Æthelmearc Letter of Intent Æ93
April 20, 2006 (AS 40)

It is the intent of the Æthelmearc College of Heralds to register the following devices. Unless otherwise noted, submitters will accept any changes and will allow holding names.

1.  Anton Vadim – New Name, New Device

Per fess sable and purpure semy throughout of double-bitted axes Or.

This device was originally blazoned Per fess sable and purpure, thirteen double-bitted axes Or, but was reblazoned at kingdom upon the suggestion of several commenters.

Anton – Paul Wickendon of Thanet, 3^rd ed., p. 10, s.n. Antonii dates <Anton> to 1553-5.

Ibid., p. 10, s.n. Antonin, dates <Antonin> to the 13^th-14^th centuries.

Vadim – Paul Wickendon of Thanet, 3^rd ed., p. 383, s.n. Vadim, gives the meaning of <Vadim> as “to accuse” and dates it to the 13^th –14^th century.

We believe that <Vadim>, as listed, is a given name. If a given name, we suspect that it may need to be made a patronym. If this is the case, the submitter prefers <Vadim syn> over <Vadimov>.

If the time disparity between <Anton> (1553) and <Vadim> (14^th c.) is too great to be registerable, the submitter would prefer <Antonin> as his second choice of given name.

2.  Béibhinn Mackynnay – New Device

Per bend engrailed argent and sable, a raven and a decrescent counterchanged.

Her name was registered in November of 2005 via Aethelmearc.

3. Camy inghean mhic Cullaich of Cardoness – New Name

[Note: This item was subsequently withdrawn on AEthelmearc Letter of Correction dated April 20, 2006.]

The name is intended to be feminine. The submitter will accept minor changes only and cares most about language and culture. The submitter is requesting authenticity for 16^th century Scotland.

Camy - Krossa, Sharon L., “Early 16^th Century Scottish Lowland Names: Women’s Given Names – Alphabetical” (WWW: Sharon L. Krossa, 2001) [http://medievalscotland.org/scotnames/lowland16/womenalpha.shtml] dates <Camy> to 1514.

Various Scots forms of the name are dated as early as 1296 (Thomas Maculagh) through the 16^th century.

This portion of the name was originally submitted as <inghean Mhic Culloch>. It was changed at kingdom to correct the capitalization and to conform the name to the Gaelic as given in Black.

of Cardoness – “Cardoness Castle” [http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/gatehouseoffleet/cardonesscastle/index.html], states that:

4.  Deirdre Scot – New Name

The name is intended to be feminine. The submitter will accept any changes and does not express a preference for meaning, sound or language. The submitter is not requesting authenticity, but expresses an interest for the 12^th century. The submitter will not allow the creation of a holding name, although no armory is being submitted at this time.

In recent discussion on the SCA Heralds list-serve, however, Effrick neyn Kenneoch notes that Black has erroneously quoted his source, Lawrie, A. C. Annals of the Reigns of Malcolm and William, Kings of Scotland. (Glasgow: 1910), which actually gives the name as <Derdere>. Effrick discusses her further research of charters naming the historical woman referenced by Lawrie. According to Effrick, Charles Rogers, ed. Chartulary of the Cistercian Priory of Coldstream with Relative Documents (London: The Grampian Club, 1879) gives transcriptions of four Latin charters naming the same historical woman. Three of these charters call her <Derder> in the nominative case (one of them with two occurances). A fourth calls her <Derdere>, though Effrick speculates this to be erroneously in an oblique case.

Quoting Effrick’s posting of 3/6/2006:

<Deirdre> is an attested period Middle (900-1200) and Common (1200-1700) Gaelic spelling for the name, albeit not attested in Gaelic for a real human being. However, knowing from the Latin evidence that the name was used for real human beings, and knowing the Gaelic spelling for a mythical character, we can reasonably conclude that the period Gaelic spelling for a real human being was also <Deirdre>.

Thus, we invite Pelican to reconsider the SCA-compatible status of the name <Deirdre>. We further propose that <Deirdre> be considered a documentable Gaelic form of the name, with <Derder> as its documented Latin nominative form, and plausible Scots form.

Although <Derder Scot> would be an entirely Scots name, the submitter prefers the Gaelic form of the given name, <Deirdre>.

5.  Kaðlín Sigvaldakona – New Name, New Device

Per bend sinister wavy argent and gules, four domestic cats in bend sinister two and two counterchanged.

The original blazon, as submitted, did not include any indication of arrangement. Submitters suggested both “in bend sinister two and two” and “in cross”. We have chosen the former so as to make the arrangement less dependent on the exact form of the wavy division line.

The name is intended to be feminine. The submitter will accept minor changes only and cares most about Norse language and culture. The submitter is not requesting authenticity.

Kaðlín - Geirr Bassi Haraldsson, p. 12, counts one occurrence of this spelling in the Landnámabók. Originally submitted as <Kaðlin>, we have added the accent at kingdom, as it appears in Geirr Bassi Haraldsson.

Sigvalda- – Geirr Bassi Haraldsson, p. 14, counts one occurrence of <Sigvaldi> in the Landnámabók. Op cit., p. 17, indicates that the genitive should be <Sigvalda->.

-kona – Norse for “wife” in previously registered name constructions [Fj{o,}rleif Rúnólfskona, 11/03, A-Meridies]

6.  Sifrid der Blint – New Name, New Device

Quarterly vert and argent, a mace bendwise argent between two wolf’s heads erased vert.

The name is intended to be masculine. The submitter will accept any changes and cares most about the meaning “Sifrid the Blind” or “Blind Sifrid”. The submitter is requesting authenticity for mid-13^th century German.

Sifrid - Talan Gwynek, “Medieval German Given Names from Silesia: Men's Names” (WWW: Brian M. Scott, 2004) [http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/bahlow/bahlowMasc.html] dates <Sifrid> to 1240, 1316 and 1398.

The data set for this article is from before 1240.

7.  Sigvaldi inn enski – New Name, New Device

Per chevron argent and sable, a crescent counterchanged.

The name is intended to be male. The submitter will accept any changes and cares most about Norse language and culture. The submitter is not requesting authenticity.

Sigvaldi – Geirr Bassi Haraldsson, p. 14, counts one occurrence of this spelling in the Landnámabók.

inn enski – Geirr Bassi Haraldsson, p. 21, gives the meaning as “Englishman” and counts one occurrence of this spelling in the Landnámabók.

8.  Sorcha inghean Airt – New Device

Vert, on a lozenge argent a butterfly displayed azure and a chief wavy argent.

The submitter’s name appears on Æthelmearc External Letter of Intent #AE88 dated October 25, 2005. Her original device submission, Vert, on a lozenge argent, a butterfly displayed azure, was returned at kingdom for conflict.

9.  Sven Tyrvisson – Resubmitted Device

Vert, a Thor’s hammer inverted and in chief three mullets of six points Or.

The name was registered in March 1994 via East Kingdom.

His original device submission was returned by Laurel in March 1994. A subsequent device submission was returned by Laurel in July 2000. Another subsequent device submission was pended for redraw at kingdom in July 2005, and withdrawn by the submitter after conflicts were noted during the redrawing process.

10.  Tristán Isidro de Alcaçar – New Name, New Device

Gules, a trebuchet argent and on a chief embattled Or three towers sable.

Some question was raised in commentary as to whether the arm o the trebuchet should point to dexter or sinister, and as to whether the arm of the trebuchet was depicted “at rest,” which is the SCA default. We defer to Wreath for clarification.

The name is intended to be masculine. The submitter will accept any changes and cares most about sound. The submitter is not requesting authenticity.

Tristán – The submitter’s legal given name is Tristan (no accent).

Isidro – Arana de Love, Francisca, Nombres Propios Españoles, p. 235, s.n. Isidro states:

Rough translation:

Antonio Miguel Santos de Borja, “Medieval Spanish Names from the Monastery of Sahagun: The Third Group, 1289-1300 (documents 1850-1899)" (WWW: Tony Borning, 2000) [URL: http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/miguel/sahagun/sahagunNames3.html#names] gives one occurrence of <Isidro> as a masculine name.

The submitter understands that this would most likely be a patronymic surname, rather than a second given name. While many Spanish patronymic surnames appear in a genitive form (Rodrigo becoming Rodriguez, for example), Elsbeth Anne Roth, “16^th Century Spanish Names (WWW: Kathy Van Stone, 2002) [http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/spanish/index.html ] states:

de Alcaçar – Dr. A. Zahoor, “Names Of Arabic Origin In Spain, Portugal And The Americas,” (WWW: A. Zahoor, 1997) [http://www.cyberistan.org/islamic/places2.html] gives the origin of the Spanish place name Alqazar as the Arabic al-Qasr, meaning “the palace.”

Juliana de Luna, “Spanish Names from the Late 15th Century: Other Surnames” (WWW: Julia Smith, 2000) [http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/isabella/surnames-other.html] lists Alcaçar with the meaning “fortress”. The article describes the surnames in this section as “not obviously patronymic or locative surnames.” The full name appears in the section “Full Names of Men: F-I” [http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/isabella/MenFullNames2.html] as Ferrando Alcaçar.

The submitter intends this surname to be a locative, and therefore prefers to construct the phrase with the preposition de, to yield the meaning “of the fortress.” While past registration is no guarantee of current registerability, the name Pedro de Alcazar was registered without comment in October 1994. We assume Alcazar to be a spelling variant of Alcaçar.

This concludes the Æthelmearc External Letter of Intent dated April 20, 2006. We count 7 new primary names, 7 new devices, and no new badges for a total of 14 payable items.We count 1 resubmitted device for a total of 1 non-payable item. We count 15 items in total. A check for $60 will be forwarded to Laurel separately.