September 2004 - Laurel LoAR - Ealdormere Submissions

Acceptances

EALDORMERE

Asa Gormsdottir. Name.

Aveline Carnyn. Name.
Submitted as Aveline Karnatz, the locative byname Karnatz, was documented as a header form in Bahlow, German Names.Bahlow gives no dates for this name, nor does he suggest that it was found in period. The earliest documented form of the name the College was able to find was dated to 1704. Without documentation of this name in period, it cannot be registered. We have substituted the placename Carnyn, dated to 1346 in Brechenmacher Etymologisches Woerterbuch der deutschen Familiennamen. This name is similar, although not identical in sound, to the submitted Karnatz.

Brendan of Dormansford. Device. Per pale azure and argent all semy of estoiles, an eagle displayed within a bordure all counterchanged argent and azure.

Dagr Bollason. Device. Gyronny arrondi argent and vert, a hedgehog statant proper within a bordure embattled sable.
Please instruct the submitter to draw the hedgehog with visible spines.

Drogo del Forge. Name.
Submitted as Drogo of Black Forge, the grammar of the byname marks it as a placename. However, no evidence was found of the use of the element Forge in compound English placenames. Reaney and Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames s.n. Forge, lists a Ralph del Forge in 1297. We have changed the byname to that form in order to register the name. The submitter requested authenticity for Norse language/culture. Drogo is a name of Frankish or Germanic origin. There is a Bishop Drogo of Metz, contemporary with Charlemagne, and Reaney and Wilson, s.n. Drew cite the name Drogo from the Domesday Book. Furthermore, no documentation was presented and none found that of the Black Forge is a translation of a Norse byname. Therefore, we are unable to fulfill the submitter’s authenticity request.

Ealdormere, Kingdom of. Badge. Gules, a triquetra inverted and in chief a crown argent.
Please advise the submitter that use of this badge must be restricted to those entitled to bear a crown or coronet on their personal armory.

Hugh de Rose. Name (see RETURNS for device).
Submitted as Hugh Rose of Kilvarok, the submitter requested authenticity for 14th C Scottish language/culture. Black, The Surnames of Scotland, s.n. Rose cites the family Rose of Kilravock. However, Kilravock is the clan seat of the Rose’s according to www.electronicscotland.com and www.burkespeerage.com. As such, then, this name is presumptuous. We have dropped the locative element to prevent the appearance of presumption. There was some question whether Hugh was a Scots form, but Black, s.n. Hughson shows a Andrew Hughson in 1471. Black, s.n. Rose shows a Andrew de Rose in 1440. We have changed the name to Hugh de Rose to register the name and to fulfill the submitter’s request for authenticity.

Johan de Foderingeye. Device. Argent, a thistle flower slipped bendwise sinister sustained by a hand azure issuant from a ford proper.
The escutcheon on the armory form was, in at least one dimension, smaller than the size specified in Administrative Handbook IV.C.1.d for submission forms by more than one-half inch, which is the usual variance allowed. However, Laurel has elected to use a more generous allowance until the current revisions to the standards for forms now under way are completed, and thus this armory can be registered.

Liadan Chu. Device. Argent, three teasels slipped and leaved vert, between two flaunches purpure each charged with a triquetra fesswise one point outward Or.
While "[t]he difficulty in blazoning the triquetras suggests that this is not standard period style" (to quote the previous return of this submitter’s similar design from November 2003), the odd orientation of the triquetras is blazonable and is only one step from period practice.

Ludwig von Tschelln. Name and device. Azure, three sea horses and on a chief argent three crosses of Cleves azure.
The escutcheon on this armory form was, in at least one dimension, smaller than the size specified in Administrative Handbook IV.C.1.d for submission forms by more than one-half inch, which is the usual variance allowed. However, Laurel has elected to use a more generous allowance until the current revisions to the standards for forms now under way are completed, and thus this armory can be registered.
Please advise the submitter to draw the sea-horses larger to better fill the space.

May of ye Wolde. Name.
Submitted as May de la Wold, the submitter requested authenticity for 14th C English. The submitted documentation lists a Richard of ye Wolde in 1327. We have changed the name to May of ye Wolde to fulfill the submitter’s request for authenticity.

Roberto Valason. Name change from holding name Auguste of Ben Dunfirth and device. Argent a peacock in its pride azure gorged of a pearled coronet argent between two barrulets between two spouted pots reversed vert.
Roberto is the submitter’s legal given name. The documentation from von Volborth supports this style of pot. The documentation does not supply any clues as to a possible blazon, so we have gone with the submitted "spouted pot" as a plausible choice.

Wencenedl of Rokesburg. Name.
Submitted as Wencenedl inigena Jagomus of Rokesburg, the patronymic phrase ingigena Jagomus has several problems. First, no documentation was provided for the name Jagomus, which was proported to be the Latin for James. The submitted documentation shows that Jacomus as the Latin of James. Furthermore, this phrase mixes Ogham and Latin in the same name phrase, in violation of RFS III.1.a, Linguistic consistency; although the submitter stated that this sometimes occurred, no documentation was submitted showing this. We have dropped this phrase in order to register the name. The submitter requested authenticity for the Scottish borders in the 12th C. However, the given name is Cornish, while the locative byname is Scots. Although no evidence was provided for Scots/Cornish contact in period, Welsh and Scots mixtures are registerable. Therefore, we will give the submitter the benefit of the doubt and allow Cornish/Scots mixtures. Such mixtures are, however, one step from period practice.

Westbelleford, Canton of. Badge. Quarterly argent and Or, a boars head couped sable within a bordure embattled gules.
Please advise the submitter to draw larger and slightly fewer embattlements.

Returns

EALDORMERE

Caitlin inghean Tomais ui Duibhir. Device. Per chevron wavy Or and azure, a rose slipped and leaved proper, a chief counter-compony azure and Or.
The rose, especially its leaves, is drawn so large as to make the line of division completely unidentifiable. This therefore violates RfS VIII.3, Armorial Identifiability: "Elements must be used in a design so as to preserve their individual identifiability.... a complex line of partition could be difficult to recognize between two parts of the field that do not have good contrast if most of the line is also covered by charges."

Hugh de Rose. Device. Vert, a stag’s head erased argent a chief vairy argent and sable.
Blazoned on the LoI as vairy sable and argent, the tinctures of the chief are in fact the reverse, and as shown on the mini-emblazon, all the parts of the chief that touch the field are color on color. This therefore violates the Rule of Tincture. We have regularly returned submissions in the past where two elements requiring good contrast have involved good contrast only between one item and less than half of the other along the line where the elements touch:

[returning per bend barry sable and Or and checky sable and Or ... a bend Or fimbriated ... gules] This is being returned for breaking the rule of tincture, by having a metal on a metal. The gules fimbriation lies entirely on sable on the checky side, and on an equally divided sable and Or field on the other, making the field the fimbriation lies on primarily sable. (Wolfker der Jäger, 10/97 p.10)

[Party of six pieces gules and Or, three <charges> Or and a chief sable] The addition of the chief removes the conflict from the previous return. However, there’s now a lack of contrast between the sable chief and the field. The field is equally gules and Or, and technically neutral with respect to contrast --- for charges that are equally supported by the gules and Or traits. A centrally placed sable charge, or a sable bordure, would have sufficient contrast; but a sable chief might not. (The problem is not unique to this field division: Per bend gules and Or is a neutral field, but Per bend gules and Or, a chief sable still suffers a lack of contrast.) In this case, the chief’s contrast is exactly the same as with a hypothetical Gules, a pale Or and a chief sable. We would return the latter, were it submitted; we must likewise return this. The client might consider counterchanging the tinctures of the field, or using a bordure. (Geoffrey Peal (Laeghaire ua’Laverty), June, 1993, pg. 18)

RfS VIII.2.b says, in part, "[t]he field must have good contrast with every charge placed directly on it and with charges placed overall." While vair variants are considered neutral, the area of contact between a vairy charge and the underlying field