[ANSTHRLD] New Award Discussion

tmcd at panix.com tmcd at panix.com
Wed Feb 2 10:40:34 PST 2005


On Wed, 2 Feb 2005, Alden Drake <alden_drake at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> Award of the Sable Cross

Atlantia recently had a Northern Principality discussion, and it
collapsed in great acrimony.  (Southern Ansteorrans are now cringing a
bit inside.)  The arms proposal that got the most votes included a
cross bottony, and some people raised a huge fuss about a cross on the
arms.  ("I have had ten members of my barony state that they will
resign their offices, quit the group or have absolutely nothing to do
with the P if a cross is on its arms.")  There were cogent
counter-arguments:
- it was an allusion to the Maryland flag, and a fair number of those
  objecting already had a cross bottony on their licence plates.
- three of the groups in the proposed principality had crosses on
  their arms.
- Calontir.
Nevertheless, I need to point out the possible factor.  I'd like to
see other suggestions.

> The Sable Cross could be interesting too, since you could use a
> different style of cross to represent the different marshallate
> sport.

That would utterly destroy the fundamental purpose of the award!

The purpose for having one (1) AoA-level award for all marshal
activities is to stop the proliferation that's happened on the
non-armigerous and grant levels.  If there was one badge for heavy,
and one for light, and a cross barby for archery, and a cross of
Calatrava for equestrian (the loops sorta look like horseshoes), and
... then it's back to differentiating them.

And that would explode the insignia space, so the king and queen would
need a large and varied stock -- and they have enough trouble getting
insignia now.  And what do you give someone who's done something neat
that doesn't fit the customized insignia, or does something that fits
two, or does something that's on the borderline of one?

So I am strongly opposed to that notion.

> Award of the Sable Crescent
> Award of the Sable Horn
> Award of the Sable Ring (annulet or torc)
...
> While the name "Sable Ring" doesn't thrill me, I do like the
> connection of it to Ulsted.  Ulsted's persona is Saxon, and the
> Anglo-Saxon kings were also called "ring-givers".

When Dag Thorgrimsson was king of the Middle, he and Ilsa gave a few
augmentations of arms and suggested a gold ring as the charge, for
just that very reason (Norse kings were ring-givers too).  (The Middle
now has an Order of the Bronze Ring, probably for rapier combat; for
all I know, they're connected.)  So I think it's a decent idea on
those grounds, since the king and queen can't actually afford to give
real gold rings.

On terminology: I think it is VERY important to not connect an award
with a particular king or queen.  That just helps induce a successor
to nuke it.  I think it better to allude to how medieval kings and
queens in general gave rings as favors.

(Rings may be a little more associated with equestrian activities --
riding at the ring -- but I don't think it's so strong an association
as to cause a guy what pokes people with things to look askance at
it.  But I'd ask the guys what pokes people with things first.)

Dannet de Linccolne
-- 
Tim McDaniel; Reply-To: tmcd at panix.com



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