Award of Arms for Reinald of Bavaria
C&I by THL Sugawara no Naeme
Words by THL Agnes Marie de Calais and THL Sugawara no Naeme
Silent treads the Tyger when in service, yet still his step is heard. Oh crafter of Honey’d mead, golden like the sun upon the bay at noon, one who works diligently to deftly wield sword and shield on the field of battle for the glory of the Realm, those who quietly toil for the benefit of the Society are worthy and deserving of praise and promotion.
We Ryouko’jin, Demon King of the Three Heavens, and Indrakshi Rani, Bengal Queen, do elevate Reinald of Bavaria to a Lord of Our court and award him arms, Quarterly per fess embattled vert and sable, in chief two wolves rampant, a point pointed Or, to be borne by him and him alone. Done at Our Northern Region War Camp on the second day of the seventh month, AS LVII, in the auspicious Year of the Tyger.
This was another wonderful collaborative wordsmithing effort. I’m grateful to THL Agnes for taking my initial words and elevating the entire piece with her elaboration and eloquence.
The recipient has a very specific persona, so I drew heavily on that for this award document. The source I chose is The “Codex Manesse”, also known as the “Great Heidelberg Book of Songs” which was created between around 1300 and 1340 in Zurich. Here are the pages/spread I used:
I altered the image so that the depicted person was wielding a longsword, which is the favored weapon of the recipient.
I redesigned the horse’s barding, the shield and tabard to reflect the recipient’s arms as this is an Award of Arms. The calligraphy was done by creating my own ductus from the manuscript.
Next I added the painted and inked capitals.
Yellow color blocking, and some detailing.
Grey color blocking.
Most of the horse. I missed the belly on this pass, oops.
Green color blocking, grass detail, and I also got the horse’s belly done.
Black color blocking, armor detailing, reigns.
Outlining. Almost a little cartoony, but the exemplar does the same. I remember being told as a young scribe, not to do this. Maybe that person hadn’t seen this source?
Next I added the blue and gold.
Added the red. Touched up details. Finished award document.
This one pushed me a little in the calligraphy department. I’ve been assured this has made it to its recipient. I hope he likes it.
