The Board of Directors is pleased to appoint Unni Leino (Birgitta Lulli) as the Society’s Laurel Principal Sovereign of Arms (Laurel).
Laurel is the principal heraldic officer of the Society and the head of the College of Arms, and is responsible for fostering the study and practice of heraldry, supervising the processing of submissions, and overseeing the heraldic activities of the Known World.
Birgitta Lulli (no relation to Giovanni Battista, the Italian/French composer) started her heraldic career as Deputy to the Acting Pursuivant Extraordinary for the Incipient Shire of Aarnimetsä in what was then the Principality of Drachenwald in the East Kingdom. Since then, she has seen the incipient shire become a barony and served it as scribe, herald, seneschal, fencing marshal, and chirurgeon, and the Kingdom of Drachenwald in various heraldic offices, as regional fencing marshal, and as the Clerk of the Crown’s Ships. This may sound more impressive than it is – 35 years in the Society just provide opportunities to try different things. She’s Finnish but hasn’t yet figured out whether from the 16th or 8th century.
Unni Leino (no relation to Eino, the Finnish national poet) lives a couple of kilometres from her daughter in Helsinki, Finland, and works at Tampere University just down the hill from her great grandfather, the last family member to own the 16th century farm Veräväinen-Lulli. Her main research interests revolve around the variation of Finnish and the use of computational methods; somewhat lower-key interests include onomastic theory, heraldry, and gender studies. She has served as a member of the Heraldry Council at the Finnish National Archives and on the Board of the International Council of Onomastic Sciences, and was the chief negotiator for Suomen Keskiaikaseura ry for their affiliation agreement with the SCA, Inc. She can write 16th century Old Finnish but isn’t quite old enough to speak Proto-Finnic fluently, although her father has taught some.
The appointment is for a three year term
Recent News
-
April 27, 2024
Commentary Request – Corpora Addition – Royalty Selection (Refusals)
-
April 20, 2024
Forever In Our Hearts – John G. Trimble
