February 2008 East Kingdom Internal Letter of Decisions

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

This is the Letter of Decisions for the Internal Letter of Intent dated Feb. 18, 2008. It contains submissions received before Feb. 16th, 2008 and has 10 numbered items.

Many, many thanks to the following commenters: Gawain of Miskbridge, Alys Mackyntoich, Lillia de Vaux, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Tanczos Istvan, and Rohese de Dinan.

As usual, text in boldface is quoted from the ILoI, and my comments follow in normal type.

She cares most about, and requests authenticity for, Welsh language and/or culture. Efa -- Welsh/English, p. 31 A Welsh Miscellany. Pengrych -- Welsh, p. 31 A Welsh Miscellany.

Per the Oct. 2007 LoAR, Compleat Anachronist #66 (A Welsh Miscellany) is no longer acceptable as a sole source of name documentation, because it contains both purely legendary names and standard modern forms of names which may have been written differently in period. Efa appears to fall into this second category: according to "A Simple Guide to Constructing 13th Century Welsh Names" by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/welsh13.html), the period spelling was Eva. (For English speakers, the medieval spelling better reflects the pronunciation, which is given as EH-vah in Tangwystyl's names FAQ at http://heatherrosejones.com/welshfaqs/names.html.) Pengrych also appears to be a modern, standardized spelling; a period spelling given in the Simple Guide is Pengrek, meaning 'curly-head'. According to this article, "women will always use the mutated form of a nickname", and the mutated form of Pengrek is given as Bengrek. The submitted Efa Pengrych has therefore been changed to Eva Bengrek, in order to match the documentation and to comply with her request for an authentic name.

Unfortunately, this badge has multiple conflicts. Against both Marie of Clan Neil (Nov. 1997 Atenveldt): Purpure, a chevron between two roses and a harp argent and Marie of Mere (Apr. 2005 Meridies): Purpure, a chevron argent between two Celtic crosses and a sun in splendor Or, there's but one clear difference for removing the group of secondary charges. Against Katerina da Brescia (Jun. 1996 West): Purpure, three chevronels braced argent, there's one CD for the change in number of primary charges. It probably also conflicts with Wijade the Wondrous (Sep. 1973): Purpure, a pale argent and a chevron counterchanged, with just one CD for removing the pale.

She cares most about Swedish language, 15th century. Johanne is found in Aryanhwy merch Catmael's "Swedish Given Names from SMP" (http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/smp/), dated to 1456. Aryanhwy's article states that locative bynames were "less common, but still appropriate." A locative byname is formed with the preposition i + place name. Visby is a city in southwestern Sweden. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica (http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9075501/Visby), Visby was a major commercial center in the medieval period: "By 1161 the town developed into one of the principal northern European mercantile centres, and it soon occupied a leading position within the Hanseatic League, which had previously been dominated by Lübeck (now in Germany). It reached its zenith in the 13th century. Earning the epithet regina maris ('queen of the sea'), it developed its own maritime code and coined its own money. The town began to decline, however, in the face of Lübeck's rising power, and in 1299 the league removed Visby's Hanseatic privileges. The town retained a share of Baltic commerce, though without the advantages afforded by league status. The next blow to the town was delivered by the Black Death about 1349-50. In 1361, during the conquest of Gotland by the Danish king Valdemar IV Atterdag, a hastily assembled peasant army attempted to halt the invaders near Visby. It is unclear whether citizens of the town aided the ill-equipped defenders, but the town yielded soon after the peasants -- including women and children -- were brutally slaughtered (the discovery of their mass graves in the early 20th century was a major archaelogical find). A heavy tribute was exacted by Valdemar IV, but Visby continued to prosper from regional trade." The submitter will accept whatever spelling of Visby is appropriate to match the spelling of her given name. [The blazon is reproduced from the submission form. All three color emblazon forms are colored the same: white chevron and yellow mullet.]

The citation for Johanne from Aryanhwy's article comes from SMP s.n. Bradhe (http://www.sofi.se/servlet/GetDoc?meta_id=1801): Johanne Braudes dotter; it's not marked as an inflected form. The Swedish diplomatarium at http://www.statensarkiv.se/ has a Latin document from 1225 (http://fmpro.ra.se/ra/medeltid/pdf/434.pdf) which spells the city's name as Visby at the beginning and wisby at the end. The 'w' spelling appears to be the more common; it occurs for example as de Wisby in a Latin document from 1268 (http://fmpro.ra.se/medeltid/pdf/876.pdf). The spelling didn't change much over the next several centuries: there's an engraving from 1580 which has the placename variously as Visbia Gothorvm, Wisby Gotlandiae, and ante portas Wisbii (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:VisbyEngraving1580.jpg). These are of course all in Latin, supporting de Visby as a byname, but I have no reason to think the Swedish spelling was any different, so I've made no change to the preposition.

One commenter wondered if Johanne and Jon had given each other permission to conflict, as their names are similar (on purpose, I believe, mirroring their mundane names). It's unclear from precedent whether such permission is needed: Jehanne has been ruled to conflict with Johan (Johan d'Avignon, 06/2000 R-Lochac), but Johannes doesn't conflict with Ian (Ian Gordon, 05/2004 A-Meridies). I believe the names look significantly different (three letters versus seven), and if Johanne is pronounced like it looks (Jo-anne), they should sound different as well, so I don't think there's a conflict.

The consulting herald confirms that the emblazon's colors are correct, so the blazon has been corrected by switching the words "argent" and "Or". Also, the phrase "of five points" has been dropped, because this is the default for mullets in the SCA. This device is clear of both Thomas der Kreuzfahrer (Jan. 1997 East): Azure, a chevron argent, overall a Latin cross Or and Alainn Aodhmoira Bean Larren (Jan. 1980 Meridies): Azure, a chevron argent, overall a winged catamount sejant affrontée, wings elevated, sable; in each case, there's one CD for removing the overall charge, and another for adding the secondary mullet. It's also clear of Elrhond Windrider (Aug. 1980 Atenveldt): Azure, a chevronel interlaced with another inverted argent, with one CD for the number of primaries and one for adding a secondary. Against Jacopo di Nicolò (Jan. 1997 East): Gules, a chevron argent, in chief a compass star Or, there's at least a CD for the field and one for the position of the mullet; there may also be a third CD, for compass star versus mullet, but the question is rendered moot by the other CDs. The same question is rendered similarly moot against Pippin Hodge (Jan. 1987 West): Per chevron gules and sable, a chevron argent between two compass stars and a lion's head cabossed Or; there's a CD for the field and another for the number of secondary charges. And finally, this should be clear of John de Caversham (Jul. 1996 East): Azure, a chevron couched from dexter argent, with one CD for the change in position/orientation of the primary charge, and another for the addition of the secondary charge.

The phrase "of five points" has been dropped from the blazon, as this is the default for mullets in the SCA. This badge is clear of Aliz de Bâle (Dec. 2002 Outlands): (Fieldless) A swan naiant argent semy-de-lys azure, with one CD for the type and number of tertiary charges, and another from the fieldless bribe.

He cares most about Swedish language, 15th century. Jon is found among the 15th-16th century Swedish men's names listed in Academy of St. Gabriel report 2296, citing SMP (http://www.s-gabriel.org/2296). The same St. Gabriel report states that locative bynames were "less common, but still appropriate" for late-period Sweden. A locative byname is formed with the preposition i + place name. Visby is a city in southwestern Sweden. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica (http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9075501/Visby), Visby was a major commercial center in the medieval period. [See Johanne's name submission above for a quote from the EB article.] The submitter will accept whatever spelling of Visby is appropriate to match the spelling of his given name.

The Swedish diplomatarium at http://www.statensarkiv.se/ has a Latin document from 1225 (http://fmpro.ra.se/ra/medeltid/pdf/434.pdf) which spells the city's name as Visby at the beginning and wisby at the end. The 'w' spelling appears to be the more common; it occurs for example as de Wisby in a Latin document from 1268 (http://fmpro.ra.se/medeltid/pdf/876.pdf). The spelling didn't change much over the next several centuries: there's an engraving from 1580 which has the placename variously as Visbia Gothorvm, Wisby Gotlandiae, and ante portas Wisbii (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:VisbyEngraving1580.jpg). These are of course all in Latin, supporting de Visby as a byname, but I have no reason to think the Swedish spelling was any different, so I've made no change to the preposition.

The PicDic entry for compass says it's "more properly a 'pair of compasses'", and this is reflected in registrations of this charge in the past decade or so. The blazon has therefore been changed accordingly.

Her name was registered in April 2002, via the East. Her device, Argent, on a bend cotised azure three mullets of six points Or was registered in Dec. 2004, also via the East. Her original badge submission, blazoned the same as this one, was returned on the March 2006 LoD for conflict with Rowan le Beau (March 1998 Æthelmearc): Argent, on a bend cotised azure a lily palewise Or between two others argent. This submission includes a letter of permission to conflict from Rowan. (She also had another badge submission, Argent, a mullet of six points azure, which was returned for conflict on the June 2007 LoD.)

7 Mahin Bãnu Tabrîzî (f) - Resub Change Of Name forwarded
Current name: Selena d'Ambra

Her current name, Selena d'Ambra, was registered in Jan. 1991, via the East. It is to be released if this registration is successful. Her original name change submission to Mahin Bãnu was returned on the Sep. 2007 LoAR (R-East) because it lacked a byname: Mahin Bãnu is a compound given name. This resubmission adds a locative byname to solve this problem. Mahin Bãnu is the name of a princess of the Safavid Dynasty in 16th century Iran. She is more commonly known as the princess Soltãnum, sister of Shah Tahmasb. The name appears in an article by Abolala Soudavar, "A Chinese Dish from the Lost Endowment of Princess Soltãnum", originally published in Iran and Iranian Studies: Essays in Honor of Iraj Afshar. (Ed. by Kambiz Eslami. 1st ed. Princeton, NJ: Zagros Press, 1988. Pp. 125-147.) A copy of the article is found on the author's website: http://www.soudavar.com. The name appears in this spelling on an inscribed bowl. In addition, Mahîn Bânû is found as a feminine name in "Persian Names from the Safavid Period" by Aryanhwy merch Catmael and Ursula Georges (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/ursula/persian.html). Aryanhwy's and Ursula's article discusses name formation, including a few instances where women's names include bynames: "Some women are known by just a single name, and there are no patronymic bynames (bynames based on the father's given name), though these phenomena could be artifacts of the transcription. We did find several examples of locative bynames (bynames based on location), e.g. Samarqandî, Tabrîzî, etc.)" Based on this, Tabrîzî is a locative byname appropriate for a Safavid woman. Since Laurel has concluded that Mahin Bãnu is a compound given name, Mahin Bãnu Tabrîzî or Mahîn Bânû Tabrîzî should be an acceptable combination of given name + locative byname. The submitter will accept whatever accent markings are appropriate.

Margaret is dated to 1446 (R&W s.n. Clarvis) in Talan Gwynek's "Feminine Given Names in A Dictionary of English Surnames" (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/reaneyintro.html). Gresham: R&W s.n. Gresham dates Thomas Gresham to 1446.

Unfortunately, this device conflicts with Regana van Kortrijk (Feb. 2002 Outlands): Azure, a squirrel argent, with just one CD for adding the bordure. The submitted squirrel is not sejant, but sejant erect, which is the default posture for squirrels. (The word "sejant" has therefore been dropped from the blazon.) Commenters suggested that turning the squirrel contourny is the simplest way to clear this conflict without introducing new ones; the closest then would be Johann Tscharner von Graffenried (Nov. 1991 Calontir): Sable, a squirrel sejant erect to sinister within a bordure argent, with one CD for the field tincture and one for the type of peripheral (plain vs. embattled). Note that while the submitted depiction of the embattled bordure is likely registerable, period style would have somewhat fewer teeth.

9 Østgarðr, Crown Province of - New Order Name forwarded & New Badge forwarded
Submitted Name: Order of the Sea Dog of Østgarðr

This order name follows the meta-pattern of orders named for heraldic charges, as noted in the Aug. 2005 Cover Letter. A sea dog is a standard heraldic charge, appearing in Fox-Davies A Complete Guide to Heraldry p. 205. Sea dogs and sea-wolves have been registered at least 79 times in the SCA, most recently in Feb. 2007. The phrase "of Østgarðr" has been added in order to clear the conflict with the heraldic title Sea-Dog Herald, registered Jan. 2003 via Trimaris, and transferred to Sebastian Halyburton in Dec. 2003. A letter of permission to conflict from Sebastian is included. By precedent, "group references (which are normally transparent for conflict purposes) can clear a conflict in conjunction with a letter of permission to conflict." (Ansteorra, Kingdom of, 09/01 R-Ansteorra.) The branch name Crown Province of Østgarðr was registered in Apr. 1984, via the East.

Purpure, on a lozenge ployé between four feathers embowed in annulo argent a domestic cat couchant gardant sable.

Her name and current device (Per chevron Or and sable, two oak branches gules, slipped sable, and a winged cat sejant affronty, wings displayed Or) were registered in May 1993, via the East. The old device is to be released if this registration is successful.

The blazon has been tweaked somewhat (from Purpure, a lozenge ployé between four feathers in annulo argent charged with a domestic cat couchant gardant sable).

Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme and Akagawa Yoshio. A Pictorial Dictionary of Heraldry as used in the Society for Creative Anachronism. 2nd ed., 1992.

Jones, Heather Rose. A Welsh Miscellany. Compleat Anachronist #66, 1993.

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