ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1648 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1648 ************************************ From: Cardinal Ximenez 6 Jul 1999 Greetings, Here's the information we found on , which you wanted to use a an Icelandic name, and on your arms, which we have blazoned, "Or, a raven sable, beaked and armed gules, on a chief urdy vert three annulets Or." was a common name during the Viking era. [1] The Old Norse word for "black" is . We found examples of this word used as a byname on its own in the Viking period, and also as "the Black" [2]. You could also put the nickname before your name; we found other color nicknames used that way, e.g. the 11th century "Red Ballir" [3]. So we recommend one of three forms for your name, all of which are appropriate for the Viking era. We've provided each name in the standard Latin-alphabet spelling, in the runic spelling that was most commonly used in your period, and in English translation LATIN ALPHABET RUNIC ENGLISH Helgi Svarti hilki suarti "Helgi Black" Helgi inn Svarti hilki in suarti "Helgi the Black" Svart-Helgi suarthilki "Black Helgi" If you picked the first name, you would write "Helgi Svarti" when using the standard alphabet. If you wanted to write your name in runes, you would spell it with the h-rune, the i-rune, the l-rune, and so on. A depiction of the futhark runes can be found on the Web at http://www.malexism.com/medias/futhark.html Heraldic arms were invented in northwestern France in the mid-12th century. The custom of using arms spread through most of Europe by the end of our period, but not all cultures adopted it. Iceland was one of the cultures that did not use heraldry, so your persona obviously would not have used armory. That doesn't mean you shouldn't use arms in the Society: Many Societyfolk use arms even though their personas would not have done so. Whether you use arms or not depends on how you think about authenticity and your persona. You can find a few thoughts on this issue in an article we've posted on the web: What Do I Use for Arms if my Persona Wouldn't Have Used Arms? http://www.s-gabriel.org/faq/nonheraldic.html The arms you've designed are basically consistent with medieval heraldic style. The only change we can suggest is in the chief's line of division (which is called "urdy"). We've looked at thousands of medieval coats of arms, and we've only found two or three that use an urdy line. Also, the few examples we found have an urdy line that divides the field into two equal parts--we didn't find any example where urdy was used with a chief or with any other charge. [4] It would be more typical of medieval heraldry for your chief to have a plain line, an embattled line, or an indented one (broad zig-zags). With any of those options, your arms would be right at home in a medieval roll of arms. Lindorm Eriksson, AElfwyn aet Gyrwum, Walraven van Nijmegen, Arval Benicoeur, Talan Gwynek, Hartmann Rogge, Zenobia Naphtali, and Tangwystl verch Morgant Glasvryn contributed to this letter. We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you. In service, Alan Fairfax Academy of S. Gabriel [1] Fleck, G. (aka Geirr Bassi Haraldsson), _The Old Norse Name_, Studia Marklandica (series) (Olney, Maryland: Yggsalr Press, 1977). [2] Lind, E. H., _Norsk-Isla:ndska Personbinamn fra*n Medeltiden_ (Uppsala: 1920-21), s.nn. Svarti, Svartr [3] Jansson, Sven B. F., _Runinskrifter i Sverige_, 3rd ed. (Uppsala: AWE/Gebers: 1985), pp. 134, 195. The name appears on the Hassmyra stone (Vs 24). [4] Bibliothe\que royale Albert Ier, _Gelre_ (Leuven: Jan van Helmont, 1992, ISBN 90-74318-03-7), f. 29v has the arms of Mestave: per pale "palise/e" argent an gules. This is definitely urdy, but deeper than one would usually expect for embattled. Siebmacher, Johann, _Johann Siebmachers Wappenbuch von 1605_, 2 vols., ed. Horst Appuhn (Dortmund: Harenberg, 1988, 1989), f. 77, shows the arms of v. Haslang: Per pale urdy Or and gules, also with very deep straight "urdies."