SC - Haversacks and nefts (??)

[James Prescott]

At 10:12 +0200 2001-02-15, Jessica Tiffin wrote:

> "neft" as a small wooden box containing cutlery.  I suspect he's 
> thinking of "nef", which apparently sometimes contained napkins or 
> cutlery as well as salt (according to Hammond's "Food and Feast in 
> Medieval Britain", at any rate).  But I thought that was 
> desperately ornate and sat on the table, rather than being a 
> receptacle for transporting things.

A friend of mine did a research paper on this.  From memory, 
since I can't lay my hands on my copy:

A 'nef' was originally a large Medierranean round-boat from
before 1400.

In period salt, napkins, and similar items were kept in a 
silver boat-shaped container on the table in front of the 
lord.  As you say, ornate.

That's a very brief summary of the history that my friend 
found in his research.

He then went on to describe the SCA extended meanings:

In some regions within the SCA it has been modified to refer 
not to the boat but to its (extended) contents.  The salt,
napkins, plates, goblets, cutlery, and other items that any 
guest might bring personally.  In short, the additional 
not-in-the-dictionary meaning of 'all one's feast gear'.  
This usage goes back at least as far as 1980.

By further SCA extension it might now include not only the 
feast gear but also the basket or box that it is transported 
in.  As in "could you pass up that nef so I can try to wedge 
it in alongside the armour?"

There may be other variations in the meaning.

So, in an SCA context, in certain regions, it has as much (or 
as little) validity as any of the other SCA-specific coinages 
on the SCA "Good Grief What Do They Mean By That?" handout, 
such as 'autocrat'.

I haven't any idea about which regions of the SCA use the
term and which don't, but it is familiar to most An Tirians.

Period?  Probably not according to the evidence.

I also concur with your conclusion regarding 'haversack'.  If
it has any SCA currency in the usage described, it isn't
widespread in this part of An Tir yet.

You might ask this person whether they were trying to describe 
period names for things, or trying to convey SCA names for 
things.  If the latter, then they're okay as far as 'nef' goes.


- -- 
All my best,
Thorvald Grimsson / James Prescott <prescotj at telusplanet.net> (PGP user)