Lewis Tanzos
Eastern.crown@eastkingdom.org

28 May, 2004

Unto the East Kingdom College of Heralds and all others who do receive this letter, greetings from Tanczos Istvan, Eastern Crown Herald!

This LoR contains decisions based on the 06 April 2004 ILoI, which had 15 numbered items. It also contains one item of eratta.

Commentary was received from: Lyle FitzWilliam, Margaret Holmwood, Arval Benicoeur, Kenric Burne, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Ariel de Narbonne, Knute, Eldric Gaiman, Katrine Lyndesay, Kolosvari Arpadne Julia, Cateline la souriete, and Katrein Adler. Once again, I have to send immense thanks to the commenters, without whom this job would be nearly impossible.

ERATTA FROM PREVIOUS LETTERS

Gwillim Kynith - New Name Forwarded

Originally passed as 'Gwillim ap Kynith' on the 15 February LoR for the 2003-Nov-10 Eastern ILoI, we received incorrect information from our commenters. It turns out that 'Kynith' is a descriptive byname meaning either 'archer' or 'hunter' and not a personal name, so adding an article that means 'son of' is not really appropriate.

NEW DECISIONS

1. Collin Monroe - new name returned and new device returned

Argent, a pithon erect and on a chief sable three Maltese crosses argent.

Collin' is dated to 16c under the heading 'Colin' in Withycombe. 'Monroe' is listed as a variant of 'Munro' under that header in Black, dated to 1648.

Withycombe does not have the spelling 'Collin'; it dates the spelling 'Colin' to 1379 and 'Colinus' to 1200 and 1273. Reaney & Wilson p. 105 s.n. 'Collin' dates a 'John Collin' to 1221; this is likely a patronymic so this spelling as a given name may be plausible

Unfortunately, the name is in conflict with that of Colin Munro, registered in November of 2000 (via Atlantia). Since there is no name, we are returning the device.

A small artistic note: when drawing wings addorsed, it's customary for both wings to be visible. While it may be only a slender, offset outline, the wing in back should be able to be seen. Looking closely, only the front wing has been drawn.

2. Diomedes Sebastianus - new device forwarded

Vert, on a mullet of twelve points argent a roundel engrailed vert all within a bordure engrailed Or.

Name sent to Laurel on the East's 2003 November external letter, which LoAR has not yet been decided by Laurel at the time of this writing.

The rondel engrailed is large enough to be a tertiary, therefore we give the submitter the benefit of the doubt: it is a tertiary and not a pierceing.

3. Gerhard der Rote von Ulm - new name forwarded and new device forwarded

Per pale wavy argent and azure, a sword and an axe reversed counterchanged.

Submitter will allow 'Gerhard von Ulm' if necessary. 'Gerhard' is dated in that spelling to 1250 in Bahlow's Deutsches Namenlexikon p165 s.n. Gerhard(t). 'der Rote': 'Rote' is dated to 1350 in same source, p435 s.n. Roth: 'Tilke Rote'. 'der Schwarze' formation found in Brechenmacher's Etymologisches Wörterbuch der Deutschen Familiennamen p580 s.n. Schwarz, so 'der Rote' seems a reasonable formation. 'von Ulm': Brechenmacher p713 s.n. Ulmer: dated spellings include 'Ulma' 1273, 'Ulmer' 1281

Brechenmacher p 437 under Roth dates Herolt der Rote to 1175. The byname means 'the red'. The same citation has Herolt der Rote zu Würzburg in 1188, which gives us the pattern.

The complex line of division satisfies RfS XI.3.a. Complex lines of division were not used in marshalling or impaling, so this armory implies neither of those.

4. Godlefe Bury - resub device forwarded

Purpure, a cross crosslet fitched and on a chief argent three mullets purpure.

The name was on the East's May 2003 ILoI

5. Kateryn Grey - new name change returned and new device forwarded

Ermine, a phoenix azure issuant from flames proper within a border nebuly azure.

This name conflicts with Catherine de Gray, which was registered in March of 2003 (via the West). The device will be sent up under her currently registered name, Fujiwara no Aoi.

6. Jan of the East (F) - new alternate name forwarded and new badge forwarded

Gules, on a pale argent masoned sable, a torteau.

Submitted Name: El{zo}bieta Piekarska

No major changes. 'El{zo}bieta' appears several times in a lineage of Polish kings in Norman Davies' 'God's Playground: A History of Poland' (PCA). While the names themselves are not dated, dates of people of the same generation include 1228-31 and 1333-70. 'Piekarska' is given as the feminized form of 'Piekarski', which appears in 'Herby Rodów Polskich'. Translated, it has this to say: 'from the root 'piekarz' which means 'baker'. The Piekarski family became associated with the Debno clan in 1500.' [ The Da'ud notation {zo} is being used for a z with a ring on top of it. ]

Additionally, The Academy of St. Gabriel, report #2666 at http://www.panix.com/~gabriel/public-bin/showfinal.cgi?2666+0 lists El{zo}bieta as a common 13th century woman's name in Poland.

Precedent says:

[Or crusilly sable, a chevron gules] The device is clear of conflict with ... Or masoned sable, a chevron gules. There is one CD for changing the field by removing the masoning...[Brienus Holebroc, 10/01, A-Meridies]

[A wall vs. a fess embattled] A wall is defined to be a fess embattled and masoned; and as with all charges of stonework, the masoning is an artistic detail worth no difference...(Zacharia of Westlake, August, 1992, pg. 31)

The device is clear of Canada (December 1994, via Laurel): Gules, on a pale argent a maple leaf gules. There is a CD for the change of type of only the tertiary by RfS X.4.j.ii.(a). By the precedents, there is a CD for the masoning if the charge is not considered stonework. Since a pale is not considered stonework, we get the CD.

7. Kate Wrenn (F) - new name forwarded and new device forwarded

Azure, a martlet wings displayed between three lymphads Or.

If her name must be changed submitter prefers to retain the sound. 'Kate' is found in Withycombe under the header 'Katharine', dated in that spelling to the 15c. 'Wrenn' is listed as an undated variant of 'Wren' in Reaney and Wilson.

Bardsley p. 830 s.n. 'Wren' dates 'Alice Wrenn' to 1273, which gives us a dated citation.

The R&W cite is an undated header form, with dated period variants. It says: " Wren, Wrenn: Wisy, William Wrenne 1275 RH (Nf), 1317 AssK; Ralph Wranne 1296 SRSx. A nickname from the wren, OE wrenna, wrænna."

8. Katheryn Redmayne - resub device forwarded

Argent, in pale three domestic cats sejant coward gules between flauches azure.

The name was forwarded to Laurel on the Feb 2004 Eastern Internal LoI.

9. Katrine Lyndesay - new name returned and new device returned

Argent, a fox rampant reguardant contourney gules within a bordure gyronny gules and Or.

If her name must be changed the submitter wishes to retain a 1500's lowland Scot name. 'Katrine' is listed but undated in Withycombe as a variant of 'Katharine'. 'Lyndesay': Black's Surnames of Scotland has various near spellings under the header 'Lindsay'.

'Katrine' found dated to 1499 and 1512 in Talan Gwynek's 'A List of Feminine Personal Names Found in Scottish Records' (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/scottishfem.html). 'Lyndesay' dated to the 15th century in Karen Larsdatter's 'Names from 15th Century York' (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/york15/).

Unfortunately, this name conflicts with 'Catlin Lindsay', registered in September of 1994 (via Atenveldt). Precedent says:

[Katharine Stuart] This name is being returned for conflict with Caitlin Stuart (registered May 1982) and with Catriona Stiubhard (registered April 1997) per the precedents: Conflict with the registered name Caitlin of Greenwood. When pronounced correctly, the only difference in sound is the very minor difference between an "r" and an "l" and sometimes the difference between a "t" and a "th". Neither change is sufficient difference. [Catharine Grenewode, 01/00, R-Atlantia]

This conflicts with Katharine Campbell, registered in June 1988. According to RfS V.1.a, two name elements need to differ significantly in sound and appearance to be considered different. The difference in pronunciation between Catriona and Katharine is not quite significant enough. [Catriona Campbell, 05/01, R-Meridies]

In the name Catriona Stiubhard, Stiubhard is the Gaelic form of Stuart/Stewart. So, as they sound almost identical, there is no there is no difference between these bynames. [Katharine Stuart, 11/01, R-Artemisia]

Since we can't send the device to Laurel without a name, and are no longer pending armory, we must return the device. No conflicts were found, but an artist mentioned that the rear hind leg is usually the one that's 'up' in a rampant posture, so as to show the pizzle.

10. Raina Iskramor - new name forwarded and new device returned

Argent, on a phoenix displayed contourny incensed azure issuant from flames issuant from base proper a sun Or and in chief seven torteaux in fess.

If her name must be changed, submitter prefers to retain the meaning 'Raina of the Sapphire Flame' and Russian language/culture. 'Raina' dated to 1619 in Paul Wickenden's 'Dictionary of Period Russian Names (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/paul/). 'Iskramor' combines two name-elements. Wickenden says about this: 'Most names contain some sort of 'base theme' as an element. Many contain more than one...These themes may appear like prothemes or like deuterothemes (at the beginning or end of a word or name) without any particular restrictions.' 'Iskr(a)'-, dated to 1606 and meaning 'flame' appears in the name 'Iskretsov' as a prototheme. 'Mor', dated to 971 and meaning 'dark blue', appears in the name 'Ikmor' as a deuterotheme

Note that Paul Wickenden of Thanet only dates the first occurrence of a name in his Dictionary, so while there may appear to be temporal incompatibility from the citations, it's probably Ok.

There was much commentary on this device, which can be summed up as follows: First, this is nice artwork, but it is not very good heraldic art. There are many issues, mostly centering around the fact that: (a) The bird is just too big. There needs to be more space between it and the sides of the field. (b) The wings are not recognizable as such because of the stylized fashion in which they are drawn. (c) The flames in base are too small for a heraldic phoenix, where they should be large enough to be of significant visual weight. The flames are the only thing distinguishing the heraldic phoenix from the heraldic eagle, so they have to be large enough to be significant. (d) The way the flames 'proper' in base is drawn is very strange. The tongues of flame are supposed to be alternating red and yellow, here there are red and yellow bands of flame. (e) The extreme crest makes it difficult to distinguish what sort of bird this is. Heraldic phoenices are considered to be eagles. (f) The whole just adds up to extreme non-period style.

11. Robert Fairfax (M) - new name forwarded and new device forwarded

Per pale Or and gules, pily bendy counterchanged.

No changes. 'Robert' dated to 1331 in Julian Goodwyn's 'Brass Enscription Index' (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/brasses/). 'Fairfax' dated to the 15th century in Karen Larsdatter's 'Names from 15th Century York' (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/york15/index.htm).

R&W date Fairfax to 1208 and Robert to DB and (as a patronymic) to 1292. Withycombe has Robert(us) 1071-5, DB.

The arms are clear of conflict with Raymond the Mild ( January of 1973 ) Pily bendy sable and Or.

12. Svava Þorgeirsdóttir (F) - new name forwarded

No major changes. 'Svava' from a variety of sources: Lind col. 982 s.n. 'Sváfa' cites the desired spelling from 'The Poetic Edda' and 'The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise' (PCA). In two poems in the former, it is the name of a Valkyrie, but in another, the name is given to a human (Brate, 'Eddan. De Nordiska guda- och hjältesångerna', pp. 126, 143-144, 147-150, PCA). 'Sváfa', another form of the name, also appears as the name of a human in 'The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise' (Tolkien, 'The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise', p. 4, 10, 14, PCA). These examples show that though the name only appeared in literature, it was given to humans as well as mythological creatures and thus should be acceptable to the CoA, as is stated in the cover letter to the December 2001 LoAR: 'Names of human characters in period literature are registerable with certain restrictions.'.

Svava - "Svana" is in Geirr-Bassi, page 15. but no "Svava". MNA article Nordiskt runnamnslexikon at http://www.dal.lu.se/runlex/pdf/lexikon.pdf shows "Svafa" as a period masculine name - this is the name that "Svava" comes from according to the submitter's documentation - this also shows that "Svafa" was not just used in literature.

Svava appears in that spelling in Lind's 'Norsk-Isländska Dopnamn Ock Fingerade Namn Fraån Medeltiden' in column 982 s.n. Sváfa. The entry reads: "Sváfa, -u. Kv. Fing. Svava, g. Svá-, ... Eylima d. Ed¹ 173 b 176 178 191 b ... digunn Suofu barn ok Sækonungs... lulióð Ed¹ 155 a. Suaua, g. Suofu Bia... d. ialls Hrv 301²⁶, 316⁸. Jfr Björk,..." Unfortunately, my copy fades on the right margin, which is what all the ... are for.

Þorgeirsdóttir - We find the name "Þorgeirr" is in Geirr-Bassi, p 16. According to the article A Simple Guide to Creating Old Norse Names found at the Laurel website ( http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/sg-viking.htm ), the patrynomic surname is constructed correctly.

13. Tryn Völundsson (M) - new name forwarded and new device forwarded

Per bend sinister argent and azure, a drakkar proper sailed and bannered gules and a Thor's hammer argent.

Tryn' is found dated to the 11c in The Vikings by Elsz Roesdahl (PCA, though no copy of the title page was provided). 'Völundsson' is formed as a patronymic from 'Volund' + 'sson' in Norse Islandska Dopnamn by Lind col 1115.

The given name in 'the Vikings' is from a runestone inscription that the book has a translation of. It reads (in translation): Östman, Gudfast's son, had this stone raised and this bridge made and he had Jämtland made Christian. Åsbjörn made the bridge. Tryn and Sten cut these runes. The inscription has been translated other places ( http://www.qsl.net/sm5rih/runestone.html for instance) in approximately the same terms.

Tryn may be a variant of Triúnn, found at http://www.dal.lu.se/runlex/pdf/lexikon.pdf . An unauthorized translation at http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/FTP_Files/NordisktRunnamnslexicon.zip says "Triúnn (masculine name). Old Jämtland Trion (see Lind col. 1041). From OW.Norse *trjónn m. (compare with Faroese. trónur "nose, snout") or formed from OW.Norse trjóna f. "nose, snout". Nominative: triun / (t)riun JRS1928;66$. Refs: Peterson 1985." This entry appears to refer to the rune stone in the submitter's documentation, because the entries for the names Gudfast, Asbjorn, Tryn and Jamtland all refer to "JRS1928;66$" which may be the designation of that rune stone or a publication referring to it.

Volund, in Lind, is under s.n. Vǫlundr. The text there reads: Vǫlundr, -ar, -i M Fing. Vǫlvndr, -undr Ed¹ 163 a, Hs 748 12²⁸ IGL II 31²⁸ ; St II 276³² Bþ I 640 ³⁰, Vælvndr. -d[r] Ed¹ 165a, 167 a, 169 a; 163 bⁿ, Vólvndr. -ndr Ed ¹ 163 bⁿ, 166 bⁿ, 169 bⁿ, 170 bⁿ; 164 bⁿ, Volvndr -ndr DS 82 ¹⁵ , Ed¹ 164b, 165b, 170b ; 168b , 169a, 170a. g. Volvndar Ed¹ 166b, 169b, DS 82n, Volundar Stj 85¹⁰, d. Volvndi Ed¹ 163an, 165a, 167a, a. Volvnd. -nd Ed¹ 169b, DS 195²², Volond, -und DS 82

Ed¹ Is the Eddas. DS Is the Saga of King Diðriks of Bern. HS 748 is Håndskriftet. IGL is Islands grammatiske litteratur i middelalderen. St is Sturlunga's saga. Bþ is Biskupa sögur. Stj is Stjórn udg.

14 William Fitzwater (M) - new name forwarded

William' is a header entry in Withycombe in that spelling. 'Fitzwater' is header entry in Reaney and Wilson.

Withycombe does not actually date the spelling 'William', though this is found easily enough elsewhere; it is dated to 1323 in Julian Goodwyn's 'Brass Enscription Index' ( http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/brasses/ ).

This is clear of William Fitzwalter of Wallingford (August 1980, via Ansteorra) by removal of an element.

R&W, p 478 under the heading Water says that "Water was the normal medieval pronunciation of Walter." It has Rauf le fuiz William 1299, Henry Fitz William 1300; these are likely literal patronymics, so they're good dates for William. Under both Walter and Water, R&W say Water was the usual medieval pronunciation of Walter; under Water they offer: Theobald Walter, filius Walteri, Walteri, Water 1212-36; Waterus de Cantelupo c. 1135; Waterus filius Herberti Hy2, Water Dey 1479 and more.

15 Wion Neilson - new device forwarded

Argent, a bend sinister gules between a lion and a cross potent sable.

Name forwarded to Laurel on the East's March 2004 LoR.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bardsley, Charles Wareing. A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames. Oxford University Press, London, 1901.

Black, George F. The Surnames of Scotland . New York Public Library, 1989.

Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann. Etymologisches Wörterbuch der Deutschen Familiennamen . C.A. Starke-Verlag, Limburg, 1957-60.

Geirr Bassi Haraldsson. The Old Norse Name . Private Press, Maryland, 1977.

Reaney, P.H. and R. M. Wilson. A Dictionary of English Surnames . Third edition, Oxford University Press, 1995.

Searle, William George. Onomasticon Anglo-Saxonicum. Georg Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung, Hildesheim, 1969.

Withycombe, E.G. The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names. Third edition. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1979