Eastern Results from the March LoAR
EASTERN RESULTS FROM THE MARCH 2017 LoAR
The Society College of Arms runs on monthly cycles and letters. Each month, the College processes name and armory submissions from all of the Kingdoms. Final decisions on submissions are made at the monthly meetings of the Pelican Queen of Arms (names) and the Wreath Queen of Arms (armory). Pelican and Wreath then write up their decisions in a Letter of Acceptances and Return (LoAR). After review and proofreading, LoARs generally are released two months after the meeting where the decisions are made.
An “acceptance” indicates that the item(s) listed are now registered with the Society. A “return” indicates that the item is returned to the submitter for additional work. Most items are registered without comments. Sometimes, the LoAR will address specific issues about the name or armory or will praise the submitter/herald on putting together a very nice historically accurate item.
The following results are from the March 2017 Wreath and Pelican meetings. The submissions in this letter are from Herald’s Point at Pennsic 2016.
EAST acceptances
Æsa assa. Name and device. Purpure, an eagle rising Or sustaining a skull bendwise argent.
Álfr Jǫrundarson. Name and device. Argent, two demi-wolves respectant and in chief two ravens respectant sable.
Nice 9th-10th century Icelandic name!
Anni of Lincolnshire. Name and device. Argent, in saltire two artist’s brushes, in chief a tree eradicated proper.
An artist’s brush proper is hereby defined as having a brown wooden handle and black bristles. According to Cennini’s Il Libro dell’Arte c.1400 (translated as The Craftsman’s Handbook and published by Dover), the ferrule of a paintbrush (described by Cennini as a “miniver brush”) is a short bit of quill from a bird’s feather, and is not made of metal. We encourage submitters in the future to depict artist’s brushes with a period-appropriate ferrule, but at this time choose not to penalize submitters who depict a brush with a metal ferrule. The tincture and stylization of the ferrule is an unblazoned artistic detail.
Artist’s note: Please draw the tree larger, to fill its space.
Berta Ripperg. Name and device. Per bend sable and gules, a bear rampant and two axes in saltire argent.
Bertana æt Bathancestre. Name (see RETURNS for device).
Appearing on the Letter of Intent as Bertana æt Bathancestere, we have changed the locative to Bathancestre to reflect the documentation.
Brian Beedon. Name and device. Argent, a raven rising to sinister sable maintaining a kitchen knife fesswise reversed gules.
Brighid inghean an Phearsuin. Name and device. Or, in cross five quatrefoils saltirewise azure seeded Or and a bordure vert.
Originally submitted as Brighid inghean an Phearsain, kingdom changed the byname to inghean in Phearsain on the belief that this change was required by Gaelic grammar. It was not.
However, the correct genitive (possessive) form is Phearsuin, not Phearsain. Therefore, we have changed the name to Brighid inghean an Phearsuin to restore the original form in part and use the correct genitive form.
The submitter requested authenticity for an unspecified time and language. This name is not authentic for any particular time or place. Brighid is a Gaelic saint’s name. In medieval Gaelic, we have no evidence that unmarked saint’s names were used as given names. Because we cannot rule out this practice, we allow saint’s names to be registered. Thus, this name is registerable but it is not authentic.
Christoph of Marwick. Device. Per chevron purpure and gules, two pigs combatant argent and a vulture displayed Or.
There is a step from period practice for use of bird other than an eagle in the displayed posture.
Hilde Purdeu. Name.
Nice early 13th century English name!
Hrafn Isauga. Device. Per saltire azure and argent, a raven displayed sable within a bordure counterchanged.
There is a step from period practice for use of bird other than an eagle in the displayed posture.
Artist’s note: Internal detailing and a lighter hue of azure will aid immensely in easy identification of the raven.
João de Tagarro. Name and device. Per pale vert and gules, in cross five plates.
Nice device!
Lúta eyverska. Name and device. Per bend argent and azure, a wolf’s head cabossed and a winged unicorn segreant counterchanged.
The submitter requested authenticity for Old Norse. Although both elements are Old Norse, they were not found during the same time period or in the same location. Thus, this name is registerable but it does not meet the authenticity request.
Submitters had difficulty seeing the alicorn (unicorn’s horn) in the color emblazon. Artist’s note: make the alicorn larger and thicker.
Mairi de Innernarryn. Name and device. Gules, in fess a bezant between two stags combattant Or.
This name combines a Gaelic given name and a Scots byname, an acceptable lingual mix under Appendix C.
Meave Macintosh. Name and device. Gules, on a dragon sejant affronty wings displayed argent, an apple vert.
Michael Leg Bain. Name and device. Per pale purpure and Or, in saltire an armored leg and an arrow counterchanged.
Mishal Shirāzī. Name and device. Sable, two camels combattant and in base a mullet of seven points argent, a chief argent goutty purpure.
This name combines an Arabic given name with a Persian byname, an acceptable lingual mix under Appendix C.
The submitter requested authenticity for an unspecified time, place or culture. This name is not authentic for any particular time or place. However, it is registerable.
Muirenn ingen Ciric. Name.
Nicolas Étienne le Noir. Device. Per pale argent and sable, a calamarie inverted between three roundels counterchanged.
Pierre d’Abbeville. Device. Argent, three hearts gules and on a chief sable an escallop between two trees Or.
Beautiful depiction of the escallop and oak trees!
Rafi’ al-Qasid. Name and device. Quarterly sable and Or, a hyena statant argent charged on the shoulder with a crescent sable.
The submitter requested authenticity for 13th century Arabic. We were not able to meet that request because we could not document the name elements to the 13th century. However, Ursula Palimpsest found the given name in the 14th century as an element in the name of a man living in Cairo, in Law and Piety in Medieval Islam by Megan H. Reid (Cambridge University Press, 2013) (https://books.google.com/books?id=zZo0AAAAQBAJ). The byname was also documented to the 14th century in Egypt. Therefore, although not authentic for the 13th century, the name is authentic for an Arabic speaker in Egypt in the 14th century.
Robeke von Heidelberg. Name and device. Gules, a waterwheel and on a chief argent three keystones sable.
The submitter requested authenticity for 15th century German “+/- 100 years.” This name is not authentic because it combines Low German and High German, which are effectively different languages. However, it is registerable.
Robert of Shetland. Name and device. Per pale gules and sable, two horses combattant and in chief a sword fesswise reversed argent.
Þóra in kyrra Halbiarnardóttir. Name and device. Argent, a fox rampant proper and on a chief purpure two fleurs-de-lys argent.
Submitted as Þóra in kyrra Halbiarnardottir, this spelling incorrectly uses markings in the given name, but not in -dóttir. Markings in Old Norse names must be used or omitted consistently throughout the name. We have added the marking to the byname for registration. If the submitter prefers the form without markings, she may submit a request for reconsideration.
Ulf Dragon Slaghtere. Name and device. Per saltire Or and gules, a dragon displayed sable between four pheons in cross points to center counterchanged.
The submitter requested authenticity for “England.” Although all of the name elements are English, they are not all found in the same time period. Therefore, while this name is registerable, it is not authentic.
There is a step from period practice for use of a dragon displayed.
Artist’s note: make sure that the belly scales are in the center of the body, with flanks showing on either side and with the limbs displayed equally, to be more properly displayed.
Umm Butrus A’isha al-Anida. Name (see RETURNS for device).
Wærthryth æt Eoforwicceaster. Name and device. Vert, in fess two owls and a bordure argent.
Submitted as Wærthryth æt Eoforwicceaster_, the place name in a locative byname in Old English ordinarily needs to be in the dative form. In this case, that would be Eoforwicceastere. In commentary, Kenric æt Essexe found examples that suggest that the dative form may not have been used in all cases. We encourage more research on this issue. Meanwhile, we will give the submitter the benefit of the doubt that her byname as submitted is correctly formed. If the submitter prefers the dative form Eoforwicceastere, she may make a request for reconsideration.
Wærthryth was not actually found in the article cited in the Letter of Intent. The spelling actually found in the Latin source document is Uuerthryth. Fortunately, we can construct the name Wærthryth from the documented elements Wær- and -thryth.
The submitter requested authenticity for Anglo-Saxon “esp. 7th c. England.” As the given name is constructed, rather than attested in the submitted spelling, the name does not meet this request. However, it is registerable.
Nice device!
EAST returns
Bertana æt Bathancestre. Device. Per fess wavy azure and Or, in pale three suns counterchanged between flaunches vert.
This device is returned for redraw, for violating SENA A2C2 which states “Elements must be drawn to be identifiable.” Most commenters were unable to identify the line of division as wavy. Very little of the line of division is visible, with 2/3 of it obscured by flaunches and approximately half of the remaining line broken up by a counterchanged sun.
Eva von Kölln. Device. Argent, surmounting a cross sable between in chief two oak leaves and in base two otters combattant vert, a heart gules.
This device is returned for having a “barely overall” charge. SENA Appendix I, Charge Group Theory, in defining overall charges states “An overall charge must have a significant portion on the field; a design with a charge that has only a little bit sticking over the edges of an underlying charge is known as “barely overall” and is not registerable.” Here, more of the heart is on the cross than on the field.
Submitters were torn on whether this depiction of the otters succeeded in addressing the reasons for return at the kingdom level. We will note that in making the arms of the cross thinner, there will be more space with which to depict the otters, which should aid in identification.
Muirenn ingen Ciric. Device. Argent, on a bend azure between a spear bendwise and a rapier bendwise sable, three gouttes d’eau.
This armory must be returned for non-registerable depictions of gouttes. Per the March 2013 Cover Letter:
For non-maintained or otherwise artistic charges, however, given the evidence we express a strong preference for the traditional wavy-tailed gouttes. Teardrop shaped gouttes are registerable as long as they are elongated, more than twice as long as they are wide.
These gouttes are not the multiply-waved gouttes seen in period depictions of the charge, and look instead like commas. Upon resubmission, we advise the submitter to draw the gouttes with more waves in the tail, as seen in Bruce Draconarius’ Pictorial Dictionary of Heraldry, 3rd Edition (http://mistholme.com/dictionary/gout/).
Umm Butrus A’isha al-Anida. Device. Azure ermined argent, on a roundel argent, a dragon displayed sable.
This device must be returned for redraw. In the return of William le Bond, the following precedent was reaffirmed:
This device is returned for redraw. In the return of Magdalene de Saint Benoit-sur-Loire, it was stated:
This device is returned for a redraw. At first glance this appears to be wyvern, not a dragon, as both forelegs and half the head are invisible due to their placement against the rest of the dragon. While no difference is granted between a wyvern and a dragon, they are still separate charges. On resubmission please advise the submitter that the head should not overlap the wing, nor should the forelegs lie entirely on the dragon’s body. [LoAR of December 2005]
This was confirmed in the return of Ciarán Alanson, on the LoAR of March 2006, for the same reason.
This submission has the same problem: the forelimbs are invisible due to their placement entirely against the wings.
There is a step from period practice for the use of a dragon displayed.