[ANSTHRLD] Bloodstone

doug bell magnus77840 at hotmail.com
Mon Mar 11 02:21:19 PST 2002


There is a Bloodleter in Bardsley.

If you study the trends in SCA precedents you would
conclude "consistancy is the hobgoblin of little minds".
The logic of them is they are often illogical.  Read some
of the holding names created for Trimaris submissions.
There are reasons for this stuff:

-Decisions written in the wee hours of the morning
-Kingdoms sent up docs that sux like a Hoover delux.
-The CoA doesn't comment/research the submission
-We don't have a clue

The last one applies to things like non-English
household and order names. We get precedents saying things
like Tibet had no contact with Europe (they controlled the silk road for 2
centuries and were part of the Mongol empire).

Lots of our SCA precedent rulings are wrong, mainly in
under researched areas.  The submitter sent something in
that wasn't researched, the CoA was silent on it, and Laurel or Pelican
ruled returned for lack of docs.
This is basically go away and don't bother us.  With
several hundred items a month everything doesn't get
several hours of needed research.

So I think we should ignore the gem precedents for
order names and start from square 1.
Order of the Opal was passed only because of grandfather
rules in 12/2001 but Order of the Sapphire was passed
02/2000.

If we assume bloodstone is period (a close reading
of the entire OED entry will settle that) then:

-a bloodstone can be mounted as jewelry and given
as a token by the Crown.  it is a physical item that
can be awarded.  I would estimate a majority of our
SCA awards fall into this.  Ansteorra has queen's ring,
queen's rapier, and motley sash.  If we are going to
quit registering this type of order, it needs to be clearly stated by
Laurel.

-a gemstone is an heraldic charge and heraldic charges
are eligable to be orders referenced in Kwellend's article on period order
names.

-a bloodstone can be worn as an artifact of jewelry.  Such orders using
types of jewelry include Crown Royal,  Lady of Holy Rosary in Toledo, Cameo,
Golden Spur, Pontifical Medal, and SS Chain in Great Britain.
By the way, the main definition of cameo is carved from
a gem or semiprecious stone.

It is still a good idea to review past rulings on items
if you are submitting something out of the ordinary.  We, however, need to
look more at non-SCA sources.

The lively debate does make us pay attention to
wrong assumptions or gaps in our knowledge.

Nothing like deep sea fishing with nuclear depth
charges.:)

Magnus von Lubeck

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