ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2377 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2377 ************************************ 30 Oct 2001 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for an Irishwoman living between 700 and 950. You also asked us to evalute your heraldic design. Here is what we've found. First, we'd like to thank you for describing your own research so thoroughly; that makes our job much easier. You've chosen a fine name, though the spelling isn't quite right. was a common name in your period, and was used in the same period, as you found [1]. The slash in represents an acute accent mark on the second 'a'. The word "daughter" was spelled in your period; the longer spelling didn't appear until c.1200. In order to make your byname mean "daughter of Adomna/n", it is necessary to put into its genitive (posssessive) form, which is . The added is analogous to the <'s> in English . The pronunciation you gave in your letter was incorrect for your period. Before 1000, the name would have been pronounced roughly \MEDHV EEN-y@n AH-dh@v-nahn~\. \DH\ represents the sound of the in . \@\ stands for the sound of the in , and \n~\ represents the sound of in the French word or Italian , or of the Spanish n-tilde in . Heraldic arms were invented in northwestern France in the mid-12th century. Since your persona is earlier than that, you 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 described can be blazoned "Azure, a peacock close with tail to base Or". In period heraldry, a peacock was usually shown "in his pride,", i.e. facing front with his tail displayed. We know of one very late period example of a peacock with its tail closed and tilted to base; it is a very rare posture which we don't recommend for general use [2, 3]. If your goal is to register your arms with the SCA College of Arms, you'll need to modify them: They are too similar to previously-registered designs [4]. If you'd like our help re-designing your arms, please write again. We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if you have any questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Talan Gwynek, Modar Neznanich, Adelaide de Beaumont, Elsbeth Anne Roth, Juliana de Luna, Will Dekne, Julie Stampnitzky, and Aryanhwy merch Catmael. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 30 Oct 2001 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.nn. Medb, Adomna/n. [2] 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. peacock. [3] We found several 13th to 15th century examples of peacocks in British heraldry, including a couple with their tails closed. Woodcock, Thomas, Janet Grant, & Ian Graham, _Dictionary of British Arms_, vol II. (The Society of Antiquaries of London, 1996), pp.151-2, 176, 312. [4] Your design may be judged too similar to the badge of the Barony of One Thousand Eyes: "A peacock in his pride head to sinister Or", the arms of Marguerite Dinard "Azure, a falcon close Or and a base embattled argent", or the arms of Elfgar the Pure "Azure, a heron within a bordure Or". The arrangement of the peacock's tail may be sufficient versus the first potential conflict, and the type of bird plus removal of a secondary charge may be sufficient versus the other two. You should consult a senior herald in your kingdom if you want to submit this design.