Rhys Aiden Bifjord - Court Barony (Backlog)

Wilhelm and Vienna erudite Majesties East, have heard of A Proverb Against Procrastination:

-The procrastinator puts off purpose,

never initiates anything marvelous,

never succeeds, and dies alone.

-The late-deed-doer delays glory-striving,never indulges daring dreams, never succeeds, and dies alone.

-Often the deed-dodger avoids ventures, never succeeds, and dies alone.

Rhys Aiden Bifjord is before us today and a procrastinator he is not:

-Rhys is proactive, has purpose. 

Initiating ideas, securing locations. 

Is marvelous successful. 

Embodies the East 

-Rhys is an early-deed do-er

Dares to dream of places his Barony will go. Runs successful events, 

Embodies the East 

-If ever there is a Deed Dodger, Rhys is the opposite. 

Works hard  on any venture started. Is filled with success for his Barony and Kingdom

He will not die alone for We recognize his purpose, his deeds, his service. 

Rhys Aiden Bifjord Embodies the East. 

To show to the Kingdom what We already know, today We make him a Baron of Our Court!

At Bjorn's Ceilidh/Baronial Investiture

October 27th, A.S. LII

 Wordcount 171 

Illumination and Calligraphy by Sitt al-Gharb ha-niqret Khazariyya (Raven) 

Photo by Sitt al-Gharb ha-niqret Khazariyya (Raven) 

"You may delay, but time will not BLOG." 
- Benjamin Franklin (allegedly)

The Scroll was given to the recipient at Bjorn's Ceilidh/Baronial Investiture, 2028.  As seen in the EK Gazette: Court report: Bjorn's Ceilidh/Baronial Investiture. 

It became a backlog scroll and I received the assignment around July of 2022.

I was thrilled to get the chance to work on it. I have known The Recipient for over twenty years.  While he does have a Celtic Isles persona, I found myself looking up some early poems and proverbs.  I landed upon  A Proverb from Winfred's Time anonymous Old English poem, circa 757-786. Loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

As I read the poem, my first thought was that Rhys was none of these things! Then with the idea of the debate poem as found in the Owl and the Nightingale and the style of the Confessions of St Augustine  came to mind. With their examples of comparing and contrasting I thought why not use the translation of the poem in the actual scroll to show the recipient’s direct differences!

Much of the required pieces of information were included en masse in the beginning of the scroll. With the inclusion of the original verbatim, and then retraction of below it I didn;t want to incorporate the required information into the story being told. 

Following the formula of the end of verse of “never succeeds  and dies alone” and then changed it to “Embodies the East”. The focus of this piece supported the translated poem and the original part that counteracts it.
I made the decision not to try and put it into Old English syllable count, and just follow the translated material.  Finding translations or even copies of the original proved to be too much for my google search capabilities.

This Backlog was a joy to write! I am very satisfied with how it came out and happy to work with a scribe willing to indulge my wordiness. Much gratitude to the scribe for giving me the opportunity to write this.

ETA 

As of 03/18/2023 the original Scribe informed me they were unfortunately unable to complete the scroll due to life and had returned it to the signet. 

ETA…Again

Scroll was given to Sitt al-Gharb ha-niqret Khazariyya (Raven) And given to the recipient at the Baronial court of 05/24/2026 at Wars of the Roses XLVI

 

Photo by Aislinn Chiabach

Photo by Aislinn Chiabach

Photo by Aislinn Chiabach

Geirdis Geirhardadottir - Ordo Cygni (Drachenwald Backlog)

On this day, does the King and Queen of Drachenwald, Krake and Beatrix, offer praise to Their bright and accomplished subject, one Geirdis Geirhardadottir.

There are such items that have been brought to Us that We find too numerous to list in whole for the Court shall be regaled for eons. However some attention shall be drawn toward her lectures, instruction and dedication to the arts of the herbalist. Her whimsy and sense of entertainment found in games taught and produced. Such curiosities, dedication and sacrifice all point Us to the following conclusion:

That We, with the counsel and advice of the sages of the realm, Grant unto Geirdis Geirhardadottir the Ordo Cygni at this Midsummer Coronation, in the Shire of Adflumen Caerulum, this 21st of June, A.S. LX

Word Count 128

Illumination and Calligraphy Unknown at this time

Scroll Image unavailable

Tis a gift to be simple, tis a gift to be BLOG

Chiba Touta Yoshitaki - Silver Brooch

Chiba Touta Yoshitaki:

In the cold sunshine 

Now is he brought before Us 

And the people of the East 

His visage stands out 

The sun haloing his kit 

Embodies the Silver Brooch 

As conferred today 

By Royals Brennan and Caoilfhionn 

At this, Their Ducal Challenge 

In the Settmour Swamp, 

Baronial quagmire 

During ng AS 53

Wordcount 55

Calligraphy and Illumination by Octavia Verita

Key - Katauta (early form of Tanka/Waka)
Syllable count - 5,7,7

Chiba Touta Yoshitaki

5 in the cold sunshine 

7 Now is he brought before Us 

7 And the people of the East 

5 His visage stands out 

7 The sun haloing his kit 

7 Embodies the Silver Brooch 

5 As conferred today 

7 By Royals Brennan and Caoilfhionn 

7 At this, Their Ducal Challenge 

5 in the Settmour Swamp, 

7 Baronial quagmire 

7 during AS 53

This post under construction 

Isabel del Okes - silver brooch

Brennan & Caoilfhionn great rulers

Watch the East’s most intense duellers 

Now they’re set to acclaim those in 

The Arts of the Eastern Kingdom

Books belong in the hearth and hutch,

Good things you can ne’er have to much

Those with the talent to make them 

Deserve plaudits for this wisdom

The Silver Brooch for whose skills praised 

Isabel del Okes, now ranks raised

On September 8th’s raucous din
As the Ducal Challenge does spin

In the year AS 53

In Settmour Swamp’s Barony

Word count 83

KEY RAINBOW - Rhymed Couplets

Brennan & Caoilfhionn great rulers

Watch the East’s most intense duellers 

Now they’re set to acclaim those in 

The Arts of the Eastern Kingdom

Books belong in the hearth and hutch,

Good things you can ne’er have to much

Those with the talent to make them 

Deserve plaudits for this wisdom

The Silver Brooch for whose skills praised 

Isabel del Okes, now ranks raised

On September 8th’s raucous din

As the Ducal Challenge does spin

In the year AS 53

In Settmour Swamp’s Barony

BLOG COMING SOON

Naran Numuchi - Fountain (Atlantia)

Naran Numuchi's acclaimed and adored   

And shows preference toward arrows over sword

He’s been seen getting plaiting crafts begun

Threading string to a multitude of chord

Today His Majesty the King Cuán

With his Queen Signy under the bright sun 

That shines over Our Atlantian views. 

The Fountain is earned, and so it is done

At Coronation, AS 52 

In Border Vale Keep his esteem accrues 

We are pleased that he receives this award 

October 7th, We'll ever enthuse 

Wordcount 79

VERSE STRUCTURE COLOR KEY

AABA
BBCB

CCAC

A Naran Numuchi's acclaimed and adored   

A And shows preference toward arrows over sword

B He’s been seen getting plaiting crafts begun

A Threading string to a multitude of chord

B Today His Majesty the King Cuán

B With his Queen Signy under the bright sun 

C That shines over Our Atlantian views. 

B The Fountain is earned, and so it is done

C At Coronation, AS 52 

C In Border Vale Keep his esteem accrues 

A We are pleased that he receives this award 

C  October 7th, We'll ever enthuse 

INTERKINGDOM SHENANIGANS, BLOG-STYLE!!!

This is the second time I've gotten to sink my teeth into the Rubáiyát Quatrain. The scribe Hua Meilan put out a call for a wordsmith familiar with Persian writing in the 12th to 13th century. In 2020 I had written a Maunche scroll in the Rubáiyát Quatrain, by the poet Rūmī of 13th century Persia, and I was delighted to have the opportunity to work with this verse form again! 

This was my first scroll written for a different kingdom, as well as a backlog scroll.  Backlogs usually take a bit of research to find all the information required, but on the other hand, the deadline pressure is much less.  I had the award, the recipient and the event date. Thankfully, the recipient had a wonderfully full and detailed SCAdian Wiki entry. The Atlantia Kingdom Wiki and the Atlantian Order of Precedence page for awards were also an enormous help.   The Fountain is a non armerigious award, specifically for service to the kingdom.  The only note I had on why they received it was that they had, “made 100 kumii cords for kingdom awards.”

 

With that information at hand and my writing form chosen, I set to work.

I set up the page with my rhyme guide, and started filling in the blanks. I’d write one sentence, look up a number of rhymes, and start playing with the following sentences. It's like working on a jigsaw puzzle with words, and often I'd have to throw out completed sentences in favor of another rhyme.

I confirmed the pronunciation of the name of His Majesty Cuán ends in an “un” sound, which allowed me to use Sun/done/none as appropriate rhymes.

For the line where I named the award I originally used:

The Fountain is earned, above and bar none! 

However, something about “bar none” struck me as off. I decided that a side quest was in order to learn more about the phrase.

The wiktionary link didn’t give me the history of the phrase. Another source indicated the phrase was derived from stories of the American West of the 1800s, but had no citations to back that up. Writing Explained, and the Language Log indicated the first use of "bar none” was in a Victorian era novel.

 
Now, while I have used the occasional Victorian era words in scrolls, I try hard to avoid them, and so I chose the phrase, “and so it’s done.” That meant I had to go back and change two earlier lines. It takes a lot of juggling to get the rhymes and language choices to line up on the ephemeral paper.

A Naran Numuchi's acclaimed and adored   

A And shows preference toward arrows over sword

B He's been noticed getting plaiting crafts done 

He’s been seen getting plaiting crafts begun

A Threading string to a multitude of chord

B Today His Majesty the King Cuán

B With his Queen Signy under the bright sun 

C that shines over Our Atlantian views. 

B The Fountain is earned, above and bar none! 

And so it is done!

So my Second foray into the Rubáiyát Quatrain did not produce new research into the verse form itself - but I did get to compose a piece for a different Kingdom and examine and research the history of my own language. Totally a win, in my book!