Anst-hist-msg - 3/22/01 Histories of the Kingdom of Ansteorra related through December 1997. NOTE: See also the files: Anst-hist2-msg, SCA-hist1-msg, SCA-stories1-msg, Aten-hist-msg, placenames-msg, Hst-SCA-Fence-art, vanity-plates-msg. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday. This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter. The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s). Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous Stefan at florilegium.org ************************************************************************ Newbie Kings Answer Date: 31 Jan 92 From: rkister at lonestar.utsa.edu (Robert F. Kister) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Organization: University of Texas at San Antonio Gentles of the Rialto, I greet you well! Having waited for some time for someone else to answer this, and no longer being able to stand the suspense (not to mention the "Well, I _think_... answers), I am here to give satisfaction on the matter of whether there ever was a "newbie" king: The answer is "yes". When Inman won his first Crown Tournament in Ansteorra, he had been a member for about nine months, maybe a bit longer. Since our Kingdom Laws then stated (and still state, I believe) that an entrant into a Crown list had to have been active in the SCA for 1 year, the Crown waived this requirement for him so he could enter. He won the tournament. For those of you wondering/arguing about "belted/unbelted kings", Inman was belted either right before or during or after his second reign. (I think.... Sorry, folks, it was a long time ago and my memory is getting muddled; anyway, it was _sometime_ around his second reign....Or was it the third? Aargh! Who cares?) Just as a final note, Inman and Athena just stepped down at Coronation this past weekend -- his fifth reign, her first. Hope this has helped. =============================================================Mari ferch Rathyen Barony of Bjornsborg Kingdom of Ansteorra "Making the world a better place through food fights" ============================================================= Date: 1 Feb 92 From: vnend at hotlips.Princeton.EDU (D. W. James) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Organization: Princeton University In article <1992Jan29.143516.6935 at mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> mcochran at isis.cs.du.edu (Mark A. Cochran) writes: )In article <1992Jan29.084040.59980 at eagle.wesleyan.edu> hzhao at eagle.wesleyan.edu writes: )>Does anyone know if a "newbie" ever actually has just walked in and won a )>Crown? )Hmmmmm well, Duke Inman of Ansteorra wasn't Knighted until either just )before or just after his second reign. I don't know off hand how long )he was in the SCA before his first reign, but I've got the impression )that it wasn't a terribly long time. Perhaps somebody still down there )could verify and the details and let us know? )Edward Inman's first reign started on 7/10/82. At that point he had been serving as Steppes Knight Marshal for a good 6 months or more. I know he had been fighting since at least the winter of 80/81, though I don't know his actual starting date. I just know he was already doing very well when I met him in Oct. 81. Add to that his previous experience and his native speed and his success isn't that surprising. He was knighted the day of the start of his second reign, 3/3/84. I'd say that he was relatively new, but hardly a newbie. Kwellend-Njal -- Vnend, Lottery winner #316 Ignorance is the mother of adventure. vnend at princeton.edu, vnend at pucc.bitnet, or {backbone}!princeton!nudity!vnend Anonymous posting service (NO FLAMES!):vnend at ms.uky.edu Recent "newbie" Kings Date: 30 Jan 92 From: mc3078c%future at uunet.uu.NET ("Michael A. Chance - HQ") Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Organization: The Internet Arval (recently unemployed 8-) asks for a recent counter-example to the observation that the people winning Crown tournaments tend to be members of long standing. The most recent example that I can think of is Duke Patrick Michael Gordon of Ansteorra, who, if memory serves me correctly, won his first Crown tournament after less than 2 years in the SCA. (I believe that he was also knighted immediately prior to being invested as Crown Prince.) That was in the spring of 1989. He has since won a second Crown tounament, making him a Duke with less than 5 years SCA experience. If I've gotten the facts wrong, perhaps one of our numbers in Ansteorra who was a little closer to the persons involved will post a correction (or add more info!) Mikjal Annarbjorn Barony of Three Rivers, Calontir (now recruiting for the Trivial Dispute!) Barony of Shattered Crystal, Midrealm -- UUCP : uunet!texbell!future!mc3078c Internet : mc3078c at future.sbc.com From: greg at bronze.lcs.mit.edu (Greg Rose) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Duke on a Motorcycle Date: 10 Nov 1993 04:54:29 -0500 Organization: MIT LCS guest machine Harald Isenross writes: >Tio's subject line reminds me of a story I heard from Ansteorra: >A biker rode up to his first event which happened to be an Ansteorra >Crown Tourney. He entered the Crown list and won. He *then* realized >the import of what he had done (winning Crown before understanding the >expectations). From this experience, the future Duke Paul Inman saw >fit to set entry requirements for future Crown Tourneys along the lines >of residency period, SCA officer experience, and such. Nice story, but utterly untrue. First, His Grace's Name is Charles Inman MacMoor, not Paul. Second, Inman had been a member of the Society for a year and a day (literally) at the time at which he won his first crown tourney. Third, the residency requirement had been placed into law by the first Crown of Ansteorra, Duke Jonathan and Duchess Willow. Fourth, Inman, in his second reign, added an office-holding experience requirement to the criteria for entry into Crown tourney. Perhaps Harald is conflating the incident with Inman's first meeting of Drusilla of Northumbria (who would be the queen of his fourth reign, much later). Drusilla was mundanely a police officer and had been working troll. Both facts were relevant when she saw the scruffy biker types ride up to the event in Emerald Keep. The rider she had met in her police capacity some time before, and not too pleasantly. The driver she knew not at all. Drusilla, who is given to plain speech, enquired of her colleagues at troll in a loud voice, "who are these biker assholes?" The driver, who was Inman, replied: "The king; who the hell are you?" Drusilla, who was very new to the Society, was mortified and spent much of the event trying to apologize to the king. She even volunteered to serve him lunch, although her spilling the hot soup into his crotch was not part of the usual service. When she was called into court that evening, she expected banishment at a minimum; Inman gave her an AoA instead. Hossein/Greg Newsgroups: rec.org.sca From: dickerso at gomez.stortek.com (Russell Dickerson) Subject: Re: Commentary on Publications Policy (part 2) Keywords: Publications, policy, corporation, board, newsletters Organization: Organized? Date: Fri, 24 Jun 1994 14:31:53 GMT MCNUTT at gateway.ce.utk.edu (Bill McNutt) writes: >>Again, to prevent personal loans. >I have a hard time believing this was a problem. (Not that I doubt your word. >I just have a hard time getting my mind around the concept that someone would >consider group funds any less than a sacred trust. I consider these personal >loans you keep mentioning "theft.") Bjornsbourg, the Barony in San Antonio, TX, lost several thousand dollars of funds because of this. Although the details are not well know, the bannishment is a matter of public record. Russell -- | Russell Dickerson | Storage Tek Customer Emulation Lab | Louisville, CO | | dickerso at gomez.stortek.com <------ email address #1 | From: ansteorra at eden.com (2/22/95) To: ansteorra at eden.com >Shire of Mooneschadowe, formerly spelled in some mysterious way that sounded >like "mona-skedu-a" (for those of you collecting histories) It was spelled Mona Sceaduwe. Estrill Swet Mooneschadoweshire Stillwater, OK dssweet at okway.okstate.edu From: ansteorra at eden.com (2/20/95) To: ansteorra at eden.com RE>old groups Unto Maire, Greetings. In reference to your question about old names, Middleford used to be Gwendebourne and Bryn Gwlad had another name that I can't recall at this time. I will contact our historian, Lady Alina, or perhaps Lord Stefan will relay the question to her. In Service to the Kingdom. Lady Zahra Zena From: ansteorra at eden.com (2/28/95) To: ansteorra at eden.com RE>Origins of Ansteorra... As I understand it, the origin of the name of our kingdom is to be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which refers to the "an steorra", the "one star", unique and singular in the heavens; Halley's Comet, which also appears in the Bayeaux Tapestry. Thus the central star in the kingdom arms, the Award of the Sable Comet, and our kingdom's motto, "Unicus et Singularis". I confess I find this a pleasing origin story. For all I know, it might even be true. - Galen of Bristol, who used to be a herald, and whose personal motto is "Noblesse Oblige" From: "L. Cockerham, Texan" Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Longest-active SCA members Date: 14 Jun 1995 01:08:59 GMT Organization: NRA, TSRA, NAHC, SCA, CMA, PACT, NLA, WWF, Sierra, Planetary Society, Smithsonian Assoc., Library of Congress Assoc., etc... Greetings from Barony Ravens Fort, Anzteorra. Michael of Moria, Laureled 1970, is (rarely) seen in the area of Barony Stargate, so is Tarl Mapt at 22+ years, as is Bran de Tintreak at 22+. Here in Ravens Fort we have a member with the #1500 on his membership card, Michael FitzRamond de Twin Cedars. He had been looking for the S.C.A. for several years when he finally found them in about 72-73...Gee, all these "old folk" make me feel right young again ;^). I know there are more out there...I'll snoop some more... With Love for the Society, A. Kief av Kiersted (KSCA, Baron Ravens Fort [ret.], CSM, CIM, ODT, Lion of Ansteorra) L. Cockerham, Texan From: ansteorra at eden.com (8/8/95) To: 'ansteorra at eden.com' FW: Queen's Champion tournament I said: >The most surprising entrant was Don Simonn of Amber Isle. Stefan li Rous replied: I fear I do not know this man. Why was he the most surprising entrant, pray tell? He was surprising for the same reason that you do not know him. Simonn and Tessa have not been playing much in recent years. **Disclaimer: I've only been playing for 10 years. Most of the following was before my time, so I learned it second hand. Any inaccuracies are my own. Simonn is a Viscount and Count of Ansteorra. He is a Master of the Laurel and a Knight. Princess Tessa awarded Lord Tivar with the Cavalier of Ansteorra. Soon a charter was written, and the Cavalier became the Order of the White Scarf of Ansteorra (now a kingdom). Tivar is the only Cavalier. The Academy of the Rapier IX book cover has a wonderful drawing of Tessa pinning a White Scarf onto Tivar. Too bad it didn't happen that way. Simonn and Tessa were Baron and Baroness of Bordermarch for 9 years. Does this help you understand why many in the rapier community admire and respect them, and were happy to see them again? Llywelyn From: Nan Bradford-Reid (8/7/95) To: Mark Harris RE>Queen's Champion tournam >Lord Llywelyn Gruffydd says: > >>The most surprising entrant was Don Simonn of Amber Isle. > >I fear I do not know this man. Why was he the most surprising >entrant, pray tell? > >Stefan li Rous >Barony of Bryn Gwlad >markh at risc.sps.mot.com I am sure you will get a ton'o'mail on this, but let me give an introduction to one of the legends of Ansteorra, *Count* Simonn of Amber Isle, KSCA, OL, WSA, etc., and the last Prince of the Principality of Ansteorra. Simonn was one of the earlier kings of Ansteorra, just exactly where he fits in, I'm not sure (somewhere around 8 or 10), but he's a grand fighter, and a grand man. Small, lightning fast. He and his lovely wife, Countess Tessa, were Baron and Baroness of Bordermarch for YEARS. They are Baron Bordermarch and Baroness Bordermarch, which means they founded the barony. They stepped down some time ago and have not been active for awhile--their sixteen year old son was killed 3 or 4 years ago in an auto accident and I have not seen much of them since then. It is indeed marvelous to have them back. Catherine Nan Bradford-Reid n.b-reid at mail.utexas.edu From: ansteorra at eden.com (10/3/95) RE>GoR who etc. . . . >To be clearer on my question, here's two different entries from the Roll >of Precedence, showing only their Grant level awards. > >Anne Louise of Bluecastle - Barony 07/31/82 the Steppes > GoR 01/07/84 > >Bjorn Magnusson Esping - Barony 10/20/79 Baron Namron > CSM 11/18/79 > CIM 10/09/82 > GoR 10/20/79 > >The first one shows someone receiving a Grant two years after becoming a >landed baroness. The second one shows someone receiving a barony and a >grant on the same date. I could list *many* more examples of both of >these two circumstances. > >So why? Is it a case of "ohmighod, the scroll didn't *say* grant, so we >better award them a GoR"? Or, is it a case of poor research? Or is it a >case of the belief that *both* the barony *and* the grant had to be >recorded in the roll of precedence? > >Estrill The reason for this condition, is that our current rules involving the Grants of Rank are a "relatively new development." In it's early days, Ansteorra used the system that it inherited from Atenveldt. Attenveldt gave no special precedence to Landed Nobility. The first Ansteorran Crowns felt that this was an odd situation, and "routinely" (except when they forgot) gave a Grant with a territorial Barony. In a similar fashion, Court Barons received no special precedent either. Thus, many Court Barons (such as myself) received a Court Barony, and were later given Grants. [There was a Society wide discrepancy involving the prestige of Court Baronies. In some Kingdoms (in the Aten tradition for example), Court Baronies were a fairly prestigious award, and the idea of including a Grant seemed like gilding a lily In other Kingdoms, a Court Barony was virtually a joke award. The BoD felt that a joke order of Nobility was not in keeping with the spirit of the reenactment (and debased all nobility), and required that a Court Barony at least include an AoA. Ansteorra went one better, and included a Grant with a Court Barony. (the attention given to the current system of precedence was less formal after most groups grew too big to have regular Marches in Precedence at courts). Over several years, the Crowns changed Law to bring it into it's current form, but the early years reflect the hodge podge of the transition from Aten tradition to our current Ansteorran tradition. - Bran __________________________________________________________________ Jim Langley Senior Hardware Engineer Syntron Product Development Syntron Inc. 713-647-7303 langj at mail.syntron.com __________________________________________________________________ Date: Wed, 10 Jan 1996 From: horton at dhostwo.convex.com (Patricia Horton) To: ansteorra at eden.com Subject: NMS With respect to the NMS, Inman fought the Board hard, but had to make concessions to keep things moving forward. After pay-to-play had dropped, the Board instituted pay-to-fight. We were still refusing to collect the NMS under Fredrick as Kingdom Seneschal. Just before Inman stepped down he made the offer, if the Board would drop pay-to-fight, we (Ansteorra) would collect the NMS. The Board dropped pay-to-fight, leaving it up to the Kingdoms. When Jean Richard took the throne I asked, as the new KS, if he would honor the offer made by Inman. I have asked each Crown since then giving the history. Each has agreed to honor the deal made by their predecessor. I will be asking Galen and Rebecca at the GOofS meeting just before they step up. So, we did not go back on our fight or honor as a Kingdom. Our Crown made an offer and we have honorably stuck to it. I hate this thing as much as the next, and still question the "desperate" need for money. Yes, since I have become KS, I do know the Board had run itself dry of operating reserve and subscription liability. Yes, I do believe they needed to rebuild that. Seems like we have gone a long way to rebuild it based on the figures I have, partly do the the NMS. Do we still need it? I have my doubts. I have asked you to reply to the Board's request for input. I made that request in both the Blackstar and my monthly to the Seneschals. Instead of complaining here, write to the Board. Don't wait for your leaders to do something, move on your own. Maire From: Galen of Bristol To: ansteorra at eden.com Date: Fri, 19 Jul 1996 06:55:12 -0500 (CDT) Subject: Re: Knights On Thu, 18 Jul 1996, Jeff Childers wrote: > what exactly is a master at arms? is it a form of peerage? > Gareth The Chivalry of the SCA is divided into two equal-ranking orders: The Order of Knighthood of the SCA (KSCA) and the Order of Mastery of Arms of the SCA (MSCA). Knights wear unadorned gold chains (symbolic of fealty) and white belts (symbolizing purity). Masters, who -- unlike knights -- cannot be required to swear fealty, wear white baldrics (a belt worn over one shoulder). Both sometimes wear gold spurs. New members into either order are created by the Crown after consultation with the Chivalry as a whole (that is, both orders are consulted about candidates for either order). Yes, Masters of Arms are peers. Knights can be (and usually are) required to swear fealty by the Crown, and to renew that fealty periodically (traditionally this is done at Coronation). Masters may sometimes swear fealty to a particular king, but cannot be required to do so. This, combined with the fact that there are far fewer of them, creates a kind of independence for Masters that Knights do not have. This is the main difference between Knights and Masters in my view. To my knowledge, the West Kingdom has the only Mistress of Arms, Viscountess Gwenllian Rhiannon of DragonKeep. Ansteorra has only one Master of Arms at present: Duke Jonathon. Masters created in Ansteorra: Lloyd von Eaker (resigned) Togatai Blackwolf (inactive, rumored to have moved) Jonathon de Laufyson* Ivar Battleskald (moved out of kingdom) Frea Geardson* (moved out of kingdom) Korwyn Marcus Arianrhod (moved out of kingdom -- but was at Steppes Warlord) Inman McMoore* (resigned to accept knighthood) *resigned knighthood to accept baldric This is all off the top of my head on a Friday morning, so some of it may be wrong. I hope this helps. - Galen Viscount Galen of Bristol, KSCA, CSM, etc. ptm2792 at utarlg.uta.edu -- for a good time, call: http://www.uta.edu/student_orgs/CSA/officers/paul/ "noblesse oblige" From: Galen of Bristol Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 20:35:20 -0500 (CDT) Subject: Re: Knights On Wed, 17 Jul 1996 ches at io.com wrote: > In my quest to fill my files on knights I have another question to > ask. Has a knight ever been de belted? Voluteerily dropped their belt? > Why? > > I have never heard of such a thing in the SCA so if you know of one in > European history can you remember enough of the text to give a source? I mean > other than Lancelot. > > Lady Chiara > > Ciao at }\ > Ches at }----`--,-- http://www.io.com/~ches > at }/ To my direct knowledge, offhand, in Ansteorra, several members of the chivalry have resigned their titles. Duke Jonathon de Laufyson resigned his knighthood for a mixture of reasons following his reign as our first King; he was made a Master of Arms. Sir Dragomyr Androvich resigned his knighthood for reasons that were never made clear to me. Sir Frea Geardson (who had been knighted with Jonathon's chain) returned his chain and resigned his knighthood because he was moving out of kingdom permanently, and felt he could neither swear fealty to another kingdom nor maintain his fealty to Ansteorra while living elsewhere. He, too, was made a Master of Arms, and has since been King of the Outlands. Duke Inman McMoore resigned his knighthood saying he felt he could no longer fulfill the duties of a knight; he was made a Master of Arms, which he later resigned to accept knighthood again. Duke Lloyd von Eaker (who was never a knight), resigned his Mastery of Arms (I am told) because he felt he could no longer fulfill the duties of a Master. These are what I can think of offhand. Viscount Galen of Bristol, KSCA, CSM, etc. ptm2792 at utarlg.uta.edu - "noblesse oblige" From: zarazena at io.com (Vicki Marsh) Date: Thu, 8 Aug 1996 09:13:44 -0500 (CDT) Subject: Re: SCA near Rice University? >Unless they've changed things significantly since I was there (which is >possible, that *was* nearly 20 years ago) "Valhalla" is the graduate student >bar, under the stairs of of the Chemistry Lecture Hall. "Willy's Pub" is for >the general populace, and is located in the basement of the student center, >near (but not actually under) the chapel. > > -Tivar Moondragon > (Baker '77) Funny how things go full circle. There was a group of SCA'ers who originated at Rice about that time. As I recall, it included Tivar, Vargskol, & Robin of Gilwell. It would be an interesting SCA anthropological question to see who started with what core group and where. I know there are others, such as the TAMU group that included Cadfen, Godfrey de la Fosse(now active in Atlantia), and a later group that included Cynric. Bryn Gwlad had a core group that started out in Bjornsborg, then really solidified and grew after a SpringFaire that was held in 1979. Iolo, Gweno, Ricardo, Aislinn of Lion's Lair, Eldric, and others whose names escape me right now joined about that time. Steppes had a group of High School kids, including Edwin, Kaylitha, and Joysianne, that ended up in Bryn Gwlad for college - many of whom have since returned to Steppes. I know there are other groups scattered around the Kingdom that have a definable starting point, and probably a charismatic leader, a household affiliation, or a gaming group. What I would like to know, is what was it about these origins that these people have in common? Is it only a statisical percentage of the total groups that stayed active at such a high level? Or was there something else? Inquiring minds want to know. Those of you who are active (and not on your way to Pennsic already), I would love to hear from you what inspired you and has kept you in. Zahra Zena From: moondrgn at bga.com (Chris and Elisabeth Zakes) Date: Thu, 8 Aug 1996 22:37:57 -0500 Subject: Re: Origins >Funny how things go full circle. There was a group of SCA'ers who >originated at Rice about that time. As I recall, it included Tivar, >Vargskol, & Robin of Gilwell. Not entirely correct. When I first encountered the SCA, they were holding fighter practices at Rice on Sunday afternoons. Oddly enough, there was very little interest from the student body (maybe 4 or 5 out of 2000). Robin showed some interest, but didn't actually get active in the SCA until a few years later, *after* he'd moved back to Dallas. Vargskol (Steve Jackson) wasn't part of that group at all; he got into the SCA in Bryn Gwlad, to learn more about medieval weapons and combat for his game designs. -Tivar Moondragon From: Burke McCrory Date: Thu, 08 Aug 1996 10:36:35 -0500 Subject: Re: SCA near Rice University? >I know there are other groups scattered around the Kingdom that have a >definable starting point, and probably a charismatic leader, a household >affiliation, or a gaming group. > >What I would like to know, is what was it about these origins that these >people have in common? Is it only a statisical percentage of the total >groups that stayed active at such a high level? Or was there something else? > >Zahra Zena Mooneshadowe was started by a group of gamers. Master William Blackfox came to OSU to attend a wargaming con in full SCA garb (he was of course there to play Kingmaker!!). Later in spring of 79 a group attended the first Aten-Middle war. The group got started officailly that summer. Of the original people at OSU in 79 only 4 are still active. Lord Amra in Steppes, Master Tarl in Namron, Lord Valadonis in the West i think, and myself. The other 10 or so people have drop out over the years. Burke McCrory Sir Burke Kyriell MacDonald burkemc at ionet.net From: Deborah Sweet Date: Thu, 8 Aug 1996 11:22:48 -0500 Subject: Group Origins was Re: SCA near Rice University? Sir Burke Kyriell MacDonald wrote: >Mooneshadowe was started by a group of gamers. Master William Blackfox >came to OSU to attend a wargaming con in full SCA garb (he was of >course there to play Kingmaker!!). Later in spring of 79 a group >attended the first Aten-Middle war. >The group got started officailly that summer. Of the original people >at OSU in 79 only 4 are still active. Lord Amra in Steppes, Master >Tarl in Namron, Lord Valadonis in the west i think, and myself. The >other 10 or so people have dropped out over the years. Sir Burke, I must take great exception to that last statement of yours. As you should know full well, my husband, Lord Haldane Sparhawke, was one of the *original* members of Mooneschadowe that went to the war. He is still active & still in Mooneschadowe! While Master Tarl has been in the SCA a long time, he is not one of the founding members of Mooneschadowe H.L. Estrill Swet Mooneschadoweshire started in Fall '80, only one year after the group got going. Currently in second or third place in the category of "longest continuous time in the SCA in Mooneschadoweshire" From: Endel at tarleton.edu Date: Thu, 8 Aug 1996 13:03:27 -0400 Subject: Origins University students were the origin of the group here in Dragonsfire Tor. A group was trying to form here. They got some of the Theatre Arts students interested. I was a librarian here taking Theatre courses after being bitten by the acting bug in a little theatre group here. I heard about it through my friends in the Theatre department. I sent off my membership and joined before even attending an event, as it sounded just what I was looking for. The group kind of folded after the end of that spring semester. I went to my first event July 4 weekend that year, Patrick and Julia's first coronation. I knew exactly one person there, but it hooked me and I've been going ever since. With the encouragement of Baron and Baroness Elfsea, Arthur and Robyn, we got a new group going here and it is still going strong. In service to the Society, Laird Alan MacRonan MacCalum From: stddly at SHSU.edu Date: Thu, 08 Aug 1996 13:24:25 CST Subject: RE: Origins Seawinds was started by Ldy Catryn y Gwynned, who had already had been in the SCA elsewhere, along with her sons , nephews, and their gaming group in or around 1983. I got introduced to the SCA there through Ashe ap Orion who went on to found a group in Calontir and who now lives somewhere in An Tir. Around the time I found the group (1987) H.L. Enid of Crickhollow (now of Steppes) did also. From: stddly at SHSU.edu Date: Thu, 08 Aug 1996 13:32:03 CST Subject: RE: Origins I just remembered that Seawinds formed out of two groups - the one started by Catryn and another one started by Ld David ben Reuben. They were Incipient for 8 years and were officially sponsored by Stargate though they had lots of help from Bjornsborg also. Ldy Catryn and her husband Thorvald moved off and several years later formed what is now Tempio. Lorraine From: Mike Baker Date: Thu, 8 Aug 1996 15:00:00 -0500 Subject: Re: Group Origins was Re: SCA near Rice >>Sir Burke Kyriell MacDonald wrote: >>>Mooneshadowe was started by a group of gamers. Master William Blackfox >>>came to OSU to attend a wargaming con in full SCA garb (he was of >>>course there to play Kingmaker!!). Later in spring of 79 a group >>>attended the first Aten-Middle war. Ansteorra-Middle, *not* Aten-Middle. Or so it was presented to me at the time. In historical references now often referred to as "Queen Willow's War". Note also that we who attended the war had visited at least one fighter practice in Nord aus das Strom (now Northkeep) before reaching the war site. I walked a security shift for the first time at that event, and first performed as a "bard" in the SCA sense, and became extremely enamored of the whole concept of "the Dream". Of the original founders of Moonshadow, Sebastian Alagard (Leroy Ussery) had connected to the SCA through Alanna of Caer du Pard _separately_ from the group of gamers fostered by William, and was _also_ present at that War. >>>The group got started officailly that summer. Of the original people >>>at OSU in 79 only 4 are still active. Lord Amra in Steppes, Master >>>Tarl in Namron, Lord Valadonis in the west i think, and myself. The >>>other 10 or so people have dropped out over the years. >>H.L. Estrill Swet wrote: >>Sir Burke, I must take great exception to that last statement of yours. >>As you should know full well, my husband, Lord Haldane Sparhawke, was >>one of the *original* members of Mooneschadowe that went to the war. He >>is still active & still in Mooneschadowe! >>While Master Tarl has been in the SCA a long time, he is not one of the >>founding members of Mooneschadowe As noted to Burke in private mail, my records (including my original cardfile) and early populace listings are at home. I'll check at least the cardfile tonight. Burke was indeed mistaken in the omission of Haldane / substitution of Tarl. I certainly won't hold it against him. I shudder to think how many people I have forgotten who only appeared for a brief stay in our midst, and even some who travelled with us for a while. Burke also omitted Rory MacLeod from the list of "still active". At last report, he was still participating in Northkeep on a local-only basis. (I chastised Burke "in private" over that omit.) As a "Hall of Honor" notation, I am aware of at least three early participants in Moonschadowe / Mona Sceaduwe who have now passed into the next existence: Muldona of Maubla, Dorina (mundanely my second cousin), and David (the brother of Isolde Dion Euves d'Argent). Are there others that I have lost contact with that are in need of special memory? Kihe Blackeagle (the Dreamsinger Bard) s.k.a. Amr ibn Majid al-Bakri al-Amra currently residing in Barony of the Steppes, Kingdom of Ansteorra (but forever a resident in my heart of Moonshadow, Land of the Crying Winds: Amra M'Chib Bakerian, founding pursuivant of Moonshadow) Mike C. Baker mbaker at rapp.com From: aodhan at dobharchu.org (Aodhan Ite an Fhithich) To: ansteorra at eden.com Date: 10 Oct 96 09:00:04 -0600 Subject: Principality... "Matthew R. Popalisky" wrote in a message to All: "RP> To those that were offended when I refered to HG Inman as the Onc "RP> and Ever Other King, I am sorry if this offended. Anyone offended by that needs to get a real life. "RP> I thought it "RP> was an affectionate nick-name and a take-off of the Once and "RP> Future King that had to do with his ability to win Crown and "RP> because he has always done a good job while bearing the crown. I coined that phrase after his 3rd reign because he'd been King 3 times over a period of 6 consecutive reigns. Unfortunately, a bard picked it up and ran with it. Also, unfortunately, Inman doesn't know when to quit and has sat the throne entirely too many times. And I don't consider telling the people and officers of a Kingdom to violate the edicts of the BoD being a good King. Baron Aodhan Ite an Fhithich, ML Dobharchu Herald From: Burke McCrory To: ansteorra at eden.com Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 08:17:57 -0500 Subject: Re: Ansteorra history >>Does anyone know what the official birthdate of Ansteorra is? Month >>and day? >> >>Jovian Skleros >>Scot Eddy >> >I suppose that depends on what you want to consider "official". > >The Texas area of Atenveldt first started organizing into a region at a >King's College in Bjornsborg in March of 1977. > >We held our first Coronet list at the second Tournament of the Queen's >Grace, Thanksgiving weekend, 1977 ("Queen's Nice" for those with *really* >long memories.) > >It was announced that we could "go kingdom" at the Tournament of Chivalry, >March 10, 1979. Our first Crown Tournament was on May 12th of that year. We >had *two* coronations, Jonathan's was June 17th, Willow's was a couple of >weeks later (a weirdness caused by mundane scheduling conflicts.) > > -Tivar Moondragon >(Mastadon and fossil ) I would count the June 17th date as that was when HRM Theo released us from under Atenveldt's control by recognizing Jonathan's rights as the first King of Ansteorra. Burke McCrory System Specialist Internet Administrator Oklahoma Tax Commission bmccrory at oktax.state.ok.us Phone : 405-522-5808 From: gunnora at bga.com (Gunnora Hallakarva) To: ansteorra at eden.com Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 20:40:25 -0500 Subject: Re: Re Ansteopality >> We could then have border wars with Elfsea, Steppes, Stargate, >> Bordermarch, and others to claim their Cantons, Colleges, or unclaimed >> lands. > >But we don't NEED to have principalities to do this. Heilsa, Ya'll Or how about the Butterfly Hunt? Jan and Kemreth were on the throne, we hadn't been a kingdom but a year or so... Baron Bjorn of Namron laid claim to Bjornsborg, said it was his personal property (Bjorn's-burg) and should pay tribute. Baroness Alexandra Tatiana Feodnorovna of Novgorod brought Russian plotting to all time new highs of excitement (I'm just a sweet young thing from the steppes of Russia! Bat, bat. Sigh. Wink.) Tribute was refused, the situation began to bubble, and conflict was arranged. Then when Bjorn showed up with the Namron forces and mercenaries, prepared to seize the tribute he felt was owed him, who should appear but The King. Who wanted to know, quite reasonably, where one of his barons was going with all those armed men through the Crown's lands without permission to wage war on another territorial landholder! Bjorn thought fast and replied that he and his men were not going to war, they were on a.... um... ah... Butterfly Hunt! That's it! Jan twirled his mustache and asked in a droll fashion why Bjorn and his men needed all those sharp weapons. I believe Bjorn made allegations as to the size and puissance of Ansteorran butterflies... Jan went to Baroness Alexandra, and asked if she would withdraw her troops... she agreed to do so, but only so far as Loop 1604, so that she could protect the lands needed to grow crops and prevent winter starvation. Of course, negotiations broke down, and a grand carnage was held by all. Boy, those were the days. A nice war and we didn't have to travel millions of miles to go to it, we held it on our own soil. We ought to do thtese things more often! Hooray for genuine Ansteorra history. Wassail, Gunnora Hallakarva Herskerinde From: "Ray Katz" To: ansteorra at eden.com Date: Fri, 18 Oct 1996 00:35:53 -06:0 Subject: Re: Butterfly War Here is another piece of the history of the "Butterfly Altercation" that you may enjoy. I was very new to the SCA and about a dozen or so of the Bryn Gwlad fencers had joined me in a brigand household called Piper's Grove. Because I was heading a criminal household, I was playing a lot with Edwina Dirk Stern, the mistress of the local Guild of Assassins. The word had gotten out that assassination would be allowed at the event, and it appears that Alex AND Bjorn had both contracted with Edwina to murder each other. As Edwina did not have the manpower to fulfill both contracts, she telephoned me to ask if I would be willing to take over the contract on Bjorn's life. I readily agreed and immediately called a household meeting. I appeared at the meeting with a small crock full of Tullamore dew, and having no idea of the forces I was about to set in motion, I told them that Bjorn was the target for the weekend and that whoever killed him first would get the Tully. Familial obligations required that I travel to my hometown on the weekend of the war, so I was not able to attend the event. When I returned to Bryn Gwlad, I went to a fighter practice at Waterloo Park. HE Seanna De Fraser was there. I had not been there long when I heard Seanna's distinctive articulation carrying my way on the breeze. "SCURLOCK!!!", she cried, "JEREMY SCURLOCK!!!" I turned, she approached. More quietly she said, "Scurlock, I would like a word with you." There was something in the way she hung on to that last "you" that gripped my attention. (We joke about this now, but at the time, there was murder in her eyes.) We walked a short way together and sat down. She then told me the following tale, which was later corroborated by other members of my house: Alan of the Dark Wood arrived on Saturday morning and immediately began to plot Bjorn's untimely demise. Actually, a number of my household members were doing exactly the same thing, but because I had put them in a kind of competition with one another, they were not sharing their plans. (This will become important later.) Alan had brought with him a boffer bottle made by Iolo Fitzowen. The label read "Olde Frothingslosh, the pale, stale ale with the foam at the bottom." It begins, Sometime following the fighting, Alan, armed with his bottle, stalked Bjorn out to the parking lot. When Bjorn stopped near a truck, Alan crept upon him on his blind side and cried, "Your Excellency!" As Bjorn turned toward him, Alan slammed the bottle down on the truck's bumper, in simulation of breaking it, and then jammed it at Bjorn's head. Bjorn fell and Alan ran away, ready to claim his Tully. Back at the parking lot, Alan's attack had swept Bjorn's glasses off of his face and to the ground, where they broke. God bless him, Bjorn was always stone blind without his glasses. Bjorn began to feel about the ground on all fours, crying, "My glasses! I can't see!" To his credit, Alan returned and attempted to aid Bjorn as best he could, thus making his capture easy for Bjorn's enraged entourage. Alan was dragged to the Bryn Gwlad tavern tent and securely bound to one of the supporting poles. HE Vargskol Halfblood was present, and angrily demanded that Alan reveal just who had put him up to this assassination attempt. At first, Alan was loathe to tell him that it was me. Varg began to stamp about the large tent, while suggesting that poor Alan be "put to the question." Jan was watching all of this, getting angrier by the minute. While elsewhere in camp, Bjorn went back to his tent to get his extra pair of glasses. Unbeknownst to him, another member of my house who was unaware of earlier developments on site, had secreted herself on a tree branch which overhung the entrance to Bjorn's tent, armed with a "poisoned" dagger. As Bjorn emerged from his tent, she dropped straight down upon him, with a loud shout. As they both went to the ground, Bjorn cried out, and his entourage, already alerted by Alan's earlier attempt on Bjorn's person, handily made the arrest. She was likewise dragged to the tavern tent, where the questioning began anew. Pretty soon, it came out that I was somehow at the bottom of all of this. I don't think Varg was at all surprised. Jan was coming to a nice, rolling boil. Meanwhile, at Alex's, Alex caught a mouthful of salted wine, courtesy of Edwina, and began writhing on the ground in loudly feigned death throes. Jan EXPLODED! Jan called one of the very few Courts of the Realm this kingdom has ever known, right then and there. The upshot of all of this was that the truth came out, both Alex and Bjorn were busted to peasant first-class for the remainder of the event, my friends narrowly escaped banishment, and I was in the dog house for a very long time. Ah, for the days when events were more, er, spontaneous. Actually, I carried a bit of guilt about this for some years. I ran into Bjorn again a couple of years before he died and confessed my culpability, and apologized. He was quite gracious about it. Now that is Ansteorran history with a small "h". Thus ends the tale, Jeremy Scurlock Date: Thu, 14 Nov 1996 20:39:09 -0800 From: Galen of Bristol To: ansteorra at eden.com Subject: Re: Laws and calendars Galen of Bristol here! dennis grace wrote: > Second, along the same lines, I came across Article V, Section 4: Perpetual > Events, which says, > > Section 4: Perpetual Events > > a. These are Baronial or Provincial events which have definite dates > reserved on the Calendar of Events for them each year. > > > > b. These events are specifically not protected and may have other events > scheduled on the same date. > > c. The Baron/ess together with the baronial seneschal may petition the > Crown to waive a perpetual event for one year. > > d. The Baron/ess together with the baronial seneschal may petition the > Crown to change the date of a perpetual event. > > e. In the event that Crown Toumament is scheduled on a weekend > designated as an perpetual event weekend, that Barony or Province will > be given the option of either moving its perpetual event to a different > calendar date for that year, or waiving it as per subsection (c). > > Okay, so here's my question: what purpose does this list serve? The events > have a "reserved" weekend, but they are specifically NOT "protected"(???). > I don't want to sound sarcastic, but is this actually supposed to mean > anything? Is the general understanding of this arrangement clearer than the > written law? How might NOT having a major, repeating event--Lyonesse, for > example--on this list affect the event's scheduling? > > I'm probably just not looking in the right place, but until someone points > me in the right direction, I'll remain I wrote the original version of this section in 1988. At the time, through deals made with prior rulers by the barons of Steppes and Namron, the dates for Steppes Warlord and Namron Protectorate were _protected_ from conflict, and their dates permanently reserved on the calendar by law (Memorial Day and Columbus Day weekends, respectively). In the feeling that this was bad because 1) too many protected weekends clutters the calendar and 2) only two out of (then) seven baronies with dates reserved for their biggest events was unfair, I drafted a proposal whereby each barony was given a specific date for their biggest or favorite event. Bryn Gwlad chose the first weekend of February for Candlemas, for instance. The advantage to the barony of a reserved date is that their request for a date for the event will never be turned down because of conflict with something held by a smaller group, or something new being held by another event or the kingdom. The advantages to other groups is that Shadowlands need never worry that Steppes Warlord will be moved to conflict with Roundtable Tourney, unless they hold it Memorial Day weekend (which they may choose to do, but they'd have to get pretty Aggie to want that). When smaller groups know well in advance (years, even) when the biggest events will be, it makes their planning easier. Example (the law prevents this): Say Lyonesse hasn't been scheduled yet. Bryn Gwlad wants to do a big "high persona" event like "Ladies' Tournament of Chivalry III", or something new and never tried before, and (whether through malice, ignorance, thoughtlessness, whatever -- all these happen with autocrats) they reserve the date Bjornsborg has traditionally had for Lyonesse before the Bjornsborgers apply for it. Without this law, Bjornsborg can't complain about the loss of their traditional date because Bryn Gwlad was on the calendar first. Under this law, Bryn Gwlad jas gotta know that Lyonesse _will_ be that weekend, and they probably don't want that weekend because Bjornsborg is there first. The original intent was originally to prevent Crown events from being scheduled on those weekends, too. I see that's been amended out. At the time this was published, the Baron and Baroness of the Steppes, feeling (correctly) that the protected nature of Steppes Warlord was being lost, and Steppes' "specialness" (forgive me) -- in having a privilege only one other barony shared -- was being diminished, took the view that I had initiated harm to the Barony of the Steppes (a point of view I understand, but as Kingdom Seneschal my mandate was the best interests of the whole kingdom). They were very upsgt with me, and I am given to understand that (although they were friends of mine and are so today) they made me pay a very high price for this action. > Sir Lyonel Oliver Grace > Dennis G. Grace - Galen of Bristol Seneschal of Ansteorra under Mikael I, Gerard and Patrick I (a mediocre Viscount) Date: Fri, 15 Nov 1996 21:31:50 -0600 To: ansteorra at eden.com From: Chris and Elisabeth Zakes Subject: Re: Fencing in Meridies >and posted the letter from their Majesties Meridies that included: >> >>Due to a variety of factors, We must bring the fencing experiment in Meridies >to a close, effective immediately. > >which mentions several excuses for their decision, including lack of >interest and safety concerns. I do not believe that any of these >excuses are valid. They did not consult their own marshals, or even >inform them. > >Lack of Interest? In 9 months, Meridies authorized 50 fighters. After >1 year of fencing, Ansteorra had about 5. I suppose that depends on when you figure that "year" in Ansteorra. At my first event (Thanksgiving weekend 1975), there were more than five fighters in the "Swashbuckling list". The following year, I was able to scrounge up three or four for a demo for the Queen of Atenveldt. By 1977-78, we could routinely field a dozen or twenty. -Tivar Moondragon Date: Tue, 03 Dec 1996 18:08:12 -0800 From: Galen of Bristol To: ansteorra at eden.com Subject: Re: Including the Crown in Discussions Affecting Their Subjects Gunnora Hallakarva wrote: > Tim McDaniel said: > Um, just curious, but what are you planning to talk about with the > Crown? I presume they won't forbid it -- it's a private group. > > Certainly a peer can talk to the Crown ... but I don't see what they > have to do with this. > ================================= > > Actually, just as a courtesy thing. Also to see if they have any interest > in a formal charter such as was issued for Blue Feather in Caid (I think it > was Caid). It's always nice to consult the Crown and clue them in on what > you're doing when it affects Subjects in Their Realm. > > Gunnora Hallakarva As a recovering homophobe myself, I didn't really want to address this, but I can't resist telling the story of when I was Kingdom Seneschal under Patrick Michael I. The Crown received a letter asking them to charter a Blue-Feather type group in Ansteorra, and place a letter in the _Black Star_ informing the populace about this new group and commending it to their subjects. Patrick, a former Marine, was loathe to even _touch_ the letter, and was quite happy for me to answer it for him. I declined for Their Majesties as diplomatically as I could, while pointing out that this fellow was certainly free to proceed to form his group and publicize it. Not really relevant, but I found Patrick's discomfort to be humorous, and I still do. - Galen -- Viscount Galen of Bristol, KSCA, CSM, etc. Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1996 08:50:00 -0600 To: ansteorra at eden.com From: nweders at mail.utexas.edu (Nancy Wederstrandt) Subject: Re: Peer Fear I don't know if this counts but back in the early days when we were part of Atenveldt, this part of the Olde Kingdom never saw any Crowns.... Well the second year I was in what is now Bjornsborg was hosting Tourney of the Lost Lands and the King was coming. All of us little people were instructed to not address the Crown directly unless he spoke to us first, never meet his eyes, bow or curtsey when he approached, etc, etc, etc.... Needless to say we were all terrified to be anywhere close to him and if we saw him coming we would run and hide behind trees and such. A year or so later when I talked to him, Poncho said he had a great time at the event but he couldn't figure out why no one liked him... It took a long time and a Great Problem to get the early Bjornborgers over there fear of the Crown and peers. CR St. John Date: Wed, 15 Jan 1997 14:58:31 -0600 To: ansteorra at eden.com From: Burke McCrory Subject: Re: Awards Policy >Countess, I am told households used to be VERY VERY BIG THINGS indeed >in Ansteorra. Yes, that is true. But remember that there were only approx 8 groups when Ansteorra became a principality (15 when we became a Kingdom). Households bridged the gaps and allowed for a more or less wide spread SCA group that could and did cross group boarders. If you had lived in western or far northern Ansteorra you would have found it quite a long drive to the closest group. >There was an award for households: Pillar of Ansteorra. True, this was a principality award given to households that provided great service to the pricipality. Remember Ansteorra was only a pricipality for approx. 18 months. >From the little I've heard (e.g., the feuding between Clan Cadall and >another clan whose name escapes me)x, it's a good thing that >households are far, far less important. Currently, the only important >household -- indeed, I don't know if it's a household per se or just >an unofficial group -- is (IIRC) Duke Sigmund's Backyard Crew. xBut >I'm quite willing to be corrected if I err in this. > >Daniel de Lincoln We I don't know if His graces fighter practice could be called a household but, I am willing to bet you that Rolling Thunder, Wolfstar, Blackmore, and Mountaingate would all consider themselves Households. I think that you will find that there are a great number of households active in Ansteorra. It is just that with so many groups they have assumed become groups of people that come toghter out of comraderie and friendship rather than the added requirement of no local group. I know of at least 5 active household in Wiesenfeuer. Sir Burke Kyriell MacDonald Member of House Lioncross burkemc at ionet.net Burke McCrory Date: Wed, 15 Jan 1997 18:29:04 -0600 To: ansteorra at eden.com From: nweders at mail.utexas.edu (Nancy Wederstrandt) Subject: Households Concerning Households: When I first entered the SCA, which was a while ago, there were two Baronies (Stargate and Steppes) and one shire (Bjornsborg, which was then caled Bear's Fort). Hardly anyone in Bjornsborg at that time had any awards and many were college students and very new in the SCA. Households formed as 1) extended families, 2) a means to go somewhere or do something cheaply, and 3) an informal structure filling the gap of not having many peers and nobles per se. There were some common law rules about households. 1) It could be formed by a lord and a lady, 2) three individuals (three women, three men, three sheep) or it could be formed by a Peer or Noble. Great Houses, like Greater House Locksley, were so called that if the household were made up of smaller households (kinda like an umbrella corporation, I think. You get the idea) They were important and actually I miss them a great deal since the Household I had (Freehold of Stonebridge) was a very supportive group. I am not sure about the allusion of the war that the Clan Cadal had with another household. We had Clan Games with the Clan Cadal (a Great House) and the Ard Dun (another Great House) but it was in fun. There were problems with individuals at this time, but the households never really were at war with each other. At least, the principals maybe were at war. CR St John Date: Sun, 02 Mar 1997 15:18:39 -0800 From: Galen of Bristol To: ansteorra at eden.com Subject: Re: Playing This Game Another Way KiheBard at aol.com wrote: > Where is there any requirement that a given gentle must squire (or apprentice > or whatever) before they are considered for a granted peerage? Galen Edwin Kirchenbauer Galen Niccoli Inman McMoore Seamus of the Cats Rowan Beatrice von Kaempfer These all spring to mind as members of the Chivalry who were never squires. - Galen -- Viscount Galen of Bristol, KSCA, CSM, etc. Paul Mitchell, pmitchel at flash.net / "noblesse oblige" Date: Sun, 2 Mar 1997 15:37:50 -0600 (CST) From: Heidi J Torres To: ansteorra at eden.com Subject: Re: Playing This Game Another Way On Sun, 2 Mar 1997, Galen of Bristol wrote: > Galen Edwin Kirchenbauer > Galen Niccoli > Inman McMoore > Seamus of the Cats > Rowan Beatrice von Kaempfer > > These all spring to mind as members of the Chivalry who > were never squires. Add Richard ap Morgan, Jan w Orzeldom and Randall von Nordlichwald to that list. (This is just who I can think of from my group....) Mari From: Terry_A._Harper at hud.gov Date: Thu, 06 Mar 97 07:46:41 EST To: ansteorra at eden.com Subject: Re[2]: Who should fight (was)R >I have to think back several years to remember the last time I heard >of someone actually being told they wouldn't be allowed to fight in >Crown. That doesn't seem to indicate an abuse of power on the part >of the Kings. I don't have to think back that long, when Richard was King, the Crown Tourney that Mikael won last, my husband, Tor, was not allowed to fight the tourney. Later, he was asked to fight the bi. He had been allowed to fight in at least two Crown tourney's before this, so I'm not sure what the reasoning was behind the action. Rhiain Date: Thu, 20 Mar 1997 16:36:55 -0600 To: ansteorra at eden.com From: Burke McCrory Subject: Re: Anstoerra-Middle Wars >Sir Burke Kyriell MacDonald declared: >>Sir Riccardo was knighted by HRM Sigmond at the Third Ansteorra-Middle War >>(aka chigger war). His Majesty was not a knight at the time and Sir >>Riccardo's knight Harabia Jon's hand was also on the blade. > >Ansteorra-MIDDLE War??? > >I joined the SCA the year before the last Ansteorra-Outlands War. This must >have been a long time ago when Calontir was still part of the Middle Kingdom. > >Can someone give some descriptions or recollections of these Wars? How did >they differ from say the Ansteorra-Outlands Wars or Gulf Wars? > > Stefan li Rous The first Ansteorra-Middle war actually happened between the Principality of Ansteorra and the Middle Kingdom way back in AS.13 I don't remember who won. The second war was held in Grimesfel and 69 middle kingdom fighters took on 28 Ansteorran fighters (the only member of the chivalry there was HRM Lloyd). One note, although the Middle Kingdom won at the end of the battles usually there were only 4 or 5 middle fighter left alive. The third and final war was held north of Northkeep. It was a massacre. The middle was not very well prepared and found themselves out numbered and lost all but one bridge battle. It was at this war that the might of the Ansteorran bridge charge was truly felt. Over 1100 pounds of fighter hit the Middle shield wall in the first charge, folding it down like a ramp. Oh by the way, the charge only consisted of three Ansteorran fighters. After this war the Middle didn't want to play anymore. The next war was to have been against Atenvelt but when we all showed up, Aten was outnumbered 3 to 1. So we evened up the sides and had fun, this is usually referred to as the great sandbox war. Sir Burke Kyriell MacDonald mka Burke McCrory email: burkemc at ionet.net From: galenbv at ix.netcom.com Date: Thu, 20 Mar 1997 17:17:45 -0600 (CST) To: ansteorra at eden.com Subject: Re: Anstoerra-Middle Wars >The first Ansteorra-Middle war actually happened between the Principality >of Ansteorra and the Middle Kingdom way back in AS.13 I don't remember who >won. The second war was help in Grimesfel and 69 middle kingdom fighters >took on 28 Ansteorran fighters (the only member of the chivalry there was >HRM Lloyd). ... >The next war was to have >been against Atenvelt but when we all showed up, Aten was outnumbered 3 to >1. So we evened up the sides and had fun, this is usually referred to as >the great sandbox war. > >Sir Burke Kyriell MacDonald Ahh, I remember it well....it was my very first war, and my third event. In the first battle, before we evened up the sides, I never even got close enough to the lines to see an opponent, much less strike one. I was in the third wave, and the Aten troops were wiped out by the first one. I knew absolutely no one at the war, had driven alone all the way across the state to get there and was beginning to get a bit discouraged after the first battle, but by the time it was all over had made many fine friends. Galen Kirchenbauer From: KiheBard at aol.com Date: Fri, 21 Mar 1997 00:17:38 -0500 (EST) To: ansteorra at eden.com Subject: Re: Anstoerra-Middle Wars The First Ansteorran-Middle War aka "Queen Willow's War": my first formal SCA event. Longer mass polearms (esp. a certain poleaxe) were devastatingly effective during the bridge battles. SCA combat was not that far beyond the age of the freon-can helmet, and my memory places a whole lot of shag-carpet armor on that field. Site to the north-east of the bulk of the current Barony of Northkeep. First SCA bardic performance by Valadonis the Wanderer happened that Saturday night; also my first bard-fire singing. If you ever see me taking a guard shift around 4-6 AM, it is in part an homage to that first event. The Second Ansteorran-Middle War, which I refer to as "The Mud War". (I'm told this apellative may have slipped in popular usage to another event entirely.) Site was in Arkansas, north-west from Small Grey Bear (?? SCA geography). The mud won. What fighting did manage to get carried out on the field was inconclusive, and the site was closed by noonish. For all I know, there may STILL be the skeletal remains of small pets and portions of vehicles sunken into the mud of the one road where I was trying to help the push-me-pull-you crews ... Burke, was it as early as 5pm when you and I actually managed to get off-site? By the time of the Third, "chigger", War, I was largely inactive in the SCA. When Burke notes the Ansteorran "bridge charge", remind yourselves who the three were making up the charge. Burke, pardon me for forgetting myself, as I only heard of this feat in later stories. I'm *guessing* that Dragomyr & Ricardo were two of the three. Was the third Andreas, Edward the Proud, or ???? I missed the Outlands wars entirely, and have not yet attended a war of any type since my return to the Society. > How did they differ from say the Ansteorra-Outlands Wars or Gulf Wars? Smaller than current Gulf Wars, certainly. If I remember the counts with any accuracy at all, there were less than four hundred under arms (total for both Ansteorran and Middle) for the first War, and maybe as many as 200 total actually suited up for the second. Noting Burke's more official figures for the Second, I will note that there were more people armored than actually took the field, particularly due to concerns about the footing. (Rain the previous evening, moderating to mist, ALMOST clearing -- Thor must have been teasing us, was the joke told later -- and drizzle turning steadily to rain coming down in increasingly heavy amounts as the day progressed. Absolutely not as many merchants as can be found at Gulf Wars, or even Steppes Warlord for that matter. All memories under usual Amra warranty, also known as MLAWS: Memory Like A Wool Sock, moth-eaten & full of holes. Amra / Kihe / Mike Date: Fri, 21 Mar 1997 01:34:25 -0600 To: ansteorra at eden.com From: Burke McCrory Subject: Re: Anstoerra-Middle Wars >By the time of the Third, "chigger", War, I was largely >inactive in the SCA. When Burke notes the Ansteorran >"bridge charge", remind yourselves who the three were >making up the charge. Burke, pardon me for forgetting myself, >as I only heard of this feat in later stories. I'm *guessing* that >Dragomyr & Ricardo were two of the three. Was the third Andreas, >Edward the Proud, or ???? The three were if memory serves Sir Finn Kelly, Sir Sean de Crew and Sir Dragomyr (Finn was the light wieght at around 300 lbs.) Sir Burke Kyriell MacDonald mka. Burke McCrory burkemc at ionet.net From: kathe1 at juno.com (Kathleen M Everitt) Date: Wed, 16 Apr 1997 15:50:07 EDT Subject: Re: SC - Outdoor feasts On Wed, 16 Apr 1997 13:25:14 -0500 robin.hackett at wadsworth.org (Robin Hackett) writes: >Outdoor feasts are alot of fun! :) L > >Leri Sometimes. I'm reminded of the first feast I ever helped cook a long time ago. It was the event that they announced that Ansteorra got the okay to go Kingdom. It was called the Tournament of Chivalry, but was later referred to as the Tournament of Shiver-y because it was so cold. It snowed, which is very strange for southern Ansteorra in late March (I think it was). The head cook had pre-cooked the meat and wrapped it in foil to reheat in the embers around the edge of the bonfire. She couldn't get near the fire to turn the bundles because of all the Dukes, Counts, Barons, etc. so she announced in a loud voice, "I outrank you all. I'm the cook." The people huddling around the fire moved apart like the Red Sea so she could attend dinner. I was stirring a huge pot of rice over a Coleman stove. A very nice gentleman came to relieve me since I had been standing for such a long time, but I turned him down since it was one of the warmest spots on site! Not the last outdoor feast I ever cooked, but probably the most memorable! Julleran From: Baronman at aol.com Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 10:28:48 -0400 (EDT) To: ansteorra at eden.com Subject: Re: Nice wetha wa havin, eh??? >the sun came out once...when the autocrat began to speak....strange! This is not strange in Ansteorra. An entertaining story follows- Nine Worthies 2, I believe, when the Iron Rose sat on the Throne and Duke Hector was her consort, was the wettest event I have seen in my years in the Society. Torrential rains and high winds on Friday night drowned the site and blew just about every tent and pavillion into Meridies. Through heroic efforts of everybody on site, the place was put back in order by Sat. morning even though the rain continued to fall at about an inch an hour. Everyone was standing under the pavillions and talking about cancelling the event, when the Iron Rose, ran out into the rain, stood on a hay bale and stated:" I came here to see fighting, and you came here to fight. Are we as Ansteorran's going to let a little rain stop us? I will stand out in this rain until I rust, if you will fight for me!". Just as she said this, the rain stopped. Fifteen minutes later the sun came out and the day was a success. Everybody, I mean everybody, was commenting on the wonderous power of the Crown to control the weather. Baron Bors of Lothian Baron Loch Soillier OST, SC, ST,ST and real nice guy Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 10:42:12 -0500 To: ansteorra at eden.com From: Burke McCrory Subject: Re: Nice wetha wa havin, eh??? >>the sun came out once...when the autocrat began to speak....strange! > >This is not strange in Ansteorra. An entertaining story follows- Nine >Worthies 2, I believe, when the Iron Rose sat on the Throne and Dule Hector >was her consort, was the wettest event I have seen in my years in the >Society. Torrential rains and high winds on Friday night drowned the site >and blew just about every tent and pavillion into Meridies. > Many are the tales of King vs weather in our fair Kingdom. While legends have been told about the feats of our Kings, I remember HRM Inman coming to an event in Namron many years ago just as the remnants of a hurricane were attempting to wash us away. He stepped out onto the list field and told the rain to stop. Within 30 minutes the rain had stopped and the sky was clearing. However it is also known that Ansteorran Barons do not have this special power. Witness the many times that the Baron of Steppes has commented on the good weather at Steppes Warlord only to have it begin to pour within the hour. Sir Burke Kyriell MacDonald mka Burke McCrory email: burkemc at ionet.net Date: Thu, 29 May 1997 06:55:41 -0500 To: ansteorra at eden.com From: Chris and Elisabeth Zakes Subject: Re: Peers and students... >Willow's transfer from Laurel to Pelican: was that when the Pelican >control was given by the Board to the kingdoms, so people who had >received Laurels for service could transfer at that time? You are correct. I believe Sir Michael of Moria switched at the same time as well. -Tivar Moondragon (who was a newbie when it happened) Date: Thu, 29 May 1997 23:05:36 -0500 To: ansteorra at eden.com From: Chris and Elisabeth Zakes Subject: Students and Dons and Cadets, oh my! (massive snippage) Burke wrote: >The cadets to Dons came about after we couldn't get >the SCA as a whole to make a light weapons peerage. Tivar would remember >the exact chronology better than I. Gather 'round the fire, children, Uncle Tivar is going to tell a story (somebody wake Larkin up! ). Back in the old days, when we were a principality, Sir Simonn of Amber won our third coronet tourney. The morning after their investiture, he and Princess Tessa took me aside and asked me to write up a proposal for an award to honor the principality's rapier fighters. (I'd been kicking some ideas around in the back of my head for a while, so the actual write-up didn't take long.) I took the idea for a white scarf from act IV of "Cyrano de Bergerac", the title "Don" because nobody else seemed to be using it, and the rest borrowed heavily from the requirements for knighthood. The proposed name was the "Order of the Cavalier". The first White Scarf was given out on March 10th, AS XIII (1979). Cadets happened the following Fall. I hadn't really given any thought to the matter, but there was this enthusiastic young fellow named Dominique, who sat me down one evening at RenFair and said "we need to have official students, and they should be called cadets, and they should wear red scarves, and I want to be the first one, and..." and that's how we got cadets. As part of the reorganization of our laws and awards after Ansteorra became a kingdom, the order name was changed to the White Scarf (the College of Arms had taken a rather dim view of using the term "Cavalier"), the charter was rewritten, and it was upgraded from an AoA to a Grant-level award. Although the initial order was modelled rather closely after knighthood, there was never any serious attempt to get it made a peerage. I quickly realized that the political structure of the SCA made peerage a rather unlikely proposition (not to mention that it's historically inaccurate to give knighthood/peerage for skill at rapier fighting) and decided to settle for a respected second-class citizenship instead. Some years later, when the White Scarf was well established in Ansteorra, the Outlands wanted to know if they could have one, too. But that's another story... -Tivar Moondragon Date: Fri, 30 May 1997 08:19:18 -0500 From: mfgunter at tddeng00.fnts.com (Michael F. Gunter) To: ansteorra at eden.com Subject: Re: Peers and students... > In theory anyone can be a student to anyone > but when I joined (yes I know the dark ages) students were often times the > name given to persons who had established a squire like relationship with a > Master of Arms, they wore a red baldric. I don't know how formally it had > be used in old Aten but I know that it didn't last long as several Masters > at Arms had squires. > > Sir Burke Kyriell MacDonald Master Lloyd von Eaker was my master and he used to call the people he trained his students until Lady Syf. He would call her his student and she would basically say "Yes, boss." Then wear her red belt and proudly proclaim herself as a squire. Lloyd finally gave in and all of us that came after wore red belts and were squires. No one under Lloyd's banner wore red baldrics as far as I know. Gunthar Date: Tue, 17 Jun 1997 10:57:57 -0500 (CDT) To: ansteorra at eden.com From: nweders at mail.utexas.edu (ND Wederstrandt) Subject: A tale from the Elder Days (long) When I was young in these lands, I lived in a small shire in the south that was known in those days as Bjornsberg, Bjornsburg and occaisionally as Bearsfort. It was a small but study shire who had survived small petty wars and were at last trying to be a community. Southwards, was the Barony of the Stargate under Baron Myrddin ap Rhys who had disappeared for many years visiting Europe. Up North was the Barony of the Steppes that had been two groups and were now one under Allemandus Draconis, their Baron. It was a new time and a new land. These three groups had been working together and being somewhat distant from the capital of Atenveldt, the Country which they were in, felt that they could do more and be more than three separate and distant groups. So the leaders of all these groups agreed to meet in Bjornsburg to discuss this union. They called this moot The Collegium. Each group, each large household was given one vote and the purpose was to decide what to do with the region. The groups were allowed to send two representives to have a vote and the households one. (I can't remember this part to well since I wasn't in a household and I wasn't a major figure back then. (Or even a minor) One of the members of Bjornsburg at this time was an Architect who loaned used his office in the histoprical part of downtown. The office was old stone with these great wooden double doors that were 16th century Spanish. They stood about 14 feet high. On the day of the Collegium many of us had gone to act as hosts and go fers and such. It was a MArch day and very misty, overcast and somewhat chill. It was really raining just drizzling enough to coat everything with this fine droplets of water. As people came in a herald stood and anounced them .. (you know... the Household of the Burning Trees, Lady Althea Gloria of Tyne, yada yada yada.) I was sitting in the back watching when something occured that kinda confirmed my idea of the MYTH in a big way. Sort of an Architypal image... The herald announces.... The Clan Cadal with its chieftain, Willow de Wisp. In walks this huge group of men and women cloaked in plaids with spears, everything coated with this fine mist that caught the light and sparkled. Willow came in first with her boar spear (really was) with furs and a plaid. Even over 20 years it remains a vivid picture to me and I am grateful I saw it. Got to thinking about old times and wanted to share a good moment. Clare R. St. John, who's feeling old today. Date: Tue, 17 Jun 1997 13:45:21 -0500 (CDT) To: ansteorra at eden.com From: nweders at mail.utexas.edu (ND Wederstrandt) Subject: the Arms of Ansteorra I remember that the Collegium set up commitees to work on different areas of what would become parts of the Region of Ansteorra, one of the committees dealt with Arms and Awards. At that time all or most of the Kingdom devices (and here were like 5 back then) had celestial bodies in them -- Mostly Suns. We wanted to have something uniquely ours. The name had been decided about -- Ansteorra winning over Gilanathe and Terebinthia, and it meant One or Prime Star which was a take off on Lone Star State. (Oklahoma was a dream away at that point, nothing personal) So the Heraldry committee voted on who they felt would be the first Regional Herald and then the Arms. The star was picked for the name, and not the name for the star. The gold field was a contrast from the other Kingdoms ( who had mainly white or blue backgrounds) and because of the symbolism of the Sun. The Sun is the second most important symbol of the Arms. It represents the Sun of Atenveldt setting, it's influence and control fading (which is why it is red for setting sun) while the One Star is in it's nadir. The Laurel wreath was a mandatory thing so it went on and the rest went on for balance and form. It was agreed that the Sun would be taken off when we became a Kingdom. (When, that was attempted some years back no body wanted it off (loudly) and so it stayed on.) The Kingdom supporters were going to be Cranes in their Vigilance, holding a star instead of a rock, to honor the Whooping Cranes , which at that time were very endangered (like 17 left) (Remember this was in the mid 70's and we were a little more conscious of these things). The Kingdom service award was going to be the Crane of Ansteorra. (Now white Scarves back then, no Art awards on a Kingdom level. Not all this was a peaceful discussion but it was what the groups at that time wanted. The two primary people at the event involved were Elnora the Capricious and Erasimierz Waspaneski. ( Now known as Duchess Leah Kasmira of the Outlands and Greyraven.) Mss Aureliane Rioghail later developed the rest of the orders and I believe she suggested the name of Ansteorra. On the Name... there was a big argument on whether Ansteorra has two "r" s or one. Sounds silly but the fight really reached huge proportions before it was resolved. How's that for history.... this was something like A.S. XIII, IX or X can't remember. They say your memory goes first. Clare Date: Wed, 18 Jun 1997 16:43:10 -0500 To: ansteorra at eden.com From: Chris and Elisabeth Zakes Subject: Re: the Arms of Ansteorra > On the Name... there was a big argument on whether Ansteorra has >two "r" s or one. Sounds silly but the fight really reached huge >proportions before it was resolved. > >How's that for history.... this was something like A.S. XIII, IX or X can't >remember. They say your memory goes first. > >Clare It was in XIII, I believe. At one point there was support for the name "Sable Star" instead of "Black Star" for the newsletter, and a few were printed that way. And, just to be fun, Prince Simon spelt Ansteorra with *three* "r"s (since the first principality reign was Ansteora and the second was Ansteorra, he decided to continue the "r" trend). Aethelyan (who doesn't go back *quite* as far as Clare, but who still thinks about a walking stick from time to time) Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 14:50:49 -0400 From: greg at bronze.lcs.mit.edu (Greg Rose) Subject: Re: ANST - Pennsic Daniel, The "perks" of fighting for the East are, frankly, usually better for allies than those associated with fighting for the Middle. For example, the East often delegates command of a battle to an ally. Also, Atlantia usually fights for the East and, since there is a large Atlantian contingent every year at Gulf War, during the reign of Patrick Michael IV (and Galmr in Atlantia) Ansteorra signed a treaty which committed the Ansteorra to fight on the side of Atlantia at Pennsic and Atlantia to fight with Ansteorra at Gulf War (Inman and I drafted the text of the treaty at HRM's instructions and conducted the negotiations with Atlantia). Hossein Ali Qomi (Gregory Rose) Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 12:59:53 -0500 To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG From: Burke McCrory Subject: Re: ANST - SCA Trivia question >On Tue, 26 Aug 1997, Burke McCrory wrote: >> I am not sure about other Kingdoms, only Duke Jonathan DeLaufyson and >> Dutchess Willow de Wisp have ever sat both the Ansteorran throne and >> another Kingdoms throne (Atenvelt). > >Stupid question......the actual kingdom or "us" as a principality? > >Kayleigh Drake >Baroness of Bonwicke >The Western Region of Ansteorra They were King and Qween of Atenvelt in AS 12 or 13. They were the first and eleventh Crown of Ansteorra. Sir Burke Kyriell MacDonald Kingdom of Ansteorra mka. Burke McCrory burkemc at ionet.net Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 21:55:17 -0500 To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG From: Chris and Elisabeth Zakes Subject: Re: ANST - group names >Donald C. Walker wrote: >> Maddie Teller-Kook wrote: >> > I do believe Stargate was named for its proximity to NASA. >> > meadhbh >> > >> That's what I heard from some of the old, old-timers like Tostig and >> such. However, if my map is correct it seems like the Loch has a better >> claim on the Stargate. >> Garth >That is true. BUT, I don't think the Loch existed at the time Stargate >was founded... any 'old timers' out there that would know? > >meadhbh I suppose I qualify as a Stargate oldtimer. Even though I've been living in Bryn Gwlad for the last many years, I spent my first five SCA years in Stargate (AS 10 to 15). Anyway, your supposition is correct. When Stargate was founded, it included *all* of the Houston area. A few years later a group called Southern Isles started in Galveston, and claimed the Clear Lake area, but they died from severe internal politics. A few years after that, the Loch started. -Tivar Moondragon Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 22:40:09 -0500 From: Paul Mitchell To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG Subject: Re: ANST - group names Baronman at aol.com wrote: > If history hasn't changed, I think Baron Aoden once stated that > the Loch was the only canton to rise to baronial status in the kingdom- > however this may not still be true. Actually, I think Elfsea (which is named for Lake Worth) shares the distinction of being both barony and former canton. - Galen of Bristol Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 01:03:49 -0500 To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG From: Burke McCrory Subject: Re: ANST - group names >Actually, I think Elfsea (which is named for Lake Worth) shares the >distinction of being both barony and former canton. > >- Galen of Bristol To my recollection Elfsea was never a canton. When I first visited it in June 1979 for the creation of the Kingdom and Jonathan's first Ansteorran Coronation, it was a shire that had yet to be officially recognized by the Board. That would come at the July Board meeting. Sir Burke Kyriell MacDonald Kingdom of Ansteorra Date: Sat, 18 Oct 1997 18:36:08 -0500 To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG From: Chris and Elisabeth Zakes Subject: ANST - Butterfly Hunt >So, then for what reason was the great Butterfly and Wildflower >War...Uhh...Hunt held?? > >Afrean O'Dunlaing Because it made a good (and humorous) excuse for a war. The Black Star was full of accusations and counter-accusations for *months* before the actual event. To add to the complications, Sir Jan, who was Baron of Bjornsborg, won Crown shortly after the War was declared, and he was king when the war actually happened. Bjornsborg was being ruled solely by Baroness Alexandra (who was *not* his queen) for the duration. Thus the "Butterfly Hunt"; at opening court the morning of the war, Jan asked why all these people in armor were running around, and Bjorn and Alexandra explained that they were merely "hunting butterflies" and "gathering wildflowers" with a few retainers along to help. -Tivar Moondragon Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 22:05:35 -0500 To: fionn at nwlink.com (Jeff Carnegie), ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG From: Burke McCrory Subject: ANST - Re: Some SCA History... > I need some help. What I need to know is the first four or five >baronial level groups (read Barony or Province) of each kingdom. What I've >got I list below. Anyone who can provide more info would greatly endear >themselves to me. Dates would be great too. Also, as this is the only SCA >list I'm on, if someone could forward this to other SCA lists, I'd greatly >appreciate it. > > >Jeff Carnegie / Fionn MacAilein >fionn at nwlink.com Ansteorra would be: Stargate (Houston, Tx) Founded August 1972 Baronial August 1972 Steppes (Dallas, Tx) Founded March 1973 Baronial August 1975 Bjornsborg (San Antonio, Tx) Founded June 1976 Baronial November 1976 Bordermarch (Beaumont/Port Arthur, Tx) Founded Febuary 1977 Baronial September 1977 Bryn Gwlad (Austin, Tx) Founded November 1976 Baronial May 1979 Namron (Norman, Ok) Founded Febuary 1977 Baronial November 1979 Sir Burke Kyriell MacDonald Deputy Kingdom Seneschal for Ansteorra E-Mail: burkemc at ionet.net Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 08:47:36 -0500 From: mfgunter at tddeng00.fnts.com (Michael F. Gunter) To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG Subject: Re: ANST - Re: Some SCA History... > I got the date from the Ansteorra - Decade of Dreams booklet produced for > Ansteorra's 21 Coronation celebrating Ansteorra's 10 birthday. I am not > sure what the status of the group was if it was active before June 1976. > If you find out a different founding date, I would love to hear about it so > we can get the record straight. > > Sir Burke Kyriell MacDonald > Kingdom of Ansteorra As the main researcher for the Decade of Dreams handbook I can tell you that we mainly used old Black Stars and Tournaments Illuminated issues as well as some real old Kingdom Seneschal's records to find the events and dates. Without going to my sources I can say that the first events of Bjornsborg were listed as 1976. The group could have had another name or not even been accounted as a formal group when Tivar went there. Remember when TI would have reports of groups from around the Knowne World? I have an old TI reporting on a Yule Revel held in the Steppes. It mentions that there were visitors from far-off Stargate. Yers, Gunthar Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 07:16:36 -0500 To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG From: Chris and Elisabeth Zakes Subject: Re: ANST - Re: Some SCA History... >>>It should be Bjornsborg (San Antonio, Tx) Founded June 1976 Baronial >>>November 1976 >> >>That's interesting. My first event was Thanksgiving weekend, *1975* in San >>Antonio; thus there was obviously a group of *some* name there. >> >> -Tivar Moondragon >> Ansteorran fossil >I got the date from the Ansteorra - Decade of Dreams booklet produced for >Ansteorra's 21 Coronation celebrating Ansteorra's 10 birthday. I am not >sure what the status of the group was if it was active before June 1976. >If you find out a different founding date, I would love to hear about it so >we can get the record straight. I honestly don't know what it was called. Possibly Bear's Fort, or The Wastes. Back in those days there were only 5 or 6 events per year, and being a college student, I didn't even make all of those. -Tivar Moondragon Edited by Mark S. Harris Anst-hist-msg Page 35 of 35