ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2054 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2054 ************************************ From: "Sara L Friedemann" 10 Jul 2000 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for information on the name , as used by Welsh royalty between 600 and 1000, specifically wanting to know its pronunciation and if it could be combined with a descriptive. You also asked about arms quartered blue and gold with a soup ladle and a Tau cross. Here is the information we have found. is not a Welsh name; it is actually a Pictish name, and apparantly one of the most common Pictish names at that. is a 6th c. spelling; in the 8th c. it would be . [1] While it is a fine choice for a Pictish name, we don't believe that it is a fitting name for Wales. Pictish and Welsh are unrelated languages spoken in separate cultures; we have no evidence for any pattern of Pictish names being borrowed into Welsh. If you are interested in pursuing a Pictish persona, we recommend the article in footnote [1]. If you would like to consider a different Welsh name beginning with , we can recommend a few options. [2] The first three names are from 7th century Latin texts and the rest of the names are from 8th-10th century Old Welsh writings. Tegernacus Tegernomal[us] Tigern[us] Tecguaret Teudiric Teudur Teudus Tirchanus, Trichan[us], Trycan, Trychan Titgual Turguert Tutnerth You will note that some of the names end in <-us> or <-[us]>; this is a Latin ending indicating first person singular. If you drop it, the result is probably a good approximation of the form of the name that was used in Old Welsh. For more information on Old Welsh naming practices, we recommend you read the Welsh section of the following article, available in our library: "The First Thousand Years of British Names" http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/british1000 As you are aware, heraldry was invented in France in the 12th century; it is impossible for someone living in your period to have borne arms as they are conventionally defined. However, your wish to have arms that are authentic for at least some period is quite reasonable. We will discuss your arms, which would be blazoned as "Quarterly azure and Or, in bend sinister a soup ladle and a Tau cross," in the light of Welsh armory, as you asked. Unfortunately, your design doesn't fit any style of medieval heraldry that we know, for a number of reasons. The tau cross was a rare heraldic charge in period. It was known to British heralds and was occasionally used in 15th and 16th century arms, often by religious bodies dedicated to Saint Anthony (whose symbol is a tau cross). We have not found an earlier example of the charge, and we don't recommend it as good re-creation, particularly if you want arms appropriate to the early style of heraldry. [4,5] We have also found no examples of ladles used as heraldic charges. Welsh heraldic style was very similar to English heraldic style throughout the Middle Ages, which tends to be fairly simple in style. If you would like to take a look at early period arms from England, we recommend that you browse the book _A Dictionary of Heraldry_ by Joseph Foster. [3] If your local library doesn't have a copy of it, you should be able to acquire it through inter-library loan. 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, Arval Benicoeur, Zenobia Naphtali, Walraven van Nijmegen, Margaret Makafee, Juliana de Luna, and Julie Stampnitzky. For the Academy, Aryanhwy merch Catmael & Ysfael ap Briafael, July 10, 2000 --------- References: [1] Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn), "A Consideration of Pictish Names" (Y Camamseriad, Issue 4, Summer 1996, pp.29-56; WWW: J. Mittleman, 1998) [URL:http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/pictnames/]. [2] Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn), "The First Thousand Years of British Names", (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1998) [URL:http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/british1000/]. [3] Foster, Joseph, _The Dictionary of Heraldry_ (New York: Arch Cape Press, 1989). [4] Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme and Akagawa Yoshio, _A Pictorial Dictionary of Heraldry as Used in the Society for Creative Anachronism_, (privately published, 1988), s.v. cross. Arms of Thirlby (probably in Yorkshire), 1540. [5] Parker, James, _A Glossary of Terms used in Heraldry_ (Charles E. Tuttle, 1982), s.v. cross. Friary of S. Anthony in London (undated).