ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2347
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2347
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11 Jun 2001
From:  (Josh Mittleman)


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked us to evaluate your designs for your arms and badge in the
context of medieval western European heraldry.  Here is what we have found.

Your two designs can be blazoned:

  Argent, on a cinquefoil gules a wolf's head erased contourny Or.
  On a goutte gules a wolf's head erased contourny Or.

Unfortunately, neither design is consistent with medieval European heraldic
style; and neither could be registered with the SCA College of Arms.

Placing a charge on a cinquefoil is very unusual.  We know of only one
possible period example that has a cinquefoil charged with a crescent [1].
Note that a crescent is a much simpler charge than a wolf's head, and it is
one of the small number of charges that was quite commonly used as a minor
design element in medieval arms.  So even this example isn't very good
support for charging a cinquefoil with a wolf's head.

We have found no period example of a charge placed on a goutte, so we
cannot support that motif at all.

Neither of your designs could be registered with the SCA College of Arms;
both are too similar to previously registered armory [2].

One alternative for your arms is to place both charges on the field instead
of stacking them, for example:

  Argent, a wolf's head and in chief three cinquefoils gules.
  Or semy of cinquefoils, a wolf's head gules.

Other designs you might consider include:

  Gules, a wolf's head Or and on a chief argent three cinquefoils gules.
  Argent goutty, a wolf's head gules.
  Gules goutty argent, a wolf's head Or.

"Goutty" means "semy of gouttes".  A semy is a regular patterning of the
field with relatively small charges.

For your badge, you might consider swapping the charges:

  A wolf's head Or goutty gules.


We hope this letter has been useful.  Please write us again if any part of
it has been unclear or if you have other questions.  I was assisted in
researching and writing this letter by Zenobia Naphtali, Rouland Carre,
Julie Stampnitzky, Adelaide de Beaumont, Elsbeth Anne Roth, and Talan
Gwynek.

For the Academy,


  Arval Benicoeur
  11 Jun 2001


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References

[1] Papworth, p.870 "Gu. a cinquefoil erm. charged in the middle with a
crescent sa. PAGANELL or PAGNELL, temp. Henry I.".  Henry I reigned
1100-1135, which is earlier than the accepted earliest example of heraldic
arms; so these are probably attributed arms invented by later generations
of the family.

[2] Your arms conflict with the arms of Judith the Rose "Argent, a rose
gules slipped and leaved proper."  A rose and a cinquefoil are not
considered different for the purpose of conflict.  Your badge conflicts
with a badge owned by the Barony of Jararvellir "A goutte de sang charged
with a kernel of wheat Or."