ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1147 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1147 ************************************ From: "S Friedemann" 9 Aug 1998 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You were looking for a 10th century Irish masculine name that sounded like \TEAR-nan\, perhaps a variation on . You also asked about the arms "Gules, a stag passant Or." Here is the information we have found. As far as we know, is a modern form of the period Gaelic name , which is pronounced \TEE-yer-nahn\. (The slash represents an accent over the previous letter). Another similarly-pronounced name is , pronounced \TEER-ahkh-ahn\. [1] Both are excellent choices for the 10th century. For your period, the most common style of name was a given name followed by a patronymic byname. A patronymic byname is a surname based of the father's name. For information on how to form a patronym, we suggest you read the following article in our library: "Quick & Easy Gaelic Bynames" http://www.stanford.edu/~skrossa/medievalscotland/quick_gaelic_bynames.html Heraldic arms first came into use in France in the late 12th century. Therefore, a 10th century Irishman would not have used arms at all. Of course, many Societyfolk use arms even though their personas would not have done so. For a few thoughts on how to resolve Society custom with historical accuracy, you could read our article "What Do I Use for Arms if my Persona Wouldn't Have Used Arms?", available on the web at: http://www.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/faq/nonheraldic.html The arms you've chosen are excellent style. Early heraldry tended to be simple, using only two or three different colors and charges. Unfortunately, "Gules, a stag passant Or" is too similar to the existing Society arms of Declan de Burgo and Lysander Keisalovitch. If you want to register your arms with the SCA College of Arms, you'll need to choose a different design or get permission to conflict from both these gentlemen. Here are some other designs that you can consider. "Gules, three stags trippant Or" Red field with three yellow walking stags "Gules, three stags salient Or" Red field with three yellow stags rearing on their hind legs "Gules, three stags lodged Or" Red field with three yellow stags lying down, heads raised All of these appear to be sufficiently different from any other design registered by the SCA College of Arms. We hope that this letter has been useful to you, and that you will not hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Talan Gwynek, Walraven van Nijmegen, Arval Benicoeur, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Rolland Carre, Evan da Collaureo, Brad Miller, and Marcello Caprioli. For the Academy, --Aryanhwy merch Catmael August 9, 1998 --------------------------------------- References: [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990).