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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (June 28, 2011)
community Storming the Castle continued from front page ing a persona provides a focus for the participant when learning about the cul- ture of their interest. It narrows down the field for research. “About half the a sense of what these guys do for fun on their weekends. (Yes, they aren’t com- pletely stuck in the Middle Ages and do use the internet.) “It’s full con- tact and not cho- reographed,” notes Pittman about the battles. Morello mentioned that these are usually not re-enactments of actual historical bat- tles—instead each group comes up with their own tac- tics and strategies for a battle. “Typi- cally the group that has the better tactics and the fighters that know how to use those tactics will win,” says Morello. Some of these large annual events will include thousands of fighters on each side. The SCA, as stated before, is an international organization with a multi- includes Oregon, Washington, North- ern Idaho and all of Western Canada. Their Shire, called Dragon’s Mist covers Washington County and has over 100 active members. The legal representative of each branch is called the Seneschal; Morello, or if you prefer O’Briain, is the Sene- schal for Dragon’s Mist. There is also a King and Queen of each Kingdom. This position is most- ly ceremonial and is earned on the field of battle—the winner of the bi-annual hand-to-hand combat competition holds the royalty position for the six months following their coronation. Men and women compete against each other--if a woman were to win the tournament she would be named Queen in her own right and her consort would be her King; if a man wins he is the King and his consort SCA members enjoying a feast. is his Queen. people look to their own ancestry to try As you can see, it’s all a bit to re-create their own history when they complex and complicated and believe create their persona,” says Morello. me, there is much, much more. Suffice The genealogy they create can it to say that these folks take this pretty be very intricate and detailed. “They seriously, and yet seem to have a lot of give really good reasons why they own fun while doing it. They hold weekly the equipment they practices, regular have and dress the meetings and events, way they do,” adds travel to participate Morello. in other branches ac- The event tivities and learn in- that will be held in teresting and practi- Vernonia will be the cal skills. Awards are Dragon’s Mist an- given for exemplary nual tournament and work in research, include a large feast, mastery of skills and a Bardic competition volunteerism. “The that includes song, level of mastery or re- dance, and other per- search will determine formances, activities the level of recogni- and competitions for tion they receive,” youth, some eques- explains Morello. trian events, a large “Honestly, the best campfire at night, part about being part and of course, some of this group, for me, good old fashioned is watching other peo- combat, which will ple be recognized for Fencers wait for instructions for their competition. include heavily ar- their hard work.” mored combat, period fencing, and tar- -layered governmental structure. Like At events, a minimum standard get archery. Their Arts and Sciences we live in the United States, in the State for attendance is an “attempt at pre-17th competition for Defender will be held at of Oregon, in Columbia or Washington century clothing.” Morello and Pittman a different event later in the year. County, and in a town; very basically, referenced the “ten foot rule”-- “If it In addition to one-on-one fight- SCA members are part of a Kingdom, looks real at ten feet, that’s acceptable,” ing, they also hold what are called skir- which is broken into smaller branch- says Morello. “Some semblance of ef- mishes or wars—large groups of people es called Principalities, Baronies and fort is all we really require.” fighting each other. “It is chaos!” says Shires. Each level has a governmental Participants in Period Fencing Pittman. “That’s what I like to do. It’s a structure that runs the administrative often study and practice the techniques lot of fun.” functions—finance, safety, new mem- they have learned by researching fenc- If any of this is starting to sound bers, arranging for classes in the arts and ing Masters. Archery is done without interesting, especially the part about sciences, logistics at events and more. the use of modern compound bows. The combat, you might want to hop on You There are nineteen Kingdoms armor is often made of metal and leath- Tube and search for SCA. Plenty of vid- worldwide. Morello and Pittman re- er. Training is provided for the hand-to- eos will be available where you can get side in the Kingdom of An Tir, which continued on page 19 Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner ✥ Outdoor patio seating ✥ Rotating beer on tap ✥ Open daily at 6 AM ✥ Happy Hour ✥ Free Wi-Fi ✥ Stop by this Summer s ✥ All new state-of-the-art espresso machine ath Health Se rv al P r i tu ce The Black Bear & Bear Creek Pub Owned and Operated by Don & Kim Wallace 11 2011 Na lously researched and created for these weekend events. They will compete in martial activities like armored com- bat, target archery and fencing; display their skills in period arts, sciences and crafts like weaving and spinning, cooking, needlework, and leatherworking; and regale each other with song, dance, storytell- ing, poetry and literature reading. All this will be done as authentically as possible, based on re- search participants have done into life during the Middle Ages—the sev- enth through the seven- teenth centuries. Me? I am really just a lowly scribe work- ing for Vernonia’s Voice, eating a grilled cheese sandwich with french fries and gathering information for a newspaper article. For members of the SCA, the re-creation of medieval times is a very serious hobby. They are in sense ama- teur historians, and some of them are real historians. “We are an educational society,” explains Morello. “Our prima- ry focus is on re-creation and research. Everything we do—our combat, arts and sciences and performances—are based on research.” These folks don’t own a boat and go fishing every weekend, race a stock car at the dirt track on Friday nights, or play on a softball team in tournaments and then go drink beer at the local pub. No, these folks don chain mail, helmets and shields, learn and practice ancient forms of swordsmanship, spend hours and hours doing research to un- cover long lost information about food recipes and how to create clothing in tra- ditional styles using period techniques and hold in their own style of tourna- ments--on a battle field with swords and other weapons to crown their royalty and champions. Unlike a Renaissance Faire, the SCA is participatory—no one is simply a spectator. All the attendees play a part, helping create an atmosphere by reen- acting aspects of the Middle ages that are of interest to them. That’s why they create the elaborate personas for them- selves—it makes it more real when they enter an event and leave modern times behind. About these personas--because the scope of the SCA is so broad, span- ning a thousand years in history, choos- june28 Dr. Carol McIntyre Naturopathic & Chinese Medicine 503.481.4096 cccmnd@yahoo.com naturalpathhealthservices.com 831 Bridge St . (503)-429-0214 786 Bridge Street Vernonia, OR, 97064
