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Kingdom of Atenveldt
Heraldic Submissions Page

(administered by the Brickbat Herald)

ATENVELDT COLLEGE OF HERALDS 30 September 2005, A.S. XL
LETTER OF PRESENTATION Kingdom of Atenveldt

Unto Their Royal Majesties Edward and Asa; the Honourable Lord Seamus McDaid, Aten Principal Herald; the Heralds in the Atenveldt College of Heralds; and to All Whom These Presents Come,

Greetings from Marta as tu Mika-Mysliwy, Parhelium Herald!


This is the September 2005 internal Atenveldt Letter of Presentation. It precedes the external LoI that will contain the following submissions that are presented here, asking questions of submitters and local heralds who have worked with them; if these questions are not addressed, the submission may be returned by the Atenveldt College of Heralds. I accept online commentary, in addition to questions pertaining to heraldry and consultation for names and armory: brickbat@nexiliscom.com. Please have comments or questions to me, on any armorial matter, by 15 October 2005.


Submissions Website: You can send electronic commentary on the most recent internal LoIs through the site, in addition to any questions you might have. Current submission forms (the ONLY forms that can be used) can be found on the site. Please let your local populace know about the site, too: atensubmissions.nexiliscom.com.


Heraldry Hut: The next Heraldry Hut will be Friday, 21 October, beginning at 7:30 PM.


Please consider the following submissions for the October 2005 Atenveldt Letter of Intent:


Ari Ánson (Windale): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Argent, in pale two lucies and on a base gules a lucy argent.

The name is Old Norse. Ari and Án are masculine given names found in “Viking Names found in the Landnámabók,” Aryanhwy merch Catmael

( http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/norse/landnamabok.html ). This seems the correct formation of the patronymic (Aryanhwy’s paper on ON name construction didn’t address a terminal -n, so I’m guessing that the -son ending is just tacked on).


Aziza al-Zarqa (Mons Tonitrus): NEW NAME, DEVICE and BADGE

(device) Azure, a tulip gules slipped and leaved vert within and conjoined to the horns of a descrescent Or.

(badge) A tulip gules slipped and leaved vert within and conjoined to the horns of a decrescent Or.

The name is Arabic, with both elements found in “Period Arabic Names and Naming Practices,” Da'ud ibn Auda (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/arabic-naming2.htm ). Azizah is a feminine given name (ism), and al-Zarqa’ is a feminine descriptive cognomen (laqab), meaning “the blue-eyed.” The client is most interested in the language/culture of the name and wishes an authentic Arabic name; she will not accept major changes to the name.


Bryn O’Grady (Tir Ysgithr): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Per bend indented gules and Or, a sun and a decrescent bendwise counterchanged.

Bryn is found as an undated masculine given name in Enwau Cymraeg I Blant: Welsh Names for Children, by Ruth Stephens; it comes from the Welsh word for “hill.” O’Grady is undated as found in Reaney and Wilson, from the Irish Gaelic Ó Grádaigh, “descendent of Gráda” (p. 328). Welsh and English is an acceptable name mix; I don’t know if that extends to Welsh and Anglicized Gaelic. The client is most interested in the sound of the name.


Bryndís Eiríksdottir (Tir Ysgithr); NEW NAME and DEVICE

Vert, in pale an otter statant and a mastless drakkar reversed argent.

The name is Icelandic; both elements are found in “Nafnasafnið: Icelandic and Heathen Names,” Haukur Þorgeirsson

( http://www.irminsul.org/arc/012ht.html ) as a feminine given name Bryndís and masculine given name Eiríkr rendered into a patronymic.


Celestria de Braunston (Atenveldt): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Per bend sinister argent and sable, a bendlet sinister enhanced gules and in dexter chief a Brendan’s cross sable.

Celestria is an English feminine given name dated to 1206 and 1221, in “Feminine Given Names in A Dictionary of English Surnames,” Talan Gwynek ( http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/reaney/ ). The byname is found in “Bynames Found in the 1296 Lay Subsidy Rolls for Rutland, England,” Karen Larsdatter ( http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/Rutland/bynamesalphabetically.htm ). This is a great early period English name (direct documentation, too)!

The diminutives of ordinaries (such as bendlets, pallets, bars and bendlets sinister/scarpes) do not occur singly. The documentation for the Brendan’s cross comes from the Alternative Religion/Dictionary of Symbols: “This stylized Christian cross frequently encountered in Ireland is called Brendan’s Cross. It is make up of four dolphins places tail to tail to form and Celtic Cross, and commemorates the journeys of the Irish St. Brendan, also known as "Brendan the Voyager."” ( http://altreligion.ablut.com/library/glossary/symbols/bldefsbrendans.htm ). Nope. This might be a period design motif, such as a Greek key design or Celtic knotwork, but this is far too abstract to be considered a period charge, such as the default Celtic cross. I can only pretend to see the dolphins in this motif (the dolphins do not look anything like natural or heraldic creatures, but rather like finless generic fish). I would consider this charge violating both

    VII.7. Armorial Element Requirements. a. Identification Requirement - Elements must be recognizable solely from their appearance.

    Any charge, line of partition, or field treatment used in Society armory must be identifiable, in and of itself, without labels or excessive explanation. Elements not used in period armory may be defined and accepted for Society use if they are readily distinguishable from elements that are already in use...

    b. Reconstruction Requirement - Elements must be reconstructible in a recognizable form from a competent blazon.

    Any element used in Society armory must be describable in standard heraldic terms so that a competent heraldic artist can reproduce the armory solely from the blazon. Elements that cannot be described in such a way that the depiction of the armory will remain consistent may not be used, even if they are identifiable design motifs that were used before 1600. For example, the Tree of Life occurs as a decorative element in period and is readily identifiable as such, but it may not be used in armory since it cannot be defined in a manner that guarantees its consistent depiction.

Something similar in design, using period charges might be Per bend sinister argent and sable, two scarpes gules and argent, and in chief a Celtic cross sable.


Cristobal de Luson (Sundragon): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Barry wavy argent and azure, a swordfish naiant embowed contourny argent, a chief gules.

The name is Spanish. Both the masculine given name Cristobal and the locative byname de Luson are found in “Spanish Names from the Late 15th Century,” Juliana de Luna ( http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/juliana/isabella/ ). Nice name.

The swordfish needs to be positioned completely on the field rather than overlapping (even a little bit) the chief). Unfortunately, the tincture of the charge cannot share the tincture of part of the field (yes, the swordfish is argent). Even if the field were reblazoned as Argent, X number of bars wavy azure... (which it couldn’t since as depicted there are an equal number of dark and light bands), this problem would persist. Perhaps this design could be checked with the fish being a tincture other than argent or azure (Or would be a possibility, and gules would keep the tinctures used in the overall design to three). This is a nifty design.


Evan Hawkins (Sundragon): DEVICE RESUBMISSION from Kingdom, April 2005

Or, semy of arrows gules, an alaunt gorged rampant azure.

The name appears in the April 2005 Atenveldt Letter of Intent.

The client’s original submission, Per pale vert and Or, to dexter a rapier and an arrow inverted crossed in saltire Or and two sinister a short-eared mastiff gorged azure., was returned for the appearance of marshaled arms and the use of three dissimilar charges in the same charge group. The new design has addressed these issues. The alant/aland is a short-eared mastiff, according to Parker; the blazon might be changed to reflect an easier way to describe the beast.


Gavin Featherstone (Mons Tonitrus): DEVICE RESUBMISSION from Kingdom, May 2004

Gules, a Catherine wheel argent and a base wavy barry argent and sable.

The name was registered April 2005.

The client’s previous submission, Per fess abased gules and sable, a fess abased and in chief a Catherine’s wheel argent., was returned for redrawing (the primary charge was neither an heraldic wheel or a Catherine wheel) and the use of an “abased” field division. This redesign has addressed those issues. The odd number of traits on the base might make this more accurately blazoned as ...a base wavy argent charged with three bars wavy sable., but then, the charge could be blazoned as a ford argent and sable. (instead of its “proper,” argent and azure).


Geirríðr in víðfgrla: DEVICE CHANGE from Kingdom, September 2005

Pily barry bendy sinister Or and sable, and gules.

The name appears in the 28 August 2005 Letter of Intent.

Her original device submission, Pily barry bend sinister Or and gules, and sable., also appears in that LoI. She wishes to change the arrangement of tinctures so that the barry portion is Or and sable, rather than Or and gules.


Imma Looney (Burning Sands): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Per pale indented gules and purpure, a needle bendwise sinister argent.

Imma is a feminine Dutch given name found in “Dutch Womens' Names before 1100,” Walraven van Nijmege

( http://www.geocities.com/Athens/1336/name1100vr.html ). Looney is an English surname dated to 1644 from Irish roots (Reaney and Wilson, p. 264). While I don’t know what the plausibility of mixing English and Dutch name elements is, I’m more concerned that Looney is well in the “grey period” of names (endpoint at 1650), and that the given name is seen before 1100, a 500+ year span between them.

Since the blazon was included in the forms, I think the very thick black line separating the gules from the purpure portion of the fields is just a safeguard – it doesn’t have to be there. While there is a prohibition that prevents a charge from overlying a complex line of division used on fields with low contrast (as is the case here, with two colors rather than a metal and a color), the charge used is such that the complex line is clearly visible, and I’d argue that it be permitted (barring conflict).


Ingvar Bjo;rnson (Windale): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Per bend sinister vert and sable, a bend sinister between a bear’s head cabossed argent and a roundel Or.

The name is Old Norse. Both Ingvar and Bjo;rn are masculine given names found in “Viking Names found in the Landnámabók,” Aryanhwy merch Catmael ( http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/norse/landnamabok.html ). This seems the correct formation of the patronymic (Aryanhwy’s paper on ON name construction didn’t address a terminal -n, so I’m guessing that the -son ending is just tacked on).


Jasper de Dunkerque (Burning Sands): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Per fess argent and gules, a fleur-de-lys and a frog counterchanged.

Jaspar is an English given name dated to 1522 in Reaney and Wilson (p. 252); it is noted that this is the usual English form of the name Caspar/Gaspar, one of the Three Magi (huh!). Dunkerque is a town in northern France, on the straits of Dover near Calais; it grew around a 7th C. church founded by St. Eloi and historically came under Burgundian, Austrian and Spanish rule

( http://uk.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761553947/Dunkerque.html ). English/French name mixes are acceptable (although Withycombe notes that the French form of the given name is Gaspard, in the even the client were interested in a fully-French name). And given the device...


Medh Siobhan MacLeod (Mons Tonitrus): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Per saltire Or and gules, in pale two lotus blossoms in profile and in fess two dragonflies counterchanged.

Ó Corráin and Maguire show Maeve as a more acceptable Englishing of the Irish Gaelic given name Medh (p. 135). The same source lists Siobhan as an Irish Gaelic borrowing from the 12th C. Anglo-Norman feminine given name Jehan(n)e (p. 165). MacLeod is the Anglicized form of the Gaelic patronymic MacLeòid. This spelling is seen as early as 1227 (Black, p. 538, MACLEOD). If need be, she is willing to drop Siobhan so that the name can be registered. The client wishes the Gaelic spelling of the name; Medh should stay Medh.


Michael of Kilkenny (Atenveldt): NEW DEVICE

Azure, a double-bitted axe argent between three triangles conjoined, one and two, throughout Or.

The name appears in the 30 August 2005 Atenveldt Letter of Intent.

There are a number of problems with this submission. From an administrative standpoint, no line drawing was included with the submission, only a photocopy of one of the color copies, rendering shades of grey that will make the miniature a blob; additionally, both this “line drawing” and the colored forms themselves have been shrunk to the point where the size of the escutcheon would be reason for return by the College of Arms (I’m sure one of our commenters, Helena de Argentoune, can provide the exact dimensions needed :). From an armorial standpoint, this could be construed as excessive layering, with four layers used rather than the limit of three (consider the alternate blazon Azure, a triangle Or charged with triangle inverted azure charged with a double-bitted axe argent.). That might be an interesting question for the College of Arms to consider, only that this is likely in conflict with Paul O'Flaherty, registered July 2003 via Atenveldt: Azure, three triangles conjoined, one and two, Or. Granted the axe might be considered the primary charge in Michael’s and the triangles the primaries in Paul’s, such that there is 1 CD for difference in primary charge groups and 1 CD for the addition of a secondary charge group in Michael’s, but the visual similarity is overwhelming; considering both gentlemen live in the metro Phoenix area, I’m very uncomfortable with this (unless Paul were to provide permission to conflict).


Nastas’ia (Sundragon): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Azure, on a pile inverted purpure fimbriated a wolf’s head erased contourny argent, a chief Or.

Oh, argh. If a name submission comes from a culture that doesn’t use the Roman alphabet, the name has to be transliterated into Roman letters; this applies to Russian (Cyrillic), Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Greek, Primitive Irish (Ogham) and Mongolian names. From the Administrative Handbook of the College of Arms of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc. ( http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/admin.html#II_A ):

“V.B.2.a. Alphabetical Order - ... Non-Roman letters should be sorted as if they were transcribed into roman letters, so that ð is alphabetized as dh, þ is alphabetized as th, and æ is alphabetized as ae. ...”

How the client wishes to render his/her mark once registered is up to them, but the College of Arms registers the Roman transliteration of the name for matters of practicality. The name was submitted in Cyrillic (Cyrillic, additionally, is only written in cursive, never printed.)

The client wishes the name to mean “Nastas’ia Daught of a (or the) Wolf.” She is most interested in the meaning of the name and wishes it authentic for 15th-16th C. Russia. (The client used the Babelfish translator to create the name; this might be a start, but it isn’t documentation.) Nastas'ia is found as a diminutive, dated to 1476, for the feminine given name Anastasiia, in “A Dictionary of Period Russian Names,” Paul Wickenden of Thanet ( http://www.sca.org/heraldry/paul/ ). Stumbling through my paperback R-E E-R dictionary, the Russian word for “wolf” is volk (the “B” in Cyrillic is transliterated as a “V”; the “B as in boy” sound comes from the letter that looks like the Greek letter beta). Also in Paul’s article, Volk is a masculine given name dated 1448-68. Following Paul’s paper on Russian name construction ( http://www.sca.org/heraldry/paul/zgrammar.html ), the simplest forms of a Russian name that would mean “Nastas’ia daughter of Wolf” (a man named Wolf, not the beast), could be Nastas’ia Volkova or Nastas’ia Volkovicha or Nastas’ia Volkova doch’ (a less common form would be Nastas’ia Volkovna). Nastas’ia Volkova doch’ seems to come closest to the what appears on the client’s name forms, with the first term apparently doch’. (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/paul/zgrammar.html)

The blazon given is the closest I can come to the emblazon provided. As drawn, the chief is probably 1/3 the width that it needs to be to be considered a chief; even so, a correctly-drawn pile or pile inverted extends through the field so much that there’s no space for a charge between the point of the pile and the edge of the field. This was originally blazoned using chapé, a Continental field division, that is in the terms of conflict, no different from a pile inverted or a Per chevron line of division; if a band were to be used between the dark portions of the field, I don’t think it could be as thin as a fimbriation and would have to conform to the thickness of a chevron. Given the tinctures and the charges of the original, a design such as Per pale azure and purpure, a wolf’s head erased contourny argent and a chief Or. appears to be free of conflict.


Olaf the Traveler (Atenveldt): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Purpure, a griffin statant erect maintaining in its foreclaws a talon-headed staff bendwise Or.

Olaf is a masculine given name from the ON Anleifr, popular in the Scandanavian countries because of St. Olaf(d. 1030) and Olaf Trygvasson (d. 1000), both Kings of Norway; Withycombe notes that while the Danes used Olaf in pre-Norman England, its use fell out of favor after the Norman Conquest (pp. 231-2, s.n. Olaf). Academy S. Gabriel Report 2896 demonstrates Olaf as a masculine given Norwegian name in the period 1480-1530 ( http://www.s-gabriel.org/2896 ), which will make the byname somewhat more compatible temporally. The byname traveler is found in earlier forms as traualours ( c. 1375), trauellouis ( c. 1475) and travelars (1552) in the COED (s.n. traveller, traveler). While not specifically stated for later Scandanavian languages, an English/ON name is one step from period practice and registerable. The client wishes a masculine name and will not accept major changes.


Raven Mayne (Sundragon): NEW BADGE

Argent, semy of ravens volant sable.

The name was registered January 2003.


Seg’oshka Unegen zhena (Atenveldt): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Per fess sable and azure, a mermaid per fess Or and argent, in chief two pitchers fesswise, their bases to center, each distilling a gout Or, a bordure erminois.

The name is Russian and Mongolian, and most of the Russian grammar issues discussed come from “Paul Goldschmidt's Dictionary of Russian Names - Grammar,” Paul Goldschmidt (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/paul/zgrammar.html ). Seg is a masculine Russian given name dating to 1088 and found in “A Dictionary of Period Russian Names,” Paul Wickenden of Thanet ( http://www.sca.org/heraldry/paul/ ). Paul comments that “nicknames or diminutives commonly appeared in place of full given names.” The client says that ’oshka is a “pet-name” ending, and while I think I’ve seen a listing of such endings in print online (i.e., with a citation), I can’t find the location. It also seems, given the vast number of ways that Paul shows a patronymic for a daughter could be constructed, that some spelling alternation is always made to the father’s name (in his example of the man Ivan Guba, none of the patronymics formed for either a son or a daughter are merely Ivan except for the male child patronymic Ivan syn (son of Ivan)). I doubt that making the father’s name into the pet form satisfies this requirement.

zhena was used in combination with a husband’s given name and could replace the father’s name (but not always) for a married woman; there are examples of a woman’s name using both the patronymic and the husband’s name. The biggest sticking point here is that Unegen, an element of the client’s husband’s registered name Kharra Unegen, is Mongolian, and I don’t know if name elements, particularly from that culture, entered into the Russian name pool in period. (I tend to think not.) If that’s not the case, I don’t this this is an issue of the grandfather clause. There is a masculine Russian given name Uneg.

Although we appear to be lacking a given name, the name is made up of multiple elements and appears to follow naming practices prior to the land reforms of Peter the Great in 1714, when Russian women had no legal rights were considered an appendage of their husbands or fathers. However, Paul’s paper does not dismiss the use of a given name, as noted in the opening paragraph of his grammar article, even for a woman, and also later in his article (“When the need was felt for a more precise description of a man, various means could be used other than patronymics, pointing to his social position, governmental function, political allegiance, occupation, trade or profession. With a woman such possibilities were limited. She was, first of all, a member of her family. Consequently, pro foro externo, outside the family, the indication of the head of her family, added to her Christian name, was the surest and the most natural means of her identification.” italics mine). It seems that a period Russian name, even for a woman, would include a given name (by 1000, the population was Russian Orthodox, and it seems that a baptismal name would be automatically be bestowed on all those who were baptized in the Church; as Paul calls it “[a] first name (baptismal name, usually that of a Biblical saint)”).

The client is most interested in a female name and in the sound and language/culture.

I wonder, if other than for reasons of conflict avoidance or the client’s preference, that the mermaid isn’t completely argent or Or.


Stephano MacAllester of Cork (Atenveldt): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Sable, a hammer Or and a rapier in saltire, a bordure dovetailed argent.

The name is Irish. Stephano is listed in the Red Book of Ormand as a masculine given name (“Names and Naming Practices in the Red Book of Ormond (Ireland 14th C.): Given Names,” Heather Rose Jones, http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/lateirish/ormond-given.html#Given ). However, looking at the URL, it notes “Stephano (ablative)” which likely means the actual given name Stephan (listed to the left of it) had at some point been recorded in its Latin form Stephanus (no doubt for Church records), and that Stephano, found in the Ormond Book manuscript, is not the given name as such, but the ablative case of the name Stephanus/Stephan. It would be correct in the nominative form as Stephanus, or the Anglicized Stephan. MacAllester is cited as an undated surname in Black (pp. 449, s.n. MACALASTER), from the Gaelic MacAlasdair, “son of Alexander.” It is shown as an Irish Gaelic family in Scotland, which returned to Ulster as mercenary soldiers in the 14th C. ( http://irishnv.org/Names.html , s.n. Lister). Cork is the southern-most county in Ireland ( http://www.rootsweb.com/~irlkik/ihm/ire1300a.htm ). The client is most interested in a male name, for the language/culture, and wishes this to be authentic for 13th-14th C. Irish/Scot. (Closer spellings for the patronymic, according to Black: Makalestyr, Alexandri (note that the Latinized form is used here, with the genitive case meaning “of Alexander”, i.e., “son of Alexander”), MacAlestir, McAlestere, McAlestre, all 1455.)

No line drawing was included with this submission.


Thomas Mac Aedan (Atenveldt): NEW NAME and BADGE

Argent, four crosses formy two and two, a bordure gules. (?)

Thomas is an English masculine given name found in DB 1086 (Withycombe, pp. 279-80); it is also the client’s legal given name. Áedán (note the diacritical marks) is an Old Irish Gaelic masculine name (c700-c900) and a Middle Irish Gaelic masculine name (c900-c1200); in both cases, the genitive form would be Áedáin (“Index of Names in Irish Annals,” Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/ ). The name disappears from record before 1000 AD (it is revived in modern times as a masculine given name), but it seems that it only persists in its Irish Gaelic form (which would be mac Áedán). An English/Irish Gaelic name is one step from period practice, so it is registerable, and this form of Thomas is an early one, so temporal compatibility might not be a problem. However, Mari’s URL also shows the masculine given name Tomás as Old Irish Gaelic (c700-c900), and Ó Corráin and Maguire say that this is a borrowing of the Biblical Thomas, often used by clerics in Ireland, as it was in Anglo-Saxon England (pp. 171-2): Tomás mac Áedán would be a completely Old Irish Gaelic name.

I’m stymied on the badge. No blazon was provided, so I can only hope that this is not a fieldless badge. The bordure and crosses are gules. The field is argent. I have no idea of what the sable lines represent; it is too thin for any sort of charge, and too thin for fimbriation of an argent charge (whatever that might be) on an argent field. While documentation provided refer to this as (maybe) a crosier cross, it comes closest to a cross formy, with the expanded arms. I’d tend to look for conflict with the blazon I give above, and hope that the “lines” can be deleted from the emblazon.


The following appear in the September 2005 Atenveldt Letter of Intent:


This month’s commentary is provided by Aryanhwy merch Catmael [AmC], Ástríðr Þórgeirsdóttir [AÞ], Helena de Argentoune [HdA], Snorri Bjarnarson [SB], Katherine Throckmorton [KT], Knute Hvitabjörn [KH], Maridonna Benvenuti [MB] and Marta as tu Mika-Mysliwy [MMM].


Abigail de Westminster (Mons Tonitrus): NEW NAME

By the time Abigail was widely in use, I’d expect <Westminister> to be an inherited and de-less byname. However, the name is probably registerable as is. [KT] If she's interested in an authentic name, she should drop the <de>; use of the preposition had pretty much fallen out of use by the 16th century, when <Abigail> came into use. I note that R&W has no byname based on <Westminster>; I don't know of any evidence for bynames based on different boroughs of London. (None of this should be a bar to registration, though.) [AmC]

“Jewish Naming Convention in Angevin England,” Eleazar ha-Levi ( http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/jewish.html ) does demonstrate the use of the feminine given name Abigail by the Jews of Medieval England (c.1070 - 1290). The article also says that the use of <de Placename> was used by both sexes. [MB]

Westminster - Ekwall has s.n. Westminster (Middlesex), [aet Westmunster 785, Westmynster 971...]. 'Western monastery.' Neither Ekwall nor Mills lists a later spelling. [MB] It seems that Abigail with the de could be used. Huh! [MMM]


Alexander of Tyre: DEVICE RESUBMISSION from Kingdom, July 2005: Per bend gules and sable, on a bend argent four crosses formy palewise gules.

The name appears in the 20 July 2005 Atenveldt Letter of Intent.

The original submission, Sable, on a bend argent, four crosses formy palewise gules., was returned for multiple conflicts. Changing the field tinctures clears those cited. This is still close to Lughaidh O Nialláin: Per bend sinister vert and purpure, on a bend cotised argent, five crosses formy fitchy at all points gules. There is 1 CD for the field and possibly 1 CD for the cotising. Four charges are not considered significantly different than five, so we cannot gain 1 CD from cumulative differences for the tertiaries (the only difference is the orientation of the crosses on the bend).


Amalie zu dem Blumen (Sundragon): DEVICE RESUBMISSION from Laurel, December 2004: Argent, a gurges, a base azure charged with a sprig of three carnations argent, slipped and leaved vert.

Can you “slip and leave” vert on an azure field? [SB] Yes, it’s rather a “neutral” charge, half-dark/half-light (not great contrast, I’ll admit). [MMM]


Bree McGavin (Atenveldt): NEW NAME and DEVICE: Per bend argent and pupure, a cauldron sable and three hearts argent.

I am concerned the name will be returned. Perhaps the client would be interested in a name that could be shortened to Bree? [AÞ]

<Bree> is an English name, and since changing the language of an element is a major change (which she doesn't allow), we must look at English names that sound similar to <Bree>. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any. I found <Braya> in R&Y s.n. Bray, but that's it. None of the spellings of <MacGavin> found in Black have the <v> in them, but the problem names article on Gavin cites the Scots form of the given name <Gavin> to 1477 and 1577, so <McGavin> should be reasonable. [AmC]

The name would be greatly improved by using a period spelling of the byname. However, based on the numerous recent registrations I’m confident that it is registerable.

Barring documentation for the <Bree> spelling in period, I’d suggest changing the name to the attested spellings <Brigh> or <Brig>. [KT]

Consider Deborah bat Yosef: Per fess argent and vert, a musimon statant guardant sable and three hearts argent. There is a single CD for the field. No CD for the type of one of four charges or for the forced arrangements. Return for conflict. [KH] Yes, this is indeed a conflict – I checked with Wreath Queen of Arms just because it seemed so unfair! [MMM]

Having contacted the client, if need be, the given name can be spelling in one of the documented Irish Gaelic forms. She has also changed the tincture of the cauldron to purpure, resolving the conflict with Deborah bat Yoself. [MMM]


Colyn MacRuairidh of Rathlin (Londinium ad Rubrum Flumen): BADGE REUBMISSION from Kingdom August 2005: Vert, a beehive argent.

This was returned for non-payment of submission fee. That has been rectified.


Damian Silberberg (Atenveldt): NEW NAME and DEVICE: Per pale Or and gules, two German wings conjoined and upraised with swords crossed in saltire counterchanged.

I cannot find information on <Damian> as a German given name. However, English/German combinations have been registered as recently as 2002, so there should be no problem with registration. [KT] This is registerable with a weirdness for combining German and English in the same name. [AmC]

Brechenmacher, s.n. Dam(i)an, Damion, page 266-267 list surnames Joh. Damian 1498; 1530 Hans Damion; 1423 Hans Daman. This most likely a patronymic byname. [MB]

Alternate blazon: Per pale Or and gules two swords in saltire sustained by a vol of German wings counterchanged. [KH] While this charge has been registered a number of times by the CoA, it has never been referred to as a German wing. For the sake of clarity (although a longer blazon results), I think that the charges should be blazoned as wings terminating in hands.. Hence the blazon Per pale Or and gules, two wings terminating in hands conjoined and maintaining two swords crossed in saltire counterchanged. I’m not sure that the swords are so large that they could be considered sustained charges rather than maintained ones. [MMM]


Geirríðr in víðfgrla (Atenveldt): NEW NAME and DEVICE: Pily barry bendy sinister Or and gules and sable.

Good name! [KT]

Nice Norse device! I agree – I can't make sense of the original blazon, and would also blazon this as Bendy sinister Or and gules, three piles issuant from sinister sable. Aha. I think I just made sense of the original: Pily (barry bendy sinister Or and gules) and sable. I'm using the ( ) as I would in a mathematical equation. [AÞ]

An alternate blazon: Pily fesswise bendy sinister Or and gules and sable. [KH] The same field division is found in the armory of Bartilmew Blackbourne, registered February 2004 (and in Atenveldt, no less...I knew it was familiar!): Pily barry gules and Or, a sun sable within a bordure per sable and gules., so this is a reasonable blazon. [MMM]


Mikel of Perth (Sundragon): NEW NAME

Since he's documented <Mikel> as Basque and Russian, and he allows no major changes, this means even if we found alternative documentation for <Mikel>, we couldn't use it. Upon resubmission, it might be worthwhile to point him to "Early 16th Century Scottish Lowland Names" (http://www.medievalscotland.org/scotnames/lowland16/) which has <Michaell> twice and "Names of women mentioned in the Perth Guildry Book 1464-1598" (http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/scots/perth.html) which has the surname <Michell> twice. [AmC]

I cannot find the <Mikel> spelling anywhere near Scotland. However <Michaell> appears (dated to 1549) in Sharon Krossa’s article on early 16th century Scottish Lowland names. [KT]

Mikel and Mikkel are not found in on-line version of Goldschmidt's article (Miagkobrukhoi to M'stiui). The Academy of S. Gabriel Report 2206 ( http://www.s-gabriel.org/2296 ) demonstrates Mikel as a Swedish masculine given name of the 15th-16th C., found in Sveriges Medeltida Personnamn, Vol.1. Mixing Swedish with English is one step from period practice; a Swedish/Scots mix has not been addressed that I know of. [MB]

Authenticity: I am going to address the given name as (Lowland) Scots and then as English. Encyclopædia Britannica Article [online] "Perthshire -

also called Perth historic county of central Scotland, including a section of the Grampian Mountains in the southern Highlands and a portion of the northern Scottish Lowlands, centered on the city of Perth..." "Perthshire." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2005. Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. 11 Sept. 2005 ( http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9059367 ). Black, s.n. Michael lists: Magister Michael in 1214, Michael (abbot) in 1307, and as a surname in Robert Mychael in 1476. As an English name close to his period, Withycombe, s.n. Michael, lists <Michael> 1346, <Michell> 1439. [MB]

The Wikipedia entry for Perth, Scotland notes that the Scots Gaelic form of the name is Peairt ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland_Perth ). If this were to be considered the Anglicized form of the placename, mixing it with the Swedish form Mikel might be acceptable. [MMM]


Rivka Bat Yehudah (Sundragon): NEW NAME

The name is Hebrew. Rivka is a feminine given name, the wife of Isaac (a Biblical citation would be nice). However, it can be found in “Jewish Women's Names in an Arab Context: Names from the Geniza of Cairo,” Juliana de Luna ( http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/geniza.html ). Yehudah of Nuremberg is the registered SCA name (August 1988) of her legal father. Jehudah is found in “Names of Jews in Rome In the 1550's,” Yehoshua ben Haim haYerushalmi (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/yehoshua/rome_article.html ).

<Bat> should not be capitalized. [AmC]

Good name! [KT]

Although no longer available on the web this article can be seen by going to The Way Back Machine http://www.archive.org/web/web.php , and adding this URL: http://web.archive.org/web/20040407160851/http://web.archive.org/web/20040407160851/http://www.yucs.org/%7Ejules/names/crusades.html

will arrive at “Medieval Jewish Names Research,” Julie Stampnitzky. This article deals with Individuals Mentioned in Hebrew Accounts, 10th-11th centuries, The First Crusade, 1096 in Koln (Cologne), Germany. It includes Given name: (Maras) Rivkah; Patronymic: Mar Yehudah b[en] R[eb] Avraham heChasid [her father-in-law] in Mainz, Germany; and Yehudah [his son-in-law]. Since no time period or authenticity request was mentioned <Rivkah bat Yehudah> would be a fine period name. [MB]


Sundragon, Barony of: BADGE RESUBMISSION from Laurel, November 2002: Per fess argent and azure, a rainbow gules, argent, azure, Or and purpure, clouded argent, and an acorn Or.

BADGE RESUBMISSION from Laurel, November 2002: Argent, a fess azure between a rainbow gules, argent, azure, Or and purpure, clouded argent, and a heart gules.

“...all rainbows must be of the period style--with clouds, although the bands may be of the natural colors...” (LoAR CL 8/83) This is visually equivalent to a cloudless rainbow which has been banned for a while. Return for violating RfS VII. [KH] Having contacted the baronial herald and Their Excellencies via Prism Pursuivant, the clouds wil be tinctured azure, resolving the problem. [MMM]


Sundragon, Barony of: NEW BADGE: Gules, a dragon segreant contourny and a bordure indented argent.

Consider Macsen Felinfoel: Gules, a dragon statant erect to sinister, wings displayed, argent. There is a CD for the bordure, and a probable CD for wing posture. [KH, also noted by HdA] Although clear, this needs to be redrawn, as there needs to be some discernible bordure for a bordure indented, not just the complex line, or “teeth” of the indented line. [MMM]


William MacLeod the Moonstag (Mons Tonitrus): NAME and DEVICE RESUBMISSION from Kingdom March 2005: Vert, on a plate a stag’s head cabossed sable, on a chief embattled argent a roundel between a decrescent and an increscent sable.

The original name submission, William MacLeod, was in conflict with Wyllym MacLeod, which appeared in the December 2004 Atenveldt Letter of Intent. I cannot justify the byname, but it is necessary, because unaltered, the name William MacLeod would conflict with Uilleam MacLeòid, registered in January 1997. (This name was also the reason that Wyllym MacLeod’s name submission was returned, for aural conflict.) Stagge (from OE stagga, “a stag,” Reaney and Wilson, p. 423, s.n.Stag) and Moonlight (Monelight, 1317 and 1470, possibly attached to someone with the penchant for wandering around in the moonlight, Reaney and Wilson, p. 313) provide period use of the elements seen in the byname.

The original device submission, using an uncharged chief, was in conflict with Matsuura Suetsune: Vert, on a plate a brown stag's head cabossed proper all within a bordure argent., with 1 CD for type of secondaries; there is no CD for tincture-only of tertiaries. Adding the tertiaries to the chief clears the conflict.


The following are returned by the Atenveldt College of Heralds for further work, September 2005:


Amalie zu dem Blumen: NEW BADGE: (badge) (fieldless) A gurges azure.

The badge isn't registerable; RfS VIII.5 says "Fieldless armory must form a self-contained design. A fieldless design must have all its elements conjoined, like the three feathers issuing from a crown used by the Heir Apparent to the throne of England. Since there is no field in such a design,

it may not use charges that rely on the edges of the field to define their shape, such as bordures and orles, nor to cut off their ends, such as ordinaries or charges throughout." Gurges rely on the edges of the shield for their termination points. Unfortunately, giving this a field so that it becomes Argent, a gurges azure., creates a conflict with Thomas ap Thomas: Gurges azure and argent, a dragon passant gules grasping in the dexter forepaw an axe vert.” There is 1 CD for removing the dragon. [AmC, KH; conflict also noted by HdA]

RETURNED for conflict.


Mikel of Perth: NEW DEVICE: Argent, a lion rampant sable, on a chief embattled azure four arrows sable (or argent).

Consider Muirghein inghean Rioghain: Argent, a natural panther rampant sable and on a chief embattled azure three annulets argent. There is a single CD for multiple changes to the tertiaries. [KH, SB] There is no CD granted between felids. [MMM]

RETURNED for conflict.


Rivka Bat Yehudah: NEW DEVICE: Azure, a chevron rompu between two wolves’ heads couped respectant and a feather argent.

The chevron should be bolder. Consider Darius Cordell: Azure, a chevron rompu between three Bourchier knots palewise argent. Single CD for type of secondaries. Return for conflict. [KH]

RETURNED for conflict.



Marta as tu Mika-Mysliwy

c/o Linda Miku

2527 East 3rd Street, Tucson AZ 85716

brickbat@nexiliscom.com

atensubmissions.nexiliscom.com


Commonly-Cited References

Black, George F. The Surnames of Scotland.

Gordon, E.V. An Introduction to Old Norse, 2nd edition, Oxford at the Claredon Press, 1957.

MacLysaght, E. The Surnames of Ireland. Dublin, Irish Academic Press, 1991.

Medieval Names Archive. http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/

Ó Corráin, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire. Irish Names.

Reaney, P.H. and R. M. Wilson. A Dictionary of English Surnames, 2nd Edition, 1976, reprinted 1979.

Withycombe, E.G., The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, 3rd Edition. London, Oxford University Press, 1977.

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