Class Handouts
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The following are handouts (or videos) that have been used for various classes taught by the heralds, in some cases updated to make them 'current' to today. You may find that some of the information presented below is either in a form that may be easier for you to understand than what you may find elsewhere (such as the Herald's Handbook), or additional information on a topic that may enhance your understanding. As time goes by, we hope to add more of these class handouts here.
Armory
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Bad Heraldic Art - Good Heraldic Art - or Mostly Period Design
(A class taught at the Heraldic Collegium, November 15, 2003) -- Written by Dame Teleri Tawel -
Heraldic Design Core Style - Why
Group Theory Makes Better Armory (or how to register what you want and comply with SENA!),
(a class taught at Collegium Occidentalis, November 18, 2017, by Krysta of Starfall) -
Book Heraldry (PDF)
A reading list for a class taught at the Oerthan Heraldic Collegium, October 16, 2022) -- by Eilis O'Boirne
This is a list of links to various articles about "book" heraldry, which includes names and armory.
Heraldry 101
Starting in February, 2024, an online class (via Zoom) broken into 6 parts was taught by Hirsch von Henford (every two weeks, giving time to prepare, get videos taken care of and uploaded, and so on). The video and class notes for each session are being made available as soon as possible.
Part 1: Introduction, Basics, Fields (February 22, 2024)
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The Video -- 1 hour, 10 minutes
(Link is to the West Kingdom YouTube page where this is hosted ...) - PowerPoint Presentation
- PDF of PowerPoint Presentation with Notes
Part 2: Ordinaries and Subordinaries (March 7, 2024)
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The Video -- 1 hour, 10 minutes
(Link is to the West Kingdom YouTube page where this is hosted ...) - PowerPoint Presentation
- PDF of PowerPoint Presentation with Notes
Part 3: Humans and Beasts (March 21, 2024)
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The Video -- 1 hour, 24 minutes
(Link is to the West Kingdom YouTube page where this is hosted ...) - PowerPoint Presentation
- PDF of PowerPoint Presentation with Notes
Part 4: Birds, Fish, Insects, Reptiles, Trees, Plants, Flowers, etc. (April 4, 2024)
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The Video -- 1 hour, 25 minutes
(Link is to the West Kingdom YouTube page where this is hosted ...) - PowerPoint Presentation
- PDF of PowerPoint Presentation with Notes
Part 5: Monsters and Inanimate Charges (April 18, 2024)
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The Video -- 2 hours, 5 minutes
(Link is to the West Kingdom YouTube page where this is hosted ...) - PowerPoint Presentation
- PDF of PowerPoint Presentation with Notes
Part 6: Putting it All Together (May 2, 2024)
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The Video -- 1 hour, 38 minutes
(Link is to the West Kingdom YouTube page where this is hosted ...) - PowerPoint Presentation
- PDF of PowerPoint Presentation with Notes
Names
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Common Naming Patterns
(A class taught at the Heraldic Collegium, November 15, 2003) -- Written by Walraven van Nijmegen -
Book Heraldry (PDF)
A reading list for a class taught at the Oerthan Heraldic Collegium, October 16, 2022) -- by Eilis O'Boirne
This is a list of links to various articles about "book" heraldry, which includes names and armory.
Protocol
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Awards, Titles and Tokens In the Kingdom of the West,
(a class taught at Collegium Occidentalis, November 18, 2017, updated for November, 2023, and then November, 2024, by Hirsch von Henford) -- There are two options, one is a PDF file (one slide per page), and the other is a PowerPoint file in case you wish to use that for a local branch presentation. The PowerPoint file defaults to downloading it you click it, the PDF will display in the browser, you can download it from there.
This class is a discussion of the titles and honors given by the Crowns of the West, how to recognize and address/refer to people with titles, what the titles are, and more. Includes pictures where available of award tokens to help recognize them.- PowerPoint Slideshow
- PDF Version of Slideshow
- PDF of the Class Handout (Includes links to various articles and websites with more detail ...)
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Interacting With Royalty
(A class taught at a West Kingdom Collegium, that combined many things, including making presentations to the Royalty, writing letters to the Royalty, personal interaction with The Royalty, being called into Court, and more ...) -- Written by Hirsch von Henford -
Courtly Behavior
(A class taught at a West Kingdom Collegium that attempts to explain what court is about, why you should consider attending, and how you as a person attending court are expected to behave.) -- Written by Hirsch von Henford
On Being a Court Herald
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Preparing for Court
(A class taught at a Heraldic Collegium, Spring, 2001 -- this was updated for the same class taught at the same event in the Spring of 2002, updated yet again for the next year, Spring, 2003). This handout is really a condensation of information found in articles in the Herald's Handbook, and is an outline -- while teaching the actual class the bullet points were expanded on, and discussed, both by the instructor and the senior heralds present.) -- Written by Hirsch von Henford -
Court Heraldry (PDF)
A reading list for a class taught at the Oerthan Heraldic Collegium, October 16, 2022) -- by Eilis O'Boirne
This is a list of links to various articles about "court" heraldry. Note that links to the heralds' website in the article may need to be updated to use the file extension ".php" where it says ".htm". This is due to a huge update to the site in July, 2026.
February, 2023, Online Course via Zoom, Taught by Hirsch von Henford
This class uses many of the materials in the West Kingdom Herald’s Handbook for reference, and covers the gamut of being a Court Herald, from gathering Court Business to running the court itself, and following up with the Court Reports, including showing how to use the court report form.
- Class Notes in PowerPoint Format [This will download the PowerPoint file to your computer]
- Class Notes in PDF File Format [Will open in the browser's PDF display, if any]
- Zoom Session in MP4 (Video) Format (2 hours!) [Will open a new browser window ...]
Being a Duty (Town Crier) or Field Herald
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Voice Heraldry Q&A (PDF)
(Questions and Answers (Q&A) evolved from the Voice Heraldry 101 Roundtable held at West Kingdom Spring Collegium, June 2, AS LIII (2018)) -- Compiled by Alizan de la Fontaine -
Being a Duty Herald
(A class taught at a Heraldic Collegium, Spring, 2003) -- Written by Wilhelm von Homburg -
Basic Field Heraldry for a Crown List (PDF)
Class taught at the Oerthan Heraldic Collegium, October 16, 2022; updated May, 2023) -- by Alizan De la Fontaine
Includes a discussion of pretty much all aspects, from the Litany to the fighter cards, to flag protocols ... -
A Collection of Voice Projection Articles (PDF)
Class taught at the Oerthan Heraldic Collegium, October 16, 2022) -- by Alizan De la Fontaine
This is a set of articles Mistress Alizan collected from the web compiled into a single document (all credited appropriately) and used in her class on Vocal Projection at the Oerthan Heraldic Collegium.
What the College of Heralds Does/Being a Herald
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The College of Heralds; What We Do, And
How Your Name/Arms/Badge Gets Registered
(A West Kingdom Collegium Class, Spring, 1999. This handout covers a lot of the things that are discussed in a lot more detail in other parts of this website, and was meant as an overview for someone relatively new to the SCA.) -- Written by Hirsch von Henford -
Organization of the College of Heralds (PDF)
A reading list for a class taught at the Oerthan Heraldic Collegium, October 16, 2022) -- by Eilis O'Boirne
This is a list of links to various articles about how the College of Heralds works in the West. Note that the links in this article need to be updated to use ".php" rather than ".htm" for anything pointing to the West Kingdom College of Heralds' website -- this is due to a major overhaul of the site in July, 2026.