LoARs are published on the Laurel Archives page each month.
The Society College of Arms runs on monthly cycles and letters. Each month, the College processes name and armory submissions from all of the Kingdoms. Final decisions on submissions are made at the monthly meetings of the Pelican Queen of Arms (names) and the Wreath King of Arms (armory). Pelican and Wreath then write up their decisions in a Letter of Acceptances and Return (LoAR). After review and proofreading, LoARs generally are released two months after the meeting where the decisions are made.
- An “acceptance” indicates that the item(s) listed are now registered with the Society.
- A “return” indicates that the item is returned to the submitter for additional work.
- A “pend” indicates that the item is being held for a month while additional research or work is done.
East Acceptances
Accio Tempo di Firenze. Name.
Agatha Wanderer. Badge. Purpure, a pair of breeches fesswise argent.
Alke von Ossenheim. Device. Per pale argent and sable, two dragons combatant counterchanged, in chief a sheaf of arrows fesswise reversed Or.
Asher de Kent. Name and device. Argent, a hemp leaf vert, a bordure denticulada azure.
Nice late 13th century English name!
This device does not conflict with the device of David FitzMartin, Argent, an oak leaf vert and a bordure azure. There is a DC for changing the bordure, and another DC between an oak leaf and a hemp leaf.
Aurelia Victoria. Name.
Drasma Dragomira. Name and device. Per saltire wavy azure and argent, four nesselblätter counterchanged and a bordure sable.
Drasma Dragomira. Badge. (Fieldless) A nesselblatt azure within and conjoined to an annulet sable.
Eleanor de Astlye. Name and device. Azure, a greyhound passant guardant argent, in base a branch of hazel fesswise Or.
Nice English name for circa 1300!
Fionnghuala na Trágha. Name and device. Azure, a bat-winged tower, in chief a compass star pierced Or.
Submitted as Fionnghuala na Traga, the documentation actually supports the spelling na Trágha for the byname. As the submitter allows all changes, we have changed the name to reflect the documentation.
There is a step from period practice for the use of a compass star.
Gunnv{o,}r hausakljúfr. Badge (see RETURNS for household name). (Fieldless) A door azure within and conjoined to an arch Or.
Gunnv{o,}r hausakljúfr. Badge. (Fieldless) Two axes in saltire gules, the head of each charged with a plate.
Hildibrandr loðinkinni. Name (see PENDS for device).
Ívarr Valsson. Name.
Kelsey Macpharlane. Name (see PENDS for device).
Maesie Shairpe. Name and badge. Or, two ducks rousant respectant wings displayed purpure, in chief a sprig of rosemary vert.
Submitted as Maisie Shairpe, the submitter requested the spelling Maesie if it could be documented. At the Pelican decision meeting, Jeanne Marie Noir Licorne found Maesie as a gray period English surname, which can be used as a given name. Therefore, we have changed the name to Maesie Shairpe as requested by the submitter.
The Letter of Intent included evidence of a surname from a Scots record to try to support the given name. However, the applicable precedent permitting surnames to be used as given names applies only to English surnames. We do not (yet) have evidence of the pattern of using surnames as given names existing in pre-1650 Scots.
Mahist{i-}-yi K{a-}mr{u-} Kh{a-}m{u-}sh. Name and device. Per bend Or and gules, a feather bendwise gules and a winged ounce rampant Or.
Submitted as Mahist{i-} bint K{a-}mr{u-} Kh{a-}m{u-}sh, the submitter requested a fully Persian form if it could be documented. Thanks to Ursula Palimpsest, and with the submitter’s permission, we are able to change this name to Mahist{i-}-yi K{a-}mr{u-} Kh{a-}m{u-}sh to meet her request for a fully Persian name.
Marcus mac Pharláin. Household name Clan MacPharlane of Loch Lomond and badge. Gules, a saltire between four compass stars argent, a bordure gyronny vert and Or.
Submitted as Clan MacPharlain of Loch Lomond, this name was incorrectly constructed for several reasons. First, the construction Clan MacX is found only in Scots. However, the spelling mac Pharlain is a hypothetical Gaelic form from Black, which is not reliable. [March 2018 Cover Letter] We could find no evidence of this spelling having been used in period Gaelic or Scots. In addition, Clan MacPharlain improperly combines Scots and Gaelic in a single name phrase, which is not permitted under SENA PN1B1.
Even using the Gaelic Clann, this is not a properly formed Gaelic group name. Gaelic clans named after grandsons or clan ancestors took the form Clann Mhic X, where X is the genitive form of the ancestor’s name.
For this same reason, the submitter cannot rely on the Existing Registration Allowance. The Existing Registration Allowance permits only the exact registered form of the already-registered name element to be used, as long as doing so introduces no new style problems. Because it uses Mac, rather than Mhic, Clann Mac Pharlain introduces new grammar problems that did not exist in the original personal name, and thus cannot be registered under PN1B2g.
With the submitter’s permission, we have put the clan name into the grammatically correct, entirely Scots form Clan MacPharlane of Loch Lomond. Commenters noted that the MacPharlanes are associated with Loch Lomond in real life. However, the clan seat of the MacPharlanes was not Loch Lomond; it was Arrochar. Although Loch Lomond is often associated with the MacPharlanes, it is also associated with approximately 20 other Scots families and clans as well. As the association of Loch Lomond with the MacPharlanes is not unique, the name makes no claim of status or chieftainship. Therefore, this name is not presumptuous under PN4B3.
There is a step from period practice for the use of compass stars.
Margarita de Siena. Badge. (Fieldless) A Maltese cross gules surmounted by a daisy argent seeded gules.
Pagan Graeme. Household name House of the Heart and Oake.
Samugawa Kitsutarou Makoto. Name.
Submitted as Samugaya Kitsutarou Makoto, Samugaya is a proposed constructed family name. Unfortunately, the construction does not follow Japanese naming patterns and the submitter did not support the construction with multiple examples of similar constructions. S{o,}lveig Þrándardóttir suggested the similar, attested family name Samugawa. As the change of one letter is only a minor change, we have made this change for registration.
As modified, this is a nice 16th century Japanese name!
Sarah le Payller. Badge. Or, on a pale vert a pail argent.
sekh Neswennefer. Alternate name Nychoas Revell.
Although the spelling Nychoas is unusual, the submitter supplied the necessary additional examples of this spelling from the FamilySearch Historical Records and from the 1541 London Subsidy Roll to rebut concerns about mistranscription, per the February 2019 Cover Letter.
sekh Neswennefer. Badge. (Fieldless) On a sun Or an ankh sable.
There is a step from period practice for the use of an ankh.
Shamshir ibn Antuni. Name change from Matthias of Naples.
Submitted as Shamir ibn Antuni, the submitter requested the given name Shamshir if it could be documented. Heralds at the Pelican decision meeting found evidence of Shamshir as the name of a Mughal general (rendered in Arabic) circa 1650, which is sufficient to give the submitter the benefit of the doubt that this name was period. Accordingly, we have changed the name to Shamshir ibn Atuni
The submitter’s previous name, Matthias of Naples is released.
Simon Talbot. Badge. Azure, on a talbot rampant Or a mullet azure.
Simon Talbot. Badge. Or, on a mullet azure a unicorn lodged argent.
Svana Másdóttir. Name and device. Argent, on a pale vert between two bears rampant addorsed sable a plate.
Submitted as Svana Mársdóttir, the patronymic byname was not correctly formed. The father’s name Már becomes Más in the genitive (possessive) form. Therefore, we have changed the name to Svana Másdóttir to make it grammatically correct.
Nice 9th-10th century Icelandic name!
Tomislaus Kievich. Name (see PENDS for device).
Submitted as Tomislaus iz Kieva, the construction of a locative byname using iz has been proven not to be a medieval practice. With the submitter’s permission, we have changed the name to Tomislaus _ Kievich to use an attested byname form.
Úlfarr austmannaskelfir. Name.
Nice 9th-10th century Icelandic name!
Ulfrun Connors Dotter. Device. Per pale sable and argent, a pale wavy azure between a griffin and a wolf combatant counterchanged.
Willow Benoit. Name and device. Argent, a weeping willow tree per pale gules and vert issuant from a mount sable.
This name combines an English given name with a French byname, an acceptable lingual mix under Appendix C.
East Returns
Faolán an Sccreccain. Badge. (Fieldless) A sheaf of pens Or.
This badge is returned for conflict with the badge of Marco Palladio di Soncino, Azure, a rapier palewise surmounted by two quill pens in saltire Or. There is one DC for fieldnessness, but none for changing the type of less than half of the primary charges.
Gunnv{o,}r hausakljúfr. Household name Velkenstaðr.
This household name must be returned as it does not follow any of the attested patterns for naming Old Norse places or groups of people. The pattern Xstaðr requires X to be the genitive form of a personal name. However, Velken is the modern form of a place name. We were unable to construct a form of the name that did not involve major changes and were unable to obtain the submitter’s input on those changes. Therefore, we are returning the name to allow the submitter to consider her options.
East Pends
Eleanor de Astlye. Badge. Vert, three bees Or, in chief a hazel branch fesswise argent.
This device is pended for redraw. Commenters struggled to identify the hazel branch. Wreath has provided new artwork using the branch from the submitter’s device, which has been accepted by the submitter.
This was item 9 on the East letter of March 2, 2019.
Hildibrandr loðinkinni. Device. Per bend vert and sable, a beaver rampant vorant of a fish Or.
This device is pended for redraw. Commenters struggled to identify both the badger and the fish, due to the shared tincture and an error in coloring. Wreath has provided new artwork using the depiction from Guillim of a beaver holding a fish in its mouth that was originally traced by the submitter, which has been accepted by the submitter.
This was item 14 on the East letter of March 2, 2019.
Kelsey Macpharlane. Device. Azure, a calamarie, on a chief argent a thistle vert headed purpure.
This device is pended for redraw due to the unattested embowing of the calamarie. Wreath has provided new artwork which has been accepted by the submitter.
This was item 16 on the East letter of March 2, 2019.
Rhode Kephalaina. Badge. (Fieldless) A calamarie per pale vert and purpure.
This badge is pended for redraw due to the unattested embowing of the calamarie. Wreath has provided new artwork which has been accepted by the submitter.
This was item 22 on the East letter of March 2, 2019.
Tomislaus Kievich. Device. Gules, a man statant affronty, arms upraised sustaining in chief a Viking longship hull Or.
This device is pended for redraw due to blurring the distinction between charge groups. The ship and man share visual weight, but only one crosses the line of division. Wreath has provided new artwork clearly showing the man as primary charge, which has been accepted by the submitter.
This device does not conflict with the badge of Migel Gneuyle de Normandie, Gules, an old man statant affronty maintaining a sword and shield Or. Both maintained charges are of a large enough size to be considered secondary charges; therefore there are DCs for the type and number of maintained charges.
This was item 31 on the East letter of March 2, 2019.