ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2707 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2707 ************************************ 17 Aug 2003 From: Josh Mittleman Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked us to consider whether is an appropriate name for a 9th-11th century Irishman. You also asked us to clarify our comment about using a red fist in your arms. Here is what we have found. Before we continue, we'd like to apologize for the time it has taken to answer your questions. As we noted earlier, the only examples we have of and are much earlier than your period, 6th and 7th century [1], before the appearance of the earliest written records of the Old Irish language. (The slash in represents an acute accent mark on the preceding letter.) It is not implausible that both could have remained in use into the 9th century. The 11th century is rather less likely since it is that much further from the evidence. The two names were pronounced \AHL-y@-rahn\ and \CAHR-y@l\, respectively. is a late-period spelling of a byname meaning "red-hand" (or perhaps "bloody-hand"). We have found one example from early medieval records, before your period, and several references to a man born in the late 12th century, after your period; so we think it is very probably safe to assume that it would have been considered a reasonable byname in your period. However, this spelling isn't the right one for the 9th-11th centuries. The spelling appropriate to your period is [2, 3]. It was pronounced \KROHV-dhairg\, where \OH\ stands for the sound of the vowel in and \dh\ for the sound of the in . Some other bynames with similar meanings were discussed in Academy report 2278, on the web at: http://www.s-gabriel.org/2278 If you'd like to know more about any of the bynames discussed there, please write again. As we noted earlier, heraldic arms were not used in Ireland until the custom arrived with the English in the late 12th century. We have found evidence that the Gaelic Irish chiefs started to use heraldry in the mid-14th century, but most examples of heraldic use by native Gaels are from the 16th century or later [4]. Therefore, any arms you use will be inappropriate for your persona. 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 We apologize for the confusion we caused by discussing an open hand when you asked about a fist. In modern and late-period British heraldry, an open, red hand is used as a badge for baronets; and for that reason the SCA College of Arms does not allow it to be used as a charge in registered armory. That doesn't affect the use of a red fist. The SCA College of Arms may not count any significant difference between a fist and a hand, but we don't believe they will consider it to infringe on the reserved charge. 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 Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Talan Gwynek, Eirik Halfdanarson, and Adelaide de Beaumont. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 17 Aug 2003 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.nn. Ailera/n, Cairell. [2] Royal Irish Academy, _Dictionary of the Irish Language: based mainly on Old and Middle Irish materials_ (Dublin : Royal Irish Academy, 1983), s.v. crob. [3] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals: Masculine Descriptive Bynames" (WWW: Academy of S. Gabriel, 2001-2002). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/DescriptiveBynames [4] "When did the Irish Chiefs Adopt Heraldry?", John J FitzPatrick Kennedy, Genealogica and Heraldica ed Auguste Vachon, Claire Boudreau, David Cogne/, University of Ottawa Press, 1998, ISBN 0-7766-0472-4.