Mathghamhain – Page 16 – Techniques of Digital Heraldry

An Armory Conflict-Checking Checklist

[Editor’s Note: Portions of this checklist were rendered out-of-date by the new rules for considering changes to the field approved by the March 2021 Cover Letter. See the updated version of this document for a revised version of the checklist. — Mathghamhain]

SENA devotes over 10,000 words to conflict checking armory, which the below guide attempts to summarize.

It includes references to the relevant sections of SENA so you can track down more details if needed. Continue reading “An Armory Conflict-Checking Checklist”

Complex Lines Quick Reference

I keep forgetting which complex lines are considered to conflict with each other, so I put together this quick-reference guide in hopes that a visual presentation would help it to sink in. Continue reading “Complex Lines Quick Reference”

“What Is a Coat of Arms and What Was It For?”

This video provides a decent introduction to the medieval use of armory for a non-specialist audience.

Name for Sydoc nicTalmach

Sydoc had a registrable name already picked out, so all that was required was some research to document it as historically accurate.

Sydoc nicTalmach is a Scots feminine name of the sixteenth century. Continue reading “Name for Sydoc nicTalmach”

Another Round of Traceable Art

Over the last month I’ve added another 135 illustrations to the Book of Traceable Heraldic Art.

As with last month, these are drawn from a variety of sources, including some more beasts from Torric inn Björn, some tools and objects from Gustav Völker, and a couple of funky lions from Thomas Wriothesley. Continue reading “Another Round of Traceable Art”

An Early Roll of Arms of the Canton of Whyt Whey

In the period of 2003-2005, an armorial roll was assembled for members of the Canton of Whyt Whey by Doña Sancha de Flores.

The pages were preserved at archive.org (1, 2) and I thought they might be interesting as a snapshot of local participants from that time. Continue reading “An Early Roll of Arms of the Canton of Whyt Whey”

Recent Art Additions

Over the winter holidays I took some time to add another 156 illustrations to the Book of Traceable Heraldic Art.

Many of these are drawn from the Viking Answer Lady’s SVG Images For Heralds, while others come from historical documents including Insignia Florentinorum (Italy, 16th C) and Opus Insignium Armorumque (Slovenia, 17th C), and some have been newly illustrated for this collection. Continue reading “Recent Art Additions”

Book Heraldry Symposium in Lion’s End

On December 1, I was pleased to meet with a group of aspiring and intermediate heralds from Østgarðr and its neighboring Barony of An Dubhaigeainn to offer over five hours of classes in the practice of onomastics and armorial design and registration in the Society for Creative Anachronism.

My thanks to Lilie Dubh inghean ui Mordha for her capable teaching assistance, especially on the names side, and to Sláine báen Ronán for writing up a description of the event for publication in the East Kingdom Gazette, reproduced below with her kind permission. Continue reading “Book Heraldry Symposium in Lion’s End”

Court Report, Barleycorn

On the eighth day of September, in year fifty three of our society, their Excellencies Østgarðr, Suuder Il Kha’an and Lada Il-Khatun, returning home from their recent victories in the summer’s war, did progress to their canton of Northpass for the Feast of John Barleycorn, and therein did hold court.

Their Excellencies began by inviting all newcomers, who had attended no more than three events, to present themselves, and they expressed their pleasure to see the great number of gentles who stepped forward. Each of the newcomers was given a seahorse candle as a token of the province’s welcome and was invited to return again soon, and the populace cheered for their continuing participation. Continue reading “Court Report, Barleycorn”

Artistic Variation in Heraldic Art

A notable characteristic of armorial depiction is that any illustration of a given design is considered to be heraldically equivalent. For example, any illustration of “Gules, three lions passant guardant in pale Or” is said to represent the English Sovereign, no matter in what style the lions are drawn, as long as they accurately reflect that blazon.

Konstantia Kaloethina has assembled a nice demonstration of this principle in her “Heraldic Mythbusting” blog post containing nine different illustrations of “a seraph proper” by six different artists.

Two seraphs proper; the first by myself using an illustration by Vinycomb, the second by Konstantia Kaloethina. (Shared with permission.)

In addition to these illustrations, the post provides some period examples of “artistic license,” explains some boundaries on when it’s taken too far, and discusses the Society’s heraldic registration policies — it’s definitely worth a read.