Fergus Redmead - The Consort’s Cypher

 Be it known to all assembled and to those far and wide, that our Fergus Redmead, who stands before you today, gives a wealth of time, toil and sweat for Us, and would perform any task on behalf of Our wondrous Queen, Avelina.  
The countless hours Fergus spends in pursuit of funds for our reign are as precious as silver or gold. Without such capital We could not be the capitol of the East, nor travel the length and breadth of the Kingdom visiting you, Our beloved subjects. It takes a special species of man to raise such specie, and it is proper that the wages of such an endeavor should be the recognition we bestow upon him today.
 
Thus do We, Queen Avelina Keys,  Sovereign of the glorious East, treasure those who provide the solid foundation upon which we stand. We therefore present upon Our Lord Fergus Redbeard the Queen's Cypher. 
Done this first day of October, anno Societatis 51 at Our last court at the Coronation of Brion and Anna in Our Barony of Bergental.

Word Count 177

Calligraphy and Illumination by Triona MacCasky

Note: The Consort’s Cypher was previously known as the Queen’s Cypher

Unofficial Court Report: Last Court of Brennan Ri and Caoilfhionn Banri

Conn Rosendubh - Silver Brooch

 We wood point out one Conn Rosendubh. Who picked up his hammer and saw the needs of his Barony. 
Threading people together through a love of Lucet.
He sued awl doubters with the beauty of his Leatherwork
With more than a grain of sense, he has struck the right timber through his passions.
The unvarnished truth is that We see an empty spot in Our Order of the Silver Brooch.  
Today, would have Conn Rosendubh fill it.
Crafted this day, October 7th, AS 52 at the First Court at the Coronation Of Ivan Ivanov syn Dimitriov vynuk Tzardikov and Matilde de Cadenet in the  Barony of Settmour Swamp.

Word Count 96

This BLOG nailed it!!!

This was a joint adventure with Aesa Sturludottir.  I based the drawing on De Mulieribus claris, 1473. I used Winsor & Newton Black India Ink on architecture paper, not an artist's paper.  After this scroll I no longer use it.

For the words, I chose to go for all sorts of woodworking puns in keeping with the items he created that contributed toward his Silver Brooch.

Wentlyanna Bengrek - Silver Rapier

We great Khan, Kaiser and King, Ioannes Aurelius Serpentius
And his Consort, Czarina and Crowned-Queen Ro Honig von Sommerfeldt
Their Imperial Majesties of the Magnificent Manors of the East
Look for those that have the wherewithal to work, with wisdom and war.

All the arts of altercation are ancillary to our auspices
Forward to those fields, we have followed one Wentlyanna Benegrek
Teaching, training and fighting with truculence.

Her passion for the progeny of the East is previously known to us
We have seen her temper that devotion and turn it toward fencing
Teaching tots the trade of flashing blades,

She has travelled toward home and far throughout our terrain
Seeking to study at sundry masters’ sides.
Honing her handicraft in hall and heat of battle

Wentlyanna is fervorous on the field, a fear to her foes.
She marshals and maintains order without mendacity
Attending to her affiliates and adolescents on the acreage of battle

At Our indulgence, we include Wentlyanna Benegrek in the
Order of the Silver Rapier

Done this day June 3rd AS 52, in the Barony of Bhakail
At the Bhakail Investiture and K&Q Rattan

Wordcount 190

BLATHER

I was delighted to find out that my friend Wentlyanna was getting this award. I happened to know that she was focusing on her work in the fending community and hoped that this would please her.

Previously, I was the wordsmith for her Court Barony and I was delighted for another opportunity to write more words for her.  

The subjects I chose to emphasize were her prowess on the field, Youth Fencing, and willingness to travel to teach and play.

I chose to do it in Beowulf’s alliterative text. I did not give myself any limit on the syllables per line and it shows.  This is one of my wordier ones.

Thankfully the Illuminator/Scribe, Æsa Sturludottir  was able to accommodate the ton of words that I used.

The award was given out at Bhakail Investiture and K&Q Rattan Champions

Matthias von Würzburg: Silver Wheel

Emperor Ioannes and Empress Honig,
Masters of the Moon and the Sun,
Which shine their light with joy;
The stars that maintain their courses,
The clouds that bear the showers of rain
And the waters that pour downwards;
The fields that adorn themselves with flowers,
The forest that is covered with foliage;
The beasts that live according to their kind
And the song of the birds that is beautiful.
Everything that has order on the material plane.
Yet there is another plane in which We exist
The Aether Realms that reach beyond the mortal scope.
Trawling through the stars for abstracts,
Fraught experiments that are recorded and shared;
Documents with access across this unsubstantial plane,
Communal knowledge accessible to all
That reports knowledge to Us and all Our populace.
Those that record Our communication, and Our lore.
That We are capable only of being what We are, and We see that
Our Matthias von Würzburg has been working most diligently,
Directing, maintaining and sustaining Our AEther Realms for Us;
Let Us now take this excellent man to the Order of the Silver Wheel.
Done this day at the Spring Coronation of Ioannes and Honig
On April, the First, Anno Societatis LI,
in the Barony of Dragonship Haven

Calligraphy and Illumination by Triona MacCasky 
Silver Wheel for Matthias von Würzburg
Based on the The Annolied or Song of Anno, an 11th-century poem in Early Middle High German.
Given at the Spring Coronation of Iones and Honig

Two Tyger's Combatants

I was approached by Lady Magdalena Lantfarerin, also called Magdalena the migrant, to write up two Tyger's Combatants. Her artwork can be found here, at https://www.facebook.com/TheArtofHintz/

She had received the assignments, but there wasn't much personal information available for the recipients and neither of us knew them personally. We did however, know the time period of the gentles receiving the awards. With that in mind we strove to make the scrolls as accurate as we could to their personas.

The first one I worked on was for Galvyn Lockhart. The Order of the Tyger's Combatant is an Order of High Merit, often know as a Kingdom Level Award. The OTC is given to gentles for excellence in armed combat. With the subject in hand and a general idea of what I was going to do I set down to go to work.

His persona was listed as 14th Century, English. Which firmly puts him in the era of Chaucerian England and all the rhyming couplets that that contains. I enjoy witting in rhyming couplets and it seems that I am garnering a reputation for executing them with aplomb.

One of the other few pieces of information I had was that the gentle was a former King of Acre. A group similar enough to the SCA that we consider them as distant cousins to us. I wanted to represent some of his past history in the scroll but was unsure what to do. I reached out an contacted the current Tyger Clerk of the Signet: Master Nataliia Anastasiia Evgenova for suggestions as how to represent this in the wordsmithing.

Master Nataliia suggested phrasing the reference as "A distant cousin of ours, once sitting on the throne of Acre." and gave me permission to us it in the scroll. Not for nothing, but I was rather proud of rhyming Acre with Nacre. As far as we could find, it appeared as if Galvyn Lockhart did not have any registered Arms. I was in a bit of quandary, as having no idea what he would want his arms to be nor the eventual heraldic language that would describe them, I had no way to make the Latin rhyme. I left a space for them to be written in between a rhyming couplet. That was the best compromise that I could come up with. I also left a note for the herald who would be reading this out in court. What is actually written is: "Today with weather most varied, We Grant him the right to bear these arms:

****SPACE FOR ARMS***

That he can wear with strength and vigor, gained without the use of mystic charms."


The note for the herald instructs them to drop the word "these" from the first line of the couplet while reading it out loud in court. A subtle difference but I believe the nuance of the language would be appreciated. By including "these," there is an implication that a description of the arms was to follow. By omission, it could be read in aloud in court without hinting that anything was missing.


Galvyn Lockhart's Order of the Tyger's Combatant


King Brion, Fulcrum for contenders in these bounteous Eastern Lands,
Queen Anna, Inspiration and support for all who work with their hands.

We have heard of A distant cousin of ours, who once sat on the throne of Acre,
Galvyn Lockhart’s name is heard, whispers on the aimr, like a shimmer on nacre.

A fighter skilled in the ways of shield and sword, great sword, and axe,
A gentle known in battle for being steadfast, having his fellows' backs

His prowess at handling the hilt of his weapon of choice has been noted,
He has been seen at tourneys, battles and challenges, a warrior most devoted.

Today we have decreed that Our Galvyn Lockhart is to to receive,
All accolades the Order of the Tyger’s Combatant is due, by Our leave.

Today with weather most varied, We Grant him the right to bear these arms:

****SPACE FOR ARMS***

That he can wear with strength and vigor, gained without the use of mystic charms.

Done this day, March 25th in Our Barony of Settmour Swamp
At the event called Mudthaw, with all due circumstance and pomp!






The second scroll recipient of the Tyger's Combatant was Joachim Liechtenauwer. I received a lot of information about his prowess on the field, and that he has a German persona, but again, not very much that was personal. My first step was to discover if he has an East Kingdom Wiki page, which he did, and that let me know his time period and that he considers himself of the Teutonic Order. That was enough to get me going.

I looked up any poetry in Germany of that time and found a few translations of works, largely on Wikipedia. The works didn't appear to have any particular standardized structure, such as rhyming couplets of iambic pentameter. With the cadence of the few English translations I found in mind, I dug into the work.

I decided on 4 line stanzas and made sure to include all the information needed in a scroll.

Joachim Liechtenauwer's Order of the Tyger's Combatant

Behold!
The sun had made its circuits yet again and on the very day
Of this annual gathering to see if the mud has thawed,
Do we, Illustrious King Brion and Glorious Queen Ana, who sit on high,
Look and see the man called Joachim Liechtenauwer.

His valour upon the fields of war has made fighters tremble before him.
Yet, when the blood returns to their hearts
It becomes clear to all that Joachim has endured many hardships,
That make him stronger and more generous for them.

A noble man, not unskilled in yielding to those more expert,
his agile mind is able to learn and overcome the pain of error,
He does not despair, nor does his countenance fall; instead,
He has learned and grown and blossomed into his gallantry.

Upon Our commanded, Joachim Liechtenauwer is brought to Us
And, as he has come, he has been told about these causes;
Then, give unto him that which is more than before;
Today he is become a member of the Tygers Combatant!

From aforementioned effort We decree he deserves this High Merit.
We have declared this matter to be settled to all and none may sunder it.
Here in the open, of March the 25th in the damp fields of Mudthaw
In the Barony of Settmour Swamp, Anno Societatis Fifty One.



For both of these scrolls Lord Arthur le Taverner was my Beta.

Muirghaill O'Riein - Silver Brooch

King Brion and Queen Anna hath heard of Our accomplished Muirgheall O’Riein.
A woman of valour who can find? For her price is far above rubies.
The heart of her Kingdom doth safely trust in her, and We hath no lack of gain.
She doeth The East good and not evil all the days of her life.
She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.

We perceiveth that her merchandise is good; her lamp goeth not out by night.
She layeth her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle.
She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.
She maketh for the populace brightly dyed pysanky eggs, covered in scarlet and purple,
She bestoweth honor upon her household, when teaching these ancient skills with devotion.

She maketh linen garments and bestows them; and delivereth girdles unto her loves.
Strength and dignity are her clothing; and she laugheth at the time to come.
She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and the law of kindness is on her tongue.
She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
Her works bring her praise and honor from all who meet her.

Grace she attains, and knows beauty is pain; this woman that makes the East more knowledgeable and fair.
Give her of the fruit of Our Hands; and let Murighall be lauded this day as she joins the Order of the Silver Wheel.
She recieveth Our plaudits this day, the 28th of January at A Market Day at Birka XXVII! in the  Barony of Stonemarche

Blather for Bloggy Goodness
Lady Muirgheall O'Riein is one of my closest friends. It was a privilege and a joy to be able to write these words.  Being in  the sca for decades, she has been working on her Norse-Irish persona for many years, and her garb is impeccable.  She has researched Dublin/Jorvik caps, coifs and other head coverings.  She has even been known to hand-sew them for her own use with handmade needles. Her knowledge of Norse culture during our period is extensive.

 She also displays a passion for Pysanky eggs.  Pysanky eggs are the art of wax-resist (batik) egg decoration in Slavic cultures, an art form that can be found as early as the 11th and 12th centuries.
Muirgheall has recreated the earliest known extant egg, copying the dying material and techniques of the era. She has also used slightly more modern techniques to create incredible works of art for herself and others.  She has even created award “scrolls” out of goose eggs -- the most recent of which I believe went to a Laurel in Northshield.  Her work is exquisite and makes the world around her that much more bright.
I needed to put all of that into the  words for a scroll.
I worked with Lady Æsa Sturludottir for this project.  Æsa was concentrating on suiting the calligraphy font and the style of illumination to Muirgheall's persona.  That of an early Irish Woman living in 11th century Ireland. In particular I love how Æsa put Muirghaill’s arms and the award design in egg shapes instead of the standard shield shape.  Eggs are so pivotal to her art.
I have known Muirghaill for ages, and I know one of  her favorite poems from the Old Testament is Proverbs Chapter 31.
When I base a scroll off of a particular work or poem, I treat it as if it is a “filk” of the piece.  I try to keep as much of the original piece while at the same time making sure it contains the relevant information that the award scroll needs and enough references to the gentle that I am writing it for.
In this case it was easier than most.  Proverbs 31 could have been written about Muirghaill in a mundane sense and the archaic language that was used lent itself to an award scroll easily.
This was a very wordy scroll, coming in at almost 300 words.  Thankfully Aesa indulged me and with a shared love for Murighall, went to work on this very heavily worded scroll.
The scroll went out at BIRKA 2017-01-27.

Birka Unofficial Court Report

Photo by Aislinn Chiabach

Photo be Brendon Crane

Photo by Breddon Crane