Mathghamhain – Techniques of Digital Heraldry

Third Quarter Update

It’s been six months since my last roundup of changes to the Traceable Heraldic Art collection, during which time more than a hundred and eighty new illustrations have been added, bringing the total to well over six thousand.

As always, I am indebted to the generous contributors who choose to share their illustrations with the community through this collection. My thanks in particular to first-time contributors Gwenyvere Rose Foxe, Wylet Fraser, and Rhian Preston.

My appreciation also goes out to returning artists Malyss Makneile, Vémundr Syvursson, Volusia Zoe, Nest verch Gwilim, Iago ab Adam, Aurora Faw, and Ragna stórráða Úlfsdóttir — and to Joakim Spuller, from whose WappenWiki collection I pulled more than three dozen images in this round.

And of course I continue to draw material from period and modern documents, including Stände und Handwerker, the Guild & School of Handicraft’s Survey of London, the Zurich Roll, Recueil de Généalogies Anglaises, and the Austrian State Archives.

Branch Arms on the East Kingdom Pennsic Sheetwalls

The sheetwalls surrounding the East Kingdom royal encampment at Pennsic are donated by local branches, and decorated with their arms.

This lovely display of the provincial arms is reported to have been created by Lord Renier VerPlanck (sometimes written Reijnier Verplanck), and is likely about fifteen years old.

Team Blue Square

The Blue Tyger has served as a mascot for the East Kingdom for about fifty years, since it was selected to combat the red dragon of the Middle, and it is displayed widely as a populace badge as well as being integrated into other badges and displays.

This has led to a bit of good-natured grumbling from scribes and others who have been repeatedly asked to paint this image in a wide variety of sizes and media: “oh no, another tyger, with all of those fiddly little tufts of hair — why didn’t we choose something simpler?” Nobody was seriously suggesting replacing the tyger, but a joke developed within the scribal and heraldic communities that things would be easier if our populace badge was a simple blue square.

A Techie’s Guide to the Ordinary & Armorial

I ran a session about the SCA’s O&A database at the Virtual Known World Heraldic and Scribal Symposium this January, and am now belatedly getting a copy of my presentation posted here.

Populace Pride

As the Society recognizes Queer Pride this month, I thought I would share a couple of images I created featuring the populace badges of the East Kingdom and the Crown Province of Østgarðr, which folks are free to use.

Click either image for a higher-resolution PNG file.

On Contrast for Furs and Proper

There’s a widespread claim in modern heraldic circles that furs and proper charges are neutral for contrast purposes (eg Wikipedia on the Rule of Tincture), and many of them cite this passage from Fox-Davies:

Furs may be placed upon either metal or colour, as may also any charge which is termed proper.
AC Fox-Davies, A Complete Guide to Heraldry (1909), p 86.

With all due respect to Fox-Davies, generally considered the leading light of Victorian-era English heraldry, I think this is a bad call.

Populace Badge of Northpass

Back in 2018 I provided some support for the Canton of Northpass’s efforts to design and register a populace badge, but due to some other drama I somehow never got around to posting about it.

With the news that the Canton of Northpass will soon be reinstated, I thought it was fitting to dust off those emblazons and make them accessible again.

The Crown Province’s Shibbøleðr

Newcomers and neighbors of the Crown Province inevitably run into a tricky question: how do you pronounce Østgarðr?

There are (at least) three potential pitfalls packed into this one word, and even many long-time residents habitually get one or two of them wrong.

Continue reading “The Crown Province’s Shibbøleðr”

A Winter’s Worth of Traceable Art

The seasons are starting to turn here and I figured that was as good reason as any to review the changes that’ve been made to the Traceable Heraldic Art collection over the last three months, including over two hundred and sixty new entries.

Eighty of those new images are drawn from Joakim Spuller’s WappenWiki collection, for which he has my continuing thanks. My appreciation also goes out to returning artists Volusia Zoe, Aurora Faw, and Lily Morgaine, as well as first-time contributor Tancorix inigena Bivaidonas — welcome to the team!

Other images in this update were drawn from period manuscripts, including for the first time Jean Faucket’s Commonplace Book of Heraldry, Des Kaiserlichen Kammergerichts zu Speier Kammerrichter, Wapenboek van Gent, and Queens College MS 72. My thanks to Iago ab Adam for continuing to bring new sources such as these to the attention of our community. Continue reading “A Winter’s Worth of Traceable Art”

Heraldic Love in the Seahorse

I put together a page about #HeraldicLove for the spring issue of the Seahorse (aka the E-Horse), the provincial newsletter of Østgarðr.