The Heralds' Page

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Per pale indented sable and argent, a goblet counterchanged.

Conflict was called against Robin Telfer - June of 1995 (via Calontir): Per pale indented the points ending in roundels sable and argent, two goblets counterchanged. The term "counterchanged" is heraldic shorthand. In Robin's blazon it stands in for "the dexter goblet argent and the sinister goblet sable". In Damian's blazon it stands for "per pale indented argent and sable". Therefore CDs exist for number of charges and also for changing the line of division and half the tincture of the primary charge group. Just because something is blazoned as counterchanged doesn't mean it's free to move anywhere on the field; it is locked into place by its tincture as surely as if it were specifically blazoned.

Sable, a chalice within an orle argent.

(Fieldless) A badger rampant contourny sable

Conflict was called against a brown badger rampant. It is unfortunate that brown creatures are categorized with sable in the Ordinary, as that creates the inaccurate impression that brown might not be different from sable. It most certainly is, however, as verified by this Laurel precedent:

[Pily vert and argent, a boar statant contourny proper] There was discussion in the commentary about whether these arms conflict with the badge of Godfrey of Inwood, (Fieldless) A boar statant contourny sable. Since there is a CD for the field, the question becomes one of whether this brown boar should be given a tincture CD from Godfrey's black boar. The boar as drawn here is a clear brown and is far from being black, or from closely resembling any other heraldic tincture. Current policy appears to be a tacit assumption that a brown animal or object proper is given tincture difference from any standard heraldic tincture, as long as the particular shade of brown is drawn so that it is not too close to a standard heraldic tincture. [Áedán of Windhaven, 08/01, A-Middle]

Submitted as Greylond of Trealoch, the locative was changed at kingdom to match the registered branch name spelling.

Gules, on a pile between two fleurs-de-lys Or a stag's head cabossed sable.

Submitted as Lachlann Munro, the forename spelling was changed at kingdom to match a documented spelling of the name; the College of Arms was requested to assist in documenting the originally submitted spelling, if possible.

Argent, a pair of open scissors points to chief sable, and on a chief gules two open books argent.

A Pictorial Dictionary of Heraldry as Used in the Society for Creative Anachronism, 2nd Ed. s.n. SHEARS states that the scissors' posture is usually explicitly blazoned, but says that the "SCA default seems to be with points to chief". After Zenobia Wreath's recent bout with trilliums, we are not leaving any ambiguity in this blazon for her; if there is indeed a default such blazon can be made by Wreath.

Argent, a lion passant guardant vert and a chief counter-ermine.

(Fieldless) An oak leaf fesswise gules conjoined with an oak leaf fesswise reversed in annulo Or.

Argent, a dragonfly and on a chief engrailed azure three fleurs-de-lis argent.

(Fieldless) A triangle inverted voided ployé fleury at the points azure.

(Fieldless) A triangle voided ployé fleury at the points argent.

(Fieldless) On a cushion per pale azure and sable, a mullet of eight points Or.

The blazon was changed with the word points added. The question always arises when this is done, "What else can a mullet be six/eight/ten of if not points?" Lions Blood replies, "Mascles, pheons, lozenges, arrows..." The SCA uses points when specifying the number of ends on a mullet because we accept mullets made of multiples of other charges.

Checky argent and azure, a cross bottony sable.

Conflict with Aengus Stiubhard Mac Dhughaill - January of 1996 (via Calontir): Barry and per pale argent and vert, a cross crosslet fitchy sable. Bottony is an artistic variant of crosslet, and crosses fitchy received no difference from non-fitchy crosses in period, so the crosses are heraldically identical, leaving only one CD for the field. While a slight confusion of the eye is possible with a sable charge on a checky azure and argent field, the field is legally neutral and the cross is quadrilaterally symmetrical making it unmistakable in form, so contrast is not a problem.

Vert, a talbot's head erased and a bordure embattled argent.

Conflict with Leonard du Chien - September of 1993 (via the East): Per saltire gules and sable, a talbot's head couped and a bordure embattled argent. There is only one CD for changing the field as per RfS X.4.a. and nothing between a head couped and a head erased by Laurel precedent.

Sable, on a plate an owl close perched on a branch sable and on a point pointed argent a pellet.

Returned for redrawing as the owl was neither affronty nor to dexter and the point pointed was too small.

Gules, on a plate cardinal gules, issuant from base three chevronels braced argent.

Returned for rework. Chevronels are multiples of the standard ordinary, the chevron, and as such should not be abased in this manner without documentation of period use in this manner. Lions Blood was also worried that the non-period treatment of the ordinaries added to the New world species of bird might amount to two weirdnesses.

Per bend sable and argent, a goblet Or and a sword gules.

Returned for lack of documentation of the forename. Although the submitter allowed changes, the commenters had a wide variety of likely choices, therefore Lions Blood felt it served the submitter best to be able to choose his favorite of the options presented instead of being stuck with a decision made by someone who doesn't know him. The device was returned only for lack of a name to send to Laurel with, as no problems were found.

Purpure, on a bend between two butterflies Or three pheons inverted palewise sable.

The submitter's name was registered in December of 2002. Her previous device submission, Purpure chausse Or, within a trefoil knot inverted argent a butterfly Or, was returned from kingdom in August 2002 for conflict with Damon Annaeus Licinius: Or, on a pile purpure a thunderbolt argent. As piles and chaussé fields are identical for purposes of conflict, there was only one CD for changes to the tertiary charges.

Per bend sinister azure and vert, a bend sinister and in base a fleur de lis Or.

The submitter accepts minor changes, cares most about language/culture, and desires a feminine English name. She will allow a holding name.

Annor is cited from Withycombe, E.G., The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, s.n. Honor, with the spelling Annor dated 1273.

de Walton is cited from Reaney, P.H. & R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames, s.n. Walton: Richard de Walton, 1253.

The submitter does not accept changes, cares most about language /culture, and desires an English-Scots borderer masculine name.

Arthur is cited from Withycombe, E.G., The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, pg 33. The submitter's consulting herald states, "The earlier spellings were "Artur" and "Artor", "Arthur" becoming more usual in the sixteenth century. However, Reaney & Wilson in A Dictionary of English Surnames p. 15 sub Arthur et al, show an Adam Arthur dated to 1246, so this spelling was certainly known pre-16th century, although here as a surname."

Argent a reindeer salient sable, a chief gules three coronets argent.

The submitter's name was registered in April of 2001. She received her County in January of 2001.

(Fieldless) A reindeer salient sable.

The submitter's name was registered in April of 2001.

Per pale embattled gules and sable, between two bear's paws prints a lightning bolt in pale Or.

The submitter accepts minor changes, cares most about sound, and desires an authentic Mongolian masculine name. He will allow a holding name.

Berik is the submitter's legal name; a photocopy of his ID is included. The name is also cited from Maenchen-Helfen, Otto J., The World of the Huns, p.406: "Lord of many villages, Berik, strong. The king under whom the Goths are said to have left Scandinavia had a similar name: Berig." Photocopies are included.

No documentation is included for of the Great Northern Horde.

The line of field division follows the line of the lightning bolt exactly.

Argent two daggers in chevron sable distilling two de sang each a base gules and a bordure sable.

The submitter accepts minor changes, cares most about the stated meaning of 'gray steel', and desires a masculine name. He will allow a holding name.

The full name is documented using "On the Documentation and Construction of Period Mongolian Names" by Baras-aghur Naran online at http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/baras-aghur/mongolian.html. The article says, "Animal names were popular among the Mongols, as well as colours, numbers, weaponry and metals, with the names not being gender specific. It must be remembered that because the Mongols were a nomadic people practicing a shamanistic religion, names were chosen that reflected important objects, events, and concepts in daily life." Drawing from information in the book The Secret History of the Mongols and an article "Naming Patterns Among the Mongols" by Larry Moses, the article by Baras-aghur indicates that descriptive names consisting of nouns and adjectives were common. The submitted name fits the pattern of colors or color combinations, examples of such given being "gold, red, dappled, roan and white", and meeting the same formation of a given name and epithet, with examples in the article being Al Altan (crimson gold) and Mongke Temur (eternal iron). Bora is found in the listing of Colours, and means "gray". Gan is found in the listing of Common Name Elements from Other Sources, and means "steel".

The daggers and bordure are sable; the gouttes and base are gules.

The submitter's name, Khulan the Dark, was registered in May of 1988 and is to be released upon registration of this change. She allows minor changes and wishes an authentic Mongolian name with no preference for gender.

Chinua is documented from "On the Documentation and Construction of Period Mongolian Names" by Baras-aghur Naran online at http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/mongol.html where it appears in the listing of Common Name Elements from Primary Sources and means "wolf".

Baatur comes from Intermediate Mongolian (A Textbook for Modern Mongolian), by John G. Hangin. The entry highlighted in the included copies is found under B but seems to be in Cyrillic and looks like ______ which means 'brave, hero(ic)'. No Latin alphabet version is included.

Or, a dog statant and a chief invected purpure.

The submitter accepts any changes, cares most about language/culture, and desires a feminine name. She will allow a holding name.

Dáire is cited from Ó Corráin, Donnchadh & Fidelma Maguire, Irish Names, as the only header spelling, described as the name of a virgin saint whose feast day is 8th August.

inghean is stated to be the particle meaning daughter in the post 1200 form.

Chearbhaill is cited from Ó Corráin & Maguire s.n. Cerball as the late period form of the name in the later Middle Ages favored by the learned family of Ó Dálaigh. This is intended to be the genitive and lenited form.

The submitter accepts changes, cares most about language/culture, and desires a feminine name.

Effrick is cited from Black, George, The Surnames of Scotland, sub Africa, with this spelling dated to 1470.

McBryd is also cited from Black, sub MacBride, with this spelling dated to 1329.

Per bend azure and argent, two needles counterchanged.

The submitter's name appears on the March 2003 An Tir LoI.

Sable, a horse's head couped and a chief Or

The submitter's name and device were registered in August 2000. Her device to be released upon registration of this change is Sable, a horse's head couped and a point pointed Or.

(Fieldless) A trivet gules.

The submitter's name was registered in August 2000. Her current badge, (Fieldless) A horse's head issuant from a chevron couped Or, is to be released upon registration of this badge.

(Fieldless) A trivet Or.

The submitter's name was registered in August 2000.

Purpure, on a tower argent a dog rampant purpure.

The submitter's name was registered in January of 2002. Her first device submission of Purpure, on a tower argent masoned a dog rampant sable was returned on that LoAR for conflict with Aelfric se Droflic, (Fieldless) On a tower argent, an acorn sable. There was only one CD for changes to the field and nothing for change of type only of tertiary charge. Her second try, Purpure, on a tower argent masoned sable a dog rampant vert, was returned from kingdom in August of 2002 for conflict with Joe of Rivenstar: (Fieldless) On a tower argent a cross of Jerusalem vert. Again, only one CD for changes to the field. This resubmission addresses both previous conflicts.

(Fieldless) A cross of Santiago Or, overall an escallop gules.

The submitter's name was registered in December 2002. His previous badge submission, (Fieldless) A cross of Santiago Or overall an escallop inverted gules, was returned from kingdom in November 2002 because the escallop overlapped the cross in a manner not acceptable to the rules for surmounting charges in fieldless badges and created identifiability problems.

Argent, a loon naiant contourny sable marked argent and a ford proper.

The submitter accepts minor changes, cares most about meaning, 'loon' and desires an Old Norse feminine name. She will allow a holding name.

Helga is cited from Geirr Bassi Haraldsson, The Old Norse Name, pg 11.

Loma is cited from Geir Zoega, A Concise Dictionary Of Old Icelandic, pg 278 as 'lómr, m. loon (the bird)'. Additionally, the following bird bynames were found in Geirr Bassi: assa 'eagle', arnarungi 'eaglet', hegri 'heron', kaða 'hen', lundi 'puffin', mási 'seagull', smyrill 'merlin, small hawk', storkr 'stork' titlingr 'sparrow', trani 'crane', þiðrandi 'partridge', and orn 'eagle'. The byname lómbungr is also in Geirr Bassi with the meaning of 'loony'. Photocopies of the dictionary are included.

Vert, between two bendlets or three oak leaves argent.

The submitter accepts minor changes, cares most about meaning (noisy tree - white hair), and desires a masculine name in the Swedish language. He will allow a holding name.

Hróngviðr is cited from Geirr Bassi Haraldsson, The Old Norse Name, pg 11, meaning 'noisy tree'.

Hærlangr is also cited from Geirr Bassi Haraldsson, The Old Norse Name, pg 23, meaning 'one with long (white) hair'.

Barry wavy argent and azure, four towers in cross gules

The submitter accepts any changes, and desires an authentic 14th century Italian feminine name. She will allow a holding name. Her previous name, Isabella la Fiumeguardia, was returned from kingdom in December 2002 for byname construction problems, as "river stronghold" as an Italian byname was not supported by documentation. This is a rework of the name.

Isabella is cited from De Felice, Dizionario del Nomi Italiani, pg 215.

Feliciano is cited from Fucilla, Joseph, Our Italian Surnames, pg 32.

del Rio is also cited from Fucilla, pg 101.

Or, a cross of Calatrava gules within a circle of eight lozenges points to center sable

The submitter accepts minor changes, and desires a Mongolian masculine name. He will allow a holding name.

Jebe is cited from James Chambers, The Devil's Horsemen; The Mongol Invasion of Europe, pg 8., "... two men who had risen to the command of an army before they were twenty-five years old and became legendary heroes among the people of the steppes: Jebe Noyan and Subedei Bahadur." The source dates Jebe Noyan as a contemporary of Temujin, who was crowned as the Chingis Khan. Photocopies are included.

No documentation is provided for Yakskull.

Or, on a cross vert a hawk's leg belled and jessed Or.

Submitter's name appears on the An Tir LoI of February 2003. Her previous device submission of exactly the same blazon was returned from kingdom for redrawing in February 2003 because the cross was large enough to create identifiability problems.

Or, a tree blasted and eradicated on a base sable two rapiers in saltire argent.

Submitter will accept any changes and wishes an English name with no preference for gender or time period.

Josephe is found in "Names and Naming Practices in the Registers of the Church of St. Mary's, Dymock (Gloucestershire, England: 1538-1600/1" by Mari Elsbeth nic Bryan: http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/dymock/. The masculine given names section lists Josephe as appearing once in the data and dated 1600.

Blackthorn is a header spelling in Reaney, P.H. and R.M. Wilson A Dictionary of English Surnames with William Blakthorn dated 1442. The submitter prefers the header spelling to go with the very late period forename.

The submitter's current name, Gabriel Mousebane, was registered in October 1998 and is to be released upon registration of this change. She allows any changes and has no preferences other than wishing a feminine name.

Lisabetta is found in "Italian Renaissance Women's Names" by Rhian Lyth of Blackmoor Vale, online at http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/rhian/italian.html.

Lucia is found in the same article as above, two down from Lisabetta. Instances of double given names have been found in Italian women's names in late period. Support for this would be appreciated.

Antelini is in "Fourteenth Century Venetian Personal Names" by Arval Benicoeur in the S.Gabriel library at http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/venice14/venice14sur.html. The name is listed as "probably a patronymic". As such, dei is an appropriate patronymic marker for a female in Italian, and the submitter would like to keep that element if possible. Additional documentation for dei would help this submission.

Copies of all articles are included. (Lions Blood is responsible for holes in the documentation, having mislaid the notes sheet from ATKHS. The submitter should not be penalized for Lions Blood's forgetfulness.)

Or, a sea-serpent erect embowed counterembowed.

The submitter's name was registered in April of 1997.

The blazon is inaccurate - this is a fieldless badge and the serpent is Or.

Quarterly sable and Or, in bend sinister a griffin and a griffin contourny gules.

The submitter accepts any changes and wishes a Gaelic masculine name meaning "Seamus of/with the broken bow(s), son of the scholar". He will allow a holding name.

Séamus is a header spelling in Ó Corráin, Donnchadh, and Fidelma Maguire's Irish Names, which says, "The name was common among the Anglo-Norman settlers in Ireland and was adopted by the native Irish."

in Boghanna Bernaig is meant to mean "[of] the Broken Bow". This construction is supported by an entry in "Index of Names in Irish Annals: Descriptive Bynames" by Mari Elsbeth nic Bryan, online at
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/ descriptiveBynames/inGaiBernaig.shtml. The byname given means "[of] the Broken Spear" and was found in the Annals, recorded multiple times as the name of a single man, dated variously from 1039. In 1067 the name was recorded as Aodh an Ghae Bherrnaigh Ua Concobhair, rí Connacht (Aedh of the Broken Spear Ua Concobhair, King of Connacht). Conversation from the Irish Gaelic Translation Forum suggests boghanna to mean "bows", plural. The singular, according to the discussion, would be bogha. These are in modern Gaelic; medieval Gaelic would be better, of course.

Mac an tSaoi is found as a header spelling in Woulfe, Patrick, Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames as a surname meaning 'son of the scholar'. The source says, "In the 16th century, it was most common in Donegal, Monaghan, Louth and Longford."

Copies of all S. Gabriel articles and discussion on the Irish Gaelic Translation Forum is included.

(Fieldless) A mascle sable.

Submitter's name was registered in September of 1999.

Azure, in fess two hawthorne flowers conjoined, seeded Or, within an orle argent.

Submitter's name was registered in November of 2000. Her device submission of Vert, a stag trippant argent was returned from kingdom in July 2000 for conflict. This is a complete rework.

The flowers are argent, seeded Or.

Azure, on a chevron above a rose argent barbed and seeded proper, two arrows inverted in chevron gules.

The submitter's name appears on the An Tir LoI of February 2003. Her name form states that she will accept a holding name.

Per bend sable and argent, a cornucopia Or fructed proper.

The submitter will not accept major changes, minor are fine. She wishes a Mongolian name meaning "Great Abundance", and though she marked "female" on the forms, she wants the name Yeke regardless of gender. She will accept a holding name.

The full name is documented using "On the Documentation and Construction of Period Mongolian Names" by Baras-aghur Naran online at http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/baras-aghur/mongolian.html. The article says, "Animal names were popular among the Mongols, as well as colours, numbers, weaponry and metals, with the names not being gender specific. It must be remembered that because the Mongols were a nomadic people practicing a shamanistic religion, names were chosen that reflected important objects, events, and concepts in daily life." Drawing from information in the book The Secret History of the Mongols and an article "Naming Patterns Among the Mongols" by Larry Moses, the article by Baras-aghur indicates that descriptive names consisting of nouns and adjectives were common. The submitted name fits the pattern of words with beneficial meaning, examples of such given being "eternal, long life, loyalty, dignity". Yeke is found in the listing of Common Name Elements from Primary Sources, and means "great". Delger is found in the listing of Common Name Elements from Other Sources, and means "abundance".

Copies of Baras-aghur Naran's article have been included.

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Boar Pursuivant

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