Heraldry idea...

[Michael A. Chance]

Litch writes:

> Most people in the sca want thier heraldry to be a form of personal
> iconography it is the heralds who have this mental block which precludes
> them from dealing with this fact and working towards making that a part of
> the game. They instead insist upon people playing thier game by thier
> rules.

I have nothing wrong with people wanting some form of personal
iconography.  However, that's not necessarily heraldry, let alone
medieval heraldry.  There are lots of styles of personal iconography
that were used all through the SCA's period of history and geographic
scope, but on a certain style used in western and central Europe after
the mid-12th century can be called "heraldry".

Like any style of art, medieval heraldry has a particular "look and
feel" to it.  There are certain "rules" as to how coats of arms are
constructed, and there are certain things that simply weren't done.

If people want something called "heraldry" and a "coat of arms", then
they need to learn how those things are constructed and used, just
like they would if they were constructing a cothardie, or a bascinet
helm, or a Savanrola chair, or Norse heroic saga.  If it turns out
that what they *really* want is some other form of medieval personal
iconography (and there are numerous other types from a variety of
cultures and eras), that fine - just don't call it "heraldry", 'cause
it isn't.

Mikjal Annarbjorn
-- 
Michael A. Chance          St. Louis, Missouri, USA    "At play in the fields
Work: mc307a at sw1stc.sbc.com                             of St. Vidicon"
Play: mchance at crl.com