By THLaird Colyne Stewart
To the most eminent and excellent, and to be named with the
highest veneration Nigel and Adrielle, august king and queen, with all
exertions and every affection of faithful service, I wish perennial prosperity
and blessedness in Lady Ealdormere of the Secret Heart.
As while attending a re-enactment of the courts of the
northmen I did sign and endorse a contract with her most gracious majesty, so
did I wish to honour this commitment as her apprentice. To such an end I
resolved to take par in the Queen’s Prize Tourney, the first of its kind in our
Kingdom of Ealdormere
As your most serene selves are aware, each entrant in the
tourney was to be sponsored by either a member of the Order of the Crucible or
the Order of the Laurel .
As I had decided to enter texts I had devised for charters and patents that
were handed out by yourselves to your most worthy subjects, I asked Her
Excellency Mahault of Swynford, Baroness of Havencroft and Patroness of the
Scriptorium where I ply my quill to be my sponsor. To this she readily agreed.
To this end I wrote a paper detailing how I researched the
persona of award recipients, and found period sources that matched said
personas, and then crafted a unique text wording for them based on those
sources. I included many examples of the award texts I had written up to that
point in time.
When the day came THL Þorfinna gráfeldr and I set out for
the northern reaches of Arden ,
in the Canton of Ardchreag. In this land named after one of the canton’s
founders, artisans from across the kingdom were to come and show their work.
And come they did! One-hundred and eighty-two people attended the faire that
day. As for the Queen’s Prize Tourney, fifty-eight people entered, including
four children. There were twenty-four sponsors (with each able to sponsor up to
five entrants) and sixty judges. The hall near over flowed.
Before the Tourney opened, Your Majesties held a court where
you honoured several worthies with your favour. This included my poor self,
upon whom you bestowed an Award of the Orion for the writing of award scroll
texts. Likewise, Orlaith inghen Cinada meic Briain was given an Orion, while
Zoe of House Marchmount was given an Award of the Wolf’s Cub.
The Order of the Laurel
was then called, and a boon was begged for Jhone of Woodcote, who was then
placed on Vigil. As Jhone was escorted out of court by the order and her
ecstatic husband Wilfrid of Sweflingham, Your Majesty did call back one of said
Laurels, being namely Mistress Ælwynn, your champion. Your Majesty demanded of
her if she did not have a duty in court, which she sheepishly said she did. All
attending thought you meant her duty holding your sword, but nay, her duty was
to call another boon, this time for Wilfrid himself. And so both husband and
wife had their own boon called, and both were placed on vigil for the Order of
the Laurel .
With the conclusion of court, the Queen’s Prize Tourney
began. I was one of the first to be judged, and I found Baron Brand, Magistra
Nicolaa and Lord Evan Quicktongue awaiting me. We talked long and
enthusiastically about my entry and they concurred that my work was not that of
a beginner, but was of at least intermediate skill (if not higher). They
encouraged me to expand my paper and submit it to the Society’s journal “The
Complete Anachronist”. I am most pleased to report that I have now done so, and
it has been accepted by the journal and is currently being reviewed for
publication.
I then rushed outside where I was to be the
marshal-in-charge for a spear tourney to honour His Majesty, who was victorious
in His crown tournament wielding such a weapon. As the focus of the day was on
the gentle arts, only four hardy individuals donned harness for the tourney.
These were: Sir Steinnr, THL Gann, Lord Rurik and Jack the Pirate. Before the
tourney could begin, both Rurik and Jack had to authorize in the great weapons
form, at which they were successful.
Before His Majesty, I told the noble combatants that I had
set the time limit of an hour for the tournament, on the assumption there would
be more taking part, and if they wished we could shorten it to half an hour.
However, I asked them if they wanted to prove their mettle to his Majesty and
place themselves upon the anvil of virtue and still fight for the full hour. To
this they did agree.
There then began the tourney. They fought in what is known
in common tongue as a bear-pit, where the winner of a bout faces the next
fighter in line. Each bout was fought over a barrier and was to three counted
blows, with blows to the lower body not allowed.
Each of the four fought well and hard and showed each other
much honour and courtesy. At the end of the hour, Gann, Rurik and Jack found
themselves in a tie, each with seven victories. Consulting with Sir Steinnr, I
declared that a final winner would be decided by fighting a round robin, where
each fighter would face the other two. If any one of them won both their bouts,
they would win the tournament. These bouts were also fought at the barrier, but
were fought using standard Society fighting conventions. (Though shots to the
lower body were still disallowed.)
Jack the Pirate first fought Gann, and emerged triumphant. I
then sent in Rurik and both Sir Steinnr and I were quick to point out to Jack
that if he were to defeat Rurik, he would carry the day. Jack faced this extra
pressure with aplomb and indeed did proceed to defeat Rurik, winning the
tourney. As a prize, he was awarded an arming bench crafted by Þorfinna, which
he was pleased to find fit inside the steamer trunk he used to carry his army.
Other fighters then came on the field and began fighting
pick-ups, while I retired to other duties. Or so I thought. I was to sit at the
gate with Einar Inn Austrifera Josepson, but he waved me off and told me to
enjoy the event. And so I was able to peruse some of the other Queen’s Prize
entries, talk with good friends, and meet a traveling bardic Laurel from Æthelmearc.
Many meetings were held that day, but happily I can say I
was not required to attend a one of them. After the meetings were concluded,
you, good king, held a class on spear use on the field.
Before feast, another court was held. And this was the way
of it:
Each entrant in the Queen’s Prize Tourney was given a prize
by one of the sponsors (though not their own). I received a jar of candied
almonds from Her Excellency Lucia. Lady Marguerite was then declared the
Judges’ Choice winner of the Tourney for her pigments while Bethan MacFinnon
won the Queen’s Choice for his 15th century stool. The baronies then
presented prizes, each barony awarding a prize for a specific category of the
arts and sciences. And herein I must cry pardon and fall on my knees in shame,
for I did not record those winners and cannot grant them the word-fame they
deserve.
And now I write of you, gracious queen. When you spoke to
those assembled and thanked them for participating in this new idea, you were
loudly lauded by all. Indeed, all those so assembled rose to their feet, and
the applause was uproarious. Never have I seen such an accolade given. Most
beauteous queen, you are a treasure of the north, and your people love you
well.
The Royal Herbalist Guild then presented their taxes, before
your majesties honoured more of your worth subjects with the following awards.
Liam of House Marchmount was given an Award of the Wolf’s Cub.
Leisle Woolmonger was given an Award of Arms.
Rhiannon of Eoforwic was given an Award of the Maiden’s Heart
Kaisa of Petrea Thule was given an Award of Arms
Einar Inn Austrifera Josepson was given an Award of Arms.
Aurik Burnsson was given an Award of the Orion.
Orla O’Shannahan was given an Award of the Orion.
Lyda Langrackrsdottir was inducted into the Order of the Crucible.
Lyda Langrackrsdottir was inducted into the Order of the Crucible.
Court was concluded by calling Ailis de la Marche out of the
kitchen where she had been working, to act as Royal Bard. When her song was
done, your majesties surprised her by giving her an Award of the Orion.
The hall was then set up for feast, and I retired to the front hall to meet with other good gentles who had agreed to act as servers.
THL Hans Thorvaldson then presented a feast of five removes,
each one representing a barony, and each one accompanied by a poem read by Lord
Pelayo. This was greeted with great enthusiasm by the one-hundred people who
dined upon it. During feast you honoured the event steward, Eeva the Restless,
with an Award of the Maiden’s Heart.
I hope this record of the day does please your majesties. Truly
Lady Ealdormere alone knows with what purity of mind and from how much devotion
of heart I shall have been and am faithful to you and desire always to
be.
Based on a letter from
an anonymous nobleman to Ermengard of Tours
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