenden cite is not for the
submitted
spelling. Additionally, the online version of Wickenden is not the most
updated
version, although when I checked my copy (3rd edition), I was not able
to find
a closer spelling in this case [p. 202, sn Mariia].
The online docs for the byname are as given; see also Wickenden [p.
164, sn
Kot].
There does not seem to be any previous rulings about Russian/Ukrainian
names
combined with Croatian names (in fact, there doesn’t seem to be
anything
regarding Croatian names at all [URL:
http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/sca/weirdness_table.html]. The closest
(and it
isn’t very close) is that Russian combined with Romanian is a weirdness
(i.e.,
one step from period practice). This name should be sent on up to
Laurel, with
a request for further research from the College of Arms, since there’s
very
little we can do at the Kingdom level.
According to a precedent ruling during François’ first term as
Laurel, there is
a CD between open and closed books:
[Sable, three open books Or ] [sic] This submission raised the
question
of
whether we should give difference between open and closed books. Both
are
found in period armory: the open book in the arms of Oxford in 1585 and
the
closed book in the arms of Cambridge in 1572. There are few books found
in
period heraldry, so it is not easy to generalize about period
distinctions
between
open and closed books, although there is a fair amount of evidence
showing that
Oxford and Cambridge consistently use their books in the open and
closed
forms respectively in the 17th C and beyond.
Without evidence of period practice, we must rely on visual
distinction, and
open and closed books are visually distinct. This is therefore clear of
conflict with
... Sable, a closed book palewise Or , [sic] with one CD for
changing
the number of
books and another for open versus closed books. It is similarly clear
of
conflict
with ... Vert, three closed books palewise, spines to sinister Or ,
[sic] with one CD for
changing the field and another for open versus closed books. [ Emma
in
draumspaka [sic] , 03/02 , A-An Tir
Is there any evidence for “illustrated” books as charges? Otherwise,
this may
need to be returned for a redraw, or else the “illustrations” be
blazoned as
tertiary charges. Parker [p. 70, sn Book] shows an open book in the
arms of
Oxford University; in this case, there is text written on the pages,
but the words
are specifically blazoned. Von Volborth [p. 189, fig. 1067], shows the
arms of
the booksellers of Leipzig, Saxony, which includes an owl standing upon
an open
book; there seems to be some artistic indication of text, but this must
be
recognized as a modern depiction of a post-period (18th century)
example. There
is a François Precedent that may be somewhat related, but
appears to relate
more to text:
[Azure, an open book and in base a bee argent marked sable ]
[sic] This
does not
conflict with Yale University (important non-SCA armory), Azure, an
open
book
argent charged with Hebrew letters sable [sic]. There is one CD for
adding
the
secondary bee, and another CD for removing the tertiary letters from
the book.
As seen on p. 241 of Neubecker's Heraldry- Sources, Symbols and
Meanings
, [sic]
the Hebrew letters on the books in the arms of Yale University are few
and
large, and function as tertiary charges. In general, open books may be
drawn
with numerous small writing marks as artistic license, the writing so
small
that it
could not be read from any distance, but such writing would not be
blazoned.
[ Branwen filia Iohannis de Monmouth [sic] , 04/02 , A-East]
I still haven’t been able to track down my PIC-DIC. Brooke-Little [p.
132]
describes a a “lion-dragon” as: “A monster having the foreparts of a
lion and
the hind-parts of a dragon.” This seems to imply that it should have
four legs,
but there is no depiction. Von Volborth [p. 46, fig. 364] shows what
appears to
be “a lion-dragon erect”, which is similar to the submitted emblazon in
having
only two legs (on the lion’s half). [Note: the header has an asterisk
after the
word, but I have so far been unable to determine the reason why.]
Woodward [pp.
290-93} seems to suggest that in Continental heraldry, the “Dragon” is
equivalent to the “Wyvern” in English heraldry. He doesn’t seem to have
a
reference to a “lion-dragon”, but does [p. 293] describe a “dragon
monstreux”:
“A dragon with a human face is known in French blazon as a dragon
monstreux [sic].”
As to the posture,Parker [p. 524, sn Sea-Horse] depicts the arms of
Tucker (in
which the posture of the sea-horses are unblazoned) and the arms of
Glynn, in
which the identical posture is blazoned “naiant” [in these instances,
both legs
are stretched out, similarly to “couchant” or to the front half of
something
“courant”]. Since this is not a sea-creature, I’m unsure whether
“passant”
(normally used for four-legged creatures) is still the more appropriate
term,
lacking a better one.
Is there any heraldic difference between a lion-dragon and a sea-lion?
I found
lion-dragon as charges under both “Monster-Sea-Lion” and
“Monster-Other”.
Possible reblazon: Azure, in pale a lion-dragon passant Or and an open
book
argent.
probably clear of: Duinnsech nic Aodha (11/91 East) -- Azure, an open
book
argent bound sable and in chief a compass star argent.
There is at least one CD for for changing the compass star to the
lion-dragon,
and one for adding the “illustrations” to the book.
possibly not clear of: Yale University (12/94 Laurel) -- Azure, an open
book
argent charged with Hebrew letters sable. [important non-SCA arms]
There is a CD for adding the co-primary, but may not be one for the
tertiary
charges.
clear of: Islyle le Gannoker de Gavain (badge, 2/82 Caid) -- Azure, an
open
book argent, overall an estoc inverted Or. [for House Estoc]
There is at least one CD for changing the type of co-primary, and one
for the
arrangement/orientation of the charges. If I understand the second
François
Precedent correctly, there is also a CD for adding the tertiary charges
to the
book.
probably clear of: Timoteo Alvaraes (1/98 Lochac) -- Azure in pale two
sea
lions naiant Or.
There is a CD for changing the type of one of the charges, and one for
changing
its tincture.
3. Marija Kotok (badge) -- (Fieldless) a [sic] catamount couchant
argent.
clear of: Rowan the Shiftless (badge, 10/01 Atlantia) -- (Fieldless) A
lion
dormant argent within and conjoined to a wingless dragon involved head
to chief
Or.
There is a CD for fieldless vs. fieldless, and one for adding the the
dragon.
possible visual conflict: Kareina Talvi Tytar (7/86 West) -- Azure,
vetû, a
long-haired domestic cat dormant argent.
possible visual conflict: Ellen of Caer Seiont -- (7/83 An Tir) --
Pean, a domestic
cat dormant guardant argent.
In both of these, there is a CD for field vs. fieldless, but possibly
not for
the posture of the cat; according to a François Precedent, the
head position
between couchant and dormant should be very distinct:
[Ermine, a lion dormant... ] [sic] ... the posture of the lion
blurs the
distinction
between couchant and dormant. The head should clearly be raised and
alert (as
in couchant) or should rest on the forepaws and sleep (as in dormant).
[ Rurik
Levushka Ul'ianov [sic] ,12/01 , R-Atenveldt ]
possibly not clear of: James Winter of White Forest (4/89 Calontir) --
Per fess
sable and ermine, in chief a lion dormant argent.
There is a CD for field vs. fieldless; like the previous two calls,
there may
or may not be a CD between couchant and dormant. In addition, the
position/arrangement of the lion on the field is a forced one, due to
the
tinctures involved.
possibly clear of: Trude Lacklandia (1/80 Atenveldt) -- Sable, a
domestic cat
couchant guardant chased argent.
There is a CD for field vs. fieldless. I found the term “chased” in
Parker [p.
572. sn Thunderbolt]:
a bearing derived from the classic mytho- [sic] logy, in which the
emblem is
ascribed to Jupiter. In one instance it is only outlined or chased
[sic] on the
escutcheons.
If the emblazon for Trude’s arms follows this definition, then the
charge
should be a white outline of a cat on a black field, and there should
be a
second CD for change of tincture. Not having access to the old files,
however,
I can only presume that this is in fact the case, and there will have
to be a
visual examination made by Wreath (or at least by someone with access
to the
files or the CD-Roms of the scanned files).
4. Mathias Kotok -- Azure, on a plate embattled argent, a cross pointed
between
four Passion nails, head to center, gules.
The docs for the given name are as cited; however, this is a German
name, not a
Ukrainian one. I was unable to find anything that translates to Mathias
in
Wickenden; the closest I could find was <Matfei>, the Russian
form of
<Matthew> [p. 205, sn Matfei].
The online docs for the byname are as given; see also Wickenden [p.
164, sn
Kot].
Russian name elements combined with German ones are one step from
period
practice [URL: http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/sca/weirdness_table.html];
this is
predicated on presuming that there’s not much difference between
Russian and
Ukrainian (which admittedly may be a false presumption on my part.
This is not a “plate embattled”. This appears (at least in the black
and white
mini) as a really skinny annulet embattled on the inner edge (and badly
at that
-- the embattlements should be fewer and much, much larger). On the
online
color emblazon [URL:
http://www.aeheralds.net/Letters/AE89/iloi-CLR.html], it
appears to be a plate charged with the cross and passion nails and a
line of
embattling (almost as if it were a plain plate charged with an
embattled plate,
which would be returnable for both metal on metal and for having four
layers on
the field).
According to Brooke-Little [p. 76], this is indeed a cross pointed
(although
somewhat badly drawn. The cross could also be blazoned as a “cross
urdée” [c.f.
Parker, pp. 178-79, § 35, sn Cross].
possibly clear of: Heralds’ Seals: Silver Quill Pursuivant (1/76 ??) --
(Tinctureless) A quill bendwise sinister within a roundel.
There may be a CD for tinctured vs. tinctureless; there is probably one
for
type and number of tertiaries.
clear of: Frances vom Grünwald (6/00 Ansteorra) -- Azure, on a
plate a heart
gules, a bordure embattled argent.
clear of: Naevehjem, Barony of (12/92 Caid) -- Azure, on a plate within
an
annulet Or, an ermine spot gules.
In each case there is at least one CD for adding the secondary and one
for type
and number of tertiaries on the plate.
5. Morgen of Rye
Is this a typo, or is the submitter’s name really “Morgen”? That seems
to be a
very unusual spelling, but if that’s what the driver’s license says,
that’s
what it says. Morgan and Morgan [p. 168, sn Morgan] gives the
post-period
spelling variants <Morgon> and <Morgin>. Reaney and Wilson
[p. 314,
sn Morgan] cites Murgund [sic], dated 1204-11. Black [p. 611,
sn Morgan]
says:
The Pictish form of the name is Morgunn [sic], with gen. Morcunn
[sic] and
Morcunt [sic]. The name exists also in Old British, Old Breton,
and
Cornish as
Morcant [sic], Welsh Morgan [sic], and the Morken
[sic] of
Jocelin’s Life of Kentigern
[sic] (c. xxi) is a form of it.
6. Petr Kotok
There’s an oops in the docs for the given name -- the link gets you to
the docs
for the byname instead! [The actual URL is
http://www.sca.org/heraldry/paul/pa.html]. See also Wickenden [pp.
265-66, sn
Petr].
The online docs for the byname are as given; see also Wickenden [p.
164, sn
Kot].
Bibliography:
Black, George F. The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin,
Meaning, and
History.
Edinburgh: Birlinn Ltd., 1999, 2004 [copyright: The New York Public
Library,
1946].
Brooke-Little, John. An Heraldic Alphabet, Rev. Ed. London:
Robson Books
Ltd., 1975,
1985.
http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/sca/weirdness_table.html
http://oanda.sca.org
http://www.s-gabriel.org/
http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/precedents.html
http://www.sca.org/heraldry/loar
Morgan, T. J., and Prys Morgan. Welsh Surnames. Cardiff:
University of
Wales Press,
1985.
Parker, James. A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry. Rutland,
VT:
Charles E. Tuttle
Co., Inc., 1970.
Reaney, P. H. and R. M. Wilson. A Dictionary of English Surnames,
Rev.
3rd. Ed.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
von Volborth, Carl-Alexander. Heraldry: Customs, Rules and Styles.
Poole, Dorset:
Blandford Press, 1981, 1984.
Paul Wickenden of Thanet [Paul W. Goldschmidt]. A Dictionary of
Period
Russian
Names, 3rd. Ed. Normal, IL: S.C.A. Inc. -- Free Trumpet Press West,
2000.
Woodward, John, and George Burnett. Woodward's Treatise on
Heraldry, British
and
Foreign. Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle Co., Inc., 1969, 1971.
other URLs as cited