By Duke Finnvarr de Taahe
Please note: This
article was written by Duke Finnvarr for The Ursus in the mid-90s and
highlights important people and events from the early years of the SCA in Ontario
I often get the feeling when taking to newer members of our
principality that they think of Ealdormere as a rather new and undeveloped part
of the SCA. Our principality is about seven years old, if you count from
Pennsic XVII, when it was created a Crown Principality by King Corwyn and Queen
Shana; or five years old, if you count from the first Coronet and Coronation,
which took place on April 7, 1990. The Middle Kingdom, on the other hand, was
25 years old last July 4th. So, of course, we must be the much younger group.
Right?
When our esteemed Baronial Chronicler asked me to write a
few short articles on the history of Septentria, the first thing that popped
into my mind was to correct this misapprehension. If the Middle Kingdom’s 25
years count as great antiquity by Society standards, then we in Ealdormere, and
especially Septentria, can count on antiquity of our own.
The first of my articles will prove this point by lying down
a little basic chronology; later on, we can get into tales of heroism and
villainy, intrigue and tragedy, and all the stuff the Chronicler really wants
to see. I hope, however, that neither she nor you will be bored by this
introduction.
The Middle Kingdom is the third of the present 13 kingdoms.
It was founded by science fiction fans who had wit nesses the SCA in action at
Baycon (the world SF Convention in Berkeley ,
1968). Before A.S. V was over, two other Midrealm groups were up and running:
one was the first Canadian group, Castel Rouge (Winnipeg );
the other was North Woods (East
Lansing , Michigan
Septentria and Ealdormere have a direct and early connection
to North Woods. I was a founding member of that Barony. Later I moved to the
East, became King, and then moved to Toronto .
For the first three weeks of my stay (back in A.S. VII, 1973), I was still King
of the East and Eoforwic-to-be was my royal capital!
This was not to be the real origin of Eoforwic and
Ealdormere. Frankly, I was not brave, rich, nor idle enough to start an SCA
group without experienced help. In A.S. VIII, Gillian d’Uriel, also a North
Woodser, moved to To ronto, and we soon talked each other into making the big
move. By March of A.S. X, 1975, our efforts paid off. We had a group, a name, a
set of arms, and put on our first event - more on this later.
By 1978, there were enough groups in our province Eoforwic,
Ben Dunfirth, Noerlandia (on the site of present - day Skeldergate) and
Starleaf Gate - to take the next step.
After much hard thinking and a certain amount of arguing, these
groups united to form the Barony of Septentria.
Unlike all other baronies in the Known World, Septentria was
not restricted to a single town. This was a province- sized barony, which would
serve as a framework for fur ther growth. Septentria, in fact, was born to be
split up.
But never, of course, to disappear!
Gillian was recognized as Baroness of Septentria by Queen Kirsten
on the 13th day of the 13th year (1978) and we celebrated the event in Eoforwic
in July. If memory serves, Septentria was the seventh Middle Kingdom bar ony.
There are now 21, not including those split off with Calontir. Septentria, the
forerunner of the Principality, is one of the oldest baronies in the Kingdom.
Thus Ealdormereans, and most of all Septentrians, should not
think of themselves as belonging to a new region, struggling to make its place
in Society history. Our history is old and honourable. We have contributed much
to the Middle Kingdom: Kings and Queens ,
warriors and artists, officers and autocrats. Whatever the Kingdom has
accomplished since A.S. X, we have had our share in it. We have often done more
than out share. We have been on the battlefield, in the feast hall and
especially in the tavern.
And if our Chronicler lends me her indulgence, stories of some
of those exploits will appear here.
Originally published
in The Ursus #181, February 1995
A.S. XXIX
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