1 May 2000, A.S. XXXV

Kingdom of Atenveldt

Unto Their Royal Majesties Aaron and Allisandra; Their Royal Highnesses Mathias and Sarolta; Lady Isabel d'Avron, Aten Principal Herald; The Heralds in the Atenveldt College of Heralds, and to All Whom These Presents Come,

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

This is the MAY 1999 internal Atenveldt Letter of Intent. It precedes the external LoI that will contain the following submissions, asking questions of submitters and local heralds who have worked with them; if these questions are not addressed, the submission may be returned by the Atenveldt College of Heralds. You are encouraged to comment upon these submissions, even if you are new in your office and fear that you might not have enough "experience" to offer your opinion. Please have commentary to me by 25 May. I accept electronic commentary: brickbat@nexiliscom.com.

Pictorial Dictionaries: They're here! If you are attending Atenveldt Coronation in the Barony of Ered Sul, you and your heraldic office will have a Pictorial Dictionary waiting for you. If you will not be in attendance, I will see if it can be sent home with your Senschal or I will arrange to mail it to you. (I will not be attending Coronation).

Known World Heraldic Symposium: This year's KWHS will be held in the Kingdom of Ansteorra, 23-25 June (Rice University, Houston). I plan to attend, and although it is down the road a piece, if you are able to attend, I think you would have a good time and learn all sorts of new and wonderful things, possibly having fun and learning at the same time! Full details can be found at this site: http://www.peazy.com/KWHS.htm.

While I received no commentary on the submissions that appear in the 1 May LoAR (no news is good news?) and few reports, I'm not (too) discouraged-I can pretend that everyone in the kingdom has his/her name and armory either registered or in submission. I suspect pleasant weather is turning folks' heads to matters other than name research and armorial design. (To be fair, I have received several emails requesting information on specific naming practices, both from within and outside of Atenveldt.) And, of course, having just written this, I receive a brick (cleverly disguised as a packet of submissions from the Barony of Atenveldt) in the mail.

I hope reading the comments with the submissions below gives you some insight into what criteria for name and armorial design the College of Arms uses; even if I ramble on about a particular submission, please don't think I've made a final decision or said the final word-your commentary might be enlightening! Please consider the following submissions (conflict check if you are able) for the June Atenveldt LoI.:

Anastasia of Three Oaks (Tir Ysgithr): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Per pale Or and argent, an acorn slip proper, a bordure azure.

The name is English. The saint's name Anastasia is found in England since the 13^th Century (Withycombe, Oxford Dictionary of Christian Names, 3^rd Edition, pp. 21-2). Three Oaks is a coined locative; Reaney and Wilson's Dictionary of English Surnames provide a number of "oak" family names (Oak, Oaks, Okes) that indicate residence by an oak or a group of oaks, p. 254.

Deirdre of Gael (Atenveldt): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Argent, in pale a corbie displayed head to sinister sable and a triangle voided purpure.

Deirdre is probably a modern variant of the woman's given name Deredere, found in 1166 (gleaned from Black's Surnames of Scotland, in "12^th Century Scottish Women's Names," by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn). This is a commonly found name in the SCA Armorial, and it is the submitter's legal given name. Gael is cited as "of Gael, the country, Irish part." I am concerned with this, primarily because the "native" name for Ireland is Eire; Gael/ic refers to the culture and the language of several populations. My sources cite no city or county of Gael in Ireland (which would allow this as a locative). I am also worried that the overall name might be construed as conflicting with the legendary Irish heroine Deirdre who was to marry the King of Ulster, but eloped with another man-the three sons from that union were slain by the king, leaving Deirdre to mourn them. Any comments on this would be welcome.

Eric the Bald (Atenveldt): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Sable, a sledge hammer argent within a bordure rayonny Or.

Eric is found on p. 105 of Withycombe, a Germanic name brought to England by the Danes. The Bald is a descriptive epithet.

Erik Kastanrazi (Aurochsford): NAME and DEVICE RESUBMISSION from Local Herald, early 1999

Gules, a ladle inverted argent and a wooden-hafted battle-axe proper, bladed argent, crossed in saltire.

Erik is a reasonable spelling variant of Eric, a Germanic name brought to England by the Danes (p. 105). The epithet is Old Norse, "wiggle-arse"-those wacky Vikings! (Geirr Bassi, The Old Norse Name, p. 24).

According to the Pictorial Dictionary, a ladle's default position is bowl to base. Other than conflicts, I am worried that there might be a problem with the "wooden" tincture (which, I believe is considered a tincture rather than a metal) and so a contrast problem on the gules field. Might the submitter consider an axe with an argent blade and an Or haft-that way it will not violate contrast and he can use a rich, deep gold color, very nearly like wood. Lady Gwyneth, can you contact the submitter and ask him about this?

Gaston Trevoux (Atenveldt): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Per chevron vert and sable, three owls argent.

The name is French. Gaston is found in Withycombe, p. 126, probably arising as a racial designation (from Gascony), but also borne as a given name by Gaston, Duke of Orleans, son of Henry IV. Trevoux is found in Dauzat, p. 577.

Geraint de Grey (Atenveldt): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Vert, a chevron engrailed between two comets inverted set in chevron and a demisun issuant from base, all Or.

Geraint is the Welsh form of the Old British Gerontius (which itself was borrowed from the Latin Gerontius, Withycombe, p. 130). A brass rubbing of Sir Anthony de Grey (d. 1480) is found in European Arms and Armor, by Charles H. Ashdown, 1995, p. 252, figure 326. The submitter also cites P. Hanks and F. Hodges' A Dictionary of Surnames, which is a discouraged source by the College of Arms because it often fails to date its sources; in this case, however, Henry de Grey was granted lands at Thurock, Essex by Richard I (1189-99), p. 223. Cool! I think that lacking documentation from more standard sources, Hanks and Hodges can be used in a situation such as this one.

(The original blazon: Vert, a chevron engrailed between two comets , the one on the dexter side bendwise sinister and the one on the sinister side bendwise, both embowed, and a demisun issuant from base, all Or.) Please check for conflicts. Even if there are none, this will need to be redrawn. The engrails are far too small and numerous, and the tails/beards of heraldic comets need to be depicted as much more substantial and "bushy," not unlike a fox's tail or a feather. According to the Pictorial Dictionery, comets can either be headed by a mullet or an estoile (I've juggled the blazon so that a scribe will be clear on this). I think that the slight embowing of the beards can be left to artistic license.

Iago Gof (Atenveldt): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Or, a bend sinister embattled between two tygers passant contourny azure.

Both name elements are found in "A Simple Guide to Constructing 13^th Century Welsh Names, by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Galsvryn (http://www.sac.ofg/heraldry/laurel/welsh13.html). Iago is a somewhat common given masculine name, and Gof is an occupational byname, meaning "smith." A wonderful Welsh name!

Lovely, period armory, with identical secondary charges on either side of the ordinary (still, please check for conflicts!).

Katherine Trevoux (Atenveldt): NEW NAME

Katherine is found on pp. 186-7, Withycombe; while this spelling does not appear to exactly match any period form, it is the submitter's legal given name. Trevoux is found in Dauzat, p. 577.

Kedivor Tal ap Cadugon (Atenveldt): BADGE RESUBMISSION (for Genevieve Marguerite Gaston de La Rochelle) from Laurel, 11/99

Purpure, ermined argent, a griffin segreant argent, winged and beaked Or.

Both the submittor's primary and alternative names have been registered (December 1999 and April 1999).

This is a complete redesign of a submission that used a charge that is no longer permitted in SCA armory.

Kiara Wrynn of the Bells (Mons Tonitrus): NEW DEVICE

Argent, a chevron rompu between two hawk's bells and a cross of four mascles vert, pometty purpure.

The name was registered July 1993.

This isn't quite a cross of mascles as shown in the Pictorial Dictionary, which is comprised of five mascles (fig. 192). However, the arrangement is identical to the cross of lozenges (fig. 190). The text, on the other hand, states that the number of lozenges or mascles must be specified (aha!-always read the instructions). Also, in the text regarding the cross of Toulouse (fig. 220), it states that the cross of Toulouse, which also has these little "balls" or roundels, was alternately blazoned as a "cross clechy, voided and pometty," pometty referring to the roundels. I've done the same here.

Llawryf uxor Iago (Atenveldt): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Azure, a tyger passant contourny within a bordure embattled Or.

The name is Welsh. While the submitter's legal given name, Lori, is a form of Laura, which might be a feminine form of the Latin Laurentius (i.e., Laurentia), Laurentius probably was derived from the city of Laurentum (Laurentius="of Laurentum"). In turn, the place-name was likely derived from laurus, "a bay tree" (Withycombe, p. 191). Llawryf is the Welsh word for "laurel," which, as Lord Kedivor pointed out to the submitter, might be returned by the College of Arms for conflicting/claiming to be a member of the Order of the Laurel. That is a valid point.

A greater point is that just because a common noun in one language means the same thing in another (W. llawryf=L. laurus= English laurel) doesn't mean that a name can be made from it. Note that the names Laura and Lori are derived from laurus, but are not laurus. Additionally, the submitter's own documentation shows llawryf to be a masculine noun; I don' know if this affects name protocol, but the vast majority of Welsh given names are either men's names or women's names-there is virtually no "feminizing" a masculine, such as John to Jane or Nicholas to Nicole. Also, it appears that the Welsh form of the submitter's given name can be Lowri, Lowrie, Loure, Loury or Lowrye, according to "Women's Names in the First Half of 16^th Century Wales," by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn. I think her choosing one of these documentable Welsh names would avoid the problem of potential infringement on the name of the Order of the Laurel and the issue of using a non-name element as part of one's name.

The rest of the name is documented from "A Simple Guide to Constructing 13^th Century Welsh Names, by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Galsvryn (http://www.sac.ofg/heraldry/laurel/welsh13.html). Iago is a somewhat common given masculine name. The particle uxor (Latin for "wife"), was a popular byname construction, being identified as the wife of her husband. Hence, the submitter is the wife of Iago, who appears above.

The embattling should probably be made bigger with less crenalations, but the colored copies are very dynamic (at least if they are drawn larger, they will be less tedious to render on a banner or a garment...).

John Michael Midwinter (Tir Ysgithr): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Gyronny gules and Or, a lozenge counterchanged.

The name is English. John and Michael are popular saint's names (Withycombe, pp. 178-9 and 218-9, respectively). Midwinter is found in Reaney and Wilson, p. 236.

Ragnar the Skin Illustrator (Atenveldt): NAME and DEVICE RESUBMISSION from Local Herald, 2/99

Counterermine, a dragon segreant contourny azure maintaining in its left forepaw a brush and in its right a human skull (tinctures?).

Ragnar is a more modern spelling of the Old Norse given name Ragnarr (Geirr Bassi, The Old Norse Name, p. 14). The epithet, I think, refers to his profession as a tattoo artist, but it sounds modernly intrusive to my ear; additionally, the concept of illustrating as onamenting or decorating with designs dates back to 1638, post-period. (Tattoo is a corruption of a Polynesian word that didn't enter the Western European language until the 18^th Century.) I would like to entertain some suggestions that the submitter might consider as an alternative, since body ornamentation was practiced in period, only I haven't the faintest idea what it might have been called. Skinn appears to be the Norse term for "skin"-possibly "Skin Painter".

Robert de Bere (Atenveldt): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Vert, two ferrets combattant Or.

Robert is the submitter's legal given name. Various forms are found in Withycombe, pp. 254-5, including Robert(us) in the 1086 Domesday Book. Theodoricus le Bere (1166), Ordric de Bera (1186), and Walter de la Bere (1263) are all cited in Reaney and Wilson, pp. 28, under Bear, Beara, Beare, Beer, Beers, Bere, De La Bere. This slight spelling difference should be acceptable. The submitter also provides an online history of the Beers Family Line, citing a William de Bere of Bere's Court, who served as Bailiff of Dover during the reign of Edward I (http://www.tiac. net/users/pmcbride/james/f055.htm).

Ah, hmmm. While I suspect these might be extraordinarily accurate period renditions of ferrets (many medieval artists were not the best naturalistic artists), I think that the CoA is going to complain that these look too much like other beasts (wolves, perhaps?). Please check for conflicts, and I would ask if his local herald might ask the submitter if he has an objection to having the beasts rendered as more ferretlike, with thinner tails, smaller ears, longer bodies and shorter legs.

Sebastian von Wolff (Atenveldt): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Gules, a chevron and a chevron inverted conjoined at the points sable, surmounted by two battle-axes addorsed (or, hafts to center) Or, a bordure sable.

Sebastian is a Christian saint's name, found in Withycombe, p. 264. Wolff is a German surname found in Bahlow's Deutsches Namenlexicon, p. 555. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to be derived from a placename, which the preposition von ("from, of") suggests. One can be "from Berlin" or "from the Black Forest", but not from a surname not based on a locative. Sebastian Wolff would be a fine name, or the submitter might consider a Wolf-X placename: Wolfach, Wolfen, Wolfsburg, Wolfenbuttel, Wolfhagen (these are all found in a modern European road atlas, so if he goes in this direction, he might want to do some research to make sure any of these are period towns).

Kedivor tells me he had a good reason for sending up a submission with a flagrant tincture violation :)-he wants to confirm or deny the rumored loophole that sable can be placed on a color, such as gules, purpure, azure or vert. Yes, sable is a fur, in real life. But unlike ermine, which is a fur in real life and in armory, sable is a color, not a fur. As a result, it cannot be placed on another color without violating the rule of contrast (one word with more than one meaning). Even in SCA armory, the furs such as ermine and erminois cannot have a metal placed upon them (example, an argent heart on an erminois field), because it has been determined by the College of Arms that good contrast is the first priority in the armory we choose to emulate-there are exceptions to most rules (ours or the English College of Arms) in real life armory, but as a whole, this leads to poor armorial style.

This is also an interesting design, contrast problems aside, and I'd like your feedback on it. With the overlying charges (axes) making the overall design busy, I think the use of the chevron inverted and chevron might be mistaken for a weirdly drawn saltire, or, from a distance, that the charges will look like a saltire. Also a chevron inverted usually issues from the sides of the field rather than the upper corners of the field, or, in this case, the chief, if you follow the lines "under" the bordure. There are numerous examples of a chevron and a chevron inverted interlaced in the Ordinary, but I think this particular design runs the risk of being returned for similarity to a saltire. Using the existing tinctures and design, this might look very nice with an Or field, a sable saltire and bordure and red axes (note that while there would be some points on this design where the red axes are on top of the sable saltire, both types of charges have significant portions on the Or field, providing adequate contrast so that they can be identified easily.

Siobhan O Dubhagain (Atenveldt): NEW NAME

The name is Irish. Siobhan is a more modern form of the woman's given name Siban, a borrowing of the Anglo-Norman Jehan(n)e (O Corrain and Maguire, Irish Names, p. 165). The family name is also found in O Corrain and Maguire, p. 77, under Dubacan (traditional)/Dubhagan (more modern). It is a southern Irish name which gives rise to the family name O Dubhagain (traditional)/O Duggan (modern). While the traditional and modern spellings share the same pronunciation, the submitter might with to go with Siban O Dubhagain or Siobhan O Duggan for more temporal compatibility. Otherwise, this is a good Irish name, with a single given name and a family name.

Tifaine d' Dauphine' (Atenveldt): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Argent, on a fess sable between a natural dolphin naiant and a base wavy-crested azure, three hearts gules, enflamed proper.

Tifaine is an Old French given name, and legend has it that it was the name of the mother of the Magi; it is found in England from 1200, and because of the legend, was a name often given to girls born around Epiphany (Withycombe, p. 278, under Theophania). From Scribner's Dictionary of the Middle Ages, p. 167, the submitter provides a map of France in 1300, which shows a southeastern region (SE of Burgundy, north of Provence) known as Dauphine. The preposition would be more correct as de, since the placename does not begin with a vowel (d'Anjou, but de Limousin). Dauzat also shows Dauphin(e) as a surname; my biggest reservation is that Dauphin is a title for the heir apparent of France, in the same way that the Prince of Wales is the heir apparent of England. Dauzat seems to mention this (or at least I think it is mentioned-I could make out "king of France" in the entry). Other than this coincidence, this appears to be a good name construction using a locative byname. If anyone has a background in French history and titles and could shed some light on the name, I would appreciate it. (If the lady would be interested in a cross cultural name, there is a period Italian surname, Delfino, which also means "dolphin.")

Oh my. There are a number of problems with this device. Using a natural dolphin is permitted, but this is not truly naiant embowed, as originally blazoned; it is probably just naiant (embowing it gives it a very sharp arch or curve to the body). Wavy-crested is a post-period line of division. For all intents and purposes, the gules hearts on the sable fess break the rule of contrast. Additionally this is an incorrect way of depicting a charge enflamed. The period enflaming, like that seen on the heraldic salamander, has little spurts or tongues of flame coming out from around the entire charge. Perhaps the hearts could be ensigned of a flame (that may not be the most accurate term, with a single tongue emerging from the top, as one sees in the depiction of the Sacred Heart of Mary). Technically, this exceeds the Rule of Eight with four charge types (fess, dolphin, base, hearts and flames, if you want to get picky) and five tinctures (argent, sable, azure, gules and Or). I have a bad feeling that even if the name submission is permitted, that, while the device cants on the name, using the dolphin as a charge, the device might be returned for presumption, since the device for the Dauphin, Prince of France is Or, a dolphin haurient azure finned gules., which is protected by the SCA College of Arms (again, the use of the surname Delfino would probably avoid the problem).

Using most of the design elements, the submitter might consider Argent, a fess sable between a natural dolphin naiant azure, and three hearts gules (enflamed or not). This would remove one/two charges, solve the contrast problem, and fill the bottom of the field nicely with the hearts placed two and one.

Uilliam O Dubhagain (Atenveldt): NEW NAME

The name is Irish, the given name a borrowing from the Old German Willahelm (O Corrain and Maguire, p. 175). The family name is found in O Corrain and Maguire, p. 77, under Dubacan/Dubhagan. It is a southern Irish name which gives rise to the period family name O Dubhagain.

The following submissions appear in the 1 May 2000 Atenveldt Letter of Intent (emblazons were included in 1April 2000 Atenveldt Internal LoI):

Eowyn Erthton: NEW NAME and DEVICE (Erminois, in pale to natural panthers passant contourney, a bordure rayonny sable.)

Golda ferch Deiniol: NEW BADGE (Azure, goutty d'eau, a demi-sun issuant from base Or.)

Nathair Airgid, Shire of: DEVICE RESUBMISSION from Laurel, 8/95 (Per satire gules and sable, a pithon erect, in base a laurel wreath argent.)

For those of you traveling to Coronation, have a safe and happy journey. I look forward to hearing from you all, and thank you for your continuing good works.

I remain,

Marta as tu Mika-Mysliwy

Brickbat Herald

c/o Linda Miku

2527 East Third Street

Tucson AZ 85716

(520) 881-9492