The Moot of Ealdormere

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. It has been kept as originally published; hence the references to the Principality of Ealdormere, 13 kingdoms, etc.)

Word has recently come to these lands that our sister principality, Northshield, will henceforth have a moot on the model of the moot of Ealdormere. That news thrilled me.

I think the moot of Ealdormere is one of the best things was have ever devised in this land. Not only is it a valuable and useful thing, it valuable and useful in a medieval way: the moots of Ealdormere, which as far as I can tell have few parallels in the Known World, restores to our Society an aspect of medieval life too often overlooked-- the althings, the parliaments, the councils and the moots were where important questions were hashed out.

Why do most of our kingdoms have no moots, no regular meetings of the people to consider common business? And how did it come about that we have a moot?

When our Society first began, in the lands of the Mists, it was no more that a tournament, a party that hoped to catch something of the spirit of chivalry. When tournament followed tournament, and the party began to grow into a soci ety, the founders realized the need for structure. To pro vide one, they enlisted the ideals of Crown and Nobility. Some who distinguished themselves above the rest, in prowess, generosity and learning, would be the leaders, foremost would be a king by right of arms and the queen who inspired him. This structure was strong on inspirational symbolism, but weak in practicality. This is not to denigrate what the founders did, for their work has lasted well. It was, however, not sufficient to meet all the problems of an evolving Society.

Eventually, as the Society in the West Kingdom became more complex, practical problems of authority needed to be settled. Who had the last word? The Western answer

was simple: The King‘s Word is Law. This phrase has never been a literal description of how the West Kingdom works – they have plenty of other laws, too – but there is

no obvious place for a popular assembly if the King‘s word is law. In other early kingdoms, notably the East and the Midrealm, the magic Western phrase was rejected by the founders. Concentrating that much power in one person‘s hands did not make sense to them. But neither did they devise an assembly to deal with the common business.

Consultation took place primarily among the royal officers, the Curia Regis.

In the early days, the kingdoms were small enough that a well-chosen Curia was reasonably representative. And truth to tell, most other people had little interest in mundane meetings, being quite content to chase the chivalric dream. It would have been difficult, maybe impossible, for those large, sparsely inhabited kingdoms to devise some form of assembly. The failure to do so, however, has left the people without any formal voice in most kingdoms. This, I believe, is not healthy, and this state of affairs has contributed to some ugly politics over the years.

Being human, we cannot escape politics. The real folk of the Middle Ages could not, and one of the ways they dealt with politics was by assembling and talking things out. It seems such a mundane necessity, actually getting together and talking our problems out in a practical way, but when we try to avoid it, we always pay a big price.

Ealdormere‘s moot came about because there were problems in these lands and they needed to be talked out. The first moot took place in the summer of A.S. XIX (1984).

This was soon after the splitting of Skraeling Althing from Septentria. In the recent past, the whole land had been united as a single lordship; now there were two baronies which needed to work together, but which had no structure that made this possible.

The standard Society answer to this situation was to ap point an officer: a deputy kingdom seneschal was ap pointed for Ontario. Tsivia bas Tamara was first in this office and did her best to provide leadership, but quickly found that a seneschal, for Ontario, had not a leg to stand on. Frustrated, she passed the office on to Ragni Dzintara.

Ragni soon realized that what Tsivia had tried to do was impossible. Unity could be restored only if there were common, inspiring symbols and institutions. She hoped we could imitate what Calontir had done once: choose a name, and then hold a tourney to choose a champion by right of arms to lead the people. But unless there was agreement that we were one people, none of this could happen. And thus the idea of a moot.

Ragni invited to our home, the original Amberhall, barons, baronesses, seneschals – the established leader – and any one else she knew would be interested. An afternoon and an evening were devoted to the question: were we one people? Was the old unity worth rebuilding? Should we choose a common name, one that would last and should we have champions of our own?

Well, of course the answer was yes. What‘s important is who answered the question. We had no king, queen, prince or princess of our own to speak and make a law. Baroness Enid, Baroness Caffa, Baron Aedan, respected people of vision, did not have the power, by themselves, to take such a great step, unless they knew the people would

take it with them. The people themselves had to answer it. And did, in the first moot, and in many after.

Thus the moot of Ealdormere is the oldest institution of Ealdormere. Before we had laws, arms, princes and princesses, even a name, there was the moot.

I claim no special virtue for Ealdormere in stumbling across this – though, preserving it reflects well on us. I think, perhaps, it is a different thing to build a kingdom from nothing, as in the early West, or the early Midrealm, and quite another to build one from existing, mature SCA communities. We did not have to put all our energy into conjuring up a chivalric dream; we were already well practiced at that. Nor was monarchy strange to us. We had the pieces and patterns for a medieval kingdom in hand, and had merely to work together to assemble them. The moot has been our way of doing this. Long may it continue.

Originally published in The Ursus #197, June 1996 A.S.

XXXI

The Legend of Eoforwic

By Duke Finnvarr deTaahe

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. It has been kept as originally published; hence the references to the Principality of Ealdormere, 13 kingdoms, etc.)

When last I wrote, I discussed the legend of Eagleshaven, and how it added a bit of fun to the Current Middle Ages, despite the fact no one could attest to its truth. Simularly, the legend of Eoforwic is a fine addition to the lore of our Society.

As before, we must carefully distinguish between sober history and legend. Of sober history, Eoforwic has a goodly supply – more than most local communities in the

Society. It is preserved in the five volumes of the Chronicle of Eoforwic, a body of work that may be unmatched elsewhere.

If you open volume one of that Chronicle, you will see that the history of Eoforwic, as recorded by trustworthy authors and confirmed by witnesses of unimpeachable integrity, begins in A.S. VIII (1973), with the arrival on these shores of Finnvarr de Taahe, once of North Woods, then King of the East. Soon after, Lady Gillian d‘Uriel, former sene schal of North Woods, came to Septentria-to-be and she and Finnvarr founded Eoforwic and put on its first tourna ment in March of A.S. IX (1975).

The legend of Eoforwic is quite different. The legend of Eoforwic credits the origin of Eoforwic to a much earlier time: to the time of Cariadoc of the Bow, who was the first ruler of the Middle Kingdom. Long after the actual foun dation of Eoforwic, when in fact none of the earliest foun ders still lived there, an ancient charter (which is preserved in volume four of the Chronicle of Eoforwic) of said Cariadoc surfaced in Eoforwic. The charter claims to be a grant to the people of Eoforwic of all the rights and cus toms appropriate to one of the foremost cities of the realm. The Eoforwic charter, concedes to Eoforwic, a certain de gree of autonomy, while clearly defining its duties to the Crown.

For instance, the charter excludes vagabonds and Tuchux from staying overnight within the walls of Eoforwic. Also, it permits the city to regulate the local fish trade, so that the legitimate commercial interests of Eoforwic should not be transgressed by outsiders from Vest Yorvik. These are clearly powers that any local community in our Kingdom would pay good money to have – and one suspects that Eoforwic did indeed fork over much silver in the process of acquiring them.

The key concession supposedly made by the Crown, in the shape of Cariadoc of the Bow, is the right of the citizens to elect officials to represent their interests. Foremost among them is the mayor. The mayor, of course, is subject to all things concerning the rights of the Crown of Ealdormere and the Middle Kingdom to the Seneschal of Eoforwic.

Yet he is designated by Royal grant as the leader of the citizenry in all other natters – supervising fish markets, for instance. I has yet to find a single person who claimed with a straight face that this Charter had any historical or legal validity; some have tried, but alas, their faces failed them in the end. The Charter is easily debunked by the simplest methods of historical criticism. Yet it has power, and it gives power.

The Charter was found – did someone say invented? – at a time when Eoforwic and its position in Ealdormere was changing. Eoforwic, the first Society foundation in this land, was long the dominant group in Ealdormere-to-be. Even as a mere shire, it was the home of royalty. When Septentria arose, Eoforwic became the baronial capital. After a time, however, Eoforwic no longer was as important as it once had been.

The original founders too faded away or moved elsewhere. Though Eoforwic remained large, active and, due to its history and location, a unique group, it had lost its original role. With the discovery of the Charter, however, Eoforwic‘s uniqueness was confirmed. It was a mythological history and a project for the future rolled into one.

Thanks to the Charter, Eoforwickians, surrounded in their mundane lives by the sights and sounds of metropolitan existence, could revisualize their canton – a word that implies a small, rural area – as a city of the Current Middle Ages. It was so appropriate an image that the words City of Eoforwic needed only to be spoken to gain the enthusiastic adherence of the populace.

The Charter also gave the newly-minted citizens a way of expressing their identity – in the annual election of the Mayor of Eoforwic, at Michaelmas (September). It is as riotous and, some say, as corrupt as many urban elections were in the Middle Ages, as the various guilds of the city throw their weight around on behalf of their favored candidates.

Once a new mayor emerges, however, he or she is given, by popular agreement, the power to initiate special projects on behalf of the city.

One that has become traditional already is the proper pro visioning of Eoforwic‘s City Guard on its annual expedition to the Pennsic War. The Charter of the City of Eofor wic is one of the most successful legends of our Current Middle Ages. Not only is it a marvelous pastiche of a real urban charter of the real Middle Ages; it has been so effective that it is difficult to imagine now Eoforwic being any thing but a City. If this group identity is based on fraud, as the sober historians must suspect, it is fraud in the grand medieval style – proving as it does documentary authority for what ought to be true. Look up the Donation of Constantine in your history book sometimes, and you see what I mean.

Originally published in The Ursus #195, April 1996 A.S.

XXX

The Legend of Eagleshaven

By Duke Finnvarr deTaahe

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. It has been kept as originally published; hence the references to the Principality of Ealdormere, 13 kingdoms, etc.)

The members of our Society are a very creative lot. We have given ourselves a rather ambitious task: recreating select aspects of the Middle Ages, through the staging of tournaments and feasts, through the revival of medieval arts and crafts. To do this, we have built an imposing social structure, and our standard activities take up a lot of time and effort.

But it is never enough. Our people are constantly invent ing new stories and traditions to make the Current Middle Ages just a little richer, a more satisfying work of art.

One of these stories is the Legend of Eagleshaven.

The Legend of Eagleshaven is not the story of Sylard of Eagleshaven, his medieval background, or his participation in the Society over the years. Nor is it the history of his household, its various members, and their considerable activities.

No, the Legend of Eagleshaven is the tale that Sylard is the overlord of all the lands north of Eoforwic.

From where does it come?

Long ago – and this is sober fact – Sylard was a member of House de Taahe. Its head was one Count Finnvarr de Taahe, a famous knight. Sylard, an independent (ornery?) Norseman, was not a squire, but rather a mercenary. As the story is told now – and here sober fact begins to loose its sharp outlines – Sylard agreed to hand over to the count nine-tenths of what he won in battle, in exchange for one- tenth of what Finnvarr won.

Then, in A.S. XI, Finnvarr won the Crown of the Middle Kingdom. Sometime after that, Sylard left Finnvarr’s em ploy. There were roumors that Finnvarr had not been paying Sylard with any regularity. Yet it seemed a friendly parting of the ways.

And why not, if the Legend of Eagleshaven speaks true?

It was whispered that Sylard received a charter granting him his share, his one-tenth of Finnvarr’s winnings at the Crown Tournament in the autumn of A.S. XI: to wit, one- tenth of the Middle Kingdom, specifically the lands north of Eoforwic, which were then almost unoccupied.

But is this story true? The evidence is mixed.

Sylard, of course, has maintained his claim for years. In deed, at the Eoforwic Decennial in A.S. XX, he produced a charter, upholding his contention, signed at the bottom,

Finnvarr.

On the other hand, no one ever saw the charter before the Eofrowic Decennial. Finnvarr himself has never admitted anything in public. The few times the document has been

produced in his presence he has made amused, mildly sarcastic remarks about a supposed charter granted by an obscure king.

This is where things stood for a number of years. Some people laughing, and asserting the truth of the grant, the charter, and the legend; others laughed and denied all of it.

Occasionally one heard – but only at a distance – that Sy lard had attempted to collect taxes in the North – now slowly filling with Society folk; occasionally one heard that a few people – either the more impressionable of the more willing to play along with a joke – had actually paid!

The implications of the legend became more interesting when both the Viking and his former employer moved from Eoforwic to the North. Sylard settled in Wareham, a cold, windy eminence northwest of Eoforwic, and had a hand in Founding Septentria’s canton of Monadh. Was this an attempt to give substance to the legend? Then Finnvarr moved even father north, to his vast, even colder estates of Ravenhill in the shire of Flaming Sky. Was this an attempt to pre-empt Sylard?

And the question arose in the minds of people who attend such things: would Sylard try to collect taxes from the Duke? And would the Duke pay? Or would there be… war?

In A.S. XXVI, Sylard and his household rode into Flaming Sky to take part in an All Hallows Tourney, and spent the previous night at Ravenhill. What passed between Sylard

and Finnvarr is unknown. However, on All Hallows, Sylard and Tarver Three-Beards came before Finnvarr as he sat at feast and presented him with a great gift: a weather board in the Norse style, made of copper rather than the usual wood, and engraved in runes. These runes, as the learned confirm, surrendered to Finnvarr Sylard’s rights to all lands within three days’ ride – a nice, flexible, measure ment – of Ravenhill. And Finnvarr graciously accepted the gift, but – it should be noted – without admitting anything. The weatherboard stands today at Ravenhill, within easy view of the ducal manor.

So far the Legend of Eagleshaven. It has nothing to do with the official structure of our Society; nearly every de tail is controverted; but the story is as real as many another tale of the Current Middle Ages. It is one more contribu tion to our mutual fun, one more thing to talk about around the campfire, one element that makes Septentria and Eal dormere what it is today.

Originally published in The Ursus #193, February 1996

A.S. XXX

Baron Aedan and Baroness Caffa

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. It has been kept as originally published; hence the references to the Principality of Ealdormere, 13 kingdoms, etc.)

If you haven’t figured it out yet, you soon will. One person’s epochal, world changing event is the next person’s dim rumor from the obscure, uninteresting past. The only way to bridge the gap is through song and story. If the story is well told or the song well sung, a bit of the past comes alive, and the new people get a hint of why a per son, a battle, or a gesture was special to those who witnessed it.

For some of the more experienced people of our Principality, Aedan and Caffa were the special people who defined our community. For a decade they were the leading lights of what is now Ealdormere and what was then Septentria. Many of the good things that characterize Ealdormere-- and few, if any, of the less worthy characteristics – are due to their efforts and their vision.

―So you say, Old Duke. Prove it!‖ Well, I can but try.

The obvious way for SCA leaders to stamp their personalities on a group is to found it. Aedan and Caffa were not amoung the founders of Septentria. When the idea of forming a barony was being floated in A.S. XI, they had barely joined. Then, they were friends of Torbin, Ragni and Eanor, who dragged them along to a few events, where they were quietly checking things out. For those who know them, the concept of Aedan and Caffa as wallflowers must be hilarious, but it’s true.

When, however, Ragni and Torbin put together a quest for Eoforwic in September, A.S. XII, Aedan was persuaded to play the part of a troll. He was marvelously made up for the part, and performed it with great panache. He made a big impression. And that was the start. We soon found that Caffa had equal enthusiasm for anything that looked challenging and fun. In fact, they were regular dynamos.

Fighting first caught their eye. They wanted to play. The main barrier, of course, was acquiring armour. Aedan, a very practical sort, started figuring out how he could make

helmets, kneecops and eventually gauntlets. And he didn’t stop with outfitting himself and his lady. While he was still a mere apprentice at his craft, he helped every other fighter in Eoforwic build or fix armour.

In fact, the tiny house that Caffa, Aedan and their young son Finn lived in – Albany House in the Chronicles – soon became a social centre of the canton. The initial reserve was discarded and they adopted the whole SCA as their family. We had passed some kind of test, and there was now nothing they would not do for us.

They proved to be such a talented pair that their accomplishments are impossible to list, or even remember in their entirety. Aedan’s armouring quickly became well known in the Kingdom at large. Caffa, a trained and imaginative artist, tackled a variety of wonderful projects. At one vary early feast of fools, she created a subtlety of a stag with an arrow in its heart and presented it to Sir Hugo. When Hugo withdrew to arrow, blood flowed forth! It was the mind that conceived this marvel that did much to create for herself and Aedan two of the most convincing early medieval personas I have ever seen in our Society.

By the time Baroness Gillian came to leave Septentria, Aedan had been honoured by King Laurelen with one of the very first Silver Oaks and Caffa was Hugo’s King’s

Champion, accompanying him on far-flung royal expedi tions and spreading the fame of the barony. Gillian, recog nizing their worth, chose them as her successors, turning over the barony to their keeping at a dramatic, torch-lit court in Avon Araf, in June of A.S. XVI.

The first act of the new baron and baroness showed how wise a choice Gillian had made. They took their wealth, symbolized by cattle – the pride of any Irish chief – and distributed them to representatives of the cantons.

In the hands of the cantons, they told us, the herds would grow, and then, when taxes must be raised, there would be wealth to pay them. It was a symbolic act of great beauty, and absolutely characteristic of the new guardians of the land. Caffa and Aedan, knew, as less wise rulers forget, that they were there to give, not to receive.

Thus generous and thus wise, Aedan and Caffa accom plished the impossible. They presided over the dismem berment of Septentria, and its growth, at the same time.

Dismemberment, because soon after they took up the barony, they had to bid farewell to Skraeling Althing, and somewhat later, to Rising Waters. A foolish baron and baroness would have obstructed this natural growth, and made enemies. Instead, they were gracious and helpful, and made everlasting friends.

Growth, because what remained of Old Septentria in creased as dramatically as the herds of Caffa – for she never ceased to receive cows, of all sizes and made of every possible material, from loving subjects throughout her rule. Many people were responsible for the growth, but the good stewardship and the character of the baron and baroness had much to do with it.

When I say good stewardship, I mean that they had clear ideas of what they could do to encourage accomplish ments, friendship, and fun in their land.

Aedan would occasionally explain that a crowned head in the Society should show himself as someone who was obviously like his followers, but able to do a little more. The tie between leader and follower should not be one between mighty lord and helpless subject, but a heart–to–heart tie between people who are very similar – who both had great potential to do good.

This very thought lay behind the best gesture they ever devised to encourage the special magic that is possible in the SCA: the Cauldron of Ceredwyn. Named after the ves sel that bought the dead back to life, the Cauldron of Sep tentria was crafted by Sylard, who engraved on it, in suns, this inscription: Cauldron of Ceredwyn given by Aedan and

Caffa (of) Septentria for the giver of the gift of inspiration. This beautiful vessel, was presented, every year, by the baron and baroness, to that peron who, by their actions and demeanor, brought out the best in others.

There were none more qualified in all the land to recognize that trait, because Caffa and Aedan had it in spades. They were generous. They were imaginative. They were a class act. They were fun! The grand gestures, and the little ones, were very fine. But people wanted to be around them, to be taking part in Septentria and the Society, be cause it was a good time when Aedan and Caffa were there. Some people will remember their courts, always inspiring, unpretentious and enjoyable. Some people will remember their rowdy parties. I remember how good it felt to fight with them at a Pennsic War, all of us doing the maneuvers that Aedan had devised and trained us to carry out, Caffa shouting out good-natured – and occasionally, when they were deserved, less than good-natured – curses on the heads of the enemy and those of us who weren’t paying attention and fighting like one possessed. The Pennsic field was a dance-floor for us, and we danced as

Finn MacCloud might have danced through battles in the Ireland of old – though with less bloodshed, thank heavens.

When we decided to build the Region of Ealdormere, Aedan and Caffa were among the leaders doing their part.

When an unjust edict brought Ealdormere down, they put heart into us so that we did not sink into futile bitterness. When the Crown Principality was created, they were there again, with Aedan as Lord Lieutenant – partnered with Baroness Enid as Lady Lieutenant – to lead the last push to the first Crown Tourney.

It is not possible to treat a whole barony or a whole principality with the same care you would wish to give to your own family, but they tried. We asked too much of them, because they did not say no often enough. They gave us a lot and paid a high price in emotional exhaustion.

Looking back over their career, knowing the end, I can’t help feeling sad. What satisfaction I gain comes from knowing that much of the good they did still exists in Ealdormere - and that they now possess the Cauldron of Ceredwyn, who most deserve it.

Originally published in The Ursus #191, December 1996

A.S. XXX

First Knight

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. It has been kept as originally published; hence the references to the Principality of Ealdormere, 13 kingdoms, etc.)

In these columns I have tried my best to avoid such anachronistic terms as Ontario and Toronto.

The point of this column is lost, however, if I don‘t use one of them. The first native-born Canadian knight, who was also the first native-born Canadain king, came from Septentria. He was Hugo von Feuerklippe, whom I had the honour of having for a squire.

Septentria was not the first Canadian barony, but it was less isolated from the rest of the kingdom then Castel Rouge in Winnipeg or Lion‘s Gate in Vancouver, which was then part of the West. So it makes a certain amount of sense that the first fighter to gain our ultimate recognition came from Septentria.

This is to take nothing away from Hugo‘s personal achievement. It was considerable.

Many of us earlier fighters - and I most definitely include myself - had never done any kind of physical activity with any skill or success. We were skinny and flabby, or flabby but not skinny. We had no wind, and no concept of how to get any. This is before jogging made anaerobic condition ing a common topic of discussion. Few of us had taken part in martial arts, so movement was a mystery to us. We were all in worse shape than that mythical 60-year-old Swede that Participaction invented to shame us into a healthier lifestyle.

I can imagine some of my readers saying ― Hey, that‘s me now!‖ No doubt - but believe me, back then the average new fighter was far more out of shape and physically clue less than the average new fighter today.

For an early fighter to excel was in some ways easier that it is now, since even the old fighters were relatively new at it. In some ways, however, it was harder. One had to overcome, the habits, the self-image, of a lifetime and re make oneself into a formidable human being. And since required armour stopped at helms, gauntlets, and joint protection - arms and legs were mostly covered with cloth - it was a painful, bruise-filled process.

Hugo first saw fighting at Pennsic IV. Somehow, the sight of us rolling in the mud and wearing chainmail in thunder storms did not discourage him. Probably far more discouraging was the effort of acquiring armour. We hardly had any, back then, but it was just as tough to aquire as it al ways is - some unknown natural law? Then there was the disadvantage of having only one experienced fighter with whom to practice, and him a knight and count.

Adversity must have been good for Hugo, though, for when he finally authorized in May of A.S. XI, it was noted that he was as good as his experienced opponent.

During the next two years, Hugo took part in a big change in the way we fought in the Middle Kingdom. Techniques with sword and shield became more sophisticated , thanks in large part to Duke Paul of Bellatrix, who pointed out that using your whole body was superior to using just your arm. Also, more fighters began to experiment with bastard sword and glaive.

It was the young hot-shots who pushed those innovations the furthest. One of these was Laurelen Darksbane of Cleftlands; another was Hugo. What they had in common was the ability to kill their opponents with shots so fast and tricky that people couldn‘t understand them. At the Three Rivers Crown Tourney of May XIII, both Laurelen and Hugo one-shotted several opponents. Both were eventually wiped out by the terrific heat - as was everyone except the winner, Lord Nathan von Daritz, who had spent more than a year working in the mountains of Guatemala.

Then as now, an aspiring knight had to travel much in the Kingdom to gain recognition. Hugo was willing to do this. One of his favorite resorts was North Woods, then the un disputed centre of fighting in the realm. In his questing days he won three tourneys there, which was very impressive. He also began to shine with two-handed weapons, notably the glaive. Since he worked hard for the Society, too - he found a new coronation site at the last minute, among other accomplishments - there was just one thing holding him back. He wasn‘t very humble. Not that he was a braggart, he just wasn‘t humble. Hugo was caught in a dilemma that the about-to-be-knighted often find themselves. He inspired respect on and off the field, and was regarded by many as a leader. If he acted the part, however, others thought he was getting above himself.

In Hugo‘s case, the knot was cut by another man who had been thrust into a leadership position - King Nathan. An experienced Midrealmer but not yet a knight, Nathan decided at Crown Tournament in North Woods to dub the four most worthy candidates - more than had ever been knighted at one time. To do this he had to face down considerable opposition among the Chivalry. Eventually, however, he won his point, and Hugo was knighted along with Laurelen, Alen Eligil, and Corin du Soliel, all four future kings. And since Nathan was not a knight, my hand was on the sword that knighted Hugo.

Originally published in The Ursus #189, October1995 A.S.

XXX

Septentria’s Old Ties with the East

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. It has been kept as originally published; hence the references to the Principality of Ealdormere, 13 kingdoms, etc.)

When I first came to what is now Eoforwic, back in A.S. VIII, there was some dispute about to which kingdom this empty land belonged. Long before the Year VIII, maps had been drawn that showed our future Principality as part of the Middle Kingdom. This assignment, like the earlier and equally theoretical assignment of New Orleans to the Midrealm, was based on someone crayoning around the state and provincial borders until it looked right. Now that there was one whole SCA person in our province, a real decision had to be made.

One person put up an argument for the East. This was Duke Cariadoc, formerly of the Middle, but now of the East, who pointed out quite logically that Eofowic-to-be was about halfway between the capitals of the two realms.

A different kind of logic prevailed. As I recounted last time, the early Eoforwickians had strong ties to North Woods, and it was much closer than Ostgardr or Carolingia or other centres of Eastrealm culture. The future land of Æthelmearc was also empty, or nearly so.

For a long time, in fact, the SCA pioneers of Æthelmearc felt more isolated than we. The Eastrealm was still struggling to establish itself on the coast, and its officers, royalty and peers had little energy to lend people in the interior. From an early date, the people of Septentria were the closest and friendliest neighbor they had.

For a while being separate kingdoms was a bit of a barrier. Also the lack of a group in the Buffalo area slowed down interaction. Eoforwic’s first tourney was attended by a man from Buffalo named Owain of the Muddled Woad, who, dispite his rather comical name, was a very impressive figure. Without any direct contact with established SCA groups he had put together armour and garb that com pared favorably with the gear of many experienced members. Owain did his best to establish a shire he called Eastmere, but it proved short-lived.

It was in A.S. XI and XII that things really started to get interesting. First, Master Frederick of Holland, one of the founders of our Society, moved to now-deserted Eastmere. He was a formidable fighter and soon became Prince of the East. Second, the March of the Cleftlands began to be very active. Third, I was Prince and then King of the Midrealm. These factors turned a neglected frontier into quite an im portant centre of activity. And into this situation stepped one of the more remarkable Society leaders I or anyone else has ever met - Lady Morgan Elandris.

Morgan was a fencer and a horsewoman who was a natural for the SCA. Tall, slender, blonde, and usually dressed in black, she had unmistakable charisma. At one point I suspected her of being an immortal alien cursed to wonder from planet to planet destroying stargates with a mystic weapon. It was only a passing fancy, but Morgan made it easy to believe such things.

Morgan helped create two very important institutions: The Barony of Rhydderich Hael and the feared fighting force of House Elandris. Rhydderich Hael was based first in Fredonia, not Buffalo, and was for a while very small. But they put on fun events, and we and the people of the Cleftlands were often down there.

House Elandris got its start when Morgan discovered the Carthaginians. The Carthaginians were a group of three or four who quite independently were re-creating armoured combat based not on the Middle Ages but on the Classical Mediterranean. One of these original Carthaginians was Duke Hasdrubal. Morgan persuaded the Carthaginians to throw in their lot with her, and soon she had the best small phalanx in the SCA. Morgan, who was, at least in the early days, not quite strong or coordinated enough to be a good sword and shield fighter, took up spear and from be hind her moving fortress she could work devastation. Sounds simple today, but it was practically unprecedented then.

So great was Morgan‟s glamour, in the magical sense of the term, that she quickly had a bigger and more devoted following in her area than Frederick of Holland, who was himself a very definite personality, and had the advantage of being royalty. Somehow there was never a meeting of the minds between them, and Morgan found herself turning to friends in Septentria. She had been great friends for a while with my squire Hugo von Feuerklippe, so in May of A.S. XIII, she asked to become my squire. And so it happened that I found myself as knight to an immortal alien cursed, etc., who also had the best small phalanx in the SCA. And so it happened that House Elandris first fought at Pennsic VII on the side of the Middle Kingdom.

This alliance didn’t last, of course. Soon enough the Eastrealm recognized Morgan for the leader she was and made her baroness of Rhydderich Hael, and she felt it was only right to ask to be released as a squire. The parting was  amicable, however, as had all the relations between Septentria and what was called the Western Region of the East Kingdom.

There is still a great deal of friendship across that border, and I for one am glad of it.

Originally published in The Ursus #187, August 1995 A.S.

XXX

Old Friends of Septentria

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. It has been kept as originally published; hence the references to the Principality of Ealdormere, 13 kingdoms, etc.)

In an earlier column, I mentioned that Septentria is one of the oldest baronies in the Middle Kingdom. In the years when Eoforwic, Noerlanda (the first attempt at Skelder gate), Ben Dunfirth and Starleaf Gate were founded, our region was remote from established centres of Society activity.

This meant, of course, that we had to do most things for ourselves, relying on publications, a few veteran members from elsewhere and imagination to create a New Middle Ages in the midst of everyday Mundania.

We didn’t do it all ourselves. Even from the earliest days, there were neighbors who were willing to lend support of one kind or another.

In this column I will talk about some of our connections with North Woods, whose people were the earliest friends of Septentria. In a later one, I hope to talk about early friends of the Barony from the East.

The connection between Septentria and North Woods goes back to the very beginning. Three of the earliest members of Eoforwic - myself, Gillian d‟Uriel, who was the first

Baroness of Septentria and Elizaveta - had been members of North Woods, which is the Baronial Seat in Lansing, MI, before we came to Toronto.

As a result, we had many friends in what was perhaps the premiere group in the Middle Kingdom - a group that was, fortunately, a mere six hours‟ drive down the road. In those days, this was no great distance - at that time, the barony in Atlanta was, at least in theory, subject to a king dom based in Phoenix! When we started recruiting new members, we had a place to take them, where they could see how to do things right. Even better, some of those dynamic people were willing to visit us, even before we started putting on events.

On incident that sticks in my mind is an early expedition from North Woods to Eoforwic in November of A.S. IX. My then lady, Countess Caellyn, came up to visit during

American Thanksgiving, bringing with her three new Northwoodsers and a gift from the Barony to our struggling fighting practices: several old helmets they no longer needed! It was a generous gift, but not as prodigal as it sounds - they were Freon tank helmets, which were surplus because Northwoodsers were beginning to build proper ones.

Perhaps the friendships made then were even more important than the helms. The three new visitors later became famous as Mistress Catherine Aimee le Moyne (OP), Mas ter Brusten de Bearsul (OP, OL) and Countess Fern de Foret (Kt). When, some months later, Eoforwic staged its first event, we were able to convince a large company from North Woods to show up to fill our lists and share our feast and festivities. We were grateful for their presence and they seemed to like us, too - they kept coming back for years.

As Septentria developed, the connection with North Woods grew in width and depth. Particularly significant was the friendship with the Canton of Roaring Wastes and its biggest household, the Clan of the Disputed Tartan, AKA The McGregors. Various McGregors were very important in the Midrealm then, being Kings and such and they were a great deal of fun. The McGregors were particularly impor tant in the early days of Ben Dunfirth and Starleaf Gate-- no longer part of our barony, but still part of our early history. If you run into Count Rolac, Duke Dagan, Sir Coley or any of their friends and connections, you’ll find they have good memories of our early days.

It’s my impression that people no longer troop back and forth between North Woods and our barony in great num bers. The reason is simple: there are so many more events close to home. This affects me as much as anyone: even though I helped found the place. I’ve been in North Woods only three or four times in the past 15 years. But a recent visit confirms my feeling that the two baronies should still have things in common. We do. We both like to have fun, with a minimum of bureaucratic nonsense; we like to do things informally, but with class‟ and we love good, chivalrous, friendly fighting. If any of you have the opportunity to take the road to North Woods or Roaring Wastes - now on the verge of becoming a barony on its own - I highly recommend the journey. I think you will find a friendly welcome there and feel strangely at home.

Originally published in The Ursus #185, June 1995 A.S.

XXX

A Double Anniversary

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. It has been kept as originally published; hence the references to the Principality of Ealdormere, 13 kingdoms, etc.)

Eoforwic will mark its 20th Anniversary this summer. I am really looking forward to it: of all the groups I have belonged to in my time, Eoforwic is the one into which I have put most put my heart. As the anniversary approaches, though, I find myself not thinking about the early days of Eoforwic, but about the Eoforwic Decennial, for the Eoforwic decennial marked the true birth of Ealdormere.

Readers of my first column will remember that the Barony of Septentria once included everything that is now Ealdormere. Septentria was created to be an umbrella group that would take in every SCA branch in our fair province, and give the branches support they might lack if they were merely scattered shires on the far borders of the Middle Kingdom. The experiment of Septentria was a success, but success split the barony.

When Skraeling Althing reached a certain size, it was obvious to everyone that for it to progress further, it would have to become an independent barony. Our good Baron and Baroness at the time, Aedan and Kaffa, were far sighted and let the new barony go with a good will; and the baronies have always been friends.

This, however, left our province with no institution to unify it, and we felt the lack. Even the Great Officers of the Kingdom saw that Old Septentria had been a natural unit, and began appointing regional deputies for the province to coordinate the mysterious paperwork that seemed so necessary to them. The first regional deputy seneschal was the long-time stalwart Lady Tsivia bas Tamara. She did her best to promote the idea there should be not only bureaucratic regional deputies, but a Region with a name and identity of its own, a Region that might someday be a Principality. After all, Calontir had taken this path before us.

Tsivia was a prophet before her time. It was not until Lady Ragni Dzintara of Amberhall became regional deputy seneschal in A.S. XIX that other people began to show interest in building a Region. In June of A.S. XIX, Lady Ragni invited people to her abode for the most important Moot we have ever had. At that Moot it was decided that, with the Kingdom’s approval, we would form a Region. It would have a name, arms, and institutions. In particular, there would be a Regional Champion chosen by right of arms, and this Champion would, with a Consort, preside over us for a time.

Since the idea of a Regional Championship was something of an innovation, it needed to be given a certain dignity. It was decided that the Champion would not just be a fighter, but a proven member of our society, given examples of accomplishments in the Arts, and holding at least an Award of Arms.

It was pointed out then that some of our better people, be cause of their distance from the Crown were not yet armigerous but were considered worthy by those who knew them. So it was established that if a competitor who was not armigerous could produce twelve good men and women to vouch for them in public, they would be admit ted to the lists.

There were many preparations necessary for the Regional Tournament, and no rush if we were to do it right. Eventu ally it became clear that Eoforwic Decennial in A.S. XX would be the logical time. This put something of a load on my shoulders, and on Lady Ragni’s as well, for I had volunteered to be autocrat and she to cook the feast. In the end things worked out very well, because, as the Second Book of the Chronicles of Eoforwic says, I was aided in my work by my secret committee of co-autocrats who tagged all of their works with purple ribbons, and only revealed themselves to him at Court. I was supposed to be astonished at this, but I wasn’t - I knew people were pitch ing in, and thought it was just the good old tradition of Eoforwic.

It was a very successful Decennial celebration. It took place at those beautiful University of Toronto sites that have so often been the settings for great moments of Sep tentrian and Ealdormere history, and the weather was beau tiful too. I especially enjoyed the museum of ancient rel ics: a captured PACE banner commemorating the rise and fall of the People’s Autonomous Collective of Eoforwic, a false nose that had once graced Aedan’s face while he por trayed a troll during a Quest, and Sylard’s supposed deed to the North supposedly signed by a fictitious king named Finnvarr.

I’m sure some of these will be carted out again. Will we see Dragmore’s decapitated head(s)?

Of course the main business of the day was building the future. On that day Yog won the honour of being first Regional Champion, and won the honour of being Consort for Hanorah O’Neill. It was a bright day and a new beginning.

We were not to know then that soon a suspicious King and Queen would shut down our region and even ban the name Ealdormere. It’s a sad story, perhaps for another time.

Looking back 10 years, I remember the true beginnings, which have proved fruitful, and not the setbacks, which are only a dim memory

Historia Gaza

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. It has been kept as originally published; hence the references to the Principality of Ealdormere, 13 kingdoms, etc.)

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 

The First Days of Tor Brant

By Lord Duncan Gabh MacLeiod

In the very early days of Tor Brant, there were two of us, Lachlan Mc Mallfinn of Egg, and myself. He had been involved in the SCA out in An Tir. I had never heard of the group before meeting Lachlan. He thought there was a group in Ottawa and eventually we made contact and started attending meetings and fight practices. Word started getting around about us and a few friends and acquaintances started to gel. Long before we started on any kind of paper work, we needed a name. In a flash of inspiration, I grabbed the English-Norwegian dictionary and came up with Enfoldig Avgrunn. Please remember we were just on the military base at this time, so I thought that “Mindless Abyss” was quite appropriate. We started having irregular meetings and traveling to a few events. Word came back to us that our original name was a little too self degrading for the Dragon Herald. So some of the people knocked their heads together and came up with (sp?)Dalulian Dubh, or the valley of Black Wolves. This got bounced for being (a) too long and (b) sounds like somebody trying to talk with too much oatmeal in their mouth. The next name that was floated was Dun Claidheamh, but somebody pointed out that our nickname would be Dumb Clam Heads… so Tor Brant was chosen instead. By this time the group had put in the paperwork to become an official group. That is how the present name and arms for Tor Brant came to be.