Beginning Heraldry

Heralds are the tech support guys of the SCA, with their own language, their own culture and their own, reinforced opinions of what goobers the rest of us are. I'm going to give you some insight into that world.

First, there are three types of Heraldry: Book, Field and Voice. Let's look at Field first, because it's easiest and is a good lead in to Voice.

Field Heraldry:

Field Heraldry is what those folks do during tourneys who are announcing the pairings. There are a few rules to do this correctly.

1. Write the names on the cards phonetically. If the List Mistress has not done this, go over to the person and find out how to pronounce their name, then write it out yourself. Ask them by what title they wish to be called for this tourney. Many folks have several titles and if you don't ask, you could be there a while rolling them off. Set up your pairings in an L-order so you can tell where your pairings begin and end.
2. When you walk out onto the field, you'll take control of an eric. That eric will be your work area. When no other Heralds are yelling, pull out your pairings and open your mouth. Now, the art of heraldic shouting means speaking from the diaphragm, just like singing. Otherwise, your voice will give out about halfway through your second round and you throat will be sore.
3. Proclaim the name of your eric, then state the round and that these are the pairings. Start with the folks fighting first, and go through who they are battling. Continue until you have gone through your entire stack of pairings. Tell the first pairing to take the field, and the second pairing to arm and stand ready. Then shut up so another herald can announce their pairings.
4. When all the other heralds are done announcing their pairings, it will be time to start the round. Your first fighters will enter the eric and the Marshals will be looking at you to start the fight. Most tourneys only do what is called the Salute the first round. The Salute goes like this:
5. “My Lords and Ladies, here in the (blank) eric in the First round of the (blank) Tourney do meet in honorable combat (Higher Ranked Fighter) and (Other Fighter). Combatants, please salute ye the Crown of Artemisia. (Bow to the Crown.) Salute the one for whom you fight this day. (Acknowledge your own consort.) Salute your Noble and Most Worthy Opponent. (They bow to each other.) And at the Marshal's command you may begin.” Then, get out of the eric.
6. When the fight is over, the Marshals will point their staves at one of the fighters. Announce the victor and then tell the next fighters to take the field, and the next pairing to arm and stand ready. Hand the pairing cards to the Runner assigned to your eric with the victor on top. A Runner is the person who takes your pairing cards to the List Mistress. Thank your Runner.
7. Repeat as needed until all the pairings are done. Then proclaim that this ends the (blank) round of the (blank) eric.

Voice Heraldry

Here's where you get to put those vocal tactics you perfected on the field into play again. Field heraldry is actually the practice grounds for Voice heraldry because now, we're taking it to Court.

Heralding in Court can be very intimidating because, on the field, if you mess up someone's name or title, you have a few other opportunities to get it right. You can make your own cue cards and do your own speeches. You can relax after the first round and just tell folks to salute who they will.

Court? Not so much.

Court adds a new level of complication. First, you have to remember which kingdom you belong to. That's not always as easy as it sounds. Then, you need to know who you are heralding into court and what their gender is. Countless Court Heralds have horror stories of calling out court for Baroness Bob and Baron Bobbie Jo. To top all that off, you get to attempt to read sprawling Bastarda, coiling off in beautiful but illegible ways because the scribe's easily read, typed version of the scroll fell off the back of the scroll and slipped under throne RIGHT after you called this person into court.

So, here are a few sanity-keeping tips.

1. Frickin' breathe. Don't get scared. You're up here because you're needed and you're loud. Don't seize up. Just breathe. This isn't brain surgery and screwing up is NOT the worst thing that can happen to you. Being asked to herald court again after screwing up is the worst thing.
2. Most of Court is intros, like being a DJ. If they have business, they will tell you what they want to do and usually hand you a folder with a list of stuff for court. Sometimes, you'll be the one gathering this info for them so you'll be familiar with it. If the intro is for the shiny hat you're attached to, clearly call out who they are and ask for the populace's attention. If the intro is for someone who has business there, like the Event Steward or someone giving a gift, state that (blank) has business before this court. If it's an award recipient, say that the shiny hat calls into their presence (blank).
3. When the person called up is getting an award, while the shiny hat is saying something, look over the award scroll. First of all, make sure you read the name of the recipient to make sure you have the right scroll. If you don't, go back into the folder and get the right scroll. If you have to stall, turn to your shiny hat and say, “Um, stall, would ya?” Say it loud enough that the audience can hear you. Laughter makes everything better.
4. After you have the right scroll, glance it over to see what it's for. Check the back to see if the scribe has a typed copy of the text. If not, then look on the front for the name of the award. The most important thing about the award is the name, the recipient and the sitting royalty. Try reading the text to see if there are any letters that will trip you up. The thing that looks like a lower case “L” is an “S” if it seems to be in a weird spot, like on the word “spot”. Just a little tip there.
5. When the time actually arrives for you to read the scroll, enunciate, be loud and clear and try to get the names right. That's pretty much it. It's okay if you mess up. Just smile a lot. Laugh at the funny parts. In the end, later, it will make a great story.
6. After each bit of business where it seems appropriate, call out for celebratory shouts for the person. This includes gifts, thank yous and awards. The standard Artemisian process is thus: “For the (new award/gift giver/steward, etc), VIVAT! VIVAT! VIVAT! Joyous noise!” It is the duty of the herald doing the court to lead the vivats so you will vivat, then the crowd will vivat, then you will vivat, etc. Give the people time to respond. Think of yourself as the conductor of court, and keep up the rhythm of your heraldry.
7. When leaving court, if your shiny hat is the big dog at court, then herald them out of court too. Otherwise, just join in the vivating. Make sure you thank the person/people who asked you to be their herald for the honor of doing so. They really appreciate it and so should you.