Unto the An Tir College of Heralds does Dame Zenobia Naphtali, Lions Blood Herald, send greetings!

Lion's Blood Decision Meetings

Currently scheduled public decision meetings are:

October 13 1996: (Sunday) 12:00 p.m. at my house, above. (Note that this is the day after the Arts Gathering and Bardic Party event also here in Dragon's Mist. Crash space can be arranged for those wishing to attend both.)

November 2 1996: (Saturday) 1:00 p.m. at the home of Frederic Badger (mka Brander Roullett), 10511 Phinney Ave N., Seattle WA 98133. Contact him for directions at badger@nwlink.com or (206) 367-2030.

December 14 1996: (Saturday) 12:00 noon at my house, above. Come to the meeting and then, if you like, hang out a bit until the St. Clement's Potluck at 4:00 p.m., also in Dragons Mist (Tier 2 event; contact me if you want further information and don't have access to it.)

January TBD 1997: Probably in the south Seattle area _ more details to come.

February 16 1997: (Sunday) River's Bend (Longview, WA) the day after Irish Feast. More details to come.

Everyone is welcome to attend the meetings! If you wish to host a meeting at your home or at an indoor event, please contact me more than a month in advance (so notice can be put in the Internal Letter of Intent.)

Roster Changes and Impending Roster Changes

Lions Blood Upcoming Office Change: Don't forget, submissions mailed after October 30 1996 should be sent to the Lions Blood designate, Ciaran CluanaFerta. Please send all forms mailed in October to me (the October Crier article saying forms should go "immediately" to Ciaran is unfortunately incorrect.) Ciaran can be reached at: Brian Russell, 1908 NE Multnomah St. #10, Portland OR 97232 (503) 287-5165. Commentary should continue to be sent to me for all Lions Blood meetings up to and including January 1997.

Name/Armory Combinations and Registrations

College of Arms policies require that armory may not be sent to Laurel without the primary personal name of the submitter either preceding it in the registration process or accompanying it. However, if a household name/badge combination or alternate name/badge combination are submitted, and the secondary name is returned, then the secondary armory may certainly be registered _ it doesn't have to be returned along with the secondary name. If the secondary name is returned, the secondary armory may be registered to the primary personal name of the submitter and forwarded to Laurel as an (unspecified) badge.

E-Mail and World Wide Web Information

People interested in getting the ILoI on email should contact HL Etienne d'Avignon at scoffman@on-ramp.ior.com. Please remember to check the An Tir Web Page under 'Libraries' for heraldic handouts and information if you have access to the World-Wide Web. Please contact me if you have an idea for a new topic that should be written up in a handout.

There is also an email An Tir Herald's mailing list run by Ivarr Ulfvarinsson. To subscribe. send email to majordomo@mail.orst.edu, with the entire message saying

subscribe antir-heralds

To mail to the list, send mail to antir-heralds@mail.orst.edu.

Old Submissions

Thanks to those who wrote letters of comment (boldface) on the July LoI, participated in commentary, or attended the September 22 meeting: Drogo the Forgetful, Sorcha ni Fhaolain, Arianwen verch Kynwraidd ap Aeddan (Basilisk), Inguz Sigrun Miksdottir, Maia of the Misty Oakes, Elisabeth de Rossignol, Frederic Badger, Zacharias Brutus (Glyn Dwfn), Fionn B�n MacAoidh (�stel), Daria Kazakova (Stromgard), Moreach nic Mhaolain, Eglentyne Merryweather, Ailse an Crag Ealasad, Ivan Geronovich, Deborah Unsiker, Fred and Shelly Lueck, David of Moffat (Electrum), Natasha Orionova Zateeva (Be Wayre), Kateryn of Falconkeep, Mary Lesslyn of Kailie, Adair MacTaggart, James, and Simon von der Eisenhandlung (Briaroak).

The Following submissions were forwarded to Laurel in the August 1996 Letter of Intent:

Aliena Searover, for House Bobbe (new/house name, badge) (Fieldless) A cluster of grapes purpure leaved vert. It was felt that the word bob as documented by the submitter apparently needed to be modified by a type of fruit (bob of grapes, bob of cherries etc.) since all the provided examples referred to a bob/bobbe of some sort of fruit. However, this house name can also be derived from the English surname Bobbe, on p.51 of Reaney's DES dated to 1219 in this spelling. It derives from the OE given name Bubba. Bobb is also a header spelling. It is possible (given this undated variant spelling) that Bob might also be acceptable, and we have solicited the opinion of the College of Arms. It was thought, however, that it would be safest to forward the name in a documented spelling, since the apparent joking nature (to the modern eye and ear) of "House Bob" might lead to questions about obtrusive modernity, and perhaps, return.

The badge should be clear of Gwilym ab Eifon: Or a bunch of grapes purpure slipped and leaved vert winged pean. There is a CD for field by X4a. There is generally another CD for adding wings to an animal or object. We have asked Laurel for a visual comparison to be on the safe side.

An Tir, Kingdom of for Be Wayre Pursuivant (new/herald's title) Other mundane pursuivant titles derived from mottos include Il Faut Fair, Dieu y Purvoye, and Ich Dien.

Douglas Lachlan MacFarlane (new/name only) The form of given name + surname, + clan surname is rather common in 16th c. Scotland. Black cites an Allaster Moir M'Indeir in 1592 uner Macindeor, and a John Dow Mc Inoss in 1583 (to open up the "Mac" section of Black at random.)

Effric Campbell (new/name, device)Per bend sinister Or and vert a rainbow bendwise proper clouded purpure and a cauldron Or. Effric is found in Black dated 1470 and 1504 (as a female given name) under Africa. The given name was originally submitted as Oighrig. This seems to be a post-period Gaelic form of the name, according to Black (also under Africa) and a private correspondence from Sharon Krossa (in the S.C.A., also Effric.) Sharon seems to know a great deal about Scottish nomenclature as manifested by her participation in various mailing lists; we have asked the College of Arms Gaelic experts to shed some more light on this situation. Since the submitter wanted to preserve the sound (which doesn't change with the spelling change), and since we would have had to change the spelling of one name part for all-Gaelic or all-English type orthographic consistency in any case (Gaelic for Campbell being more or less Caimbeul) we decided to go with a clearly period form of the given name.

A question was raised about using anglicized Gaelic mundane name parts with Scots or Irish Gaelic other name parts (presumably, whether the mundane name allowance takes precedence over the requirement for orthographic consistency.) I'm afraid I don't know of a precedent on this topic.

The colors of the rainbow are the default for a heraldic rainbow proper on a metal field according to the PicDic. Such a rainbow does't have a default tincture for the clouds; they must be blazoned explicitly.

Elric Strangulf (new/name only)

Esperanza Razzolini d'Asolo (resub. L/badge) (Fieldless) On a fireball Or flamed a mullet azure. The flames are colored in solid blue; the little black line detailing in the flames is just to help show they are flames, and doesn't imply any voidedness (or omission of the word proper in the blazon :-)

Etienne Xavier de Saosnes (resub. L /name, device)Argent on a bend sinister wavy azure between a sun and a decrescent gules three mullets of six points palewise argent. Laurel informs us that his previous submission was under the name Xavier de Sa�ne, and was returned from Laurel in February of 1994. The name was returned for lack of a given name, and the device was returned for redraw.

Etienne is a baptismal name derived from Stephanus found on p.241 of Dauzat's Noms et Prenoms. Xavier is the Spanish form of the Basque surname Etchaberri which was used by St. Francis Xavier, 1506-1552. Saosnes is a place in France derived from the river Sa�ne according to Dauzat and Rostaing's Dictionnaire Etymologique de noms de Lieux en France pps. 641, 581.

The surname was originally submitted with the locative as de Saone. We had doubts about the propriety of forming a locative as "of <river name>" in France; this doesn't seem to be a practice for which we can find examples. However, place names frequently derived closely from river names. The spelling Saone also seemed unlikely; the modern river name Sa�ne (with the circumflex) was probably period Saosne and the place names derived from it seem to bear this out. We have substituted a documented place name derived from the Sa�ne river that uses period orthography, which should preserve the intent of the name.

Garth ap Collin (new/badge) (Fieldless) A tricorporate owl argent. The formation of a tricorporate bird is unusual but given the wide variety of tricorporate animals used in the S.C.A., seems at the worst one weirdness.

The submitter informed the ATCoH that apparently, this would not be acceptable Japanese armory _ as it would then be a "hoot mon." Too bad, the tricorporate radial symmetry makes it a better candidate for Japanese style than most :-)

The fact that the three bodies of the birds are rotating around the head (rather than, say, the top two being addorsed) seems to us to be an acceptable variant of a tricorporate animal. We recall having seen 'em both ways.

Glymm Mere, Barony of (new/badge)[Fieldless] A deer's head couped contourny gules.

H�letha atte Leigh (new/name only) The Old English/Middle English hybrid is not ideal but should be S.C.A.-acceptable, as the two name portions date within 300 years of each other, and are from the same language.

Helena Da Silva (new/device)Per bend purpure and argent, a unicorn rampant and a hurst of fir trees counterchanged.

Isabella Lucrezia Veneziano Martini (new/device)Per bend sinister flory counterflory sable and argent two fleurs-de-lys counterchanged. As far as we can tell, flory-counterflory is considered either a period line of division or at least period-compatible. Similar lines of division (e.g. trefly counter-trefly) are found in some German armory in period, and the flory counterflory treatment of a charge (as opposed to a line of division) is found in the flory-counterflory double tressure of the Scots Royal arms in period.

James of Wealdsmere (resub. K/device)Azure on a pale sable fimbriated three annulets conjoined argent.

Kathern Thomas Gyelle Spence (new/badge)(Fieldless) A linden leaf bendwise sinister inverted sable. A question was asked as to whether a fieldless badge could count orientation difference from another fieldless armory: e.g. would (fieldless) a sword sable have an orientation CD from (fieldless) a sword bendwise sable? The answer is yes. The display of fieldless armory generally has some sort of context showing the orientation. A fieldless badge on a livery tabard has "up" where the head of the wearer is. A fieldless badge cut out of wood with a jigsaw and hung in front of an inn has "up" away from the ground. Even a brooch is generally worn with a discernable "up" (so that someone wearing a brooch of a trippant stag wouldn't display it with the hooves in the air.) As a result, there can be orientation differences between fieldless badges.

Vs. Winifred de Schyppewallbotham: (Fieldless) A linden leaf bendwise sinister Or, there is a CD for field tincture and a CD for charge tincture.

Lilya Fedorovna Skazitelnitsa (new/device)Sable on a bezant a triangle gules. Although some thoguth this looked similar to the sign for a Civil Defense facility, no one was sure of that insignia. Without a clear possible conflict, we of course sent this on.

Vs. Cassandra of the East Winds: Sable on a plate a flame gules, there is one CD for the change of tincture to the roundel (Or in this case, argent in Cassandra's) and a CD for type of tertiary charge by X4jii. X4jii allows type only of charges on charges ("tertiary" charges) to count as a full CD in certain simple designs, where the underlying charge is geometrically simple and "voidable" (the case with a roundel) and where the overall design is simple (as here, with only two charges in the entire device.

Magdalen de Feo (new/name, device)Per bend embattled vert and sable a holly branch bendwise sinister argent. On the device, we do not feel that the branch obscures the complex line of partition, so there should be no problems with the design of a field divided by a complex line of partion, with low-contrast tinctures, obscured by an overlying charge.

Compare Alice of Kent: Vert a sprig of linden fructed bendwise sinister argent. There is a CD for the field. A Linden tree has big heart-shaped leaves. Holly trees have spiky leaves like the ones in this submission. We would undoubtedly give a CD for type between a linden leaf and a holly leaf. Well-drawn branches should similarly have a type CD between them, just as markedly different trees have a CD between them. We have suggested a visual comparison just to be safe, though.

The fact that the branch has exactly four leaves is not important to the submitter; the enumeration was put in by the herald who came up with the blazon. Thus we have blazoned it as a default branch.

A question about "color on color" was raised. This technically has no color on color, just color next to color. It does have some contrast issues as mentioned above, though, having to do with the complex line of partition dividing the low-contrast tinctures. But strictly this would not be considered "color on color."

Vs. the Kingdom of Atenveldt College of Bards: Azure a leaved branch palewise argent, there is a CD for field tincture and a CD for the orientation of the branch.

Magdalen MacKenzie (new/name only)

Marcus Redwolf (new/name, device)Or a dance vert between three wolves' heads cabossed gules. In addition to the documentation in the LoI, the surname might also be a variant of a patronym derived from the OE given name R�dwulf, as in the surname Redolf dated 1276 under Radwell, Raddle in Reaney's DES pps. 369-370.

An assertion was made that a dance must have three bumps; those of us at the meeting could not recall this requirement and no precedent or source was cited, so we continue to think that this is O.K. A suggestion was made to reblazon this as indented, but that would not apparently be correct. A dance, or fess dancetty, is a fess that looks like zigzag rickrack; the bottom part goes up when the top part does. A fess indented has the bottom part going down when the top part does. If you move the top and bottom of a dance together, until they touch, the dance disappears. If you move the top and bottom of a fess indented together until they touch, you get a bunch of lozenges conjoined in fess.

Markus Hammerhand (new/name, device)Per fess sable and argent a hammer and a hand counterchanged. Hammerhand is an epithet. It is similar to that of Gotz of the Iron Hand who was born in 1480 (Grant Uden's Dictionary of Chivalry.) This analogy was used to register the name Cyrus Hammerhand in June 1992.

Markus Hammerhand (new/badge) (Fieldless) A hand argent charged with a hammer sable.

Robyn Adames(new/name, device)Or a robin contourny proper perched atop an apple gules all within a bordure vert.

Vaclav Bily (new/badge)(Fieldless) A lozenge Gules A family of Schwerin in Siebmacher's 1605 Wappenbuch p.196 bears Argent a lozenge gules. However, we know of no reason to believe these arms to be protectable under S.C.A. standards.

The following submissions were returned for further work:

Alisaundre n� Fheidhlimidh (new/badge) (Fieldless) A triquetra within and conjoined to an annulet argent. Returned for conflict with the registered badge of Daibhaidh Orcheard: (Fieldless) A triquetra within and conjoined to an annulet argent. In order to avoid conflict, there need to be two Clear/Cadency differences between the two armories. This keeps the two pieces of armory from appearing to belong to people directly related in blood.

In this case, one of these differences is actually present even though the two blazons are identical; fieldless armory is given a 'field difference' from any other armory, including other fieldless armory. However a second difference is not present and needs to be.

The triquetra is on the ragged edge of being 'conjoined enough' to the annulet for proper conjoining. The usual criterion is whether or not the design could be cast out of a single piece of metal.

Deorwine aet Earneleia (resub. L/device) Per chevron inverted azure and Or an eagle displayed Or and three oak trees vert fruted Or. Returned for conflict with the same device that it conflicted with at the time of the previous return, in the LoAR of August 12 1991, which is Isabel Eagelstone of Glynwood: Per fess raguly vert and argent an eagle displayed perched on a bow and three trees counterchanged. One of the needed two Clear Differences (CDs) can be derived from the differences between the two fields of the armories by rule X4a _ but no more than one difference can come from changes to the field, by the same rule. The submitter has changed the tincture of the eagle in chief, but it is only 1/4 of the charge group (the three trees and eagle are considered a single charge group). In order for a Clear Difference to be had between two charge groups for tincture, at least half the charge group needs to change. 1/4 is not sufficient. The bow held by Isabeau's eagle is apparently not considered large enough to be heraldically significant, as is often the case with small items held by/perched on by animals in heraldry.

The submitter's forms were marked as a "new device", but since it has been ruled on before, it must be treated either as a resubmission or as an appeal. We have so far treated it as a resubmission; however if this submitter meant it to be an appeal to Laurel we have given him until November 2 to inform me, so at which point I will send the appeal to Laurel. However, the College of Heralds of An Tir cannot support this appeal, as the previous return appears to be in accordance with the rules for submission at that time and at the present time.

There may also be an additional possible problem in the depiction of the eagle. Eagles displayed are generally drawn with their heads turned in profile (facing to the dexter, or the left of the shield as it is viewed.) The legs are also drawn splayed out to the side so they are outlined against the field. This eagle is more in a 'striking affronty' position. This is not a particularly period posture for any bird, and might be viewed as partially unidentifiable (since many of the distinguishing aspects of the bird, such as the shape of its head and the nature of its feet/talons, are not clearly visible in this posture.) Moreover, the apparent cockatoo-like 'crest feathers' of the bird also seem somewhat unlikely on a period heraldic eagle. Identifiability and artistic depiction seem to be an interest of the current Laurel Sovereign of Arms and it is not clear to the An Tir College whether Laurel will accept this drawing of an eagle.

Douglas Lachlan MacFarlane (new/device) Gules three piles inverted and on a chief Or three warhammers sable. Returned for artistic reasons. The new Laurel Sovereign of Arms appears to be very interested in artistic depictions, and a drawing such as this, with a number of unusual depiction features, is very likely to be returned. We have thus opted to give the submitter an opportunity to save time by redrawing and resubmitting his device.

Firstly, the hammers are drawn in a manner which is not heraldically identifiable; they are so skinny it is difficult to tell what they are. While these may be scale reductions of an actual long-handled warhammer, period heraldic charges are drawn to accentuate the important features of the object in question. Thus, arrows are drawn with disproportionately large heads and fletching _ and heraldic hammers are drawn with a head which is about as large as the shaft. The chief is drawn somewhat too widely for standard practice. Even though charged chiefs are generally drawn wider than uncharged chief, it should not be more than 1/3 of the height of the shield and is generally somewhat less. This chief blurs the distinction between "a chief" and a "per fess" field division. Lastly it was felt that the hammers in period armory would be spread out on the chief to better fill the space, instead of being bunched to the center. They do not have to line up with the piles.

Elric Strangulf (new/device) Azure mullety Or in pale a dolmen and an increscent moon argent. Returned for artistic reasons. As in Douglas' submission, the presence of a number of odd artistic features leads us to believe that this will be returned in the current administration; we have thus attempted to save him time by the return for redrawing now.

Firstly, the strewing of the mullets was quite uneven, with a number of dense patches and a number of clear patches. Strewn charges (a "semy" of charges) may be drawn in two ways; either as an even pattern of charges overlain by the main charges (as if the main charges were set down on cloth printed with stars), or distributed about to evenly fill the space around the main charges. It was felt that this was an uneven distribution and resembled some constellation rather than a proper mullety. Secondly, the grey used to color in the argent was quite dark, and did not have good contrast with the background blue. While silver and white and light grey are all considered acceptable for "argent", the colors in question should be light enough to give the impression of "white" rather than "dark color." We suggest that at least for purposes of forms that argent charges be kept white rather than colored grey or silver. Lastly, it was felt that the chances of the submission passing Laurel would be increased if the dolmen were drawn with less of a three-dimensional perspective view.

Barony of Glymm Mere, Order of the Red Deer (new/order name) Returned for conflict with the city of Red Deer in Alberta, Canada, as well as the river of the same name on whose banks the city is built. Place names are held to conflict with Order Names and Household Names by RfS V2. The designator ("Order", "House", "Shire" etc.) does not matter. In this case, both the city of Red Deer and the Red Deer river are found under their own headings in a standard Geographical Dictionary (Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1972 edition p.1003). As such it is protected from S.C.A. conflict in the same manner as are the cities of London and the Nile river, under the current Laurel Sovereign of Arms Administrative Handbook.

H�letha atte Leigh (new/device) Per pall argent gules and vert a tree Or. Returned for conflict with the registered S.C.A. device of Brianne Hyla: Per chevron Or and vert in base a maple tree couped Or. One of the two required Clear Diferences (but only one such) may be gotten from the differences between the fields of the two armories, as per Rules for Submission X4a. There is no heraldic difference between a couped tree and an eradicated tree; both depictions were found as artistic variants in period. There is no difference between trees of similar outlines. All rounded trees (oaks, maples, 'generic' trees like this) are considered to be the same type of tree for purposes of S.C.A. heraldry. So there is no difference there. The maple tree in Brianne's device is forced to base by the field division _ the Or tree has no contrast on the Or portion of the per chevron field, so the tree must lie entirely in base. As a consequence, there is no difference for position on the field between the two armories, either. A second Clear/Cadency difference is needed.

Note that Brianne's device has managed to cause a conflict with any new design of the form <field> a tree Or.

Vs. the Papworth citations of Yetsworth: Azure an oak tree Or and Wood: Azure an oak tree eradicated Or there is no reason to believe these armories are either intrinsically famous or belonging to such famous people that they should be protected. Vs. the Della Rovere Dukes of Urbino: Azure an oak tree eradicated its four branches knotted in saltire Or, there is one CD for the field. There is nothing for couped vs. eradicated; the treatment of the roots is often left to the artist in period. There may be a difference for knotting the branches; this is not clear.

Laurencia des Jardins (new/device)Per pale indented argent and sable to dexter a foxglove purpure slipped and leaved vert and to sinister two bears in pale statant contourny Or. Returned for stylistic and artistic reasons. Starting with the artistic reasons, in period complex lines of partition were drawn boldly, with deep large indentations (or embattlements, etc.) Generally only five repeats were drawn on a long line such as a per bend or per pale line (see the Letter of Acceptance and Return of December 1993 p.17). This submission shows 11 repeats. Lines of division drawn with numerous small repeats have been reasons for return in the past _ a number which is over twice the reccommended number of repeats will probably be returned by the Laurel Sovereign of Arms, who has shown an attentiveness to artistic depiction.

In addition, the overall design is reminiscent of a type of marshalling called "impaling", where two seperate coats of arms were displayed side by side in one coat to show affiliation (such as marriage, the mayorship of a town, the Bishop of a Bishopric, etc.) Technically, the presence of the indented line removes the marshalling problem according to RfS XI _ only a plain per pale line would cause a technical return for marshalling as the rules and precedents stand. However, visually the appearance of marshalling is still there, and this could be considered reason for return by Laurel. We have suggested that the submitter consider redesigning with a line of partition that was not used for marshalling, such as per fess, per chevron, or per bend.

Lothar Sk�llson (new/name, device) Vert a bend sinister Or between a wolf's head erased and a dexter gauntlet fesswise reversed maintaining a hammer palewise argent. Unfortunately, the name had to be returned for stylistic reasons, and the device for reasons of conflict.

The name Lothar is a reasonable Germanic given name and can be found as early as the 7th c. in the fomr Lotharius in Morlet. However, we cannot find any name pattern in German or in Old Norse to support the formation of Sk�llson. Patronymics of this sort were formed from given names used by humans. The name Sk�ll appears to only be the mythological wolf found in the submitted documentation. By the Rules for Submission VI.2 "Society names may not claim divine descent, superhuman abilities or other powers that the submitter does not actually possess. Such claims include divine patronymics, like Vulcanson; epithets peculiarly associated with divinities or superhuman beings, such as of the Valkyrie; given names that were never used by humans, like the names of some Giants or Dwarfs in Norse mythology; or descriptive epithets like Worldblaster." We feel that this name would likely be returned for showing apparent descent from a non-human mythological monster (Sk�ll.)

Note that there is an Old Norse name Sk�li, which would form the patronym Sk�lason. There is also an Old Norse given name Lj�tr. The name Lj�tr Sk�lason would be a very good Old Norse ("Viking") name. While there does not seem to be that much cultural name borrowing between the Vikings and the Old Norse, there might also be sufficient cultural contact to justify the name Lothar Sk�lason. However, we felt that either of these names would be too much of a change to send up without a resubmission.

The device was returned for conflict with the device of Rosamond Tindomielle: Vert a bend sinister Or betweena white oak and a lyre argent entwined of a vine Or. One of the needed two Clear Differences is found by changing the type of the charge group around the bend sinister (from the wolf head + hand unit to the tree + lyre unit.) However, the tincture of the charge group is largely unchanged (virtually all argent in both cases.) No other difference is present; a second difference needs to be found.

Vs. Wilhelm der Krieger: Vert a bend sinister between two foxes heads erased argent, there is one CD for the tincture of the bend sinister. There is another CD for change in type of half of the group of secondary charges. (There is no difference between fox' heads and wolf's heads, but changing the bottom head to the hand is changing half the group.)

Magdalen MacKenzie (new/device)Gules a sun in splendor on a chief Or three rosebuds gules slipped and leaved vert. Returned for stylistic reasons, conflict reasons and artistic reasons. The stylistic reason is that rosebuds do not appear to be a period charge. The standard heraldic rose is drawn like a wild rose, with five petals, a set of seeds in the center, and 'barbs' (sepals) appearing between the petals. Occasionally a late period depiction of a rose is found with the (then newly-developed) multipetalled roses, as an open flower). However, rosebuds as drawn here were not found in heraldry, and the charge was banned from S.C.A. heraldry in the Laurel Sovereign of Arms cover letter dated 29 November 1994.

The device also conflicts with Ingfrith of Nordmark: Gules a sun in his splendor on a chief Or three towers sable. This submission has changed the type and tincture of the group of charges on a charge (on the chief) from Ingfrith's registered device. This is worth one of the differences by Rule for Submissions X4j. However, a second difference is needed, and rule X4j indicates that a maximum of one difference can be hand for changing any single group of charges on charges.

As for the artistic reasons, we suggest that in future depictions the submitter should draw the chief somewhat narrower (between 1/4 and 1/3 the height of the shield.) This alone is probably not a reason for return, but would be a reason for return if combined with other uncommon artistic variants.

A suggestion was made having to do with reblazoning including an option that used the terms "of the second" and "of the first" rather than duplicating tinctures. The blazon style using these terms is not used by the S.C.A. For one thing, it can be confusing; miscounting can easily lead to misblazons in a complex device. I am also not sure it is a period blazon practice, and rather suspect it is mostly Victorian.

New Submissions

The blazons noted herein are those of the submitter unless a reblazon is noted in {curly brackets.} Similarly, documentation will be a summary of that provided by the submitter unless noted in {curly brackets.} Please comment on blazon style and content, and add any documentation that seems necessary.

1) Adriana the Fierce (Porte de l'Eau) new/badge

{(Fieldless) In saltire a stag's attire and a unicorn's horn sable.}

Her name was registered in September 1993.

2) Benjamin Hardcastle (Southmarch) new/name, device

Azure, a saltire purpure fimbriated Or, overall a castle argent.

(M) Benjamin was a son of Rachel in Genesis 35:24, according to the King James Bible, in this spelling. It is also found in this spelling in Hanks and Hodges' Dictinory of Surnames, referring to the Biblical citation. It also indicates that the given name "was not common among Gentiles in the Middle Ages, its use was sanctioned by having been borne by a saint martyred in Persia in about AD 424." The same source shows Hardcastle as a place name in West Yorkshire. Bardsley's A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames alos gives Hardcastle, with the spelling Hartcastle dated 1521 and the spelling Harcastell dated 1586. The believed etymology is "from Harden Castle." Note that the place name Harden is dated in this spelling to 1577 and in the similar spelling Hardeyn back to 1379. He will not accept changes to the name.

3) Bryan Williamson (Laighe na Gr�ine) resub. K/device

Per fess azure and gules a pillar argent between two swords inverted proper.

His name was registered in July 1996. His previous device used a base gules instead of per fess, and the charges did not overlap the base but rested upon it or floated over it on the field. Input as to whether the per fess line is drawn correctly would be appreciated.

4) Christopher Edward Hawkins (Madrone) new/badge

Sable, a decrescent Or.

His name was registered in July 1992.

5) Fjordland, Incipient Shire of (Sechelt, BC). new/name, device

Azure, fess twice indented argent, base engrailed purpure chief eagle's head erased inside wreath Or. {Potential reblazon: Per fess indented azure and argent in chief an eagle's head erased within a laurel wreath Or, a base wavy crested purpure.

The group's name is to mean "land of fjords." They provide documentation from the MacMillan World Gazeteer which translates fjord or fiord as a term of Norwegian origin given to long narrow arms of the ea characterizing the coastline of that country. (Fjords are also found on the West coast of the U.S. and Canada from Puget sound to Alaska!) Carlsson's Studies on Middle English Local Bynames in East Anglia p.70 cites Lond as deriving from Old English and Old Norse land, meaning "land, cultivated land, field." The MacMillan World Gazeteer givs Jutland as a Danish place, showing -land in Old Scandinavian nomenclature. The same book gives Vinland as the name given by Leif Ericsson to a place which might have been Nova Scotia, Maine or Massachusetts.

The examples show the descriptive+land pattern of formation of place names in the Scandinavian language (add in Iceland and Greenland (issland/groenland) as well. They also show the Scandinavian origin of fjord.

They have attached a petition in support of the name and the device signed by 11 members of the group (officers unspecified.) They accept unspecified changes to the name.

6) Genevieve Marie Etienette de Montagne (Madrone) new/dev. change

Per chevron purpure and azure {should be gules} two hummingbirds rising wings respectand wings addorse and a decrescent, Or.

Her name was registered in October 1992. Her currently registered device (November 1994) is Per chevron purpure and vert two hummingbirds rising respectant wings addorsed and a decrescent Or. It has the same outline as this; only the tincture in base has been changed. I have spoken with the submitter to verify that the tincture in base is gules (as colored in on the forms) rather than the azure in the blazon.

7) Genevieve Marie Etienette de Montagne (Madrone) new/badge

Fieldless, a hummingbird rising wingse addorse, or.

Her name was registered in October 1992. Her currently registered device (November 1994) is Per chevron purpure and vert two hummingbirds rising respectant wings addorsed and a decrescent Or. This is the same as one of the hummingbirds she has currently registered.

8) Katriona Stiubhard (Coeur du Val) new/name, device

Azure, a narwhal haurient proper armed Or. {Note: the narwhal is drawn white.}

(F) The name is meant to be Gaelic and to mean "Katherine Stewart." She has checked the "will NOT accept changes" box, but has also provided a note stating "I would prefer my name to remain with a K _ Katriona. But if that is not possible a C _ Catriona would also be O.K. She provides documentation from Bain's Clans and Tartans of Scotland translating "Catherine" as "Catriona" on p.299.The same book p.272 gives Sti�bhard as the Gaelic form of Stewart.

9) Kyle McKettrick (Corvaria) new/name, device

{Azure on a bend sinister argent a sword inverted sable entiwned of a vine vert flowered to chief gules.}

(M) The submitter cites Hanks and Hodges' A Dictionary of Surnames under Kyle which states that this surname is a Scots and N. Irish regional name from a district in SW Scotland. It is also derived from any of the Scottish places derived from Gaelic caol, meaning narrows or strait. The same source is cited under McKettrick which gives this as the Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Shitrig, a patronymic from the Old Norse personal name Sigtryggr. If changes are required he wishes to preserve the general sound.

The device has no provided blazon. It is unclear what the red flower to chief is, it looks like half an ovoid with a swirl of petals of some sort inside.

10) Laighe na Gr�ine, Port of (Military Base part of Victoria, BC) resub. K/name, device

Per pale Or and azure, a castle gate argent within a laurel wreath counterchanged.

The previous name submission was Aqua Cullis, returned for problems with documentability. The device was considered acceptable but returned for lack of a given name to which to register it.

Laighe na Gr�ine is supposed to mean "Port of the Setting Sun" (presumably it just means "the setting sun" and the Port part is in the generic English as above.) They accept unspecified changes to the name.

The device is much the same as the previous one but is drawn in a good heraldic argent (the previous was a medium grey stone color, it's white now.)

They have not provided a petition in support of the name or the device. They have been called collect and one has been solicited.

11) Liam Dermot MacPherson (Madrone) new/name, device

Per bend sinister raguly ermine, a cross potent sable, purpure, a sea lion Or, rampant armed argent, langed gules.

The name is meant to be the same as the Gaelic name Liam Dairmait {? photocopy hard to read} MacFairsan. He states that Liam is a shortened version of William, and that a William Fitzgerald was Baron of Naas ca. 1250. He cites the name Dermot/Dairmait as the name of Dermot MacMurough/Dairmait MacMurchadha, King of Leinster ca. 1156. He cites MacPherson as a surname which was part of the O'Canady family. The sources were the Oxford Illustrated History of Ireland (ed. R. F. Foster) and the Book of Irish Names and Places. I have received email from him indicting that he would accept William or Uilleam in place of Liam if needs be. No photocopies are provided for context.

12) Muirgheal nic Sheanach�in (Dragon's Laire) resub. K/device

Sable three stars in bend argent and in base a ford proper.

Her name is pending Laurel's decision on the An Tir LoI of May 1996. Her previous device used a non-heraldic charge somewhat like a ford; we suggested she redesign with a real ford and she has done so.

13) Richard Oaf of Sussex (Dragon's Laire) new/name, device

Argent on a pile raguly gules a celtic cross or.

(M) He states that he previously submitted the name "Richard of Sussex" and did not hear back. It does not say which Kingdom, and there is no file in Kingdom files under that name. He has also marked the form as 'new' so we will be treating it that way.

In discussion of the name, the intending meaning states (I am NOT making this up, as Dave Barry says): "Ime 6'6" and 300 lbs and have the IQ of a Fig newton." He will accept changes to preserve the general sound.

14) Seth Foxley (Corvaria) new/name, device

Azure, a fox saliant argent; and a chief embattled Or.

(M) The name is meant to be English. Seth is found in Withcombe's Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names p.266 as a male Biblical name. One example is found in England before the reformation (someone born in 1495) and another example is someone who died in 1557. Foxley is a surname in Hanks and Hodges' Dictionary of Surnames which is a habitation name from places in Norfolk and Wilshire meaning "fox wood" or "fox clearing."

15) Spakbjorn de Olnei (Dragon's Mist) new/badge

{Per saltire Or and gules in pale two mullets sable.}

His name was registered in May 1995.

16) Valerienne de Menton (St. Bunstable) new/name, device

Gules, a sinister hand apalm� Or, and on a chief Or, three mascles interlaced gules.

(F) The name is meant to be French, and to mean "Valerienne of Menton." Valerienne is on p.581 of Dauzat's Dictionnaire Etymologique des noms de famille et prenoms de France. de Menton is on p.429 of the same source. Dauzat and Rostaing's Dictionnaire Etymologique des noms de lieux en France p. 450 shows Menton as a variant of Menthon. The town is dated to 1262 in the form Mentonum.The same source shows towns named after St. Valerianus: namely Saint-Val�rien and Saint-Vallerin. Lalanne's Dictionnaire Historique de la France shows Menthon as an illustrious house of Savoy bearing the arms Gules a lion argent overall a bend azure. She does not accept changes to the name.

17) Valerienne de Menton (St. Bunstable) new/badge

Three mascles interlaced, gules

18) Wyewood, Canton of (Canton of Madrone, King County WA, south of Seattle and east of Puget Sound.) resub. K/name

The group's previous name was Wyebridge, returned for conflict with the mundane place of Weybridge which is found in its own entry in the Encyclopedia Brittanica, and is thus considered necessary of protecting from conflict by the College of Arms Administrative Handbook. (Wey- and Wye- are sound-alike spelling variants of the same river, hence Weybridge and Wyebridge are effectively the same thing both semantically and audially.)

They have resubmitted as Wyewood. They have provided a signature with 22 signatures including the Seneschal, Minister of Arts and Sciences, Chatelaine, Chronicler, Herald, Deputy Chatelaine and Deputy Herald. Wyewood could either mean "wood on the river Wye" or "wood belonging to Wicga." Ekwall's Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place Names p.540 shows Wye as a river name (identical to Wey), Wyegate meaning "Wicga's gate or pass" from the Old English personal name Wicga, and Wychwood meaning "forest of the Hwicce."

19) Yvette Merle (Corvaria) new/name, device

Azure, the sun resplendent, rays issuing from dexter chief point or, the base representing water proper, barry wavy argent and azure. [Proposed reblazon: Azure a sun issue from dexter chief Or a ford proper.]

(F) The name is meant to be French. Dunkling and Gosling's the Facts on File Dictionary of First Names gives Yvette as the French feminine form of Ivo. The name Ivo is said to have been very common among the Normans and Bretons. Withycombe's Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names gives the same etymology and states that Ivetta is found in England in 1167. The same source gives Ivo as a name brought to England at the time of the Norman conquest, and a favorite name with the Anglo-Normans. Its diminutive gave rise to many surnames including Ivett(s). It is also apparently her mundane given name although no documentation (photocopy of driver's license) has been provided in support of this.

Hanks and Hodges' Dictionary of Surnames gives the surname Merle as French, derived from OF merle meaning "blackbird." If changes are required she wishes to preserve the general sound.

She provides documentation out of Elvin's Dictionary of Heraldry showing the use of the hatchings found in the black and whites and their correspondence with the appropriate tinctures. Elvin also notes that water was anciently drawn as being barry wavy argent and azure and that the arms of Trevelyan show a demi-horse issuing "out of water in base proper." This is illustrated using a standard ford (a base wavy barry wavy argent and azure.) The term "Sun resplendent" is shown referring both to rays issuing from clouds in chief, and rays issuing from dexter chief point.

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