Friday 21 August 2020

War of the Trillium, 2017

By Fáelán Ruadh ua Aodha [See the original post on her blog, complete with pictures.]

Trillium War, the largest SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) event held in the kingdom of Ealdormere (check out last year’s article here)

This year was hot with waves of rainstorms. But that did not stop the attendees from having a good time.

From my end of things, I mostly hung out at the thrown weapons range. Trying to take advantage of the few times of the year I actually can throw my axes at a target. What was pleasing was to see so many other people at the range and competing. Wanting to keep my competitive edge, I noticed my literal axe edge needed some attention if I wanted them to not bounce off of the target. So I took up a fair bit of the event just sharpening my axes (thank you Kaolin for letting me use your axe file – and since confirmed that I needed to sharpen the blade in a different fashion than what I had been doing. So I must give a nod to someone, whom I did not get the name of, who tried to point that out and I thought my memory served me on what was to be done, which I was mistaken. Axe Filing, It is not like a sharpening Stone!). While I was doing that I had a Thrown Weapons Range attendee check my progress,

Even at the Thrown Weapons Range I managed to learn some Arts & Science. Not many people know this, but SCAdian women love lifting up their skirts – for you to see their seams

It really helped me get a handle on how to accomplish Norse styled clothing stitches. To which I also later attended a class just on Inserting Gores Into Flat Fabric by Dame Helen. It had a great hands on segment that was a miniature example so you know how to apply the theory.

Another class I attended at Trillium War was on Bone Carving. Which had this lovely example showing what you can do with bone,

The following image is not all that great, but it shows the Trillium War Brew Tasting Competition. It included Beer, Cider, Mead, and Cordial, often with various sorts of brew in between. It, as usual, ended up being pretty fun which attracted the Queen who remarked on how loud our tent was with laughter and chatter. Needless to say, there is so much great brewing going on in Ealdormere and as they are almost entirely just home brews I definitely make sure I always am at this competition for the rare taste.

Even though these events typically have open alcohol, do not let that fool you. It has a very family reunion feel and kids are abound enjoying the Medieval camping to the max, as shown in this following image,

And her Majesty is so keen on making the Kids feel like they are a part of Events like this that she arranged a Hobby Horse Children’s Procession,

During this time I was attending a Woad Dying class, which is among the coolest dying methods to watch. The following image is an animated GIF attempt to show how the fiber changes color as it is exposed to oxygen,

Later we went to the garden to see what the Woad herb looked like and gathered some of it’s seeds so we could grow it ourselves.

Now, Trillium War annually falls on the Canada Day weekend, and since this was Canada’s 150th year, there was a special Axe Throwing Tourney to celebrate called “I AM SCANADIAN” hosted by Hexenhaus, to which the winners would be announced at Court.

I competed and at Court, I found out that I won!

Court also revealed the War Banner for that year, and it was themed on bacon – having the Trillium as Bacon strips and the Motto, “Bacon Brings Victory”

I should also mention that this Trillium War’s Theme was “The Silk Road”, and alas, I did not photograph the many wonderful people who were dressed in theme for this event. But the event did hold a wonderful “Silk Road Bazaar” at Merchant’s Row on the Saturday evening where participants were encouraged to bring items to barter.

I managed to bring raw Alpaca Fibers from The Great Whitestone Isle of the Lake Seas (Manitoulin – where I live), fossils I found on the island, the last of my glass stars, a couple of antique glass bottles I fitted with corks, rings – two of which were spinning rings, a bangle, and two bone carved pendants.

And from some of those items, and some cash I got through trade, I obtained two ridge pole hooks, a three legged cooking pot, herbs of Sage and Dill, Red Silk, Wool Tartan, A Children’s Hood, A bronze Pendant, a pair of Bronze Anglo-Saxon Fasteners (Their exact use is a mystery, specially made by Emer ingen Uí Áedán. I hope to do some experimental archaeology with them to find out how they could have been used), Two small cups (one was mysteriously gifted actually – Thank You!), and a large Icelandic styled drinking cup – now a favorite that I use all the time.

My kiddo managed to trade a fossil for a Silk Fan, and my spouse managed to trade a leather drinking vessel of his own making for two knives, and bought some trim.

During the weekend there was also a number of Moots, one of which was the Herald Moot, and the new Trillium Herald (Kingdom Level Herald) had sought out if I were interested in filling in the role of herald for the Ubershire (Shire Brennstein Vatn, that covers Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, and North Bay), and I said I am. So now that is in the works and I hope to be able to do some good service for the great shire of the north.

Next SCA Installment will be Brouhaha!

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