Eastern Results From The January 2020 LoAR (Final Heraldic Decisions)
(For those who aren’t familiar with the heraldic process, Violet Mosaic is now posting the East Kingdom-level decisions to the Gazette, but after a submission passes through the East, it needs to go through a second level of review at the Society level. These are the FINAL Society-level decisions on submissions from the East, reflecting what has actually been registered or returned. – Mistress Alys Mackyntoich, Heraldry Editor)
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 King 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 January 2020 Wreath and Pelican meetings.
EAST acceptances
Ælfric fitz Hugh. Device. Azure, on a pall Or three puffins palewise contourny proper.
Artist’s note: Please draw the pall wider and the puffins larger, centered on each arm rather than shifted to the edge of the shield.
Akamatsu Katsumoto. Household name Fellowship of the Golden Punner (see PENDS for badge).
Alessandra Serena Renda of Gibellina. Name.
Gibellina is the lingua Societatis form of a place name found in period as castrum Gebelline (a.1408).
Alexander Krause. Name (see PENDS for device).
Nice 16th century German name!
Alexandre l’Espagnol d’Orlienz. Badge. Gules vêtu checky gules and argent, a sinister wing with a hand issuant maintaining a sword ermine.
Artist’s note: Please draw fewer, somewhat larger ermine spots.
Brenna Makeheyt. Name and device. Per pale vert and azure, a triquetra between three natural dolphins naiant in annulo argent.
Submitted as Brenna Makehayt, concerns were raised at the Pelican decision meeting that the name appeared too similar to “make hate” and thus might be offensive to some people. Of course, the surname does not mean “make hate.” It derives from the phrase “make haste.” Nevertheless, the submitter, upon being informed of the concerns raised, opted to change the surname to the variant spelling Makeheyt.
There is a step from period practice for the use of charges oriented in annulo.
Catiana de Vennes. Device. Argent, three Lacy knots azure.
Nice device!
East, Kingdom of the. Badge for Company of Fellowship. Azure, a covered salt cellar shedding salt within an orle argent.
The submitter has permission from Arwa al-Jinniyya for their submission to conflict with the registered armory Azure, a covered salt cellar shedding salt within a bordure argent.
Elena di Cosimo. Name change from Madelaine de Mortaigne.
Submitted as Elena Di Cosimo, we have changed the capitalization to Elena di Cosimo to reflect standard Italian practices.
The submitter’s previous name, Madelaine de Mortaigne, is retained as an alternate name.
Eógan rauðskeggr. Name.
This name combines a Gaelic given name with an Old Norse byname, an acceptable lingual mix under Appendix C when both elements are attested prior to 1100 as is the case here.
Galefridus Peregrinus. Alternate name Abu Maryam Ja`far ibn Binyam al-Hajj.
Submitted as Abu Maryam Ja‘far ibn Binyam al-Hajj, the diacritical marking was incorrectly rendered. We have corrected the name to Abu Maryam Ja`far ibn Binyam al-Hajj.
The submitter requested authenticity for Middle Eastern/Arabic culture. This request was not summarized on the Letter of Intent. Fortunately, Seraphina Ragged Staff identified the authenticity request during commentary, allowing sufficient time for research. Although this name is entirely Arabic, it was documented partially from Cairo and partially from al-Andalus. While these name elements may all have appeared in the same place, we cannot say at this time based on our current resources whether the name is authentic.
Giles William Trout. Badge. Azure, a trout naiant embowed Or, in base two swords in saltire argent.
Guðþorn inn irski. Name (see PENDS for device).
The submitter requested authenticity for 9th-10th century Norse language and/or culture. Although this name is registerable, it is not authentic because the elements are too far apart in time. The given name is attested circa 990-1010 C.E. but the byname is from the early 12th century.
Hallbjorn Galti Oddason. Name and device. Per saltire arrondi argent and sable, a roundel within an annulet purpure.
Nice 9th-10th century Icelandic name!
Jóreiðr hildit{o,}nn. Name and device. Per saltire argent and purpure, a boar rampant gules.
Nice 9th-10th century Icelandic name!
Khayra bint Sa`id. Name and device. Per pale azure and sable, a linden tree eradicated and in chief two suns argent.
Submitted as Khayra bint Sa‘id, the diacritical marking was incorrectly rendered. We have corrected the name to Khayra bint Sa`id.
The submitter requested that the patronymic marker bint be capitalized if possible. We have found no evidence for capitalizing bint in Arabic transliterations.
Artist’s note: Please draw the suns larger to fill the available space.
Kolfinna gleðill. Name and device. Per bend sinister vert and argent, two wool combs fesswise reversed counterchanged.
Nice 9th-10th century Icelandic name!
Mabbe atte Eye. Badge change. (Fieldless) A mullet per pale gules and vert.
The submitter’s previous badge, Per pale gules and vert, an increscent and in base an owl’s head cabossed argent, is released.
Miroslava nyakas Miklosne. Device. Sable, on a bend argent between a feather bendwise and a key bendwise inverted Or three roses proper.
Mór Cille Caindigh. Badge. (Fieldless) On an owl argent an ermine spot gules.
Nadezhda Voronova. Household name Ironhearth House and badge. Argent, three winged lions segreant sable.
Artist’s note: Please draw the charges larger to aid in identification.
Nice badge!
Nest verch Tangwistel. Augmentation of arms. Per pale embattled azure and Or, an arrow azure, for augmentation on a canton Or a ram passant azure.
Nina di Ivrea. Name (see RETURNS for device).
Nina is the submitter’s legal given name.
Oddkatla Skarpheðinsdóttir. Name and device. Per bend sinister vert and purpure, on a bend sinister argent a serpent glissant contourny sable.
Nice 9th-10th century Icelandic name!
Philippus Tabor. Name.
Nice Latinized English name for circa 1200!
Quintin Darcy. Name.
This name combines a French given name with an English byname, an acceptable lingual mix under Appendix C.
Richard Fitzwilliam of Lough Ree. Name and device. Argent, a chevron engrailed vert between three trees blasted proper.
Lough Ree is the lingua Societatis form of a place name that existed in Ireland in period.
Rosina von Schaffhausen. Alternate name Giancarlo Rosetti.
The submitter requested authenticity for 15th-16th century Italian. This name appears to meet that request.
Samuel di Bianca. Name.
Submitted as Samuel Di Bianco we have changed the capitalization to Samuel di Bianco to reflect standard Italian practices. In addition, the submitter requested that the byname be as close to di Bianca as possible. Italian allows for marked matronymic bynames and Bianca is an attested Italian female given name. Therefore we have changed the name to Samuel di Bianca to meet the submitter’s request.
Although Samuel was documented as French on the Letter of Intent, heralds at the Pelican decision meeting found of evidence of Samuel in Italian, making this a wholly Italian name.
Sigurðr berserkr. Badge. (Fieldless) A bear rampant sustaining an axe sable.
Þórormr Barnakarl. Device. Quarterly azure and argent, an axe bendwise sinister within a serpent in annulo vorant its own tail sable.
Artist’s note: Please make all charges larger to fill the available space and aid in identification.
Titus Turpilius Tertius. Name and device. Sable, a tortoise passant Or between three estoiles argent.
Nice Roman name for the first century B.C.E. and most of the Imperial period!
V{o,}lva-Kaðlín knútr. Name and device. Argent, a winged deer’s head affronty erased purpure and a ford proper.
Submitted as Kaðlín ingen uí Éaluighthe, the name improperly combined Old Norse and Gaelic without both elements being attested prior to 1100. The Gaelic byname is attested only in the 16th/early 17th century. Not only is it not dated before 1100, it is more than 300 years later than the attested instances of the given name. For both of these reasons, the name as submitted could not be registered.
The submitter requested that we change the name to the entirely Old Norse V{o,}lva-Kaðlín knútr. As this request was made very early in the decision-making process, leaving time for research, precedent review and conflict checks, we have made the requested change.
All of the name elements are found in Geirr Bassi. Kaðlín is a female given name found at p. 12. The element knútr is a descriptive byname meaning “knot” found at p. 24.
V{o,}lva appears in Geirr Bassi, p. 29, as a variant of the byname v{o,}lu. According to Cleasby and Vigfusson, An Icelandic-English Dictionary, pp. 721-722 (http://lexicon.ff.cuni.cz/html/oi_cleasbyvigfusson/b0722.html), the words v{o,}lu and v{o,}lva both mean seeress/prophetess/sibyl/wise-woman. By precedent, the byname V{o,}lu is not presumptuous:
Commenters questioned whether the byname V{o,}lu “seeress” was presumptuous. It is not. This byname (and the occupation it is derived from) refers to real women who did real things. As such, it is not an unmistakable claim to magical powers. It is parallel to the Norse byname sjóna, ruled registerable in August of 2008, and Gaelic bynames with similar meanings, ruled registerable in December 1997. [V{o,}lu-Helena in Flamska, 10/2012 LoAR, A-Ansteorra]
Given that the word v{o,}lva is a variant of v{o,}lu, and that both words have the same meaning and refer to the same job, the byname V{o,}lva- also is not presumptuous and can be registered.
EAST returns
Nina di Ivrea. Device. Argent, a cicada tergiant vert and on a chief azure three pears slipped and leaved Or.
This device is returned for lack of documentation. The submitter attempted to submit a cicada, which is a charge attested in John Guillim’s A Display of Heraldrie. However, while the cicada that appears in Guillim appears similar to a butterfly or moth with the body entirely visible and the wings displayed, the submission features a cicada tergiant with wings close and almost completely obscuring the body. The submitter provided emblazons of other cicadas, all of which were documented after 1650. The submitter also provided an image from a 16th century Italian publication, Opera quae extant o`mnia, hoc est, Commentarii in VI. libros Pedacii Dioscoridis Anazarbei De medica materia : adjectis in margine variis Graeci testus lectionibus, ex antiquissimis codicibus desumptis, qui Dioscorides depravatam lectionem restituunt by Pietro Andrea Mattioli, from which they based their emblazon. However, in the provided example, which features eleven cicadas at different angles, every cicada’s body can be seen from the top of the head to the tip of the thorax. When a submission features the defining instance of a charge, the expectation is that the charge will match or at least resemble the documentation presented.
EAST pends
Akamatsu Katsumoto. Badge. (Fieldless) A punner bendwise sinister Or.
This device is pended for redraw due to the use of a post-period depiction of a punner without documentation. Wreath staff has redrawn the artwork and sent it to the submitter for approval.
This was item 2 on the East letter of October 31, 2019.
Alexander Krause. Device. Quarterly sable and purpure, a bear rampant contourny maintaining in its mouth a rose slipped and leaved argent.
This device is pended for redraw due to the maintained rose being too small to identify. Wreath staff has redrawn the artwork and sent it to the submitter for approval.
There is a step from period practice for the use of a garden rose.
This was item 4 on the East letter of October 31, 2019.
Conchobar mac Óengusa. Badge. Per bend vert and azure, on a wolf salient argent a pearled coronet sable.
This badge is pended for redraw due to the unblazonable orientation of the coronet which blurs the distinction between palewise and bendwise sinister. Wreath staff has redrawn the artwork and sent it to the submitter for approval.
The submitter is a baron, and is thus entitled to display a coronet.
This was item 8 on the East letter of October 31, 2019.
Guðþorn inn irski. Device. Per pale vert and argent, a stag’s head affronty erased and a chaplet of thorns counterchanged, a bordure sable.
This device is pended for redraw due to visual confusion between the chaplet and a laurel wreath. Wreath staff has redrawn the artwork and sent it to the submitter for approval.
This was item 14 on the East letter of October 31, 2019.