Society researches and re-creates life between 400-1600 A.D.

Deseret News ^ | October 10, 2003 | Carma Wadley

[ChemistCat]

They come for the fighting — and the dancing. They come for the feasting, and because they get to wear cool clothes. They come to play, to socialize, to learn.

Mostly, they come because they have fallen in love with a time so removed from our own that many people never give it a thought — yet it's a time that laid our foundations and shaped our thoughts in important and intriguing ways.

Welcome to the Current Middle Ages — or as some say, the Middle Ages "as they ought to have been."

This is the period researched and re-created by members of the Society for Creative Anachronism. They study martial arts, dance, calligraphy, cooking, stained glass, metalwork, costuming, literature and almost everything else that happened in Western civilization from roughly 400 to 1600 A.D. As they like to say, if someone in the Middle Ages did it, somebody in the SCA does it — everything except die of the plague, of course.

Since it was founded in 1966 in Berkeley, Calif., by some science-fiction and fantasy fans, SCA has grown into an international organization with more than 24,000 dues-paying members. For its purposes, SCA has divided the "knowne world" into 17 kingdoms, each made up of principalities, baronies and shires....

[ChemistCat]

I used to do this. Now I FReep.

Some days there isn't a lot of difference--except of course for that "honor thing" of actually quitting when you've taken a mortal blow. ;-)

Just kidding.

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[Notforprophet]

SCA bump. Kingdom of Ansteorra over all others.

[CatoRenasci]

Ah, yes, Once Upon a Time in the West... I was involved in SCA back round years 6-10 in the West: Mists, the Isles, and what later became Caid.... it was fun, but I could never quite become consumed by the whole thing. I remember friends like Henrik of Havn, Paul of Bellatrix, Bevin Fraser of Stirling, et. al. with fondness.

[ChemistCat]

I was in Starkhafn when it was just a twinkle in a shire's eye...part of Caid then. Not sure if it is now.

[Ciexyz]

Love the Middle Ages. I admit to having a thing for Robin Hood when I was a wee lass.

[LexBaird]

Nostalga bump from the past.

Just came back from Estrella War 23, and was curious how many FReepers play SCA. And yes, Starkhafn is still Caid.