 Siegfried von Hoflichskeit Sable, on a bend argent a mullet of four points elongated to base gyronny Or and sable. |
 Ardys an Dearg (Registered as: Sumer Redmaene) Purpure, on a plate a rose gules seeded Or. |
Arms colored by Aja du Jardin
From The Page (no date given):
YEAR YE, HEAR YE! The May Coronation Festival is hereby proclaimed: Saturday & Sunday, May 17th and 18th at Almond Knoll Ranch.
Because the Crown Prince and Princess will be out of town on the usual date, the two day May tourney will be held on the week-end of May 17-18. The place is Almond Knoll Ranch, the holding Chang, Slayer of Beasts (Joel Hagen), which is a few miles this side of Oakdale, between one and two hours drive from Berkeley, depending on your car! Since this is private land, we will have no trouble with kibitzers, which could be especially difficult at an overnight event.
To get to Oakdale ...
The festivities will be held in the large meadow to the right as you drive in. Water will be available, and there will be plenty of room for everyone to spread out. Here follows a checklist of things you may find useful to bring:
Food - for as many meals as you will be there.
camp stove or hibachi and fuel.
cooking and eating utensils.
toilet paper.
a tent, pavilion, sunshade, etc.
sleeping bag, bedroll, air matress if necessary.
extra blankets
flashlight and/or lantern.
shovel
light clothing for daytime and warm cloaks for night.
a broad brimmed hat.
Sea & Ski or some such protection, salt pills, Vitamin C
towels, washrags, soap
mosquito repellent (I hope not needed)
folding chair with back, cushions
And I recommend that Anachronists supply themselves
with Tourney Chests in which everything can be
neatly packed (thses also serve as seats). An old trunk,
painted with one's arms, would do very well --
I hope this will help prevent mislaying of anyonymous bundles which mostly end up in the Lost and Found at Rivendell. WARNING -- if some things don't get claimed soon, I am going to auction them off at the MidSummer Tournament!!
The Lady Marynel of Darkhaven has been proclaimed by King Caradoc as lady Pavilioner. She will be in charge of the arrangement of the field, and will tell you where your pavliion should be set up.
As is usual when the tourney site is an extra distance away, transportation may be a problem for some. Therefore those who have extra space in their vehicles and would like plenty of people to fight with should call Rivendell (...) & leave their names -- those in need of rides should of course do the same. We can't guarantee anything, but we will try.
NOTE: Arrangements such as the above are properly the province of the Royal Chatelaine, Lady Ardis. However, besides being out of town she is presently Crown Princses. For future reference, her number is ..., and people should call "... to ask for information or to state their talents and willingnesses."
ORDER OF EVENTS:
The Daylight hours of Saturday and Sunday will be governed by His Majesty
the King. Saturday evening will be the province of the Queen. The coronation
should take place around one o'clock on Saturday, at which time almost everyone
should have arrived and set up camp (from Friday evening on --) - informal
fighting can of course take place in the morning. The fighting events will include weapons
competitions with prizes, interspersed with household challenges, individual
challenges, melees (team and free-for-all), abductions, unusual weapons classes, barrier
defense, archery and javelin. If desired there may even be some Amazon events, although
nothing co-ed. Fighters are requested to bring sufficient weapons and materials
for repairing same with them.
King Caradoc wishes me to insert a statement concerning melees -- namely, that alothough the area to be guarded is the full 360°, it is unchivalrous to attack from behind without shouting a warning challenge first.
When darkness falls, events will be ruled by the Queen, who desires that the evening be enlivened by dance, singing, drama and poesie. Several short plays are planned, and depending on what music is available, the dancers will exhibit their skill. Any two gentlemen (or more) who will accept the challenge are invited to engage in a poetic tornimens in the Provençal fashion, in which the challenger begins, in some verse form of his own choosing, the defense of a proposition, such as "that the eyes are of most value in courting a lady" while his opponent, in the same verse form, attacks it, the winner to be decided by the Queen, who will reward him. In addition, any gentleman or lady who may have a complaint of a romantic nature is invited to present his case (by proxy or in person, mentioning no names) to the Queen and her ladies, who will consider and judge it. The reading of such works as The Art of Courtly Love by Andreas Cappelanus, Malory's Morte D'Arthur, (both in paperback), and The Modern Library Medieval Romances (ed. Loomis) is recommended.
From the History (by Wilhelm):
Held at Almond Knoll Ranch, Oakdale, California, home of Chang, Slayer of Beasts (Count Hagen the Strong) [NOTE: Corrected in the Annotated History by commenters to note that Chang, Slayer of Beasts was NOT Count Hagen the Strong -- HvH]. Caradoc and Amie held court. Siegfried and Ardys were crowned. King Siegfried knighted Robert of Dunharrow and admitted Janet Breakstone to the Order of the Laurel. Queen Ardis presided over Saturday night’s festivities.
|
Siegfried von Hoflichskeit Sable, on a bend argent a mullet of four points elongated to base gyronny Or and sable. |
Ardys an Dearg (Registered as: Sumer Redmaene) Purpure, on a plate a rose gules seeded Or. |
Annotations:
“Woopsie, a major correction.
“First and Foremost, Chang, Slayer
of Beasts has, to the best of my knowledge, no connection to
Hagen the Strong. Chang's real name IS Joel Hagen, but Count
Hagen's real name wasn't Joel Hagen (Darn, I've forgotten what
it was. Wasn't he associated with your household, Robert?) Some
of you folks out there may recognize Joel's name as the sculptor
of all those neat alien skulls and similar artwork for many years.”
– Stefan de Lorraine
“I can confirm that Joel Hagen is not Count Hagen. After all, I went to High School with Joel -- we were two of the three smallest boys in our class for most of that time. Just didn't recognize him when I saw him in the mid-70s. He grew late, but was taller than I am by then (not to mention having acquired muscles that he never had in high school).“There was an abduction at this tournament that proved too successful. The abductors (led by Henrik of Havn, whose lady had been abducted at an earlier event) won, then didn't know where to go from there.
“Ah, the people I missed by not being in at the beginning! I blame it on the local librarian: she not only got me hooked on SF, she was an officer in the Little Men ... and didn't tell me about them when I went off to Berkeley. If she had, I might even have made the first tourney.” – William the Lucky -- full of might-have-beens, but nobody ever specified whether the name refers good luck or bad luck.“Ha. This from someone who has often told me that when Boncueur first told him about the SCA he thought it was the silliest thing he had ever heard of. Likewise that he only went so that Boncueur would quit bugging him about it.
“This is all interesting reading, mind you. I have visions of myself sitting on alert duty over in Germany while all of my friends where having a great time back home.” – Steven MacEanruig
“Jon the Lean was driving the truck hauling the horse trailer which was to pick up Schön. She had been in one trailer accident and Steve is correct, it took about three hours to get her loaded and yes Leanne did finally ride her into the trailer.” – Henrik of Havn“Obviously the evening of May 17, IV, was one of the great moments of my life. Siegfried had told Geri weeks before that he would knight me at his coronation, but she didn't let it slip and I didn't know until he called me forth.” – Robert Dunharrow
“Well, she didn't let it slip to Robert, but a bunch of us young whippersnappers, who had been abusing her hospitality for months, had a good idea of what was to happen and elbowed ourselves into numerous vantage points at court.” – Kevin Peregrynne“The site is a 6 acre place on the South side of Cal. Hiway 120, about halfway between Escalon & Oakdale, and situated on a slight rise (the only rise between those 2 towns.) Look for it on your way to or from Yosemite. The house is at the north end, with an almond orchard at the NE corner, and the hayfield where we camped along the southern side. The hay had been mowed & baled, and of course we stacked the bales into a wall to fight over. Chang, Slayer of Beasts, did indeed live there (along with his parents, who were teachers in the area), and Chang's 20th C. name is Joel Hagen. (He is no relation to Doug Nelson, alias Count Hagen the Strong, who was not at this event, I'm quite sure.)
“You should have tried fighting your first qualifications in mid-afternoon as Warren the Strange and I did (Stefan was lucky to have slept through it even though Warren was in his household)” – Kevin Peregrynne“Court was after dark, when it was cool. There was no shade on the field except our half-dozen or so newly-made pavilions.” – Robert of Dunharrow
“The first ever fire- and candle- lit outdoors court and encampment, I'll never forget it.” – Kevin Peregrynne“On Sunday, Henrik abducted Astrid on horseback (I think she had hinted that she wouldn't mind at all. Anyway she didn't struggle when Njal the Piper and I seized her and lifted her over Henrik's saddlehorn). Henrik then rode off to the almond orchard, where he had stationed his household archers. Another member of his household (not a fighter) rode the other horse to run interference, but got dumped when the horse whirled. The rest of us abductors ran for the orchard, while everyone else (except Sir Bela, who feared that his daughter would never forgive him if he should somehow by stroke of luck kill Henrik & rescue her) grabbed weapons and gave chase, slaying several abductors en route. Henrik & I and 2 others (Stefan de Lorraine & Kevin Peregrynne, I think; is that right, you guys?) then faced some 12 to 15 rescuers (Oh, oh!).” – Robert of Dunharrow
“... who had been waiting impatiently in the orchard wondering when the show would finally get on the road.” – Kevin Peregrynne“But Henrik had a plan. He boldly announced that his archers were in position to shoot them all down, but that we would fight them all, one-by-one, in single combat. I got my revenge on Jon and his maul-pike (Red Ruin) by pinning it against him with my kite shield as I gave him a wrap-shot to the helm. (After that he invented little maces hung on wrist straps for this problem.) I think Stefan & Kevin each fought some & lost to someone, I killed Jon & one other, while Henrik killed about 10 in a row. When no one else was left, Henrik & I and his archers (mostly the ladies of House Havn, but also a big, strong, good-looking teenager named Steven Blackeagle) escorted Astrid to Henrik's pavilion, where we each got a kiss from the abductee. Astrid bemoaned the fact that she had no champion, and Blackeagle gallantly volunteered. Soon he learned to fight and when he was 18 and she was 16, he made her Queen. (This abduction was the only "successful" one I can remember ever. That is, all rescuers killed, some abductors survived. Of course, Astrid was duly returned to her family after food, drink, and celebration in the Havn pavilion.)” – Robert of Dunharrow“I don’t remember that the abduction was on Sunday. I do know that Steven Blackeagle wasn’t acquainted with Astrid until after the abduction, so it seems unlikely he would have become her champion at a court which occurred before the time of the abduction.” – Henrik of Havn“Maybe the abduction was on Saturday then, although it seems hard to believe so much could have all been on one day. The Super 8 films Geri took should answer this. I looked at the films several times after the event, but not for a long time now. They show the barrier fight, the abduction (including Nyal & I lifting Astrid onto Henrik's saddle pommel, Henrik galloping away, the fellow falling off the other horse, and some of the single combats in the almond orchard), and also me practicing hitting the quintain with a mace (on horseback) to get the horse used to it before our fight. However, I remember it got too dark for filming by the time of the actual mounted mace combat, which was near dusk, and court was in the evening. So, if the abduction is on film ahead of me practicing with mace, and also if I'm not wearing a white belt in the abduction, it must have been on Saturday. But then, what could we have done on Sunday? Did we leave rather early to flee the heat? (I did leave early enough, with Geri, Sterling, Aaron, and Dai, to get to Yosemite that night to camp & we hiked the Mist Trail the next day. Berkeley Schools, where I taught & Dai went, had the Monday off for Malcolm X's Birthday.)” -- Robert of Dunharrow“Response to Henrik I always thought the May IV abduction was on Sunday, it was someone else who thought Saturday. Since I was knighted Saturday evening, I think the films show me with white belt in the abduction. I'm sure you & I were the only survivors, except your archers. I think the fellow who fell off the horse was called something like "John de la Mer." Perhaps he was a friend of Alisande's, was that why he got to ride her horse in the abduction? After Njal & I lifted Astrid over your saddle-pommel, I had to run like mad for the orchard with numerous would-be rescuers in full hue-and-cry on my tail.” – Robert of Dunharrow“Actually, John was a friend of Leanne's from Sacramento/Davis, where Leanne was going to school. The Econoline van that convoyed to that tourney with Jon's Reluctant Dragon was his. I think he may have ended up her boyfriend (husband?) after she and Henrik finally broke up.” – Stefan de Lorraine“Yes, it was on Sunday, I checked the film.” – Henrik of Havn[John de la Mer] “That was John Wilson, a friend of Charlene’s from Davis. He was an ex-racing Jockey so was allowed to ride Allison’s horse. (He didn’t like horses as it turned out, and wasn’t a good rider. Jockeys only need to sit still and follow trainers directions.)” – Henrik of Havn“I was wrong – it was on Sunday, after the previous mounted combat at dusk on Saturday.” – Henrik of Havn
“I think Stefan & Kevin each fought some & lost to someone. I fought Robert's squire Dai of the Tulips (who for some reason hadn't joined his lord with the abductors, communications error??) who gave me a lesson on the value of good footwork.” – Kevin Peregrynne“This was the 1st tourney that Geri had a Super 8 movie camera. (She filmed most events from AS IV through VII.) When we get her films onto videotape, you can all see the Saturday barrier fight and the Sunday abduction. (It was too dark to film our horseback fight, just shots of me warming up hitting the quintain to get the horse used to the idea.)” – Robert of Dunharrow“I remember striding briskly and casually with my shield and sword hanging each at my sides, up to several of my opponents with a mental attitude that they shouldn’t bother to resist because they were already “dead”, and then striking them quickly over the head and killing them – while they stood as if transfixed and did nothing to defend themselves. This was an early application of ‘psyching them out.’“ – Henrik of Havn
“To the best of my knowledge, I participated in the abduction as a rescuer,
not an abductor. I remember the archers being a surprise to me, and I think
I would have been let in on the secret if I was part of the plot. Then
again, as I've already said, I was so wasted at that tourney that it may
have all been burned out of my memory. For instance, I was thinking Allison
Clough was abducted, but I guess that was at another event (and Allison,
of course, was affiliated with Henrik's household) Actually, now I'm
thinking it was Allison who got dumped when her horse spooked.
“As a side note, this was one of those times when,
in the dubiously named "real" world, it seemed like half of California was sure
the whole state was going to slide into the sea due to some conjunction of the
planets or other.
“Because we had a house which, if you looked
out one window, had a view of San Francisco, we held a party shortly after
the tourney to celebrate Astrid's finding a champion, Bela's spectacular
fighting, and the fact that we were about to slide into the sea. There
was no such interruption to the party. We even played Wagner, but no
Gotterdammerung. Many other members of the SCA were in a caravan in the
Midwest, just in case ...” – Stefan de Lorraine, who admits to having
been slightly apprehensive ... And who now thinks, "maybe I was an abductor ..."
“I think Stefan was an abductor, but we'll know for sure when Geri's films get put on video tape or whatever. The person who fell off Alisande's horse in the abduction was male, neither a fighter nor archer, I think, but in Henrik's household I believe. He was trying to run interference for the abductors, but fell off when he whirled the horse about. (It's in the films.) Alisande was much too good a rider to be dumped that easily.” – Robert of Dunharrow“Sorry, the abduction was on Sunday, only the horse combat between me and Robert was on Saturday.
“No, Stefan was among the rescue party along with Siegfried, both of whom I defeated. The person who fell off the horse was carrying a center bossed 28" or so round shield and he had a sword on his left hip. He was wearing all black but is unrecognizable. He may have worn a helm.” – Henrik of Havn
“OH Boy -- lots of memories of this event. It was hot. There were lots
of tents and Pavilions. There were horses. There was an abduction. There
were weird things in the night - I remember a shout in the night that we
were being attacked, and a call to arms. I grabbed my sword and ran
(naked? I don't know - it was really confused and I was coming out of a
deep sleep). It was really hot and I remember about 20 or so fighters running
toward the fence-gate area where the call had come from - we got there and
nothing seemed to be happening. I heard later that some Cowboy types had
decided to attack the hippies, and then found out that these 'hippies' had
swords. But I never had a clear picture of what really happened. I do know that
a Sheriff showed up the next day to see what was happening. David of
Ilwheirlane (Hodghead) was City Attorney for Sunnyvale at that time, and gave
the Sheriff his card. We put Jamie Oakenshields Coat of Plates (Aluminum (?)
covered with cloth and with Jamie's arms on it - very impressive for the
time) on the guy and hit him for a while - he thought that we were ok, and
hadn't eaten a ranch family and taken over the ranch or something ...
“On Saturday, I fought in my first melee. The
forces of Barbarism were on one side, and Civilization on the other. Randall
christened us the Arisians and the Eddorians. There was a hay bale castle
wall between us - ‘lay on’ or ‘charge’ was called, and I ran up to the wall.
Everyone else walked - having done this before. I leaped on top of the wall
(not much armor, so I was more mobile then!) and Warren the Strange raised
his shield. I stood on his shield and hit him - I then got speared by Ian
MacEye, and he got killed by Kevin. Lots of fun. In the second melee -
I walked up to the wall and Robert of Dunharrow whirled his maul over his
head and hit my shield, destroying it (no 360 degree rule) and then hit
my head with the second blow (a total of 720 degrees ...). I enjoyed the
hell out it.
“It got so hot that Hourai and Dai fought in the
Irrigation canal up to their necks in the water.
“Sunday morning, after her Coronation on
Saturday, Queen Ardis woke up and cheerfully yelled to the world that she
had been 'Royally Screwed'. Long trip home. Lots of grumbles about
having to drive too far to a tourney.” – James Greyhelm
“James' description of the opening barrier fight is quite accurate. He, flanked by myself and Sir Earl of Morris (both with greatswords), had decided that a berserk charge right into the middle of the 'civilized' defenses was appropriate barbarian tactics. As the heralds went through the usual pre-melee litany the three of us joined by other young enthusiasts howled, jumped up and down and pounded our shields and the ground with our weapons. At the 'Lay on!' command we charged straight for the middle embrasure. James, without breaking stride, leapt onto the parapet and onto Warren's shield. Earl and I covered his flanks by slashing across the tops of the embrasures from behind him and to his sides. As James killed Warren and stepped down he was stabbed by Ian MacEye (I had forgotten his name) who I promptly nailed on the return stroke with my sword. Earl and I jumped up onto the hay and cleared enough space for a bridgehead and almost without a pause "the barbarians are within the walls!" rang out. I got my first kill of a knight during one of the barrier battles that day (Sir Bela was looking the wrong way), but I can't state for sure that it was during the first one.” – Kevin Peregrynne
“Agree with Duke James' account of Sheriff's deputies at Oakdale. Their attitude altered quickly when David H. handed them his card. However, he was, I think, Deputy City Attorney of Campbell, not Sunnyvale. (Since we're recording this for posterity - think of the 3 million SCA members in AS CC reading it - we should try to be as precise as we can.)” – Robert of Dunharrow
“The First Overnight: I was wondering when we'd get to that ... Now I think it got nicknamed "The Purgatorio", but maybe that was after the fact, or that may have applied to other summer overnights. Anyway, it WAS hot. Yes, Steven Blackeagle offered to champion me at the Queen's Court on Saturday night, but I thought the abduction was before then? Maybe not. Anyway, I was gently thrown over the front of the saddle, feet on one side of the horse, head on the other, and my dress got torn at the waist. And of course it was all planned. "Would you like to be abducted?"” – Astrid of Hawk Ridge
“Looks like it's time for me to jump in here. It seems like it was
around spring or early summer in Portland, OR (Barony Of Three Mts)
when I first read in the local paper that the SCA had just started a
Barony in town. The folks interviewed, as I recall, were Frederick of
Holland and Lady Nicorlynn. The article told of the SCA, what it
was and what it was trying to do. I read that about 5 times, just
sat there and said to myself, "I got to do this". It was just the
sort of thing I was looking for. I called and set up a time to talk
with Fleig (Frederick of Holland) and Lady Nicorlynn and that’s all it
took for me. I have no idea how long we talked but it must have been for
some time, all the "newbie" questions etc. I went to a fighter practice,
that next week I think, and let Flieg beat me up real good, didn't want
to quit. Got introduced to Sir Fredrick of the West Tower shortly there
after and bent his ear for the rest of the winter.
“There were some others in the Barony at that
time but when winter hit they all went their own ways to come out next
spring. That first winter it was Frederick and myself and it was
wonderful. We had a basement in downtown Portland that we would practice
in, rather impossible to do outside (rain, snow etc). We got together
at least twice a week and work. I had made a round shield (20") out of
1" thick plywood to train with. By midwinter I was getting very hard
to kill. This paid off at the Crown Tourney of AS V which I'll get to
later. As I recall we had a tourney in the fall of AS IV just outside of
Portland. Frederick informed us that Edwin Bersark was going to attend
this event. None of us had ever meet Edwin and Frederick had a great time
filling us with horror stories of Edwin's prowess. On the day of the
event, I was introduced to this rather hairy individual, a bit shorter than
me as Edwin (the terror, if you were around Frederick much). I looked at
him and thought, "this won't be so bad, I can handle this". I was using a
high form with the shield at that time and it was working rather well for
me. First fight with Edwin: He took a step back and looked me over, took
a swing at my shield side, stepped around to my sword side and killed me.
Nothing to it. As I walked off the field I was thinking that I had better
go back to basics. Edwin had a great time killing me all weekend (2
day event) but by Sunday afternoon he had to work at it. I went home
with a bruise that went from my armpit to my knee on the left side but
was back at it by the next week. I was loving it.
“This was the start of Three Mts and the
expansion of the West Kingdom to the north. You'll hear from me when
the Spring Tourney of AS V comes around. That was the first Crown I ever
attended.” – Jerald of Galloway
“Houri and Dai did fight in the irrigation ditch, much to their later
regret when both got quite ill (possibly insecticide residue in the water?).
“As I got the story, the local Saturday night
pickup truck and beer crowd tried to heckle us and threatened to come
back after dark with their switch blades and farm implements and show us
real men in action (I guess the combination of swords and skirts on the
same persons confused them). Some of the younger and more enthusiastically
paranoid SCAers kept armed watch through the night (after the revelry
wound down long after midnight) but nothing happened.
“Robert can confirm this ... my recollection
is that Twelfth Night III is the first one where Lady Geraldine catered
the feast. King Caradoc did indeed pronounce the goat to be spoiled
in a voice that carried throughout the hall (tasted like goat to me,
I don't know what he had been expecting). This pronouncement gained greater
credence when many attendees fell ill with the stomach flu within the
next week or so (ignoring for the moment that nearly every human being
on the continent caught Hong Kong flu at about that time). The consensus
later was that the feast got a bum rap.” – Kevin Peregrynne
“At the end of the event on Sunday it was discovered that Jamie Oakenshield’s vehicle wouldn’t run, since someone (perhaps the locals from the night before?) Had poured a bottle of coke into his gas tank. Jamie’s coat of plates was made of steel plates as I recall with a velvet cloth covering. Unfortunately, the red velvet wasn’t very durable and started to tear after a few wearings.” – Henrik of Havn“I don't know if one more blurry memory will help or hinder. Warren the Strange and I qualified for the lists Saturday Afternoon before the barrier battle(s) [refer to James' recounting] and dusk court where Robert was Knighted. The abduction sticks out of the midden heap I call a memory as being on Sunday after the overnight alarums and excursions concerning the locals, Queen Ardis' famous morning exclamation, and a whole lot of milling around and waiting for the abduction to happen while we sweated in the orchard.
“I have strong memories of this event. Our host was kind enough to provide
bales of straw on which we could sit and watch the fighting. Unfortunately,
I was wearing tights and quickly found that the foxtails stuck through
the material and into sensitive parts of me. My lady and several others
got pleasure in pulling (pushing them in) these things out.
“We also were visited by a group of local
cowboys who thought at first that we were sissy city people, but quickly
changed their minds after seeing the fighting.” – David of Ilwheirlane
Description of this event,
© Copyright 1980 by William R. Keyes (Wilhelm von Schlüssel)
This is from The History of the West Kingdom, Volume 1 (the only
volume produced). When reading this text, please keep in mind the following
disclaimer:
Disclaimer: This history may have errors in it, as much of the detail is “remembered” history, or as one of the cover pages of the original type-written manuscript states “The material within is derived from the information printed in The Crown Prints and in The Page, and from the memories of the participants.” The original document was typed on onion-skin paper, with hand-written notes (often in the margins). All attempts have been made to reconcile the notes with the original document.
Annotations, when they are added, are from The Annotated History of the West, Volume 1, which is the same text as Master Wilhelm's mentioned above, with commentary from members of the SCA who were active at the time of the event, and are added to help clarify questions and expand on what happened and why. This volume is copyright © Ken Mayer (Hirsch von Henford).
The West Kingdom History Website was created by and is maintained by Hirsch von Henford (mka Ken Mayer).