Silver Rapier - Matthias

Ah now this was a fun one!  I had gotten seeeeeeecret word from the heraldic staff of Kenric and Avelina that this was likely happening.  As Vice President of the Matthias Fan Club and his consort, I asked Nest for this assignment when it became available.

Fun facts about this project:
- I hemmed and hawed about which source to use and nerded out a bit with some fencers about German fencing manuals.

- Painting in 90+ degrees makes the paint dry REALLY fast which is very frustrating.  Holy crap it was hot that day.

- Alys is a wordsmithing saint and Eva's "messy-terrible "calligraphy is better than my calligraphy on any given day and she's a perfectionist.

- I picked this picture because it reminded me of LARPing and "losing an arm" while in a fight.  It narrowly won over the picture of someone getting bashed in the face with a buckler that Thyra really liked.

- I worked on a portion of this scroll at Matthias and Thyra's house with Matthias RIGHT THERE.  After all this was for "some dude with a weird name" *shrug* and I "wasn't going to see this scroll again anyways so meh". :P  Matthias did offer a few compliments on the illumination as I was working.

Without further ado - the uncleaned up pic Eva sent me right after she finished her calligraphy (which I think is still awesome).

Scroll assignment:Order of the Silver Rapier
Recipient: Matthias Grunwald
Calligraphy: By Eva Woderose
Words: By Alys Mackyntoich
Specs: Guache on pergamenata
Source: German fencing manual - http://wiktenauer.com/wiki/Opus_Amplissimum_de_Arte_Athletica_%28Cod.icon._393%29#/media/File:Cod.icon._393_II_061r.jpg

Award of Arms - Eudes

Going up to Tir Mara is always fun. This time I got to bring scrolls with me to be given out at Crown Tournament.  The one tough part in making scrolls for recipients up in Tir Mara is the panic after I had finished of "Oh crap....was this supposed to be in French?!??!".  I rechecked the assignment and no preference in language was listed.  Well...too late.  It's in English.  Hopefully the French Heralds can translate if need be (and they did).

Recipient: Eudes de Creully
Assignment: Award of Arms
Hand: carolingian miniscule
Specs: gouache on pergamenata
Source: (forthcoming)

Scroll Wording - Eydis' AoA

Yes, the wording was for "that Eydis" who also happens to be a friend of mine and fellow Dancing Lady.  She was given her AoA by Brennan and Caoilfhionn on April 9th at the coronation of their heirs.

Marieta did a lovely craving based on the Osberg ship that featured intertwined cats.  For a lovely viking lady who happens to be a bard, I took a stab at skaldic style poetry.  I didn't have a lot of time to research how to phrase or set up sections of the poetry or to see if there were actually set "rules" for writing skaldic poems.  That will be part of my "to do" list when I take another stab at this.

This is my first attempt at this type of poetry.  Copious amounts of looking at text from rune stones happened and Googling Norse gods/patrons.  Bygul and Trigul are the names of Freya's cats that pulled her chariot.


"Fierce Caoilfhionn and wise Brennan called their people to hear their word. On this day of Eostre’s pride, winter wanes and the skald’s words are known to all:

Thorgrim’s daughter, fair Eydis

Friend of Bygul and Trigul kin.

Bragi-favored skald, gifts wordfame to the north.

Ring givers Brennan and Caoilfhionn

Honor and arms to her proclaim."

Award of Arms - Aine

Like a complete doof, I forgot to take a picture of this scroll.

This assignment was an AoA with very little info to help construct words and find an inspirational manuscript.  I did some digging on OSCAR and found that her name and badge are going through commentary.  Her byname "Fháeláin"was a dead give away that perhaps....maybe... this person likes wolves (gee, how would I know that one?) and there were wolves on her proposed device.

A lot of medieval pictures of wolves I've found involve wolves harassing sheep and attacking people.  Could I just fine one that says "Hey, I'm wolf!  Look how cool I am!"?  Nope.  I did find this gem though and decided to use it a source material.  I used the first panel of the story for the illumination.

Recipient: Aine ingen Fháeláin
Assignment: Award of Arms
Hand: gothic (second attempt at a gothic hand)
Specs: gouache on pergamenata
Source: http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=royal_ms_13_b_viii_f001r (f17v -f18r)

When I first started looking at this I wanted to figure out what the heck was going on in this picture.

1) Why is this wolf blue and looks like a fox?  (Now I understand why foxes and wolves conflict in heraldry).

2) Why is there a wolf in an acorn cap receiving a host? (host being the Eucharist wafer)

3) Why is the other wolf wearing a St. Bernard whiskey cask?  Is it a traveling tabernacle?  Where the heck did it come from?  Does the priest know the wolf possibly stole a tabernacle and is wearing it around his neck?

The story going on here (from what I can tell from various sources) tells of a priest of Ulster traveling through the forest when he is approached by a male wolf at his camp.  Some versions have this as a friendly and good werewolf instead of a normal wolf.  Wikipedia (in all it's peer created wiki glory) says that this was a man who was curse to live as a werewolf for seven years and as a man for another seven (with his wife curse the same way).  Either way, our heroic wolf seeks the aid of the priest to cure (or administer last rites to) his mate.  He leads the priest through the woods back to their den where the she-wolf is resting.  The priest then gives her a host and she's either cured of her sickness (as she's a normal wolf) or I guess she dies (as she's a dying, but good, werewolf).

There are a few variations of this story as I mentioned above, but I prefer the version of the noble wolf who was just looking for help for his mate and in turn helped the priest get through the scary forest with weird trees unscathed.  Wolves are awesome like that (in my own biased opinion).  ;)

The idea of a wolf helping someone is what led me to choose this illumination as a source material.  The text I wrote is short but sweet.

(text to be added later)

Ramblings - Belly Dancing with an Audience

I went to a Realms (LARP) event over the weekend and took some time to catch up with a friend in between my working in the kitchen for the feast portion of the event.  I talked to him about my disengagement with the Realms community where it seems that I only go to help out rather than play anymore.  He asked if there were things I found interesting in the SCA that I could do in the Realms, so I went down the list of art, cooking, etc until I go to dancing.

SCA - I do both European and Middle Eastern dance.  I may have even flown to Germany with a Duchess to go to a dance event.

Realms - I do European dancing at the Black and White Masquerade (the only event with dancing, we've tried to have more with little success).  I have ZERO interest in belly dancing in the Realms.

I stopped myself after that one and thought about it.  Belly Dance and Middle Eastern dancing in the Realms for me was scary and sends red flags racing through my head.

Let me back up here.  I started belly dance classes two years ago taking lessons from Mistress Anne with no intention of ever dancing in front of an audience.  I took lessons for ballet, tap, and jazz when I was young for a number of years and I do like dancing in general so a convincing argument from a friend who also dances with the group made me show up and give it a shot.  I've since done two public performances;  Bad Raqsan'e Sahra's recital for friends and family and a performance at the Quintavia Hafla.  Neither one of those felt weird or scary or anything.

The group of ladies I dance with (Bad Raqsan'e Sahra) is incredibly supportive, has ladies of all ages and body types, and boasts an almost equal number of children to advanced degrees within the group.  Did I mention they were all lovely?  I mean really lovely as well as being fun, flirty, and even downright ridiculous at times.  I have body image issues as so some of the ladies I dance with, but we joke and fan our selves over the sexiness of our fellow member's solo dances.  I was even convinced to don a pirate hat and send my crew to fetch yonder maiden whom I was swooning over as part of a performance.  There is a sincerity in appreciating of your fellow performer's art within the group.  It's always a fun, family-friendly, and safe environment.

That's the kicker:  safe.  Belly dancing in the Realms to me was always seen as purposefully seductive and slinky, dancing in front of a fire in barely any clothing, and always done in front of a crowd (most always a drunk crowd) of staring and sometimes leering people solely for their amusement.  I've heard the sneering comments of how "hot" or "vastly unattractive" some of the performers were from the patrons of various taverns and event goers.  Being ogled by a bunch of potentially drunk people, some of which I don't even want to be associated with out of game, is not my cup of tea.  It also doesn't help that most of the events that boasted dancing were thinly veiled drunk fests either.  I'm not trying to be a prude, but the thought of dancing in that type of environment gives me anxiety.  So...I don't.

I can thank fully say I've never run into this in the SCA or seem much of this (even at Pennsic, though I've never performed there).

How do as people, not just as a community, be a better audience?  How do we get to a point where our culture in the game (LARPing or otherwise) applauds an honest effort and rewards the desire to perform with appreciation in a safe environment?

Mistress Anne said something very profound.  "The first part of belly dancing is belly acceptance."  At the heaviest weight in my adult life, I found it easy to dance at the Quintavia Hafla for the performance.  There was no judging, but there was support and various fan clubs of people supporting their friends of all the groups.  We need more of that.

Picture by Madame Perronnelle De Croy.

Scroll Wording - Tullia's AoA

I found the documentation for this and felt the need to share it.

We managed to gt Tullia to 12th Night and all dressed up since Simon was being elevated to the Chivalry.  What she didn't know was she was also getting her AoA that same day.

Mundanely, Tullia is a high school Latin teacher.  Taking her love for all things Latin to the SCA, it's no surprise she has a Roman persona. I did some searching for ideas for wording for Roman personas from period texts and found this :http://avalon.law.yale.edu/ancient/augustus_001.asp. The wording was handed off to the scribe who was assigned the scroll and she managed to have it translated into Latin. :)

I wrote the following text based off the source.

"Emperor Brennen Augustus and Empress Caoilfhionn Augusta, supreme pontiffs, holding the Tyger throne for a second time, proclaim:
We know of an Eastern citizen who has done venerable work in the fiber arts of spinning and weaving and has distinguished herself in the study of Our noble Roman forefathers.

Whereas in accordance with the decision of Our advisory council, do We wish to recognize Tullia Tranquilla as a loyal daughter and citizen of Rome and award her the following arms: Azure fretty Or, on a chief Or three drop spindles azure.

Done at the celebration of the 12th Night, in Anno Societatus 50, on the second feast day of Carmentalia in the Shire of Midland Vale."

Carmentalia is a Roman festival taking place on two days (11 January and 15 January) . Since 12th Night happened to be January 16th, I thought it was okay to include it to make the scroll persona specific (and I was only off by a day).

Maunche - Ulfgeirr

This is a project that almost got got away from me in terms of my artistic "vision" colliding head long with my ability to procrastinate and still maintain a deadline.  Usually I budget a week to do research in what I'd like to base the scroll on, but somehow I had in my head that this had to be awesome.  This is also the first maunche scroll I've done so I think I was a little intimidated subconsciously.  I've actually met Ulfgeirr a few times (while retaining for Edward)  and I have a tremendous respect for his work and craftsmanship.  The award write up was incredibly helpful as well with examples of his work and a few killer youtube videos.

I hemmed and hawed for over two weeks of what I wanted to do for someone with a 9th century viking persona.  I had a ton of great ideas but nothing felt "right" or "appropriate".  I eventually enlisted my super-spy Thyra to try to find out what he might like in a scroll.  Because Thyra obviously knows everyone, she confirmed via his lady wife that Ulgeirr like the Urnes style of artwork used in the later part of the viking period.  Let's just say I did a bunch of research based on that tidbit alone.  ;)

For those not in the know, the Urnes style names for the style depicted on the Urnes stave church (which is an example of the later Urnes style). The church doors have a lovely knotted art style with very stylized animals.  You can see that below.  I'm in the camp of people who think the figure on the left hand side is a wolf because hooray wolves!

Urnes stave church door in Ornes Norway.

Great!  I have a style to go on!  I then got it in my head that it would be awesome with a week and a half left until it was due to try my had at making a runestone carving in a similar style.  I thankfully came to my senses and said hell no, I am not picking up a new hobby right this second for a piece with a firm deadline.  I wasted a good three days trying to figure out the logistics though.

I kept with the idea of doing a runestone with the Urnes style and settled on this lovely example.  The ever talented Anne of Framlingham graciously crafted words and my personal viking superhero Avaldr Valbjarnarson provided the translation into runes.

U240 Lingsberg Runestone, Sweden.

Recipient: Ulfgeirr Ragnarrson (the Nice)

Award: Order of the Maunche

Words: by Anne of Framlingham, translation by Avadlr Valbjarnarson

Specs: Acrylic on slate tile, sealed with W&N matte sealant.

Source: U240 Lingsberg Runestone (see above)

This lovely slate tile was found at Home Depot and it was "the one" due to it's variations of pink and red in the slate.  I opted for my good friend Liquitex Acrylic to get a good coverage on the uneven surface of the slate.  I used an enlarge pic of the runestone and transfer paper to get the proportions correct (and done within my time fram) and ended up freehanding a lot of the design elements since pencil was incredibly hard to see.  Faces and toes were almost entirely tweaked since they didn't transfer well and all managed to get onto uneven surfaces on the tile.

Complete outline of the design done in white.

Choice of two reds,  I went out and bought the one to the left because I thought the one on the right would be too orange.  This is why we test swatch people.  I learned that early on.

Mostly finished base.  All animals are painted and you can see the penciled maunche symbol in the cross if you squint.

Once the base layers were painted, it was crunch time: put the words on the scroll.  I had a fit of shaky hands toward the end but my stubborn streak would not let me put the paintbrush down.  Thyra suggested doing a double ribbon of text inside the snake/dragons as she had done something similar in a runestone scroll.  As Donovan Shinnock (my gracious transporter of the scroll to the event) point out, you can tell I paint miniatures with the tiny handwriting.  I touched up the outlining and sent this scroll on it's merry way.  I'm always going to be my own worst critic, but I do feel like I could have done more for this.  I'm not unhappy with the result, but it left me wanting a tiny bit.

Finished stone with tiny rune writing.

Scroll text by Mistress Anne:

"Hearing I ask from Heimdallr’s sons,
For the worth and might of Ulfgeirr Ragnarrson,
Known to all as a prince of men,
Wielder of counsel, wise in speech.

Brave battle-tree of iron bone-house,
Tames the ravager, bane of wood,
Brings forth battle metal, man’s measure,
And rings to adorn the valiant of Tyr.

Fire-beater acclaimed by all,
Name him among the Sons of Ivaldi.
So says Brennan, Warder of the People,
And so says Caoilfhionn, Willow of Gold.

Done this day in A.S. L, at K&Q A&S Championships, in the Shire of Barren Sands."