Unto Lord Alan Fairfax, Rouge Scarpe; Master Dmitrii Volkovich, Dragon; and Lord Paul Wickenden of Thanet, Escutcheon; Greetings from Lord Dagonell Collingwood and Lady Shahira bint al-Sammad. Good gentles, permit me to introduce ourselves. I am Lord Dagonell Collingwood, mundanely David Salley, from AEthelmearc Kingdom. For several years now, I've been running a small commenting heraldry group which researches the ILoIs for AEthelmearc and the East. One of my students, Lady Shahira bint al-Sammad, mundanely Caroline Tomczak, wishes to do still more commenting. So we downloaded your current ILoI's off the net and will periodically be sending you letters of comment as our schedules permit. If you have questions, we can be reached at: Dagonell: salley@klaatu.canisius.edu Shahira: weretigress@usa.net If you wish to see some of our previous letters, our commenting group is The Heraldic Flying Circus and Moving Company and we are linked to the AEthelmearc Heralds web-page at: http://www-cs.canisius.edu/~salley/heralds.html 01.) Adelais de Saviniaco -- (name) Withycombe (pg. 4, under Adelaide) says: "This became in Norman French 'Adelais', 'Adeliz', 'Aaliz','Aliz' (whence the English 'Alice' q.v.) ... Adeliz seu Adeliza (Domesday Boke) 1086" (device:"Gules, an orle of martlets argent.") No conflicts found. Nicely medieval. 02.) Caterina de Cesare -- (device: "Per pale gules and argent, a cross fleury counterchanged.") No conflicts found. Also nicely medieval. 03.) Elsa von Heilbronn -- (name) From Withycombe (pg.100, under Elizabeth) "The German 'Elsa', 'Lise', 'Liesl' ... are all occasionally used in England." (device: "Argent, on a pale wavy azure, between two roses proper, a cross bottony argent, a bordure azure.") This device strikes us as far too crowded. The roses and cross are so large that their placement is forced to where the waves of the pale have left room for them. Charges should not be so large that the choice or placement of the line of partition should make a difference. The bordure is so small, Dagonell didn't even notice it until Shahira read him the blazon. We're not sure what the current ruling is on two connecting ordinaries, in this case pale and bordure, on the same shield. The fact that they are the same color tends to make it more likely to pass Laurel. 05.) Morwith Blackthorn -- (device: "Argent, a crown of thorns vert, barbed sable, a bordure sable.") The default position for a 'crown' is affronte, as if it was being worn on someone's head. This looks more like an 'annulet of thorns'. 06.) Vivienne du Lac -- (device: "Per bend purpure and azure semy-de-lys Or, in sinister chief a unicorn rampant argent.") From Laurel's LoAR for January 1999: (under Ysabeau Lambert - Calontir) "We do not permit more than two gold fleurs on a blue background, since that is how augmentations of France were done in period." 07.) Wynter Aline Poe -- (name) Winter -- Reaney & Wilson (pg. 496) "OE 'Winter', 'Wintra' or OG 'Wintar' or a nickname" Aline -- Withycombe (pg. 16) "very common from the 12th to 15th centuries." In service, Lord Dagonell Collingwood Lady Shahira bint al-Sammad