August 2002 Letter of Acceptances and Returns

Please advise the submitter to draw the barry with six or more traits.

Please advise the submitter to draw the dragon's wings so that they are separated from the dragon's head. Please also advise the submitter that the dragon would usually be drawn with larger wings than in this emblazon.

Listed on the LoI as Augusto Giuseppe di San Donato, this name was submitted as Augusto Giuseppe di San Danato and changed at kingdom because no evidence could be found that San Danato was a period form. The College only found San Danato as a modern variant of San Donato. Lacking evidence that San Danato is a period form, it is not registerable. Additionally, the particle used in locative bynames in Italian is da, not di. We have made this change.

The device is not in visual conflict with Rosemounde of Mercia, Or, a two-headed serpent, erect-wavy gules. The visual difference between these two pieces of armory is much like the visual difference between the numeral '8' and the letter 'S'.

His previous device, Argent, a caltrap within a bordure sable, is retained as a badge.

Listed on the LoI as Carlo Galucci, the name submission form lists the submitted byname as Gallucci. Also, this surname was submitted under the Legal Name Allowance and the attached photocopy of the submitter's driver's license shows his surname to be spelled Gallucci. Therefore, we have corrected this name to Gallucci.

This household name was submitted as Talbot's Keep and changed to House Talbot's Keep at kingdom to add a designator, as Keep was not thought to be an acceptable designator. However, Keep is an acceptable designator for a household name as noted by Sommelier:

Keep is a valid designator (cf. "[Seeker's Keep] Keep is the household designator here. (Seeker's Keep (Aelfric se Droflic), September, 1992, pg. 1)", registered by Bruce Laurel). However, as such this (Talbot's Keep) would conflict with Talbot Herald, registered to England 08/87. Adding House may clear the conflict.

The conflict called by Sommelier is correct since designators are transparent for conflict purposes. In the form House Talbot's Keep, House is the designator, making this form clear of Talbot Herald (which has Herald as the designator) by the addition of the element Keep.

We have removed the apostrophe per this precedent:

[Order of the Gryphons Eye] Submitted as the Order of the Gryphon's Eye, the apostrophe was not used until after period. [Artemisia, Kingdom of, 01/00, A-Artemisia]

His previous household name, House Sylvanhurst, is released.

His previous name, Daniel of Endless Hills, is released.

Listed on the LoI as Dubh Easa inghean Dhugaill, this name was submitted as Dubheasa inghean Dhougaill and changed at Kingdom to match documented forms, particularly because "according to Black (s.n. Dougal); the Gaelic genitive form is <Dhughaill>". Unfortunately, there was a misreading of this entry. Black (p. 217 s.n. Dougal) lists Dùghall as the Gaelic (meaning Modern Gaelic) form. This form is in the nominative case. He lists Dowgall and Dubgaill as Middle Gaelic forms dating to 1467, the latter being a genitive form. It is this form which is appropriate to this name. Since inghean (the word preceeding Dubgaill) ends in the letter n, the D in Dubgaill does not lenite. We have corrected the byname to this form in order to register the name.

In the case of the given name, Ó Corráin & Maguire (pp. 78-79 s.n. Dub Essa) list Dubh Easa and Duibheasa, which are Early Modern Irish Gaelic (c. 1200 to c. 1700) forms of the submitted given name. The submitted form Dubheasa is a plausible form based on forms of this name found in various annals. Therefore, we have returned the given name to the submitted form.

Submitted as Duncan MacAengus of Skye, MacAengus is neither a Gaelic nor a Scots spelling. The closest Gaelic form is Mac Áengusa. The closest Scots form is MacAngus, based on Duncan Makangus dated to 1492 in Black (s.n. Macangus). We have changed the byname to MacAngus in order to register this name.

Their previous device, Purpure, three chalices within a laurel wreath Or, is released.

The submitter requested authenticity for 14th C English. As we were unable to find examples of these name elements in English in the submitter's desired time period, we were unable to confirm that this name is authentic for his desired time and culture.

The flowers were originally blazoned as Kendal flowers, which are an SCA-invented charge that includes, as part of its definition, alternating white and red petals. These flowers are drawn as six-petalled roses with white petals only. Six-petalled roses are a reasonable artistic variant of the standard heraldic rose, and we have thus blazoned the flowers in this submission as roses.

Please note that the Kendal flower is no longer registerable as of the LoAR of January 2000. That ruling held that Kendal flowers were a variant of the Tudor rose, which is a restricted charge.

Submitted as Randal Gartnait, the submitter requested authenticity for the 13th C along the Scottish border. It is not completely clear what form the language spoken in the submitter's desired time and location took, because the vast majority of the surviving Scottish records from that time period are written in Latin. However, the form Gartnait is a Gaelic spelling of a Pictish masculine given name. As neither unmarked patronymics nor double given names were used in Gaelic, a standalone Gaelic given name cannot be registered in this position. The patronymic form in Gaelic would be mac Gartnait. Black (p. 290 s.n. Gartnait) dates the non-Gaelic byname forms Gartnet and Gartenethe to 1297. As the first of these non-Gaelic forms is closer to the submitted form (and because Randal is not a Gaelic form), we have changed the byname to this form in order to register the name and to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

Some commenters suggested that these birds be reblazoned to eagles. The birds in this submission are jessed, which is an identifying attribute for hawks. They can thus be visually distinguished from eagles.

The bell was originally blazoned as a crotal bell. A crotal bell, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is a "small globular or pear-shaped bell or rattle, the nature and use of which are obscure". The word crotal dates from the 12th C. Because the term crotal bell is not found in most common dictionaries of the English language, and because it is not a standard heraldic term, we have blazoned the bell as a hawk's bell, the standard heraldic term for this charge.

Submitted as Ruaidrí MacAoidh, the particle was written as a separate word from the patronymic element in Gaelic bynames in period. We have made this correction.

Listed on the LoI as Seth MacMychel, this name was submitted as Seth MacMichael and changed at Kingdom to use a byname form documented to 1490 in Scotland to meet the submitter's request for authenticity for Scotland. Black (p. 543 s.n. MacMichael) dates the bynames M'Ilmichael to 1577 and McMychel to 1490. Given these examples (and others listed in this entry), the submitted form is reasonable as an authentic form for late period Scotland. Therefore, we have returned the byname to the submitted form.

Their previous device, Per pale Or and sable, in pale a roundel and a bar gemel wavy, overall a laurel wreath, all counterchanged, is released.

Submitted as William le Forestier, that name was returned in October 2001. The device may be registered under his holding name, William of the Debatable Lands, which was formed in the March 2002 LoAR.

We have blazoned this quatrefoil as a clover to preserve the cant.

This is clear of conflict with Kathleen Regina the Wild Irish Rose, Or, a rose vert, its stem nowed sable, in chief two lions rampant gules. The type comparison between the primary charges in the devices is, effectively, the difference between a rose and a quatrefoil, and these two charges have a type CD between them: "Quatrefoils and roses do not appear to have been considered equivalent charges in our period" (LoAR of October 1995). There is therefore one CD for changing the type of primary charge from a rose to a four-leaved clover and another CD for removing the charges in chief.

This also does not conflict with a badge of Ireland, (Fieldless) A shamrock vert (important real-world armory). A shamrock is effectively a trefoil, and to quote precedent, "After considering both of the badges, we could see no reason not to grant a CD between a trefoil and quatrefoil" (LoAR of January 1997). There is therefore one CD for fieldlessness and one CD for the type difference between a trefoil and a quatrefoil.

The badge does not conflict with the badge of Tristan Alexander, reblazoned in the Atlantia section of this LoAR as Azure, a natural dolphin naiant embowed sustaining upon its back a naked man sejant maintaining a trident and shield all within a bordure argent. There is one CD for adding the co-primary man, and a second CD for changing the line of partition on the bordure.

Herons are close by default, so the posture need not be blazoned.

Submitted under the name Micheli lo Aquila da Napoli.

Good name!

The submitter requested authenticity for 6th C Frankish. Lothar is listed in Aryanhwy merch Catmael, "Masculine & Feminine Names from the Merovingian Line c.400-c.600 AD" (http://www.sit.wisc.edu/~sfriedemann/names/merovence.htm). This shows the given name as 5th to 7th C Frankish. Socin (p. 314) dates Bertoldus de Koln to 1280 and the byname von Koln to 1297. This shows the byname as 13th C Middle High German. The Frankish and Middle High German languages were not in use at the same time. Therefore, just as in the case of Old Norse and Scots, since the two languages in question would not have been used at the same time, these two languages are not registerable in a single name. However, Morlet, Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de l'Ancienne Gaule du VI au XII Siècle (vol. I, p. 133, col. a), dates Lotharius to a. 1122. This shows Lotharius used in 12th C France (likely in a Latin context). Given this example, Lothar is a reasonable vernacular form and this name is registerable with one weirdness for mixing French and German. Though the city of Koln existed in the submitter's desired time, we were not able to find a form of the byname appropriate for the submitter's desired time and culture, and so we were not able to make this name authentic per his request.

Good name!

Submitted as Thorfinn Kolsson, the submitter requested authenticity for 11th C Norse. Therefore, we have changed the given name from the Anglicized form Thorfinn to the Old Norse form Þorfinnr found in Geirr Bassi (p. 16) to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

This was pended from the February 2002 meeting for clarification of an emblazon that was hard to see on the Letter of Intent.

This was pended from the February 2002 LoAR because the Letter of Intent was difficult to read. In addition, at that time we changed the blazon from passion cross to Latin cross on the incorrect grounds that the passion cross had steps at the foot. This is not the case, and we are happy to restore the original blazon.

Originally submitted as Alixant d'Arques-la-Bataill, the name was changed at kingdom (at the submitter's request) to Alissende d'Arques, as support was found for this name as a period form and it is much closer to the submitter's desired name of Alissande d'Arques. The submitter requested, if support could be found for the form Alissande, that the given name be changed to that form. Unfortunately, the College could find no support for Alissande as a plausible period form.

Submitted as Alpin mac Eochaid, the patronym was not in the genitive case. We have made this correction.

There was some question regarding whether or not this name conflicted with the father of Cináed mac Ailpin (Kenneth mac Alpin). A 12th C genealogy gives Eochaid as the name of the father of this Alpin. Scholars question the reliability of this genealogy, so we cannot be certain that the father of Cináed mac Ailpin was named Alpin mac Eochada. Regardless, the Alpin who was the father of Cináed was a sub-king (not a king) of Galloway. Since this Alpin does not have his own entry in a general encyclopedia, he is not protected in his own right. Since he was a sub-king, not a king, he does not qualify for the general practice we follow of protecting rulers on the level of king or emperor regardless of whether they have their own entry in a general encyclopedia.

Please advise the submitter to draw the bend wider.

The bird in chief was originally blazoned as a dove. However, the bird lacks the head tuft which is used to identify a heraldic dove, and is not in the dove's standard close posture. It has thus been reblazoned as a generic bird, per the Cover Letter for the January 2000 LoAR: "In the future I will be stricter about requiring that a bird be drawn with its defining attributes (i.e., a dove should have a tuft). Without the defining attributes, the bird may just be blazoned as 'a bird.'"

Submitted as Alicia Boccaccio de Venetzia, Boccaccio was documented as a patronymic byname found in "Italian Names from Florence, 1427" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/ferrante/catasto/). The Catasto patronymic byname list omits particles. Therefore, when Boccaccio, a nominative form, appears in this surname list, it most likely represents di Boccaccio. Boccacci is the genitive form of this name, which would be the normal form of the surname if no particle were used. A number of the surnames listed in Arval Benicoeur and Talan Gwynek, "Fourteenth Century Venetian Personal Names" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/venice14/) are nominative forms of masculine given names that are not preceded by the particle di. Therefore, Boccaccio is registerable as an unmarked patronymic byname, following the pattern demonstrated in this article.

No documentation was found that Venetzia is a period name for Venice. A period Italian locative byname referring to Venice would be da Venezia. We have made this changes in order to register this name.

His previous name, Brendan mac Artuir ap Alan, is released.

Her previous name, Brenda MacGhie of Kintyre, is released.

This was originally pended from the February 2002 LoAR due to a missing tincture.

Submitted as al-Zarqa' Kanz Chaninai bint Ibrahim ibn Rashid, there were multiple problems with the submitted form of this name. al-Jamal explains:

The trouble, of course, with pulling a bunch of name elements out of various sources to match a basic construction from another language (here, the English "the blue-eyed maiden Chaninai") is that the grammar will be, in all likelihood, incorrect. Such is the case here. The preceding "byname" is unlike anything I've ever seen in Arabic usage.

As a general rule, descriptive bynames of this sort follow the 'ism rather than precede it.

al-Zarqa', already being in the feminine (the masculine is azrak, see Jaschke's English-Arabic Conversational Dictionary, pp. 312, 371), has all the gender specificity needed or used in Arabic. To say "the feminine blue-eyed maiden" is redundant; I doubt very much you'd find it in English. I can say for certain I've never seen it in Arabic.

The genealogical part of the name, bint Ibrahim ibn Rashid, is non-problematical, I believe even with the Aramaic given. It is not uncommon, for example, to find Hebrew names in Muslim Spain using the Arabic patronymic particles.

I could support registering the name as Chaninai al-Zarqa' bint Ibrahim ibn Rashid.

As the submitter allows any changes, we have changed this name to the form suggested by al-Jamal in order to register this name.

Although submitted as a name correction, this action is a name change. This request is to change the name to the more authentic name suggested in the November 2001 registration of the name Francesca Gerdrudis Kesselheim. Normally, this change would be returned for lack of the required fees, but because the original name submission expressed a preference for a more authentic form and the change request was made in a timely manner, this change is being allowed as a continuation of the original submission. We applaud the submitter's desire for a more authentic and culturally consistent form of her name.

Submitted as Gwendolyn MacLaran, the spelling Gwendolyn was ruled not to be SCA compatible in the August 1995 Cover Letter:

Wherefore art thou Gwendolyn? Two submissions this month raised the question of the name Gwendolyn. To quote Harpy Herald: 'Gwendolyn is a modern spelling variant of the name of a fictional character (Guendolen) in the Historia Regum Brittaniae whose name is based on a misreading of the masculine name Guendoleu. The name was not in common use in period, in my experience, although it certainly is in the SCA. We should probably just go ahead and declare it in the same category as Ceridwen and Rhiannon as "not historically justifiable but too deeply rooted to get rid of without a fuss".' The name is certainly quite common in the SCA: in one spelling or another it has been registered to more than 50 different people. Given this level of popularity, I am reluctant to ban the name outright despite the lack of any real justification for it. I am equally reluctant to extend the allowance to modern forms of the name, however. Therefore the name will henceforth be considered `SCA-compatible' in the forms Guendolen and Gwendolen but not the modern Gwendolyn, and the underlying principle will be extended to any other forms that are proposed. (This decision can be thought of as an extension of the `Rule of Two Weirdnesses': the name itself is one weirdness, and a modern spelling is another.) (Talan Gwynek, Cover Letter with the August 1995, p. 2)

We have changed the given name to an SCA-compatible spelling in order to register this name.

This name does not conflict with John Hunter, an 18th C British surgeon, who has his own entry in the online Encyclopædia Britannica. The names Ian and John are more different in both sound and appearance than Ian and Eoin, which were ruled to be clear of each other in the precedent:

[Eoin Mac Cainnigh] The name is clear of Ian MacCoinnich, registered 9/90; Eoin and Ian are significantly different in sound as well as appearance. (Talan Gwynek, LoAR April 1996, p. 1)

Therefore, just as Ian and Eoin do not conflict, the names Ian and John do not conflict.

The badge was originally blazoned with a Latin cross parted and fretted. The cross in the badge is emblazoned very similarly to the one in their device, which is simply blazoned as a cross parted and fretted. In both cases the center bar of the cross is enhanced from the fess point: this appears to have been considered artistic license in the case of the device. We have elected to blazon the two pieces of armory using the terminology in their already-registered device. If the branch wishes the term Latin to be in the blazons for both their device and their badge, they may submit a request for reblazon.

The submitter's previous device, Azure, a Great Dane statant Or, on a chief dovetailed argent three thistles proper, is retained as a badge.

Submitted as Morgan MacOwain of Staghold, MacOwain combined the Scots (a language closely related to English) or Gaelic Mac with Welsh Owain. This is in violation of RfS III.1.a, which requires linguistic consistency in a name phrase. As the submitter allows minor changes, we have dropped Mac in order to register this name.

Submitted as Sáerlaith á Beare, locative bynames were rare in Irish Gaelic. In the cases where they refer to a specific location of the size of towns, baronies, islands, et cetera, the locative byname uses only the genitive form of the placename. Beare is a nominative form. The corresponding genitive form is Beirre. Donnchadh Ó Corráin & Mavis Cournane, ed., "The Annals of Ulster" (http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100001/), entry U799.7, show an example of this byname in a man's name: Breislen Beirre. As B does not show lenition in Old Irish, the spelling of the byname does not change when used in a woman's name. Therefore, a woman named Sáerlaith from Beare would have been Sáerlaith Beirre.

Submitted as Treasaigh Callan, Treasaigh is a genitive form which may not be used in a given name position. We have changed the given name to the nominative form Treasach in order to register the name.

The submitter requested authenticity for Anglo-Irish. The documentation provided justified Barbara as an Anglicized Irish form of the Gaelic name Gormlaith. However, the identification between these two names seems to be modern. As Barbara is documentable as an English given name in period, this name is registerable. Lacking evidence that the English name Barbara was used in Ireland in period, we were unable to confirm that this name is authentic for the submitter's requested culture.

This name was submitted as Caitriona Gordon, which combined an Irish Gaelic given name and a Scots byname. The submitter requested authenticity for 1500s Border Scots. In this period, Scots (a language closely related to English) was the language used on the Scottish/English border. Clarion found Scots forms of this given name:

The Scots forms of Catherine that I can find in 1600 are (from the article "Early 16th Century Scottish Lowland Names" and not including suspect spelling) Catte, Katherene, Katherin, Katherine, Katring, Katryne, Katty, Kitte, and Kytte and (from the article "A List of Feminine Personal Names Found in Scottish Records") Katherine, Katheryne, Kathrine, Katrina, Katryne, and Catrina.

Therefore, a name using one of these forms (for example, Catrina Gordon) would be authentic for the submitter's requested culture. As the submitter does not allow major changes, we were not able to change the language of the given name from Gaelic to Scots to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

However, Aryanhwy merch Catmael did find a Scottish Gaelic form of this given name:

[A documented] form of <Catherine> found in Scottish Gaelic before 1600 is <Caitrina>, according to Effrick neyn Kennyeoch's "Scottish Gaelic Given Names" (http://www.medievalscotland.org/scotnames/gaelicgiven/) updated 11Feb02; this spelling is found in the 1467 manuscript.

We have changed the given name to this form to partially meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

Some commenters suggested that the bordure be blazoned as sable crusilly Or, but such a blazon would be incorrect. The default crusilly is of crosses crosslet. It is therefore necessary to specify that this bordure is crusilly couped or crusilly plain.

Submitted as Daniela Da Vicenza, we have changed the particle to lowercase to follow documented examples.

Submitted as Derek of Connemara, the submitter requested authenticity for 10th C Flemish/Irish. The language of the Low Countries in this time period was Old Low Franconian (Old Dutch). The language of Ireland in this time period was Middle Irish Gaelic. Lacking evidence that these cultures had significant contact, a name mixing these languages is not registerable. Withycombe (p. 82 s.n. Derek) dates Deryk to the 15th C and Derric to 1605 as English. Therefore, Deryk of Connemara and Derric of Connemara are registerable forms of this name. We have changed this name to the first of these options as it is the closer to the submitted form.

Élise's device, Argent, a pale purpure cotised vert between two sprigs of lavender proper, is the defining example of lavender proper in the SCA. Lavender proper has purple flowers and green slips and leaves. This badge is tinctured similarly.

Submitted as Academy of the Falcon and the Sword, documented examples of sign names combining two elements in this manner do not include an article before the second element. Therefore, we have removed the from before the word Sword.

Note: Academy is a household designator that may be used in household names registered to either individuals or branches.

The forms for the badge make it clear that this badge is to be associated with the household name Clann Duibhdara (registered October 2001).

This was originally pended from the February 2002 LoAR due to a missing tincture.

Good name!

The previous device submission was returned for using rampant insects. Those insects had their bodies palewise with their limbs extended forward and outwards in a more or less rampant fashion. This emblazon clearly uses statant wasps. Even though their bodies are, as noted in the blazon, tilted in chevron, they do not appear to be rampant, and they are drawn differently from the wasps in the previous submission. This redrawing meets the objection of the previous return.

The SCA has registered many insects statant, as well as other arthropods statant (such as scorpions), even when the insect or arthropod has only been documented as tergiant in period heraldry. Without an extensive change in policy concerning the acceptability of insects or arthropods statant, this may be registered.

Submitted as Sophia Veronica of Falcon Cree, the registered form of the branch name is Falconcree, Canton of. Since only the actual registered form of an SCA branch name is automatically registerable as part of a personal name, we have changed the byname to use the registered form of this branch name.

The submitter requested authenticity for 10th to 12th C Byzantine. Of the elements in the submitted name, the College was only able to find evidence for Sophia in Byzantine Greek. Lacking evidence that the other elements in this name were used in a Byzantine context, we were unable to make this name authentic for the submitter's requested time and culture.

This was pended from the February 2002 LoAR because of missing tinctures.

His previous blazon, Azure, a natural dolphin naiant embowed sejant upon its back a naked man maintaining a trident and shield all within a bordure argent, did not clearly indicate that the man and the dolphin are co-primary charges.

This was originally pended from the February 2002 for missing tinctures. Please advise the submitter to draw the bordure wider.

Listed on the LoI as Ailiono'ra inghean ui' Mhurchadha, the accents on these letters were incorrectly represented as apostrophes. We have made this correction.

The gore was originally blazoned as scaly. Scaly is defined in the Pictorial Dictionary as "a field treatment, consisting of many semi-circles or lunes, covering the field." The overall effect of scaly is of thick lines on a background, as in the field treatment masoned (but with the panes of a different shape than in masoned.)

This gore is tinctured in a form of papellony, which is also defined in the Pictorial Dictionary. Papellony has two forms. One form looks much like scaly, functions as a field treatment, and is blazoned as [background tincture] papellony [treatment tincture]. The other form of papellony is a field division and is blazoned as papellony [tincture x] and [tincture y]. The second form is the form found in this submission. It is drawn using solid panes of alternating tinctures, as in the field lozengy, but with the panes shaped like solid scales, rather than like the lozenges in lozengy. See the Pictorial Dictionary for more discussion.

Submitted as Axel Haroldsson, the submitter allowed any changes. He specified 8th to 11th C "Scandanavian[sic] Dansk Norge Svenska" in the authenticity section but noted that he did not wish changes to make his name authentic.

As submitted, the byname Haroldsson used the English name Harold in an Old Norse patronymic form. As such, it violated RfS III.1.a, which requires linguistic consistency in a single name element. Heralds attending the decision meeting at Pennsic found the byname Haroldsøn dated to 1424 in Sveriges Medeltida Personnamn (vol. 11, column 118, s.n. Harald). This is the closest form found to the submitted byname. We have changed the byname to this form in order to register this name. Argent Snail noted that "Lind dates Axel in this spelling to 1366, while Sveriges Medeltida Personnamn dates this spelling of Axel to 1397 and 1398." So, Axel Haroldsøn is a fine name for late 14th C or early 15th C Swedish.

Regarding the time period and culture in which the submitter noted an interest, Geirr Bassi (p. 8) lists the given name Áskell, and (p. 11) Haraldr. From this information, an authentic Old Norse name appropriate for the submitter's desired time period would be Áskell Haraldsson. As the submitter noted he did not wish changes to make his name authentic for this time and culture, we have made the minimum changes necessary in order to register this name.

The primary charge in the device was originally blazoned as a pithon. A pithon is a bat-winged snake. This creature has a thicker body and is proportioned like a legless wyvern, so we have thus reblazoned it.

Submitted as Caelainn McFers, this name combined a Middle Irish Gaelic (c. 900 to c. 1200) given name with a Scots (a language closely related to English) surname, dated to 1539 in that form. Combining Gaelic and Scots in a single name is a weirdness. Black (pp. 493-4 s.n. MacFerries) only shows examples of this surname in the 16th C and later. Earlier forms are listed on p. 493 s.n. MacFergus, are all in Latin, and all retain the 'g' in the byname. So, the submitted form combines a given name which dates from before 1200 and a byname which is dated no earlier than 1527. As the temporal disparity is more than 300 years, this disparity carries a weirdness. Therefore, the submitted form had two weirdnesses, which is cause for return. We have changed the given name to the Early Modern Irish Gaelic (c. 1200 to c. 1700) form in order to eliminate the temporal disparity and register this name. A fully Middle Irish Gaelic form of this name would be Cáelainn ingen meic Fhergusa. A fully Early Modern Irish Gaelic form of this name would be Caoilinn inghean mhic Fhearghusa.

Please advise the submitter to draw the unicorn's horn somewhat narrower.

Good name!

He has permission to conflict with Gwenhevare Cordelia Maynard, Or, a chevron gules between two horses combattant and a castle sable.

Phaedra was submitted under the Legal Name allowance. However, no documentation was provided demonstrating that Phaedra is the submitter's legal given name. Lacking such documentation, this element is not registerable via the Legal Name allowance.

Phaedra was also documented as a name from Greek literature. Since "[t]he story of Phaedra was very well-known in period, particularly in Renaissance France" (as noted by Metron Ariston), Phaedra is registerable in this name under the guidelines for use of literary names (see the Cover Letter for the February 1999 LoAR for more details).

Listed on the LoI as Madelena Ysabel de Sant Antonio, this name was submitted as Madelina Ysabella de San Antonio and changed at Kingdom to follow forms found in Juliana de Luna's article "Spanish Names from the Late 15th Century" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/juliana/isabella/locative.html) to meet the submitter's request for authenticity for Spanish. While locations listed in Juliana's article most commonly use the form Sant [male saint's given name], San [male saint's given name] is also found. Therefore, we have returned the locative to the originally submitted form.

Her previous name, Eilwen Rhys of Huntingdon, is released.

The submitter has permission to conflict with Guntram von Wolkenstein, Per pale sable and Or, a cinquefoil counterchanged.

Submitted as Ságadís Duncansdaughter, documentation was provided supporting the construction of Norse feminine given names formed by combining the name of a Norse goddess with the deuterotheme -dis. The LoI provided documentation for Sága as the name of a Norse goddess:

Sága is the name of a Norse Goddess, and was probably used in a period farm name, spelled Saagho- or Saghones. While these are not given names, but rather household names, this shows the use of Sága in a period name. That Sága was a name of a Goddess is confirmed by Kvaran and Jónsson in Nöfn Íslendinga where they say that Sága was the name of one of the Ás (Norse Gods).

Documentation was also provided demonstrating the survival of this type of name in Swedish and Danish in the 14th through 17th C. Therefore, Ságadís is plausible as an Old Norse feminine given name that was also used later in Swedish and Danish. Black (p. 412 s.n. Lambie) dates Mariora Lammeis dothyr to 1527, which supports a byname using a form of daughter in Scots. We have changed the byname to follow this example. Mixing Swedish or Danish with Scots in a name is registerable with a weirdness.

Listed on the LoI as Thorstein Gullsmithr Ragnarsson, the submitter requested an authentic Scandinavian name for 700-1000 and allowed minor changes. This name was submitted as Thorstein Ragnarsson Gullsmithr. The byname order was reversed at Kingdom to follow the standard practice of placing the descriptive byname before the patronymic byname. However, switching the order of the bynames changes the meaning of the name significantly enough that it is a major change, which the submitter does not allow. Thorstein Ragnarsson Gullsmithr means 'Thorstein, Ragnarr goldsmith's son'. Thorstein Gullsmithr Ragnarsson means 'Thorstein goldsmith, Ragnarr's son'. In the first order, Ragnarr is the goldsmith. In the second order, Thorstein is the goldsmith. We have returned the bynames to the originally submitted order.

We have changed the name to use 'Þ' and 'ð' characters rather than the Anglicized 'Th' and 'dh', and have lowercased the descriptive byname gullsmiðr, to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

Submitted as Alianor of Ravenglass, the submitter requested authenticity for 13th C English. Ekwall (s.n. Ravenglass) dates the form Ravenglas to 1297. Reaney & Wilson (p. 373 s.n. Raventhorpe) dates William de Raventhorpe to 1294. We have changed the byname to follow these examples to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

Listed on the LoI as Alaric Svartøx, this name was submitted as Alaric svartøx. We have corrected the typographical error in the byname. The submitter requested authenticity for 8th to 10th C Norse and allowed any changes. We have changed the given name to the Old Norse form Alrekr listed in Geirr Bassi (p. 7) to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

The submitter requested authenticity for Italian. No examples were found of Andreana as a feminine given name used in period (though support was found for the related Italian feminine given name Andrea). The masculine given name Andreano is listed in Ferrante LaVolpe's article "Italian Names from Florance, 1427" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/ferrante/catasto/) as appearing once in the Catasto (which has over 8000 men's names). Given this information, it is plausible that Andreana existed as a feminine given name in period. Lacking documented evidence of Andreana used as a feminine name before 1600, we were unable to confirm that this name is authentic for Italian in period.

Submitted under the name Angus Mockler.

Submitted as Avice of Greylyng, Greylyng is a reasonable variant of the byname Greyling, which Reaney & Wilson (p. 203 s.n. Grayling) date to 1317 in the example of Robert Greyling. However, this entry clearly indicates that this byname derives from the Old French given name Graelent, showing that this byname is a patronymic byname, not a locative byname. We have therefore removed of (as it is not used in patronymic bynames) in order to register this name.

Submitted as Brianna Maharg, the submitter requested authenticity for Irish. The spelling was changed at Kingdom to Briana Maharg because, when the status of Briana changed from SCA-compatible to registerable as a literary name in Spanish and English (see the Cover Letter for the December 2001 LoAR for details), registration of the form Brianna was discontinued beginning with the July 2002 decision meeting.

Black (p. 508 s.n. Macharg) dates the form Maharg to 1684, which is too late to be registerable. As the submitter indicated that sound is most important to her, we have changed the byname to the form found in this entry where Martin M'Quharg is dated to 1597.

We were able to find no evidence that any form of Briana was used as a name by real people (as opposed to human characters in period literature), and found no evidence that the name was known in Ireland. Lacking examples of this name used in Ireland in period, we were unable to make this name authentic for Irish as requested by the submitter.

Submitted as Bronwen Rose of Greylyng, Bronwen is SCA compatible. Greylyng is a reasonable variant of the byname Greyling which Reaney & Wilson (p. 203 s.n. Grayling) date to 1317 in the example of Robert Greyling. However, this entry clearly indicates that this byname derives from the Old French given name Graelent, showing that this byname is a patronymic byname, not a locative byname. We have, therefore, removed of (as it is not used in patronymic bynames), in order to register this name.

Nice device!

This does not conflict with a badge of the Kingdom of Trimaris, (Fieldless) A triskele vert. There is no overwhelming visual similarity between this group of three conjoined charges and a triskele, since the outside parts of a triskele are curved points, and the outside of this group of conjoined charges is round.

Note: Caera is the submitter's legal given name.

Submitted under the name Caera in Cridi Tréuin.

Good name!

Submitted as Cellach MacFaoitigh, in period Mac was not connected to the patronym in Gaelic. We have added a space to follow documented examples.

Submitted as Conrad MacCallum, the submitter allowed addition of the byname of Killane (for which documentation was provided) if this name was judged to conflict with Conrad MacAllyn, registered in June 1998. Names conflict unless different in both visual appearance and sound. While the bynames MacCallum and MacAllyn are clear visually, the only difference in sound between MacCallum and MacAllyn is a small difference in the final vowel and final consonant. Given the similarity in sound of -um and -yn in these names, there is insufficient difference in sound to clear this conflict. We have added of Killane to clear this conflict.

The submitter requested authenticity for 10th to 11th C Scotland. Very few Gaelic records survive from early Scotland. As a result, we only have evidence of a small handful of women's names from that time period. Dianaim is documented as a feminine Gaelic name used in Ireland. We have no evidence that it was also used in Scotland, but that may well be due to the scarcity of Gaelic records from that time period in Scotland.

The secondary charges were originally blazoned as quill pens, but they lack the nib of a quill pen. They have been reblazoned as feathers.

The sage leaves cant on the submitter's surname, Salviati. We have therefore blazoned them as sage leaves to preserve the cant.

The defining eyeglasses in the SCA are in the armory for the Order of the Grey Beard (originally registered in Meridies in August 1984, since transferred to Trimaris): Per pale sable and azure, in saltire a crutch Or and a sword inverted proper, in chief a pair of eyeglasses argent, stringed Or. The eyeglasses in that submission have solid argent lenses and Or strings for the earpieces and nosepiece. This indicates that the default SCA eyeglasses have solidly tinctured lenses, rather than transparent lenses. This matches other SCA practices for glass charges, as noted in the following precedent: "The lantern with its transparent 'glass' is not done in a period manner. As was noted in the commentary, the College has a long history of disallowing transparent objects." (LoAR August 1991 p.22).

A pair of eyeglasses blazoned with a single tincture should thus be emblazoned with the lenses and the frames in that single tincture. It is also acceptable to have the frames of eyeglasses in a different tincture than the lenses. A standard SCA blazon for such a design would be (for an example with an Or frame and vert lenses) A pair of eyeglasses Or lensed vert. Note that research on period eyeglasses shows that early eyeglasses invariably had frames: it does not appear that the eyeglasses in the badge for the Order of the Grey Beard, without any frame to rigidly hold the lenses in place, are a period sort of eyeglasses. As a result, a pair of eyeglass frames is also an acceptable charge. In such a charge, there would be no lenses present, and the field would show through where the lenses would ordinarily be.

This submission could either be blazoned as a pair of eyeglasses sable lensed Or or a pair of eyeglass frames sable. Since the submitter also has a fieldless badge using black eyeglass frames and missing (or transparent) lenses, the latter term has been used for both pieces of armory.

Nice arms.

This name combines an Irish Gaelic given name dated from the 8th to 11th C with an Old English byname. Olof von Feilitzen, The pre-Conquest Personal names of the Domesday Book [sic], p. 30, says of Irish names that appear in the Domesday book:

The Irish names, which were introduced in the 10th and 11th centuries by celticized Norwegians from Ireland and the Isle of Man, are with very few exceptions (Ch, L; Sa?) not found outside of Yorkshire.

Some of the given names in the Domesday Book that he identifies as referring to Irish names are: Fyach (p. 251 s.n. Fíacc), Gilemicel and Ghilemicel (p. 261 s.n. Gillemicel), Gilepatric and Ghilepatric (p. 261 Gillepatric), and Melmidoc (p. 323 s.n. Maelmaedhog). It is important to note that these forms are not Gaelic spellings, but Old English renderings of Gaelic names. Given these examples, mixing Gaelic and Old English in a name is registerable, though there is a weirdness for mixing the orthographies of Old English and Gaelic.

Submitted under the name Elisabetta Maldèstro.

Submitted as Elizabeth la Brouillard, Brouillard is a masculine form. We have changed the byname to use the feminine form Brouillarde in order to register the name.

Submitted as Elspeth le Fayre filia Dunecan, the submitter requested authenticity for 14th C Lowland Scot and allowed minor changes. Documented examples of Latin forms of the genitive of Duncan, including those in Bruce Webster, ed., Regesta Regum Scottorum VI: The Acts of David II (which covers the years 1329-1371), show the genitive form of Duncan appropriate for the submitter's desired time period to be Duncani. We have made this change to partially meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

We were unable to find examples of a woman's name in Scotland containing a descriptive byname (regardless of whether or not it was followed by a patronymic byname). As the submitter only allows minor changes, we were unable to drop the descriptive byname in order to make this name authentic for the submitter's desired time and culture.

Her previous blazon, Barry Or and vert, on a closed book palewise purpure a pair of eyeglasses Or, implied that the lenses of the eyeglasses were solid Or like the frames of the eyeglasses. This emblazon depicts instead a pair of eyeglass frames: the frames are Or but the tincture of the underlying book shows through where the lenses would ordinarily be. See the submission for Edward Glass in this LoAR (East Kingdom) for more discussion about eyeglasses and eyeglass frames.

There was some question regarding whether the byname Hausknecht was presumptuous, especially given this precedent:

Meister (master) is a reserved title in the SCA, and may not be registered --- either alone, or in combination. (David Falkemeister, March, 1993, pg. 19)

The List of Alternate Titles does not list knecht. The German equivalent of Knight is given as Ritter. Bahlow (p. 303 s.n. Knecht) says "journeyman (of a trade), helper". Therefore, Hausknecht, 'house helper', is not presumptuous.

Please advise the submitter to draw the Maltese cross larger. The cross, as a secondary charge, should be smaller than the tower, but it should be larger than it is now.

Some commenters asked if the tower maintained its identifiability even though the flames are of the same tincture as the tower. The flames are small enough that this is clearly a tower enflamed and the overall outline of the tower is not compromised by the flames.

Submitted as Matatias de domo Leah le Blund, the submitter requested an authentic Jewish name for Angevin England. Julie Stampnitzky provided commentary regarding authentic forms of this name for the submitter's desired time and culture:

This name mixes multiple languages. <Matatias> is a form that would be used in a Latin document; in Hebrew it would be <Matisyah> (Ezra 10:44) or <Matisyahu>. <de domo> is a Latin phrase. <Leah> is a fine transliteration of the Hebrew name spelled lamed-alef-hay (Genesis 29:16 ff.), but this spelling is not likely to have been used in a document written in Latin or Anglo-Norman French. <le Blund> is French. Any one of these three languages would fit the submitter's period-a Jew in Angevin England would have spoken French; when he signed his own name or was mentioned in a document written by a Jewish neighbor, it would have been in Hebrew; and when he appeared in a document written by a Christian neighbor, his name would often have been in Latin.

I have checked the information from Jacobs' book [Joseph Jacobs, The Jews of Angevin England]. (The copy I saw was at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.)

The submitter's intentions are unclear - he cites an example of a man called "son of Avigay," but he chose to use a phrase that means "of the house of Leah." While Jacobs' book provides support for the <de domo> form, it does not list anyone using <de domo X> where X is a woman. I suggest he use <filius> "son" instead. (<fil> in Jacobs' book is a scribal abbreviation.)

It's not clear whether <le Blund> is supposed to apply to himself or to his mother.

Jacobs does not document anyone whose name includes both a patronym and a descriptive term like "blond," so it would be better to use only one byname for a Latin name. It would be quite in keeping with period practice to vary the usage- the same person might be "N son of Leah" in some instances and "N the blond" in others.

Here are entirely Latin forms of his name:

Matatias Blundus filius Lie (if he is blond)

Matatias filius Lie Blunde (if his mother is blond)

<Blundus> is dated to 1086 in Reaney & Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames, s.n. Blunt.

<Lia>, a Latinized spelling of <Leah>, is found in Jacobs, p. 357. Since it follows "filius" it must be put in the genitive; in this period the usual way to do that was to change -a to -e. "Blundus" must agree with the person it is describing.

Lacking evidence that de domo would be used to refer to a feminine name, a byname constructed de domo [feminine name] is not registerable. We have changed de domo to filius, meaning 'son', as suggested by Julie. We have also put Leah into the genitive form Lie and modified le Blund to agree with the gender of the name it is describing (here Leah) as required by Latin grammar.

His previous name, Diego Santiago de Arcos de la Frontera, is released.

Submitted as Tyrvaldr Berserkr, we have changed the descriptive byname to lowercase to match conventional Old Norse spelling.

Listed on the LoI as Thomasina l'Estranier, this name was submitted as Thomasine l'Estranier. The given name was changed at kingdom to a form documented to 1346 in England as the submitter requested authenticity for 14th C "Anglo-French".

The submitted byname l'Estranier is a masculine form of this French byname. Since the given name is feminine, the byname needs to be in a feminine form. Marie-Thérèse Morlet, Étude d'Anthroponymie Picarde (p. 417), dates Jehan l'Estranier (a man) to 1438 and Jehenne l'Estrennere (a woman) to 1324. We have changed the byname to the feminine form dated to 1324 in the example above in order to register the name.

Though much information was found by the College in regards to this name, we were unable to place both desired elements of the submitter's name in a single country (either France or England) in the 14th C. Lacking that ability, we have registered the name with forms dated to the 14th C, the given name form found in England and the byname form found in France, to partially meet the submitter's request for authenticity. As a courtesy to the submitter, we have provided information found by the College regarding forms of this name authentic for France or England.

By the submitter's desired time period, the forms an Anglo-French name would take in England and France had diverged. We have an example of the submitter's desired byname used with a woman's name in in England. Dr. David Postles, "Lincolnshire Lay Subsidy: Colsterworth" (http://www.le.ac.uk/elh/pot/colst.html), line 3, dates Alice le [sic] straunge to 1332. This supports Thomasina le straunge as a form this name would take in the 14th C in England.

In the case of the given name, we were unable to find any form of Thomasine used in France in period, though the feminine given name Thomasse was found in Paris in Aryanhwy merch Catmael's article "French Names from Paris, 1423 & 1438" (http://www.sit.wisc.edu/~sfriedemann/names/paris1423.htm), making Thomasse l'Estrennere a likely form of this name for the late 14th C in France.

The College only found examples of forms of the given name Thomasine (also Thomasina) in English contexts in England. The spelling originally desired by the submitter, Thomasine, is documented to 1485 in Julian Goodwyn's article "English Names from Pre-1600 Brass Inscriptions" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/brasses/). This article also dates the surname Lestrange to 1485, making Thomasine Lestrange a form of this name as it would appear in England in 1485. Bardsley (p. 836 s.n. Butts) dates Thomasine Bedell to 1536 and (p. 479 s.n. L'Estrange) dates Nicholas Lestrange to 1546-7. At this time, Lestrange would have been an inherited surname, indicating that Thomasine Lestrange is also appropriate as a 16th C English form of this name.

Good name!

Nice device (and nice cant)!

Please advise the submitter to draw the chief wider.

There was some discussion of possible temporal incompatibility in this name as the submitted documentation dated Aidan to c608 and Cambel to 1296. Aidan is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic masculine given name Áedán. Ó Corráin & Maguire (pp. 13-14 s.n. Áedán) say that this was the name of some "twenty-one saints". Farmer, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints (pp. 8-9 s.n. Aidan), identifies one of these saints and gives his death date as 651. Therefore, Aidan is registerable as an Anglicized form of this saint's name under the guidelines for registerability of saints' names (see the Cover Letter for the September 2001 LoAR for more details). An Anglicized form of this saint's name is reasonable for the time period of the byname. Therefore, as both elements are Anglicized and use of a saint's name carries no weirdness in and of itself, this name is registerable with no weirdnesses.

Submitted as Ælfric gylðir, the submitter requested authenticity for 11th C Norse. As submitted, this name combined an Anglo-Saxon given name with an Old Norse byname. Given the amount of contact, a name mixing Old English and Old Norse is registerable with a weirdness. Regarding authenticity, though, in period this name would have been written all in Old English or all in Old Norse depending upon the language of the document. Argent Snail found an Old Norse form of the given name:

Danmarks Gamle Personnavne: Fornavne, under Alfrik, date Alfric to 1047-75. So the form Alfric gyðir would be a reasonably Norse form, and very close to what was submitted.

We have changed the given name to the form documented by Argent Snail to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

His previous blazon, Or, a wolf counter-salient sable, maintaining a rose gules, barbed and seeded proper, implied that the rose was in the wolf's forepaw, not in its mouth.

Note: Craig is his legal given name.

The flowers in chief are somewhat naturalistic, but are at least as identifiable as the standard garden rose would be. We have therefore preserved the submitter's blazon of a rose. We have indicated that they were double roses because that term seems more likely to recreate the emblazon.

This submission generated some discussion, both in the College of Arms and in private e-mail to Laurel. This name arguably has a small potential of being mispronounced by less knowledgeable readers as "Damn Bastard". Therefore, the registerability of these two elements, whether combined or separate, must be examined. RfS IV.1 (Vulgar Names) states, "Pornographic or scatological terms will not be registered. Obscene terminology, sexually explicit material, bathroom or toilet humor, etc. are considered inherently offensive by a large segment of the Society and general population."

Daimhin (properly pronounced approximately "dahv-in") is an Irish Gaelic masculine given name that yielded the Anglicized form Davin. It has been registered without comment as recently as September of 2001 (Daimhín Sinna). No previous submissions of this element have generated any question of possible offensiveness. Since Daimhin when properly pronounced does not fall within names which should be considered "inherently offensive by a large segement of the Society," it continues to be registerable.

Bastard is a period descriptive byname documented in Scots and English and has been registered in various forms at least six times dating from 1983 to 1998. Most recently, it was registered without comment in March 1998 (Guy le Bastard) and April 1998 (Duftach Scott the Bastard). (In fact, in the form Lebatarde, and formerly le Batard, it is the registered byname of a former SCA Inc. Board member.) The registrations demonstrate that this element is not "considered inherently offensive by a large segment of the Society and general population" and so is registerable. Questions regarding public listing of a name containing this element have already been addressed by the kingdoms when printing lists of board members.

Given that both elements are registerable on their own, the only issue that could be a reason for return would be the combination of these two name elements. In this case, a fully Anglicized form Davin Bastard would certainly be no more of an issue than the registered Guy le Bastard and Duftach Scott the Bastard. Given that Daimhin has not generated so much as a murmur of a possible violation of RfS IV.1, it is demonstratedly not an issue on its own. Given this information, including previous registrations, this submission does not violate RfS IV.1 and is registerable.

There were some questions in the College concerning whether the arum lily was a flower known to Western Europeans. The commenters noted that these flowers resembled the calla lily, which is not European. Nebuly provided an extensive and surprisingly entertaining discussion of the arum lily from Demi Brown's book Aroids: Plants of the Arum Family (p. 70) stating in most pertinent part, "There are upwards of 100 common English names for Arum maculatum, a species found in woods and hedgerows in northern Europe."

Submitted under the name Morgana of the Mists.

Submitted as Donnchad mac Cathal, we have put the patronym into the genitive case as required by Gaelic grammar.

Submitted as Finnr bogsveiger Úlfsson, the form listed in Geirr Bassi (p. 20) is bogsveigir rather than bogsveiger. We have made this corrrection.

Listed on the LoI as Genvote Villeneuve de la Flèche, this name was originally submitted as Genevote Villeneuve de la Flèche and changed at Kingdom because no documentation could be found for the spelling Genevote. Colm Dubh's article "An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris" (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html) lists two examples of the spelling Genevote. Therefore, we have returned the given name to that spelling.

Submitted as Geoffrey de Grene de Boketon, the submitter provided genealogical information as part of his documentation. Genealogical information must be used with care when used as name submission documentation. In this instance, the information provided (combined with information from other sources including Reaney & Wilson) supports de Grene and de Boketon as bynames in period. However, none of the information provided showed evidence that the combined form de Grene de Boketon is a form that would have appeared in period documents. By the time that double bynames appeared in late period, the first byname was normally an inherited surname. In the case of locative bynames, they normally dropped the preposition when they became surnames. A name of the form Geoffrey Grene de Boketon would be understood in late period to refer to a man named Geoffrey Grene who lived at or came from a place named Boketon. Lacking evidence that an English name in period would have included two locative bynames that both contained prepositions, the submitted form is not registerable. On his submission form, the submitter indicated that if the full name as submitted was not registerable, he wished the form Geoffrey de Boketon. Therefore, we are registering that form, rather than the form Geoffrey Grene de Boketon, which is also registerable.

The submitter requested authenticity for 500 to 700 A.D. Ireland. In this time period, the language used in Ireland was Oghamic Irish. Very few examples of Oghamic Irish inscriptions remain and it is not possible, with the information provided in the LoI and that found by the College, to postulate a name with the submitter's desired meaning in Oghamic Irish. We have left the byname in an Old Irish Gaelic (c. 700 to c. 900) form to partially meet the submitter's request for authenticity. The College found evidence that the name Gráinne was used in the 14th C and later. Lacking evidence that the given name was used in the submitter's desired time period, we were unable to make it authentic for her desired time and culture.

Nice device!

Submitted as Ginnir sleggja Dagsson, Ginnir was documented only as the name of an Old Norse rune. Lacking documentation that it was used as a given name in period, it is not registerable. As the submitter allowed changing the given name to Gunnar if Ginnir was unregisterable, we have made this change in order to register this name.

Submitted as Gwendolyn of Wight, the spelling Gwendolyn was ruled not to be SCA compatible in the August 1995 Cover Letter:

Wherefore art thou Gwendolyn? Two submissions this month raised the question of the name Gwendolyn. To quote Harpy Herald: 'Gwendolyn is a modern spelling variant of the name of a fictional character (Guendolen) in the Historia Regum Brittaniae whose name is based on a misreading of the masculine name Guendoleu. The name was not in common use in period, in my experience, although it certainly is in the SCA. We should probably just go ahead and declare it in the same category as Ceridwen and Rhiannon as "not historically justifiable but too deeply rooted to get rid of without a fuss".' The name is certainly quite common in the SCA: in one spelling or another it has been registered to more than 50 different people. Given this level of popularity, I am reluctant to ban the name outright despite the lack of any real justification for it. I am equally reluctant to extend the allowance to modern forms of the name, however. Therefore the name will henceforth be considered `SCA-compatible' in the forms Guendolen and Gwendolen but not the modern Gwendolyn, and the underlying principle will be extended to any other forms that are proposed. (This decision can be thought of as an extension of the `Rule of Two Weirdnesses': the name itself is one weirdness, and a modern spelling is another.) (Talan Gwynek, Cover Letter with the August 1995, p. 2)

We have changed the given name to an SCA-compatible spelling in order to register this name.

Additionally, the submitter requested authenticity for the 12th to 13th C (no language or culture specified). Lacking evidence that Gwendolen was used by humans in period, we were unable to make this name authentic.

The submitter may wish to know that a fully Welsh form of this name would be Gwenllian Emlyn, since locative bynames in Welsh typically do not include a preposition. As she has made no request for authenticity, we have left the name in the submitted form.

The submitter requested authenticity for the 10th to 11th C and did not specify a culture. Forms of the given name appropriate for his desired time period were found in Old Norse (Haukr in Geirr Bassi, p. 11) and in Old English (Hauoc dated to the Domesday book in Mats Redin, Studies on Uncompounded Personal Names in Old English, p. 7). However, the only examples found of forms of Normandy used as a byname were found in Reaney & Wilson (s.n. Normandy) which date Robert Normandie to 1369 and Thomas Normandy to 1421. The submitted form is a completely Middle English form and is appropriate for a specific time (12th to 13th C England). As we were unable to find a form of the entire name appropriate to a language in the submitter's desired time period, we have left this name in the submitted form rather than change only the given name without an indication of the submitter's desired language or culture.

Her previous device, Per bend sinister vert and counter-ermine, on a bend counterchanged, fimbriated, a greyhound courant argent, is released.

Submitted as Kárr inn danski Ivarsson, accents should be used or omitted consistently throughout the name. We have added the accent to the patronymic byname to match the use of the accent in the given name.

Listed on the LoI as Lucca Sacchetti, both the documentation and the submission form listed the given name form Luca. We have made this correction.

Submitted as Luther Ziemer, the LoI stated that the submitter "requests that it be made authentic to 12th-14th century German-but would prefer the current spelling if possible." Talan Gwynek's article "Medieval German Given Names From Silesia" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/bahlow/) dates the spelling Luther to 1317-39 and to the 14th C. Bahlow (p. 631 s.n. Zeimer) dates Heincz Zeimer to 1411. We have changed the byname to this form to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

Submitted as Medb Cunnaboy, no dated forms of this byname were found. In fact, Woulfe (p. 476 s.n. Ó Conbhuidhe) notes that there were two families of this name, one in County Sligo and one in County Galway, but says that he was unable to find "any early angl[icized] form of the name in either district." From this information, it is reasonable to assume that the first family dates to period and so some form of this name would be plausible in Anglicized Irish. Therefore, we must construct a plausible Anglicized form based on similar names. Woulfe's entry gives this name as meaning "descendant of Cú-buidhe", where Cú-buidhe is a masculine given name. There are other bynames in Woulfe (pp. 475-479) that derive from a Cú- given name. In these entries, the Anglicized forms dated to temp. Elizabeth I to James I (which are listed in italics) all begin Con-, with a single n. Most forms do not have a vowel between Con- and the final element, but O Conebaghe, dated to this time period on p. 476 s.n. Ó Conbágha, demonstrates that an additional syllable is possible. This gives support to a form of the submitted name that would begin Cone-. In the Gaelic form Ó Conbhuidhe, the element -bhuidhe shows lenition. The expected Anglicized spelling would be -voy rather than -boy to follow the pronunciation change caused by the lenition. However, M'Eboy, dated to temp. Elizabeth I to James I on p. 362 s.n. Mac Fhíodhbhuidhe, shows that -boy can appear in an Anglicized form even when the Gaelic form is lenited. There are various examples of O being dropped from the byname in an Anglicized form. Therefore, Coneboy and Conboy are Anglicized Irish forms of this byname similar to the submitted byname, that are plausible period forms based on parallel examples. We have changed the byname to the form Coneboy, as that is the closer of the two to the submitted form, in order to register this name.

Submitted as Sibéal inghean mhic Gill'easpuig, the byname was documented from Black (p. 500 s.n. MacGillespie) which gives Mac Gill' easpuig as the Gaelic form of this name. However, no date is listed for the form Mac Gill' easpuig. When Black only notes a form as Gaelic (rather than "MG.", indicating "Middle Gaelic") and cites no dates, he is referring to a modern form. We have changed the byname to an Early Modern Gaelic (c. 1200 to c. 1700) form in order to register this name.

Submitted as Traolach Wesley, Traolach is a Modern Irish Gaelic (c. 1700 to present) form. We have changed the given name to the Early Modern Irish Gaelic (c. 1200 to c. 1700) form Toirdhealbhach in order to register the name.

This was originally pended from the LoAR of February 2002 because the tincture of the field was incorrect. This is clear of conflict with Cigfran Myddrael Joserlin the Raven, Argent, a raven rising reguardant, wings disclosed, proper, in dexter claw a sword gules. There is a CD for changing the field. The wings of Cigfran's raven are effectively displayed. There is a second CD for changing the posture of the bird from rising, wings displayed to rising, wings addorsed.

In the July 2002 LoAR, the name for this shire was returned because the indication on the form was to not allow minor changes. The kingdom college had made a change to the name before forwarding to Laurel after consultation with the shire. Unfortunately, the form was not changed to allow minor changes and the name was returned when an additional letter, a minor change, was needed to make the grammar for the name correct. The original decision was correct given the guidance provided on the submission form.

Immediately after the publication of the July letter, the pursuivant for the shire contacted Laurel to clarify the original intent to allow changes needed to the name and ask that the decision be reconsidered. The timely contact, the additional documentation indicating the original intent, and the change specifically allowed in the Letter of Intent are sufficient to allow the change of spelling to the grammatically correct form.

Please advise the submitter to draw the bordure somewhat narrower.

Submitted as Máel Mhuire mac Néill uá Cholmáin, the submitter requested authenticity for 7th to 9th C Irish. In the 7th C, the language used in Ireland was Oghamic Irish. Very few examples of Oghamic Irish inscriptions remain and it is not possible, with the information provided in the LoI and that found by the College, to postulate a name with the submitter's desired meaning in Oghamic Irish.

In the 8th and 9th C, the language used is Old Irish. The submitted form Máel Mhuire is a combination of Old Irish and Early Modern Irish (c. 1200 to c. 1700). Mixing these languages within a single element violates RfS III.1.a, which requires linguistic consistency within a single name phrase, and so is not registerable. We have changed the given name to the fully Old Irish form Máel Muire in order to register the name and to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

The particle uá is in the nominative case. In a multi-generational byname, only the particle indicating the first relationship (here, mac) is in the nominative case. All subsequent generations are in the genitive case (and lenited when applicable). We have changed uá to the early genitive form hui in order to register this name and to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

The LoI stated that, "The client cares most about having an early medieval Irish Gaelic name that means 'servant of St Mary, son of Neil, clan Coleman.'" Surnames indicating a clan began to come into use in Ireland in the 10th C. Previous to that time, this style of name would have been used literally. So the name Máel Muire mac Néill hui Cholmáin, in the submitter's desired time period, would have meant that Máel Muire was the son of Niall uá Colmáin, whose name was also literal and meant 'Niall grandson [of] Colmán'.

Nice device!

Submitted as Alisaundre la Couturière, the submitter requested authenticity for French. We have lowercased the byname to follow the examples Kateline [une] couturière and Aalot le couturier (a masculine name) found in Colm Dubh's article "An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris" (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html). As the College was unable to find evidence of any feminine form of Alexander (including Alisaundre) used in French in period, we were unable to make this name completely authentic for the submitter's requested culture.

He has permission to conflict with Geoffrey de la Brugge, Sable, in pale two fleurs-de-lys argent.

Submitted as Chavah bat Mordecai, we have modified the name to use a consistent transliteration system.

Submitted as Constance Warwick of Wyndermere, the submitter requested authenticity for Britain during 1200-1300 and allowed minor changes. The LoI stated that:

She will allow the middle element to be changed to "Warrick", an occupational byname found in Reaney and Wilson, page 477, which even R&W concedes is often confused with Warwick. [...] If an element needs to be dropped, she would prefer to keep "Wyndermere"

In the submitter's desired time period, bynames were used literally. As both Warwick and Wyndermere refer to locations, these two bynames would not have been used in the same name during the submitter's desired time period. Bardley (p. 795 s.n. Warwick) dates John de Warrewyc, Matilda de Warewyck, and John de Warewyk to 1273. So authentic forms indicating a woman from Warwick in the submitter's desired time period would be Constance de Warrewyc, Constance de Warewyck, and Constance de Warewyk. Ekwall (p. 524 s.n. Windermere) dates the forms Winandemere to 1203 and Wynandermer to 1282. So authentic forms indicating a woman from Windermere in the submitter's desired time period would be Constance de Winandemere and Constance de Wynandermer.

The submitter indicated that she was willing to change Warwick to Warrick. Reaney & Wilson (p. 477 s.n. Warrick) date Roger Warrock to 1271 and give this as an occupational byname indicating a maker of warrocks, which were wedges used to tighten scaffolding, or a builder of scaffolds. Authentic forms of a name for 1200-1300 that indicated that a woman named Constance was involved in making warrocks or scaffolds and was from Windermere, would be Constance Warrock de Winandemere and Constance Warrock de Wynandermer. As the first of these is the name closest to the submitted form that is authentic for the submitter's requested time period, we have changed the name to this form in order to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

It is worth noting that the submitted name, with a minor spelling change to the final element, would be authentic for the late 16th to the early 17th C. By the 16th C, inherited surnames had come into use. Julian Goodwyn's article "Brass Enscription Index" (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/brasses/) dates Constance to 1581. Bardsley (p. 795 s.n. Warwick) dates Richard Warwick to 1601. Speed, The Counties of Britain (p. 182, map of Westmorland, most maps dated 1610), lists a town or village named Wynandermere. So, Constance Warwick of Wynandermere (which adds only two characters to the submitted Wyndermere) would be an authentic form of this name for the late 16th - early 17th C.

Submitted under the name Éirne inghean Domhnaill.

Please advise the submitter to draw the bordure somewhat wider and to draw the trefoils on the bordure larger.

Submitted as Mór ingen Cathail, the submitter requested authenticity for 13th to 14th C Irish. Lenition was omitted from the submitted form of the byname. Mór ingen Chathail is the authentic form of this name for Middle Irish Gaelic (c. 900 to c. 1200). Mór inghean Chathail is the authentic form of this name for Early Modern Irish Gaelic (c. 1200 to c. 1700). We have changed this name to the Early Modern Irish Gaelic form to make this name authentic for the submitter's requested time period.

Note: Angharad is used as an unmarked matronymic in this name, not as a second given name (or "middle" name). To date, no examples have been found of double given names used in Welsh. Documentation from Harpy was provided with this submission supporting Tangwystl verch Angharad verch Rhys, meaning 'Tangwystyl daughter of Angharad daughter of Rhys', as a name following period Welsh name construction patterns. Documentation was also provided that it was not uncommon to omit one or more of the particles meaning 'son' or 'daughter' in a Welsh name in late period, supporting the submitted form as a variant of Tangwystl verch Angharad verch Rhys.

The device does not conflict with Arthur FitzRobert of Wiverneweald, Per bend azure and argent, a bear statant and a mullet of six points counterchanged. The devices are clear of conflict because (quoting RfS X.2) "the type of every primary charge has substantially changed", and the armory has "no more than two types of charge directly on the field". Note that even though both charge groups use a mullet, the type of every primary charge has substantially changed. By the following precedent this is therefore clear by RfS X.2:

[Per chevron argent and sable, two towers and a horse rampant counterchanged.] Clear of ... Argent, upon a pile inverted throughout between two ravens sable a tower argent, because the type of each charge in the group has been substantially changed, even though each group contains a tower. RfS X.2. states that: "Simple armory does not conflict with other simple armory if the type of every primary charge is substantially changed." Laurel takes this to mean that the type of each charge must be substantially changed from its corresponding charge in the armory being compared, not that the type of every charge must be substantially changed from the type of every charge in the other armory. (There is no CD for the field, since we treat per chevron and a pile inverted as equivalent for purposes of difference.) (LoAR December 1995)

The 1995 precedent stated above was upheld in an analogous ruling in the LoAR of October 1998.

Submitted as Ilaria Jacqueline Montrevel, the submitter requested an authentic French/Italian border name and allowed any changes. She noted that if the double given name was not registerable, then she preferred to drop Jacqueline and keep Ilaria.

In period, a name mixing Italian and French elements would have been written all in Italian or all in French depending upon whether the document that included the name was written in Italian or French. Colm Dubh's article "An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris" (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html) lists Dame Ylaire la lingière and Dame Jaqueline la Bordonne. Argent Snail found other period forms of portions of this name:

Jacqueline is found in Morlet Picarde [Marie-Thérèse Morlet, Étude d'Anthroponymie Picarde]. While she does not explicitly date it, all of the names in the book are from the 13th through 15th centuries. Dauzat and Rostaing, under Mons, have Montrevel, with the form Montrivel dated to 1198.

From this information, an authentic French form of this name would be Ylaire Jaqueline de Montrivel or Ylaire Jacqueline de Montrivel. As we were unable to find forms of Jacqueline or Montrevel in Italian, we were unable to determine an authentic Italian form of this name. We have changed this name to the second of the French forms listed above to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

As submitted, this name contains an Italian given name, a French given name, and a French locative byname. Since mixing French and Italian in a single name is only one weirdness, Ilaria Jacqueline de Montrivel would be a registerable, though not authentic, form of this name that would be close to the originally submitted form.

Her previous name, Eileen Kathryn Brent, is released.

Submitted as Giuliana  Benedetto Falconieri, the submitter requested authenticity for Italian and allowed any changes. As submitted, this name has a feminine given name followed by a masculine given name followed by a family name. The logical interpretation of this structure would be that Giuliana is the daughter of Benedetto Falconieri. An authentic form of this name for late-period Italian would be Giuliana di Benedetto Falconieri. We have made this change to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

Please advise the submitter to draw the saltire wider.

This name was submitted as Raghnailt as Sord Colmcille. There are a few examples we have of locative bynames in Irish Gaelic that refer to the name of a location of the size of a village or town. These locative bynames use the genitive form of the placename as the locative byname and do not use a preposition. The byname was changed at Kingdom to a documented genitive form of this placename to follow these examples of locative bynames in Gaelic.

Submitted as Rónán mac Maghnuis, the submitter requested authenticity for "Gaelic" and allowed minor changes. As the submitter has expressed an interest in authenticity, he may wish to know that the name Rónán seems to have fallen out of use after the 11th C, while Magnus was adopted into Gaelic and began becoming popular in the late 12th C. The submitted form of the patronymic byname, mac Maghnuis, is a form appropriate for Early Modern Gaelic (c. 1200 to c. 1700) in Scotland, but the form mac Maghnusa seems to have been the typical form in Ireland at that time.) A form appropriate for Middle Irish (c. 900 to c. 1200) would be mac Magnusa. As the given name Rónán dates to the time period when Middle Irish was used, we have changed the byname to this form in order to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

Listed on the LoI as Ruadrí de Ross, this name was submitted as Ruairidh of Wester Ross. The submitter requested authenticity for 12th C Scottish. The name was changed at Kingdom to Ruadrí de Ross to use documented 12th C forms of both the given name and the byname. Additionally, Kingdom could find no documentation for Wester being used in a byname, so that element was dropped as the submitter specifically allows. The form Ruadrí de Ross combines a Gaelic given name with a Latin form of a locative byname. Of the 12th C Scottish records that have survived, the vast majority are in Latin. In Latin records, locative bynames are not uncommon. However, in surviving Gaelic records, the only locations mentioned in a man's name are included as part of a chiefly title. As best we can tell, a man in 12th C Scotland who was mentioned in both Latin and Gaelic records could have appeared in the Latin records with a locative byname (like de Ross), but would have appeared in Gaelic records with the byname he normally used in Gaelic, which would have most likely been a patronymic byname based on his father's given name (for example, mac Domnaill, meaning 'son of Donald'). Black (p. 699 s.n. Rory) gives two examples of 12th C Latin forms of Ruadrí name in the examples Rothri comes and Rotheri comes. A man named Ruadrí who was from Ross would, therefore, have been recorded as Rothri de Ross or Rotheri de Ross in a Latin document in 12th C Scotland. In a Gaelic record, he would likely have been recorded as Ruadrí mac [a patronym based on his father's given name]. As the submitter allows any changes, we have changed this name to a Latin form to meet his request for authenticity.

The submitter requested authenticity for 10th C Hebrew. Ezra is listed in Eleazar ha-Levi, "Jewish Naming Convention in Angevin England" (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/jewish.html) and is dated to 1150 in the name Abraham ibn Ezra à Dreux in Aryanhwy merch Catmael, "Jewish Given Names Found in Les Noms Des Israélites en France", (http://www.sit.wisc.edu/~sfriedemann/names/levyintro.htm). Zephaniah is dated to 1586 on p. 57 of J. W. Garrett-Pegge, A Transcript of the First Volume, 1538-1636, of the Parish Register of Chesham, Buckingham County. As the only example that was found of the Biblical name Zephaniah used as a person's given name in period was for a 16th C Christian, we were unable to confirm that this name is an authentic 10th C Hebrew name.

Many commenters mentioned that this appeared to be the impalement of the arms of Brittany (Ermine) and the armory Vert, a lion's head cabossed Or. RfS XI.3 states: "Armory that appears to marshall independent arms is considered presumptuous.... Divisions commonly used for marshalling, such as quarterly or per pale, may only be used in contexts that ensure marshalling is not suggested." The rule continues, in RfS XI.3.b, to state that "Such fields may only be used when no single portion of the field may appear to be an independent piece of armory.... Charged sections must all contain charges of the same type to avoid the appearance of being different from each other".

RfS XI.3.b was later refined by Laurel ruling, indicating that even when "charged sections ... all contain charges of the same type" there may be an appearance of marshalling if the uncharged quarters are complex fields. See the return of Quarterly Or and lozengy azure and Or, in bend two ravens contourny sable (LoAR of October 1992, Aric Thomas Percy Raven):

After much soul-searching, I must agree with the commenters who saw an appearance of marshalling in the device. Rule XI.3.b states that quarterly may be used only "when no single portion of the field [appears] to be an independent piece of armory." In general, complexity in any of the quarters makes it look like independent armory; for example, XI.3.b explicitly cites the use of multiple charges in a quarter as unacceptable. The motif Quarterly X and Y, in bend two [charges] is allowable when the uncharged quarters are plain tinctures; we don't protect plain tinctures. But when the uncharged quarters are complex fields, we lose that rationale; and the complexity then begins to make it look like an independent coat. This, beneath all the subtext, is exactly what XI.3.b is meant to prevent.

After similar soul-searching, and considering the strong reactions of the College to this submission, we rule as follows:

When considering armory using a field division commonly used for marshalling, if every uncharged portion of the field is a plain tincture that the SCA protects as "important non-SCA arms", then those uncharged portions of the field will appear to be displays of independent coats of arms, and the armory will appear to be marshalling.

Quarterly azure and ermine, in bend two mullets Or has the appearance of marshalling Azure, a mullet Or with Ermine, the protected "important non-SCA arms" of Brittany. In this case, every uncharged portion of the field appears to be a display of the arms of Brittany. Quarterly azure and ermine, in dexter chief a mullet Or does not have the appearance of marshalling, because not every uncharged portion of the field appears to be a display of arms. This armory includes an uncharged quarter of azure, which is not protected in the SCA as "important non-SCA arms." This armory simply appears to be arms using a quarterly field with a single charge in dexter chief.

Quarterly azure and vert, in bend two mullets Or does not have the appearance of marshalling. The flag of Libya, Vert, is a plain tincture protected as an "important non-SCA flag". Only arms would be used in marshalling in the real world, not flags or badges. There is only an appearance of marshalling when the protected plain tincture represents "important non-SCA arms".

Conflict with Katlin von Kappel, Per saltire sable and gules, four fleurs-de-lys bases to center Or. There is one CD for fieldlessness. The four fleurs-de-lys in Katlin's device are placed by default into the four sections of the per saltire field, which arranges the fleurs-de-lys in cross. The two groups of fleurs-de-lys are arranged identically except for the conjoining. We do not give difference for conjoining the charges, although it is necessary to specify the conjoining in the blazon.

The lemons fracted chevronwise are drawn as two lemon halves conjoined in chevron, with the cut part of the lemon opened to base. A number of commenters felt that the fracted lemons could not be identified as lemons. The commenters also raised questions about whether the term fracted was appropriate for a lemon.

The previous return of this badge was predominantly for conflict (which has been cleared by the addition of the bordure). However, the previous return also indicated that this treatment of the lemons was problematic, stating: "We would also like to see evidence of lemons or other fruit depicted this way in period heraldry." (LoAR of December 2000).