Category Archives: Poetry & Prose

Populace in Focus – The Sylvan Bardic Champions

27 Sunday Feb 2022

Posted by in Bardic, Competitions, Interviews, Poetry & Prose, Populace-in-focus, SCA @ Home

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Populace in Focus today features King’s Bardic Champion Master Morien MacBain and Queen’s Bardic Champion, The Honorable Lady Maggie Rue.

Could you give a little background about how and when you started performing as part of the Bardic Arts community?

Morien: I found the SCA back in ‘86.  The very first event I went to, in what is now Ballachlagan, had a bardic circle, like pretty much all events did in those days.  Lord, they were fun!  Lots of Irish rebel music, Sci-Fi/Fantasy Con filk, dirty puns, blood, and iron stuff.  Pure joy!  The bards that had the greatest impact on me back then were Donnan the Solitary and Morgan Caer Graeme.  I learned a great deal from them and miss those performances and those songs.

Maggie Rue: In the SCA, this was really my first performance. While I have hung out around a few Bardic circles among households and groups, I generally don’t sing; it occurred to me at the onset of this competition that I may not need to. Surprise!

What types of Bardic arts performances do you enjoy doing? What is your most / least favorable type of performance? 

Morien: I’m still primarily a bardic circle guy.  I like the informality of it, the lack of pressure, the faces in the firelight, the willing audience, and the “renao” (which is a wonderful Mandarin word for the noise, happy chatting, laughter, and activity of life happening that forms a backdrop to a performance).  My least favorite would have to be live bardic competitions.  You usually only get to do one piece, impostor syndrome kicks in, and my will to compete is safer if the other person is wearing armor!  If I’m going to fight to win, I want it to be with weapons, not a bit of my heart.

Maggie Rue: Not a great singer and my improv skills are more action-related than a lot of speech. So, I’d go with memorizing an old poem or writing a new one and reciting it as first and foremost. Least favorite would be improving a song. I could be wrong though—enough immersion into a subject and I might get better. We’ll see.

Have you done any type of performance arts outside of the SCA?

Morien: Sure!  I sang in the church choir for years when I was in middle and high school, which was the best vocal training I’ve had.  I did the school musical every year, plus summer theater, which were usually musicals.  I’ve sung in a few bars, once on a tiny stage where Patsy Cline sang when she was starting out.  That felt like a church.  No one threw anything. I’ve done poetry slams in clubs a couple times.  Now I am a high school English teacher, so a lot of my work is essentially storytelling to a tough audience!

Maggie Rue: Yes, indeed. I performed for a time as a character in Jesus Christ Superstar in Middletown NY for a couple of years, doing chorus parts and dancing. I’ve done a number of high school performances as well. During my years as a Game Designer, I ran the convention circuits and had to talk up game products—spiels, really—and became really good at impromptu game sessions. In addition, my parents were both members of the Philadelphia Folk Song Society and I went to a number of music Festivals in my early years… You’d be surprised as to how many SCA songs I’ve heard before in other places in different interpretations.

How much time do you spend researching bardic performances and practicing in preparation for doing a performance?

Morien: Most of my research for the last few years has been on the poetry side of my bardic practice.  I work in a wide variety of forms from different periods and cultures, so there is always more to learn! However, I don’t really practice singing enough. I have a playlist of songs I am working up and sing along with it in the car.  I have attempted to learn the hard, and suck quite badly at that.  I should learn to drum much better, so I could accompany myself on a bodhran.  I think I’ll get to work on that…

Maggie Rue: Given this was my first real SCA-based performance, I took two weeks to prepare.

What SCA events / Bardic competitions have you performed in previously and what types of performance did you do?

Morien: I’ve done bardic circles all over, and I’ve taught classes on writing poetry at SCA Fifty Year, Pennsic, AEthelmearc Academy, and Atlantia University.  I’ve done “Music in the Key of D”, a bardic contest hosted by the Chalk Man Pub at Pennsic a few times. I also sing battle hype songs with fighters while we are on our way to the battlefield at Pennsic to get our blood up.  On these former occasions, I find you seldom go wrong with Irish or Scottish rebel music, or filthy rugby songs.

Maggie Rue: This is it.

When you chose to participate in the Quest to be Sylvan Bard, did you do a type of performance that you have done before, or did you come up with a completely new performance?

Morien: I broke out two I had written before, “The Green Fields of Pennsic”, and “The Ballad of Big Bad Jehan”.  Both are staples of the campfire music I like.

Maggie Rue: So, I took a number of courses in college that were medieval in nature and “Chaucer” was one of them. The teacher insisted we learn a number of lines in Middle English, taking out his personal recordings from the library to learn the lilts and rhythms. Seventeen years later, I still hear his voice. What I performed for the competition was longer than what he had us memorize, though, so I had to go find some recordings on which to base my own performance.

How did it feel to do a performance via the online community versus doing a live performance at an event?

Morien: I loved it!  I liked that I got to strike and vanish like Zorro and could just focus on what I was doing.  The competitive side with all its nasty thoughts and lust to win did not make an appearance!

Maggie Rue: It was actually pretty comfortable.

Did you face any challenges with performing in the sylvan bard competition?

Morien: Yep!  I am a goofball at tech, and my performance of “Big Bad Jehan” kept turning out badly because I didn’t understand how to make my phone work, so I wound up just sending in “Green Fields of Pennsic” by itself.

Maggie Rue: None

Being one of the sylvan bards within the kingdom, can you share your plans / ideas for keeping the bardic arts alive in the kingdom during your tenure?

Morien: Heck yeah!  We are looking at maintaining the practice of monthly online bardic hangouts on the first Tuesday of each month of the year starting at 8 in the evenings.  Rue will be handling the tech, rest assured, although I will try to learn it as well.  We’re also looking at starting a sort of “Bardic Boot Camp”, an ongoing series of classes (both online and in person) on subjects like vocal training, storytelling, playing instruments, poetic composition, and so on.  We’ve already started reaching out to teachers from across the kingdom and the known world, and people seem enthusiastic!  Also, I plan to start a FB group that should be an ongoing poetry writing workshop combined with a book study circle on various forms and skills from beginner to advanced.  I’m working up a syllabus for it, and reaching out to established poets to participate, although the focus will be on bringing new aspiring poets into the field.  So, COVID or not, we’ll be helping people along!  We will also be working to ensure that live bardic circles and performances happen at in-person events, never fear!

Maggie Rue: So, there’s been talk of having a Novice Day like the one they had in the East Kingdom, which I attended, and one of the biggest beefs was that there was no Novice Bardic competition. So, we’re changing that. In addition, I’m going to incorporate Bardic Arts in my other A&S specialties, researching and performing songs that would also be of interest to the Herbal and Apothecary Guild as well as the Assassins’ Guild. Master Morien and I will continue the Bardic Competitions and we’ve got plans to get the Bardic Arts everywhere.

What advice would you give to other populace who would like to pursue the quest to be involved in bardic arts and perform in bardic arts competitions?

Morien: Come join us for the First Tuesday Onlines! Join in!  If you aren’t ready, just listen for a while, and then pipe in!  Join the FB groups for “AEthelmearc College of Bards”, “SCA Bardic Arts”, “AEthelmearc Arts & Sciences”, and the FB group for “Bardic Boot Camp” and “AEthelmearc Poetry Workshop”, once I get them running!  Perform anywhere you can. Make a playlist of songs you want to learn and sing along with them in the car at high volume!  Do NOT worry about what you sound or look like.  Don’t listen to the haters.  Read, listen, and watch good performances not just as an audience, but as a crafter, see what they are doing, and how they are doing it. Remember that you can learn as much from a bad performance as from a good one.  A poet is one on whom NOTHING is wasted.  I have a FAT list of books for you to get into if you like!  LET’S DO THIS!!

More advice!  Remember, your performance begins from the moment you are called, and doesn’t end until you are off the stage.  Entrances and exits matter!  Also, when in doubt, pretend to be slightly drunk, or more drunk than you in fact are.  People like a drunken bard, and if you mess up, they will forgive you and enjoy it.  Schadenfreude!

Oh, and one more piece of advice:  When composing, even if you aren’t working in a purely alliterative form like Anglos-Saxon or 14th-century Alliterative Revival or something, get that alliteration in there.  It’s like salt in cooking.  People may not notice it, but they WILL like it!

Maggie Rue: Just do it. Get involved with everything sooner or later. I have been on a tear these past few years of just reaching out and getting involved. Look where it landed me. I don’t care if all you know are nursery rhymes: give it a try. Can’t sing? Me, neither. Let’s go learn stuff together.

 

 

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Dead As A Doornail

31 Monday Jan 2022

Posted by in Bardic, Poetry & Prose

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by Caleb Reynolds

Such an odd phrase, “dead as a door nail.” It is one of those phrases that has been around so long that we hardly ever think about using it, even long after our doors no longer have nails in them. I place it in the same family as “to film someone,” “blow off steam,” “been through the wringer,” and “dial the phone”; phrases that are ingrained in the English language so deep that we continue to use them long after their meanings are forgotten.

“Dead as a door nail” has been around a long time, since the days of the beginning of the English language. The oldest known written account is from the 14th century poem “The Romance of William of Palerne,” which is a translation of a 13th century Flemish poem called “Guillaume de Palerne.”

hurth the bold bodi he bar him to the erthe,
as ded as dornayl te deme the sothe. [1]

The anonymous 14th century poem “The Parliament of the Three Ages” contains “There he was crepyde into a krage and crouschede to the erthe. / Dede als a dore-nayle doun was he fallen.” [2] In William Langland’s Piers Plowman, [1370-90] we find the phrase “Fey withouten fait is febelore then nought, And ded as a dore-nayl”.[3]

William Shakespeare used it twice in “Henry IV part 2”:

Act V, Scene 3:
“Falstaff: What! is the old king dead?
Pistol: As a nail in a door.”

and again in Act IV, Scene 10:

Cade: Brave thee! ay, by the best blood that ever was
broached, and beard thee too. Look on me well: I
have eat no meat these five days; yet, come thou and
thy five men, and if I do not leave you all as dead
as a doornail, I pray God I may never eat grass more.

The “Oxford English Dictionary” gives the following:

Door-nail: A large-headed nail, with which doors were formerly studded for strength, protection, or ornamentation: now chiefly in the alliterative phr. as dead, deaf, dumb, dour, as a door-nail: see DEAD a. 32b., DEAF a. 1d., etc. (Conjectured by Todd to be “The nail on which in ancient doors the knocker struck.” No evidence of this appears.)

c1350 [see DEAD a. 32b]. 1350 in Riley Lond. Mem. (1868) 262, 3000 dornail..7200 dornail. a1400-50 Alexander 4747 Dom as a dore-nayle & defe was he bathe. 1593-1680 [see DEAD 32b.]. 1854 MRS. GASKELL North & S. xvii, Thornton is as dour as a doornail. 1866 ROGERS Agric. & Prices I. 497 Door-nails, floor and roof-nails.

dead a., entry 32b. dead as a door-nail, dead as a herring: completely or certainly dead. Also, (as) dead as the (or a) dodo, (as) dead as mutton.

c1350 Will. Palerne 628 For but ich haue bote of mi bale I am ded as dorenail. 1362 LANGL. P. Pl. A. I. 161 Fey withouten fait is febelore en nout, And ded as a dore- nayl. 1593 SHAKES. 2 Hen. VI, IV. x. 42 If I doe not leaue you all as dead as a doore naile. [1598 SHAKES. Merry W. II. iii. 12 By gar, de herring is no dead, so as I vill kill him.] 1664 BUTLER Hud. II. iii. 1148 Hudibras, to all appearing, Believ’d him to be dead as Herring. 1680 OTWAY Caius Marius 57 As dead as a Herring, Stock-fish, or Door- nail. 1792 I. BICKERSTAFFE Spoil’d Child II. ii. 32 Thus let me seize my tender bit of lambthere I think I had her as dead as mutton. 1838 [see MUTTON 7]. 1856 READE Never too late lx, Ugh! what, is he, is he Dead as a herring. 1884 Pall Mall G. 29 May 5/2 The Congo treaty may now be regarded as being as dead as a doornail. 1904 H. O. STURGIS Belchamber iv. 51 The Radicalism of Mill..is as dead as the dodo. 1919 W. S. MAUGHAM Moon & Sixpence ii. 10 Mr. Crabbe was as dead as mutton, but Mr. Crabbe continued to write moral stories in rhymed couplets. 1935 Ann. Reg. 1934 II. 305 References appearing in the London newspapers to the effect that “war debts are as dead as the Dodo” were cabled to the American press. 1960 Guardian 24 Mar. 11/1 Mr. Menzies..refused a request for a boycott..saying he had hoped this “was as dead as a dodo.”

But, what does it mean? I do not know, but there are some theories.

The first among them is that the phrase refers to the method of attaching hinges to doors. The hinges were mounted on the outside of the door via straps and the nails were hammered into the door, through the straps, from the outside, and then bent around and driven back into the door from the inside, driving the life from the nails so that they could never be used again.

While that makes it almost impossible to pull the nails out of the door from the outside, I do not buy the idea that the nails could never be straightened out, once removed, and used again. They were iron; they could be heated and pounded straight. But, I will concede that for the average person (i.e., not a blacksmith) once you remove a bent-over door nail, it was useless as a nail. But, how often were doors taken apart?

The second theory is that the door nail was the nail hammered into the door on which the door knocker would hit. Some sources indicate that after years of being hit, the door nail would loosen and fall out of the door. Apparently, when the nail hit the ground, it would make a “tink” sound instead of ringing like a new nail; thus, the door nail was dead. I don’t like this idea either. If a knocker is pounding a nail into a door, it is not very likely to fall out of the door on the side to which it is being struck. Plus, I’ve visited houses and churches which have stood for a few hundred years that still have functioning door knockers. If a door knocker and strike nail can withstand a couple of centuries of abuse, I think that it is not very likely that the strike nail would fall out and “die” often enough for the phrase to enter the English language.

Another theory related to the door knocker is that the strike nail was hit on the head in the way royalty was struck on their heads to ensure that they were truly dead and not just sleeping. A: I cannot find any period confirmation of this practice. and B: it’s stupid. “I’m sorry for hitting you in the head with a hammer, Your Majesty. I wanted to see if you were dead or just napping.” Thank you, Internet.

My thought is that the strike nail, when hit by the door knocker, sounds dead. Not a high pitch “ting” that one would get if you drop a nail on a flagstone, but a “thunk” noise that might sound more like a coffin being nailed shut then if you hit two pieces of metal together.

We might never know the true meaning of the phrase, but, since English is the pack-rat of languages, I predict that “dead as a door nail” will be used far into the future when everyone will have Star Trek-style automatic, sliding doors.

[1] “and bears him down to the earth, as dead as a door nail.”

[2] “He had crept into a cave and crouched to the earth / Dead as a door-nail down he had fallen.”

[3] You are on your own with this one.

Bibliography

Hulme, Frederick Edward. “Proverb Lore: Many Sayings, Wise Or Otherwise, on Many Subjects, Gleaned from Many Sources.” Elliot Stock, 1902

Langland, William; Economou, George. “William Langland’s Piers Plowman: The C Version : a Verse Translation.” University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996

“The Oxford English Dictionary.” Oxford University Press

“The Romance of William of Palerne: (otherwise Known as the Romance of “William and the Werwolf”) Translated from the French at the Command of Sir Humphrey de Bohun, about A.D. 1350; to which is Added a Fragment of the Alliterative Romance of Alisaunder; Translated from the Latin by the Same Author, about A.D. 1340.” Early English text society, 1867

Shakespeare, William. “The Second part of King Henry the Fourth.” The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. The Tech, MIT

Skeat, Walter W. ed. “The romance of William of Palerne: (otherwise known as the romance of “William and the werwolf”)” London, Pub. for the Early English Text Society, by N. Trubner & Co. 1867

“That thing you are making has captured my heart.”

30 Tuesday Mar 2021

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With Ice Dragon looming and Arts & Sciences on our collective minds, the following poem seems to beautifully capture what many of us have gone through, are going through, and will go through, in our never-ending quest to make the thing. Enjoy!

Weaving your dreams

for Maestra Elisif Gydasdottir

The first time you saw it,
You knew from the start
That thing they were making
It captured your heart
Igniting your dreams, you had found your key
“One day -I just know it- the maker will be me!”

Weaving your dreams with threads spun of gold,
Until those dreams blossom, and a wreath then unfolds
So heart all afire
You set on your path,
Materials were needed
But God, what was what?You tried all the wrong things and some right ones too
But all of a sudden, it was a thing you could do

Sewing your dreams, with fabric by the bolt
Until those dreams blossom and a wreath then unfolds

Not perfect, not pretty
That very first try
But proud as a mother
Until time passes by
Then all of a sudden, flaws were all you could see
And you started thinking, it may NOT be for me.
Singing your dreams, with verses so old until those dreams blossom and a wreath then unfolds

But then someone saw you
and all that you tried
A hand on your shoulder
always there when you cried
They traveled along you, they shared their own art
They gave you their time and a piece of their heart.
Beading your dreams with glass bright and bold
Until those dreams blossom and a wreath then unfolds

And all of a sudden
Or after long years
Your skills started flying
More joy now than tears
Some projects you bled on, or cursed, sometimes both
But people were talking, they noticed your growth

Giving voice to your dreams with stories you told
Until those dreams blossom and a wreath then unfolds

The project of doom
Cost you nights without rest
doubts, tears, and yet trust now
Because it would be your best
You knew the way forward, right from the start
Because that thing you were making
had captured your heart.

Weaving your dreams with threads spun of gold,
Until those dreams blossom, and a wreath then unfolds

Your name is well known now
your guidance they seek
From student to teacher
for the bold and the meek
Who say as they sit and and they look at your art
“That thing you are making has captured my heart.”

The poem was written by Baroness Machteld Cleine in 2020, for her friend Ellisif Gydasdottir who was given her writ to sit vigil at Gulf Wars to contemplate joining the order of the Laurel. Her friend had mentioned that while there were many songs in one way or another of the journey from squire to knighthood, there were none that came to mind about an apprentice’s journey to the becoming a master or mistress of their craft.

Baroness Machteld said “As a friend.. I had to try and fix that.” She wrote this poem, which has the wonderful potential to be put to music, to make the event special for her. It was intended to be performed on site, but due to the Plague has been shared on paper, for now. Baroness Machteld wants it to be also available for others, as well as honoring her mentor Mistress Marion Leoncina di Susa and all the other people who ‘guide’ along the road.

Behind the Scenes: Baron Jonathan Blackbow Shares his VQPT Entry

01 Wednesday Jul 2020

Posted by in A&S Competition and Display, A&S Faire, Poetry & Prose

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Our Kingdom’s Virtual Queen’s Prize Tourney is so famous, we even received several entries from an out-of-kingdom wordsmith! Baron Jonathan Blackbow from our southern neighbor the Kingdom of Atlantia entered four pieces of original poetry. As we do not have the ability to converse with our entrants face to face, the Virtual Queen’s Prize Tourney now offers the opportunity to drool over our entries right there on the Kingdom Ministry of Arts & Sciences website – even to leave feedback! And to learn a little more about the artisan and their thoughts behind their entry, the organizers decided to broaden our traditional entry of object and documentation with personal interviews.

To read Baron Jonathan’s poetic entries, please visit the VQPT entry pages:
Other side of the wall at Pennsic
The benevolent ghost
The sun is rising
Notre Dame fire in memoriam

Could you tell me a little about you, your persona.

In the real world my name is David Ritterskamp. I just turned 50 in January, and I’ve been in the SCA since about February of 1987. I write a lot of poetry (English and Viking Drottkvaett basically), as well as filks, songs, and stories. I wrote the PR for War of the Wings since the first year, and I just published (after about a decade) an unofficial sequel to The Last Starfighter.

In the SCA my name is Baron Jonathan Blackbow; I have an (unintentionally) ridiculously long OP entry because I fight heavy, do a lot of things for my kingdom (Atlantia), and also because of all the writing. As far as “persona” I’ll be brutally honest; I’ve never developed one. But enough other people have basically called me a warrior-bard that I use it when I play D&D (which is damn rare because I’m usually DMing the game, that being something else I’m good at, i.e., storytelling, keeping track of stats and stories, and a background in drama, ironically enough since I’m actually a professional desktop support expert) LOL. I have to admit, I was glad when the Red Dragon Disciple prestige class came along, because that’s what a fighter/bard can turn into. Most of what I’ve written over the years is webbed up at blackbow.trobaire.org.

What inspired you to make your entry?

I tend to enter my writing in any contest that makes sense to enter it in that I’m aware of. One of the poems was actually entered in a contest that Sylvan Glen ran several years ago. The Other Side Of The Wall At Pennsic made sense to enter because it’s centered around Pennsic which is in Æthelmearc. I could have entered twenty or thirty more poems and stories and such but I tried not to overload it. When I enter contests such as this it’s basically to get exposure, but not just for the sake of exposure if that makes sense; it’s also because the poems I write tend to elicit significant emotional responses (usually crying like a baby), and people like to see/read things like this because of the catharsis that comes along with it.

In short, people like my writing. If they didn’t, I wouldn’t put it out there.

What is your intention with your entry?

I’m a writer. I show my stuff because people like it.

Anything else you would like to share?

When you asked about me and my persona I concentrated on a few specific things, but if you want more, 1) I’m the reason for the zoombang (www.zoombang.com, look for the Maximum Coverage) shirt that has sold several thousand units for, among other people, heavy fighters in the SCA, 2) I built a town (and wrote it into the story) to use at War of the Wings (yes I named it Blackbowton)!

Thank you, Baron Jonathan Blackbow, for sharing your wonderful work with our Kingdom’s artisans and populace!

If you would like to see Baron Jonathan’s entries, follow this link to the Virtual Queen’s Prize Tourney. And if you liked his work, have a question to ask, or a tip to share – please leave your comments with his entries! You can “Leave a Reply” at the bottom of the entry’s page. We have until Æthelmearc Æcademy on July the 11th, when Her Majesty will announce the winners in Virtual Court, to peruse, enjoy and interact with the entrants. Make use of the opportunity, if you can!

 

 

Save the Baroness! Slay the Dragon!

14 Sunday Jul 2019

Posted by in Equestrian, Poetry & Prose

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Enjoy this write-up from THL Gesa of one of the Equestrian Challenges from the “A Kingdom for My Horse” equestrian event in June:

Fiona and Superman

Fiona of Hartstone and Superman, photograph by Sidney Green

Save the Baroness Hilderun!

Six noble riders braved the challenges posed by the Dragon horde accused of somehow kidnapping our dear Baroness Hilderun from the Debatable Lands and leaving only a faint image of her in effigy. At least that was what her distressed husband, Baron Brandubh, alleged when he sought the help of those noble dragonslayers.

As he explained, the riders would have to endure the thorny thickets, enter the flaming cave of the dragon, slay the King dragon, slay the Mother Dragon, slaughter all of the baby dragons, and dance in their blood.  If these tasks were accomplished, then the Baroness would be returned to the Baron.

The first noble riders set off with courage, chivalry, and enthusiasm to brave the challenge to slay all of the dragons, adults and cute little baby dragons alike, so that they might achieve the glory of returning the Baron’s beloved Baroness back to her rightful home.

First Victoria.  She did brave the thorny thickets, but failed to kill either the King or Queen dragons.  She did report that they were at best severely wounded and at least scared.  However, she was very efficient at slaying all of the cute baby dragons and trampled through their gushing blood with zest. This was apparently enough to break the spell, and the lovely Baroness was indeed found back by her Baron’s side.

Lord Nohaaj was also summoned by the Baron with the same pitiful, impassioned plea for help to find his missing Baroness. Nohaaj also struck out into the wilderness, thrashing through the thorny thickets and diving into the fiery cave on his brave war horse Maple. He was successful in killing the Dragon King, but merely offended the Queen dragon with a poorly placed spear and an insult about her bony appearance leaving no suitable target.  He wiped out the squealing and adorable baby dragons, and was shocked by the volumes of blood that pooled into the cave, with Maple trampling through the oozing blood. He returned to the Baron to find that his deeds were, if not perfect, enough for the Baroness to be found safe once again by her dedicated and concerned Baron’s side.

But, the Baron was forced to call out yet again for help, and another rider went valiantly up to perform the same challenge, for once again the Baroness had gone missing. Each respective rider performed honorably, and the Baroness would be returned. This process was repeated by Katja,  Fiona, and yet again by Catrina. Each time, dragons were slain and the wandering Baroness returned.

When the Baron called out for the sixth time that he needed a noble soul to slay dragons to help retrieve his beloved Baroness, John, riding the majestic Superman, another great war horse, started to question the Baron.  “Noble Baron” he queried, “Are you sure that the dragons are in fact the issue here?”  He continued, “Just thinking outside the box, maybe a moat, some castle guards, even an ankle chain, might help…?”

But nonetheless, despite his nagging doubts, the noble John set off with his warhorse Superman, to slay dragons and return the Baroness once more to the Baron’s side.  And he, too, was successful in driving the Dragon King to requiring therapy (PTSD from having so many errant spears chucked at him) scaring the Dragon Queen, and laying waste to the harmless, cute, defenseless, little baby dragons. Finally, he sloshed through their blood. Upon his return, he noted that the dragons seemed quite indifferent to the whereabouts of the Baroness, who happened to return to the baron’s side ONCE AGAIN, even though the required tasks were only partially accomplished. He observed that the dragon lair was a very large, spacious, and airy cave. He further noted that nowhere in his travels attempting to slay, and succeeding in scaring and abusing, these gentile creatures, did he notice any trace of the Baroness. He concluded: “Perhaps the noble Baron Brandubh should consider that the gentle dragons are not the cause of his beloved Baroness’ wandering tendencies, as alleged?!?”

 

Rider John recounts his quest to slay the dragons and rescue the Baroness

This shocking concept has caused the Baron to ponder the Dragons’ involvement, and indeed his beloved Baroness Hilderun’s story of alleged kidnapping. It is rumored that the Baron is planning another event to determine the truth. To be continued….

Ice Dragon Pent Literary Entry Deadline

18 Monday Feb 2019

Posted by in Arts & Sciences, Event Announcements & Updates, Music, Poetry & Prose

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scribeThe Pentathlon Literary Entries deadline is coming!

LITERARY ARTS
Entries in Literary Arts must be received electronically or postmarked by March 1, 2019 .

Entries may be sent electronically to Mistress Cori or via hard copy in the mail. If you do not receive a confirmation email that an electronically submitted entry has been received within 24 hours of sending it, contact me. Please contact me in advance for the address if you are sending hard copy.

  • Lit1: Research paper 
    A research paper may be written in any style which the entrant chooses (EG Chicago, ALA, etc.) The judging of the paper is to be focused on the research presented, and any theories or conclusions presented. The entrant is strongly encouraged to be consistent in the use of the style they choose. 
  • Lit2: Musical arrangement & composition 
  • Lit3: Poetry & prose
As always, yours in Service,
cori 

Clare Jackson
716-517-8570


Note: The Festival of the Passing of the Ice Dragon is on April 13 in the Barony of the Rhydderich Hael. More information about the Pentathlon is available here.

Artisan Exchange Going Strong and Seeks Even More Participants

21 Sunday Jan 2018

Posted by in Archery, Arts & Sciences, Brewing, Cooking, Costuming, Dance, Fiber Arts, Food, Gaming & Fun, Heraldry, Herbalism, Poetry & Prose, Scribal

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By Baroness Katja Davidova Orlova Khazarina (Chris Adler-France)

Grimmy loves his new coat from Baroness Helene. Photo by Baroness Ekaterina.

Come on, you know you want to join the Æthelmearc Artisan Exchange!

Yes, you.

You, creating that awesome, intriguing, engrossing, fun, beautiful art form.

Sign up to make it – whether an art form you’ve been developing for years or something you just started delving into, whether woodworking, sewing, brewing, metal smithing, leather working, cooking, etc. – for someone else.

Then reap the joy of that person receiving it, while you receive a personalized gift in return from another talented artisan in our kingdom.

What is the Artisan Exchange?

Unlike A&S competition, displays, classes, or other common artisan-oriented activities that are often competitive and scary to new artisans, the Exchange encourages artisans of all levels and abilities simply to practice an existing skill or explore a new one while creating something within roughly three months’ timeframe (and with a $25 limit on materials, not including shipping costs) for a fellow artisan in the exchange, at the end of which they will receive a gift in turn from another artisan. As in modern Secret Santa exchanges, only the Exchange coordinator knows which artisans she has matched up until the gifts are mailed and the effusive thanks begin. Artisans of all ages, skill levels, genders, etc. participate and the created items do not all have to be documented period items.

History of the Exchanges

Originally created as a Noblesse Largesse swap in Calontir by Lady Konstantia Kaloethina and HL Aline Swynbrook, those founders encouraged gentles in other kingdoms to use and expand the idea. Baroness Oddkatla Jonsdottir learned about the East Kingdom’s Swap (and then Exchange) while a resident of that kingdom and enjoyed participating in 10 exchanges over four years there: knitting shawls, painting and embroidering messenger bags and a Norman cloak, and sewing a silk banner and a Skoldhammim hood.

When she and her husband, Baron Friderich Swartzwalder, became citizens of Greater AEthelmearc a few years ago and began playing in the Nithgaard/Abhainn Ciach Ghlais area, she wanted to join our kingdom’s Exchange, which had been coordinated in 2013 by Janice Mullins Wagoner.

“I saw the amazing art being made in the East’s group, and knew that AE had or has many very talented artisans,” Her Excellency explained.

Block-printed feast gear bags from Mistress Fredeberg to Baroness Helene. Photo by Baroness Helene.

When Janice stepped down and offered the Exchange to Baroness Oddkatla, she talked to the Calontir founders for guidance with the process and forms and began coordinating the project in Fall 2015, which finished by Kingdom Twelfth Night in January 2016.

“The first exchange was very well received, and we had about 40 artisans participate. I try to have a new exchange start within about a month to six weeks after the previous on ends. Most of the time it works out to be two exchanges a year. Someday, maybe I can get a third one in or have two different exchanges running at the same time.”

At the beginning of each Exchange, Her Excellency asks participants to join the project’s Facebook group and fill out a survey detailing the participant’s home group, persona, color preferences, favorite activities, and art interests. After receiving all the surveys, Baroness Oddkatla randomly matches each artisan with another and privately sends each artisan the survey information for their matched artisan. She checks in frequently with the artisans via the Facebook group (and private emails, if necessary) on the progress and nudges everyone into mailing or personally handing every gift by the Exchange deadline.

The Exchange is primarily coordinated on the Facebook group, but Her Excellency notes that artisans do not need to be a Facebook member to join the Exchange; they can participate via email.

What outcome did you hope for the Exchange – just a fun Secret Santa gift swap or something more?

“When I first thought about starting an Exchange in AE, I had the dream of getting people together in a fun way to make and share art, whether the participant was a new person to the SCA or a Laurel who had years of making and creating art. The fun part (in my mind) was the fact that no one knew who was making the art for you. When I was taking part in the East Kingdom exchange, one of the best parts was anticipating what might arrive in the mail at the end of the exchange.”

How has the exchange changed/evolved since you began this?

“The exchange has grown by leaps and bounds since we first started. The Facebook group has 296 members with more artisans asking to join every swap. The first swap had 40 artisans and the more recent exchange that finished in December 2017 had 70.”

So far, 50 participants have joined the one that is in the survey stage right now. Baroness Oddkatla is hoping for 70 participants.

Woven belt/trim by Lady Zianna for Lady Catherine O’Herlihy. Photo by Lady Catherine.

What has gone well and was has been a challenge?

“The amazing creativity AE artisans have (has gone well)! A challenge has been getting the gifts delivered in a timely manner. One of the things about the exchange that dismays me is the need for extra time at the end of the exchange, as some need more time to finish. One of my goals is to have everyone mail their gifts on the scheduled mailing date. Usually, the extensions are given as an artisan has a “fail” and needs more time to finish. Please don’t misunderstand, most people mail on the date, and only a few need extensions.”

What have been some of the themes of past exchanges and what is the current one?

“Themes in the exchange have been varied. The first one was a Twelfth Night theme, with the gifts being something fancy that could be worn or used at Twelfth night. Themes since then have been “Spring/Camping” where each artisan was asked in the survey if they would like to receive a spring- or a camping-themed gift. The theme of the exchange that we just completed was “Heraldry,” and each artisan was asked to make a gift using their recipient’s arms or colors, or if the artisan did not have heraldry, the recipient’s household or Kingdom arms were used.

“This new exchange is a repeat of a past exchange called a “RED/WHITE” exchange. What this means is that the artisan can pick either the RED or WHITE part of the swap. RED gifts must be made with period methods, have documentation, and the dollar amount for supplies can be more than $25. WHITE gifts stick to the original rules of $25 being the top end of the amount each artisan can spend on supplies and no documentation or period methods necessary. Other than that nothing special needs to be done.”

What are some of the most notable gifts you’ve seen made?

“Every gift that is made is very special! I have a few favorites, from all the different exchanges. Some memorable ones are the amazing painted box Abigail Kelhoge made for Anna Leigh, inspired by an illumination; a blackwork embroidered coif Rhys Penbras ap Dafydd made for Elisabeth Johanna von der Flossenburg; and the angel gift Rynea von Lingen made for Astridr Vigodottir, known as Ashling.

Painted box by Lady Abigail Kelhoge for Countess Anna Leigh. Photo by Countess Anna.

“There are many, many gifts I love, way too many to list here!

“You’re probably wondering what an Angel gift is? An Angel gift gets made when an artisan cannot complete their gift. I put out a call for someone to make a gift, and then when I get an angel, I send them the information they need and they make a gift for the artisan that did not get a gift due to their artisan not being able to finish their gift.

“I make sure that everyone who joins to make a gift gets a gift. I feel that every artisan needs to be able to have something to show for the hard work they have done.”

How much time each week during the exchange do you spend coordinating this and what is involved on your end? Is anyone else involved in the coordination?

“There is a fair amount of work that I do to get the exchange up and running. Starting with writing and developing a survey all the artisans must take to be included in the exchange. After the surveys have been taken and it has been closed, when I have the number of artisans that I need to run the exchange, the real work begins. I take each artisan and give them a number, and then using a blind draw, I assign artisan to artisan. Then I send each artisan an email with their recipient in the email. I ask each artisan to send me an email back so that I know they have received their artisan’s name and survey information.

“At this point, the progress of the exchange is up to the artisans. My part slows down a bit as I just make sure I am a cheerleader to keep people motivated and working. I let everyone know that I am here to answer their questions. One of the rules is that no one contact their recipient. If they need help for something they would like to know, they need to contact me either by email or private message on Facebook.

“I put in about 20 to 30 hours at the beginning getting the exchange started and then about two hours a week answering questions from artisans. When the gifts are due to be mailed, I do a bit more making sure that artisans have mailed their gifts. I ask that they send me a photo of their mailing receipt, so that I know their gift has been mailed; there’s a bit more work if anyone asks for extensions. By the end of the exchange, I’m usually putting in anywhere from four to six hours a week. I am the sole person running the AE Artisan Exchange. I have had people ask if I need help, which I usually thank them for, but decline. “

What are your future plans or hopes for this exchange?

“I hope the exchange will continue to grow, and that AE continues to show how talented her artisans are. “

Quiver by Lord Wladislaw Poznanski.

When is the deadline for the current one?

“Deadline to mail this Exchange’s gift is April 15, 2018. Deadline to withdraw from the Exchange is March 1, 2018, barring last-minute major project failure, for which an extension may be granted. If for any reason you need to bow out of an Exchange it must be done via the Gmail account, not Facebook message.”

What do you say to artisans who are intrigued but unsure about participating?

“I tell people who contact me about participating in the exchange, that they may have doubts about playing with us, but each and every one of us can art. We each have special talents that I know are there, and that all they have to do is fill out a survey, and ask questions. I turn NO ONE AWAY!!! Everyone is welcome, and I will make sure they have help if they think they may not do as well as others that participate in the exchange.”

Anything else you’d like to add?

“This is a lot of fun! I have made many new friends, and encourage all that may have an interest to come and join us!”

Join the Æthelmearc Artisan Exchange group on Facebook.

The GoogleDoc survey is here.

The rules for the exchange are here and the history/explanation of the rules of the Exchange is here. 

Commonly asked questions are here. 

Song: The Rose of Arindale

29 Saturday Apr 2017

Posted by in Poetry & Prose

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Lady Magge singing for the Crown. Photo courtesy of Master Tigernach ma Cathail.

By Lady Magge Illefoster and Lord Gregory Hillson.

These are the lyrics of the song that was performed at the Coronation of Their Majesties Timothy and Gabrielle. So many people asked for the words and if I would please publish them, so those who wished to learn it could. I am humbled and pleased to present them to you now.  ~ Lady Magge

 

The Rose of Arindale

(Sung to the Tune “The Rose of Allendale”)

When’er I travel east or west,
To every knowned land,
The goodness of our own dear Queen
Is known to every man.
With an unassuming dignity
And a backbone made of stone,
The brightest jewel in Æthelmearc,
Gabrielle van Nijenrode.

(chorus)
Our Rose of Arindale,
Sweet Rose of Arindale,
The fairest flower in all the land,
Is the Rose of Arindale!

Her laughter bright, her gaze is clear,
Her countenance is fair
With a temperament that is so mild,
And wise beyond compare.
She listens e’er she speaks her mind
Her words are soft and few
When you see her with our own good King,
You know their love is true.

(chorus)

When a highway man of little wit,
Did try them to waylay,
Our gentle Queen, our quiet Rose,
Did not give into dismay.
Her courage swelled within her heart
To protect both kith and kin,
A thorned Rose she proved to be
A fighter deep within.

(chorus)

Against the vast assorted host,
Upon the Pennsic field,
Her inspiration spurs all on,
That they should never yield.
Be they fencer, archer, artisan
Or fight with sword and shield,
Our courageous Queen reminds us all
So our best should be revealed.

(chorus)

But the one she does inspire most
The very best to be,
Is the one who fought to make her Queen,
Beloved by all and he.
His life had been adrift at sea
With no star to guide his trail
Had fate not linked his love to hers,
His Grace of Arindale.

 

Ice Dragon Pentathlon: Literary Entry Deadline Reminder

31 Sunday Jan 2016

Posted by in Arts & Sciences, Event Announcements & Updates, Music, Poetry & Prose

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Greetings from the Ice Dragon Pentathlon Coordinators!

writingWe want to share a brief reminder that the Literary Arts category has a special deadline and entry rules.

The LITERARY ARTS category consists of the following:

Lit1: Research Paper
Lit2: Musical Arrangement & Composition
Lit3: Poetry & Prose Written Entries

Entries in Literary Arts must be received by the Pent Coordinator no later than March 5. Entries must be sent electronically to carnabyservices at yahoo dot com (email link also here). If you do not receive a confirmation email within 24 hours of sending, contact the Pent coordinator. You may attach your entry as a Word document or as a pdf.

Please make sure your name IS NOT on your entry.

Send the following information with your email and use “Pent Literary Entry” as your subject line:

SCA Name

Legal Name

Email

Phone Number

Address

Title of Work

Category Entering

The works will be assigned an entrant number (for blind judging purposes) and then forwarded to the judges. If you are entering the Literary Arts Category, we will automatically pre-register you and assign your general entrant number; this number will also be used for any other entries you have for the event.

General Pent information can be found on the Pent website.

Those Magnificent Monks In Their Flying Machines

14 Tuesday Jul 2015

Posted by in Esoterica, Poetry & Prose

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by Baron Caleb Reynolds.

From a British film on Elmer of Malmesbury.

From a British film on Elmer of Malmesbury.

In the opening years of the 11th Century, a monk, living at Wiltshire Abbey, constructed a flying machine and leapt from one of the abbey’s towers. Fantastically, the monk, named Eilmer of Malmesbury, did not die, but soared like a bird. A hundred and twenty years later, the historian William of Malmesbury recorded the following lines:

“Wherefore a certain Monk of our Monastery, by name Eilmer … was a man learned for those times, of mature age and in his youth had hazarded an attempt of singular temerity. He had by some contrivance fastened wings to his hands and feet so that, mistaking fable for true, he might fly like Daedalus, and, collecting the breeze on the summit of a tower, he flew for more than the distance of a furlong. [1] But, agitated by the violence of the wind and the swirling of air, as well as by awareness of his rashness, he fell, broke his legs, and was lame ever after. He used to relate as the cause of his failure his forgetting to provide himself a tail.” [2]

The abbot forbade Eilmer from ever experimenting with flight again, and thus human flight was curtailed for centuries. [3] But, dear reader, do not think of Eilmer’s attempt as a failure. The tower Eilmer launched himself from is no longer standing, but the present abbey is of a similar height: 25 meters. Local legend states that Eilmer landed in Oliver Lane, some 200 meters from the present day abbey. An impressive first attempt. The flight might have been longer if not for the wind. “But William says that Eilmer flew “spatio stadii et plus,” or more than 600 feet,” before falling.” [4]

So, Eilmer either glided 200 meters straight into the ground, breaking both of his legs on landing, or flew for 200 meters, lost control and fell from some height and then broke both of his legs. In either case, quite impressive, and quite inspiring. The flight of Eilmer was told and retold by historians. First by William of Malmesbury [5] who would have had access to the abbey’s records and would have spoken to people whose parents or grandparents might have seen the flight with their own eyes.

Helinand quotes William verbatim in the 1299 “Chronicon,” as does Alberic of Trois-Fontaines in 1241. Vincent of Beauvais re-told Eilmer’s story in 1250 in “Speculum.” In 1352 Ralph Higden, in his Polychronicon, renamed the monk Oliver due to a mistranslation. Henry Knighton and John of Trevisa, did write about “Oliver’s” flight in their histories. Roger Bacon did not mention Eilmer by name, but in his discussions on human flight wrote, “Such devices have long since been made, as well as in our own day, and it is certain that there is a flying machine. I have not seen one, nor have I known anyone who has seen one. But I know a wise man who has designed one.” [6] Personally, I think that that is a mistranslation: there is no evidence of any medieval flyers during Bacon’s life [7] and the final line, of the quote, might have been “But I know OF a wise man who has designed one.”

The amazing thing was not that one monk managed to fly for 200 meters, some 1100 years ago, the truly amazing thing was that it took so long for another European to make another attempt. [8]

“There is, however, no evidence that memory of Eilmer’s feat helped to stimulate the new burst of speculation and experiment about aviation which occurred in Italy in the later fifteenth century. Even before 1449 the engineer Giovanni da Fontana rejects the idea of ascent by hot-air balloons as too hazardous of fire, but expresses entire confidence that human flight can be achieved with mechanical wings. Indeed, he has thought of making some himself, “sed aliis distractus occupationibus non perfeci.” Leonardo da Vinci’s sketches of parachutes and flying devices are well known but none appears to have been constructed. The evidence that in the 1490’s Giovanni Battista Danti of Perugia flew in a glider over Lake Trasimeno has as yet emerged in no document earlier than 1648. But we must assume that when, in October 1507, an Italian named Giovanni Damiani, who in 1504 had been appointed Abbot of Tungland, a Premonstratensian monastery in Galloway, garbed himself in wings made of feathers, took flight from the walls of Stirling Castle, plummeted, and broke his leg, he was inspired by experiments in his native land rather than by Eilmer’s example. Damiani sardonically announced that his error had been to include hens’ feathers in his wings, since hens have more at scratching in dunghills than for soaring to the heavens.” [9]

[1] 220 yards

[2] Woosnam, p3-4

[3] Jones, p132

[4] White (2), p98

[5] “Gesta regum Anglorum”, 1125

[6] De secretis operibus, cap. 4, in Opera quaedam hactenus inedita, ed. J. S. Brewer (London, 1859), p. 533. For the date, cf. S. C. Easton, Roger Bacon and His Search for a Universal Science (New York, 1952), p. 111 – quoted from various sources

[7] 1214-92

[8] The Iranian philospher al-Jauhari, died in a similar flight attempt in Khorosan, sometime between 1003 and 1008 and there is evidence of men flying while strapped to large kites, in China, around the same time.

[9] White (2), p103-4
Bibliography

“Mystery Files – Leonardo da Vinci”: National Geographic. TV Program. Season 1, Episode 8

“Terry Jones’ Medieval Lives.” TV Program. Season 1 Episode 5. The Philosopher

Anderson, Roberta; Bellenger, Dominic. “Medieval Worlds: A Sourcebook.” Routledge, 2013

Ereira, Alan; Jones, Terry. “Terry Jones’ Medieval Lives.” Random House, 2009

Huitson, Toby. Stairway to Heaven: The Functions of Medieval Upper Spaces. Oxbow Books. 2014

Kealey, Edward J. “Harvesting the Air: Windmill Pioneers in Twelfth-century England.” University of California Press, 1987

Lienhard, John H. “The Engines of Our Ingenuity.” Episode 3: “The Flying Monk.” Radio program; produced by Houston Public Media.

Lienhard, John H. “The Engines of Our Ingenuity.” Episode 1142: “Legend and Flight.” Radio program; produced by Houston Public Media.

Paz, James. “The Falling Body of Eilmer the Flying Monk: Religious Belief and Technological Innovation in Late Anglo-Saxon England.” King’s College London. London Anglo-Saxon Symposium 2014

Sharpe, John. “William of Malmesbury’s Chronicle of the kings of England. From the earliest period to the reign of King Stephen.” London, H. G. Bohn. 1847. Archive.Org: Digitizing sponsor: Northeastern University, Snell Library.

White, Lynn, Jr. (1) “Medieval Religion and Technology: Collected Essays.” University of California Press, 1978

White, Lynn, Jr. (2) “Eilmer of Malmesbury, An Eleventh Century Aviator. Medieval Religion and Technology.” Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1978, Chapter 4.

White, Lynn, Jr. (3) “Eilmer of Malmesbury, an Eleventh Century Aviator: A Case Study of Technological Innovation, Its Context and Tradition. Technology and Culture.” Vol. 2, No. 2 (Spring, 1961), pp. 97-111 The Johns Hopkins University Press and the Society for the History of Technology

Woosnam, Maxwell. “Eilmer, The Flight and The Comet.” Malmesbury, UK: Friends of Malmesbury Abbey. 1986