ANSTHRLD - Charge Question

[Kathri at aol.com]

> At Coronation I was wondering if a "sarcen" is an acceptable
>  charge. (snip)
>  A sarcen is one of the supporting stones of a dolman.
>  They existed in period, but would sarcen be the correct term, and
>  would there be a problem with identifiability?

Identifiability would be the problem, if there was one.  Both dolmens and 
columns (Roman, obelisk, what-have-you) have been used in SCA heraldry, and I 
didn't see any rules or precedents limiting them.  But how to depict it 
clearly?  (Can you say "meatloaf erect?"  At least this particular meatloaf 
would not have any trouble staying erect.)
 
>  BTW: One of my "heraldically cruel" things to do to myself is to
>  become the Sarcen Herald.

Using the word as a heraldic title is a slightly different matter -- we don't 
have to draw a picture to register the title, so the question of 
identifiability might slide by.  But the etymology of the word "sarcen" 
becomes correspondingly more important.  My Random House Unabridged (1983) 
doesn't list "sarcen" -- it goes straight from "sarcastic fringehead" to 
"sarcenet."  Anyone have an OED?

Kathri
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