The Æthelmearc Gazette wishes each and every one of you a New Year filled with happiness, health and all things SCAdian! To that end, we are offering you links from several of our editors to start the year off right. (Our complete staff listing can be found on our ABOUT page; we’re looking forward to a fabulous 2015!)
From Mistress Ysabeau Tiercelin, our Managing Editor, we have the Realm of Venus. This site is the go-to site for anyone interested in the clothing and accessories of Renaissance Italy, especially sixteenth century Venice. The Wardrobe section alone, with its numerous original portrait sources, is worth the visit. The Showcase features the work of costumers and reenactors, along with fun garb and accessory contests.
From our Region 1 Editor, THL Ursula of Rouen, Raymond’s Quiet Press. “As a Viking I can’t be caught without my bling and Sir Raymond keeps me in good supply! He has a great selection of quality pieces from a myriad of time periods. Has documentation for many of his pieces and is quite affordable. Did you know that he will (or still did last time I asked) dip most anything he makes in silver or gold for a nominal (and reasonable) fee? Check him out online here or in person at Pennsic!”
From our Region 2 Editor, Mistress Hilderun Hugelmann, the Karen Larsdatter Material Culture Links Pages. This link takes you right to the site map where an amazing number of topics related to our time period will bring you to the links pages for those subjects. On clothing alone you have topics like Clothing Worn by the Blind, Patched Clothing, and Clothing with Blackwork Embroidery. Each links page features numerous primary source pictures from period art.
From our Region 3 Editor, Mistress Euriol of Lothian, Stefan’s Florilegeum. in medieval Latin, a florilegium (plural florilegia) was a compilation of excerpts from other writings. It was also applied literally to a treatise on flowers or medieval books that were dedicated to ornamental rather than the medicinal or utilitarian plants covered by the herbals of the time. This site is another massive links collection, first started in 1989 by THL Stefan li Rous. Articles, bibliography collections, primary source collections, message thread postings from the original SCA Rialto internet message boards, and many topics helpful for running and planning SCA events (from feasts to event stewarding) will keep you browsing for a long time.
From our Region 4 and Scheduling Editor, Lord Magnus de Lyons, The Purple Needles, “because without her I would be wearing mostly potatoe sacks.” The Etsy site features creations by Jynette Meade (Countess Lynette Semere of Atlantia in the SCA) including cast pewter buttons, houpelandes and hoods. She also does custom work.
From our Arts & Sciences and Youth Martial Combat Editor, Mistress Arianna of Wynthrope, The Pennsic Choir Recordings. The Known World Choirs perform at events throughout the SCA. People from all over the Known World 
gather to learn and perform period choral music at large events like Pennsic, Gulf Wars, and Estrella. Its Pennsic Choirs consist of a Children’s Choir, a Youth Choir, a select choir of 12-16 people called Chorulus Pennsicus, and the original open adult Pennsic Choir which has been performing for over 20 years. MP3s of last Pennsic’s performances can be downloaded from the KWC website, and it also has pages with resources for choirs and information about upcoming performances.
From our Poetry & Prose Editor, Baron Fridrikr Tomasson, a video from the Mosfell Archaeology Project in Iceland. It features Dr. Jesse Byock, from UCLA, one of the leading experts on Icelandic archaeology and culture. The video covers history of interest to Viking personae, along with beautiful scenery and an in-depth look at what takes place on an archaeological dig.
From our Links & Esoterica Editor, Dame Aoife Finn, Project Gutenberg. The Project Gutenberg website offers over 46,000 free ebooks: choose among free epub books, free Kindle books, download books or read them online. There is also a mobile site, as well as sites in German, Portuguese and French. A few finds in a quick search included Xenophon’s On Horsemanship, H. Kevorkian’s The Arts of Persia, and Eileen Power’s Medieval English Nunneries c. 1275 to 1535.
From our Food and Cooking Editor, Baroness Katja Davidova Orlova Khazarina, the Medieval Cookery website. The site features lots of excellent redactions, plus many original food and cookbook texts. The redacted medieval recipe section is an excellent starting point for SCA feasts, and the Medieval Menus and Statistics from Medieval Cookbooks are great food research tools.
From our Heavy List editor, Baron Dominic McMorland, the Armour Archives. From message boards on armour, fighting and chivalry to merchant sites and patterns for those making their own, the Armour Archive covers it all. Check out the Items for Sale/Classifieds for pre-owned items!
From our Rapier Editor, Don William Parris, the Wiktenauer website. It has facsimiles and transcripts from martial masters throughout the centuries, along with links to other academic sites. Wiktenauer is an ongoing collaboration among researchers and practitioners from across the Western martial arts community, seeking to collect all of the primary and secondary source literature that makes up the text of historical European martial arts research and to organize and present it in a scholarly but accessible format. The Wiktenauer project is named for Johannes Liechtenauer, grand master of the oldest known longsword fencing style; his tradition was also the best-documented of the early Modern era, the subject of many dozens of manuscripts and books over a period of more than three centuries.
Wishing you all the best!
~ the Æthelmearc Gazette Staff