Geoffrey Le Thressher - Silver Rapier

Even as one cannot make some composition of beautiful writings without employing the letters of the alphabet, so does it occur that this, the art of fencing: without its principle steps, one would have no foundation.  Geoffrey uses the footwork of practice, of study, and of the experience that earns, without which, one cannot move and advance.

Today We Majesties Matthew and Fiamuin, stand in the public hall of Rusted Woodlands, Our Royal Shire, with representatives of all the other places of Our ample dominion, The East Kingdom in this Year of Our Society, Fifty Nine.

And thus Geoffrey Thressher stands in possession of the Silver Rapier:

Argent, a chevron gules and in base a penguin affronty proper, on a chief gules three crosses crosslet fitchy argent

That which clearly represents how necessary, how useful, how honorable Geoffrey is using said disciplines, and how it was earned by him, by good habits and maximally in valor, in execution of his art.

Word Count 160

Calligraphy and illumination by Fiona O Maille

Photo by Fiona O Maille

Naturally, you must expect me to BLOG with Capo Ferro.

-Inigo Montoya

This began with a great conversation with the scribe, where they mentioned using the actual manuscript by Capo Ferro as the source. Which made my BLOG title a no brainer.
I got my hands on Great Representation of the Art of and Use of Fencing by Ridolofo Capoffero Translated by Jerek Swanger and William E Wilson Translated by Jerek Swanger and William E Wilson and began scouring the text to get a handle on how the language was used. 
I made judicious use of the first section: “Dedicated To the Most Serene Signore Don Francesco Maria Feltredella Rovere, sixth Duke Urbino”
With a few from particular plates further in the portfolio.

Even as one cannot make some composition of beautiful writings without employing the letters of the alphabet, so does it occur that this, the art of fencing: without its principle steps, one would have no foundation.  

Gotta love a 36 word sentence! When working within the strict and measured meters of the past it's nice to be able to stretch out and put an effusive amount of words into a scroll.

Much of this scroll is taken straight from the translated words of Capo Ferro himself.  He wrote so loquaciously it was appropriate to quote him as verbatim as I could.

“Even as one cannot make some composition of beautiful and judicious writings without employing the letters of the alphabet, so does it occur in this, Our art of fencing, that without the following….”

Geoffrey uses the footwork of practice, of study, and of the experience that earns, without which, one cannot move and advance.

Continuing the footwork theme throughout the scroll, while also expanding the praise of the recipient.

Today We Majesties Matthew and Fiamuin, stand in the public hall of Rusted Woodlands, Our Royal Shire, with representatives of all the other places of Our ample dominion, The East Kingdom in this Year of Our Society, Fifty Nine.

You can see how I adapted this quote from the dedication:
“...that it can stand alone in the public hall of your Royal Palace, and in the other public places of your ample Dominion…”

In this sort of format the spelling out of the Arabic numerals and eschewing the Latin in favor of writing the translation  of Anno Societatis seemed more appropriate for the scroll.  

And thus Geoffrey Thressher stands in possession of the Silver Rapier:

Argent, a chevron gules and in base a penguin affronty proper, on a chief gules three crosses crosslet fitchy argent

The recipient was referred to as Lord in two entries available on the EK wiki. I found one entry in Order of Precedence of the Kingdom of AEthelmearc by Order of March and by Alphabetical Order. They have no entry in the EK OoP. Their name and Arms had passed, via the East at the beginning  of 2024. This investigation process took up almost the same amount of time as the composition process.  There is a great deal of hidden work in the creation of the scroll, and it can end up falling on any participant of the process.
With all this in mind, even though their Golden Alce is an armigerous award, the scribe and myself deemed it appropriate to include the recipient’s Arms in the scroll. That and there is a penguin in their Arms. Who doesn’t want to put a penguin on a scroll?

That which clearly represents how necessary, how useful, how honorable Geoffrey is using said disciplines, and how it was earned by him, by good habits and maximally in valor, in execution of his art.

The conclusion is generally a reiteration of what the body of the scroll. In this scroll the final sentence is the summation.  No less effective, but definitely a different structure than I normally use. When read out loud this will be emphasized as the recipient receives the scroll.

This Was my first attempt at writing a fencing scroll directly from Capa Ferro.  Like so many geeks I can recite the fight scene from the Princess Bride by heart, but it is another thing to actually study what he wrote and his style. Definitely an experience worth having.