NEW TOPIC! "Great Books for the SCA Tradition"

Heidi J Torres hjt at tenet.edu
Tue Jun 10 20:23:03 PDT 1997


Greetings from Mari!

On Tue, 10 Jun 1997 Mjccmc01 at aol.com wrote:

What books do you view as vital reading
> for "cultured, educated" SCA members?  Include both period and non-period
> works, and try to strive for works that have a somewhat broad scope (i.e.,
> "costuming"as opposed to "techniques of finishing sleeve hems in East
> Slovonia during the Great Famine of 1132.")  Don't forget to include
> literature.  So, pick a book (or several) and defend your choice.

OK, I'll take up that gauntlet.  Let me have a look at my bookshelves....

Basics (books I recommend to anyone interested in SCA, recreation, 
history, etc.)  These tend to be very readable and open certain grimy 
windows that our often Victorian ideals of the Middle Ages often leave 
curtained.

_History Laid Bare_, Richard Zaks:  This covers antiquity to the modern 
age.  This book is comprised of contemporary accounts of love, sex and 
other bizarre practices through the ages.  Especially valuable for such 
historical tidbits as one of the Popes (a "bad Pope" one must assume) 
buying a thriving high-class brothel from the deposed Queen of Naples, 
the various penances for practices which society generally thinks of as 
normal, and accounts of the trials and executions of some men and the 
animals they loved....yes, both of them.  Good history, and highly 
entertaining.

_The Medieval Underworld_, Andrew McCall:  Great description of the 
evolution of medieval law from Roman and barbarian laws, church law, and 
the groups of people who broke them all: mercenaries, outlaws, 
prostitutes, thieves (there really was a Thieves Guild in France! -- and 
you thought that was only in fantasy games....), homosexuals, Jews, etc.  
A *must* for every medievalist's library.

_Eyewitness to History_, John Carey, ed.  Along the same lines of 
_History Laid Bare_, a collection of contemporary accounts of historical 
events, from an eyewitness account to the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius up to 
the Mai Lai massacre in Vietnam.  Includes such medieval gems as an 
account of the 1381 Peasants' Revolt in England, the Battle of Crecy, the 
murder of Thomas a Becket and memoirs of the Inquisition.

_Sex in History_ and _Food in History_, by Reay Tannahill.  Both 
excellent books, not restricted to the medieval and Renaissance period.  
You can learn alot about the world views of various times and cultures -- 
and about people -- by investigating a couple of the basic needs and 
desires of humanity.

Period Specific Books

_The World of the Celts_, by Simon James.  The best all-around book on 
early Celtic life and culture I've seen.  Great illustrations, including 
photographs of a recreated Celtic farmstead and animals which have been 
"bred back" to an approximation of their period forebearers.

Period Books (not in chronological order)

The Icelandic Sagas, esp, _Egil's Saga_ and _Njal's Saga_.  Snorri 
Sturleson wrote _Egil's Saga_ and his writing "voice" is still strong 
across the ages.  I personally enjoy the style of _Egil's..._ more than 
_Njal's_, but _Njal's Saga_ is the quintessential Icelandic saga.  Both 
are must-reads, in my humble opinion, Viking persona or no.

Other entertaining ones: _Erbygja Saga_ -- lots of ghosts!; _Orkneyinga 
Saga_ -- the history of the settlement of the Orkneys.  Some good poetry, 
interesting characters and just plain wierdness here and there; _Laxdaela 
Saga_, another classic; and the Vinland Sagas, if only for Freydis, one of 
the meanest she-dogs in the Viking World.

_The Decamaron_, by Boccaccio:  Chaucer based the style of his 
"Canterbury Tales" on this gem of literature, but there's loads more 
stories.  Also, they're not in poetic form so they might be easier for 
one to read.  They are, in a word, hilarious.  Incredibly enjoyable and 
magnificent (as well as underused) fodder for story-tellers, 
entertainers, dramatists, etc.  You will learn more about medieval life, 
manners, world view and sense of humor than anywhere else.

_The Epigrams of Martial_ (by Martial, of course): evil gleanings from 
one of the sharpest wits in Rome -- I think of him as an ill-tempered 
Oscar Wilde in a toga.  Enjoy the readings, and be glad he isn't alive 
and in the SCA today......or maybe not.....

_The Metamorphoses_, by Ovid (Publius Ovidius Nasso).  Ovid's renderings 
of many of the Greek myths which became implanted in Roman culture and 
thus, into ours.

*Side Note*  Medieval and Renaissance culture (and our own culture, until 
very recently, alas) was a melange of Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian 
"myth" and legend.  Most of the literature of our recreation period is 
profoundly influenced by this.  To get a real grip on what authors and 
poets were talking about in the middle ages and Renaissance, one needs to 
have a similar frame of reference.  Therefore, it's helpful to read 
books on the Greek myths (if you haven't already) and also....

_The Bible_.  Oh, okay, you don't have to read the Bible, per se.  Just 
the good parts.  The heroes, the battles, the prophets and prophetesses, 
the miracles, the parables.  A quick look through a book of medieval art 
will show you what you might need to bone up on.  Y'know, all those 
Annunciations, Creations, Davids, Moses, Weddings at Cana, etc.

Whew!  That's enough for right now -- I'll have to think about the rest 
of them.

(Somebody save me a copy of this so the next time someone asks me about 
it, I'll know....)

yours,

Mari



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