This tumblr has made my afternoon far more interesting and entertaining – thank you for making it! I have been trying to find a comprehensive history on mail (maille). I have found plenty of resources on different weaves, but I am looking for something that is more about the evolution, the application, etc. of maille in society. Have you come across any resources or references that you could possibly pass on?

Greetings!

I’m so glad that you’re enjoying my tumblr. 🙂

Here are some items that may help you in your search for a comprehensive history of mail/maille/chainmail:

A Critical Inquiry into Ancient Armour, as it existed in Europe, but particularly in England, from the Norman Conquest to the Reign of King Charles IIby Samuel R. Meyrick (1824). 3 vols.
Worldcat [Link]I’ll point out that a contemporary review of Meyrick’s work was not favorable. You can read it here: [Google Books]

A glossary of the construction, decoration, and use of arms and armor in all countries and in all times: together with some closely related subjects, by George Cameron Stone (1999).
Worldcat [Link]You can see a preview on Google Books – it appears that each entry is rather comprehensive, so this is potentially very good.
Publisher’s Description: Widely considered the classic book in the field, George Cameron Stone’s A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times is an indispensable resource and reference tool for anyone interested in arms and armor. Originally published in 1934, it remains an essential guide to the field. To describe the worldwide range and variety of weaponry, Stone drew upon the more than 4,000 items in his private collection of Eastern arms and armor, as well as the European arms collection of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, and a variety of other sources. Since the author subsequently bequeathed his entire collection to the Metropolitan Museum, this volume serves as an abbreviated visual reference to that institution’s Arms and Armor collection.
By profession a metallurgist, the author focused on techniques of manufacture and workmanship to derive his method of codifying the typology of weapons, relying on an alphabetized dictionary format to avoid the confusions he found in a field without standardized nomenclature. This “glossary” format makes it easy for anyone to locate material on the astonishing variety of weapons covered. These include arquebuses, blunderbusses, flintlocks, wheel locks, matchlocks, and other antique guns; German armor; French rapiers; Roman short swords; Turkish crossbows; all the Japanese bladed weapons (katana, wakizashi, naginata, etc.); the East Asian kris in its countless permutations; and many more.
Illustrated with 875 detailed figures, incorporating thousands of individual photographs and drawings, the book was written from the unique viewpoint of an expert who devoted a lifetime to the field. Hard to locate today (original editions are worth hundreds of dollars), Stone’s Glossary represents a peerless resource for scholars, experts, collectors, students, hobbyists, and institutions — any student of the long history and development of weapons and armor around the world.
Worldcat [Link]

British and foreign arms and armour,by Charles Henry Ashdown (1909)
Archive.org (read online): [Link]Wordlcat: [Link]

Hope these help!

NetSERF: Hypertext Medieval Glossary: A

NetSERF: Hypertext Medieval Glossary: A

Lindisfarne Gospels and Luttrell Psalter

The British Library has a lot of digitized manuscripts online, which is awesome for SCA Scribes. Two of their best known treasures haven’t yet made the move from their old site, “Digitized Manuscripts”, to the new one, “Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts” – the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Luttrell Psalter. That’s because the Lindisfarne is a Cotton manuscript and the Luttrell is an Additional, and both of these collections haven’t yet made the transition yet.

The old site (DM) is actually really cool – when you click “View Bindings,” you get a viewer that allows you to page through the digitized manuscript and zoom in on elements. The new site (CIM) only gives you one high-res image and one slightly smaller one (in additional to thumbnails). They do have some detail scans, but it’s not the same (as you can imagine).

Lindisfarne Gospels (Cotton MS Nero D.IV)

[Link]c. 700-3rd quarter 10th Century
Lindisfarne, Northumberland
Eadfirth, Bishop of Lindisfarne (690-721)

Luttrell Psalter (Add MS 42130)

[Link]1325-1340
for Sir Geoffrey Luttrell, Irnham, Lincolnshire

You can see the BL’s Access/Reuse/Copyright notes concerning images here: [Link]

Images used in this post are from Wikipedia.

Weight of the Chain (Kari-style)

Weight of the Chain (Kari-style)

Norse Names

xaykwolf:

Okay so I’m looking at old Norse names for my SCA persona, and I’m thinking I like Sigrdrífa. The trouble is, I can’t find much at all on the origin/mythology of the name. I know she was a valkyrie, that’s all. Anyone got more? I’d appreciate any help…

My go-to for name stuff is the Academy of St. Gabriel. They have…

A list of links related to Scandinavian Names, including A Simple Guide to Creating Old Norse Names.

It appears that Sigrdrifa is more a title than a name itself.

According to Wikipedia:

The name Sigrdrífa means “victory-urger” or “inciter to victory”,[2][3]) and is in an epithet of the valkyrie Brynhildr. It occurs in Fafnismal (stanza 44), and the prose following stanza 4 of the Sigrdrifumal glosses it as the valkyrie’s name. Early editors of the text have followed this lead and given the title of Sigrdrifumal to this section of the Codex Regius text.[4]

In the ASG, I have found these variants of Sigrdrifa:

* Sigri/{dh}r

In this list, {dh} represents the letter "edh", pronounced like the
<th> in <this> [...] [Link]

Sigridis in a list of Sweedish female names from the 14th century [here].

  Sigri, Sigrid, in a document from 1583, from Norbotten, the northernmost Swedish province: [Link]

A longer discussion of Sigri/{dh}r: [Link]

I hope these help!

teaginthedragon:

Valkyrie’s Lullaby written by Lasair inghen ui h’Airt (Midrealm) performing her newest piece. Recorded at the seventh Known World Bardic Congress and Cooks Collegium that was held at Camp Wawbeek in beautiful Wisconsin Dells on Labour Day weekend 2014. ( I would love to learn this piece for a Halloween celebration that my Barony does as it sound very ominous and hauntingly beautiful, but I don’t know the correct procedure with performing other people’s songs from the SCA.)

Thank you for sharing this! I didn’t get a chance to hear it live, but I did hear people raving about it. 😀

Hey there! First off, let me say that I adore this resource – absolutely fantastic! Anyways, I’m looking for a bit of information as to names and heraldry in 14th century England – the heraldry specifically seems to be a bit spotty as far as information goes, as the whole movement doesn’t seem to have kicked off until a century or two later. Do you have any resources that I could reference?

I can certainly try to find some! 😀

First of all, as with any heraldry/name related question, I highly suggest consulting heralds either at an event’s Herald Consultation Table or on the SCA Heraldry Chat Facebook group. Heralds don’t bite. Promise!

Names
The SCA Heraldy page has a some article on 14th Century names for England, but they are specific to the county:

Other websites:

The Academy of St. Gabriel has some naming guides for 14th century English names, but it only goes to 1450. It looks like they have a lot of good stuff here – plenty to help you narrow down and make a choice.
[http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/eng1300to1450.shtml]

You could also search their past reports for “14th century England,” but I would suggest narrowing your location to a county/region first, because it pulls up a LOT. You can use the search on their front page, or look at all the reports here: [Link]

Books: Consult with your local heralds to see if someone already has a copy of one of these on hand, otherwise, you should be able to Interlibrary Loan them at your local library. For those that have a Google Books preview (at least), I’ve included that link as well.

A Dictionary of English Surnames (1991), by Percy Hide Reaney.
Publisher’s Description: This classic dictionary answers questions such as these and explains the origins of over 16,000 names in current English use. It will be a source of fascination to everyone with an interest in names and their history.
Worldcat (See what libraries near you have it) [Link]Google Books [Link]

The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names (1977), by Elizabeth Gidley Withycombe.
Publisher’s Description: Presents the early forms of common names, their equivalents in other languages, pet forms, and etymologies together with historical backgrounds.
Worldcat: [Link]

Heraldry
You’re right – this is harder than names. London’s civic arms date back to about 1380, and the earliest reference to the officer of arms at the College of Arms is 1334. You can read more on the Wikipedia page: [Link]

In the 1390s, Johannes de Bado Aureo published Tactatus de Armis, but the only versions of it I can locate are outside the 14th century window. It’s unlikely the text changed much, since it took so long to make a book.
De arte heraldica, by de Bado Aureo, c. 1440-1450
Bodleian Library Images: [Link]

Powell’s Roll (MS Ashmole 804), which dates c. 1345-1351 has been digitized by the Bodleian Library – you can view those images here: [Link]

If we look to non-period sources, there are plenty of English Armorials that list not only the Royal arms, but civic arms, and the arms of the general nobility.

The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales (1884), by Sir Bernard Burke.
Internet Archive: [Link]Supplement that begins the general armorial: [Link]

If you compare a source like Burke’s General Armory to something like this list of the Knights of the Garter [Link] in order to date items. Burke’s doesn’t include images – just blazons – but it has a whole section in the front about how heraldry works. And there are other online resources to understand how to decipher a blazon, such as this one on the SCA Heraldry site: [Link]  There is also the official Burke’s Peerage website, which has images – but again, no dates.

The 107th edition of Burke’s appears to maybe have dates associated with each entry, but it is difficult for me to tell given the inability to zoom in on the few preview pages available. The book is VERY expensive, so check your library – [Worldcat Link] It may be that it won’t circulate (given it’s replacement cost), which means it probably won’t be allowed to go out on ILL. But you could see where the closest copy to you is and then have a field trip!

image

You might also try:

Anglo-Norman armory two: an ordinary of thirteenth-century armorials (1984), by Cecil R. Humphery-Smith
Worldcat [Link]

This apparently goes from 1250-1315 and has 3,000 coats of arms in it, though the artwork is modern.

Good luck!