ANST - Dying on the field (Was Weapons & Tourneys)

[Keith Hood]

Angela Bellavance wrote:
> 
> On Tue, 16 Jun 1998, Keith Hood wrote:
> 
> > If you're going to just yield, do it with proper period language and
> > gestures.
> 
> Since I am new to fighting, may I ask: What is the proper period language 
> and gestures?
> 

This is kind of a judgement call and I won't see the characters involved
the way others will.  I guess it has to depend on the persona, and
period, and temperment of the persona involved.  And for tournaments, I
personally value flamboyance in this situation.

Obviously a pagan Norseman would not entreat the victor to treat him
like a Christian.  A knight yielding to another (and maybe a little
worried) might do something like kneel and offer up his sword hilt and
ask the victor to remember to observe charity and justice as required by
his knightly vows.  The same knight, if he personally thought well of
the victor and knew he would be treated well, might do the same but
announce himself content to be the prisoner of so illustrious a person. 
I think a good Viking, when offered quarter, would be more likely to
throw his sword on the ground and brag about how he made the victor
sweat before he was forced to yield.  If the person yielding is Hubert
the Scut, poor yoeman archer who knows he's likely to be killed out of
hand because he's not worth ransoming, he would probably fall on the
ground begging for mercy and yelling for the saints to help him.  A
Muslim persona of good temper could yield with all sorts of bowing
flourishes, and an arrogant one could make a really good show of
beseeching Allah to sustain him in captivity among the infidels.

If you're really interested in this, you might want to read biographies
of medieval figures with special attention to passages about their
doings in tournaments, or when taking prisoners in war.  I would
recommend "A Distant Mirror" by Barbara Tuchman, or just about any
biography of William the Marshal.  And if you can find Thomas Costain's
series about the Plantagenet family, buy it even at black market
prices.  It has problems with historical accuracy but boy, is it great
reading!

I now yield the floor to other speakers.  :-)

	Tomonaga

-- 
A long bow and a strong bow,
And let the sky grow dark.
The nock to the cord, the shaft to the ear,
And a foreign king for a mark!

      --  Stolen from "The Song of the Bosonian Archers"  --
                by Robert E. Howard, who should be
                  the patron saint of Ansteorra
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