"The SCA is an international organization dedicated to researching and re-creating the arts and skills of pre-17th-century Europe. Our "Known World" consists of 19 kingdoms, with over 30,000 members residing in countries around the world. Members, dressed in clothing of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, attend events which feature tournaments, royal courts, feasts, dancing, various classes & workshops, and more.”
I am an avid book reader and the topics in these books range from the political to the fantastical and all points in between. I also have always enjoyed a good historical yarn and I have found the medieval particularly fascinating for a couple of reasons. I find it very interesting that we tend to romanticize an era of history that was pretty dark and miserable. There was not a lot of running water and it very much was a time of disease and a time of haves and have nots. I can imagine that if a person who was a serf in that time period was brought forward in time to today I doubt they would want to return to tending sheep for the local Duke.
I also like the idea of people running around with swords and axes. I think that guns are an amazing piece of technology but I do think it would be pretty cool to live in a world where guns were never created. Not to get to "hippy dippy" I just think it would be pretty fascinating. There would probably be drive by sling shootings but it would still be pretty interesting. (hmmmmm, possible story idea that I will most likely start and never finish)
So all of my long windedness aside. I found out that the local SCA group was putting on a demonstration or Riverfront Faire this last weekend at Riverfront Park here in downtown Salem. So I headed on down on Sunday to check it out. Up until now my only real life experience with historical reenactments has been the 4th of July Civil War reenactments that take place at Mission Bottom park. Now this event is not as big or as ambitious as the Civil War event but I was pleasantly surprised. In the picture below there are some members doing some combat demonstrations that I found very enjoyable to watch and while there was not much clanging of metal there was still a lot of loud thwacking and thumping of wood and bamboo.
They had a rather large circle of cloth pavilions set up and each one seemed to hold a different aspect of what it is that the SCA does. There was a blacksmith and some bards, There were some highborn ladies doing some sewing. It really was a nice pleasant atmosphere and was very family friendly. If you get a chance I would highly recommend checking it out.
Also if your looking for a good series of fictional books that deal with some SCA stuff perhaps I might encourage you to check out the Emberverse series of books by S.M. Stirling. The first book in the series is called 'Dies the Fire' and it is set in 1998. The catalyst of everything is a worldwide event that stops electricity and gunpowder and really most forms of technology from working. It all happens in an instant. They are just kind of a fun series of books and I find them all the more interesting because they take place in the Willamette Valley. Let me add though that if you are expecting a literary masterpiece you probably should look in another direction. But, if you are looking for some mindlessly fun reading you should check these out.
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