Baronial Name Change

Polling is now closed.

See below for the next steps


Hello everyone,

It is the understanding based on internal polling up to this point that members of the Barony of Skraeling Althing wish to change their name to the Barony of Heragaard. The next step is to put together a heraldic submission package with a signed petition of support from the paid members of the Barony.

This is a physical petition that must be signed, a membership number provided and an indication of “yes” you wish to change the name of the group to the Barony of Heragaard, or “no” you wish to remain the Barony of Skraeling Althing. A copy of what this submission form looks like can be seen here: https://heraldry.sca.org/formletters/standard-branch-petition.pdf

The kingdom will be providing the petition for signatures to the membership of the Barony at the following events and practices, and I will be the representative of the Kingdom Seneschal administering this as I am on Privy Council as a greater officer, and I am impartial to this process as I do not reside in the Barony.

We would ask all paid members to sign the petition and indicate their support of the new name as either ‘Yes’ or ‘No’, so we can track how many members in the barony have participated, and whether we have a majority (50% or more) of paid members of the Barony supporting it.

I will be in attendance at:

  • Saturday, September 27 – Coronation
  • Saturday, October 4 – Huntsman’s Harvest
  • Sunday, October 12 – Caldrithig Canton Meeting
  • Wednesday, October 15 – Caldrithig Fight Practice
  • Thursday, October 16 – Caldrithig Fencing Practice
  • Saturday, October 18 – Laurel Showdown
  • Saturday, October 25 – Crown Tournament
  • Sunday, November 9 – Greyfells Canton Meeting
  • Saturday, December 6 – Wassail

We anticipate some questions about this process, so here are some Q&A Items:

Q: Is there a deadline to sign?
A: No, we will circulate the petition until we have a majority of the paid membership having accepted or rejected the change. If we don’t reach the threshhold of a majority of members supporting or rejecting the change by the end of the year, we will publish the next set of meetings and events the petition will be present at.

Q: I am a non-member, can I sign the petition?
A: No, only paid members can support or reject the petition that goes with the heraldic submission – however, if you are a newly joined member, there’s no requirement to have been a member for a certain period of time.

Q: Can minors sign the petition?
A: Yes, the heraldic submission rules allow minors to submit heraldry with their parent’s contact information … if they are a paid member, they may participate.

Q: Can I sign virtually/electronically?
A: No, this is a form required by society with an actual signature, and we will be asking for proof of current membership.

Q: But I wanted (other choice of name discussed). What do I do?
A: This is just for approval of the name change to Heragaard. You will have to decide whether you wish the name to be Heragaard or remain Skraeling Althing at this time.

Q: When can we start using the name Heragaard?
A: First, the petition needs to be completed with a majority of members supporting it, and submitted with the submission and documentation to the College of Arms. There is a 5-6 month submission process, and the name must be approved based on the submission form and documentation. Once approved by Society, the Barony can start the process to change websites, kingdom law that mentions the barony by name, bank accounts, and so on. If the name is rejected by the College of Arms, while unlikely as there has been consulting with experienced name heralds in advance, it could be rejected and the name would remain ‘Skraeling Althing’ until the Barony decides what their next steps will be.

Yours in service,
Brand Thorwaldsen