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Kingdom of Atenveldt Home Page

Kingdom of Atenveldt
Heraldic Submissions Page

(administered by the Brickbat Herald)

ATENVELDT COLLEGE OF HERALDS 1 April 2019, A.S. LIII

LETTER OF PRESENTATION Kingdom of Atenveldt




Unto Their Royal Majesties Morgan and Elizabeth; Baron Seamus MacDade, Aten Principal Herald; Heralds in the Atenveldt College of Heralds; and to All Whom These Presents Come,

Greetings from Marta as tu Mika-Mysliwy, Brickbat Herald and Parhelium Herald for the Kingdom of Atenveldt!



Please have commentary to me on the proposed submissions for the April Letter of Intent by 20 April 2019. Thank you!


Please consider the following submissions for the April 2019 Atenveldt Letter of Intent:


Aimée Douglas and Dougal MacPherson the Tall (Windale): NEW JOINT BADGE

Per bend sinister vert and azure, four pairs of human footprints in bend sinister argent.

The names were registered July 1999 and August 1998, respectively.

The use of foot/paw prints is a Step from Period Practice.


Orabilis Douw (BoA): NEW HOUSEHOLD NAME and NEW BADGE, “Catwolf Keep”

Sable, a chatloup rampant within a masculyn argent.

The client's personal name was registered July 2017.

Keep is an approved household designator found in SENA Appendix E. The monster is also known as a catwolf (the English translation for chatloup) in Dennys, http://mistholme.com/pictorial-dictionary-of-heraldry/. Gaston Phebus, Count of Foy, wrote a Book of the Hunt (Livre de chasse) c. 1389, which describes animals that were hunted by the nobility of the time, along with animal behavior:

"Espèce de chat sauvage, loup cervier": Toutes voies y a il de diverses manieres de chaz sauvaiges, espiciaument il en y a uns qui sont granz comme lieparz, et ceuls apelent aucuns loups cerviers et les autres chaz loux. Et c'est mau dit, quar ils ne sont ne lous serviers ni chatz lous. On les pourroit mieulz apeler chaz lieparz que autrement, quar ilz traient plus a liepart que a autre beste. (GAST. PHÉBUS, Livre chasse T., 1387-1389, 104). (http://circe.atilf.fr/definition/dmf/chat-loup?idf=complXpcYXbcehh;str=0), which more or less translates as

"Species of wild cat, loup cervier": All routes are there in various ways of chaz sauvaiges, espícially there are some who are granz like lieparz, and they call no lynxes and others chaz loux. And that's right, they're not servants or chatting. They could better be called upon if they otherwise treated more than any other beast. (https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=french-english+dictionary)

The masculyn is found in the arms of Henry Pay d. 1419. The catloup is a monster with the face of a cat, the body of a wolf, and the serrated horns of an antelope. It was also called a “calopus,” “catwolf,” or “catalope.” It is found on the canting crest of Cathorne, 1553. Information on the charges is found in the online Pictorial Dictionary of Heraldry, http://mistholme.com/pictorial-dictionary-of-heraldry/.


The following submissions appear in the March 2019 Atenveldt Letter of Intent:

Commentary for this letter was provided by Dietrich von Sachsen (Green Mantle Herald), ffride wlffsdotter, Iago ab Adam, Michael Gerard Curtememoire.


Ambré Renée de Passais (Mons Tonitrus): NEW DEVICE: Argent, a sun gules eclipsed Or, on a chief azure three mullets of seven points argent.
Considering the eclipsed sun as a sun + roundel still brings the complexity count or tinctures + charges to eight, which is acceptable.


Dawn Greenwall
(Granite Mountain): DEVICE RESUBMISSION from Laurel, November 2018: Per fess Or and vert masoned Or, a demi-sun issuant from the line of division gules, a chief purpure.

It was suggested by Iago ab Adam: On a field with a chief, the fess line should be half way up the remaining space. This line of division is too high.” The emblazon was redrawn.


Eoin Ó Seachnasaigh: NEW DEVICE CHANGE: Sable, a bend sinister vert fimbriated and in dexter chief a stag salient argent.

The name was registered December 2010.
If registered, the client asks that his currently-registered device, Sable, a bend sinister vert fimbriated and in dexter chief a Celtic cross argent., registered in December 2010, be maintained as a badge.


Eoin the Steward: NEW DEVICE CHANGE, from Argent, on a hurt a cross couped argent, a base sable., registered June 2015.

Argent, on a hurt a cross couped argent, a bordure embattled sable.


Hrafn Vargr (Tir Ysgithr): NEW NAME and DEVICE Per bend sinister vert and argent, a wolf rampant contourny argent and a raven contourny sable.

Hrafn is an Old Norse male given name (“Viking Names found in Landnámabók,” Aryanhwy merch Catmael, http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/norse/landnamabok.html). The byname Vargr, “wolf,” (also a “thief, robber, miscreant”) is found in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Geir T. Zoëga, Oxford, 1910, https://archive.org/details/concisedictionar001857/page/n6. This is a more search-friendly site: http://norse.ulver.com/dct/zoega/v.html. The client desires a male name and if most interested in the land/culture of the name (11th-12th C. Norway); he would like it to be authentic for Norwegian (language and/or culture).


Jon Blackfish (BoA): NEW NAME and DEVICE: Per bend sinister Or and sable, a lucy haurient embowed contourny and a Maltese cross counterchanged.


Kára Refsdóttir (Tir Ysgithr): NEW NAME and DEVICE: Argent, a fox passant proper within a wreath of holly leaves vert fructed gules.


Kim Dae Hae (BoA): NAME RESUBMISSION from William of Atenveldt/Kim Samguk
Submitted as Kim Senggum in the December 2018 Atenveldt LoI (itself a resubmission of the holding name William of Atenveldt, registered as a holding name in August 2018), the client wishes to withdraw Kim Senggum and submit this instead.

Moire Fhionn inghean Uí Raghallaigh (Barony of Atenveldt): NEW DEVICE: Sable, three crescents conjoined in pall horns outward, a bordure Or.


Orrin Darius (BoA): DEVICE RESUBMISSION from Laurel, November 2018: Sable, two serpents nowed in a Bourchier knot, that to dexter Or and that to sinister inverted argent, in base a triquetra inverted argent.

The previous submission, Sable, two serpents nowed in a Bourchier knot, that to dexter Or and that to sinister inverted argent., was returned for “conflict with the badge of Bourchier (important non-SCA armory), (Tinctureless) A Bourchier knot. There is one DC for the field, but no difference granted for the presence of the serpents' heads.”


Thora Gyldir (BoA): NEW NAME
The name is Old Norse. Thora (as Þóra) is a female given name in “Viking Names found in Landnámabók,” Aryanhwy merch Catmael, http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/norse/landnamabok.html. Gyldir is a byname, “howler, wolf”, in “Viking Bynames found in the Landnámabók,” Arryanhwy merch Catmael, http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/norse/vikbynames.html. It is correct as gylðir. The client will be informed of this (the client was contacted, but there was no reply).


The following submissions were registered by the SCA College of Arms, December 2018:


Adrienne Noël de Lorraine. Device. Or, a dragon vert maintaining a wooden tankard proper and a dumbeg sable.
Áine inghean Uí Raghallaigh. Device. Per chevron inverted argent and Or, a chevron inverted purpure surmounted by a dragon sejant vert between three arrows vert, purpure, and azure.
There is a step from period practice for the use of the same charge in three different tinctures.
Artist's note: Please draw larger arrows and more internal detailing on the dragon to aid in identifiability.
Franz Weiher. Name and device. Per fess sable and azure, a compass rose Or between three crosses formy argent.
Nice late 16th century German name!
Hlaðgerðr Arnfriðardóttir. Name.
The submitter requested authenticity for 9th-10th century Old Norse language. It is unclear whether this name meets that request. Both elements are in Old Norse, the language spoken in most of Scandinavia during that time period. However, the byname is attested in Iceland, while the given name appears to have been found only in Denmark. Thus, it may be authentic but we cannot say for sure.
Hrafnkell Sveinsson. Name and device. Per pale argent and sable, a calamarie and in base two anchors counterchanged.
Submitted as Hrafnkel_ Sveinsson, the given name was not spelled correctly. All of the attested nominative (direct) instances of this name spell it as Hrafnkell. As given names can only be registered in their nominative forms, we have changed the name to Hrafnkell Sveinsson for registration. Nice 9th-10th century Icelandic name!
Artist's note: Please draw the calamarie larger as befits a primary charge.
Katrina Neumann. Name and device. Gules, on a bend wavy azure fimbriated and cotised three mullets palewise argent.
Submitted as Katrina von Neumann, the preposition von was used in period German names only as part of locative bynames. As Neumann is not a place, von is not appropriate in this name. The practice of adding von to any kind of German name to denote nobility arose significantly after the Society's period of study. With the submitter's permission, we have changed the name to Katrina _ Neumann for registration. As changed, nice 16th century German name!
Commenters questioned whether this design was too similar to various flags from US history to be registerable as either obtrusively modern or (in some circumstances) offensive. While several commenters noted that the armory was evocative of patriotic motifs that one might find in the United States, the design itself is sufficiently different from any known flag to avoid our limitations on overly modern or offensive designs.
Logan Fraser. Name and device. Per bend sinister gules and sable, on a bend sinister cotised argent a badger contourny sable.
The Letter of Intent argued that Logan can be used as a given name because it appears as a surname in Scotland. However, precedent currently limits the use of surnames as given names to English only. There is no evidence that the Scots also used surnames as given names in period, and thus presently no grounds for expanding that precedent. Without such evidence, it was necessary to redocument Logan as either a given name or an English surname. In commentary, Alisoun Metron Ariston found multiple instances of Logan as an English surname, allowing the name to be registered as submitted.

The following submissions were returned for further work, December 2018:


Hlaðgerðr Arnfriðardóttir. Device. Per chevron inverted vert and argent, a legless titmouse contourny Or and an iris azure.

This device is returned for redraw. There are few situations in heraldry where a bird might be depicted without any evidence of legs, namely volant and (for waterfowl) naiant. The martlet, the quasi-fantastical footless bird common in heraldry, is always depicted with tufts of feathers where the missing feet might be, and no evidence has yet been presented that a martlet would be depicted as a completely legless titmouse.
Upon resubmission, please depict the bird either with legs and feet as a titmouse, or as a martlet with tufts of feathers for legs. Please also draw it centered in its allotted space.
Sundragon, Barony of. Badge. (Fieldless) A sun in splendor Or within and conjoined to five dragons passant in annulo argent.
This badge is returned for violation of SENA A2C3, which requires that "Elements must be drawn at an appropriate size for their role in an armorial submission...Charges that are too big or too small may blur the difference between charge groups." In this design, each dragon has at least the same visual weight as the central sun. However, they can't be co-primary because they are neither in a unified arrangement nor a unified orientation. Upon resubmission, please draw the sun larger and the dragons smaller.
There is a step from period practice for charges in annulo not in their default palewise orientation.


The following submissions were registered by the SCA College of Arms, January 2019:


Celeste Vallentine. Device change. Purpure mullety argent, a natural leopard rampant contourny guardant argent spotted sable.
The submitter's previous device, Azure mullety, a natural leopard rampant contourny guardant argent spotted sable, is released.

The following submissions were returned for further work, January 2019:


Marceau de Valcourt. Household name Rhythmic Mercenaries.

This name must be returned because it does not follow any attested pattern for naming groups of people. The Letter of Intent argued that this name follows the pattern for English gang names. However, this name does not fit that pattern. First, we have no evidence of such groups being described with the collective noun mercenaries. Our current research shows that period English gangs were described with terms like Crew, Boys or Regiment. Any of these terms would be an acceptable household designator for an English gang name. The term mercenaries is not. While it was certainly a word in period, it was not a word used in the particular way intended by the submitter.
Second, the adjective rhythmic is not the kind of word used to describe English gangs. Gangs were generally described with negative adjectives, such as terrible, damned or cursed. Less commonly, positive adjectives such as gallant were used ironically, as in the gallant crew (1598) and the Gallant Roars (1603). No adjectives as abstract as rhythmic or rhythmical are found in period lists of English gangs. Moreover, there is no evidence that the terms rhythmic or rhythmical were used to describe any groups of people in English. Accordingly, as this name does not follow an attested naming pattern for groups of people, it cannot be registered.
Orabilis Douw. Badge. Per saltire gules and sable, in fess a dragon maintaining a sword and a Greek sphinx rampant contourny maintaining an arrow, their tails entwined argent, a bordure embattled ermine.
This badge is returned for violation of SENA A5E3, which generally limits complexity of armory to eight tinctures and charge types. The submitted badge features four tinctures (argent, sable, gules, ermine) and five charges (dragon, sword, griffin, arrow, and bordure), for a total complexity count of nine.

The following submissions were registered by the SCA College of Arms, February 2019:


Gunni Blóðøx. Name and device. Sable, on a double-bitted axe inverted argent hafted Or the haft winged argent two gouts de sang.
This name does not conflict with the registered Gunnar Bloodax under PN3C1 as there are changes in sound in appearance to two syllables: Gunn-ar vs. Gunni and Bloodax vs. Blóðøx. The character ð is pronounced like "th," not like an English d.
Lisette du Lac. Name and device. Sable, a blonde melusine proper between three fleurs-de-lys argent.

The following submissions were returned for further work, February 2019:


Leo Hyrulea. Name change from holding name Leo of Atenveldt.
This name was pended on the September 2018 Letter of Acceptances and Returns. Submitted as Leo Hyrulea _, the submitter's legal name is Leo Hyrulea [surname]. By precedent, the combination of legal first name plus legal middle name cannot be registered because it is considered identical to the name used by the submitter outside the Society. At the request of several commenters, we pended this name to consider whether that precedent should stand. We conclude that it should.
Section IIIA10 of the Admin Handbook states:
No name will be registered to a submitter if it is identical to a name used by the submitter for purposes of identification outside of a Society context. This includes legal names, common use names, trademarks, and other items registered with mundane authorities that serve to identify an individual or group.
By precedent, the combination of a legal given name and legal middle name, in that order, is considered identical to a name used by the submitter outside of the Society and cannot be registered:
The submitter's legal name is Mari Alexander [surname]. Therefore, this submission contains the submitter's first two names in the same order as in her legal name. A similar submission was recently returned:
The submission consists of the given names, in order, of the submitter. As this is one of the possible common use names, we have to return this submission for conflict against the submitter herself, protected under section III.A.9 of the Administrative Handbook. [Mary Amanda, 09/00, R-Artemisia]
Therefore, just as Mari [surname] would be conflict with her legal name, so the submitted Mari Alexander conflicts with her with her legal name. [Mari Alexander, 9/2001 LoAR, R-West]
This precedent was not overturned by SENA. It was upheld as recently as February 2015. [Antoinette Marie, 2/2015 LoAR, R-Atenveldt]
Commentary was strongly in favor of keeping the distinction between one's identity in the Society and one's identity in the modern world. Given the number of people who, upon marriage, turn their former surname into a middle name, the likelihood of legal given name plus legal middle name being an actual use name in the modern world is fairly high. Moreover, a submitter who truly wishes to use their legal given and middle names can do so as long as they add another element, such as of Atenveldt, to distinguish their identity in the Society from their identity outside of the Society. Having considered all of the arguments for and against, the existing precedent stands.
Accordingly, the submitted name cannot be registered under Section IIIA10 of the Administrative Handbook because it is effectively identical to the submitter's legal name. For resubmission, the submitter should consider adding an element that is not part of his legal name, such as a local branch name or period place name.

Many thanks in advance for your time and consideration of these submissions.


Marta as tu Mika-Mysliwy, Parhelium Herald

c/o Linda Miku

2527 East 3rd Street

Tucson AZ 85716

brickbat@nexiliscom.com; atensubmissions.nexiliscom.com


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