Mathghamhain – Techniques of Digital Heraldry

Heraldic Alternatives for the Ranged Weapons Peerage

After this summer’s initial presentation of a proposed name, regalia, and badge for the recently-approved peerage for ranged weapons mastery, the College of Arms has responded to feedback from the Board of Directors and members of the community by opening commentary on a number of alternative suggestions.

Members of the heraldic commentary community may provide feedback via the relevant Laurel Letters of Intent, dated August 15, November 30, and December 10. Folks who do not have OSCAR accounts may send their feedback to laurel@heraldry.sca.org by early January.

Candidate Names

Order of Esperance
Order of Prudence
Order of Resolve
Order of Valiance
Order of the Air
Order of the Banderole
Order of the Leopard
Order of the Mark

Candidate Regalia

A garter ermine
A white loop of cord at the shoulder
Two white vambraces or bracers

Candidate Badges

Badges for the Champions of Østgarðr

I’ve recently completed the design of a set of badges requested by the Vicereines of Østgarðr for use by their provincial champions.

The designs incorporate the green and white field used for provincial regalia along with symbols associated with the various areas of endeavor: armored combat, fencing, archery, thrown weapons, youth combat, arts and sciences, and bardic performance.

The initial designs I started with featured crossed arrows and axes, but those turned out to have conflicts with previously-registered armory, and in the end I like the distinction we ended up with of having single charges for the fields in which folks demonstrate their excellence individually rather than head-to-head.

It’s anticipated that these will be displayed along with the populace emblem as part of baldric-style sashes worn by the champions in court and other formal events.

Traceable Art at the Coming of the Frost

The arrival of frigid weather here in Østgarðr seems like a good opportunity to spend some time huddled around the warm glow of my computer screen, summarizing the updates to the Traceable Heraldic Art over the course of the last six months. Thanks to the generosity of the heraldic and scribal community — and to the plethora of eye-catching period illustrations being shared on various Discord servers — there have been 265 images added to the collection since June, including 35 brand-new headings for varieties of plants and animals and artifacts that are depicted here for the first time.

Significant portions of the new art were provided by Máel Brigte and Waḫriia̯ of St Christina the Astonishing, both of whom were new to the project but started off with a bang, sending a mix of original illustrations and items carefully traced from period exemplars. Also contributing art for the first time in this batch were Fenneke Jans, Hamelin L’Archier, Maggie Wryght, and Tibor the Indecisive; I can’t wait to see what you draw next!

A Timeline of the SCA Armorial Database

With this week’s announcement that Herveus d’Ormonde intends to step down as Morsulus Herald after twenty-five years in the position, I took a moment to put together a timeline showing some notable moments in the history of the Society’s armorial database.

Gadfly Herald Extraordinary

The personal heraldic title which I submitted earlier this year was accepted and registered on this month’s LoAR, which has prompted some to ask: “why a gadfly?”

I chose the name Gadfly not because of a particular affinity with the family of insects also known as horse-flies, but rather for its metaphorical connotations.

Running the O&A via Docker

More than a decade ago, Tanczos Istvan put together “HeraldStick,” a software package for heralds running consultation tables at events with poor connectivity. The package let a herald with a Windows laptop run a pocket web server with a copy of the O&A web application and a bunch of sites full of names and armory articles and resources, so they could do the same kinds of documentation lookups and conflict checks that they would normally do online even though they were sitting in a tent beyond reach of wireless links.

Additional Updates to the CoA Website

The next time you visit the College of Arms site you might notice a few changes:

Heraldic Registration Basics Redux

At the invitation of the Canton of Northpass, I ran an introductory session today about how participants in the SCA can register historical names and armory.

I used my “Heraldic Registration Basics” document as the basic outline for the class, although I glossed over some sections and went into additional detail in others.

My thanks to the class participants for the questions and comments during the class; the ensuing discussions inspired me to add a few more paragraphs to my notes so I can better cover those topics the next time.

On the Heraldic Submissions for the Ranged Weapons Peerage

The introduction of the proposed name and insignia for the new ranged-weapons peerage has provided a rare glimpse into an uncommon occurrence in the Society; a decade has passed since the last time this happened, and it’s unlikely another will be added any time soon.

As shown on the August 15 Laurel letter of intent, the proposal is for the name “Order of Esperance” and a tinctureless, fieldless badge of “A set of nesting scale weights within and conjoined to a mascle fleury at the upper point.”

Unregistered Badges of the Eastern Baronage

As mentioned in my recent post of baronial banners, House Runnymede is an association of the landed nobles of the East Kingdom, formed in an era when the baronage felt they might need to coordinate their efforts in response to royal overreach.

In years gone by, a badge was proposed for Runnymede, although it was never registered with the College of Arms. The insignia combines symbols of the House’s common greeting — tilting one’s coronet as you pass a fellow member — with its primary activity — gathering for informal conversation over drinks.

House Runnymede

A goblet argent enfiling a coronet bendwise Or.

For the landed baronage of the East.