Submitted under the name Aidan Gunn.
Her previous blazon, Per pale sable and Or, a trillium gules barbed vert, did not follow the SCA default for trillium flowers. See this month's cover letter for details.
The submitter requested authenticity for 16th C German. Lacking evidence that Lothar was used after the 11th C, we were unable to make this name authentic for the submitter's requested time period.
One of her previous badges, Argent semy of bees azure, is released in order to comply with the four-item armory registration limit in Administrative Handbook I.B.
The submitter stated that the words on the chevron mean "Not for the one, but for the whole." Metron Ariston believes that the translation given is slightly inaccurate, and that a more accurate translation would be, "Not for himself, but for everything." The submitter may be interested in her suggestion for a good Medieval Latin phrase with the intended meaning:
Non pro uno sed pro omnibus ("not on behalf of one but on behalf of all"). This would parallel the famous motto of D[u]mas' musketeers which is frequently Latinized "Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno."
Some commenters noted that no documentation had been presented for words on a chevron. Phrases on bordures, including Latin phrases, are rare but not unknown in Spanish and Italian heraldry. Phrases in Arabic are not at all uncommon in Islamic heraldry, particularly on fesses. As a result, putting a Latin phrase on a chevron seems to be at most one step from period practice, and is certainly consistent with SCA armorial practices.
Nice device! This does not conflict with Iago Benitez, Quarterly gules and Or, a cross bottony within a bordure counterchanged. There is one CD for removing the bordure and another CD for changing the type of the cross: "There is still a CD between a cross flory and a cross bottony" (LoAR August 1999).
Nice badge!
Please advise the submitter to draw the bordure somewhat narrower and the unicorn somewhat larger.
Submitted as Brighid ingen Mac Tíre Ruadh, the submitter requested authenticity for 11th to 12th C Irish and allowed minor changes.
Brighid is an Early Modern Irish Gaelic (c. 1200 to c. 1700) form. The corresponding Middle Irish Gaelic (c. 900 to c. 1200) form of this name is Brigit. We have changed the name to this form to partially meet the submitter's request for authenticity. While we have no evidence of any form of Brighid used as a given name in Gaelic except by saints, the name is registerable as a saint's name, though it is not authentic. (See the Cover Letter for the September 2001 LoAR for more details regarding the registerability of saints' names.)
The submitter stated that she wished the meaning 'Brighid, daughter of Red Wolf'. Mac Tíre is a Gaelic masculine given name. It originally meant 'son of the land', a euphemism for a wolf. Used as a given name, in the submitter's time period, it did not mean 'wolf' any more than the modern given name Heather means a type of vegetation, or the modern given name Ashley means 'ash-tree wood or clearing'. In fact, the submitted name means ' Brighid, daughter of Mac Tíre the Red'. In this position, Ruadh is her father's descriptive byname and would normally indicate that he had red hair.
The submitted byname is not formed correctly, because it does not have her father's name (Mac Tíre Ruadh) in the genitive case as required by Gaelic grammar. The correct form of this byname for the submitter's desired time period is Meic Thíre Ruaidh. We have made this change in order to register her name.
The previous blazon, Sable, a trillium Or between four salmon naiant in annulo argent, did not follow the SCA default for trillium flowers. See this month's cover letter for details.
Please advise the submitter to draw the point pointed slightly lower on the field.
The previous blazon, Vert, three trilliums inverted argent and a chief Or, did not follow the SCA default for trillium flowers. See this month's cover letter for details.
This does not conflict with a badge of Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, Sable, a saltire formy argent. Contrary to some opinions espoused in the commentary, couping an ordinary is only a significant change (worth a CD) rather than a substantial change (clear by RfS X.2). We would only give a CD between a saltire bretessed and a saltire bretessed and couped. However, just as it seems appropriate to give X.2 (substantial) difference between the very different period charges of a cross formy (which is couped by default and has splayed ends) and a cross bretessed (which is throughout by default and treated with an embattled line), it is also appropriate to give X.2 difference between similarly treated saltires.
The submitter requested authenticity for the 16th to 17th C. Roxanne is registerable under the guidelines for registerability of literary names (see the Cover Letter for the February 1999 LoAR for details):
While we do not find this a very likely name, since the stories of Alexander the Great were so popular during the middle ages (Alexander was one of the Nine Worthies), and since there is documented evidence of taking names from Arthuriana, we are giving the submitter the benefit of the doubt. (Roxanne O'Malley, 10/96 p. 7)
Lacking evidence that Roxanne was used as a given name by regular people in period, we were unable to make this name authentic.
Please advise the submitter to draw the ram's horns more pronouncedly. In period armory, rams are usually drawn with very prominent horns that lie partially on the field, rather than having the horns lie entirely on the rest of the ram's head.
This submission is an appeal of the return of Award of the Rising Star in September 2001, which stated:
This name is being returned for lack of documentation of the construction of the order name. No documentation was provided, and the College found none, that an abstract descriptive such as Rising was used to modify a noun such as Star in period order names. Barring such documentation, this name must be returned.
Ansteorra has pointed out that Circle of the Ascending Star was registered to the Kingdom of Ansteorra in April 1981 and that the construction used in Award of the Rising Star of Ansteorra is, therefore, grandfathered to them.
This submission raised considerable discussion regarding how the Grandfather Clause applies to order names. This issue is most often raised in regards to adjectives used in order names. Some recent examples include:
[Order of the Argent Slipper] Meridies already has several order names of the type Argent X, so this particular use is grandfathered to the Kingdom. [Meridies, Kingdom of, 08/00, A-Meridies]
[Order of the Dragon's Bowle] The construction Dragon's X has not been documented to period. However, the order names Order of the Dragon's Jewel (registered August 1987) and Order of the Dragon's Pride (registered May 1988) are registered to Drachenwald. Therefore, the construction Order of the Dragon's X is grandfathered to them so long as whatever X is falls within the rather wide span between Jewel and Pride. A bowl (especially if it were gold or silver) is an object which could conceivably fall into the same category as a jewel, as being part of a dragon's horde. Therefore, this order name is registerable. [Drachenwald, Kingdom of, 02/02, A-Drachenwald]
While use of an adjective, such as Argent or Dragon's, that does not change from order name to order name is the most common application of the Grandfather Clause in order names, we have also grandfathered specific construction types. Some examples include:
[Order of the Marble Chalice] No documentation was presented and none was found that Order of the Marble Chalice follows a pattern used for period order names. However, Gleann Abhann has registered Order of the Onyx Chalice (registered in September 1998) and Order of the Garnet Chalice (registered in September 1998). Since both marble and onyx are types of stone, Order of the Marble Chalice follows the same construction pattern as Order of the Onyx Chalice and so is registerable via the Grandfather Clause. [Gleann Abhann, Principality of, 12/2002, A-Meridies]
[Order of the Opal] No evidence was presented and none was found of period order names based on gemstones. As Atlantia has registered the Order of the Pearl, this construction is grandfathered to them. [Atlantia, Kingdom of, 12/2001, A-Atlantia]
In the first example, the construction Order of the [type of stone] Chalice is grandfathered to Gleann Abhann. In the second example, Order of the [type of gemstone] is grandfathered to Atlantia. Award of the Rising Star of Ansteorra parallels Circle of the Ascending Star in a manner similar to these examples. Given these previous registrations of grandfathering order name constructions within a narrow construction type, this order name is registerable to Ansteorra.
Note: Ansteorra has a letter of permission to conflict from the owner of the household name House Rising Star. The addition of a group reference, such as of Ansteorra, is normally transparent for conflict purposes. However, previous precedent (including The Order of the White Scarf of Caid (Caid, Kingdom of; Acceptances, Caid; April 1997) and Order of the Golden Swan of Aneala (Aneala, Barony of; Acceptances, Lochac; July 1999) has ruled that a group reference is enough difference to clear the conflict when used in conjunction with a letter of permission to conflict.
Submitted as Leofwine av Sumersaeton, the submitter requested authenticity for 1056 Anglo-Saxon England and allowed minor changes. As submitted, this byname combines the modern Swedish av with the Old English Sumersaeton and so violates RfS III.1.a, which requires linguistic consistency in a name element. We have changed the particle from the Swedish av to the Old English of to resolve this problem.
Old English grammar requires that, in personal names having the form [given name] of [placename], the placename be in the dative case. The documented Sumersæton (found in Ekwall, p. 430 s.n. Somerset) is a nominative form. The dative form of this placename is Sumersætum. We have made this correction in order to register this name and to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
Waterbearers Guild of [branch name] is a generic identifier.
Because of the fishtail flukes at the end of the serpent's tail, and because their device already uses the blazon term sea-serpent, we have registered the charge as a sea-serpent rather than a serpent as submitted. Note that period serpents may be smooth-skinned, like a snake, or may show dorsal spines or ridges, as with this creature.
Baronial Archery Champion is a generic identifier.
Baronial Equestrian Champion is a generic identifier.
Baronial Chivalric/Rapier Champion is a generic identifier.
Baronial Arts and Sciences Champion is a generic identifier.
The previous blazon, Azure, a Hungerford knot Or between three trilliums argent, did not follow the SCA default for trillium flowers. See this month's cover letter for details.
Submitted as Malcolm MacLean, the submitter requested authenticity for late 16th C Scot and allowed any changes. Clarion found forms of this byname dated to the submitter's desired time period:
Black, s.n. Maclean has the following in the 16th century:
Mackcline, MackCleiden, Mackelein, Macclen, Makclen (all 1588), Macklayne, Maklayne, Makelyne (1536), M'Clane (1514), Maclein (1586), Maclane (1545), Makclayne (1573), Makclane, M'Clan, M'Klane (1591).
Of these, the form Maclein is closest in appearance to the submitted MacLean. We have changed the byname to this form to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
His previous name, Galen Saint Amand, is released.
Nice ensign!
Artemisian Archery Guild is a generic identifier.
The LoI noted that, if possible, the guild preferred this badge to be associated with "their leader, the Artemisian Archer General." This is not possible because badges may not be registered for kingdom officers if a badge for that position is registered at the corporate level. As archery falls into a subarea of the marshallate, a badge is already designated for use by the Artemisian Archer General. We have registered this badge using the generic identifier Artemisian Archery Guild, which is the group's preferred alternate designation for this badge.
Artemisian Archery Guild is a generic identifier.
The crosses were originally blazoned as crosses espada. They are standard crosses of Santiago in the full-sized emblazon and we have so blazoned them.
Submitted under the name Bláithín inghean Bhradaigh.
Submitted as Katheryn von Schlegel, this submission was an appeal of changes made to this name when it was registered in the November 2001 LoAR as Katheryn Slegel.
The submitter provided documentation supporting Schlegel as her legal surname. With this documentation, she may use the Legal Name Allowance to register Schlegel in a surname position in her SCA name. However, the Legal Name Allowance only supports registration of the name element in the exact form in which it appears in the submitter's legal name. Therefore, the Legal Name Allowance allows her to register Schlegel as a byname, but it does not allow her to register von Schlegel because von Schlegel is not part of her legal name.
To register von Schlegel, documentation would need to be provided that von Schlegel was used as a byname in period or that Schlegel was the name of a town in period. Documentation was provided for two individuals whose surnames were von Schlegel. However, these people were born in 1697 and 1772 and so do not support von Schlegel as a surname before 1600 or even 1650. Documentation was also provided for modern locations in Germany named Schlegel. No evidence was found that these locations date to period. Bahlow (p. 493 s.n. Schlegel) indicates that this byname means 'hammer'. Given this information, it seems unlikely that a period location was named Schlegel. Lacking evidence of a period place with this name, the byname von Schlegel is not registerable.
We have dropped the particle von and registered her byname in the form Schlegel, as permitted under the Legal Name Allowance, in order to register this name.
Her previous name, Katheryn Slegel, is released.
The branch was originally blazoned as a mulberry branch. However, the College uniformly felt that this was not recognizable as a mulberry branch due to the shape of the leaves and the fact that the fructing, while present, was too small to be seen at any distance. We have thus reblazoned it as a branch.
We advise the submitter that the standard branch in heraldry has one main stem rather than the naturalistic forked structure found in this emblazon.
This submission was pended from the July LoAR for a missing tincture.
The submitter's previous device, Per chevron engrailed argent and azure, a castle sable and four fish naiant contourny Or, is released.
The nail was originally blazoned as a glazier's nail. The standard SCA term, which matches the term used in the blazon of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers, is closing nail.
Submitted as Alixandre L'elan, Metron Ariston found that the correct form of this word in French is élan 'elk'. We have changed the byname to follow standard French construction.
The sea-tyger's heads are drawn as tyger's heads with a fish fin down the back of the neck. These are very similar to dragon's heads, but it seems reasonable to maintain the distinction in blazon.
Listed on the LoI as Anitsa Sekerina, this name was submitted as Anishka Sekerina and changed at Kingdom to use a dated period form. The location cited in the submitted documentation, Wickenden (3rd ed., s.n. Anna), dates Aniushka to 1498, rather than the submitted Anishka. As Aniuska is closer than Anitsa to the submitted Anishka, we have changed the name to this form when registering the name.
Her previous submission, Belphoebe de Givet, was returned in February 2002 with the explanation:
Belphoebe is a name unique to Spenser's The Faerie Queen. This character, the Fairie Queen, was an allegory for Elizabeth I. Belphoebe is unregisterable for two reasons. First, as it is allegorical, rather than being the name of a regular human character, it is not registerable as a name from period literature. Additionally, since Belphoebe was the name of the Faerie Queen, this name violates RfS VI.2, "Names containing elements that allude to powers that the submitter does not possess are considered presumptuous .... Such claims include ... given names that were never used by humans."
The current submission documents Bell and Phoebe as English given names, with Bell being a diminutive of Isabel.
There was also some concern that the combination of two given names that sounds identical to the returned Belphoebe did not clear the previous issue with Belphoebe. A parallel issue with the name Lora Leigh has previously been ruled on:
It was our feeling that the registration of Lora Leigh <surname> (from which this name is sufficiently different by the Rules) established a precedent in not calling conflict with the classical Lorelei, more so since there were no allusions to Lorelei in the armory. (LoAR 12/90 p.4).
Bell Phoebe is similar to Belphoebe in the same way that Lora Leigh is similar to Loralei. Therefore, given the Lora Leigh precedent cited above, Bell Phoebe is registerable in this name.
Note: Barberella is dated to c. 1210 in Reaney & Wilson (p. 26 s.n. Barbarel).
These birds are conjoined in annulo. The only conjoining is where the beak of each bird touches the tail of the bird in front of it. This emblazon thus meets the objections stated in the previous return. The outline of the group is somewhat more triangular than round, because the birds have straight backs, but this is an acceptable group of birds conjoined in annulo.
Submitted under the name Bronwen inghean an Druaidh.
His previous blazon, Argent, a pall inverted between three trillium flowers gules, leaved vert, did not follow the SCA default for trillium flowers. See this month's cover letter for details.
The submitter requested authenticity for 16th C England and allowed any changes. Talan Gwynek's article "Late Sixteenth Century English Given Names" (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/eng16/eng16alpha.html) lists the form Eleanor. Speed's The Counties of Britain (p. 119, map of Lincolnshire, map dated 1610) lists Ravendale in Havesto Wapon.. By the 16th C, inherited surnames had replaced literal bynames. However, Irvine Gray and J. E. Gethyn-Jones, ed., The Registers of the Church of St. Mary's, Dymock, 1538-1790 (p. 41), date John of Avocull to June 13, 1580, showing a single example of a locative byname without an inherited surname in the submitter's desired time period. Given this example, we have left this byname in the submitted form of Ravendale as this form is authentic, if extremely rare, for the submitter's desired time and culture. More typical forms would be Eleanor Ravendale, if Ravendale is viewed as an inherited surname, or Eleanor [inherited surname] of Ravendale, showing Ravendale as Eleanor's place of origin and the inherited surname as a surname inherited from her father or her husband's surname if she is married.
Submitted under the name Keelin Mirymuth, that name was returned in October 2002.
He has a letter of permission to conflict from Thibault Chinaud, elsewhere in the Atlantia section of this LoAR.
Her previous blazon, Or, a pall vert between three trillium flowers purpure, did not follow the SCA default for trillium flowers. See this month's cover letter for details.
These birds are conjoined in annulo. The only conjoining is where the beak of each bird touches the tail of the bird in front of it. This emblazon thus meets the objections stated in the previous return. The outline of the group is somewhat more triangular than round, because the birds have straight backs, but this is an acceptable group of birds conjoined in annulo.
Submitted as Liuedai von Regensburg, this name combined Liuedai, which is a Latinized form of an Old English name, with the German byname von Regensburg. Lacking evidence that Anglo-Saxon England had significant contact with Germany, a name combining Old English and German is not registerable. We have changed the given name to the Middle English form Luveday (dated to 1205 in Reaney & Wilson, p. 285 s.n. Loveday), in order to register this name.
There was some question whether this name conflicts with the registered name Margerie Freyser (registered October 2001). Magy is a diminutive of Margaret. Margerie is a form of Margery which originally derived from Margaret. In the registration of the name Elizabeth de Valence (registered December 1995), the ruling stated that this name was clear of the registered Isabeau de Valence (registered March 1994):
Under RfS V.1.i (Given Names) the given names Elizabeth and Isabeau do not conflict: they differ significantly in sound and appearance, and neither is a diminutive of the other. (It is true that Isabel/Isabeau began as a form of Elizabeth, but the two were differentiated quite early, just as Margery was from Margaret.) [Elizabeth de Valence, LoAR 12/95, A-Outlands]
Given the comparison of Margery and Margaret in this ruling, Margery and Margaret do not conflict. Therefore, Magy, which is a diminutive of Margaret, not Margerie, does not conflict with Margerie.
Submitted as Marmaduc de Thysteleworthe, the submitter requested authenticity for 14th C England. We have changed the byname to Thystelesworthe to match the submitted documentation and to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
This does not conflict with Angus Scrymgeoure, Per pale azure and sable, three crosses crosslet argent. There is a CD for changing the field and another CD for the type difference between a cross potent and a cross crosslet. Both types of cross are found throughout the heraldic period and appear to be considered distinct charges.
The three crosses are blazoned explicitly as two and one because, on a per bend sinister field, three charges default to having two in the dexter chief portion of the field and one in the sinister base portion.
Submitted as Melisende d'Artois, the submitter requested authenticity for 12th to 14th C 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) includes examples of forms of this given name in the entries Melissent la Fauconnière, Milesent la lavendière, and Milessent la cerenceresse de lin. As Melissent is the closest of these forms to the submitted Melisende, we have changed the given name to Melissent to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
Listed on the LoI as Nicholas of Waverly Abbey, this name was originally submitted as Brother Nicholas of Waverly Abbey. The element Brother was dropped at Kingdom. The submitter requested authenticity for 12th to 13th C and allowed any changes. Registerability of Brother as a form of address was addressed recently:
In the case of this name, the element Brother in Brother Timothy is a form of address, not a name element. We do not register forms of address regardless of whether they would be presumptuous, such as Lord or Mistress, or whether they would not be presumptuous, such as Brother or Goodwife. The submitter is welcome to use Brother, as in Brother Timothy, as his preferred form of address, but this use of Brother is not registerable. [Timothy Brother, LoAR 11/2002, A-Artemisia]
Similarly, this submitter is welcome to use Brother as his preferred form of address.
Siren found information regarding the submitter's request for authenticity:
The question is, for his authenticity request, was the word <Abbey> used as part of placenames, or would he have just been <Nicholas de Wauerlay> (that spelling dated to 1196 in Ekwall s.n. Waverly) or <Nicholas del Abbay> (that spelling dated to 1283 in R&W s.n Abbay).
As the College was unable to find examples of a person's byname that referred to an abbey name and included both the name of the abbey and the word Abbey, we have changed his name to Nicholas de Wauerley to meet his request for authenticity.
Submitted as Ragnailt Morgane, the submitter requested authenticity for 14th to 15th C Irish and allowed minor changes. Ragnailt is the Middle Irish (c. 900 to c. 1200) form of this name. We have changed it to the Early Modern Irish (c1200-c1600) form Raghnailt in order to partially meet the submitter's request for authenticity. Morgane was documented as a Scots surname derived from Welsh. Lacking evidence that it was used in 14th to 15th C Irish Gaelic, we were unable to make this name fully authentic for the submitter's desired time and culture.
These birds are conjoined in annulo. The only conjoining is where the beak of each bird touches the tail of the bird in front of it. This emblazon thus meets the objections stated in the previous return. The outline of the group is somewhat more triangular than round, because the birds have straight backs, but this is an acceptable group of birds conjoined in annulo.
Her previous alternate name, Teodora Orsini, is released.
The question was raised whether the name Subetai is unique to the 13th C Mongol general. Orle provided evidence of other people with this name:
Boyle(Rasid-al-Din) page 27 gives Subedei as brother of Hulegu. Page 33 refers to the general as Subedai Bahadur. Cleaves page 262 refers to Subegei Bo'ol (a slave) son of Ogda Bo'ol; Sube'etei of the Uriangqad; and Sube'edei Ba'adur.
Given these examples, Subetai is not unique and may be registered.
Submitted as Tassach mac Tearlaich, Tassach is the name of a saint and so is registerable under the guidelines for registerability of saint's names (see the Cover Letter for the September 2001 LoAR for details).
Significant changes in spelling occured in Gaelic between Early Modern Gaelic (c. 1200 to c. 1700) and Modern Gaelic (c. 1700 to present). Tearlach is the Modern Gaelic form of this masculine given name (Black s.n. Tearlach). The corresponding byname form shown by Black (s.n. MacTarlich) is MacThearlaich. The Early Modern Gaelic form of the given name is Toirdhealbhach. The corresponding byname forms would be mac Toirdhealbhaigh and Mac Toirdhealbhaigh. The Middle Gaelic (c. 900 to c. 1200) form of this name is Tairdelbach (byname form: mac Tairdelbaig). Given this information, this name is registerable as Tassach mac Toirdhealbhaigh or as Tassach mac Tairdelbaig. As the earlier form is more visually similar to the submitted form, we have changed the byname to this form in order to register this name.
He has a letter of permission to conflict from Giles Chinaud, elsewhere in the Atlantia section of this LoAR.
Submitted under the name Uilliam FitzHenry.
Listed on the LoI as Vi{dt}arr Grimsson, the submitter requested authenticity for 9th to 11th C Norse. The Da'ud notation for the edh character, ð, is {dh}, not {dt}. We have added the accent to the í in the byname to follow the submitted documentation and to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
Nice device!
There was some question whether this name conflicts with William Yonge, an 18th C English politician, who has his own entry in the Encyclopedia Britannica (1911 ed., s.n. SIR WILLIAM YONGE). RfS V.1.a.ii states that "Two bynames are significantly different if they look and sound significantly different. In general the addition or deletion of prepositions and articles is not significant. Additional restrictions apply to certain types of bynames as specified below." The additional restrictions defined are for bynames of relationship (RfS V.1.a.ii.(a)) and locative bynames (RfS V.1.a.ii.(b)). The bynames le Younger and Yonge are descriptive bynames. Therefore, only the requirement that the two bynames "look and sound significantly different" comes into play. Therefore, the question is whether Younger and Yonge look and sound significantly different. A similar level of difference exists between the given names Conor and Conn, which were ruled clear of each other:
It is a close call, but the extra syllable is just enough to bring this name clear of Conn MacNeill, registered 8/88. [Conor MacNeil, LoAR 01/96, A-Atenveldt]
Based on this ruling, the bynames le Younger and Yonge have just enough difference in look and sound to be clear.
Submitted as Ysabiau d'Augignac, the submitter requested authenticity for "1300 France" and allowed any changes. Dauzat & Rostaing (s.n. Augignac) dates the form Auguilhacum to 1365. From this Latin form, Siren provided the corresponding non-Latinized byname form, "So, it looks like a c. 1300 vernacular form of the byname would be <d'Augilhac>." We have changed the byname to this form to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
Listed on the LoI as Ævarr inn viðf{o,}rli, the submitter requested authenticity for Viking culture. As both the form and the documentation included an accent on the first i in the byname, we have included that accent in the name.
Submitted as Álmhath Blárnach, the submitter requested authenticity for a 16th C (or so) Irish woman married to a Scottish man and allowed minor changes. No documentation was presented and none was found that Álmhath was a plausible period form of the documented Álmath. Lacking such evidence, it is not registerable. We have changed the given name to the documented form Álmath in order to register this name.
Blárnach was submitted as a byname referring to the town of Blarney in Ireland. In Gaelic, adjectival forms of placenames are used as descriptive bynames when the place referred to is a large area, such as a region/county (Conallach 'Tirconnell[-ish]'), province (Connachtach 'Connacht[-ish]'), or country (Saxanach 'English'). When referring to a smaller area, such as a town, village, or barony, the name of the place (in the genitive case) is used as a descriptive byname. Room (s.n. Blarney) gives the Gaelic form of this name as An Bhlarna 'the small field'. For some reason, Room seems to have left the accent off the 'a' (Blárna) in this entry, though he includes it in other placenames on the same page that are formed from the same root. Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn provided examples from Hogan's Onomasticon Goedelicum showing na Blárnan as the feminine genitive form of this phrase. As the feminine genitive form is the form that this placename would take in a woman's descriptive byname, Álmath na Blárnan is the grammatically correct form of this name in Gaelic. We have changed the byname to na Blárnan in order to register this name. Lacking evidence that Álmath continued to be used as late as the 16th C, we were unable to make this name authentic for the submitter's requested time and culture.
The submitter requested authenticity for 16th C Spanish. Evidence was found of fiera, meaning 'wild, as an animal' or 'wild animal', as a word used in Spanish in the 15th & 16th C. Given the descriptive bynames that have been found so far in Spanish, a byname meaning 'wild' is reasonable. However, as we were unable to find an example of la fiera used as a descriptive byname in period, we were unable to confirm that it is authentic for the submitter's requested time and culture.
Listed on the LoI as Anna von Regensburg, this name was submitted as Anya Von Regensberg and changed at Kingdom to match documented forms. Sommelier found information regarding the submitter's originally submitted given name:
The March 2000 LoAR noted "Listed on the Letter of Intent as Anna Mstislavlyaya, the forms listed Annya Mstislavlyaya and the submitter originally requested Anya. As Anya is a reasonable spelling variant of Annya, we are registering the originally requested form." Annya appears in "Yorkshire Given Names from 1379" by Talan Gwynek (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/yorkshire.html).
Given this information, Anya is registerable as an English feminine given name. As the submitter allows any changes, we have returned the given name to the submitted form Anya.
Submitted as Bjarki Bíldr, we have put the byname into lowercase in order to match the submitted documentation and to register this name.
Submitted as Brighid Mhor inghean uí Fhlaithbertaig, the submitter requested authenticity for 10th C Ireland and allowed any changes. As submitted, this name mixes Middle Irish (c. 900 to c. 1200) and Early Modern Irish (c. 1200 to c. 1700). In particular, the byname inghean uí Fhlaithbertaig combines the Early Modern Irish inghean uí with the Middle Irish Fhlaithbertaig, and so violates RfS III.1.a, which requires linguistic consistency in a name phrase. The fully Middle Irish form of this name would be Brigit Mór ingen huí Fhlaithbertaig. We have changed the name to this form in order to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
Submitted as Constance Lisette, the submitter requested authenticity for "early France". Constance was cited from Withycombe. While Withycombe says that this name came into England from France, she does not say that Constance is the French form of this name. Morlet (vol. II, p. 36 s.n. Constancia) dates Constancia to various dates in the 10th and 11th C, and Constantia to various dates in the 11th and 12th C. We have changed the given name to Constancia to partially meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
Documentation was presented for Lisette as a feminine given name in French in 1528. The College found evidence of unmarked matronymic bynames (bynames that indicate a mother's name) in French. Therefore, Lisette can be interpreted as a matronymic byname in this name. Lacking evidence that Lisette was used in early France, we were unable to make this name completely authentic for the submitter's requested time and culture.
We have used the blazon phrase in pale to indicate that the thistle and tower are co-primary charges. The blazon A thistle proper issuant from a tower sable implies that the thistle would be a maintained charge.
Please advise the submitter to draw fewer and larger engrailings.
Submitted under the name Jardine Mac Enlea.
Listed on the LoI as Emma Wulfwinedoghter, this name was submitted as Emma Wulfwinesdoghter and changed at Kingdom to follow examples of bynames found in Reaney & Wilson. The submitter requested authenticity for 7th to 11th C Anglo-Saxon and allowed any changes. Emma Wulfwinedoghter is a Middle English form of this name. The Old English form of this name is Emma Wulfwinesdohtor. We have made this change to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
Listed on the LoI as Emrys ap Tudur, this name was submitted as Emrys Tudur and changed at Kingdom (with the submitter's consent) to make the byname a patronymic rather than an inherited surname. As noted in the October 2002 LoAR (Rhonwen verch Tuder, Middle acceptances):
Evidence has been found that Welsh forms of Tudor (specifically Tuder and Tedder) were not limited to the royal family. [...] Given these examples, the Welsh forms Tuder and Tedder fall into the same category as Stewart (used as an example in RfS VI.1). Since use of these forms "does not link one unmistakably to the royal house" (RfS V1.1), they are registerable.
The LoI noted that Reaney & Wilson (p. 456 s.n. Tudor) dates Tudur ap Llywelyn to 1391, which gives support for the submitted spelling as a Welsh form. Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn's article "A Simple Guide to Constructing 16th Century Welsh Names (in English Contexts)" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/welsh16.html) shows examples of Welsh patronymic bynames that omit the particle (in this case, ap). Given this information, we have returned this name to the submitted form.
Some commenters mentioned a possible issue of presumption due the combination of the name and the device. According to their research, there is a story of Merlin seeing a vision of a battle between red and white dragons in a pool, symbolizing the struggle between the Saxons and the Britons. Merlin was also known as Ambrose or Emrys. The LoAR of August 1992 stated:
For those names that are well documented as period human names, that also happen to be the names of gods, one armorial allusion to the god will no longer be considered excessive.
This precedent has been extended to mythological figures other than deities. Since Emrys is a period given name, one allusion is not presumptuous, and may be accepted.
The submitter requested authenticity for 15th to 16th C Scots and allowed no changes. Franchesca is her legal given name. Lacking evidence that Franchesca was used in Scotland in period, we were unable to suggest forms of this name authentic for the submitter's requested time and culture.
The submitter's previous device, Gules, in pale a lion's head cabossed environed of a pair of wings displayed and a lion's head, cabossed and inverted, environed of a pair of wings, displayed and inverted, all Or, is retained as a badge.
Good name!
Submitted as Josserand de Troyes, there was some question whether Josserand was used as a given name in period. Clarion found that Arval Benicoeur's "article 'French Names from two 13th Century Chronicles' lists two examples of Josserand". This article lists modern forms. Arval provided the following information regarding the name Josserand: "<Josserant> appears [for] two individuals in Jean de Joinville, Histoire de Saint Louis, M. Natalis de Wailly, ed. (Paris, 1874), chapter 275". We have changed Josserand to the form documented as a given name in period in order to register this name.
Listed on the LoI as Kýlan Magnússon, this name was submitted as Kylan Magnusson. Old Norse names are registerable with accents used consistently or omitted consistently. Therefore, we have returned this name to the submitted form, which did not include any accents.
Submitted as Lucius of Alexandria, the submitter requested authenticity for 600 A.D. and allowed any changes. We have changed the byname of Alexandria to the Latin form that would appear in a man's name in order to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
Listed on the LoI as Máirgrég ingen Dubhghaill, this name was submitted as Máirgreg ingen Dubgall and changed at Kingdom to add the second accent to the given name to match documented forms and to correct the grammar in the byname. However, the modified form of the byname is in violation of RfS III.1.a, which requires linguistic consistency in a name phrase, because it combines ingen, which is a Middle Irish Gaelic (c. 900 to c. 1200) form, with Dubhghaill, which is an Early Modern Irish Gaelic (c. 1200 to c. 1700) form. A fully Middle Irish form of this byname is ingen Dubgaill, which is only one character different from the originally submitted form. We have changed the byname to this form in order to register this name. A fully Early Modern Irish form of this name would be Máirghréad inghean Dubhghaill.
Her previous name, Mary of Mull, is released.
Listed on the LoI as Matthias de Maldegem, this name was submitted as Mathias de Maldegem and changed at Kingdom (with the submitter's agreement) to match documented English examples of this name. The submitter requested authenticity for 14th C France. Aryanhwy merch Catmael noted that "<Mathias Nouel> is found in [her article] 'Names Found in Commercial Documents from Bordeaux, 1470-1520' (http://www.sit.wisc.edu/~sfriedemann/names/bordeaux.htm)". Additionally, Marie-Therese Morlet, Etude d'anthroponymie picarde, les noms de personne en Haute Picardie aux XIIIe, XIVe, XVe siecles (p. 20) lists an instance of Mathias in the time period of 1300 to 1399. Therefore, we have changed the given name to Mathias, as noted by Aryanhwy, to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
This emblazon is drawn with a chevron of a slightly greater than a 90 degree angle. As a result, this field as drawn is indistinguishable from quarterly because the chevron overlies the parts of the line of division that would allow one to distinguish this field from a quarterly field. However, we have preserved the original per pale and per chevron blazon, because if the chevron were drawn with a steeper angle and the field were blazoned as quarterly, one could see the center of the quarterly field under the bottom of the chevron, and that would not match this design.
Submitted as Nikolai Demonov, Demonov was submitted as a patronymic byname formed from the given name Demon', which is dated to 1330 in Wickenden (3rd ed., p. 64 s.n. Demon'). Nebuly noted an issue with the byname:
The patronym is formed from the name Demon' - note the soft mark (written as an apostrophe) at the end of the name (Wickenden, p237). If I understand Wickenden's summary of Russian grammar correctly, this means that the final consonant in the name is soft, and would take an -ev in the genitive to make Nikolai Demon'ev.
Rouge Scape (Paul Wickenden of Thanet) confirmed that "Demon' would create a patronymic like Demonev or Demon'ev". Therefore, in order to register this name, we have changed this byname to Demonev, as that is the closer of the two correct byname forms to the submitted Demonov.
There was some question whether this submission conflicted with Robert Alderson Wright, Lord of Durley (1869-1964), a notable English judge. As he does not have his own entry in a general encyclopedia, he is not important enough to protect.
Her previous device, Sable, in fess a drinking horn bendwise and a flower of four heart-shaped petals saltirewise argent, barbed vert, seeded sable, within a bordure argent surmounted by another vert, is retained as a badge.
The previous blazon, Argent, a chevron fracted vert and in base a trillium purpure barbed vert, did not follow the SCA default for trillium flowers. See this month's cover letter for details.
Submitted as Valeria Tertia of Alexandria, the submitter requested authenticity for the 1st C A.D. and allowed any changes. We have changed the byname of Alexandria to the Latin form that would appear in a woman's name in order to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
Submitted under the name Alianora de Grey, that name was returned in the August 2002 LoAR.
Submitted under the name Hashimoto Arihiro.
Submitted under the name Avraham ben David.
Submitted under the name Seona ferch Angharad.
The device does not conflict with a badge of the Kingdom of Caid, Per fess embattled azure and argent, two mullets of four points and a comet fesswise, head to sinister, counterchanged. There is one CD for changing the number of the charges in the group. There is a second CD for changing the type and tincture of the primary charge(s) on one side of the line of division, even though that portion of the primary group is only one quarter of the group, per the following precedent from the November 1995 LoAR:
There is ... a CD for the change to the field and another for changing the type and tincture of the primary charge group on one side of the line of division, even though numerically this is not "one half" of the primary charge group. For a fuller discussion of this precedent granting a CD for two changes to charges on one side of a line of division even when less than half the charge group is affected, see the December 21, 1991 Cover Letter (with the November 1991 LoAR).
This situation arises very rarely aside from the well-known situation concerning the bottommost of a group of three charges two and one, which has its own different set of controlling precedents. The cited precedent appears to have remained in force; the registration history shows that this precedent has neither been overruled nor passively ignored.
Submitted under the name Cassandra of Wolf's Rock.
Submitted as Celestria de Celtanhomme, the submitter requested authenticity for "English/Norman" and allowed minor changes. Celtenhomme is the dative case of the Old English name for Cheltenham. No documentation was presented and none was found that Celtanhomme is a plausible variant of the documented Celtenhomme. Lacking evidence that the form Celtanhomme is plausible in period, it is not registerable.
As an Old English placename in the dative case, Celtenhomme is not grammatically compatible with de, which is Latin and which does not take a dative case. We have changed this byname to the fully Old English form of Celtenhomme in order to register this name. In Old English bynames, of is followed by the dative case of a placename, so of Celtenhomme is grammatically correct.
The submitter requested authenticity for "English/Norman". Ekwall (p. 99 s.n. Cheltenham) dates Chilteham to 1156. Celestria de Chilteham would be an authentic form of this name for her desired time and culture. However, changing the language of the byname from Old English to Middle English is a major change, which the submitter does not allow.
A cross crescenty has each arm ending in a crescent with its horns pointing outwards. "While a cross crescenty is not, to the best of our knowledge, a period cross, it follows the pattern of period crosses, and is, therefore, registerable" (LoAR November 1998)
Submitted as Cellach inghean ui Dubhthaigh, the byname was not lenited as required by Gaelic grammar. We have made this correction.
Submitted as Charles Rodney McIam, no documentation was presented and none was found that McIam is a plausible period variant of the Scots (a language closely related to English) byname McJames. Additionally, no support was found for Iam as a period form of James in Scotland. Black (p. 520 s.n. MacJames) dates Alexander McJames to 1529, Johannes McJamis doy to 1537, and William McJames to 1602. As the submitter allows any changes, we have changed the submitted byname to the documented form McJames in order to register this name.
The documentation for Rodney shows Rodney to be a surname derived from an English placename. No support was found for Rodney as a given name in period. No evidence was found to support a construction [given name] [English surname] [Scots Mc-style byname]. Therefore, in order to register this name, we have changed this name to use Rodney as a placename since [given name] [byname] of [placename] is documented for both English and Scots. Charles Rodney and Charles McJames would also be registerable forms of this name.
Submitted as Christiane Janssoen, the LoI documented Janssoen with the statement "Dutch name found at www.panix.com/~mittle/names/german.shtml off of a collection of Dutch trade names. (Copies provided)". This is not an adequate summarization of the submitted documentation. The page cited is a list of links to name articles. The statement in the LoI does not indicate which of the numerous articles linked on this page was the article used to document this name.
Aryanhwy merch Catmael provided an evaluation of this name:
<Christiane> is a feminine name; she cannot be Jan's son. Appropriate feminine forms of the byname are <Jansdochter> 1478-81, <Jansdochtere> 1478-81, and <Jansz. Dochter> 1478, all from "15th C Dutch Names" (http://www.sit.wisc.edu/~sfriedemann/names/dutch15.htm). <Christiane> is an English or Scots form of the name. Evidence that I have for the name used in the Low Countries is the Dutch pet form <Stincken> (a pet form) 1478-81 (same source as above) and the Latin form <Cristine> from "Dutch Names in Latin Context, 1542" (http://www.sit.wisc.edu/~sfriedemann/names/latin-dutch.htm); <Christine> or <Christina> looks to be a reasonable vernacular form, based on "Flemish Names from Bruges, 1400-1600" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/docs/bruges/). <Christine Jansdochter> would be a fully Dutch form of the name, <Christiane Johnson> would be a fully English form. Reaney & Wilson s.n. Johnson date this form to 1379.
Current evidence shows that Dutch bynames were literal in period. Since a woman cannot be anyone's son, the byname Janssoen is not registerable with a feminine given name. As the submitter allowed any changes and indicated that sound was most important to her, we have changed this to the fully English form Christiane Johnson in order to register this name.
Please advise the submitter to draw the bear larger.
Submitted under the name Liath of Argyll.
Submitted under the name Diana Spartene.
There was some question regarding whether Elkanah was used in period, since the only dated example provided for this name was a reference to a person born in 1642. J. W. Garrett-Pegge, A Transcript of the First Volume, 1538-1636, of the Parish Register of Chesham, Buckingham County (p. 59) lists Elcanah as the name given to a child at baptism on May 28, 1587, showing that this was one of the Biblical names that came into use after the Reformation. The same source (p. 225) also records the marriage of Elkanah Gladman on December 5, 1626.
This name combines the Hungarian feminine given name Ersebet with an otherwise Italian name. There was considerable discussion regarding the registerability of such a mix. A name including Hungarian and Italian elements has previously been ruled to be registerable:
[Ileana Welgy] While Ileana is not a Hungarian name, it can be found in De Felice's book on Italian given name. Venice controlled extensive territory on the east coast of the Adriatic in late period, sharing a border with Hungary. Since Kázmér includes a number of names apparently derived from Italian, an Italian/Hungarian name is acceptable under our rules. However, it must follow the standard practice of having the given name first. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR August 1998)
The Cover Letter of the August 1999 LoAR includes a discussion entitled "Mixed language names". This discussion describes different levels of contact between cultures. Of these, the level that best fits contact between Italian and Hungarian according to current evidence is:
The second category is when names mixes elements of two cultures that have significant contact, but we have little or no evidence of mixed names, for example, Scots and Italian. The rule III.1 allows such names although the lack of evidence indicates that these mixed names were exceedingly rare at best.
Lingual mixes that fall into the second category, such as Hungarian and Italian, are registerable, though they carry a weirdness. As this is the only weirdness in this name, it is registerable.
Submitted under the name Freidrich der Hirsch aus Bremen.
Submitted as Geoffrey DeCardeville, no documentation was presented and none was found for De- added to the beginning of a placename in this manner. We have changed this byname to the standard form de Cardeville in order to register this name.
This is clear of Geoffrei de Courville (registered August 1979). The additional syllable in Cardeville versus Courville is sufficient change in both the sound and appearance of this name element.
Good name!
As submitted, Gordon was only documented as a surname. To be used with of, Gordon would need to be documented as a placename. Fortunately, the College found such documentation. Kraken stated:
The LoI does not show that Gordon is a placename, which is necessary if the byname is to be of Gordon as desired. Reaney & Wilson provides the needed evidence, noting the town of Gordon in Berwickshire and citing Richer de Gordun (d.1160).
Given this information, the byname of Gordon is registerable. As previously stated, "[p]lease make sure the submitter understands that the byname is not a patronymic; it is a toponymic, 'of Gordon', the latter being a place" (James o' Gordon, October, 1993, pg. 1).
Good name!
Submitted under the name Isabella de Luna.
Submitted as Judur Amat al-Wahid, this name included only two feminine given names (Judur and Amat al-Wahid), which has previously been reason for return. al-Jamal explains:
"Devotional" names like 'Abd al-X and Amat al-X are used even today (the founder of modern Saudi Arabia was 'Abd al-Aziz ibn Sa'ud) as or in place of an 'ism, a given name. As a consequence, the submitted name here effectively strings two names together, in a way that does not appear to have been done in Arabic. "None of the Arabic-speaking peoples seems to have used double given names, and this practice has been grounds for return in the past (Nasr Hasan ibn Muhammad Abdullaziz, Calontir, 11/93 LoAR)." (Ja'mala Junaida al-Badawi, 10/95 p. 17) The simplest and least intrusive fix would be to make her the daughter of someone called servant of the Unique, or Judur bint 'Abd al-Wahid.
As she allows any changes, we have changed this name to the form suggested by al-Jamal in order to register this name. Lacking evidence that matronymic bynames (bynames indicating a mother's name) were used in Arabic, they have previously been ruled unregisterable. Therefore, Judur bint 'Abd al-Wahid, meaning 'Judur daughter of [a man named] 'Abd al-Wahid', is registerable, whereas Judur bint Amat al-Wahid, meaning 'Judur daughter of [a woman named] Amat al-Wahid', would not be.
The sprig was originally blazoned as mistletoe. Mistletoe has small oval shaped leaves and berries. This sprig has the classic spiky leaves of a holly plant, and we have reblazoned it accordingly.
Submitted as Madeleine Rose DeCardeville, no documentation was presented and none was found for De- added to the beginning of a placename in this manner. We have changed this byname to the standard form de Cardeville in order to register this name.
Submitted as Marianna di Florenza, the particle used in locative bynames in Italian is da, not di. We have made this change. Florenza was documented from Maridonna Benvenuti's article "Mercator's Place Names of Italy in 1554: Central Italy" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/maridonna/mercator/center.html). The question was raised during commentary whether Florenza was a typo for Fiorenza. Maridonna rechecked this placename on the map she used for her source and found that the placename does indeed say Fiorenza rather than Florenza. We have changed the name to match this documented form.
Submitted as Michael de Safita, Safita is the name of a castle and a nearby town in Syria. No evidence was found that Safita is in a language that uses de. RfS III.1.a requires that a name phrase use a single language. Lacking evidence that de Safita is in a single language, we have changed the byname to of Safita. RfS III.1.a also states that "[i]n the case of place names and other name elements frequently used in English in their original form, an English article or preposition may be used. For example, of Aachen might be used instead of the purely German von Aachen." As Safita appears in English in this form, of Safita is registerable under this allowance in RfS III.1.a. We have, therefore, changed the byname to of Safita in order to register the name.
Nice device!
This name was submitted as Neathery de Safita. Neathery is the submitter's legal given name. A question arose whether the given name Neathery is excessively obtrusively modern, and so would not be registerable, even under the Legal Name Allowance. Neathery is an English byname used as a given name, along the same lines as Ashley and Wesley. As it is not excessively obtrusively modern on the same level as the example of Moon Unit, it is registerable.
Safita is the name of a castle and a nearby town in Syria. No evidence was found that Safita is in a language that uses de. RfS III.1.a requires that a name phrase use a single language. Lacking evidence that de Safita is in a single language, we have changed the byname to of Safita. RfS III.1.a also states that "[i]n the case of place names and other name elements frequently used in English in their original form, an English article or preposition may be used. For example, of Aachen might be used instead of the purely German von Aachen." As Safita appears in English in this form, of Safita is registerable under this allowance in RfS III.1.a. We have, therefore, changed the byname to of Safita in order to register the name.
Her previous name, Osanna d'Argentan, is released.
This submission does not conflict with the protected non-SCA badge of the Staffords, A Stafford knot. There is one CD for tincturelessness and another for the type difference between a pretzel and a Stafford knot: "...after consideration, we feel that there is significant, although not substantial, difference between a Stafford knot and this depiction of a pretzel, as the pretzel is knotted differently from a Stafford knot" (LoAR of April 2001). This pretzel is drawn identically to the one in the April 2001 precedent.
The group of charges around the bend is not considered to be a group of three unlike charges (which would be overly complex by RfS VIII.1.a):
[considering a strung bow and arrow along with another charge] The question was raised as to whether or not this is considered slot machine since it has three dissimilar charges in one group. While it is true that it has three charges, when a bow and arrow are in their standard, expected position they are considered one charge, just like a sword in a scabbard is considered one charge. It is only when they are separated, or put into non standard positions for their normal use, such as being crossed in saltire, that they become two separate charges. (LoAR April 1999 p. 6)
His previous name, Rory de Graham, is released.
Submitted as Ruarrc the Blind, the documentation shows the form Ruarcc, not Ruarrc. No evidence was found to support Ruarrc as a variant of the period Ruarcc. Lacking such evidence, it is not registerable. We have changed this name to the documented form in order to register this name.
This does not conflict with the important non-SCA flags of both Monaco and Indonesia, Per fess gules and argent. This submission could equally well be blazoned Per fess barry argent and azure, and argent. Viewing this piece of armory and the flags as field-only armory, we have one change for changing the division of the field, and another for changing the tincture of half the field.
Listed on the LoI as Sadhbha ui Cearbhall, this name was submitted as Saidhbhin ui Cearbhaill and changed at Kingdom, as no documentation could be found for Saidhbhin. The submitter requested authenticity for 12th C Irish and allowed any changes. No documentation was presented and none was found that either Saidhbhin or Sadhbha were used in period. Lacking such evidence, they are not registerable.
Additionally, the byname was improperly constructed. The particle ui is the genitive of ua, which literally translates as 'grandson' and which later (most recognizably in the form Ó) came to mean 'male descendant of'. Bynames were used literally in Gaelic in period. Since a woman cannot be a grandson or a male descendant, her byname would take the form ingen uí [X], which means 'daughter of [a man whose byname is] ua [X]'. This form later came to have the meaning 'female descendant of'.
A fully Middle Irish (c. 900 to c. 1200) form of this name would be Sadb ingen uí Cherbaill. We have changed the name to this form in order to meet the submitter's request for authenticity and to register this name.
Her previous name, Nika Nikievna, is released.
The submitter's former device, Per pale and per chevron, sable and argent, in chief two wolves combattant counterchanged, a bordure gules, is retained as a badge.
Submitted as Úna inghen ui Griffin, the submitter requested authenticity for Irish and allowed any changes. Her forms indicated that the meaning 'Una, daughter of Clan Griffin' was most important to her. The submitted byname inghen ui Griffin combined the Gaelic inghen ui with the English or Anglicized Irish Griffin, and so violated RfS III.1.a, which requires linguistic consistency within a name phrase. Additionally, Gaelic names are registerable if accents are used or omitted consistently. We have changed this to the fully Early Modern Gaelic (c. 1200 to c. 1700) form Úna inghean uí Ghríobhtha in order to meet the submitter's request for authenticity and to register this name.
Submitted under the name Maelona ferch Gareth.
Drachenwald has a letter of permission to conflict from the East Kingdom, which registered the order name Queen's Order of Courtesy in February 1982.
Branch references, such as of Drachenwald, are transparent for conflict purposes. Therefore, in normal circumstances, the order name Queen's Order of Courtesy of Drachenwald would conflict with the East Kingdom's Queen's Order of Courtesy, since no difference is given for the addition of of Drachenwald because it is a branch reference. Previous precedent has ruled that the addition of a branch reference, in conjuction with a letter of permission to conflict, is enough to clear conflict (Kingdom of Caid, The Order of the White Scarf of Caid, registered September 1997; Barony of Aneala, Order of the Golden Swan of Aneala, registered July 1999).
The previous blazon, (Tinctureless) Two straight trumpets in saltire between four trilliums, did not follow the SCA default for trillium flowers. These flowers are radially disposed. Each flower has one of its three equally spaced petals pointed towards the center of the escutcheon. See this month's cover letter for details. Trilliums in their default posture would all have one petal pointing to base (so that the petals of each trillium would be in pall).
The previous blazon, Argent, a sword sable debruised by a chevron cotised gules bearing three trillium flowers argent, seeded Or, barbed vert, in canton a laurel wreath proper, did not follow the SCA default for trillium flowers. See this month's cover letter for details.
Submitted as Aifric ben mhic Fhearghuis, the submitter requested authenticity for the Scottish Highlands in 1575 and allowed minor changes. Aryanhwy merch Catmael provided information on the given name Aifric. Specifically, the article cited for this name "has been removed from the web and superceded by [Effrick neyn Kenneoch's article] 'Scottish Gaelic Given Names' (http://www.medievalscotland.org/scotnames/gaelicgiven/). While there is no Scottish Gaelic evidence for <Aifric> in Scotland, there is other linguistic evidence for the name. According to the sub-section on the name, (draft dated 06Nov01), the probable pre c1200 spelling is <Affraic>, and the probable post c1200 spelling is <Afraig>". We have changed the given name to the form Afraig in order to match the submitter's requested time period.
As submitted, the byname ben mhic Fhearghuis 'wife of [a man whose byname is] mac Fearghuis' combined the Middle Gaelic (c. 900 to c. 1200) ben with the Early Modern Gaelic (c. 1200 to c. 1700) mhic Fhearghuis and, so, violated RfS III.1.a which requires linguistic consistency in a name phrase. We have changed the byname to the completely Early Modern Gaelic form bean mhic Fhearghuis in order to meet the submitter's request for authenticity and to register this name.
The submitter requested authenticity for the 16th C in the "Scots lowlands, Moray firth area" and will accept minor changes. Regarding changes, the LoI notes that "she will not accept the English or Scots equivalent given name ('no Catherine/Katherine, please')". Given her stated preference, we have left her given name in the submitted Gaelic form.
An authentic name combining these elements would have been written all in Gaelic or all in Scots depending upon the language of the document in which the name was recorded. Aryanhwy merch Catmael found a number of Scots forms of Caitriona. We are including that information here as a courtesy to the submitter.
<Caitriona> is a Gaelic form, not appropriate for 16th C Scottish Lowlands. Talan's "A List of Feminine Personal Names Found in Scottish Records" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/scottishfem/) lists the following 16th C Scots forms of <Katherine>:
Katherine 1512, 1542, 1564; Katheryne 1509; Kathrine 1589; Katrina 1548; Katrine 1512; Katryne 1528; Catharine 1549, 1571; Catrina 1551
This last one corresponds the closest in sound and spelling to the submitted <Caitriona>.
Of the forms Aryanhwy found, both Katrina and Catrina have the same pronunciation as the period Gaelic pronunciation for Caitriona.
The Letter of Intent stated that this badge was intended for the joint use of the Barony of Concordia of the Snows and the Shire of Bergental. The Administrative Handbook only allows joint registration by two individuals - branches may not participate in a joint registration. To quote from section II.D.3, "Badges may be registered by an individual, by two individuals jointly, or by a Society branch." There is no administrative ambiguity about which branch should be registering this badge, as the paperwork received by the Laurel office only refers to the Barony of Concordia of the Snows, with no reference to the Shire of Bergental.
Please advise the submitters that the tyger should be drawn completely on the gauntlet. Tertiary charges which partially overlie the field are reason for return, but the overlap here is so diminutive (two places at the very edges of the charge) that artistic advice to the submitter is preferable to return.
Submitted as Eadwenna æt Hræfnhyrst, the submitter requested authenticity for 9th to 10th C Saxon and allowed any changes. Metron Ariston provided commentary on Old English forms of this name appropriate for the submitter's desired period:
Withycombe (Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names , s.n. Edwina) says the feminine form is "a modern f. name formed from Edwin". The citation of the name of the mother of Saint Godric in several sources as Edwenna (NOT Eadwenna) is from a twentieth-century English translation by Coulton of the life of the saint written by Reginald of Durham. The original life of Godric does not appear to have been in English (cf. the notes in Farmer, Oxford Dictionary of Saints , s.n. Godric) and this form would appear indeed to be a backformation. Selten (Anglo-Saxon Heritage in Middle English Personal Names, Vol. II, p. 74) shows the basic Old English form of the masculine as Eadwine and (ibid., p. 75) shows the much rarer feminine Old English form as Eadwynn. [...] I would expect the place name to appear as Hræfneshyrst based on the examples (compound and simple) in Hall's Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary. Moreover, the preposition æt takes the dative [case] so I would also expect the modification to meet the demands of grammar. As a whole, to meet the demands of documented forms and Old English grammar the name should be Eadwynn æt Hræfneshyrste.
Lacking evidence that Eadwenna is a plausible period form of Eadwynn, it is not registerable. We have changed this name to the form suggested by Metron Ariston to register this name and to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
Submitted as Eibhlin Macewan of Kynblathmund, the submitter requested authenticity for a woman with an Irish Gaelic mother and a Scottish father. An authentic name combining these elements would have been written all in Gaelic or all in an Anglicized form depending upon the language of the document in which the name was recorded. Since no evidence has yet been found of locative bynames used in Scottish Gaelic except as part of chiefly titles, the most likely completely Gaelic form of this name would be Eibhlin inghean mhic Eoghainn. Evelyn Macewan of Kynblathmund would be the completely Anglicized form of this name. As the Anglicized form is closer to the submitted form than the Gaelic form, we have changed this name to the completely Anglicized form in order to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
Please advise the submitter to draw the pale couped with at least three raguly repeats on each side.
Please advise the submitter to draw the bend sinister line issuing from the exact sinister chief corner of the shield.
Her previous primary names, Séadach Dubháilceach (registered May 1994 via the East) and Siobhan Foirbeis of Lonichan (registered August 1990 via the East), are released.
The submitter requested authenticity for 15th C France and allowed no changes to the given name. The College was unable to find evidence of any form of the name Isabel that ended in a used in 15th C France. Aryanhwy merch Catmael's article "French Names from Paris, 1423 & 1438" (http://www.sit.wisc.edu/~sfriedemann/names/paris1423.htm) lists Ysabeau. 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 Isabelot, Ysabel la plastrière, Ysabelon la fille Sarre, Ysabiau la clopine, and Ysabelot la verrière. Argent Snail found a reference to Isabella in Marie-Therese Morlet, Etude d'anthroponymie picarde, les noms de personne en Haute Picardie aux XIIIe, XIVe, XVe siecles (p. 22 s.n. Isabella):
[This source] has Isabella, Isabelle, but is unclear as to where these are found in the period from 1200-1499. She says: Isabella, Isabelle, Isabiau, Yzabiaul have 26 citations between 1200-1299, 36 between 1300-1399, and 6 between 1400-1499. She does not say which forms are found when.
Given this information, we were unable to confirm that this name is authentic for her requested time and culture.
His previous blazon, Sable, a trillium between three cranes volant in annulo addorsed Or, did not follow the SCA default for trillium flowers. See this month's cover letter for details.
The dog was originally blazoned as a Bouvier de Flandres but that is a modern breed. The Zuricher Wappenrolle shows a dog much like this one, stocky, fuzzy, with short pointed ears and a short tail, for the family of Toggenburg. Pastoureau blazons this dog simply as a chien (or dog) in Traité d'Heraldique. It thus seems appropriate to register this very similar-looking dog simply as a dog.
Please advise the submitter to draw the compass stars larger.
The submitter requested authenticity for Scottish Gaelic and allowed minor changes. The byname of the Valley is English. Lacking evidence that any form of this byname was used in Gaelic, we were unable to make this name authentic for the submitter's desired language/culture.
Submitted as Leod Dubh, the submitter requested authenticity for Scottish Gaelic and allowed minor changes. We have added the accent to the given name to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
Her previous blazon, Vert, on a roundel between five trillium flowers argent a wyvern volant contourny sable, did not follow the SCA default for trillium flowers. See this month's cover letter for details.
Her previous blazon, Azure, a trillium flower Or and on a chief triangular argent three roses in fess proper, did not follow the SCA default for trillium flowers. See this month's cover letter for details.
Good name!
Nice device, which goes well with his German name.
We have reblazoned the fish from a pike fish to a dolphin. A heraldic pike is longer and thinner with a pointed snout. This charge has the standard fins, proportions, and embowed-counterembowed posture of a heraldic dolphin as it would usually be drawn in England.
Good name!
The previous blazon, (Fieldless) A dandelion of four flowers and four leaves proper, did not adequately reflect that this is a dandelion plant, rather than a simple flower slipped and leaved.
Submitted as Scheherazade al-Zahir, Scheherazade is her legal given name.
The submitted form of the byname al-Zahir is a masculine form. Arabic descriptive bynames must match the gender of the given name. As the name Scheherazade is feminine, we have changed the byname to the feminine form al-Zahira in order to register this name.
His previous blazon, Argent, a trillium inverted purpure barbed vert and seeded Or, did not follow the SCA default for trillium flowers. See this month's cover letter for details.
Submitted as Seán Ó Súilleabháin Beer, Ó Súilleabháin Beer is a single compound clan name that denotes a particular branch of the O'Sullivan family. The submitted form combines the Gaelic Ó Súilleabháin with the Anglicized Irish Beer, and so violates RfS III.1.a which requires linguistic consistency in a name phrase. We have changed this byname to the fully Gaelic form Ó Súilleabháin Beirre, found in entry M1580.19 of the "Annals of the Four Masters", vol. 5, (http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100005E/), in order to register this name and to meet the submitter's request that the byname be translated entirely into Gaelic.
This name was submitted as three given names and a locative byname. No documentation has been presented and none has been found supporting the use of three given names in German. Lacking such evidence, three given names are not registerable in German. Since patronymic bynames in German were sometimes formed simply by using the father's given name, Joder can be viewed as a patronymic byname. Therefore, this name is registerable as two given names, a patronymic byname, and a locative byname.
Please advise the submitter to take greater care in drawing the ear of wheat, clearly separating the kernels and drawing the "wheat beard" (the thin hair coming out of the tip of each kernel). As drawn, this comes dangerously close to being interpreted as a feather.
We have reblazoned the device to show that it consists of a group of equally-sized primary charges arranged two and one. There were some questions in the commentary about the way in which the charges were arranged. Because all three charges are longer vertically than horizontally, it is a reasonable artistic choice to draw them so that the bottom part of the chiefmost charges is alongside the top part of the basemost charge.
This does not conflict with Juturna de Parma, Vert, on a pale endorsed argent three roundels vert. There is one CD for changing the type of secondary charge from endorses to musical notes. There is a second CD by RfS X.4.j.ii for substantially changing the type of charge from roundels to gouttes. A correctly drawn goutte, with a long wavy tail, is substantially different from a roundel.
Submitted as Snorri Hrafnauga Hrólfsson, we have lowercased the descriptive byname hrafnauga in order to use standard transliteration conventions. (See the Cover Letter for the October 2002 LoAR for more information.)
Submitted as Tam Surrell, no evidence was found that Surrell is a plausible period name. Reaney & Wilson (p. 411 s.n. Sirdifield) give Surrell as the fourth header form in this entry. In most cases, header forms are registerable because they are plausible period variants of the name in question. In this case, the entry in Reaney & Wilson dates Richard de Surdeval to 1086, Robert de Surdeuall' to 1197, John Sowrdewall to 1488, and Richard Surwald to 1516. It is important to note that all of these forms retain the d, which does not support Surrell as a period form. As Surwald is the closest of the forms dated in Reaney & Wilson to the submitted Surrell, we have changed the byname to this form in order to register this name.
Submitted as Þóra Eiriksdóttir, Old Norse names are registerable if accents are used consistently or omitted consistently. We have added the missing accent to the byname in order to register this name.
Submitted as Thóra Ottarsdóttir, the submitter requested authenticity for Norse. Old Norse names are registerable if accents are used consistently or omitted consistently. We have added the missing accent to the byname in order to register this name. We have changed the Th in the given name to use the thorn character, Þ, in order to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.
Her previous name, Tryphena Locke of Wolfswood, is released.
The submitter's previous device, Or, three closed fetterlocks in bend sable, is retained as a badge.
Submitted as Tyrvi Úlfkellsson, the p