[Ansteorra] Use of Titles (was Re: hiding mundane)

[Pádraig Ruad Ó Maolagáin]

As usual, Master Robin, you have a knack for clearing away the dross and
focusing on the heart of the issue.  "Willing suspension of disbelief" is 
central to, indeed, fundamental to any serious approach to this game we
call the SCA.  How otherwise to explain a 12th century Irishman
interacting with 5th century Merovingians, 9th century Vikings, 14th
century Moors, and 16th century Englishmen, all speaking the same
language, following the same rule of engagement in battle and all with
common enough customs that we can gather together with a minimum of
inter-societal friction?

A mentor of my early years in the SCA explained it to me this way: "Strive
for as much authenticity as you can, accept the oddities that are
necessary to let us all play together, and where possible, ignore the
things that are glaring anachronisms but can't be gotten away from."  Good
advice, which I have tried to follow, and I think it has made the SCA a
more enjoyable experience for me.

Padraig
-- 
Nunc est bibendum.
******************
******************
Politicians prefer unarmed peasants.

Jay Rudin wrote:

> The only solution to the unanswerable questions is not to ask them in the
> first place.  This is the literary skill of "willing suspension of
> disbelief", and is necessary for any serious persona in the SCA.
>
<snip>
>
> Similarly, I don't want to be Jay asking how an Elizabethan ought to
> respond to a Moor -- I want to be Robin talking to Mahdi.  My persona
> doesn't have to include either other people, or Ansteorra.
>
> At some point you will have to stop asking the unanswerable (and
> uninteresting) questions and just take on your persona.  The earlier you
> do
> this, the more authentic your persona can be.  (and the less frustration
> you'll feel.)
>
> Robin of Gilwell / Jay Rudin