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Greetings! Here is what we have regarding the name you wish to use, "Eric Sternshildt", and your armory, "Azure Five mullets of five Three and two A Lymphade all or"
German bynames were common in Scandinavia during your period.(1) Naturally, most of them were used by the sizable German colony that lived throughout Scandinavia, but usage by the native population was not rare. However, there is no indication that the native nobility spoke German as their mother tongue at any time. Most, but not all, of the colonists were merchants rather than nobles.
Some Danish nobles of German origin from your period and with your given name were: (2)
Bydelsbak was a Danish noble family that originally came from Beutelsbach in W=FCrtemberg, Germany, while Krummendik were from Krummedik in Holstein. (3)
We didn't find Sternshild exactly, but we found some similar German names, notably Sternberg: (3)
This family originally came from Sternberg in Mecklenburg.
Also:
Skylt is most likely a "danified" spelling. Note that the spelling "sh" does not occur.
Unfortunately, "Sternshild" doesn't follow any pattern for the formation of German names that we are aware of. If you want to stay with a German name, we suggest that you try to find a real German byname and use that instead, for example "Sternberg" or "Schild".
However, in Danish or Swedish we can motivate a name such as "Stiernskiold", as it was common from 1500 to form family names for noble families from their armory. (This method of forming names does not appear to have been used in German.) We have the actual Danish names Stiernfeldt and Skiold,(4) a reasonable construction might be "Stiernskiold" or "Stiernskylt", suitable for a 16th century persona.
You also suggested using a second byname, "von Ingelsgaard". Multiple bynames were used in Scandinavia in your period, although they were rare. The preposition should be in the primary language of your persona: "von" or "van" for German, or "i" of "af" for a Scandinavian language. ("van" is the low German version of the preposition, and since low Germans were dominant among the German colonists "van" is perhaps more likely than "von").
We do not think that "Ingelsgaard" is a likely place name from Skane. We have "Ingelstad" (5) as a viking age place-name, from "Ingiald" (personal name) and "stad". Our research shows that "gaard" was used as a place-name element only after the middle ages.(6) It is thus a bit late for your persona. Further, we consider it rather unlikely that it would ever have been combined with an Old Norse given name.
You wish to use the arms "Azure a lymphad and in chief five mullets, three and two, Or." We have found no period examples of charges arranged the way you have arranged the mullets, Scandinavian or otherwise. We have looked for Danish and Swedish medieval featuring mullets and lymphads, and found the following examples:
and from Sweden we have (8):
Please note that we found *no* examples of the lymphad in period Scandinavian heraldry. The nearest resemblance is the boat, which was fairly common. A heraldic boat looks like a simple boat, with the fore- and aft part bent upwards a bit, not unlike a viking ship without the mast. You'll find good depictions of heraldic boats in source (7), (8) or (9), for example. If you want arms more in keeping with the time and place of your persona, we would suggest using any of the following designs (staying with your original tincures):
(These have been checked for possible conflicts.)
We found mullets with any number of points between five and nine, but mullets of six points were the most common (as indicated above).
To sum up our recommendations:
Talan Gwynek, Lindorm Eriksson, Arval D'Espas Nord and myself contributed to this letter.
If you want any further assistance, please don't hesitate to come back to us=2E
For the Academy of S. Gabriel,
Hartmann Rogge
Sources:
(1) Modeer, Ivar: "Svenska Personamn", Lund 1989., p. 107
(2) Knudsen, Kristiansen, & Hornby: "Danmarks Gamle Personnavne." Copenhagen 1949-1964, vol. I
(3) Knudsen, Kristiansen, & Hornby: "Danmarks Gamle Personnavne." Copenhagen 1949-1964, vol. II
(4) ibid.
(5) Pamp, Bengt: "Ortnamn i Skane", Stockholm 1983, p. 28
(6) ibid., p. 69
(7) Achen, Sven Tito: "Danske Adelsvabner", Kobenhavn 1973
(8) Raneke, J. "Svenska medeltidsvapen." v. 1 & 2, Lund: Bokforlaget Doxa AB, 1982.v. 3, Lund: privately published, 1985.
(9) von Volborth, Carl-Alexander: "Heraldry: Customs, Rules and Styles", Poole: Blandford Press, 1981. (Fig. 452, 466 & 469).