Editing Owl

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{| class="wikitable"

| [[File:BSB308_f211r_owl.jpg|234x365px|Wernigeroder]]  

| [[File:BSB291_f40v_Pynnre.jpg|Insignia]]  

|-

| Wernigeroder Wappenbuch (Bertschi), 1475-1500, f211r

| Insignia Anglica, 1500s, BSB 291, f40v, Pynnre

|}

http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/Stars/Owls.htm (15 examples, mostly German, one with wings displayed)

* <span style="background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">[[@http://mistholme.com/pictorial-dictionary-of-heraldry]]</span></span>

* <span style="background-color: #ffffff;">Viking Answer Lady -[[http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/Stars/Heraldry_SVG_Images/index.htm]]</span>

{|

<span style="background-color: #ffffff;">Academy of St. Gabriel "Medieval Heraldry Archive" - </span><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">[[http://www.s-gabriel.org/heraldry/]]</span>

<span style="background-color: #ffffff;">Archive of St. Gabriel reports - </span><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">[[http://www.panix.com/~gabriel/public-bin/archive.cgi]]</span>

<span style="background-color: #ffffff;">Parker's Heraldry - </span><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">[[http://karlwilcox.com/parker/]]</span>

{|

| '''<span style="background-color: #ffffff;"><u>Charge__</span>''' || '''<span style="background-color: #ffffff;">__Default Posture</u></span>'''  

|-

|<span style="background-color: #ffffff;">Conventional S.C.A. Default Postures </span>'''<span style="background-color: #ffffff;">- [[http://heraldry.sca.org/coagloss.html]]</span>'''

|}

The owl was blazoned as affronty on the Letter of Intent but the overall posture of the owl is mostly a side view, with only the head facing forward. This '''close guardant posture is the default for an owl and need not be blazoned'''.

Please advise the submitter to make some changes to the artwork. The submitter should be careful to draw the owl's body entirely in profile, rather than having the chest portion tilted slightly towards the viewer. An owl in a truly three-quarter view (also known as "trian aspect") would have had to be returned for a nonperiod heraldic posture. [Alfgeirr skytja, [[http://sca.org/heraldry/loar/2003/03/03-03lar.html|03/2003]], A-Calontir]

[an owl argent] The owl was originally blazoned as a snowy owl. As noted in the LoAR of January 1993, "The owls were '''blazoned on the LOI as snowy owls argent marked sable, which is excessive precision in medieval blazon''': the black spots were so small as to be heraldically negligible, and the exact type of owl here makes no difference. [The owl was registered with an argent tincture.]" We have thus reblazoned this owl accordingly. We also note that, even if a snowy owl could be blazoned, the distinguishing black spots are not present in this emblazon. [Keja Tselebnika, [[http://sca.org/heraldry/loar/2003/03/03-03lar.html|03/2003]], A-Ealdormere]

[a brown owl] The owl in the device was originally blazoned as a horned owl, but this overspecifies the type of owl. This sort of detail should be specified as an artist's note, not as a blazon detail. In Europe, the eagle owl is a large owl found over most of Europe which is brown in tincture (with darker brown spots.) Three other sorts of owl (the short-eared, Scops, and long-eared owls) are predominantly brown. '''It therefore seems reasonable that an owl proper could be depicted as brown'''. Per the Cover Letter of the October 1995 LoAR, "animals which are frequently found as brown but also commonly appear in other tinctures in the natural world may be registered as a brown {X} proper (e.g., brown hound proper, brown horse proper)." [Leofwynn Kyndheir, [[http://sca.org/heraldry/loar/2002/05/02-05lar.html|05/2002]], A-Æthelmearc]

Note that in heraldry, the owl is guardant by default, even when the rest of the posture is blazoned. (Deborah of Gryphon's Lair, October, 1993, pg. 2)

http://heraldry.sca.org/laurel/precedents/bruce/bird-misc.html

The owls were blazoned on the LOI as brown owls ...proper, but no such type of owl exists. The submitter insisted on having owls as drawn on her submission forms (brown, without spots or streaks, and without ear tufts), while we insisted on a species of owl known to period Europeans. The tawny owl (Strix aluco) meets all these requirements, according to Cerny's [[http://heraldry.sca.org/laurel/precedents/bruce/references.html#18|Field Guide to Birds]], pp.140-141. (Danielis Pyrsokomos, January, 1993, pg. 17)

http://heraldry.sca.org/laurel/precedents/bruce/bird-misc.html

The owl was submitted as a Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) --- which, as the Latin implies, is a North American species. With no evidence that it was known to period Europeans, we have substituted the eagle owl (Bubo bubo), known through most of Western Europe; it has the same tufts of feathers on the head, and much the same brown coloration. ([[http://heraldry.sca.org/laurel/precedents/bruce/references.html#64| Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe]], pp.165, 194) (Laurencia the Fletcher, September, 1992, pg. 20)

http://heraldry.sca.org/laurel/precedents/bruce/bird-misc.html

<span style="background-color: #ffffff;">(Restricted, Reserved, SFPP, OOP)</span>

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">From Wreath: Blazoning Fun -- Non-Eagles Displayed</span>

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">We have long held that the use of '''any bird other than an eagle in the displayed posture is a step from period practice'''. The January 2000 Cover Letter stated that "with vanishingly rare exceptions the eagle is the only bird found displayed in period heraldry...</span>

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">From Wreath: Blazoning Fun -- Non-Eagles Displayed</span>

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">... The January 2000 Cover Letter stated that "with vanishingly rare exceptions the eagle is the only bird found displayed in period heraldry. Therefore any other bird displayed will arguably be visually similar to an eagle..." This visual similarity affects how much difference we can grant when considering conflict between a non-eagle displayed and an eagle displayed. In the case of a _raven displayed_, a fairly popular charge lately, versus an _eagle displayed_, there is neither a substantial nor a distinct change.</span>

http://heraldry.sca.org/loar/2012/11/12-11cl.html

<span style="background-color: #c0ccf2;">From Wreath: Birds and Substantial Difference</span>

<span style="background-color: #c0ccf2;">This month we were called upon to make a number of rulings concerning difference between very different types of birds. After much thought, and discussion with Evan Wreath-designate, we have formulated the following policy.</span>

<span style="background-color: #c0ccf2;">[[http://heraldry.sca.org/loar/2003/11/03-11cl.html]]</span>

[Azure, three owls within a bordure argent] This does not conflict with Catalina of Tir Ysgithr, Azure, three quail and a bordure argent. Per this month's Cover Letter discussion of birds and substantial difference, owls are "regular-shaped" birds and (European) quail are "poultry-shaped" birds. There is thus substantial difference between "poultry-shaped" European quails in a period posture (the default close posture) and "regular-shaped" owls in a period posture (the default close guardant posture).

The quails in Catalina's device are the new-world California or Gambel's quails, with a comma-shaped feather topping their heads, so their eligibility for substantial difference must be determined on a case by case basis. Because the California quail resembles a European quail very closely except for the comma-shaped crest, it is as different from an owl as a European quail would be - or even more so, since an owl does not have a crest of this sort. Thus, it seems appropriate to '''give substantial difference between California/Gambel's quails and owls'''. These two pieces of armory are thus clear of conflict under RfS X.2. [Megge de Northwode, [[http://sca.org/heraldry/loar/2003/11/03-11lar.html|11/2003]], A-Atlantia]

[two owls addorsed] Some of the commentary noted the precedent stating that there is no difference between an owl turned to dexter and an owl affronty, and wondered if that meant there was no difference between an owl turned to dexter and an owl turned to sinister. The precedent in question, on the LoAR of August 1992, states, "The owl's posture has slightly changed, from statant close guardant to statant close affronty (which is guardant by definition). The 'blobbiness' of the owl's body, and the fact that the owl is guardant in all cases, leads me to conclude that there is no visual difference for turning the owl's body affronty." Conflict is not transitive: if A conflicts with B and B conflicts with C, it is not required that A must conflict with C. In this case, while there may not be a CD between an owl affronty and an owl turned to dexter, and there may not be a CD between an owl affronty and an owl turned to sinister, there is '''sufficient visual difference to allow a CD between an owl turned to dexter and an owl turned to sinister.''' '''One can thus meaningfully give a posture CD between respectant owls and addorsed owls''', ... [Sigurd Grunewald, [[http://sca.org/heraldry/loar/2003/11/03-11lar.html|11/2003]], A-Meridies]

"There is no difference in posture between these birds except for the '''head position, which is insufficient for posture difference''' by RfS X.4.h."

[[http://sca.org/heraldry/loar/2003/03/03-03lar.html|March 2003 LoAR]]

[an owl contourny] Conflict with Ayslynn MacGuraran, Azure, a snowy owl affronty proper grasping in its dexter talon three roses Or, slipped and leaved vert, and in its sinister talon two of the same, within an orle Or. There is one CD for changing the field. '''"There is not a CD between an owl close guardant and an owl close affronty" (LoAR of October 2000)'''. '''The same applies to an owl close guardant contourny (as in this submission) and an owl close affronty (as in Ayslynn's device)'''. There is no difference for removing the small held charges. [Marko Evanovich Panfilov, [[http://sca.org/heraldry/loar/2003/04/03-04lar.html|04/2003]], R-Outlands]

... there is another '''CD for changing the type of bird from an owl close to a falcon close'''. [Falco de Jablonec, [[http://sca.org/heraldry/loar/2002/06/02-06lar.html|06/2002]], A-Drachenwald]

An '''owl affronty has been ruled to be equivalent to an owl close (and thus therefore, also to an owl close and contourny'''): "The 'blobbiness' of the owl's body, and the fact that the owl is guardant in all cases, leads me to conclude that there is no visual difference for turning the owl's body affronty" (LoAR of October 1992). Therefore there is no meaningful posture difference for turning the charges in chief (which are contourny) to this owl affronty, as the '''owl affronty is equivalent to an owl contourny'''. [Ambra Biancospina, [[http://sca.org/heraldry/loar/2002/04/02-04lar.html|04/2002]], R-Middle]

[a falcon rising wings addorsed vs. an owl striking]. I am hereby overturning the precedent declaring that "raptors are raptors". '''Falcons and owls were different charges in period and have differing outlines; therefore we are allowing a CD (although not substantial difference)''' between them. For a fuller discussion, see the cover letter. [Wojciech Bobrowski, [[http://sca.org/heraldry/loar/2000/01/00-01lar.html|01/00]], A-Atlantia]

http://heraldry.sca.org/loar/2000/01/00-01lar.html

The question arose this month of how we count conflict between '''owls''' and eagles. Past precedent is clear on this point: they are only insignificantly different ("raptors is raptors"). For the most part we are overturning this precedent, based on rule X.4.e.

[An owl affronty guardant vs. an owl statant guardant] The "blobbiness" of the owl's body, and the fact that the owl is guardant in all cases, leads me to conclude that there is no visual difference for turning the owl's body affronty. [See also Gundric Fawkes, October 1992 LoAR, pg. 29] (Stanwulf the Stern, August, 1992, pg. 26)

http://heraldry.sca.org/laurel/precedents/bruce/bird-misc.html

===<span style="background-color: #ffffff;">[[#x--Precedents:-Identifiability:]]<u>'''Identifiability:'''</u></span>===  

[a winged owl's head cabossed] Some members of the College did not find the owl's head as drawn here to be identifiable. We note that this is a very stylized depiction of an owl's head, without a clearly drawn beak or eyes.

Those members of the College who were able to identify the owl's head all perceived this "winged owl's head cabossed" as a depiction of an owl flying straight out of the shield towards the viewer. While the SCA does register many winged objects, such as winged swords, they generally cannot be perceived as anything other than a winged object. When one adds wings to a bird's head cabossed, one does not perceive a winged bird's head, but one perceives an entire bird seen flying towards the viewer, which is to say, a bird volant affronty. Previous precedent notes that "The posture volant affronty has been ruled unsuitable for use in heraldry on at least two occasions ... on the grounds that it is "inherently unidentifiable"... in those case[s] the returns involved birds... [This return was of a demi-pegasus.]" (LoAR February 1998 p. 18). [Mora de Buchanan, [[http://sca.org/heraldry/loar/2003/08/03-08lar.html|08/2003]], R-Caid]

'''<span style="line-height: 1.5;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff; line-height: 1.5;">Tenure of Elisabeth de Rossignol (May 2005 - July 2008)</span></span>'''<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"> - </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;">[[http://heraldry.sca.org/precedents/elisabeth/armory.html#BIRDOwl|BIRD -- Owl]]</span>

'''<span style="background-color: #ffffff;">The 2nd Tenure of François la Flamme (October 2004 - May 2005) - n/a</span>'''

'''<span style="background-color: #ffffff;">The Tenure of Karina of the Far West (December 1975 - June 1979) -</span>''' <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #006600;">[[http://heraldry.sca.org/precedents/karina/volume2.html|Collected Precedents]]</span>

'''<span style="background-color: #ffffff;">The Early Days (June 1971 - June 1975) -</span>''' <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #006600;">[[http://heraldry.sca.org/precedents/early/volume1.html|Collected Precedents]]</span>

(under bird)

* <span style="background-color: #ffffff;">[[http://oanda.sca.org/oanda_desc.cgi?p=BIRD9DEMI|Bird - Demi]]</span>

* <span style="background-color: #ffffff;">Bird's head - see [[http://oanda.sca.org/ordinary/H.html#headbird|Head - Bird]]</span>

* <span style="background-color: #ffffff;">Bird's leg - see [[http://oanda.sca.org/ordinary/L.html#legbird|Leg - Bird]]</span>