ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2391 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2391 ************************************ From: Lisa and Ken Theriot 14 Nov 2001 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for a 14th century German woman living near Hamburg (the <"> indicates an umlaut over the preceding letter). You also asked for our opinion of your arms, which you described as "Azure, a hound couchant Or above a trillium proper". Here is the information we have found. First, we'd like to thank you for your preliminary research; it makes our job a lot easier. As you noted, Hamburg is in an area that spoke a dialect of Low German, specifically of Low Saxon; accordingly, we will discuss forms of your names that are appropriate for similar dialects. was popular throughout Europe in your period. We find the following forms recorded in areas where Low Saxon dialects were spoken [1]: 1308/69 1323 1381, the same woman also as 1381 1495 1469, the same woman also as 1483 1390 1440 1406 We believe that the forms ending in <-en> reflect requirements of German grammar when the name is not the subject of a sentence. Though was recorded in documents, we believe that the most common vernacular, or spoken, form was , later shortened to . Either form would be an excellent recreation, pronounced \IL-z@-bet\ and \IL-z@-b@\. Here \@\ represents the sound of in and . We found a modern place called , but it is not near Hamburg, and we don't know if it existed in period. The element <-fels> means 'rock, cliff', not 'keep' as you suggested [2]. We haven't found any placename in the German lowlands that contains this element, and we'd be surprised to find one, since it is very flat country. We haven't found any evidence that the word was used in place names in your region, but we did find the Low German word 1409, an early form of the modern 'hunting lodge' [3]. Since the word refers to a building rather than the name of a town, we would not expect a preposition like High German or Low German ; a man named who lived at the might be known simply as . During your period, German women were often identified by surnames in grammatically feminine forms, frequently feminine forms of their father's or husband's surnames. We find examples in Low German where the suffix <-sche> is used to feminize surnames. A name like actually indicated the widow of a man named [1]. A woman named who lived or worked at or near a noted hunting lodge might have been known as , pronounced \IL-z@-bet YAH-g@t-HOO-z@-sh@\ or \IL-z@-bet YAH-g@t-HOO-z@-skh@\ [4]. Here \kh\ represents the rasping sound of in Scottish 'lake' or German 'oh' and . We note that your mundane name is . is a form of the word for 'hunter' which we find used in the Low German dialect area; we have an example of a woman referred to as , probably the widow of a man named , dated 1496 [5]. Though this form is slightly later than your period, we believe it is appropriate, so is another fine recreation. is pronounced \YAY-gair-sh@\ or \YAY-gair-skh@\. We would blazon your arms, "Azure, a hound couchant Or and a trillium argent barbed vert" (the kingdom of Ealdormere's trillium is not blazoned "proper"). Unfortunately, your design is not the best recreation. As you surmised, the trillium is not a period charge. We find very few naturalistic plants in period heraldry; stylized charges such as heraldic roses are much more common. Hounds are found in period heraldry, though couchant is an unusual posture; passant and courant are much more common [6, 7]. If you would be interested in seeing what German heraldry from your period looked like, there are two websites we can recommend: * The Manesse Codex, a collection of early 14th century illuminations that includes many examples of heraldry. The site begins at: http://www.tempora-nostra.de/manesse/manesse_start.shtml but the images are more easily reached at: http://www.tempora-nostra.de/manesse/manesse0-9.shtml * The Zurich Roll of Arms, c.1340. It starts with a collection of flags and then a catalogue of the arms of royalty, some of them fictional. The material you'll find most useful starts with the second row of arms on the front of Strip II. http://ladyivanor.knownworldweb.com/zroaen0.htm The closest German arms we have seen to your design are from the Zurich roll: the arms of Wilflingen (plate 208) are represented as "Argent, on a stem issuant from base, two linden leaves vert and in chief a lion passant azure". Accordingly, "Azure, a slip of two linden leaves issuant from base argent and in chief a hound passant Or" would be a fine recreation. If you'd specifically like a flower, heraldic roses were very common in German heraldry; "Azure, on a stem issuant from base two roses argent and in chief a hound passant Or" would also be a fine design. We believe you could register either design with the SCA College of Arms. We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Angharat ver' Reynulf, Arval Benicoeur, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Dietmar von Straubing, Elsbeth Anne Roth, Julie Stampnitzky, Modar Neznanich, and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Adelaide de Beaumont 14 November 2001 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References: [1] Zoder, R., _Familiennamen in Ostfalen_. 2 vols. (Hildesheim: 1968), pp. 53, 95, 104, 110, 119, 139. [2] You might have noted a translation of <-fels> as 'keep' because it's often found in the names of castles; this occurs because the castle is built on a cliff or crag, not because <-fels> refers to the castle. [3] Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann, _Etymologisches Woerterbuch der deutschen Familiennamen_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag, 1957-1960), s.n. Jagdhaus. [4] We are unsure of the pronunciation of <-esche>. In your period, may have had its usual modern value, \sh\, in which case the byname is \YAH-g@t-HOO-z@-sh@\. However, in Westfalian even down to modern times the combination is \skh\, more or less as in Dutch; therefore the name might have been pronounced \YAH-g@t-HOO-z@-skh@\. Given local dialect differences, both may well be correct. [5] Engel, Franz, _Die Mecklenburgischen Kaiserbederegister von 1496_, Mitteldeutsche Forschungen 56 (Koeln: Boehlau Verlag, 1968), p. 157. [6] Chesshyre, Hubert & Woodcock, Thomas, _Dictionary of British Arms: Medieval Ordinary_, vol. I (London: The Society of Antiquaries of London, 1992). Page 202 has 'a bloodhound couchant' (1478 seal), one coat with a greyhound courant in chief, a handful with a dog passant, three with a dog salient, a 1292 seal with a dog sejant but not on a shield and a 1507 seal with a greyhound sejant contourny, and two with a dog statant. Dogs collared (p.203) include a 1367 seal with a hound couchant, three coats with a dog passant, two coats with a hound salient, two with a dog statant, and one with a dog sejant regardant. Pages 292ff shows chiefly dogs courant, followed by passant, with a handful of coats with three dogs statant. [7] Woodcock, Thomas, Janet Grant, & Ian Graham, _Dictionary of British Arms_, vol II. (The Society of Antiquaries of London, 1996). Pages 294ff show coats with a chevron between three dogs, chiefly passant.