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MINUTES OF THE HERALDS MEETING – September 21, 2025
(11:04 AM to 1:20 PM)
ATTENDEES:
Domamir Vlatko syn, Vesper; Edith of Swanesdale, Matins; Hirsch von Henford, Golem; Anne fitzRichard, Stellanordica; Eilis O'Boirne, Baldric; Elewys Gwynne verch Llewelyn Dedewyth ap Gwenhwyfar Llwyd, Deputy Seawolf; Victoria of Durham, Green Cloak; Astrith of Swansvale, HE; Gwenhwyfaer ferch Gwilym ap Morgan o Erryrys, Green Trumpet; Eneco Ximenez; Aengus Fitzmorris, Cornet; Jan Maly; Rúadán mac Conmáil; Hawise de Pevensey.
COLLEGE OF HERALDS MEETINGS
The September meeting was held via remote conference. All future meetings will be held via online conference (see notes below regarding Twelfth Night), until Vesper announces otherwise.
Note that West Kingdom Heralds Meetings can be found on the West Kingdom Calendar under the All Activities option [https://westkingdom.org/all-activities-calendar/].
Herald’s Meetings for 2025:
November 16.
Herald's Meetings for 2026:
January 4 (note that the site/dates for 2026 Twelfth Night have not yet been published. The Heralds meeting is
scheduled for the Sunday of this same weekend, format to be determined based on site/dates of the event),
March 15, May 17,
July 12, September 13, November 22.
Meetings usually begin at 11:00 AM and will be held via online/remote teleconference until
further notice.
The DEADLINES for submission forms and documentation are:
2025 Deadlines: November 5.
The 2026 DEADLINES for submissions forms and documentation are: December 17, 2025 for the January 2026 meeting;
and in 2026 March 4, May 5, July 1,
September 2, and October 28.
Submission forms must be complete and received either via EMAIL or hardcopy by the deadline date at midnight to be considered at the next meeting (which is about 11 days later, except December due to holidays and the roadshow meeting prep time needed). If the forms are EMAILED, then payment must arrive by the meeting day. WALK-IN submissions will not be accepted while meetings are held via remote conference.
REPORTS
Vesper (Damir): PayPal payment is now live for West heraldic submissions. Because there is a small cost to utilize PayPal, the College is putting out a request for donations to cover these costs. They are very small. It is roster time again! He will be sending out roster renewal letters before the end of this month. Please respond promptly. If you do not receive one by 10/1 or need someone new added, please reach out to him directly.
Damir is beginning his search for a deputy successor, so if anyone has interest in the position of Compline Herald, please reach out to him to discuss and/or send your resume to the Vesper e-mail address. If you are currently looking for deputies, please also let him know as he'll be updating our ads in the Page.
Tourney season is upon us! Crown and Coronet are all coming up, so if you are attending please check in with the heralds and let them know if you'll be available to help!
Regarding the W.O.L.F. and the recent letter published by the College of Arms, I will be discussing the matter with Their Majesties and the Kingdom Seneschal at the next opportunity, but in his opinion at this time, since the W.O.L.F. is non-armigerous, he doesn't see a pressing need to recommend a change.
Lastly, Damir is preparing his report to the College of Arms, so please include kudos in your reports that he can pass on if applicable!
Seawolf (Moss), Deputy (Elewys): There is nothing new since the last meeting. Awards are happening. Coronet and Investiture are both coming soon. Elewys and Moss are both very interested in helping new heralds step in to Court heraldry, so please reach out to them!
Sable Swan (Teagan): Report provided by Victoria: there was a great class last week in Golden Rivers on Court Heraldry. Commendation from Sable Swan for Toralf Gryffuddson at Rivenoak Championship.
Stellanordica (Anne): Heraldic business continues to occur, nothing else new to report.
Exchequer (Moira), Interim (Caoilinn): No report received.
Matins (Edith): The submissions process continues to run. Edith was excited to see that many of this month’s submissions included name formation documentation. Thanks to Ræv for assisting in emblazon revisions for submissions when needed.
PayPal submission fee processing is now live! This meeting is the first time that the West College has accepted PayPal for payment of submissions. Several submitters were able to utilize this new option, and it is live on the West Heralds website and the Kingdom Exchequer website to inform the populace of the new option.
Matins specifically requests all heralds available to review the name submissions for each meeting in advance and provide commentary / additional documentation. Name documentation is a requirement for submission, as per the SCA College of Arms, and is reason for return of the submission if not provided or if it does not meet the standards of the CoA.
Baldric (Eilis): Nothing new to report. Crown is coming.
Brachet (vacant), Leveret (Ræv).
Green Cloak (Victoria): Crown is coming! She requests especially field herald assistance.
Green Crown (Moira), Interim (Gillian): No report received.
Green Trumpet (Gwenhwyfaer): Thanks to the following for their work at Purgatorio: Leah Raedaelf of Pagham, Antei Kikaku, Midnite the Uninhibited/Aengus Fitzmorris, Eneco Ximenez, Elewys Gwynne for their assistance. Special thanks to Elewys and Eneco for their company and assistance at Purg.
Fall Crown will be Gwenhwyfaer’s last official event as Green Trumpet, after serving for three and a half years.
Green Banner (Aasa): No report received.
Golem (Hirsch): This month has been a bit slower than some (trust him, he’s been kept busy, though). There have been some court reports (Purgatorio of course being a big set of reports), and as far as he knows we’re all caught up. The Royalty have been keeping on top of reports pretty well. Thanks to all the heralds getting those reports in, in a timely fashion.
The Kingdom ceremony book got some updates, a lot of awards or recognitions didn’t have their own ceremony, and the ‘generic’ ceremonies weren’t really being used (he attends court as much as he can). Hirsch worked with his wife, and wrote some ceremonies -- and passed these through Green Crown Herald. You will see new ceremonies in the ceremony book, and the ‘generic’ ceremonies have been removed. Hirsch thinks we added 14 new ones. All are relatively simple, but they didn’t need to be complex.
Ræv has been working with Hirsch for a while now on updating armory on the Who’s Who pages. They decided a while back to start at the top and examine everything, creating high resolution images, fixing errors that crept in where they find them (most are really minor), including badges. This has been fascinating, and Ræv, who has been doing the actual conversion works with the SCA Heraldic Archivist to look at any armory that they aren’t sure is correct, or to get as close to the original submission as possible. It’s not a fast process. They are in the names starting with the letter ‘C’ at this point. The armory on the Who’s Who also shows up on the Awards List pages (strangely enough, they’re linked), so as they go, these should be pretty accurate, and in some cases better artwork, and/or close to what was submitted as well. Hirsch has no idea how long this will take, but wanted to give an idea of what they’re up to here.
Hirsch is looking for deputies to assist with and maybe eventually take over parts of the job of Golem. For details, please see the Job Openings page on this site.
ANNOUNCEMENTS / Other Business
GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTSFacebook Page: The West Kingdom Heralds' have their own page on Facebook, announcements, help with consultation, and more are often done there:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/302970543102065/
The West Kingdom web team have added a Discord channel for heraldry, which is used for consultation, look for the #heraldry group.:
MAILING LIST: The Yahoo hosted mailing lists have been closed by the folk at Yahoo. At this time, we no longer have a means of communicating with the College of Heralds except the Facebook Page noted above, or via email. To make it possible to post announcements from senior staff heralds, there is a new Announcements page (link removed, as this page was not used and removed from the site).
ELECTRONIC RESOURCES: Many interesting heraldic links can be found through the SCA Heraldry web page at https://www.sca.org/heraldry, including the Laurel home page, the on-line Armorial and Ordinary (with search capabilities) and The Academy of St. Gabriel (an onomastic and heraldic consultation service). The West Kingdom Heraldry site and the West Kingdom Awards List can be accessed through the West Kingdom site, https://www.westkingdom.org. Heraldic queries may also be addressed to Vesper at herald@westkingdom.org -- answers may take a few days.
Also see above for the Kingdom Heralds' Facebook page and Discord channel.
BRACHET MEETINGS
Contact brachet@heralds.westkingdom.org for external commenting participation.
FROM THE LOARS
The cover letters, acceptances and returns for the past can be found at https://heraldry.sca.org/loar/. If you are interested in responding to some of the calls for commentary put out by the Laurel Sovereign of Arms, please be sure to visit the site.
June, 2025 LoAR (printed August 14, 2025) (West - March, 2025 LoI)
Cover Letter
West Acceptances - June LoAR
West Returns - June LoAR
July, 2025 LoAR (printed September 18, 2025) (West - No LoI)
Cover Letter
West Acceptances - July LoAR
West Returns - July LoAR
None.
In Service,
Edith of Swanesdale, HE,
Matins Herald
SUBMISSONS – September (2025)
ITEMS SENT TO LAURELAengus Fitzmorris (NEW Name & Device sent to CoA)
The submitter will accept the following changes: meaning, sound, other Irish cultures, spelling (incl capitalisation and accent marks) if necessary.
The submitter cares about the spelling (Aengus Fitzmorris), language and/or culture (Irish, time and culture flexible), and gender (male) of the name.
Aengus: “Aengus mac Alaxandair Mec Domhnaill” (1468, “Index of Names in Irish Annals: Óengus, Áengus / Aonghus” by Mari Elspeth nic Bryan (Kathleen M. O'Brien), [https://medievalscotland.org/kmo/AnnalsIndex/Masculine/Oengus.shtml].
Morris: “Morris boye M'Rickarde” (1598, “Names Found in Anglicized Irish Documents: Men's Names” by Mari ingen Briain meic Donnchada (Kathleen M. O'Brien), [https://medievalscotland.org/kmo/AnglicizedIrish/Masculine.shtml], sn. Morish).
Submitting “Aengus Fitzmorris” as late-period Anglicised Irish using name construction <given + Fitz[patronymic surname] > following the formation used in these examples:
“Robert Fitzwilliams” (1557, “Names Found in Anglicized Irish Documents: Men's Names” by Mari ingen Briain meic Donnchada (Kathleen M. O'Brien), [https://medievalscotland.org/kmo/AnglicizedIrish/Masculine.shtml], sn. Robert)
“George Fitzgerald” (1599, “Names Found in Anglicized Irish Documents: Men's Names” by Mari ingen Briain meic Donnchada (Kathleen M. O'Brien), [https://medievalscotland.org/kmo/AnglicizedIrish/Masculine.shtml], sn. George)
The Early Modern Gaelic name formation <given + patronymic> is acceptable per SENA, Appendix A.
Armory:
Azure, a tortoise Or charged with an increscent vert, in base a celtic cross Or.
Christopher McEntee (Resub to Kingdom Device sent to CoA)
Original submission was reviewed by the West at the July 2025 meeting as was returned with the following comments:
Or, an owl gules, a gore sable.
This device is in conflict with the registered Flann Ua Cuill, May 2003, Or, an owl gules. The addition of the gore as a peripheral ordinary provides only a single DC of difference, and two DCs are required to clear conflict.
This new submission has a field-change and a new secondary charge to provide additional points of difference.
Erminois, an owl maintaining a dagger gules, a gore sable.
Eneco Ximenez (NEW Name & Device sent to CoA)
The submitter cares about the language and/or culture (Basque preferred, or Castilian rendering of Basque name) and gender (male) of the name.
Submitting as masculine 13th century Basque name.
Eneco - from Eneco (9th-16th centuries, “Basque Onomastics of the Eighth to Sixteenth Centuries: Given Names and Patronyms: Dat - Frantzisk”, Karen Larsdatter, [], SN Eneko, Vars).
Ximenez - from “Pedro Ximenez” (1237, “Basque Onomastics of the Eighth to Sixteenth Centuries: Given Names and Patronyms: Sabada - Zuria”, Karen Larsdatter, [http://www.larsdatter.com/basque/1sz.htm], SN Semeno, Pats)
The name formation <given + patronymic> as specified in the “combinations” section of the abstract of “Basque Onomastics of the Eighth to Sixteenth Centuries” (Karen Larsdatter, [http://www.larsdatter.com/basque/abstract.htm].
Armory:
Or, in saltire five fleurs-de-lys sable.
Ettore Corsaro (NEW Name & Device sent to the CoA)
The submitter will accept the following changes to the name: the most important part is the given name starts with Et- and the byname resembles Corsair.
The submitter cares about the sound (none noted) and the gender (male) of the name.
Ettore - dated to 1481 in "Florentine Renaissance Resources: Online Tratte of Office Holders" 1282-1532: Ettore [https://cds.library.brown.edu/projects/tratte/] [https://cds.library.brown.edu/projects/tratte/search/sqlform.php?referred=yes&detail=yes&reckey=405873].
Corsaro - Pompeo Corsaro from the baptismal record of his son Gui. Filippo Corsaro 1602-01-29. There are many other examples of this byname continuing in the grey period, this is simply the earliest listed in the source. This comes from the archives of the Diocese of Reggio Calabria–Bova and can be found on [https://benvanrijswijk.com/].
The Italian name formation <given + byname> can be found in SENA Appendix A.
Armory:
Per fess rayonny sable and argent, two mullets of eight points and a double-headed eagle counterchanged.
Florian da Urbino (NEW Name)
The submitter will NOT accept ANY changes to the name.
The submitter cares about the gender (male) of the name.
Florian - from [DMNES] Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, The name of a 3rd C Roman emperor and a 4th C Austrian saint.
Czech Republic, Latin, 1400 Florianus (nom) LDFPUP1 p. 20
Italy, Latin, 1326 Floriano (abl) Friuli-14thC no. 446; 1387 Floriani (gen) Venditti II-2065
Poland, Latin, 1242 Florianus (nom) CDT1 XV; 1444 Florianus (nom) CDP2-2 CCXCV; 1445 Floriano (abl) ibid. CCCXCVII; 1459 Floriano (abl) ibid. CCCCXIV [https://dmnes.org/name/Florian].
da - an appropriate article for an Italian locative byname per SENA, Appendix A.
Urbino - Urbino is an old city in Italy. Per no copy source: 1911 Britannica Encyclopedia. Federigo da Montefeltro, lord of Urbino from 1444 to 1482, received the title of duke from Pope Sixtus IV. [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica].
The Italian name formation <given + locative byname> is found in SENA Appendix A.
Giuliana la Gazza da Lucca (NEW Name Change)
The previously registered Giulana la Gazza is to be retained as an alternate.
The submitter cares about the meaning (none noted), language and/or culture (none noted), and gender (female) of the name.
The submitter requests AUTHENTICITY for late 15th & early 16th century Florence.
Giuliana - masculine nominative version found in “Names in 15th Century Florence and her Dominions: Complete Names from Declarations” by Juliana de Luna (Julia Smith): Giuliano di Giovanni, converted to a feminine nominative name by changing the following -o to an -a [https://www.s-gabriel.org/names/juliana/condado/completenames.html].
la Gazza - existing registration allowance, byname. Note that <Giuliana la Gazza> falls under this rule, but the given name can also be documented as above.
da Lucca - from “Late Period Italian Women’s Name: Florence” under Family Names “da Lucca” [http://medievalscotland.org/jes/Nuns/Florence.shtml].
The Italian name formation <given + double byname> is acceptable per SENA, Appendix A.
Hawise de Pevensey (NEW Device Change sent to CoA)
The previously registered Per pale vert and Or, a unicorn contourny argent and a griffin gules, in chief a rose purpure is to be released upon registration
Per pale Or and vert, a mouse sejant erect argent maintaining a pellet invected platy.
Ivar Gamle (NEW Name & Device)
The submitter cares about the meaning (none noted) and the gender (male) of the name.
Ivar - from [Lind] column 660, Lind, E. H. “Norsk-Isländska Dopnamn ock Fingerade Namn från Medeltiden”: Ivar dated 1226, 1314, 1420.
Gamle - from [Lind Personbinamn] under the header Gamli: Arnbiorn gamle, column 100, and other examples. The West College notes that the documentation shows the byname as not capitalized, the submitter used the capitalization, this made need to be changed.
The Scandinavian name formation <given + byname> can be found in SENA Appendix A.
Armory:
Per pale argent and gules, a pheon counterchanged.
Jan Maly (NEW Name & Device sent to CoA)
Admin Note: these submissions were listed for the July West Kingdom iLoI but were not considered due to administrative reasons. These are new submissions.
The submitter will accept the following changes: Jan Malý and further requests AUTHENTICITY for 14th Century Czechlands/Kingdom of Bohemia.
The submitter further cares about the sound (none noted), language and/or culture (Czech), and gender (male) of the name.
Jan - from Common Czech Names of the 15th & 16th Centuries by Walraven van Nijmegen (Brian R. Speer) at [https://heraldry.sca.org/names/lateczech.html].
Maly - from FamilySearch: Joannes Maly, buried 1636 in Slovensko, Czechoslovakia [https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6N9Z-XFNW?lang=en].
Thomas Maly, buried 1659, however, he was supposedly 63 years old at the time of his death, so he would have been born ~1596 [https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6N94-8P8J?lang=en].
The Czech name formation <given + byname> is found in SENA Appendix A.
Armory:
Per chevron counter-ermine and gules, a chevron and in base a goose maintaining a goblet argent.
Julie Ivarskona (NEW Name & Device)
The submitter cares about the meaning (Julie Ivarswife) of the name.
Julie - legal name allowance.
Ivarskona - <Ivarr> from [Lind] Subnomen Ivarr column 661.
<-kona> from [Lind Personbinamn] subnomen -kona column 211, Lind, E. H. “Norsk-Isländska Dopnamn ock Fingerade Namn från Medeltiden”.
Formed into the genitive <Ivarskona> per Geirr Bassi: byname ending in -r changed to -rs-.
The Scandinavian name formation <given + byname> is found in SENA Appendix A.
Armory:
Azure, a celtic cross, on a chief Or four mullets of 5 points azure.
Rianorix Alesianus (NEW Device Change)
The previously registered Argent, in pale an estoile sable and a unicorn's head couped gules is to be released upon registration.
Argent, in pale two estoiles and in fess two unicorns passant regardant sable, on a bordure wavy purpure an orle wavy argent.
Rúadán mac Conmáil (NEW Name & Device sent to CoA)
Previously known by the unregistered Rowan Mac Tire.
If name must be changed, submitter prefers language/culture to be maintained (9th century Irish), given name to sound similar to "Rowan", and surname to have a meaning related to "wolf".
The submitter cares about the meaning (given name sound “Rowan”, Surname meaning “wolf”-related), the language and/or culture (9th century Irish), and the gender (male) of the name.
Rúadán - a given name in nominative form “Index of Names in Irish Annals” by Mari Elspeth nic Bryan (Kathleen M. O'Brien) finds this name in Irish Names by Donnchadh Ó Corráin and Fidelma Maguire and gives the standard, nominative, form of this name in Middle Irish Gaelic (c900-c1200) as “Rúadán”.
“Ruadhan, epscop Luscan” (904, SN Rúadán, [https://medievalscotland.org/kmo/AnnalsIndex/Masculine/Ruadan.shtml]).
mac Conmáil - a patronymic byname meaning "son of Conmáel".
Conmáil is found 2 times in "The Laud Genealogies and Tribal Histories" by unknown Irish monastic scribes, (900–1200, [https://celt.ucc.ie//published/G105005/index.html]):
"Eocho mac Conmáil" (p. 325, SN. "Senchus síl hÍr in so.")
"Murchad Find m. Find (.i. mac ingine Cennétig úi Bríain) m. Rúadri m. Muiredaig m. Ailella m. Cumascaig m. Eochodén m. Rúaducáin m. Cellaig m. Rúadrach m. Conmáil m. Conaing m. Feradaig m. Amalgada." (p. 323, SN. "De genelach hÚa nEchdach.")
Conmáil is genitive form of the masculine given Conmáel which is found 6 times in “Index of Names in Irish Annals” by Mari Elspeth nic Bryan (Kathleen M. O'Brien) (SN Conmáel, [https://medievalscotland.org/kmo/AnnalsIndex/Masculine/Conmael.shtml].
Conmáel meaning is "houndlike; of warrior fierce, valiant". (eDIL: Conamail, [https://dil.ie/11985], eDIL 2019: An Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language, based on the Contributions to a Dictionary of the Irish Language (Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 1913-1976) (www.dil.ie 2019).)
Submitting as a 9th century Middle Irish Gaelic using name construction <single given name> mac <father's given name (genitive case)> as specified in Quick and Easy Gaelic Names by Sharon L. Krossa (SN Simple Patronymic Byname, Men, [https://medievalscotland.org/scotnames/quickgaelicbynames/]).
Armory:
Per saltire gules and sable, two wolves rampant addorsed, in chief a raven argent.
Wernhart Wunderer (NEW Name & Device)
The submitter cares about the spelling (given name and byname starting with the letter “W”) and gender (male) of the name.
Wernhart - from "German Names from Nürnberg, 1497" by Aryanhwy merch Catmael at [https://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/german/nurnberg1497.html]. Wernhart listed in "Masculine given names, by frequency" section, "Surrounding cities" table, at the bottom with frequency of 1.
Wunderer - from "German Names from Nürnberg, 1497: Occupational Surnames" by Aryanhwy merch Catmael at [https://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/german/surnamesnurnocc.html]. Wunderer listed as having occupational meaning of 'man who deals in uncommon things; magician; newsmonger'.
The German name formation <given + byname> is acceptable per SENA Appendix A.
Armory:
Per pall inverted purpure, azure, and argent, two unicorns combatant Or and a quill pen bendwise sinister vert.
Zelenoi Veselkov (NEW Name)
The submitter cares about the meaning (green son of Happy (or Jolly) ), language and/or culture (Russian), and gender (male) of the name.
Zelenoi - a Russian language masculine given name with a meaning of "Green." It is dated to 1495 and is found in "A Dictionary of Period Russian Names" by Paul Wickenden of Thanet [https://heraldry.sca.org/names/paul/z.html].
Veselkov - a Russian language patronymic using the masculine given name Vesel meaning "happy." It is dated to 1458 and is found in "A Dictionary of Period Russian Names" by Paul Wickenden of Thanet [https://heraldry.sca.org/names/paul/va.html].
The patronymic form was constructed following the grammar guidelines also found in Wickenden. [https://heraldry.sca.org/names/paul/zgrammar.html].
Zelenoi Veselkov is intended to be a 15th century Russian language name using the <given name + patronymic> pattern. This format is supported in SENA Appendix A.
RETURNS – September (2025)
Letalis Numidicus Ventus (NEW Name Change)
This name is returned for lack of documentation, see details below.
The previously registered Winfred Humes is to be released upon registration.
The submitter marked they would accept specific changes, but did not note any. The submitter cares about the language and/or culture (Ancient Roman) and gender (male) of the name. The submitter also requested the name be changed to be AUTHENTIC for 1st Century AD Roman.
Letalis - no documentation provided.
[Lewis & Short]: <letalis> p. 1052, 2nd and 3rd columns: adjective meaning deadly, fatal, mortal
[Lewis & Short] Lewis, Charlton T. and Charles Short. A Latin Dictionary. https://perseus.uchicago.edu/ (click on Lewis & Short).
Numidicus - no documentation provided.
[Lewis & Short]: <numidicus> p. 1226. 3rd column, under the header <Numida>: "Numidicus, a surname of Q. Caecilius Metellus, bestowed on him for his victory over Jugurtha…" <Numidicus> is an agnomen, not a praenomen, nomen, or cognomen.
Ventus - no documentation provided.
[Lewis & Short]: p. 1970, 2nd column, meaning "wind", "the winds" [as deities], or "windiness, flatulence", etc. No use as a name is listed.
Submitter listed these sources: Oxford Classical Dictionary, [http://www.novaroma.org/nr/Choosing_a_Roman_name], [https://www.behindthename.com/names/usage/ancient-roman ] - these sources were reviewed and none of the names submitted were found.
The Roman name formation <praenomen + nomen + cognomen> is found in A Simple Guide to Imperial Roman Names by Ursula Georges [https://heraldry.sca.org/names/roman.html].
<Numidicus> is an agnomen, but the other elements could not be documented as any variety of nomen.
Markos - name and device, returned for administrative reasons.
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