If you are not interested in the Society for Creative Anachronism, skip this.
I used to be relatively famous in the SCA for being one of the very few people who had attended all of the yearly Pennsic wars, and for having fought in all the major battles. Well, my health has prevented me from doing this for the past two years. This year, somebody did something about it. My daughter Eanor's husband, who goes by the medieval name Haroun, decided to host a deed of arms in my honor early in this Pennsic war. (If you don't know what a deed of arms is, I've got several relevant books on them for sale.)
I had already decided not to be miserable and envious of my friends having a good time, and I had succeded, pretty much, but this deed of arms and the efforts of Eanor and Haroun sure made it easier. One feature of deeds of arms in the SCA is that there is usually a book in which participants record their thoughts about the event, the hosts, etc. For this deed there was a blue-bound book
The fighters who turned out, filled with respectful, eloquent, even philosophical messages.
I was truly touched.
I was also impressed by how well-spoken and thoughtful these people were, remembering that their distinguishing characteristic is that they like to hit their friends with wooden swords while wearing funny clothes.
One person who I would have liked to have seen was Bill Colbert (William de Montegilt), who is one of the most senior members of the SCA, noted also for his long service in unglamorous jobs. I respect William because he joined very early on in the East Kingdom. He was -- like many back then -- an unlikely warrior, one who you might think would not be able to take the punishment. But he's still with us, more than 40 years on.
Pictures to follow.
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