Evolution of SCA: wasDrunk and Dis.
Chris and Elisabeth Zakes
moondrgn at bga.com
Thu Dec 5 19:33:04 PST 1996
>
>Greetings!
>
>I'd like to take this conversation in a little different direction....
(snip)
>I had this question start kicking around my head during Ren Faire.I saw
>this photo album with events and people in it dateing back 10yrs or so. My
>first impression was "wow,look at how different everything was". So to you,
>the people of Ansteorra, I pose a query, how has the SCA changed since you
>joined? THe level of authenticety,the fighting, the arts, or just the
>"flavor" of events. How have these changed? Are we getting better?
>
>
>
>timo
Well laddie, I suppose things have changed a bit since I joined 21 years ago.
For example:
Heavy armor consisted of: a freon can helm, knee & elbow pads, a cup, and
maybe a kidney belt.
Events were a *lot* smaller. My first Steppes 12th Night was less than half
the size of last Bryn Gwlad Yule Revel.
Households were a much bigger deal.
Courtesy? Someone mentioned this on another post. I don't think the courtesy
level has lowered that much; there have been complaints about "people aren't
as courteous now, as they were when I joined" since about AS II.
Rapier combat was a couple of people off in a corner, poking at each other
with foils. They might even be wearing masks.
Vigils were much more like period vigils, instead of the "cocktail
reception" they've evolved into. For example, I recall Sir Balthasar
actually spending the night alone in his church before being knighted.
Renfair was a *much* bigger deal to the SCA than it is now. I kinda miss that.
Smoking marijuana was a lot more common at events. I don't miss *that* at all.
Marches of precedence were held at almost every court event.
There were only four kingdoms in the Known World.
I think there *was* more of a "party atmosphere" then. I can recall kissing
contests and "shapely leg contests", and such.
Bardic activites were *much* less formal. They usually meant folks sitting
around a fire singing, rather than competitions squeezed in between court
and feast and fighting.
A&S is *definitely* better; it's pretty impressive what our cumulative
research can produce.
The most common types of armor were chainmail, leather or carpet (depending
on your patience and/or finances. Plate was virtually unknown. (A year after
I joined, HRM Deaton of Atenveldt attended an event in Bjornsborg, wearing
plate leg armor. Some folks copied the pattern, and a couple of years later,
plate legs were common.)
Everybody pretty much knew everybody else. This started slipping around the
time we became a kingdom. (Probably because there were too many of us to
keep track of.)
Taverns (particularly the Blue Bottle) were a much bigger deal. This is
probably because you could actually fit most of the event *inside* one GP
medium tent.
-Tivar Moondragon
mastadon and fossil
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