ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 943 http://www.s-gabriel.org/943 *********************************** ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports * * contain errors that we haven't yet * * corrected. Please use it with caution. * * * ************************************************* From: "S Friedemann" 4 May 1998 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is a correct Old Norse or Icelandic masculine name, and whether there are any restrictions on snakes or lightening bolts in heraldic arms in the Society. Here is the information we have found. was the name of a Hebrew prophet, an author of one of the books in the Old Testament, but we found no evidence that this name was used in Norse society or, in fact, anywhere in medieval Europe. The Norse did use some Biblical names after their conversion to Christianity around 1000, but as in all parts of medieval Christendom, they primarily used New Testament names. The few Old Testament names that were used had important Christian symbolism. We found a few similar names that you might be interested in instead: , , (where the "/" represents an accent over the 'a') [1], , (also spelled ), and . [2] A patronymic byname (a byname based of the father's name) formed from the name would be , as you thought. [1] Therefore a name such as or would be an authentic choice for your culture. You asked if there were any restrictions on the usage of lightning bolts and snakes in heraldry. For lightning bolts, there are. You should avoid the "shazam"-style lightning bolt, as this style has been barred by the Society College of Arms, and instead use the period form. The best way to describe this charge is a square wave with arrowheads on the end. If you use a fixed-pitch font (e.g., Courier) to read this email, you can get a fair representation in the design shown below: ___ ___ ___ /_ | | | | | | _\ \ |___| |___| |___| |___| / However, we have little evidence that lightning bolts were used separate from a charge called a thunderbolt, which is a winged, swirling pillar of flame, sometimes shown with crossed lightening bolts behind it [3]. We would advise you not to use lightning at all, since we have no evidence that it was used in period arms. Snakes, though never common, are attested in period arms. Different forms that we have found them in are "a snake nowed" (tied into a knot), "a snake glissant" (in a wavy line), and "a snake involved" (curling into a circle, biting its tail.) Another thing that you should be aware of is that Vikings in your period did not bear arms. We suggest that you read the following article from the Academy Library on this subject: What Do I Use for Arms if my Persona Wouldn't Have Used Arms? http://www.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/faq/nonheraldic.html 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 Arval Benicoeur, Evan da Collaureo, Fergus Stout, Lindorm Eriksson, Livia Montgomery, Talan Gwynek, and Walraven van Nijmege. For the Academy, Aryanhwy Prytydes merch Catmael Caermyrdin ------------------------------------------------------- References: [1] Fleck, G. (aka Geirr Bassi Haraldsson), _The Old Norse Name_, Studia Marklandica (series) (Olney, Maryland: Yggsalr Press, 1977). [2] Lind, E.H., _Norsk-Isla:ndska Dopnamn ock Fingerade Namn fra*n Medeltiden_ (Uppsala & Leipzig: 1905-1915, sup. Oslo, Uppsala and Kobenahavn: 1931) [3] Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme and Akagawa Yoshio, _A Pictorial Dictionary of Heraldry as Used in the Society for Creative Anachronism_, (privately published, 1988).