If you’re a serious archer in the SCA, at some point you end up making your own arrows – I go through about four dozen a year when I’m shooting heavily. Not everyone continues to do so, but making your own arrows is something of a rite of passage for lots of folks. It seems simple enough at first glance, then it seems terribly daunting when you actually start to look into it in depth, then it becomes easy for real once you’ve made a half-dozen dozens or so. At this point, I’ve probably made going on a hundred dozen arrows since 2018; about half for me and half for others. I’m not a full-time vendor who is selling hundreds of dozens a year, but I’m not just making a couple dozen a year for personal use, either. I hesitate to call myself an expert, rather, I simply believe I’m extremely competent at it.

Moving on, it turns out that making arrows really takes just two things: being able to do neat, precise work – and throwing hundreds of dollars at tools. To that end, I spent a lot of time dicking around with and wasting money on various jigs and tools and saws to make self-nock arrows (the medieval kind we’re required to shoot in SCA Period Archery). In the end, this machine is all I need now.

Here’s how it works and how it’s put together:

Parts list:

3/32″ flute bit for 1/4″ collet trim router: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004T7B3

Trim router: https://www.harborfreight.com/power-tools/routers-cutout-tools-lathes/24-amp-trim-router-62659.html

You’ll also need some kind of stable, wood-topped table to mount your router to. Sadly, the cheap Harbor Freight one I have is no longer sold. You can either use an existing workbench, build something, or buy some kind of stable table for this.

If I had to do it again, I might just mount my router on a rectangle of 5/8″ plywood, maybe 12″x12″, and bolt/clamp/screw/hinge/socket/slot that onto the side of an existing workbench or heavy table in the shop. That way you can put it away when you’re not using it. A couple of T-nuts sunk into the top of your workbench would work great for this, along with a couple 2″ bolts with fender washers through the board you’re mounting.

Finally, you need the jig. I’ve put it here for you to grab – just the 11/32″ version: http://www.mvgc.net/11-32-inch-nock-guide.stl (mvgc.net is my own domain so this is a safe file).

If you need other sizes, take that one to TinkerCAD (https://www.tinkercad.com) and alter it. If you can’t figure out how to do that, and I know you, hit me up. If you don’t have a 3D printer, or access to anyone locally with one, and we’re friends, hit me up – I’ll print you a couple and mail them to you or hand them off at an event.

If we’re not friends, I’ll still help you, but probably not for free. That doesn’t mean money, necessarily, so go ahead and ask. If I’m not busy I might just hook you up.

The end product of all this is arrow nocks that are perfect every time: correctly-sized, uniform, and consistent – everything you need for accurate ammunition!

My friend Gav, known in the SCA as Master Godzimir the Golden, OM, Scarlet Guard, asked if I would assist his recent elevation as a Principal of the Order of the Mark by making some of his regalia and bragging him into court. I was honored and happily agreed.

He’s a Kievan Rus persona, and so I thought about doing something in Russian or Ukrainian, but this idea was so far out of my knowledge and comfort zone that I discarded it almost immediately; not only do I not know that song, I can’t even hum a few bars. I sorta hemmed and hawed on this for a few days, but finally inspiration struck, as it so often does for me, in the shower.

I would tell the tale of Godzimir the Golden in the style of J.R.R. Tolkien.

The following represents my best effort at that. It’s FAR too long for a court walk-on, taking me nearly three minutes ro read in full, but what the hell, my boy only gets elevated for the first time once. People would just have to wait and enjoy it. Or wait and tolerate it. Or wait and bitch about it later. Whatever. I thought it was good.

Of the Bowmen of Ætt Skyti, and of the Renown of Godzimir the Golden

And it came to pass in the waning days of strife and long toil in the lands of the Dagorhirrim, that a weariness fell upon the Fellowship, for many years had they waged war beneath sun and shadow. Thus they turned their hearts from battle and departed thence, seeking fairer lands and a gentler purpose.

Then those companions—Halfdan and Sefa, Bjarki, Snorri and Annika, Asa, Þorir and Ayla, Ran and Godzimir, and sundry others unnamed in the chronicles—made for themselves a new dwelling in a distant realm. There they raised up a hall and hallowed it Ætt Skyti; which, in the tongue of the common folk, is called Clan Marksmen, or House Deadeye.

Now among them were three: Snorri, Bjarki, and Godzimir, who took up the bow and bent their will to the mastery of the archer’s craft. Long did they strive upon the ranges, and many shafts did they loose beneath the watchful boughs. And in time they grew mighty in skill and fame, so that they were named Master Bowmen by all who beheld their marksmanship.

Yet not all paths run ever straight. For Bjarki was drawn once more to the clash of arms upon the list-fields, to the ringing of sword on shield, and the gleam of helms beneath the sun. With him went Halfdan and Þorir, and their feet came less often to the archer’s green; and the memory of the bow grew dim in Bjarki’s hand.

Likewise, Snorri was ensnared by other callings: the hammer’s song on anvil, the forge-fire’s glow, and the crafting of subtle things wrought in gold and silver and gleaming mithril. To the smithies of the Dwarves he went gladly, and his arrows fell fewer, and his bow leaned unstrung.

But of all that company, Godzimir alone held steadfast. Never did he forsake the ranges nor the way of the bow. He taught many to draw and to loose, to fashion arrows keen and quivers fair, and many were the tools of his hand, both humble and wondrous, that armed the Companies of the Archers. Tournaments he devised, that skill might be tested and valor proved; and he forged from fellowship a brotherhood of bows, keen-eyed and resolute.

Thus his fame grew, and word of his deeds passed beyond the field and into high places. Even the King and Queen of that realm heard tell of him, and bade him come before their court.

Now the day is come, and lo! he draws nigh—Godzimir the Golden, steadfast in aim, pure of heart, and unstained in honor—to be named a Peer of the Realm and set among the Principals of the Order of the Mark. Rejoice, O people of the North! For one worthy has arisen from among you.

This is my entry for the A&S War Point at Gulf Wars 2025

Warning: This post is adapted from an email I sent to household members in 2024 who wanted to get some Roman garb ready for Gulf Wars 2025. It contains unsupported speculations, sloppy attributions, stolen images, dodgy research, links that will expire and I’ll never update, and copious vulgarities.

Up front: Roman garb is very minimal and not appropriate for cold weather in the forms I’m going to cover here. Also, because it is so minimal (really just a tunica, belt, and shoes), ANY deviations from the baseline are going to stick out like a sore thumb. You can, sorta-kinda, get away with a Viking belt with your 14th Century garb, or get away with Rus pants with your 9th century Norse garb, or a kidney pouch with your Ottoman clothes. You CANNOT get away with, for example, putting on a Skjoldehamn hood over your Roman tunica, or wearing pants at all, or wearing 16th century boots on your feets. You will look ridiculous, but more importantly, you will look incorrect and people will notice. You may not care, but I do, and since I’m helping you with this garb, it’s a reflection on me. Make me proud, kids.

So most of my starting research and patterns come from here: 

https://www.larp.com/legioxx/

That’s Matt Amt’s site from 20 years ago (he’s the dude who founded Amtgard) so it’s pretty dated, but the research is still valid. Specifically these pages:

https://www.larp.com/legioxx/tunic.html

https://www.larp.com/legioxx/civcloth.html (bottom half of the page)

https://www.larp.com/legioxx/cloak.html

If that’s too much reading, here’s the rundown of what we’re shooting for, head to toe:

1. Head: nothing
2. Torso: tunica of wool or linen (any color EXCEPT white with purple stripes, or solid purple) with small (2″) sleeves or no sleeves. Pinned at neck with fibula. The neck slit is real wide; they’d often slip one or both arms out when they were working, training, shooting, etc. by just unpinning one or both sides and pulling their arms out.
3. Belt: leather belt at least 2″ wide. The stereotypical Roman belt is called a balteus or a cingulum militaire. It’s a 2″ wide leather belt covered with plaques and often mounts the Legionary dagger, the pugio. The hangy-downy bits in front are called pteruges (ter-OO-jees) and are common, but optional.
   
   
   _{Picture of a historical balteus yoinked from https://www.romancoins.info/MilitaryEquipment-cingulum.html}
   
   But if you’re not going to portray a veteran of the Legions you won’t wear one of these, plus it’s like $200-$300 for all the fucking parts. There’s really no good commercial options; they’re all a little wrong, and if you’re gonna spend that much you might as well do it right. If you have a good-looking kidney belt that’s fine. If you want to just use a simple piece of wool inkle weaving that’s fine too (I often do).
   
4. Toga/Cloak: You guys can skip the toga unless you really want to look formal. It’s five fucking yards of wool at $30 a yard, and is cut in such a way as to be utterly useless for any other purpose.
   • You CAN just wear a rectangle cloak, called a sagum, with a pennanular brooch or fibula pin. Try to not wear a blanket cloak that’s been all tarted up Viking-style with embroidery and tablet weave and applique and fur and shit. Plain wool is best; we could maybe justify a stripe or a strip of silk or something, but it’d be speculative.
5. Legs: bare. I wear basketball shorts of a matching color under my tunicas like a godsdamned savage.
6. Feets: any kind of strappy sandals is fine. Ghillies is fine. I wear red carbatina as appropriate for a Patrician; you can do whatever. You can wear colorful wool socks if the weather warrants it. 
7. Jewelry: circlets are fine. Rings (LOTS of rings) is good. One or two necklaces maybe. 
8. Pouches: we can make you guys shoulder bags of leather. A plain linen one would be fine too. No Hedeby bags.

What NOT to wear:

• Anything on your head other than a circlet
• Any jewelry on your arms. No arm-rings, no bracelets, no ridiculous bejeweled brass cuffs like every movie likes to do. Bare arms is considered manly.
• Anything that looks even vaguely “gladiatorish” – be careful with kidney belts.
• Pants
• Any kind of skinny medieval belt with a long dangle. If you wear a ring belt I will murder you in your sleep.
• Belt pouches. If you don’t procure an appropriate shoulder bag, then put your stuff into a small leather or cloth drawstring bag and drop it inside your tunica.
• Anything with laurel leaves – they’re ubiquitous for Roman shit but none of us rate them in the SCA so that’s a no from me, dawg.
• LATE EDIT! Almost forgot this one: BLOCK PRINTING! There’s zero evidence of this kind of textile ornamentation.

I’d suggest a plan of concentrating on taking care of tunicas, fibulas, belts, and feets first: 

1. Tunicas need two yards of the base color, and a “long quarter” of another color for stripes. You have to specify to the vendor LONG QUARTER or you might get a “short quarter” or a “fat quarter” which won’t work. Stripes have to be the same material (wool or linen). Wool needs to be PLAIN WEAVE, no patterned wools (herringbone, diamond, etc.)
   
   This is the good stuff here, but it’s fucking $31.50 a yard. Fortunately you only need two yards per tunica: 
   
   https://dorrmillstore.com/shop/fabric/date/category/solids
   
   Remember to get two yards of your base color and a LONG QUARTER for the stripes. You can put .25 yards in your cart there for the long quarter, just ensure that you put in the notes “LONG QUARTER for the quarter yard” or whatever when you check out.
   
   Alternatively you can do linen. I have three linen ones and a wool one, but the wool one is BY FAR the nicest. Buy dimensions remain the same. If you can’t swing $70 of wool then do linen.
   
2. Fibulas: Thorthor’s Hammer is the absolute shit for these: 
   
   https://thorthorshammer.com/romanbroochpage.htm
   
   Remember to get two small ones for your tunica neck, and one big one for your cloak (if you’re wearing one – you should, Gulf Wars nighttimes can be chilly). 
   
   Alternately you can rock a pennanular brooch for your cloak:
   
   https://thorthorshammer.com/penannularbroochpage.htm
   
   Avoid the ones with knotwork, but the others are fairly universal/generic enough to pass. We can also make these in my shop with extremely minimal time and effort. 
   
3. Belt. You have three options:
   • Tie a piece of wool inkle weave around your waist
   • Wear a leather belt, any color, 2″ wide minimum, with a Roman buckle and tip (we have to make this but it’s zero issue)
     
     The acceptable buckles can be pretty simple. Lots of heel-bar buckles in oval or D shapes:
     
     
     
     _{Sketches of 1st through 4th Century Roman buckles from UK finds, from Buckles Through The Ages, Treasure Hunting Magazine, 1986 issues January – December, by Chris Marshall}
     
     So go find yourselves a buckle and strapend. Sadly, my usual supplier, Armour & Castings, doesn’t do Roman. Here are some sources:
     • Raymond’s Quiet Press has some dope shit, as usual: https://raymonds-quiet-press.myshopify.com/collections/roman Just be aware his stuff is all cast, and so if you use a lot of it, it gets heavy as hell very quickly.
     • Kult of Athena has some stuff but it’s all backordered right now: https://www.kultofathena.com/product-category/clothing/belts-baldrics-buckles/buckles-fittings/?_product_culture=roman
     • Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/search?q=roman+belt+buckle
       
   • Throw stupid money at a balteus. The best site, bar none, for the hardware is Clang Armory:
     
     http://www.clangarmory.com/roman%20pics/balteus%2001.html
     
     If you email Mark Berry there, he’s super-helpful putting a belt order together, but you’re gonna spend like $200-$300 on parts – then we gotta assemble (no big deal, honestly). This is all the stuff I bought from him:
     
     
     The author’s cingulum militaire parts from Clang Armory
     
     Having said all that about the belt, I think if I was trying to do something that was affordable, medium effort, and would look great, I’d buy a dozen apron studs or rivet bosses, and a single apron terminal to use as a strapend, from Clang, and a simple D-shaped solid brass heel bar buckle from Tandy (https://tandyleather.com/collections/solid-brass-hardware/products/round-heel-bar-buckles?variant=31977408659587) and some sheet brass and we’ll make something that will look the part and not cost a car payment. If you don’t have a shop to fabricate a buckle plate in, this here will do fine: https://www.kultofathena.com/product/brass-belt-buckle-with-rivets/ It’s actually just about a dead ringer for the top right hand buckle on the second page of buckle pics above.

4. Shoes. Ghillies work fine, and we know how to make those, but if you don’t: https://www.instructables.com/Viking-shoes/

If you want better, Bohemond has some: https://boots-by-bohemond.myshopify.com/collections/roman-footwear/products/roman-carbatinae-welzheim-shoes Use Angelus leather paints to make them red if you want: https://angelusdirect.com/products/red-paint?variant=308268865 I have to repaint mine about once a year and it takes ten minutes.

I wear his carbatinae painted red, because Patrician-class people apparently wore red shoes: https://www2.classics.upenn.edu/myth/php/tools/dictionary.php?regexp=CALCEUS&method=standard

So my shoes aren’t quite the correct style, but they pass. This is honestly getting really into the weeds on Roman garb particulars, and if you wanna wear some sandals or flippy-floppies or Birkenstocks or red goddamn Crocs no one’s gonna say boo to you about it. Just, please, no Viking turnshoes or later period buckled boots, for my sanity.

That’s it for now. Stretch goals are a Comaccio bag: https://sutor.jimdofree.com/1st-century-ad/comacchio-bag/

or a Pera bag: https://www.larp.com/legioxx/packs.html

but a plain linen shoulder bag would be fine: https://www.etsy.com/listing/720410175/medieval-messenger-bag-pilgrim-linen

All that will get you here:

Good luck with your own Roman garb!

-Snorri aka Snorricus Maximus

————————————————

Bibliography / Link Dump
https://www.larp.com/legioxx/
https://www.romancoins.info
https://www.instructables.com/Viking-shoes/
https://www2.classics.upenn.edu/myth/php/tools/dictionary.php?regexp=CALCEUS&method=standard
https://sutor.jimdofree.com/1st-century-ad/comacchio-bag/

Long out of print, I came across a scan of all fifty-some pages of this book in a dead forum about Viking age stuff. I downloaded each image and used Adobe to combine them into one document. Published in 1999 and only in German, this section details bows, arrows, and other archery-related items from Hedeby (Haithabu).

I think the thing to start doing here is to just chronicle all the words I use to herald in various couples to Crown Tournaments. That said, here’s the three couples I was asked to do for Æthelmearc Spring Crown 2023: Bjarki & Gabrielle de Winter, Abdul & Genevieve, and Angus the Bull & Agnes.

Bjarki and Gabrielle received my third installment of quasi/proto Skaldic verse. Honestly, I feel like these are getting worse, not better. I’ve devolved from actually attempting to hit the historical structures to just jamming in a lot of alliteration and kennings. I need to do better next time; I probably should start working on it now. Maybe I actually will. I mean, I like them and I think they’re saying what I want them to say… just not “correctly”. Yet.

Bjarki & Gabrielle de Winter, Spring 2023

All-father Raven God clears his throat
Thor’s thought and aim-gem both drawn to Midgard
Mighty men mass there, battle-shirted birches
Bjarki bruin of blood, red-weapon wielder
With well-witted Winter, brooch-bearing beauty
Best bench-mate, far-come from sunset side
Sword-storm soon coming, blind blusterer’s blizzard
Beating of blades, many death-beds soon filled.

Brow’s sky afire, the helmet land’s dwarf-ring
Rightly retained by Andreas, sylvan suzerain
Czarina Kallista, halcyon fir-tree of gold
Gracefully gives good guidance, gentling his wildness
When well-wielded wound sticks contest for their crown
Comes the feeder of wolves, the raven’s delight
Displaying his war-sun, it’s paint black and bloody
Bjarki! His blood-brand a torch for your pyres.

Abdul and Gen gave me a chance to do something super-historical. I found “Letter on the appearance of the twelfth caliph” (Risāla fī ẓuhūr al-khalīfa al-thānī ʻashar) (Arabic text editing and English translation by Mauro Nobili) online at https://journals.openedition.org/afriques/1958 and hacked it up to meet my needs. Rather than hailing the appearance of the 12th descendent of Muhammad (pbuh), it now reads as, essentially, a warning to the king and queen and all the peoples of Æthelmearc that Abdul is coming for the crown.

Abdul Ishkhan Al-Rashid & Genevieve, Spring 2023

“To the fair Kingdom of Æthelmearc, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, the most Prosperous, the most Beneficient. May blessings and perfect peace be on our Sylvan Sultan, Andreas Morgan, his Sultana, Kallista Morganova, his household and his companions gathered here today. “You are summoned to the Abode of Peace.”

This is a warning for you, a notification, an enlightenment, a reminder, and an admonition to those remaining, to the Shaykh of the Lands of the Windmill, the Copper Tree, the Dominion of Myrkfaelin, to the Shaykh of the Lands of the Three Ravens, to the Shaykh and peoples far and hither of the Mountains of Black Stones, the Shaykh of the Ice Dragon lands and their lands along the beautiful river, to the Shaykh of the Never-ending Hills and his wards, the Gray River, the scholars in the Kuliyat Aldawla, the Home of Hunters, to the Shaykh of the Bog of Swithin Alqidiys, all the way to the Shaykh of the Steel City of the West, and to this Port Oasis in the East, and surrounding areas extending to the Mountains and Lakes and Rivers that border these lands.

After the fullest and most complete greetings of peace, the all-encompassing and perfect honor, know that a Jewel of Æthelmearc, Sayyid Abdul Ishkhan Al-Rashid, with his Western Sayyida Genevieve, is the one who stood up to revive and contest for their claim to become Amir and Amira of this Kingdom of Æthelmearc, its surrounding territories to the east, west, south and north, and in good time to be the the fifty-and-first Sultan and Sultana and renewer of the faith of this fair Kingdom.

Here ends what is necessary to report. I, Shaykh Snorri skyti Bjarnarson, urge and press all those who receive these words of mine to make a copy of them and to send them to everybody who they think did not receive what is included in them. I also urge and press the carrier of the letters to gather the People of the Barunia, the Shayir, the Kantunat, and the Al’Kuliyaat that he passes through and he thinks did not hear of it to read the letter to them or inform them orally, according to his capability.

Peace be upon you all.”

This was probably way too long. I hate going long, the focus should be on the combatant and their consort, not me. I need to time everything from now on and make sure they’re all under 30 seconds, ideally 20-25 seconds long. I won’t do something this long again.

Having done two super-serious processions, we came to Angus, who really wanted something funny to take his mind off the upcoming tournament. Say no more, fam.

Angus the Bull & Agnes, Spring 2023

Now, this is a story all about how
Æthelmearc got flipped-turned upside down
And I’d like to take a minute, since this crowd is full
To tell you all about His Lordship Angus, the Bull

In the Barony of Thescorre, born and raised
On the battlefield was where he spent most of his days
Chillin’ out, maxin’, relaxin’, all cool
And all fightin’ some pickups outside of the school
When a couple of knights who were up to no good
Started making trouble in his neighborhood
He got in one little fight and Agnes declared
She said, “You’re fightin’ for me in crown so you best get prepared!”

Full credit to Halfdan who suggested it as a joke. Little did he know, hah! I even asked the crowd for some hand claps to assist, which they did with a lot of enthusiasm, if a little less rhythmic skills. Naturally this seemed to be the best-received of all three.

My only regret here is that I wasn’t wearing a bycocket so I could turn the bill sideways.

I know, you’re here for the pictures. Here you go. There’s a link to the actual A&S documentation at the end.

This was the inspiration pic. It turns out it’s actually a painting from a Russian artist from just a hundred years ago, but this was the jumping-off point:

The actual coronet I made looks like this:

Here it is on the recipient:

This ended up tying for Populace Choice at the Queen’s Prize A&S Faire today.

Documentation here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GjU2bNlVHW0pW53Ft0xG__RfLyXh64_G/view?usp=sharing