[Northern] hey everbody

[Ulf Gunnarsson]

Lord Owen ap Aeddan ap Trahaearn ap Llewellyn ap Gruffudd ap Gwent ap Bredd
ap Camden ap Anarward (the bard, not the other one...) said:

> Greetings unto the greatest Region in the greatest Kingdom in the known
world,

And greetings from a good bard in the greatest barony in the greatest region
in the greatest kingdom of the Known World.

>    Second the reason I wanted the Gryffon is over three years
> ago HE Master Ulf wrote a song called the Guardians of the Star

I knew that the song would end up being discussed before long...  You may
not have noticed, but I stopped singing that song.  I haven't yet asked
others to stop, but I no longer sing it.

About four years ago I was Pro-Principality.  Mistress 'Stacia and Master
Tarl asked me to write a song to rally the Northern Region in war against
our noble foes in Trimeris.  Mistress Stacia told me of the design of the
golden griffin holding a black star.  The griffin is such a "cool" animal in
heraldry, and I was told that this was the banner that the Northern troops
would be following.  And I had just finished reading Margaret Weis' "Star of
the Guardians" series.  So I wrote "Guardians of the Star".  I worked hard
on that song, to make it something that *could* rally fighters.

The "Nordsteorra" name for the region that I used in the song also came from
'Stacia.  She had lobbied for it about ten years ago as the name of the
Northern Regional Herald when the regionals were registering names.  It
diverges from the other regional names (Eclipse, Equinox, Orbis, and
Solstice) in that, while it is a stellar kinda name, it is a constructed
word to maintain a connection with the parent kingdom.  The concept of using
it for the name of the principality actual predates its registration. It was
designed specifically to assuage the hurt of people not wanting to "leave
Ansteorra" that had happened with the previous principality push, and to be
part of the new grass roots attempt.

Well, that grass has taken root.  But I have moved on.  I felt a burning
need for change and saw "principality" as the quickest and most irrefutable
way to achieve that change. I had the desire to see the spotlight on the
North and its fine people and their great achievements.  Now... I see that I
was not looking for a way to move the spotlight but to build my own. The
Ansteorran spotlight is still out there and it *does* shine on us... as well
as the other worthy people in other parts of the kingdom.  I wanted a chance
to "make a difference", and yet even without a principality I have been able
to make many differences.  I wanted good people to get recognition for their
efforts, and good people around the whole kingdom have, over and over.

What still gets me... after all these years... is that on a Friday night, I
can take off the tie and put on beaded necklaces.  Take off the cell phone
and replace it with a leather pounch.  And walk into a Kingdom.  I leave
behind the 10am project meetings and voice mail and deadlines, replacing
them with melees and heralds and feasts.  I take pride in the achievements
of the people in this Kingdom, in the fact that I am one of them.  Vivat
Ansteorra!

> We as a region are now in the where do we go from here stage
> well who knows but standing around and complaining about it does
> nothing and there is to much fun to be had in the SCA to stand
> around and do nothing.

To the last part of that statement: Agreed.  Fun is low-hanging fruit in the
SCA, especially in Ansteorra.

As for the rest of it:  Doing nothing accomplishes nothing.  Complaining is
to voice an opinion without trying to change things.  But debate... that is
when one speaks to effect change in the minds of others.  When no one speaks
on an issue, it is almost always because they feel they cannot change it.
I, for one, am glad that we are having debate here.

Where do we go from here?  We wait another five or ten years, when cultural
evolution has done the expected and moved us to that position where
"principality" becomes acceptable to the vast majority.  Anything less
invites anger and division, hardly the grounds for forming a new branch.

Master Ulf