[Ansteorra] On the topic of Lions

[Lady Simone]

Thank you so very very much Pendaren.  Ragnar was one of the best of us, and
dearly missed

Lady (Simone) Muirenn ingen Senáin uí Dúnlaing
2nd Rose of FalconRose Southern Keep, Ansteorra

>
> Hmm, the whole lion thing is a tricky one: it means different things to
> different people. One person's shining example of a lion is often an odd
> choice to some others. Still, I guess that's one of the things that makes
> the order great.
>
> I have known and still know many lions who to me were and are shining
> examples of what the order and what Ansteorra should be; people such as
> Pepin, Lloyd, Mari, Leon, Thomas, Riccardo and others. Still, one person
has
> always been in my eyes the greatest of the lions and that was Master
Ragnar
> Ulfgarson.
>
> Ragnar was at once probably the wittiest, most creative and best persona
> player that I've ever encountered in the SCA. He could make a story right
on
> the very spot to explain the most mundane of things, and yet leave you
> entranced and enthralled and often left laughing either at the wit of the
> story or at yourself for having bought into it only to realize that it was
> another one Ragnar's shaggy dog stories. For example, Ragnar once turned
up
> at an event with curly hair (something I'd never seen before) and I asked
> him what had happened. He got that curious look on his face that he always
> got when a story was in the offing, paused and then said "I'm glad you
> asked!". That always meant that story of some sort was to follow and I
went
> right along with him. Ragnar ripped off a short tale of about five minutes
> that ended with Thor (Ragnar was a Northman, after all), handing Ragnar
his
> hammer, whereupon Ragnar just looked at me. Remember, Thor is the god of
> thunder. That five minute story was Ragnar's version of telling me that he
> had stuck his finger in a light socket. I groaned and smacked my head for
> having fallen prey to one of his saggy dog stories yet again. The really
> great part of this is that a few hours later, I saw Ragnar telling this
same
> tale to seven or eight completely enthralled people. They were hanging on
> his every word, only by now the story had grown to about 20 minutes in
> length. Lord only knows how long that story got by the end of the night.
>
> That's but one brief glimpse of the wit and character that was Ragnar. I
> think that he was the living definition of a Lion of Ansteorra and best
> embodied Jan's explanation of what a lion is: to paraphrase, Jan once said
> that you should always notice if a lion is at an event, and you should
also
> notice if he's not there. Ragnar died some eight years ago, and with every
> event that I attend, I notice that he's not there and I miss him.
>
> Pendaran
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ansteorra-bounces at ansteorra.org
> [mailto:ansteorra-bounces at ansteorra.org] On Behalf Of Susan O'Neal
> Sent: Monday, January 05, 2004 2:39 AM
> To: ansteorra at ansteorra.org
> Subject: [Ansteorra] On the topic of Lions
>
>
> I had started to work on a reply to my own question of things from 2003
and
> never got beyond my first event of the year, it was my first time south of
> the Oklahoma border and I throughly loved Steppes.  One of the things
about
> it that set it apart in my mind from various other events I have attended
> was the number of Lions that were in attendence.  It was incredible to see
> the Inman of ledgend walk into the hall, one of those truely other time
> moments-it followed several stories of events held in real castles and for
> a moment Sokol Hall was transformed.
>
> As a relative newcomer, less than 5 years, I have just heard stories about
> many of the Lions of Ansteorra and have met a few.  I would love to hear
> stories of who they are and the factors about them that make them
> Lions.  This is something that is usually transmitted through oral
ledgend,
> but using this tool would be a wonderful opportunity to share with a large
> number of people why these people are so distinguished within our Kingdom.
>
> Thanks in advance and looking forward to hearing many great stories, Susan
> the Curious
>
> for those who would like to see info about the order and a list of members
> along with the crowns that named them,
> http://ansteorra.org/orders/specialty/lions/index.html
>
>
>
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