The Blog Devoted to All Things Medieval; Weapons, Armor, Knights, Castles, Books and More ———–Never Give a Sword to a Man who can’t Dance - Old Celtic Saying
Being involved quite deeply in the medieval stuff and having a blog and several websites that are deeply involved in it means that I get a lot of email from shops and stores that sell renaissance and medieval clothing.
Now, this is great and it helps me to keep tabs on what is out there but for the most part none of them offer anything special. That is “for the most part”.
I got an email from one particular renaissance shop that also has a blog and I was really astonished at how good it really was. The clothing and accessories are high quality and superbly made. I am not really into the clothing aspect of the Renaissance, medieval period or LARPing but their selection is really high quality. I like it.
And, To take this a bit further they obviously have a love of the whole arena and it shows in their blog. Here are some sample posts they have:
Anyhoo, I am not affiliated with them in any way and I don’t know them but I very much approve of what they are doing. This is because we obviously share a passion here! So check them out:
Ever want to really have a renaissance and medieval experience? You might want to check out RenCon 2010 (Renaissance Convention). It is called “The Gathering of Guilds” and I really love this stuff. I just might go. I have some other trips planned for early this year but I might squeeze in a trip to this rencon.
It is a weekend event and here is how they describe it:
The RenCon weekend will include two magical nights of music and masquerades,
as well as three days of fascinating and informative themed panels, presentations and demonstrations by our special guests, and shopping in the Guild Hall for fine apparel, jewelry, accessories, crafts and art. RenCon Guests will also have the opportunity to
learn new skills at our RenCon Guild workshops
The event runs from Friday April 9th through Sunday April 11th and includes crafts and exhibits, a Medieval Masque Ball Ball on friday night and the Dark Carnevale on Saturday Night. Here is some information on the events that I have taken from their website:
The Medieval Masque: Tonight, we evoke a dramatic world lit only by fire, a realm of extreme polarities: darkness and light, life and death, honor and revenge, high thoughts
and bawdy humor. Come as lord or lady, knight or serf, wizard or commoner and raise a glass and dance to the music of the internationally acclaimed German medieval band, Estampie, in a very rare performance in the US.
The Dark Carnevale: Fog lifts from mythic canals, footsteps echo in ancient alleys, intoxicating music moves on the night air. Tonight, mystery and intrigue reign, elaborate masks obscure identities, monsters and magicians roam, fantastic costumes cloak forms and no one is whom they appear to be. Through the doorway rings the sensual music of
the German gothic band, Qntal, transporting you to ecstatic heights as you dance with
your mysterious partner into the midnight hour.
Do you have expertise in use of or history of Scimitars?
I have been contacted by someone working on a project for an A list media company. This is a for a film project and they are looking for someone who has scimitar expertise. They contacted me but I really don’t have that kind of expertise and I thought maybe someone out there might. So, if you have some expertise with them you can either submit a comment or send me a message and I will get put you in touch with the person who inquired.
Now I don’t think this is any kind of a paid gig but I really think it might be a nice opportunity to have some fun and who knows, depending on how much expertise they are looking for, maybe you would get a film credit
This past weekend I took a trip to King Richards Faire. It is a renaissance style faire that has been around for almost thirty years now. I haven’t been there in a while and it was pretty much the same as I remember it. I drank a little mead, held a few swords and watched a great joust in the arena. They put on a good show and it made for a nice Sunday. I got back in time to watch the Patriots steamroll the Cowboys. Anyhoo, I have put together a photo gallery on the stormthecastle.net website if you want to take a look. You also can sign up and post any of your own pictures to the gallery.
Here is a video of a massive battle of Armored Soldiers at the Yearly Pennslyvania meeting of the Society of Creative Anachronism.
Last night I attended my first meeting of the local chapter of the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) and it was a real blast.
If you aren’t familiar with the SCA they are an organization that studies all aspects of medieval life during the middle ages. At the top of this post is a video of a two groups of knights engaging in battle and it’s pretty cool but you have to understand that fighting in armor is just one small aspect of what the SCA is about. They are all about everything in the middle ages and they have a very active schedule in a lot of things including Study and Reproduction of Sieges, warfare, Fencing, Brewing, Fiber Arts, Blacksmithing, Tailoring and well everything.
So if there is a particular aspect of Medieval Life that you are interested in the SCA will have something for you.
About the Appeal of experiencing Medieval Life
I have given some serious thought to why I like Medieval things and at the meeting last night I asked other people the same question and I think it comes down to two very simple things.
Simplicity and Richness
We live in very complex times. Everything is piped into us at the speed of light and there isn’t a person in this world that doesn’t want things to slow down a bit. This is where the allure of the middle ages comes in. I think it was a simpler time but simpler isn’t a negative. It is a big positive because it came with a richness. The Middle ages weren’t a time where people spend all their time lounging around underneath trees and hanging out in pubs. There was a richness to life in those times and this richness came from the variety of things they did from arts, crafts, tailoring, blacksmithing, combat, architecture, food and so much more.
It was simple and rich. For me there is a deep enrichment in taking my time and brewing some mead, building some armor, telling stories around a campfire, and many other simple but rich things.
I really think that the experiences within the SCA bring people closer to what we all as human beings are supposed to experience in life. Seriously! Is it better as a human being to play a pixellated knight in a video game or to actually pick up a wooden sword and actually face off against somebody?
If you want to learn more about the SCA or find a chapter local to you check out their website: http://www.sca.org
This past weekend I took a trip to King Richards Faire. It is a renaissance style faire that has been around for almost thirty years now. I haven’t been there in a while and it was pretty much the same as I remember it. I drank a little mead, held a few swords and watched a great joust in the arena. They put on a good show and it made for a nice Sunday. I got back in time to watch the Patriots steamroll the Cowboys. Anyhoo, I have put together a photo gallery on the stormthecastle.net website if you want to take a look. You also can sign up and post any of your own pictures to the gallery.