[Steppes] The Dream

[Esther]

(Much very good stuff snipped.)

'The Dream' comes from a song, I _believe_ by a Bard named Baldwin of Erebor. (It may not be Baldwin, but I think it is. Please, those who know, correct me.)

The song talks about a group that has sort of 'slip't the chain of reality', where instead of 'playing' at the 'game', they went and lived it for real -- the 'it' being 'The Dream'. The song, as I take it, is rather a cautionary tale, as well as lovely, about letting the game consume  you. (My take, from many years ago.) Somewhere along the line, "living The Dream (tm)" became a sort of unofficial battle cry, taken from the chorus of the song, as I remember. (Possibly incorrectly.)

It replaced the previous unofficial battle cry, which you can still find on ancient t-shorts, and ancient publications, which was, with varients, "Come live the Middle Ages the way they SHOULD have been."

But back then, you could register names in Sindarin and Quenya, and be from Rohan, if you liked, as long as you weren't trying to be a person or a know fictional character, the same as we do today. Our roots were historical, yes, and some darn fine experimental archeology has been done by many members of the SCA over the years.

But the STORIES were where we started, Narnia, Middle Earth, Beowulf, L'Morte d'Artur (sorry, I don't do French of any era really well), Boccaccio, Egil Skallgrimsonar, and one of my very favorites, Robin Hood -- especially Howard Pyle and Errol Flynn's versions, the Chansons, The Gestes, Piers the Plowman, Chaucer, Shakespeare.... your favorites here.

So, while chivalry was not necessarily historically accurate, it became integral to the SCA, because it was part of how the people 'playing the game' thought it 'should have been'.

I think you play just fine! You did leave out that you are respectful of what floats other people's boats too, which I appreciate, and think is the heart and soul of chivalry and courtesy.

Emma
Officially An Old Auntie Sit by The Fire, only 30 days younger than the Society.
Susan McMahill <sueorintx at hotmail.com> wrote: Friends,
 
I have been reading this thread for a couple of days now and decided to do a little research. In snooping around the newcomer's information on the SCA website, I found that there is not a single mention of this 'dream' that people seem to be so enamored of. It's no wonder that newcomers don't understand it. After some consideration, I have come to the conclusion that it doesn't really exist, at least not in any set, tangible form. Dreams seldom do.
 


       
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