Foreign Customers!The American Post Office on Sunday July 12th updated their rates and did away with the entire postal first class letters over 1/4” thick.I would have to send my small packages Priority Mail for a minimum charge of $42.00!I have found that I can send a box 6” x 4” x 5” for about $23.00 and tape the small bubble wrap to the side of the box.I do have to buy the boxes.So my shipping will go up to $20.00 to Canada and $25.00 for the rest of the world.
It has been a challenging year for us. My wife fell in January, and cracked her arm above the elbow. She was in a locking brace until May. In February I put the store on hold and went in for a stent for my heart. That turned into the doctors cracking my chest and doing a double bypass. In April my mom had a TIA and suffered a stroke. Then in May I had surgery for two bouts of skin cancer. We are finally ready to resume taking orders!
This is the dedication of The Pleasure Book, “Dedicated to King Ton and Queen Elizabeth”. They were King and Queen of Atenveldt 40 years ago. 40 years ago. This month we want to look back at some of that history and how the Quiet Press came to be. The need I had to share knowledge, the need to improve the SCA, the need to provide a service to the SCA, no one else had provided.
The Pleasure Book was a guide to the SCA. 40 years ago, there was no internet, there was no corpus of shared knowledge handed down from knight to squire. The Pleasure Book provided information on how to participate in the SCA without having to travel sometimes hundreds of miles to seek out a mentor. That is the way the SCA was when I started. We would travel from Albuquerque to Phoenix and seek out information. The Pleasure Book helped other people learn from articles written by a group of authors willing to share their knowledge.
This book was the start of Raymond’s Quiet Press and 40 years later our focus has changed over the years but the name remains the same - Raymond’s Quiet Press
Viking art is based on the abstract animal forms from the migration period about 400 AD. The animals were contorted, writhing snakes and beasts whose actual shape is often barely recognizable. My favorate term from a fellow SCA’er was “Weaselopes” for the style of artwork. Such designs were applied to objects in daily use, for example swords, buckles, belt mounts, belt tips and brooches.
Borre Style
The Borre style dated from about 840 to 980, and is named after the bridle mounts from Borre in Norway. There are three main elements. A ring-chain motif: a two-stranded braid bound by a ring. A type of gripping beast with a ribbon body whose claws clasp the edge. A backward-looking animal with spirals on its hips and a pigtail.
Jellinge Style
The Jellinge style dated from about 870-1000. It is named for a silver cup from Jelling, Denmark. Each animal has a ribbon-like body that is outlined. Its head with a long pigtail and the upper jaw is extended. The creature was based on gripping beast found at Borre.
Mammen Style
The Mammen style dated from about 960-1020. Animals now have fuller bodies instead of just lines. We still see spirals on the hips The new features are tendrils.
Ringerike Style
The Ringerike style dated from about 980-1090. Now thrusting tendrils tend to dominate the animals that they surround. The Anglo-Saxon artwork seems to have been the influence for this development.
Urnes Style
Named for wood carvings at Urnes church, Norway. A high, round relief but as thin as a knife edge, and then a copy of the same pattern in a flat pattern. The motifs are a slender animal with only one front and back leg, and an animal head. The forms are very graceful, with wide loops.
In 2015 a Thor’s Hammer was found with a metal detector on Flekstad farm in Steinkjer, Norway. This Thor’s Hammer dates from about 800-950 AD. This is only the 14th Thor’s Hammer ever found in Norway. In comparison, there are about 3,500 Viking swords which puts the hammer finds into perspective.
Thor’s hammers became more common when the Vikings were exposed to Christianity. The hammers became a statement that the wearer was a follower of the old faith, where Christians wore crosses.
Christianity came to Norway fairly late, about 1000AD. This might be the reason for the lack of Thor's Hammer finds in Norway. There was as much early interaction between Christians and followers of Thor!
There are some considerations about how you can encourage new members.
Often around here Kings and Queens or Barons and Baronesses will call up new people who are enjoying their first event. Sometimes they will give small gifts to the people to encourage them to come back.
One King a while back wanted to give tokens that would allow the new people to come to the next event free of charge. The SCA corporate did not like this idea. There seems to be a problem with the SCA to officially give away items of value to some members!
So what can you do?
You can encourage the people you contact on your own. You, if you are financially able to, could invite potential new members to the next event and offer pay for their attendance.
We here in al-Barran, have started to give new tunics to needy new members who have shown enough interest. I met several people up at Battlemoor who were there in the new costumes they were provided with.
Most, if not all titles are earned in the Society. They are earned with hard work over a long time. They are well deserved. But how do you earn these titles?
KING AND QUEEN. The title of King is won, by frighting in a Crown Tourney. Crown Tourneys are held at regular intervals, depending on the Kingdom. The victor is King by right of arms, but cannot succeed himself. The Queen is the lady whose favor the king was carrying when he won the Crown Tourney
DUKE AND DUCHESS. Fighters and consorts who have served as the crown twice.
COUNT AND COUNTESSES. Fighters and consorts who have served as crown once.
KNIGHTS AND MASTERS-AT-ARMS. Fighters who have received recognition for their fighting ability and for courtly accomplishments. Knights wear a white belt and a gold chain; Masters wear a white belt over one shoulder, called a baldric. White belts are reserved for these men and women to wear.
MASTERS AND MISTRESSES OF THE LAUREL. Artisians who have been honored for achievement in arts and sciences. They are entitled to wear a gold medallion having a green laurel wreath.
MASTERS AND MISTRESSES OF THE PELICAN. Members who have been honored for their service to the society as a whole or to the Kingdom. They are entitled to a medallion showing a pelican wounding itself, to feed its young.
MASTERS AND MISTRESSES OF DEFENSE. Members are considered the equal of his or her peers with the basic weapons of rapier and/or cut-and-thrust combat.
Foreign Customers! The American Post Office on Sunday July 12th updated their rates and did away with the entire postal first class letters over 1/4” thick. I would have to send...
