Heraldic, Scribal, and Dance Sypmosium 2013

Bellewode will be holding this event on February 9th. I'll be teaching two classes:

Heraldic Art: Drawing for Submission

 A general overview on how to draw heraldic emblazons and the common errors resulting in artist's notes or returns based on artistic depiction.

Heraldic Art: Drawing on a Computer

 How to use computer programs such as Inkscape and Illustrator to make clean and readily editable emblazons. This is a good way to make a personal clipart library.

Steppe Nomad Symbolism for SCA Armory

   I’ve talked about tamgas being a heraldic tradition of steppe nomads before, but what if your particular culture and time didn’t have tamgas, didn’t use them as heraldry, or you just don't want one? There are still plenty of ways to make your Western-style armory reflect your steppe persona. Just think about symbolism that would have been important to your culture and put that on your device or badge. Mine their art for ideas as well as thinking about their modes of life.
    Below are some ideas. Can you think of any others? Add them in the comments!

Weapons
    Steppe nomads were not exactly a peaceful lot. They raided, they were mercenaries, they fought against empires that threatened them… They also got a lot of their sustenance from hunting. Bows (think Mongol-type bows, not longbows) and arrows were used both for hunting and in combat (Parthian shots ftw!). Some Sarmatian tribes, like the Iazyges, used long lances in combat. Swords and daggers were also prolific (swords in particular held strong symbolic significance for some, such as the Alans). When you emblazon them, just pick the type your persona would have had. Sarmatians were known for swords with little to no guard and ring pommels. They also had dirks which they carried in sheaths strapped to their thighs rather than hanging from their belts as Westerners would have done.

Ring pommels were popular between the 2nd cent. BC and 2nd cent. AD around the Black Sea and Hungarian Plain. They were usually 50-60 cm long, and sometimes had semi-precious stones set in the rings. These are from the Odessa Archeological Museum. (Brzezinski and Mielczarek, 2002)

Vestments
    What would your persona wear? What type of kaftan did their culture have? Were their boots distinctive? What about hats? What type of armor did they wear? Any torques or other commonly-worn accessories? All of these are possible charges.

People
    People are not common in armory- partially because most don’t care for them as charges and partially because they’re harder to draw/sew/embroider/etc… for most. If you do like them, though, you can have people standing around, people riding horses, people shooting bows, etc… Just give them the sort of racial features and proportions your nomads would have had, dress them up in their clothes, and make any other accoutrements persona-appropriate.

Models of dwellings from
Kirch, Crimea circa 600 BC.
(Andrews, 1999)

Wagons and Tents
    Steppe nomads did not simply sleep on the ground or in a bedroll; they had wagons and tents (which or what they look like depends on your persona). You could have a tent or wagon simply placed on your device, show them being drawn or carried by horses, cattle, or camels, or you could have multiples arranged to symbolize an encampment (heraldic options for this are semy, in orle, a semy on a bordure, or in a train (try “on a fess, x wagons/pack animal”).
  
Horses
    The single most important animal in a steppe nomad’s life is their horse. They are transportation, source of dairy, indicator of wealth and status, pack animals, mount during hunting or combat- everything. This makes them an extremely appropriate charge for a steppe nomad’s armory. 

Running deer from: 1-2)The Ukraine,
3-5) Russia, 6) Iran, 7) Kazakhstan,
8) Mongolia. (Lebydynsky, 2011)

 Deer
    Early steppe nomads- both Iranian and Altaic- really like deer as art subjects. This wonderful figure from Lebedensky’s Tamga book illustrates the uniformity of just one deer motif. They sculpted, painted, and sewed them standing, lying down, being attacked by predators, with their legs turned 180 degrees (registering that might be hairy, though you could display it that way), and running. In Western (and SCA) heraldry, courant invokes the image of legs extended, but the steppe depiction is the moment in the stride where the legs are tucked under the body.

Griffins
    Griffins are of huge importance to Iranian steppe nomads. Unlike later Western griffins, it isn’t simply the back half of a lion glued onto the front half of an eagle with ears. You take something that looks like a lioness (or maneless male lion), add bird wings, a beak, pointy, feathery ears, and a fish-fin type crest running down the length of its neck. If you want to get really fancy, have it vulning (standing on top of and attacking) a deer or ibex. Depending on your culture, the deer’s legs may or may not be twisted 180 degrees from the front of the body.

 Camels

Phalera with two Bactrian camels.
Bronze, Filippovka, 4th cent. BC.
(The Golden Deer of Eurasia)
They have pompadour mullets!

    Camels were (and are) important to many Altaic nomads. A fairly common theme that you see in nomadic art is two Bactrian camels with fangs standing side-by-side and biting each others' back legs. I seriously doubt that particular pose could be registered, but the “combatant” pose was created with the intention to show animals attacking one another, so try registering that instead (the word may be changed to “respectant” during registration since they’re herbivorous). Alternatively, you could have them standing and facing one another (statant respectant). Then when you display it, shift it to the form more appropriate to your persona.

Monsters
    You don’t often see unique chimerical monsters in SCA heraldry, but they do exist and are completely registrable (there are currently 37 registered). You just have to blazon the different parts they’re made of. Some steppe nomads left behind depictions of chimerical monsters. The most common example it to start with either a deer or a horse. Say you have a deer- you can give it a bird beak. You may put stylized griffin heads on the ends of its antler tines. The blazon would read something like "a monster composed of the beak of an eagle and the body of a deer, with antler tines ending in gryphon heads". If you start with a horse instead, you do the same thing while adding deer antlers.

In steppe terms, this is a lion-headed, goat-horned gryphon (with front leg proportions more akin to a goat, but still ending in paws). Because of the difference between medieval gryphons and early steppe gryphons, this chimaera would be better blazoned as "a bird-winged monster composed of an ounce's head, paws, hindquarters, and tail, a goat's horns, ears, and forequarters, and a dragon's neck" if you want to register something like this in the SCA. It could be taken to be couchant (lying down) or sejant erect (sitting, but with front legs raise), but make it more obviously one or the other for registration purposes. It's wings are addorsed and inverted if you want to blazon that detail. Remember that steppe art involves squishing and stretching things to fit the space.
From a scabbard made by a Greek with Scythian designs and for a Scythian. Gold, PLACE, TIME. (From the Lands of the Scythians)

 What Not to Have

   Once you've come up with a steppe-themed charge, you might find that you want to put a little bit more on your device but don't want the rest of the obviously steppe options. Instead, you might find yourself flipping through the PicDic or medieval armorials for possible charges. What should you avoid if you want it to still make sense for a nomad? Big ships, for one- horse nomads have no reason to go sailing (unless you want to be one of those Iazyges who went to what's now England, or an Alan who crossed Gibraltar to raid with the Goths, but those were one-off trips). That's not to say they didn't fish in rivers or any of the seas in or near the steppes- you can occasionally find a zoomorphic fish- but big whales? No. Pelagic fish? No. Also avoid any objects which postdate your particular culture or that they never would have encountered. Maunches, for example- the angel-armed sleeves- are not from a time or place in which they could be encountered by a Saka. Farming implements (aside from some involved in animal husbandry) would also be uncharacteristic. If your persona didn't have a written language, books and quill pens wouldn't make much sense. Unless you have evidence that a steppe nomad encountered tales or depictions of New World fauna, it would be best to avoid them considering how temporally and geographically restricted knowledge of them was in SCA period. These are just a few examples. Basically, just do your homework and use your best judgement when picking charges not specific to steppe nomads. :)

One Final Note

   Keep in mind with all of these that if a steppe nomad motif looks much different from the Western standard, there is the risk of it not being registered if submitted as such. I’m not saying it couldn’t, but keep in mind that typical SCA heralds have to be able to blazon it consistently. Stylized zoomorphic art has been registered in the past, but so far as I know it isn't anymore, so definitely avoid that aspect when drawing for submission. When it comes time to display your armory, though, show everyone your steppe persona!

From the Lands of the Scythians: Ancient Treasures from the Museums of the USSR, 3000 BC-100BC, Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Vol 32, no. 5, 1975.

The Golden Deer of Eurasia: Scythian and Sarmatian Treasures from the Russian Steppes, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000.

Brzezinski, R, and Mielczarek, M, 2002, Men-at-Arms: The Sarmatians 600BC-450AD, Osprey publishing.

Andrews, P, 1999, Felt Tents and Pavilions, Melisende UK Ltd.

Lebydynsky, I, 2011, Les Tamgas: Une "Héraldique" de la Steppe, éditions errance.

Another A&S 50 Challenge: Emblazon the Calontir Royal Lineage

Aritê's Depth 50- Draw 50 Calontir royal arms for use as flash cards and whatever else they may be used for (the Calontir Big Book of Emblazons, for example).
50+/50 completed  
 

Calontir's current Gold Falcon sent out a request for someone to make flash cards of the arms of the Royal Lineage of Calontir. I had recently, for two seconds, thought about illuminating a roll of arms (like the period tournament rolls of arms) before sensibility took over and said "Too much work right now." Drawing things in Illustrator, though, takes much less time and has the additional benefit of building up my library of charges for use with future clients. In short, this request was perfect.

As of the beginning of this challenge, there have been 82 royals of Calontir who either had registered arms or were using them. That's at least 50, so why not make it another challenge? It's not quite enough for two, so I'll just complete the challenge on the way to completing the flash cards.

Making this in Illustrator may seem redundant since one can already access images in the Royal Armorial. However, most of them are pretty low-res and not good for blowing up to the size Gold Falcon wants. Illustrator files are vector art, so it's a non-issue there.

Here they are in no particular order. I'd have them in some sort of order (by reign or by name), except that blogger has decided to place them randomly. If the colors look off from what you would expect, it's because I made CMYK files since they're destined for printing. I also included notes where needed.

Chepe l'Orageux
5th Champion/4th Warlord and 1st King
Per saltire gules and sable, two lightning flashes
throughout in saltire, barbed and flighted Or

* The emblazon in the armorial does not have the bolts throughout, but I have a hard time believing he didn't intend them to be, so I've drawn them that way here.
**These are modern lightning bolts. You may see more rectangular lightning bolts on newer devices, but if I remember correctly, these are Victorian. I don't think lightning bolts are registrable anymore (correct me if I'm wrong), so I've just left them as is here.

Conna ingen uί Chearbhaill
57th Queen
Quarterly azure and vert, a cross fusilly
between four roundels argent

Eleanor d'Autun
22nd Queen
Vert, a fret couped within an annulet argent

Thoman Shadan Secarius
2nd and 11th King
Or, a gurges gules, overall a dagger inverted sable,
and for augmentation, on a canton purpure
a Cross of Calatrava within a bordure Or

*I added the augmentation to the blazon. Looks like it was never resubmitted to add it, though it's being
displayed this way.

Cuthbert Aldhelm
27th King
Lozengy couped in fess gules and argent,
on a pale Or a sword inverted azure

Luther Ambossfaust
30th King
Checky azure and argent,
on a saltire Or an anvil sable

Roderick of Mandrake Hill
15th King
Sable, on a chevron wavy between
three spearheads Or, three acorns sable

Jane Corwin
48th Queen
Azure, a triskelion of legs Or between three bezants

Isabeau Beaux Yeux
49th and 55th Queen
Per chevron azure and vert, a chevron
cotised between a pair of eyes
argent irised azure and a bell argent

Anton Raghelan
49th and 55th King
Per chevron azure and vert, a chevron
cotised between a pair of eyes argent
irised azure and a snake nowed argent

Ariel of Glastonbury Tor
37th, 44th, and 51st Queen
Azure, a domestic cat
sejant within an orle Or

Bataciqan-nu Ko'un Ashir
54th King
Azure, a Mongolian phoenix to dexter, wings elevated
and addorsed, sable rising from flames gules

*This device is in use but not registered. It would not be registrable due to low contrast unless evidence were supplied as described in the "Individually Attested Pattern" part of SENA.

Comyn Hrothwyn of Goldum Aecum
35th Queen
Sable, on a pale bretessed between
four oak leaves, the lower two inverted
Or, a dagger inverted dable hilted vert

Morgana of Raglan
17th Queen
Per bend sinister vert and Or,
two melusines counterchanged

Magdalena vander Meere
52nd Queen, current Princess
Argent, a mermaid in her vanity
contourny and on a chief
gules three escallops argent

Cadfael the Mordant
16th Queen
Per chevron argent and azure,
two clusters of three grape leaves
vert and a descrescent argent pierced
by a crossbow bolt fesswise reversed Or

Erzebet von Schachendorf
2nd Queen
Per bend Or and sable, a rose azure barbed and seeded proper and an anchor argent

Garick von Köpke
42nd King
Per chevron argent and Or,
three flames proper each
charged with a tower sable

Martino Michele Venèri
37th, 44th, and 51st King
Per chevron gules and sable,
a chevron ermine between two
towers and a wolf's head
erased argent, a bordure ermine

Valens of Flatrock
8th, 23rd, 29th, 35th, and 39th King
Vert, a bend azure, fimbriated Or
between a tower argent and a castle Or,
and for augmentation, on a canton purpure
a Cross of Calatrava within a bordure Or

Fionna nic Alisdair
13th Queen
Or semy of hearts, a snail contourny gules

Brummbarr von Schwarzberg
1st, 2nd, and 4th Champion, 1st and 3rd Warlord, 3rd Prince
Per bend azure and sable, a bend embattled
between two bears rampant argent, and for augmentation,
on a canton purpure a Cross of Calatrava within a bordure Or

Joe Angus Wilson of Clan Gunn
32nd King
Per chevron lozengy sable and argent and sable,
a chess knight argent

Mammarra Liona of Egypt
2nd Consort, 2nd and 5th Princess, 3rd and 7th Queen
Azure, an Egyptian gynosphinx rampant Or

Steffen Albert Rheinbauer
18th King
Azure, a sinister gauntlet clenched
aversant bendwise sustaining a rose slipped
and leaved bendwise sinister argent,
in chief a mural coronet, all within an orle of chain Or

Kaye of Gordon
53rd and 56th Queen
Per pale azure and vert,
a turtle rampant gorged with a county
coronet and in chief two ivy leaves Or

*The registered device does not include the coronet, which is currently in submission.

Lyriel de la Foret
34th Queen
Per pale vert and Or,
a fleur de lys counterchanged

*Device used but not registered

Ostwald Konrad Riese Toten
53rd and 56th King
Vert, a bear rampant argent gorged with a
county coronet Or between two flaunches argent,
each charged with a halber blades to center

*The registered device does not include the coronet, which is currently in submission. His name has also been resubmitted, with a changed from Tod to Toten.

Llywelyn Lorell of Shrewsbury
10th, 20th, and 47th King
Per chevron vert and argent,
two towers argent and a portcullis
within a bordure sable

Alix Coeurbois
11th Queen
Per chevron azure and argent, two crosses
crosslet and a stump snagged proper

Vaclav Semjaka
45th King
Azure, a bear rampant and on a gore
argent a mullet of three points gules

Thorvald the Golden
9th King
Argent, a sword argent flamed and hilted
within a bordure rayonny azure

Miriam bat Yehuda
5th Queen
Azure semy of roses, a lion rampant
contourny argent and in chief a coronet Or

Margarette de Saint Martin-sur-Mer
38th Queen
Per chevron argent and vert,
a lion passant guardant sable and
three crosses bottony two and one argent

Hywela Frech ferch Wyddel
6th and 14th Queen
Per bend sinister vert and vair,
in bend two griffins segreant Or

Elisabeth de Rossignol
5th Princess and 4th Queen
Gules, a pall erminois between three
pomegranates slipped and leaved Or

Gilligan of Eire
24th King
Argent, three lions passant contourney
within a bordure embattled vert

Isadora of Orange Wode
12th Queen
Ermine, chaussé ployé sable
an orange tree eradicated proper

Rorik Galbraith
17th King
Sable, a bear's head erased argent
muzzled gules between two swords
in pile argent within a bordure
argent semy of lozenges sable

Adelith of Horton-cum-Studley
24th Queen
Per pale sable and argent, two swans naiant
respectant, wings elevated counterchanged

Sally Salamandra the Whitesmith
25th Queen
Purpure, a salamander tergiant vert flamed Or

Branwen ferch Rhael
27th Queen
Argent, on a fess purpure between
three dragons' heads erased
azure, three cinquefoils argent

Ternon de Caerleon
3rd Champion/2nd Warlord and 1st Prince
Gyronny of six palewise vert and erminois,
in pall three dexter arms, flexed and
conjoined at the shoulders, each
hand grasping a dagger argent

Valmai Arcalien of Dernhealde
3rd Princess
Per fess argent and azure, in pale an oak
leaf bendwise and a goblet counterchanged

Conn MacNeill
16th and 21st King
Gules, on a pile raguly between two
cups Or, a sword inverted sable

Sheelagh O'Kyan
21st and 41st Queen
Per bend sinister argent and vert,
an oak leaf palewise and a bottlenosed
dolphin naiant counterchanged

Volkmar Katzbalger
12th King
Per pale sable and gules, two halberd heads
addorsed and in chief a lucy Or, for augmentation
on a chief purpure issuant from the line of
division a demi-cross of Calatrava throughout Or

Yrsa in kyrra Guðbrandsdottir
33rd Queen
Argent, a duck naiant sable,
a bordure wavy gules platy

Gabriel ap Morgan ap Hywel
6th and 14th King
Per bend azure and vert, on a bend
engrailed argent between two mullets
of six points Or a fox's head gules

Yasamin al-Hadiyya
42nd Queen
Purpure, a senmurv within eight octofoils in annulo Or

*In use, currently in submission

Tristram of Lindesfarne
Ermine, a boar passant azure and a chief gules fretty Or
43rd and 46th King

*In use, not registered

Elspeth of Stonehaven
23rd Queen
Per bend sinister dovetailed sable and argent,
a unicorn's head couped contourny and a dog's head
couped within a bordure dovetailed all counterchanged

Chrystofer Kensor
19th, 25th, and 38th King
Azure, a wolf rampant contourny argent maintaining
in its sinister paw an axe bendwise hafted Or,
a base argent and in chief a ducal coronet Or,
for augmentation, on a canton purpure
a Cross of Calatrava within a bordure Or

Branwyn Whiteraven
9th Queen
Sable, a raven close and on a bordure argent, six roses, barbed and seeded, proper

Arwyn Antaradi
1st Consort and 1st Queen
Or, a saltire cotised gules, overall a horse rampant to sinister sable

Zenobia of Rebelswood
10th Queen
Argent, a unicorn rampant and on a chief
embattled gules, an arrow, barb to dexter, argent

Mahmood al-Taifi (Tomeeki)
13th King
Argent, an elephant rampant sable maintaining in its trunk a coronet gules

Angelo Paolo Cavelli
48th King
Per pale Or and vert, a vol and in chief an annulo counterchanged

Humpk d'Bohunk
6th Champion/5th Warlord, 2nd and 4th Prince, 3rd and 7th King
Azure, a sword inverted Or surmounted
by a skull argent between in fess a pair
of wings, all between three roses Or

Lucian Fidelis
57th King
Argent, a satyr maintaining a spear bendwise sinister inverted sable a bordure embattled gules

*in use, not registered
*Credit where it's due- this emblazon is based very heavily on a sketch by His Excellency, who's a good artist himself. :)

Aislinn Morcroft
28th and 36th Queen
Gules, on a chevron between three crosses
crosslet Or, five strawberry leaves vert

Edward Cire of Greymoor
5th Prince and 4th King
Per chevron gules and argent, two wyverns passant
respectant argent and a scoprion passant sable

Hirsch Ross Eichmann
52nd and 58th King
Or, an oak tree fructed proper and on
a chief gules three stag's attires Or

Alethea Charle
26th and 31st Queen
Lozengy argent and gules, a doe lodged and on a
chief sable two arrows inverted in saltire argent

Brayden Avenel Durrant
15th and 19th Queen
Gules, a fess invected between a natural tiger passant
and a scimitar fesswise, blade to chief, argent

*This sword looks more like a falchion or dao. They're often mistakenly called scimitars.

Katrine Thorrofsdottir
43rd Queen
Gules, a panther passant guardant queue-forchy
argent incensed proper, gorged of a collar and broken chains
Or and on a chief argent three crescents gules

*This device is in use but not registered

Thjothrekr Eiriksson
33rd King
Argent, on a bend wavy gules
between three Thor's hammers sable
a shark naiant argent

Fernando Rodrigues de Falcon
34th King
Per bend sinister sable and Or, a falcon stooping
to sinister counterchanged, and for
augmentation, on a canton purpure a Cross of Calatrava within a bordure Or

Siridean Maclachlan
41st King
Azure, a bend argent cotised
between a lion rampant
and a triple towered castle Or

*I decided to base my drawing of a lion rampant on a depiction from a period illumination. It isn't an exact copy- it didn't quite make the transition from illumination to Illustrator image without looking completely doofy. I made the mane and toes a bit more realistic. And I also gave it lion ears. The original has human ears. *snicker*

Xorazne Artsruni
45th Queen
Per saltire argent and Or, a sun in splendor within an orle gules

*In use but not registered.

Eringlin Aldhelm
22nd, 26th, and 31st King
Per pale sable and Or, a chevron between three
roundels, and for augmentation on the chevron
a Cross of Calatrava counterchanged

*The device is registered, but the augmentation is a new addition

Iliya of Shadowdale
20th Queen
[Tinctureless] A Ukranian trident and a drawn horse bow conjoined in pale [sable]

*Device in use but not registered
*This design is based on bi/tridents such as those used by the Kiev dynasty and is appropriate for an early period Russian persona such as Her Excellency's. The blazon is a guess on my part. The bottom element might also be blazoned as a heart or a quarter of a Cross of Calatrava. The words in brackets would be necessary for registration in the SCA, but nonsensical in period. In addition to stamping the completely tinctureless design on coins, she also displayed it as Or on purpure during her reign. I've chosen to reproduce it as black and white here to hold true to period design (black and white doesn't necessarily read as "tinctured"), but will change it to Or on purpure if She requests.
*Ukranian/Kievan bi/tridents might be descended from tamga (Drachuk, 1975; Yatsenko, 2001; Fetisov, 2007; Lebedynsky, 2011), though the latter two caution that it isn't necessarily the sign itself that descends from them, but rather the system of use and inheritance.

Ghleanna Meghan of Kirkaldy
1st Princess
Per fess sable and vert, a fess between
three mullets of eight points and a
horse rampant argent.

*Device in use but not registered

Catalina Arazuri
Current Princess
Or, a bend sinister per bend azure and gules
between two monarch butterflies proper.

Lenore de Troyes
30th Queen
Vert, two chevronels argent between three trefoils voided Or

*Prepared, but not submitted before her passing

Christophre Cynwyd
7th Champion
Or, a date palm leaf sable

Lile ni Mhordha
18th Queen
Per chevron ermine and azure, in base
three annulets, one and two, interlaced Or

Maerwynn of Holme
50th and 54th Queen
Or, a triskelion of three unstrung hunting horns
conjoined at the mouthpieces between
three roundels one and two gules

Asgeirr Gunnarsson
5th King
Per pale sable and argent, on a saltire cotised,
two spears in saltire, all counterchanged.

Caillin MacKenzie
46th Queen
Azure semy of roses Or barbed and seeded
vert, on a bend sinister argent three trefoils vert

*In use, not registered

Donngal Eriksson
28th King
Azure ermined Or, a cross
throughout gyronny gules and Or

Phaedra filia Roberti
32nd and 40th Queen
Argent semy of ladybugs gules
spotted sable, a bordure gules

*The ladybugs I've drawn here are European
seven-spotted ladybugs, not to be mistaken
for the common invasive Asian
species found here in the US.

Susannah Griffon
8th, 29th, and 39th Queen
Pean, a saltire Or, overall a griffon passant gules,
and for augmentation, on a canton purpure
a Cross of Calatrava within a bordure Or


*I added the augmentation to the blazon. Looks like it was never resubmitted to add it, though it's being displayed this way.
**This is a Fox-Davies (i.e. post-period) griffon, which I did not know when I drew it a while back. I'll eventually replace my Fox-Davies art with more period depictions, though they are often still registrable given their accessibility.

Drachuk, VS, 1975, Sistemy znakov Severnogo Prichernomor'ya Tamgoobraznyie znaki severopontiyskoi periferii antichnogo mira pervykh vekov nashei ery, Kiev.
Fetisov, A, 2007, The 'Rurukid sign' from the B3 church at Basarabi-Murfatlar, Studia Patzinaka, 4.1, pp. 29-44
Lebedynsky, I, 2011, Les tamgas, une "héraldique" de la steppe, éditions errance, Paris, p. 109-122.
Yatsenko, SA, 2001, Znaki-tamgi iranoyazychnych narodov drevnosti i rannego srednevekov'ya, Moskva.