Our Homeland, Beloved Ealdormere: Appendix 3

Ealdormere Collars Information

The original design and fabrication was by Mistress Mortraeth Colwyn, with some technical I assistance and rear heraldic plates by Master Sylard of Eagleshaven. The carved leather plates were by Master Ricard of Sabletree. Embroidered bands had been planned to sit on the shoulders, but they were never completed. As a result, both Collars have leather bands across the shoulders.

Mortraeth did the design for the front ¾ and Sylard did the bit on the back. The reason there are so many blank plates is that the intention was to add the devices of the first twelve holders of the position, which never happened. Sylard states these plates should NEVER be filled, as the blank plates mark 'promises broken and destiny unfulfilled'.

These Collars were designed to be worn as a pair, one by the Champion of Ealdorrnere, and the other by the Consort. However, there was only one Champion of the Region before the Proscription. John of Slaughterfield and Dea Carlysle wore the Collars, and they were then kept hidden until Ealdormere's first Coronet Tournament, where Master Sylard and Mistress Mortraeth presented them back to the Principality.

These are the first and oldest pieces of Ealdorrnere Regalia. They are now worn by the Prince's Champion and the Princess' Champion, as part of the Principality regalia. The full-page illustration which follows explains the symbology of each plate on each Collar. See "A Tale of the Collars", by Master Hector of the Black Height in the following music section.

The following information is part of the original design notes from "The Collars of Ealdorrnere", by Mistress Mortraeth on the following page.

The reverse of the back heraldic plates bears an excerpt from the song: "The Song for the Place That Cannot Say Its Very Name", written by Hector of the Black Height. It is written here in the Norse/ Celtic runes traditionally used in the region. The original longer lines have been broken into shorter stanzas, in the manner of Norse verse:

            ON CHAMPION'S:

Look to the north lands (and)

Through forest and glen

Deny them or curse them

For wolves there remain (and)

ON CONSORT'S:

Follow their wandering

To the lakes big as seas

It makes little matter

Those wolves remain free.

Note how each half can stand alone, but taken together the meaning is complete. So stands our champion and consort, our region, the wolf pack.