Unto Their Royal Majesties Tristan and Damiana; Master Seamus, 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 and Parhelium Herald for the Kingdom of Atenveldt!

This is the August 2010 Atenveldt Letter of Presentation. It precedes the external Letter of Intent that will contain the following submissions that are presented here, 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. Where there any submissions this month, know that I accept online commentary, in addition to questions pertaining to heraldry and consultation. You can send commentary to me privately at brickbat@nexiliscom.com or join “Atenveldt Submissions Commentary” at Yahoo! Groups ( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Atenveldt_Submissions_Commentary/ ) and post there. (Any commentary is likely be included in the next month's Letter of Presentation so that all may learn from it, and we can see how additional documentation or comments may have influenced a submission. Please don't be shy!)

And, no, I don't know why there haven't been any submissions to consider for the past six weeks... :/

Heraldry Hut: The next Heraldry Hut will be held Friday, 20 August, beginning at 7:30 PM.

Submissions Website: You can send electronic commentary on the most recent internal LoIs through the site, in addition to any questions you might have. Current submission forms (the ONLY forms that can be used) can be found on the site. Please let your local populace know about the site, too: atensubmissions.nexiliscom.com.

SCA College of Arms Actions: Atenveldt results from the April 2010 Laurel meetings (the December 2009 and January 2010 Atenveldt LoIs) are found at the end of this report.

The following submissions appear in the July 2010 Atenveldt Letter of Intent:

Valora tou Aegina (Barony of Atenveldt): CHANGE OF HOLDING NAME, from Stephanie of Atenveldt, Laurel June 2008

The original name submission, Valora Tou Agina, was returned for administrative reasons: “Listed on the LoI as Valora Tou Agina, the name appeared on the forms as Valora Tou Ayiva and the fact that the name was changed in kingdom was not noted on the LoI. We have repeatedly warned this kingdom that changes made in kingdom must be summarized on the LoI, with both the original form and the reason for the change being given.” The device submission was registered under the holding name Stephanie of Atenveldt.

It appears that the original submission misspelled the byname, mistaking the Greek letter gamma for -y- and the Greek letter nu for -v-. This was corrected at the Kingdom level, but as mentioned, since the change wasn't summarized in the LoI, the submission was returned without any commentary on the viability at least on the given name.

Valora is said to be Latin for "valor or valorous." Since the time of the first submission, we have been unable to find this as a period given name (even a couple online baby name sites argue if the name is American or Esperanto). The closest "valorous" names I can find in Latin are Valeria and Valeriana, Roman names in the classical period and for that of the 6th-7th C. in the Byzantine period ( "Common Names of the Aristocracy in the Roman Empire During the 6th and 7th Centuries," Bardas Xiphias, http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/byzantine/early_byz_names.html ). If Valora cannot be registered, the client asks that Valeriana be registered (she very much dislikes Valeria).

tou Aegina is said to be Greek for "of Aegina," with Aegina a small island in the Saronic Gulf in Greece ( http://www.greeka.com/saronic/aegina/aegina-history.htm ); its invasion by Athens in 459 BCE, the domination by Philip of Macedonia followed by his son, Alexander the Great, then his successors, the Ptolemies of Egypt, the Roman rule (about 86 AD), followed by the Byzantines, made it rather geopolitically insignificant. I am unsure as to whether the particle tou is correct, or if another word is more appropriate to connote “of Aegina” in Greek.

The client desires a female name.

The following submissions have been registered by the S.C.A. College of Arms at its April 2010 meetings:

Aleyd Czypsser. Name and device. Ermine, in dexter chief a phoenix gules.

The submitter requested authenticity for 14th-15th C. Slovakian Germany. The name is an excellent name for 14th C Germany. Unfortunately, due to lack of resources, we were unable to confirm that it is authentic for "Slovakian Germany" in this period.

There were some calls to return this for conflict against Brittany, Ermine. Precedent says:

[Gules, in dexter chief a fret couped argent] This also does not conflict with ... Per saltire gules and pean, a fret argent. There is one CD for the change to the field and another for the unforced move of the primary charge to dexter chief. This also does not conflict with John Thorn, Gules, a chief embattled argent. The fret here is a primary charge in a non-central position on the field. John's armory has no primary charge. Addition of a primary charge is sufficient difference by X.1. [Ané{zv}ka z Ro{zv}mitála, 11/2001, A-Ansteorra]

Examination of Ané{zv}ka's device shows that her fret is smaller than the phoenix in Aleyd's device. The phoenix, therefore, is a primary charge in a non-central position on the field. This is clear of Brittany by X.1.

Barberella le Rede. Name and device. Quarterly per fess wavy argent and azure.

As the given name is dated to c. 1210 and the byname to 1220, this is an excellent early 13th C English name.

Please inform the submitter that the tick marks should be aligned with the center of the per fess wavy line, not the bottom.

Francesca Marchesi. Badge. Purpure, a natural seahorse and in chief three mullets, a bordure Or.

Isabella Ponce. Name and device. Quarterly vert and sable, on a cross Or between four gouttes argent, a leaf vert.

This name combines English and Spanish or Italian and Spanish, either of which is a step from period practice. A wholly Spanish form of the name is Isabel Ponce.

Please instruct the submitter to draw the gouttes and the leaf larger, to better fill the available space.

Lora of the Four Paws. Name.

Submitted as Lora of_Four Paws, the submitter requested authenticity for the 14th century and indicated that the spelling of the name was most important.

The byname was submitted as being based on an English sign name. However, while the LoI noted foote as being used in the sign name Eagles foote (dated to 1485-1600), no evidence was found that a form of paw would have been used in the same way. Since sign names tended toward using simple terms, this lack of evidence is an issue.

Happily, since the spelling is most important to the submitter, the commenters found support for Paw as a byname in period, but as a word referring to a peacock. Given the commonness of the term paw (a standard Middle English term meaning 'peacock') in period, a sign name of Four Paws (meaning 'four peacocks') is plausible for late period.

As the examples found for bynames based on sign names include elements meaning 'the', we have changed the byname to of the Four Paws in order to register this name.

Marceau de Valcourt. Badge. Sable semy of dumbeks Or, two women statant respectant maintaining between them a brazier argent enflamed proper.

Please instruct the submitter to draw the brazier with a deeper bowl so it is more easily recognized as a brazier.

Marta as-tu Mika-Mysliwy. Badge. (Fieldless) A billet fesswise gules, bat-winged sable.

We find it right, fitting, and proper that this badge should be registered to Brickbat Herald.

Meadhbh ni Dhubhthaigh. Badge. Sable, a tankard Or foamed argent between in chief five gouts in chevron Or.

Perin de la Serena. Household name House of the Goats and badge. Azure, a goat clymant contourny and a chief argent.

Submitted as House of the Dancing Goats, no documentation was presented and none was found to support dancing as an adjective of the type used in English sign names in period. Words describing the positions of animals in sign names are exceedingly rare; the sole example found so far is Spread Eagle found in the name Spread Eagle, dated to 1485-1600 in Margaret Makafee, "Comparison of Inn/Shop/House names found London 1473-1600 with those found in the ten shires surrounding London in 1636", and in the name Black Spread Eagle dated to 1648-1672 in Mari ingen Briain meic Donnchada, "English Sign Names From 17th Century Tradesman's Tokens". We have dropped that element in order to register this name.

Perin de la Serena. Badge. (Fieldless) A cinquefoil argent within and conjoined to an annulet vert.

Rose Ella Duvanovicha doch' Sychevna. Name.

Submitted as Rose Ella Duvanovich doch' Sychevna, Duvanovich is a masculine genitive patronymic form meaning 'Duvan's son'. The corresponding feminine form is Duvanovicha. We have made this change in order to register the name.

It is worth noting that the expected form of the byname would be Duvanova doch' rather than Duvanovicha doch'. Sofia la Rus explains:

As for using "doch" with Duvanovicha - Wickenden states in his discussion of the -vich names for men that "The use of syn or the genitive "a" also did not occur." [3rd Edition, xxiii] This makes sense, since it is redundant to use "syn" with the "ovich/evich" ending, because that ending means " --'s son" as in tsarevich, tsar's son, and kniazhich, kniaz's son. (Also see "Slavic Countries" at bottom of //http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_name// ) Mikhail Ivanovich already means "Mikhail Ivan's son", so adding "syn" would make it "Mikhail Ivan's son son". You would add "syn" to a name like Mikhail Ivanov because the Ivan could be Mikhail's father, grandfather, uncle, etc. hence the use of "syn" (son), "vnuk" (grandson), "pravnuk" (great-grandson), etc. The same logic would apply to the feminine version, ovna/evna and the more rare variant, ovicha/evicha. Thus the name phrase "Duvanovicha doch" is redundant and would not have occurred. But... see the following exceptions to Wickenden's statement (all from Wickenden's 2nd edition): Dubovyi Nos (byn) -- "Oaken nose." In the example below, the byname is in the genitive (note the unusual declension pattern of the word, "nos"). Bakhteiar Fedorovich syn Dubovogo Nosu, inhabitant of Volotsk district. 1523. [Tup 42-3] Khromonogoi (m) -- "lame." Ivan Vasil'evich syn [sic] Khromonogoi, sexton. 1584. [Tup 418]

Given the two masculine examples found by Sofia, it is reasonable to believe that a form Duvanovicha doch' could have appeared. Therefore, this form is registerable, though not typical.

This name combines English and Russian, which is a step from period practice.

Sara Blackthorne. Device. Argent, on a heart gules a key fesswise reversed argent and in chief a staff fesswise entwined by a leafless vine thorned sable.

This device had originally been returned for a redraw of the staff and thorn vine, and it was suggested that she match the form on her husband's device to make it recognizable. She has done so: the charges appear to have been traced.

William the Frogge. Reblazon of device. Per chevron purpure and argent, three rivets Or and a frog sejant affronty vert.

Blazoned when registered in September 1984 as Per chevron purpure and argent, three rivets in fess Or, in base a frog sejant affronty vert, the blazon makes the rivets the sole primary charges, centered on the field, with the frog as a small secondary charge at the bottom. The emblazon shows the rivets entirely on the purpure section of the field, in the expected placement for three charges above a per chevron line of division, and the frog centered on the argent pert of the field. They are a single co-primary charge group.

The following submissions have been returned by the College of Arms for further work, April 2010:

Ascelina Alánn ingen Ailella. Badge. (Fieldless) On a flame gules a bat-winged unicorn rampant argent, breathing flames Or.

This badge is returned for conflict with the device of Grimn the Hele-Bourne, Sable, upon a flame gules fimbriated Or, a skull argent, and the device of Reginleif the Unruly, Sable, on a flame gules fimbriated Or a rough-legged draught horse forcene argent. In each case, there is a CD for the difference between a fielded and a fieldless design. There is no CD for fimbriating the flame on Grimn's and Reginleif's armory. By current standards, flames are too complex a charge to void or fimbriate; therefore, there also is not a CD for the change of only the type of the tertiary charge, under section X.4.j.ii of the Rules for Submissions.

Nefastus Maximus Antipater. Name.

There were a number of issues with this name. Metron Ariston provided an analysis of these issues:

The first and most drastic problem is that all three of the elements are cognomina. (The distinction you see in some sources between a cognomen and an agnomen derives from very late Latin grammarians and has little or no real relevance to actual Roman practice). While it is true that at some periods, particularly in the later imperial period, you would not see the full praenomen + nomen + cognomen in all names, I do not think I have ever seen an example, even in the immediate imperial circle, of a name consisting only of three cognomina.

Secondly, the Maximus generally occurs at the end of the a person's name whether it is being used as a true cognomen or merely an ad hoc descriptive.

Thirdly, I have not been able to find any example of the adjective nefastus used as a cognomen and, while it is true that some negative descriptives were used as cognomina, the connotations of the term go far beyond the simple "unlucky". As Lewis and Short note in their Latin Dictionary (s.n. nefastus), the original meaning was closely associated with the dies nefasti, i.e., "days on which judgment could not be pronounced or assemblies of the people be held". From this derived several transferred meanings: "contrary to the sacred rites or to religion; irreligious, impious" or, more generally, "wicked, profane, abandoned" or "Unlucky, inauspicious" or even "hurtful, injurious". However, the examples Lewis and Short cite are fairly clearly associated with deeds, actions, events, etc. and go far beyond the simple "unlucky" which would be more likely to be infelix which is the antonym of the documented descriptive cognomen Felix.

There are several ways in which these issues can be addressed. In each case, the submitter would need to choose a praenomen and a nomen. He could then follow the praenomen and nomen with Antipater and/or Maximus.

There was some question about the plausibility of cognomina with negative meanings. The commenters found period cognomina with negative meanings, but none of the same type as Nefastus. We are providing those cognomina here in the event that one of them may appeal to the submitter.

Aryanhwy merch Catmael was able to find cognomina with negative meanings in Kajanto, Iiro. The Latin cognomina (Helsinki: Societas Scientiarum Fennica, 1965):

Cognomina with derogatory mental meanings that he lists (p. 264ff) are:

harsh, cruel: Acidus, Asper, Atrox, Durus, Imperiosus, Importunus, Mordax, Tetricus, Aculeo

injurious, destructive: Exitiosus, Funestus, Iniuriosus, Luctosa, Malificia, Malus, Molestus, Nocentianus, Nocidius, Periculosa, Venenio

misleader: Seductor

quarrelsome, troublesome: Pugnax, Turbantiuis, Rixa

violent, passionate: Acer, Ferox, Fervida, Ferullus, Torentiuis, Vehemens, Violens

The specific meanings of each as found in William Whitaker's Words (http://www.archives.nd.edu/cgi-bin/words.exe) are:

Acidus - 'acid, sour, bitter; shrill, sharp-tongued'

Asper - 'rude, unrefined; cruel, violent, savage, raging, drastic; stern/severe/bitter; hard; rough/uneven/shaggy, coarse, harsh; embossed/encrusted; (mint condition coins); sharp/pointed, jagged/irregular, rugged/severe; sour, pungent, grating, keen'

Atrox - 'fierce, savage, bloody; heinous, cruel; severe; terrible, frightening, dreadful'

Durus - 'hard, stern; harsh, rough, vigorous; cruel, unfeeling, inflexible; durable'

Imperiosus - 'powerful, domineering, masterful; dictatorial, imperious'

Importunus - 'inconvenient; annoying; rude; monstrous, unnatural; ruthless, cruel, hard'

Mordax - 'biting, snappish; tart; cutting, sharp; caustic'

Tetricus - 'harsh, gloomy, severe'

Exitiosus - 'destructive, pernicious, deadly'

Funestus - 'deadly, fatal; sad; calamitous; destructive'

Iniuriosus - 'wrongful, insulting'

Malus - 'bad, evil, wicked; ugly; unlucky'

Molestus - 'annoying; troublesome; tiresome'

Nocentianus - related to noceo 'harm, hurt, injure'

Periculosa - 'dangerous, hazardous, perilous; threatening'

Seductor - seducer

Pugnax - pugnacious

Turbantius - related to turbo 'disturb, agitate, throw into confusion'

Rixa - 'violent or noisy quarrel, brawl, dispute'

Acer - 'sharp, bitter, pointed, piercing, shrill; sagacious, keen; severe, vigorous'

Ferox - 'wild, bold; warlike; cruel; defiant, arrogant'

Fervida - 'glowing; boiling hot; fiery, torrid, roused, fervid; hot blooded'

Vehemens - 'violent, severe, vehement; emphatic, vigorous, lively'

Violens - 'violent'

Based on all of the information provided by the commenters, the options that the submitter may wish to consider include the construction patterns:

[praenomen] [nomen] Antipater

[praenomen] [nomen] Maximus

[praenomen] [nomen] Antipater Maximus

[praenomen] [nomen] [negative cognomen ] Maximus

[praenomen] [nomen] [negative cognomen] Antipater

[praenomen] [nomen] Antipater [negative cognomen]

[praenomen] [nomen] [negative cognomen] Antipater Maximus

[praenomen] [nomen] Antipater [negative cognomen] Maximus

In these cases, "[praenomen]" and "[nomen]" indicates a praenomen and a nomen that the submitter would choose and "[negative cognomen]" indicates a negative cognomen of the type listed in Aryanhwy's comments above. The list she provides is an excellent starting point for the submitter.

Email from the submitter indicated that he would rather have the submission returned than have changes made; therefore, we are returning the name at this time so that he may consider his options and choose one he prefers.

Safiya bint Ahmad ibn Abdullah. Device. Azure, within and conjoined to the horns of a decrescent argent a rose, an orle of roses Or barbed vert.

This device is returned for using two of the same type of charge in different charge groups on the field. Precedent says:

[returning Argent, on a mullet of seven points vert a griffin couchant, wings close, Or, in chief two mullets of seven points vert...] The use of two different sizes of the same charge, especially when they then cause some confusion as to whether there is one group of primary charges or a primary charge and group of secondary charges, as here, has been cause for return in the past. (See, e.g., LoAR of March 1992, p. 15). Drawing all three mullets the same size, or choosing a different set of charges to go in chief, would cure this problem. (Alexandria Elizabeth Vallandigham of Cambria, 7/95 p. 7)

This device suffers from the same problem, made worse by the fact that the rose between the horns of the crescent is a maintained charge, which does not count for difference, yet it is larger than the roses in orle. Several commenters were confused as to whether this device has strewn roses, rather than an orle and the maintained charge.

Safiya bint Ahmad ibn Abdullah. Badge. (Fieldless) Within and conjoined to the horns of a decrescent argent a rose Or barbed vert.

This badge is returned for conflict with the badge of Eirikr Tryggvasson, (Fieldless) Within and conjoined to a decrescent argent a mullet of seven points sable. The rose and the mullet are each maintained charges, meaning that this is, effectively, an identical design. There is technically a CD for fieldlessness, but maintained charges do not count for difference.

Twin Moons, Barony of. Badge. Azure, on a pall inverted bretessed nowed of a triangle inverted between in chief two increscents argent, a flanged mace azure.

This device is returned because the tertiary charge is unidentifiable. Guesses ranged from an oar to a swizzle stick. Section VII.7.a of the Rules for Submissions requires that "Elements must be recognizable solely from their emblazon." The Barony may wish to know that the prominent triangle nowing present in this submission is not present in any of their registered armory, contrary to the images shown on the baronial award gallery webpage.

Marta as tu Mika-Mysliwy

c/o Linda Miku

2527 East 3^rd Street

Tucson AZ 85716

brickbat@nexiliscom.com

atensubmissions.nexiliscom.com