[ANSTHRLD] Short blazons

[Timothy A. McDaniel]

Looks like getting a short blazon is something of a sport among SCA
heralds.  As of the March 2001 LoAR:

The shortest registered blazons in the Armorial, in terms of number of
characters, are as follows.  "Or hurty", recently mentioned on the
Ansteorran heralds' list, was taken a little while ago.  The ones who
I believe to be heralds I have marked.  I have vague memories about
others (Balin?  Brioc?).

  5 Libya, 9509L, "Vert."

  7 Brittany, 9412L, "Ermine."

*10 Evan Little, 9806M, "Or, hurty."

 14 Cornwall, 9412L, "Sable bezanty."

 16 Balin the Fairhaired, 7502, "Sable an oar Or."
 16 Brioc Morcannuc, 9805O, "Azure, a vol Or."
 16 Einar Lutemaker, 7803, "Vert, a nefr Or."
 16 Endless Hills, Barony of, 9908H, "Vert, a zule Or."
 16 Macedonia, 9412L, "Gules, a sun Or."
 16 Meridies, Kingdom of, 8004S, "Vair, a harp Or."
 16 Morgan Blackshield, 8307M, "Pean, a pall Or."
 16 Palau, 9509L, "Azure, a bezant."
 16 Sean Ruabarua MacGillaphaidraic, 9607E, "Vert, an axe Or."
*16 Tibor of Rock Valley, 9601E, "Vert, a delf Or."
 16 Yrj<F6> Kirjawiisas, 7503-8103W, "Sable, scaly Or."
 16 Yrj<F6> Kirjawiisas, 8103W, "Sable, scaly Or."

*17 Adelicia Tagliaferro, 8310X, "Gules, an owl Or."
    (was Adelicia Gilwell)
 17 Baden, 9412L, "Or, a bend gules."
 17 Chandos, 9412L, "Or, a pile gules."
 17 Charles d'Arnaud, 8205M, "Gules, mailed Or."
 17 Grosvenor, 9412L, "Azure, a garb Or."
 17 Holy Roman Empire, Arch-Steward of the, 9412L, "Gules, an orb Or."
 17 Scrope, 9412L, "Azure, a bend Or."
 17 Sheri Lynn of Emerson Lake, 8905Q, "Or, a tower vert."
 17 Spain, 9412L, "Gules, a fess Or."

 18 Anne de Junius, 8303A-8804A, "Gules, a rebec Or."
 18 Eglentyne Merryweather, 9808N, "Vert, a bend vair."
*18 Fran<E7>ois la Flamme, 0005X, "Vert estencely Or."
 18 Japan, 9412L, "Argent, a torteau."
 18 Loch Salann, Barony of, 8804A, "Gules, a rebec Or."
 18 Marcus Tullius Calvus Cambrensis, 9906E, "Or, a dance sable."
 18 Michael o Glofau, 8307W, "Gules, a clove Or."
 18 Sweden, 9412L, "Azure, a cross Or."
 18 Sydney, 9412L, "Or, a pheon azure."
        (now THAT'S speaking of rope in the house of the hanged!)

 19 Damian Thorvaldsson, 9402X, "Sable, a gurges Or."
 19 Dragonsspine, Barony of, 8804O, "Azure, goutty d'Or."
 19 Drei Eichen, Barony of, 9610D, "Azure, an acorn Or."
*19 Erasimierz Waspanieski, 8810O-8903O, "Or, a gurges sable."
 19 Gonzaga, 9412L, "Barry Or and sable."
 19 Hastings, 9412L, "Or, a maunch gules."
 19 Ivanov von Schloss, 7107, "Ermine, a tower Or."
 19 Juelda of Salisbury, 9601K, "Azure, a dolmen Or."
 19 Middle, Kingdom of the, 7908, "Or, a fret purpure."
 19 Oldenburg, Dukes of, 9412L, "Or, two bars gules."
 19 Richard of Seahaven, 8008W, "Pean, a gore gules."
 19 Trimaris, Kingdom of, 9506T, "Argent scaly azure."
 19 Vietnam, 9509L, "Gules, a mullet Or."
*19 Walraven van Nijmegen, 9811W, "Bendy Or and gules."

 20 Alissende du Soleil, 9701M, "Vert, three suns Or."
 20 Annys of Pengwyrn, 9908R, "Or, flaunches azure."
 20 Arthur of Lockehaven, 7301, "Azure a lanthorn Or."
 20 Calontir, Kingdom of, 9005K, "Purpure, masoned Or."
 20 Calontir, Kingdom of, 9610K, "Or, a flame purpure."
 20 Ealdormere, Kingdom of, 9101M, "Argent, a bee gules."
 20 Hilderun H<FC>gelmann, 0009H, "Sable, a crampon Or."
 20 Holy Roman Empire, Arch-Chamberlain of the, 9412L, "Azure, a
        sceptre Or."
 20 Jacobus filius Catomagli, 0008N, "Ermine fretty gules."
 20 John of the Rudder, 7311, "Gules, an anchor Or."
 20 Lorne of Old, Lord of, 9809L, "Or, a lymphad sable."
 20 Morgan of Aberystwyth, 7908, "Gules, a caltrap Or."
 20 Nigeria, 9509L, "Vert, a pale argent."
 20 Regulus of Vinhold, 8505W, "Or, two gores sable."
 20 Rhode Island and Providence Plantation, State of, 9905L, "Azure, an
        anchor Or."
 20 Scellanus of Skye, 7908, "Azure, a caltrap Or."
 20 Selena of the Northern Woods, 8004S, "Sable, a caltrap Or."
 20 Trimaris, Kingdom of, 9602T, "Azure, a galleon Or."
 20 Valgard Stonecleaver, 8702W, "Or, a scourge sable."
 20 Warenne, Earl of Surrey, 9412L, "Checky Or and azure."
 20 West, Kingdom of the, 9312W, "Or, a demi-sun vert."

In terms of number of words (I define a "word" arbitrarily as
whitespace-delimited text, so "semy-de-lis" is one word, and maybe it
shouldn't be, and "Fieldless" and "Tinctureless" are counted as words
too when they arguably shouldn't be):

 1 Brittany, 9412L, "Ermine."
 1 Libya, 9509L, "Vert."

 2 Cornwall, 9412L, "Sable bezanty."
*2 Evan Little, 9806M, "Or, hurty."

 3 Annys of Pengwyrn, 9908R, "Or, flaunches azure."
*3 Arval Benicoeur, 9110E, "(Fieldless) A fountain."
 3 Boh<E9>mond le Sinistre, 0101O, "Argent semy-de-lys sable."
 3 Calontir, Kingdom of, 9005K, "Purpure, masoned Or."
 3 Cealmhain Realt Dubh, 8111W, "Argent, v<EA>tu-ploy<E9> sable."
 3 Charles d'Arnaud, 8205M, "Gules, mailed Or."
 3 Dragonsspine, Barony of, 8804O, "Azure, goutty d'Or."
 3 England, 9708L, "(Tinctureless) A pheon."
 3 France, Ancient, 9412L, "Azure semy-de-lis Or."
*3 Fran<E7>ois la Flamme, 0005X, "Vert estencely Or."
 3 Griffin Crosthwait, 9811C, "Vert crusilly argent."
 3 Hastini Chandra, 7908A, "(Tinctureless) An ankhus."
 3 Jacobus filius Catomagli, 0008N, "Ermine fretty gules."
 3 Japan, 9412L, "Argent, a torteau."
 3 Kat'ryna Neblaga Volchkova, 9910E, "Vair, flaunches gules."
 3 Palau, 9509L, "Azure, a bezant."
 3 Raymond Norgate, 7503, "Argent, billetty sable."
 3 Society for Creative Anachronism, 8206L-9810L, "(Tinctureless) A
       chapeau."
 3 Society for Creative Anachronism, 8206L-9810L, "(Tinctureless) A
       crown."
*3 Timothy of Glastinbury, 0009X, "Azure billety argent."
 3 Trimaris, Kingdom of, 9506T, "Argent scaly azure."
 3 Yrj<F6> Kirjawiisas, 7503-8103W, "Sable, scaly Or."
 3 Yrj<F6> Kirjawiisas, 8103W, "Sable, scaly Or."

and 387 items with a four-word blazon, including

 4 Adelicia Tagliaferro, 8005X, "Sable, an apple argent."
 4 Adelicia Tagliaferro, 8108X, "(Fieldless) An apple Or."
 4 Adelicia Tagliaferro, 8310X, "Gules, an owl Or."
 4 Adelicia Tagliaferro, 9409X, "(Fieldless) An owl Or."
 4 Aryanhwy Prytydes merch Catmael Caermyrdin, 9901M, "Purpure, a
       bordure ermine."
 4 Aryanhwy Prytydes merch Catmael Caermyrdin, 9807M-9901M, "Purpure,
       a bordure ermine."
 4 Aureliane Rioghail, 8210X, "(Fieldless) A mascle azure."
 4 Charles Stewart O'Connor, 8208E, "Gules, a triquetra argent."
 4 Charles Stewart O'Connor, 8505M, "(Fieldless) A triquetra gules."
 4 Dagonell Collingwood of Emerald Lake, 9410E, "(Fieldless) A slipper
       vair."
       [1]
 4 Daniel de Lincoln, 9510X, "(Fieldless) A mascle gules.
 4 Dmitrii Volkovich, 9501M, "(Fieldless) A sword Or."
 4 Erasimierz Waspanieski, 8810O-8903O, "Or, a gurges sable."
 4 Erc FitzMungo, 9209X, "(Fieldless) A card-pique argent."
 4 Gwenllian ferch Maredudd, 9607X, "(Fieldless) A handbell azure."
 4 Iathus of Scara, 9109W, "(Fieldless) A goute vair."
 4 Isabella Benalc{a'}zar, 9803Q, "(Fieldless) A rastrillo azure."
 4 Iulstan Sigewealding, 9507W, "Sable, three spearheads Or."
 4 Iulstan Sigewealding, 9107W, "(Fieldless) A goutte d'Or."
 4 Juturna di Parma, 9107W, "(Fieldless) A goutte d'huile."
 4 Karina of the Far West, -8711W, "Azure, a wivern argent."
 4 Kwellend-Njal Kolskeggsson, 9906E, "(Fieldless) A net Or."
 4 Marten Jeros Br{o"}ker, 8906E, "(Fieldless) A bridge vert."
 4 Maxen Dawel ap Morgan, 9509W, "(Fieldless) A staple azure."
 4 Perronnelle Charrette de La Tour du Pin, 9607X, "Or, an increscent
       purpure."
 4 Perronnelle Charrette de La Tour du Pin, 9605X, "(Fieldless) An
       increscent purpure."
 4 Rhiannon ui Neill, 9408Q, "(Fieldless) A decrescent azure."
 4 Richard of the Silverdawn, 9107X, "(Fieldless) A clarion gules."
 4 Robin of Gilwell, 8107X, "(Tinctureless) A moustache pointed."
 4 Tadhg Liath, 8904X-9404X, "(Fieldless) An abacus sable."
 4 Teceangl Bach, 0012N, "(Fieldless) A mascle argent."
 4 Tibor of Rock Valley, 9601E, "Vert, a delf Or."
 4 Walraven van Nijmegen, 9601W-9811W, "Or, a cr{e'}quier gules."
 4 Walraven van Nijmegen, 9811W, "Bendy Or and gules."
 4 Walraven van Nijmegen, 9806W, "(Fieldless) A cr{e'}quier gules."

and a dozen more names that look vaguely familiar but who I don't
definitely recognize as heralds (sorry, all!).

[1] Sorry, Dagonell.  You fell for an urban legend.
    http://www.snopes2.com/language/misxlate/slippers.htm
debunks the common notion that Cinderella's slippers were originally
fur slippers instead of glass.

    The principal difficulty with the standard explanation is that
    *pantoufle de verre* appears in Perrault's original text, so this
    is definitely not a question of mistranslation.  Nor does it seem
    to be a case of mishearing, with Perrault writing *verre* for
    *vair* when transcribing an oral account, since *vair*, a medieval
    word, was no longer used in his time [1697].  ...

    Finally, the glass slipper is peculiar to Perrault's telling of
    the story, which is one of the world's best-known and most widely
    distributed folktales.  ... often ... and her true identity is
    revealed by a ring that will not fit anyone's finger but hers.
    The story probably is of Oriental origin.  In the oldest known
    version, from China in the ninth century, the heroine loses a
    slipper, as it happens, but it is of gold.  The glass slipper,
    then, along with the use of the witching hour of midnight as the
    moment at which the heroine's finery will disappear, seems to be
    one of Perrault's own contributions to the Cinderella story.

Daniel de Lincolia
--
Tim McDaniel is tmcd at jump.net; if that fail,
    tmcd at us.ibm.com is my work account.
"To join the Clueless Club, send a followup to this message quoting everything
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