Kingdom of Atenveldt
Heraldic Submissions Page
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Atenveldt Submissions (excerpted from the S.C.A. College of Arms' Letters of Acceptance and Return)
ATENVELDT REGISTRATIONS by the College of Arms, June 2004: Alan Wacher of Skey. Name and device. Per bend sinister vert and purpure, a cross of Lorraine between a mullet in chief and two mullets in fess Or. Aleksandr Iakovich. Name and device. Purpure, a bend sinister argent surmounted by a bear statant to sinister, all between two cogwheels Or. Angus MacGregor of Argyll. Household name House of Four Winds. The submitter justified this household name as a possible sign name, but provided no documentation for winds or four winds as objects depicted in period. However, Orle noted, “Winds are depicted on many early maps.” Indeed, a web search revealed a large number of period maps showing various numbers of winds. Johannes Eschuidus’s 1489 map of the world (http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/EMwebpages/201C.html) and Nicolas Germanus’s 1420 world map both show fourteen winds; this seems to be the usual number for Ptolomeic maps of the world. In her article "Wind Diagrams and Medieval Cosmology" Barbara Orbrist says "..the four major winds also appear in the opposite role of guarantor of cosmic order, by being associated with the cardinal axes, the other winds being reduced to the subordinate position of potential troublemakers. Pictorial representations of winds constitute a main source of information on the view of winds as maintaining the stability of the cosmos..." (Speculum, Vol. 72, No. 1. (Jan., 1997), p 38). This seems sufficient to give the submitter the benefit of the doubt that a depiction of Four Winds would be a reasonable and recognizable icon for a late period inn sign. Annabella Silver. Name. Submitted as Annibella Silver, no documentation was submitted and none found showing the submitted spelling in period. Nor is there evidence for a pattern of a->i spelling shifts in the middle of a name. Therefore, we have changed the name to Annabella Silver. Annabella is the Latin form of Annabel; the vernacular form is dated to 1327 in Withycombe. Baldric der Krieger. Device. Argent, a phoenix sable and a bordure per saltire gules and sable. Birgir Bjarnarson. Change of device. Per fess wavy sable and azure, a drakkar reversed sails furled argent and a moon in her complement Or. Submitted on the Letter of Intent as a request for reblazon, this emblazon does NOT match the one that is registered. Therefore, what has been submitted is a change of device, and such an action requires the usual fee to be paid to Laurel. The Atenveldt submissions herald was notified of this. Having been promised that the payment is on its way, we are registering it. Catyln O'Sullivan. Name. Submitted as Caitlin O'Sullivan, Caitlin is a modern form of this name and, by precedent, not registerable: Caitilín ni Killane. Submitted as Caitlín ni Killian, there were some issues with this name. No documentation was provided and none was found that the form Caitlín was used in period, though evidence was found of it as a modern name. We have changed the given name to the documented Early Modern Irish Gaelic (c. 1200 to c. 1700) form Caitilín in order to register this name. [Trimaris-A, LoAR 09/2003] The submitter accepted major changes, so we have changed the name to Catyln O'Sullivan, which uses a form of the given name dated to 1441 in Reaney and Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames, s.n. Catlin. This puts the name in a fully Anglicized form. Czendes Sadany. Badge. Per pale azure and argent, a dragonfly counterchanged. Darius Xavier Drake. Badge. Sable, a triskele within an annulet Or. Demetrio Biagi. Name and device. Vert, two columns argent and a peacock in his pride Or. Submitted as Dimitri Biagi, the documentation submitted for the given name explicitly describes this as a modern Italian form. Loosely translated, de Felice says this about the name: "the form Dimitri is the Slavic form of Demetrio, it represents a name of foreign residents and is, above all, a recent name of fashion, exotic or of literary derivation particularly from Russian literature." Barring evidence of significant contact between Russia and Italy in period or evidence of the use of this form in period in Italy, the form Dimitri is not registerable as part of an Italian name. The spelling Demetrio is a saint's name found in Italy in period. Although there is no evidence that this particular saint's name entered the Italian naming pool, it is registerable as part of an Italian name. We have, therefore, changed this name to Demetrio Biagi. Diele de Irlande. Name and device. Sable, on a saltire nowy quadrate Or cotised argent, a harp sable. Submitted as Dielle d'Irlande, the submitter suggested that the given name was a feminine form of the masculine name Diel. However, the submitted documentation showed that Diel was a surname derived separated from the original patronymic by several different forms. The name Diele is found as a German masculine given name in 1397 in Bahlow (s.n. Diehle). This was the closest period form of the submitted name we could find, and the submitter expressed no particular preference for gender. Reaney and Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames s.n. Ireland list de Irlande in 1200. We have changed the name to Diele de Irlande to match the available documentation. The name combines German and English, which is one step from period practice. The only summarization of the documentation for the given name was that it appeared in a particular source; no documentation was included for the byname. By Laurel precedent, the College is not required to document name submissions where the documentation is not adequately summarized on the LoI. In this case, multiple members of the College provided documentation for these names. Because the College was willing to do this extra work, this lack of summarization will not be held against the submitter. Kingdom submissions heralds should be aware that inadequate summarization of supporting documentation has been and will continue to be a reason for return. The cotising of a saltire nowy or saltire nowy quadrate is a step from period practice, but as that is the only "weirdness" present, this can be registered. Diele de Irlande. Badge. Sable, a saltire nowy quadrate Or cotised argent. The cotising of a saltire nowy or saltire nowy quadrate is a step from period practice, but as that is the only "weirdness" present, this can be registered. Dorothea M'Queyn. Name and device. Or, on a pile ployé between two roses gules slipped and leaved vert, a rose Or slipped and leaved vert. The question was raised whether the use of the surname MacQueen or its variants in an SCA name is presumptous. This precedent is directly relevent to this question: [Registering Mark FitzRoy.] RfS VI.1. states that "Names documented to have been used in period may be used, even if they were derived from titles, provided there is no suggestion of territorial claim or explicit assertion of rank." FitzRoy meets that criteria. RfS VI.3. states that "Names that unmistakably imply identity with or close relationship to a protected person or literary character will generally not be registered." There is no implication of "identity with or close relationship to" any protected individual or character as used here. Consequently, the surname here is not considered pretentious. [6/94, p.8] In this case, the surname may be interpreted by English speakers as "son of the Queen", but that is because it is a phonetic rendering. The name in Gaelic is Mac Shuibhne, whose written form carries no hint of presumption. Please advise the submitter to draw the ployé line of the pile with more pronounced curves. Draco von Wellen. Name and device. Vert, a bison's head cabossed Or. Duncan of Atenveldt. Holding name and device. Argent, two griffins combattant sable and on a mount purpure a Celtic cross Or. Please advise the submitter to draw the griffins larger. Submitted under the name Duncan MacKennie. Einar Andersson. Name (see RETURNS for device). Submitted as Einarr Andersson, this name combined an Old Norse given name with a Swedish patronymic. The submitter requested authenticity for "language and/or culture," but no language and/or culture was specified on the form. An fully Swedish form was closest to the submitted form in appearance, so we have changed the name to Einar Andersson, a fully Swedish form. Both of these names are dated to the 14th C in Sveriges Medeltida Personnamn. A fully Old Norse form is Einarr Andreasson. The submitter made a request for authenticity which was not summarized on the LoI. Therefore, the College's attention was focused on whether this name was registerable rather than authentic. In the future, failure to summarize requests for authenticity on the LoI will be cause to pend a name submission for further research. For more information, see the May Cover Letter. We note that the submitted form of the name is registerable, although not authentic. Einarr is dated to as late as 1340 in Lind, Norsk-isländska personbinamn från medeltiden, which makes the given name and the byname temporally compatible. Elizabeth Mac Kenna Mac Gavin. Name and device. Purpure, on a heart between three mullets argent, a three-headed thistle proper. Elspeth Flannagann. Device change. Per bend sinister gules and counter-ermine, in dexter chief a sinister hand argent. The hand was blazoned on the LoI as being simply in chief. This would put the hand in the center of the chief, as the field does not force it to either side. We have reblazoned the hand as in dexter chief to match its actual position on the emblazon. Her previously registered device, Per chevron argent and gules, two hands couped sable and a foi throughout argent, is released. Ete ingen Chuléoin mec Fherdomnaig. Name. Gemma Ginevra Alighieri. Name (see RETURNS for device). The submitter requested authenticity for 15th C Italian language/culture. There was some question of whether the name Alighieri was unique to the poet. Britannica Online's (search.eb.com) article "Dante" says, "the origins of his family in his great-great-grandfather, Cacciaguida, whom the reader meets in the central cantos of the Paradiso (and from whose wife the family name, Alighieri, derived)." Further research reveals that both Dante's father and grandfather were named Alighiero, and that neither line died with Dante. Therefore, this name is not unique to the poet. The question was also raised of whether this name was used in the 15th C. A single instance of the patronymic, Alighieri, was found in "Florentine Renaissance Resources: Online Tratte of Office Holders 1282-1532;" but we know this listing is a reference to Dante Alighieri who florished in the late 13th/early 14th C. The website http://www.italica.rai.it/principali/dante/iconografia/alberodante.swf, shows Dante's family tree. On this tree, the given names Alighiero and Alighiera appear in the 14th and 16th C, and the family name Alighieri appears in the 16th C. This strongly suggests that the name continued in use through the 15th C. The submitter made a request for authenticity which was not summarized on the LoI. Therefore, the College's attention was focused on whether this name was registerable rather than authentic. Failure to summarize requests for authenticity on the LoI may result in a name being pended for further research. For more information, see the May 2004 Cover Letter. Gerolt ap Edward. Device change. Paly gules and Or, in saltire a spear proper headed sable and an oar proper. His previously registered device, Gules, two pallets Or, overall a spear and an oar in saltire argent, is retained as a badge. Gregor von Eisenberg. Name change from holding name Gregor of Ered Sûl. Listed on the LoI as Gregor of Eisenberg, the forms showed Gregor von Eisenberg. As von is an appropriate preposition in a German name for a German locative byname, we have returned this name to the originally submitted form. Hugo Wolfhart. Name and device. Gules, a ram's head cabossed per pale sable and argent maintaining in its mouth a chain Or. Nice name! James MacCoag. Device. Gules, a rabbit salient to sinister argent, on a chief Or three cauldrons sable. The charges on the chief were blazoned as pots on the Letter of Intent. We have reblazoned them as cauldrons at Metron Ariston's suggestion "simply to ensure this depiction of the pots." James Stuart Thorne. Name and device. Argent, a pall inverted raguly between two dragons' jambes inverted erased and a Latin cross fitchy vert. Johan of Hawksley. Name. Katherine of Acre. Name and device. Argent, a winged domestic cat sejant to sinister sable between three oak leaves vert, a bordure engrailed azure. Submitted as Katherine 'Akka, the byname is an Arabic form of Acre, used as an unmarked locative. Unfortunately, Arabic does not form bynames using unmarked locatives. Therefore, we have changed the name to Katherine of Acre, which the submitter indicated was an acceptable alternative form. Katrina of Atenveldt. Holding name and device (see RETURNS for name). Per bend sinister argent and purpure, an iris purpure slipped and leaved vert and in bend sinister three bees bendwise argent. Submitted under the name Katrina Petronÿa von Rosenberg. Liane O'Day. Reblazon of device. Per pale azure and counter-ermine, a great horned owl affronty maintaining in its dexter talon a scroll argent, in dexter chief an estoile Or. The current Armorial and Ordinary list an INCORRECT registration date for this item. It is dated November 1977 but was actually registered in March 1978. This armory was originally registered with the blazon Per pale azure and ermines, a great horned owl [Bubo virginianus] affronty, grasping in its dexter talon a scroll, argent, in dexter chief an estoile Or. To minimize confusion we are changing the blazon of the field to the more distinguishable (and current SCA-standard) term counter-ermine instead, and eliminating the Linnaean name for the bird. (Since the bird was not originally blazoned as proper, the use of the Linnaean term was already redundant.) Liesel Weiss. Name and device. Argent, a chevron purpure between three bees sable banded Or and a thistle proper. Mary Kate O'Malley. Name. This name uses two given names with an Anglicized Irish byname; this is one step beyond period practice. Mathghamhain MacCionaoith. Device change. Argent, a fret between in pale two ravens rising, right foreleg raised, wings addorsed and inverted sable, and in fess two bears rampant gules. The submitter requested that the ravens be blazoned passant. However, that is a variant of close, while these birds are quite clearly rising (which is a CD away). The submitter's previously registered device, Argent, a bear rampant to sinister gules and in chief two ravens passant to sinister, wings addorsed and inverted, sable, is released. Mikael Evelgest. Name. Mikael Godegamen. Name (see RETURNS for device). Morwenna teg Caernarvon. Device. Azure, two natural dolphins haurient embowed respectant, on a chief argent three dragonflies sable. Nathaniel Urswick. Name (see RETURNS for device). Submitted as Nathanial Urswick, no documentation was provided and none found for this spelling of the given name or for a regular ie to ia switch in English orthography. We have changed the given name to Nathaniel to match the submitted documentation. Nicolas de Navarre. Name. Nicolete la Rossa. Device. Per chevron argent and gules, two fleurs-de-lys gules and a sprig of three roses Or. Please instruct the submitter to draw the field division such that it comes closer to bisecting the area of the field. Nyilas Tiborch. Name and device (see RETURNS for badge). Azure, on a fess between three crescents Or, three martlets azure. Submitted as Számszeríjász Tibor, the submitter requested authenticity for Hungarian language/culture and accepted all changes. Our best evidence suggests that számszeríjász is not a period word for a crossbowman. Nebuly provides a summarization of the available documentation: The submitted spelling appears to be modern. I cannot find any support for the use of Számszerijász as a byname. The word literally means "numerical bow/archer", but does not appear in Magay-Országh (one of the best Hungarian-English translating dictionaries) or in Kázmér. This may mean that it is an obscure term. The only period bynames I can find that would mean "archer" are Nyilas or Nylas (Kázmér, s.n. Nyilas) and Iwes or Ywes (ibid., s.n. Íjas). If the submitter allows, I recommend changing the byname to one of the documented forms, especially since we don't even know whether számszerijász is even a period term. The most authentic form would be Nyilas Tiborch. The submitted documentation provided no dates for the given name, but Kázmér, Régi Magyar Családnevek Szótára: XIV-XVII Század, s.n. Tiborc) shows the form Tiborch, dated 1576. We have, therefore, changed the name to Nyilas Tiborch to comply with the submitter's request for authenticity. Philipp of Mons Tonitrus. Holding name and device (see RETURNS for name). Per bend sinister sable and gules, a monster with the forequarters of a unicorn and the hindquarters and wings of a dragon segreant Or. Submitted under the name Philipp von Kellerwald. Phillip of Twin Moons. Holding name and device (see RETURNS for name). Vert, a winged leonine sagittary segreant regardant argent, spotted sable, drawing a bow to sinister Or. Submitted under the name Phillip the Skeptic. Phineas Magollricke. Device. Per saltire argent and gules, in pale two crosses formy swallowtailed gules and in fess two fleurs-de-lys Or. The crosses used in this device are identical in shape to that used in the submitter's badge, registered in November 2003: (Fieldless) A cross formy swallowtailed per pale gules and Or charged with a fleur-de-lys counterchanged. Thus we have used the same blazonry term to describe them. Robert Benn Dann. Name and device. Per pall inverted sable, azure and argent, two double-bitted axes argent and a scorpion inverted sable. Reaney and Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames, does not show a dated form of the byname Benn. However, Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, s.n. Benn, cites an Eliz. Benn in 1634, the gray area. This makes the element Benn registerable. Rolant Richolf von dem Reyne. Name (see RETURNS for device). Submitted as Roland Richolf of the Rhine, the submitter requested authenticity for 12th C Germany/time period. Richolf is dated to 1293 (s.n. Richolf) in Brechenmacher, Etymologisches Woerterbuch der deutschen Familiennamen. Bahlow, German Names, s.n. Roland has Rolant in 1260 and s.n. Reimann, Anshelm von dem Reyne in 1367. We have changed this name to Rolant Richolf von dem Reyne to partially comply with the submitter's request of authenticity. Salvatore Rocco da Napoli. Name and device. Azure, a winged catamount segreant Or and a chief rayonny argent. Submitted as Salvatore Rocco de Napoli, we have changed the preposition to da, which is the preposition used for locative bynames in Italian. The device is clear of Aron Rose of Nairn: Azure, a winged lion rampant, between its forepaws a rose Or. A visual inspection of Aron's armory shows that its rose is clearly a secondary charge. Therefore, there are two CDs, for type and tincture of the secondary charge. Silvestro lo Nero. Name and device. Erminois, in fess a fox's mask between two spears all within a bordure embattled sable. Submitted as Sylvester the Black, the submitter requested authencity for Italian language/culture and accepted all changes. Aryanhwy ferch Catmeal, "Names from Arezzo, Italy, 1306-1528", has five instances of Silvestro. De Felice, Dizionario dei cognomi italiani, s.n. Neri lists lo Nero as an adjectival form meaning “the black.” We have changed this name to Silvestro lo Nero to fulfill the submitter's request for authenticity. The submitter made a request for authenticity which was not summarized on the LoI. Therefore, the College's attention was focused on whether this name was registerable rather than authentic. In the future, failure to summarize requests for authenticity on the LoI will be cause to pend a name submission for further research. For more information, see the May 2004 Cover Letter. As drawn, the spears are rather taller than the fox's head, and as such should be considered as co-primary with it. We have reblazoned the device accordingly. Síthmaith na bhFeadh. Name and device. Argent, a fess azure between two mullets of four points and a decrescent sable. This name combines an Old or Middle Irish given name with an Early Modern Irish byname; this is one step from period practice. Sorcha Flannagann. Name and device. Per chevron sable and argent, two caravels in full sail argent and a rose purpure. Please advise the submitter to draw the line of division higher. Tairdelbach mac Conchobair. Name. Submitted as Tearlach mac Conchobair, the name uses the modern Gaelic given name. "Tearlach is a Modern Gaelic (c. 1700 to present) form of this name. Lacking evidence that it was used in Gaelic in period, it is not registerable." [Tearlach McIntosh, 05/2003 LoAR, R-Atenveldt]." The name also combines a modern Irish Gaelic given name with a Middle Irish Gaelic patronymic; even if the given name were registerable, a combination of a modern Irish name and a Middle Irish name is not registerable due to the temporal disparity between the parts. The Middle Irish Gaelic form Tairdelbach is dated to 1086 in Mari Elspeth nic Bryan's "Dated Names Found in Ó Corráin and Maguire's Irish Names." Therefore, we have changed this name to Tairdelbach mac Conchobair, a fully Middle Irish Gaelic form. Thomas M'Manis of Skey. Name and device. Per pale vert and azure, a weeping willow tree eradicated argent. Submitted as Thomas MacManus of Skye, the submitter requested authenticity for 14th C time period and an unspecified (presumably Scottish) language/culture. Black, Surnames of Scotland, s.n. Thomas lists a Thomas filius Maldoneny in the mid-13th C. However, s.n. MacManus the earliest dated form is M'Manis in 1506. Johnston, The Place-names of Scotland, s.n. Skye dates the form Skey to 1292. We changed the name to Thomas M'Manis of Skey to partially comply with the submitter's authenticity request. This is clear of Ioseph of Locksley, the Rhymer: Vert, a tree eradicated argent. There is one CD for changes to the field. There is another CD for type of tree between a willow vs. a generic tree per the following precedent: "There is a CD between a willow tree and a standard round shaped tree, just as there is a type CD between a pine tree and a standard round shaped tree..." [Aleyn More, Sep 2002, A-Caid] Tieg ap Gwylym. Device. Sable, a rabbit courant paly azure and argent, on a chief argent two fleurs-de-lys azure. Wilhelus le Casse. Name change from Padraig Dillon of Liaththor (see RETURNS for device). Submitted as Wilhelus le Cassé, the summary documented le Cassé from Dauzet, Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et Prenoms de France and said it was "a locative byname, "a man from Cassé," a region in southwestern France." However, this isn't what Dauzat says. Instead, this appears to be a toponymic byname for a man who has oak trees growing on his property. Morlet, Dictionnaire étymologique des Noms de Famille also shows the forms Delcasse and Lecasse. Both Morlet and Dauzet also show a second derivation for the name Casse, a designator for a maker and seller of saucepans (<casserole> en anc.fr.; désigne le marchand de casseroles.) Larousse, Nouveau dictionnaire étymologique dates casse, meaning casserole to 1341. Therefore, we are changing this name to Wilhelus le Casse to match the form in Larousse. His old name, Padraig Dillon of Liaththor, is released. Wynne MacNair. Name and device. Per pale gules and argent, a stag trippant between five mullets one, two and two counterchanged. This name combines a Welsh given name with a Scots surname, which is one step from period practice. ATENVELDT RETURNS by the College of Arms, June 2004: Atenveldt, Kingdom of. Badge for Kingdom Royal Archer. Or, a sheaf of arrows inverted sable within a bordure indented azure. There are not enough indentations on the bordure. Eight indentations on a bordure looks too close to a mullet of eight points. This is especially true on a round shield shape but applies to other shield shapes as well. Thus identifiability is not sufficient, and there is a visual conflict with Paul of Sunriver (Azure, a compass-star Or). Were there half again as many indents, the close resemblance to a mullet would be greatly reduced, eliminating these problems. Bertrand de Lacy. Badge. (Fieldless) A Lacy knot vert surmounted by two arrows in saltire Or. There is too much overlap between the arrows and the knot. This violates our current standards for fieldless badges, according to the precedent cited by Black Pillar: [(Fieldless) An annulet sable overall a dragon segreant argent] The dragon has a high degree of overlap with the underlying annulet, which is not acceptable style for fieldless badges. Moreover, an overall charge should extend significantly past the outlines of the underlying charge, which is not the case in this armory. [Alden Drake, 04/03, R-Ansteorra] In this particular submission, the identifiability of all the charges is seriously compromised. It was difficult to tell whether the underlying knot was a Lacy or Bowen knot, and it is far more difficult to identify the arrows than it should be. Duncan MacKennie. Name. This name is an aural conflict with Duncan MacKinnon when both are pronounced properly. According to Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames, the pronunciation of MacFhionghuine, the Gaelic form of MacKinnon, “The pronunciation, as I heard it in Argyleshire, would be represented by Mac Cionuin. Ó Corrain and Maguire, Irish Names give the pronunciation of the Cion syllable in Cionaodh as “(k’un).” Curiously enough, Mac Cionnaodha is Gaelic version Black, Surnames of Scotland gives for MacKenna, of which MacKennie is a proposed spelling variant. Therefore, the two pronunciations differ only by a single sound--a soft consonent at the end of an unstressed syllable. This is too close for registration. His device was registered under the holding name Duncan of Atenveldt. Einar Andersson. Device. Sable, on a bend cotised Or a sword gules. This conflicts with Richard Ericksson, the Burgundian Norseman: Sable, on a bend cotised Or a castle palewise and a hurst of three pine trees palewise sable. There is only one CD, for the cumulative changes to the group of charges on the bend. Gemma Ginevra Alighieri. Device. Per chevron inverted azure and argent, a domino mask and two hearts counterchanged. The line of division, or at least its bottommost point, is too high; the field division does not come close enough to bisecting the field. This is in accordance with precedent: As a general rule, chevrons inverted issue from the sides of the shield. One might posit that it could be acceptable for a chevron inverted to issue from the chief corners of the field, because in some displays of armory using chevrons in period on a square form of display (a banner or a square quarter), the chevron issues from the bottom corners of the field. However, the chevrons in those period examples still effectively bisect the field. The chevron inverted in this submission is too high on the field to bisect the field. This is therefore not an acceptable depiction of a chevron inverted. [Erika Bjornsdottir, R-Trimaris, Apr 2003] Likewise, per chevron inverted field divisions must also bisect the field, or at least come close. As drawn, the line of division on this emblazon is too high on the field to bisect the field, and is therefore not an acceptable depiction of a per chevron inverted division. Haroun al-Rashid the Toe Mangler. Name and device. Checky Or and gules, on a fess purpure four fleurs-de-lys in cross, bases to center, between a pair of drinking horns Or. The name is returned for presumption against Harun al-Rashid. al-Jamal says it best: Harun al-Rashid is arguably the very best-known medieval Arab [he was not "caliph of Persia", as the LoI states, and he did not live in Persia. He ruled the entire Muslim world at that time from Bagdad which, as we should all know by now, is in Iraq] after (and maybe even before) Muhammad in the West; more than Saladin, more than Baybars, more than 'Antar, people know the name Harun al-Rashid. That being the case, to attempt to register that name and clear it of conflict by the addition of a non-period, non-Arabic byname is simply being disingenuous. No one hearing the first two parts of the name is going to think of anyone other than the 'Abbasid caliph, so the problem is not conflict, but presumption. Furthermore, the epithet "Toe Mangler" cannot be supported. To use an English epithet in an otherwise Arabic name, the epithet must be either a reasonable English descriptive byname or a translation of an Arabic descriptive byname. No evidence was provided and none found that "Toe Mangler" is either of these. Therefore, it is not registerable. As for the device, there are two independent causes for return here. First, each "check" of the field has a small dot at its center. These were present on both the miniature and full-size emblazons. We cannot blazon these dots and do not know why they are there at all. The Letter of Intent does not mention them, so redrawing the field without the dots would solve this problem. Second, the tertiary charges present a combination of identifiability problems and non-period style. As drawn, there is confusion about whether the four fleurs-de-lys form a cross of fleurs-de-lys. While they do not, it is very hard to tell, even from the full-size emblazon. Given that they do not form a cross, the charges on the fess give the appearance of "primary" and "secondary" tertiary charges groups on the fess. This has long been cause for return: [... on a pale azure a salmon haurient embowed contourny in chief a compass star argent ...] It is not period style to have two different tertiary groups on the same underlying charge. The difference in scale between the salmon and the compass star makes the compass star appear to be in a subsidiary charge group to the salmon. There is precedent pertaining to this matter: [returning A mullet Or charged with a fleur-de-lys florency between five daggers points outwards sable] None of the commenters could find a similar motif: a primary charged with a tertiary X and a group of five tertiary Y's. Barring documentation of such an arrangement of tertiary charges, we believe that the motif is not a period one and therefore unregistrable. [The submission was returned for this reason and for conflict.] (Esperanza Razzolini d'Asolo, 10/95 p. 15) (The device was returned for this reason and for redrawing the laurel wreath.) [Oct 2001, Ret-Drachenwald, Uma, Shire of] For the current submission, if the charges on the fess were instead on a field, they would be ...four fleurs-de-lys in cross, bases to center, between a pair of drinking horns, obviously a primary charge group between secondaries. Thus this example follows the above precedents. If, instead, the charges on the fess were drawn as a cross of fleurs-de-lys, bases to center, between a pair of drinking horns then there would be a single group of three charges on the fess, which would be registerable. (We would still have to check for conflict and other potential style problems with the redrawn armory.) Katrina Petronÿa von Rosenberg. Name. This name uses a double given name; one of the names is Czech and the other Hungarian. No documentation was provided and none found or use of double given names in either of these cultures. Without such evidence, a Czech or Hungarian name using two given names is not registerable. We would drop one of the given names in order to register this name, but the submitter will not accept major changes. Her armory was registered under the holding name Katrina of Atenveldt. Lucrezia di Bartolomeo. Badge. Purpure, on a heart Or a double-horned hennin gules. This conflicts with Jean Teresa Violante of Heather and Arn: Purpure, on a heart Or a violet slipped and leaved proper. There is only one CD for cumulative changes to the tertiary charge. In addition, the charge on the heart is not identifiable as a double-horned hennin. Questions were raised in commentary about its identifiability; as drawn it looks like an abstract geometric shape. While the submitter has provided ample pictorial evidence for double-horned hennins in period, all of the examples provided had curved bottoms, not straight as in the submitted drawing, and the bottoms all had a band of some sort of trim on them, a feature which greatly helps in identifying the object as headgear. Therefore, if a resubmission wishes to use a double-horned hennin, it needs to be identifiable as such solely from its appearance (to paraphrase RfS VII.7.a, Identification Requirement). Martin MacGregor. Device. Per bend sinister vert and sable, a cross crosslet fitchy voided Or. Crosses crosslet are not voidable, nor can they be fimbriated. (Any charge that may be voided may be fimbriated, and vice versa.) RfS VIII.3 states that "Voiding and fimbriation may only be used with simple geometric charges placed in the center of the design." Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme clarified this as Laurel: We consider voiding to have the same visual weight as adding a tertiary charge --- i.e. Sable, a cross Or voided gules and Sable, a cross Or charged with another gules are interchangeable blazons, yielding the same emblazon. This view is supported by period heraldic treatises: e.g. Guillim's Display of Heraldrie, 1632, in discussing chevrons voided, says "if you say voided onely, it is ever understood that the field sheweth thorow the middle part of the charge voided. If the middle part of this chevron were of a different metall, colour, or furre from the Field, then should you Blazon it thus: A Chevron engrailed Or, surmounted of another, of such or such colour." We can use the equivalence between voiding and adding tertiaries to determine when voiding is acceptable: if the voided charge can be reblazoned as On a [charge], another --- that is, if the inner line and the outer line of the voided charge are geometrically similar --- then it's simple enough to void. For instance, in the illustrations below, figure A could equally well be blazoned a delf voided or a delf charged with a delf; either blazon is correct for that picture. Figures B and C, on the other hand, are definitely a griffin's head voided and a griffin's head charged with another, respectively; the emblazons are quite dissimilar, and the inner line of figure B is not the shape of a griffin's head. The delf voided, then, is acceptable, but the griffin's head voided is not. By this guideline, mullets, hearts and triangles are all simple enough to be voided or fimbriated. This is only a rule of thumb, of course, not an ironclad law, but it helps us decide a thorny question, it's consistent with how we (and some period heralds) view voiding, and it eliminates the need to collect reams of case law. I shall be employing it henceforth. [Nov 1992, Cover Letter] Some later precedents deal directly with the issue of voiding or fimbriating complex crosses: [Returning (Fieldless) A cross botonny gules charged with a crescent argent] The weight of the commentary was that a cross botonny is not a simple enough primary charge for X.4.j.ii. to apply, and that this submission is indeed in conflict with Pilkington (Papworth, p. 652), Argent, on a cross botonny gules another of the first, with one CD for fieldlessness but nothing for the change to the type only of what is effectively the tertiary. [Dec 1993, Ret-Atlantia, Anton Tremayne], AND [returning a Jerusalem cross fimbriated] It is Laurel's belief that a cross potent, the central cross in a cross of Jerusalem, falls into the same "too complex to fimbriate" category as roses and suns. Even were that not felt to be the case, however, the amount of fimbriation, of both the cross potent and the four surrounding crosses couped, is excessive and sufficient grounds for return in and of itself. [Dec 1995, Ret-Trimaris, Sebastian Blacke] The typical implementation of Bruce's test for more than a decade has been informally called the "photoreduction test." Start with a picture of the charge and make a photocopy of it at 90% reduction. Cut the reduced copy out close to its outer edge all the way around. Now place it on top of the original picture. If the result looks like that charge voided, then that charge is voidable; otherwise it is not. A cross crosslet does not pass the "photoreduction test," so voiding or fimbriating one violates RfS VIII.3. Mikael Godegamen. Device. Or, a jester's face argent hooded gyronny of six vert and gules, a chief lozengy vert and argent. The jester's hood violates the rule of tincture, specifically RfS VIII.2.b.iv: "Elements evenly divided into multiple parts of two different tinctures must have good contrast between their parts." Vert and gules do not have good contrast, and gyronny (even gyronny of six) is "multiple parts" since it is neither two parts nor quarterly nor per saltire (the exceptions defined in RfS VIII.2.b.iii). Nathaniel Urswick. Device. Per chevron inverted argent and vert, a brown bear's head erased proper and two lit candles in flat candlesticks argent. The line of division, or at least its bottommost point, is too high; as drawn it does not come close enough to bisecting the area of the field. This is in accordance with precedent: As a general rule, chevrons inverted issue from the sides of the shield. One might posit that it could be acceptable for a chevron inverted to issue from the chief corners of the field, because in some displays of armory using chevrons in period on a square form of display (a banner or a square quarter), the chevron issues from the bottom corners of the field. However, the chevrons in those period examples still effectively bisect the field. The chevron inverted in this submission is too high on the field to bisect the field. This is therefore not an acceptable depiction of a chevron inverted. [Erika Bjornsdottir, R-Trimaris, Apr 2003] Likewise, per chevron inverted field divisions must also bisect the field, or at least come close. As drawn, the line of division on this emblazon is too high on the field to bisect the field, and is therefore not an acceptable depiction of a per chevron inverted division. Please advise the submitter to draw the erasing of the bear's head more boldly in any resubmission using this charge. Nyilas Tiborch. Badge. (fieldless) On a billet fesswise Or three martlets azure. According to current precedent, while charges that are also shapes of armorial display may be registered as fieldless badges when uncharged under certain other conditions, these same charges cannot be registered as fieldless badges when charged, since when charged they too closely resemble an independent display of armory. (This particular submission is effectively a display of "Or, [in fess] three martlets azure.") A billet fesswise is a shape of armorial display, and as such cannot be registered as a fieldless badge by itself when it is charged, as is the case here. Philipp von Kellerwald. Name. No evidence was submitted and none found that Kellerwald a period placename or that it was constructed according to period German place name or forest name patterns. Blaeu’s Atlas, published in 1635, contains a map showing the area where the Nationalpark Kellerwald Ederseete is located. However, scanning the maps of Germany from Blaeu's Atlas revealed no placename Kellerwald in that area. Nor does this name match a pattern of forest names. A scan of these maps and of Brechenmacher, Etymologisches Woerterbuch der deutschen Familiennamen shows forest names based on names of rivers that run through them (Spre waldt), forest names based on descriptions (Schwartzwald, Oderwaldt, Freywalde) and forest names based on local placenames (Thuninger Waldt, Gehrigswaldt. None were found combining occupation+wald or unmistakably surname+wald. The occupational byname Keller is well-attested; Brechenmacher dates it to 1255 and 1280. We would drop the preposition von and the deuterotheme -wald leaving the occupational surname, but the submitter will not accept changes. His armory was registered under the name Philipp of Mons Tonitrus. Phillip the Skeptic. Name. The epithet, though the word was dated to the late 16th C, is far too late to have been used in this kind of epithetical formation. Furthermore, the byname is based on an abstract concept, a usage not generally found in English epithets. In 10/96, Laurel returned Aurelius the Arronious of Bikeleswade with these remarks, "Period nicknames tend to be straightforward and to use common words: Thynnewyt `thin [of] wit, stupid', le Wis `the wise', Badinteheved `bad in the head', le Wilfulle, le Proude `the proud', le Hardy `the courageous', le Sour, le Cursede, le Deuyle `the devil', Blaksoule `black-soul'. The learned erroneous simply doesn't belong in this company." The learned Skeptic is a similar stretch. The submitter may want to consider a byname based on a more concrete attribute. His armory was registered under the holding name Phillip of Twin Moons. Rebekah Anna Leah Wynterbourne. Name and device. Vert, on a bend bevilled Or between a cloud argent and a dog sejant erect contourny Or four dog's pawprints sable. As documented, this name uses three given names. At the end of period, double given names are occasionally found in England, but no evidence was provided nor any found for triple given names. An alternative interpretation is that the name consists of two given names, an unmarked matronymic and an inherited surname. Because Leah is not found in use in English names until the 17th C, this cannot be an inherited surname. Unfortunately, by the time double given names are found in England, literal matronymics had fallen out of use. Dropping one of the given names would resolve both of these issues, but the submitter will not accept major changes. The device is being returned for non-period style. It has multiple weirdnesses or rarities: a charged bend bevilled, a bend bevilled (charged or not) between secondary charges, a complexity count of eight, and the use of pawprints. This is explained in the following precedents: [Returning Gyronny of sixteen gules and argent, a windmill sable, a bordure vert bezanty] This device has multiple weirdnesses or rarities: a gyronny of sixteen with a central charge, a complexity count of eight, and identifiability problems with the primary charge. While none of these problems (with the possible exception of identifiability) would, by themselves, make the device returnable, the combination is fatal. [Jun 2000, Ret-Atlantia, Cadwan Galwiddoe of Redmarch] AND [Returning Per chevron enhanced argent and sable, two pawprints and a wolf's head cabossed counterchanged for two weirdnesses] The paw prints are one weirdness... [Jul 1996, Ret-Atenveldt, Morgan Blaidd Du] AND Even the documented per bend bevilled cannot, by Laurel precedent, be used with dissimilar charges. Legh, Accidences of Armory (1586), asserts that the field should not be charged at all. We have, as one step beyond period practice, allowed the field to be used with a single type of simple charge. The submitted device, however, would be at least two steps beyond period practice. [Béla Kós, 02/01, R-Outlands]. While none of these problems would, by itself, make the device returnable, the combination is not registerable. Rolant Richolf von dem Reyne. Device. Purpure, a chevron rompu between a seeblatt inverted, a seeblatt and a dog's head couped collared argent. This conflicts with Erin of Rencester: Purpure, a chevron rompu between two mullets and a dumbeg argent. There is a single CD for the change of type of the secondary charges. Questions were raised in commentary about the tincture of the dog's collar. If the collar were of a contrasting tincture that had been inadvertently omitted from the blazon, that would yield a second CD for adding a tertiary charge. On the full-color emblazon, the collar is indeed argent, and as such it is effectively nothing more than an artistic variation of the argent head, worth no difference. Uilliam Ó Cléirigh. Device. Argent, two pine trees couped and an otter statant proper. This conflicts with Allendale of the Evergreens: Argent, a pine tree proper. There is one CD for adding the charges to the primary group, but that is the only CD that be gained from such an addition. Veronica da Asola. Device. Per bend sinister gules and argent, a bend sinister sable between two quatrefoils counterchanged. The flowers/foils are not identifiable as drawn in this submission. While blazoned as quatrefoils, we have no evidence of quatrefoil petals being drawn with either "seeding" or multiple lobes. In addition, nobody was able to identify this as any particular type of flower. Therefore this must be redrawn either as a recognizable quatrefoil or some other identifiable flower; if this flower can be identified, documentation needs to be provided for its visual appearance and its being known in period. Voron Gregor'ev Tselomudrenni. Name and device. Gules, in pale a tyger rampant to sinister reguardant maintaining a goblet Or and a chevron inverted gules fimbriated argent charged with five beehives palewise Or. Although Tselomudrenni was documented as constructed from a Russian word meaning "the chaste," no evidence was submitted and none found suggesting this byname was either used in Russia or followed a pattern of Russian descriptive bynames. We would drop this element, but the submitter would not accept major changes. Therefore, this name must be returned. The submitter requested authenticity for 15th C Russian language/culture. However, this was not noted on the LoI. Therefore, the College's attention was focused on whether this name was registerable rather than authentic. For more information, see the May cover letter. We note that Voron Gregor'ev is a fine 15th C Russian name. The device violates RfS VIII.3 which states in part that "Voiding and fimbriation may only be used with simple geometric charges placed in the center of the design." This design forces the chevron to be abased, which moves it out of the center of the design; therefore it cannot be voided or fimbriated. It might be possible to view the charge combination in question as five beehives in chevron inverted between two chevronels inverted. However, the use of such a design anywhere other than the center of the shield is too far from period style to be registered. Precedent disallows the use of an ordinary abased and cotised (between two of its diminutives): [a bend abased and cotised argent] No documentation was presented for ordinaries which are both abased and cotised. Abased ordinaries are so rare in period armory that this treatment appears to be too far a departure from period heraldic style to be acceptable without documentation. [Arabella Mackinnon, 06/03, R-Ansteorra]. If we are not going to allow an <ordinary> between two <same ordinaries> all abased (a period way to blazon an <ordinary> cotised), then neither should we allow <anything> between two ordinaries, all abased, which is the situation with this submission. Wilhelus le Casse. Device change. Sable, a maunch fracted in pale and issuant from base a demi-sun argent. The "maunch fracted" is not identifiable. While it has indeed been redrawn from the previous attempt, the "fracting" still yields the result of appearing to be "two slightly different styles of maunches addorsed rather than a single fracted charge" as noted on the previous return. At any distance the break looks like a straight line and not indented, so the indents obviously need to be drawn more boldly. Part of the identifiability problem also stems from the particular depiction of the maunch. The "shoulder" end of the maunch needs to be drawn to look more obviously like an end that attaches to the rest of the garment, and unmistakably NOT an end that a hand should come out of. If both of the above suggestions are applied successfully, the charge has a much better chance of looking like a single maunch torn in half rather than two maunches addorsed. |
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