A letter from Nicasia Leontodes, Sign Herald Webmaster and creator of SignHeraldsOfTheSCA.com:

Hello all!

There has historically been a lack of large-scale organization for Sign Heralds. This site is an effort to get signing to be more accessible within the Society and make Sign Heralds more accessible to each other and to the d/Deaf community within the SCA.

SCAdians who want to get involved with Sign Heraldry have not known how to get involved or who to turn to in their Kingdom to get started. Some of the Kingdom websites aren't even up-to-date with who their Kingdom's Principal Herald is. There hasn't always been an easy way for a Deaf SCAdian to request for a Sign Herald to be present for an event. For SCA Signs learning resources, there have been a handful of YouTube channels with a handful of signs per Kingdom to aid their Sign Heralds but not a single resource to learn Society-wide vocabulary or basic signs to explain in modern ASL what an award is for. One goal of this website is to ensure there is a go-to resource to find a Sign Herald in your Kingdom as well as provide a go-to resource for learning materials for Sign Heraldry regardless of what Kingdom you may be in (or which Signed Language you use).

One past grievance has also been that, since Sign Heralds have not communicated often between Kingdoms to share similar vocabulary and signing customs, signs for common words in the SCA may be signed differently. One such example is Knight which does not have a formal American Sign Language sign, having been signed miming a knight closing the armet of his helmet in some instances and others have even shown a man riding a horse. Other use the sign created by the Deaf community near Gallaudet within the Society which is signed as KNIGHT, or CHIVALRY. Another such example of a Deaf-created SCAdian sign is the sign for Pennsic (signed like HOME with a P). 

Signing customs in one Kingdom can be very different from another. Another goal of this website is to create shared customs as Sign Heralds, like signing what a "insert name here" award is for, not just signing its name or fingerspelling its name. This can help with SCA-specific vocabulary like Knight, as a new d/Deaf SCAdian does not have anyone next to them to explain what a signed SCA word means compared to a hearing person who has the opportunity to ask their neighbour what the spoken word "Maunche" means. 

American Sign Language is the primary language that is presently being worked on with this website as it is the most commonly used signed language in the Known World (most of the Kingdoms revolve around USA/Canada). Another goal is to have Sign Heralds and members of the d/Deaf community in other countries to be able to add to the website in the East Kingdom, Lochac, West Kingdom, and Drachenwald in their signed languages. 

As Sign Heralds, it is our duty to work with the d/Deaf community on what their preferences are. Sign Heralds from several Kingdoms were corrected by a Deaf SCAdian at an "Introduction to ASL" class at Pennsic 2024 when signing for "Baron," which has been historically signed as BARON or signed by showing the pearls in the coronet. This Deaf person preferred Baron to be signed in the similar motion to KING, but with a B instead of a K handshape as that was more understandable in the SCAdian context than the original two signs. As Sign Heralds, we adopted this practice. 

As Sign Heralds, we welcome d/Deaf leaders and contributors for this project. We are presently working with what we have (this website only began on 02/03/2025!). Other Sign Heralds and members of the d/Deaf community are HIGHLY encouraged to reach out and ask about how to collaborate and bring new information to the table.

It is also our responsibility as Sign Heralds to remember that it is not our d/Deaf members' responsibility to educate people the Society on deafness, Deaf culture, and sign language. This is a volunteer-based organization. We are fortunate that so many people want to put in the time and effort to make things happen. We presently have certified American Sign Language interpreters, audiologists, teachers of the Deaf, CODAs, and Deaf members of the general SCAdian Populace as well as other signers within the Society from Voices of the Populace working on this website. We would like even MORE volunteers to contribute to this website! While it is not our d/Deaf members' responsibility to provide us with this education, our d/Deaf members' feedback is completely welcomed and encouraged. 

If any SCAdian would like to have editing access to the Sign Herald’s website to provide more information for their signed language, provide more information about their non-Sign Herald SCA Signing Group, or even if they are a non-signing SCAdian who would like to contribute to the SCA Sign Dictionaries with words commonly spoken in their hobby groups (for example, if you're not a sewer or don't regularly work with fabric, what the heck is a 'bias?' - things like this can help a Signer prepare for what they will be signing for during classes at events if they're aware of some upcoming commonly spoken words and their meanings ahead of time!), please contact Nicasia Leontodes via Facebook messenger (preferred contact method) or via SCA email at 249551@members.eastkingdom.org. If you are not tech savvy or feel overwhelmed about editing a website, please contact Nicasia and she can make the edits/additions you are looking for. The ultimate goal is that SCAdians from each Kingdom will be responsible for their own Kingdom's page under their Signing Group tab, though Nicasia will continue to make small edits to each page only maintain formatting in an effort to keep the pages relatively uniform (font style, size, color, layout of pictures vs text, etc). 

Sign Heralds also highly encourage SCAdians to create a post in the SCA Sign/Silent Heraldry Facebook Page, though as the page is so old, there are actually many members of the page who no longer sign or aren't even involve in the SCA any longer, which is another contributing reason as to why this website was created. If Sign Heralds work to make the SCA more accessible, then the opportunity for the d/Deaf community to join the SCA will only grow.

In summary, this website has been created as a framework for Sign Heralds and members of the d/Deaf community to contribute to and to get information from. All editors are equal contributors. This is NOT to be a solo project (it is not a ME project but a WE project). It is not intended to be hearing-led or Sign Herald-led. It is meant to be d/Deaf-led and for Sign Heralds to change as needed and have learning resources available to them. This is meant to be a LIVING website that is constantly being edited for improvement, and the more people that contribute to this resource, the better it will be for more people. 

Thank you for reading.

Yours in Service,

Lady Nicasia Leontodes

(She/Her/Hers)

Sign Herald Webmaster