Forward

When we first sat down to work on what would become The Textbook in 2019, I don’t think any of the original team could have fathomed what types of changes we were on the doorstep of.  With 2020’s lockdown, and the explosion of social media into the official SCA sphere, the world got a little smaller, and at times a little scarier. 

When the SCA was thrust into the digital sphere, heraldry went with it. We all fumbled around trying to understand our new reality, and the college of heralds was no exception. But with that adaptation, we saw the next generation of heralds step up, and begin to take the lead in the new reality that we were now in. Where classes and consultations had been almost always in-person before, everything from education, to consults, to meetings were now done online. Arms were being explained via video chats over coffee breaks, and names were being hammered out on smart phones after dinner. Heralds were helping people tens, and even hundreds of miles away now, and all from the comfort of their desk, or even with their feet up on their couch. 

Still, even as we came out of that year and a half of lockdown, and walked into a world forever changed, the heralds of Ansteorra still faced a lot of the same challenges that they were in 2019. Local heralds are still responsible for more different, and at times unrelated skills than any other local officer. The need for a central, updated, easily available reference for all of these skills is every bit as critical now as it was in 2019, if not moreso. 

This latest edition of the textbook is born of an ongoing, concentrated effort to support Ansteorran heraldic training. But it also helps to bring Ansteorra’s heralds into the 21st century, while also allowing them to more thoroughly and enjoyably research the times before the 1650s. 

I hope this latest edition of the textbook helps you better serve your local community in the best traditions of the Ansteorran College of Heralds. 

HL Ivo Blackhawk