[Northkeep] events 2 Dionadair

[Hugh & Belinda Niewoehner]

Dionadair:

For a number of years there were a few tourneys in the north but not a 
great number.  I'd been thinking about how to sponsor one but really 
didn't have anything specific in mind.    Then, a bunch of us were 
sitting around fighters practice cooling down one day and some of the 
guys started griping that while  FP gave us practice fighting it didn't 
give us practice for the tourney mind set.  Particularly true for new 
fighters who may never have fought in a tourney before.    Then it hit 
me...a number of years previously, Alaric von Lieutpold had given me a 
couple of steel billets  which I had thought might make neat spear 
points.  Unfortunately, I really didn't have a way to change rectangular 
pieces of steel into pointy objects but a couple of others there did.   
So, once again, I set off to

co-opt someone to help me make trouble.  I started discussing things 
with Angus.   Given my three steel blanks, could he make three different 
spear points?  He could keep one.  I'd keep the other.  And the third 
would become the prize spear.   If he'd make the points, I'd mount them 
and do the legwork putting the tourney together.   We started discussing 
format and requirements.   At that point in time, every tourney nearby 
was a Swiss five so we decided to do a double elim. just to give the 
players exposure to something different.  We also agreed that too many 
of the tourneys around here were sword and board grudge matches.  Both 
of us revel in multiple weapon styles so we wanted to see the 
participants display a working knowledge of several weapons.    Also, 
since this was a practice tourney specifically arraigned to include new 
fighters, it had to be run as part of fighters practice so that fighters 
who had not authorized could participate.

Now for a name...  There's too many "Defenders" and "Protectors", etc. 
already.  We wanted something that sounded unusual even if it meant the 
same thing.   I started going through xxxx to English dictionaries at 
the Library looking up "spear", "Sword", "guard(ian)", etc.  Dairmaid 
proposed several in Gaelic including the one we decided upon...Dionadair 
(jeenader).   (One of these days I'm going to find a way to use the old 
Calon warlord's title even though the College of Heralds has put it on 
the 'disapproved'  list.  The old Saxon word "Bretwalda" [Overlord] just 
sounds too cool.)

Dionadair came to be seen as our local war leader.

  Eventually it was decided the there should be a title for the winners 
of the rapier and armored combats at Castellan (the Provost and Driton 
respectively

Oh yeah...People need to remember, the Driton and Provost aren't the 
Barony's champions, the Castellan is.   Heretical ain't I?