Chattanooga Pulse

so·ci·e·ty (noun) – an organized group of persons associated together for religious, benevolent, cultural, scientific, political, patriotic, or other purposes.

cre·a·tive (adjective) – 1. having the quality or power of creating. 2. resulting from originality of thought, expression, etc.; imaginative: creative writing.

a·nach·ro·nism (noun) – something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time, esp. a thing or person that belongs to an earlier time.

A man, dressed in full armor, pulls his visor’s helm down over his face and brings his sword up into a ready position.  A woman sits quietly a few feet away, studiously working on an elaborate piece of embroidery.  Two young children in flowing medieval gowns run laughing through a kitchen filled with all sorts of sweet treats.  A hooded man resembling a well-dressed monk of some forgotten religious order focuses his high-definition video camera while a similarly dressed man holds a boom microphone out over a group of Renaissance dancers.

To quote Sesame Street, “one of these things is not like the other.”

Welcome to a gathering of the Shire of Vulpine Reach, the Chattanooga chapter of the Society for Creative Anachronism. A “living history” group, SCA members around the world band together into groups based loosely around the feudal structure of pre-17th century Europe.  A shared fascination with history, specifically the Middle Ages and medieval periods, SCA members like to say that they recreate these historical periods “the way they ought to have been.”

Author Diana Paxson is widely credited as having sown the seeds of what became the SCA when she hosted a backyard graduation party of a medieval studies graduate in Berkeley, California on May Day, 1966.  Partygoers donned motorcycle helmets, fencing masks, and various bits and pieces of medieval costumes and proceeded to gleefully hack away at one another with whatever relatively safe weapon they could find, mostly plywood swords, padded maces, and even a fencing foil.

The party ended with a parade down Telegraph Avenue, during which the fairly sizeable group sang “Greensleeves” and told curious onlookers that they were protesting the 20th century.  Pleased with the turnout and response, Paxson turned to fellow author Marion Zimmer Bradley for a name for the group when they wanted to reserve a park for a tournament. Thus was officially born the Society for Creative Anachronism.

In the ensuing four decades, the SCA has spread across much of the world, with an estimated membership of more than 32,000 by the end of 2009.  As the SCA grew, so did the complexity of the organization as groups formed in cities large and small.  It also became quickly apparent that while everyone would love to be a king or queen, there had to be a hierarchy in place to prevent anarchy and chaos.  By the end of 1969, three separate kingdoms had been created—West, East, and Middle—to which all of the current kingdoms trace their roots.  For example, the Shire of Vulpine Reach is part of the Kingdom of Meridies, which originally belonged to the fourth kingdom, Atenveldt, which began as a branch of the original West.

(While this may sound confusing at first, try describing to a non-college fan how the Southeastern Conference came together and its relations to the other major conferences and how they all work together for a common goal.)

A recent Vulpine Reach gathering was held at GraceWorks Church. Entitled “Glad Tydings”, the event was billed as a day of “feasting and fun”.  An English and Mediterranean feast was offered, a Continental Collegium was held to teach many of the arts and sciences of the era, and the evening ended with an Italian Ball.  And yes, there was some fighting, harkening back to that first backyard party in Berkeley.

Lord Guntram von Köln, the Autocrat of the event, also serves as the Herald for Vulpine Reach.  “I help people to represent themselves,” he explains. “That means I help them discover a unique name that is authentic to the medieval period as well as their device, their coat of arms.”

Köln, known less formally to his friends and family as Jeff Combs, has been involved with the SCA for more than 20 years.  He discovered the group through a church friend, and immediately felt at home.  “I love history, I love the people, and it is fun. I also like the fact that it is worldwide. I started in Arizona and when I moved to Chattanooga, I found I found myself playing the same game, with the same rules, but in a new location.”

Like everyone else we spoke with, Köln was quick to point out there was far more to the SCA than merely play fighting. “There are a lot of things that can grab your interest beyond fighting, such as arts, history, or learning to make a variety of things. It is also a path to self-discovery. Along the way, you find out a lot about who you really are.”  He says that they invite all potential members to “discover themselves through the looking glass of history.”

The Honorable Lord Richard Fenwick, a Baron of the Meridies Court, has been active in local and regional SCA activities for 34 years. He discovered it through college friends, who know him as Ken Scott, a cameraman and videographer who has worked for a local television station for decades. Fenwick says that he was attracted to the emphasis the Society places on honor and chivalry, and also was intrigued by the opportunity to create a historical “identity”. He has two primary duties, that of historian for Vulpine Reach and as a squire to Sir Ian Stewart MacDonald.

“As squire to Sir Stewart,” Baron Fenwick elaborates, “my duties are to attend to him when we are together and to fight in his company and to comport myself with dignity and chivalry.” A lifelong fascination with both heavy sword and light rapier fighting drew him to the SCA and has kept him involved ever since.  “The SCA is a terrific place to learn a wide variety of skills and develop talents. The things we do, we do for our own enjoyment and to make it easy for others to enjoy it, too. We are amateur historians, not professional performers. The SCA is an organization that either you ‘get’ or you don’t. ‘Give us a try’ is all we ask.”

Another aspect of the SCA is that it involves as many women as it does men.  Nearly a quarter century ago, Diane Walker saw a television commercial made by Ken Scott about the group which piqued her interest.  She then attended Chattacon, the long-running local science-fiction convention, where Vulpine Reach was holding a gathering, and has been involved ever since.  She is now known within the group as Lady Diana Fiona O’Shera, and rather modestly describes her main responsibility as the keeper of the “loaner” costumes that are kept for new members who have yet to make (or purchase) their own era-appropriate garb.

She says what really drew her to the SCA wasn’t a love of the history of battles or countries, but an interest in how people lived in the era. “Since I love crafts, a large part of the fun for me is that it gives me a reason to learn and practice a wide range of skills I’d probably not find enough of an excuse to explore in the normal way of things. Pewter casting, for instance, or cooking medieval recipes,” she explains. “It’s a great way to learn about the Middle Ages, of course, so it’s quite educational. But it’s a lot more fun for many folks to learn history by living it than by simply studying it in a book.”

One of the main problems that Lady O’Shera, like so many other members of the group have found, is that people confuse the SCA with the popular Renaissance Festivals held around the country.  “A lot of folks expect us to be similar to a Renaissance Fair, where they can come to be entertained. But we aren’t putting on a performance for the public as a rule; we usually are hosting private gatherings for our members. More like the Civil War re-enactors, but usually in even less public places.”

Another Lady we spoke with is Lady Keina de Fierins, known outside the Society as Jessica Hamilton.  She’s been active for more than a decade, “off and on” as she admits.  A good friend of hers who is involved with Thor’s Mountain, an SCA group in Knoxville, told her about an event that fell on her birthday, so she decided to celebrate her birthday there. “I had such a blast I kept coming back,” she says simply.

“I am deputy to the local herald of the group,” explains Lady de Fierins. “My duties are voice heraldry. That consists of heralding upcoming fights on the field, court, and wake-up calls, basically anything that requires you to raise your voice to get the populace’s attention. I also help the herald with device construction and name submissions. When you are a member, you are able to have arms, especially if you have received your Award of Arms, and your name submission. A device in the SCA is a visual signature of your name.”

One of the things she loves most is that SCA is not beholden to one ultra-specific era. “The society spans centuries, so your options are wide open to pick from. We do try to reenact the medieval times era as close as possible, but within the scope of the 21st century. We creatively reenact.”

As with any group, learning the positions and titles can often be confusing for newcomers (or reporters).  The leader of the local shire holds the title of “Seneschal”, a title once held by John Chapin under his SCA nom-de-plume of Thorarinn Smior Grjotgardhsson.  Grjotgardhsson discovered the SCA through a co-worker a dozen years ago while living in Florida and quickly created a persona that, he says, would have been a Norse blacksmith and part-time raider.

“If you love history and reenactment, you can find someone to show you how to do just about anything they did in the past,” he notes. “From fighting, brewing, cooking, weaving or any other thing you’re interested in. It’s a living history group where you choose who you want to be from a wide area of time—anytime before 1600—and you can take it to any level you want to take it to, from just making a good attempt at your chosen persona to doing an exact recreation.”

And he notes with a smile that, unlike other re-enactment groups, “we don’t know who will win a battle until we fight it.”

Weekly SCA Meetings and Fighter Practices

The Shire of Vulpine Reach invites anyone who is interested in learning more about the group to attend any of their regularly scheduled meetings.

• First Monday: Business Meeting — This is where they plan upcoming events and activities while Shire officers and teams report on their projects.
• Second Monday: Dance Practice and Social Gathering — Come out and learn to dance the Renaissance way or just to hang out with fellow shire members.
• Third Monday: Arts and Sciences Night — Enjoy fascinating classes and discussion groups about subjects such as blacksmithing, equestrianism, glassblowing, performing arts, heraldry, and much more.
• Fourth Monday: Mix Night — A grab bag of activities, discussion groups, and fun.
• Sunday Afternoons — Heavy armored combat and rapier (fencing) combat practices.

Check their web site at www.vulpinereach.org for specific times and locations for each event. The public is always welcome to attend.