Re: Query re: A&S/heraldry comp at Pointless

[Mark Schuldenfrei <schuldy@abel.MATH.HARVARD.EDU>]

Poster: Mark Schuldenfrei <schuldy@abel.MATH.HARVARD.EDU>

Greetings from Tibor.

Eldred wrote:
  In the context of "playing" SCA, we would like to maintain the illusion
  that we "own" our registered armory.  As Tibor so eloquently points
  out, we don't own it--it is just on a list maintained by the Laurel
  Sovereign of Arms.  When someone violates the rules(customs)
  we use in our game, then our illusion begins to fragment.  We have
  no formal recourse for arbitrating disputes nor enforcing those
  decisions.

Ahh, but which illusion?  The illusion of ownership of armory?  That
illusion is not a good one: for it is not only false (as all illusions are)
but it prevents us from understanding history, and from playing more and
better games of history.

I have some of the most fun I can have in the Society, when I can act as a
period herald acted.  Resolving such disputes in a peaceful and period style
manner seems to me to be the ultimate fun,

Or, is the illusion you feel that is being shattered the period illusion we
attempt to create? Nothing could be further from the truth.  Identical arms
were born all over history.  (I could bear that out with a quick check in
Papworths Ordinary, any random page.)

That seems like an interesting challenge.  I happen to be working from home
today, so I will check some random page in Papworths...

Page 356.  The first arms listed belong two different names, the third
arms listed belong to 3 different names, the fourth arms listed belong to 4
different names, the fifth arms listed belong to 4 different names, the
seventh arms belong to two different names.  Half the arms belong to
multiple names.  (And this is England alone: I know not for the continent.)

Let's check a few other pages, the first 10 arms:  I find that somewhere
between one half to one third of these random arms have multiple holders.

	Tibor
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