Coronation of David de la Cloude and Rhianwen ferch Bran ap Gruffydd: Long Live Their Majesties

Greetings, fellow SCAdians, and other time travelers!

I’ve captured some delightful happenings from the Kingdom of Calontir‘s fall coronation of David de la Cloude and Rhianwen ferch Bran ap Gruffydd. Because my trusty phone is groaning under the weight of five years’ worth of regal purple snapshots, I decided to shake things up this time. Instead, I found unexpected, or heartwarming scenes from that amazing day. The Barony of the Lonely Tower never ceases to amaze, right? Happy viewing!

Baron Robert explained the people of Vatavia thought many in the SCA were taking things way too seriously and wanted to shake things up a bit. So, they came up with St. Humerous, who is known by this arm bone. Lucky Robert now gets to explain this at each event he attends. Sounds more like a curse to me than a blessing.

After talking with Baron Robert I wandered around the room to see what else was amusing. Here you see I found these young lads playing a board game on the floor. (I missed their name, I’m terrible about that. Sorry guys!) They were eager to find more people who wanted to learn old-time and ancient games. And they played them wherever they found space. On a table great, on the floor, that’s fine too.

Next, I found this Good Lady sewing on the tail of this mythical beast the Ana. After looking up mythical beasts online, I’m not certain what name she called it. Names are hard.

And we’re walking and walking, and find the static arts competition displays. The first and most important as a scribe are the Blank Border entries. This competition is voted on by attending members and does not rank entries by formal criteria. The cool thing is after the winner is chosen the scrolls were all given to Their Majesties Royal Scribe M. Rochwen for use as she sees fit. (It was so wonderful that not a single entrant opted to take theirs back.) Ten amazing entries and not a single one disappoints.

The second Lonely Tower competition requested entrants create anything with a tower. The many entries included food, painted medallions, and more. But the populace chose this awesome, unique tower painting with shading using the baronial members’ names done in micro-script. The letters were so tiny; I had no idea how she wrote them, let alone arrange them for shading.

But now it’s time for court, with over 200 of us together in the great hall. The current monarchs give their many symbols of authority into significant members’ care and release all their many household staff from their fealty.

Then comes the next monarch and a regal verification takes place. His Majesty David’s inspiration Rhianwen is then called into court. She processed in with her awesome presence, her entourage, and one hefting this giant shield.

The shield is unique with cut-outs around the edge. The cutouts made me wonder what on earth they were for. After more court necessities, we all found out. Their Majesties were raised upon their shields for all to see. This awesome part of history was first written about by Tacitus. You can find out more here. Cool, huh?

After morning court you had time for social and fighting activities. Too many for me to write about here.

As you passed through these images, I hope they served as a reminder that within our beloved Society for Creative Anachronism, the bonds of friendship and shared passion continue to forge memories as timeless as the very history we strive to recreate. Until we meet again on the fields of chivalry and merriment, may your days be filled with adventure and your heart forever belong to the dream!