Ancient Lawn Games

SCA Project by Baron Snorri skyti Bjarnarson

Email: hivemind@mvgc.net Blog: www.snorri.blog

Project Overview

Human beings have played games with each other since before we evolved into homo sapiens; many instances of child-sized “toy” tools have been found in homo neanderthalensis (Neanderthal) archaeological finds. Many of these games will have been localized, played in small groups, settlements, and societies, and the most successful of them may have traveled long distances and spread regionally in antiquity. The simplest games are nearly impossible to definitively state an origin for, as things like rolling or throwing a ball, or throwing a stick at another stick, are so simple and universal that every society and culture could have developed similar games in parallel; such evolution and discovery needs no contact between cultures or civilizations, and can have been invented, lost, and invented again throughout history.

This research project and games demonstrations will encompass the history, equipment, and rules of outdoor games played on grass by adults in Western Europe before 1600 CE (within the SCA’s period of recreation). While this statement does a good job narrowing my focus initially, any project of this scope will necessarily need to drill down farther, to a point where the research is not overwhelmingly large, so some ground rules and reasoning for which games are included or excluded follows:

I am excluding indoor games, such as billiards and dice games, and table games, such as chess, backgammon, and other board and card games.
I am excluding games primarily played with no equipment, eg. boxing, footraces, swimming, wrestling, long/high jumping, etc. These games are more properly thought of as “sports”, in fact, sports have their origins in martial training, and not in recreation.
I am excluding games played primarily by children, eg: hide-and-seek, tag, king of the hill, capture the flag, etc.
I am excluding games with equipment that require physical skills that explicitly translate to martial activities, eg: archery, dodgeball, fencing, javelin, discus, hammer throw, etc. These games are also more properly thought of as “sports”
I am excluding games that require a court or playing surface other than grass, eg: shuffleboard, curling, the Meso-American rubber ball games, surfing, etc.
I am excluding games that require animals, eg. polo, horse racing, falconry
I am excluding games which are played as a team, eg. football/soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, etc.
I am concentrating on Western European lawn games at this time because, as an English speaker, research is easiest to find for this area. I acknowledge that these types of games probably exist in other areas and time periods and cultures; I’m just choosing to ignore them – for now.

Preliminary List:

Game	Earliest Date	Location
Bocce/Bowls	7400 BCE	Turkey, Egypt
Golf	1300 CE	Netherlands
Tennis (handball)	1100 CE	Northern France
Tennis (with rackets)	1500 CE	France and England
Darts	1300 CE	England
Bowling/Kegel/Skittles/Kubb	1500 BCE	Egypt
Kyykkä/Kubb	??	Karelia
Horseshoes (maybe quoits)	200 BCE	Rome?
Croquet	1300 CE	France
Quoits	100 CE	Roman-occupied England

Note that this is a rough draft list, having come from a twenty-hour drive to Gulf Wars in 2024 with three other SCAdians in the truck with me. I expect that some of these will be removed, and others will be discovered and added, as I do this research.

Ancient Lawn Games: Bocce

Fig.1: An ancient Venetian bocce court

Bocce is one of the oldest documentable lawn games. People playing ball games that look similar to bocce appear in paintings, carvings, and other art objects going back thousands of years:

Fig.2: A frieze from a sarcophagus in The Louvre. Roman, 3rd century BCE

There were over 9000 clay balls found in the neolithic settlement of Catal Huyuk (Çatalhöyük) in Turkey, many of which are inscribed with various symbols.

Fig.3: Lithic sphere found in Catal Huyuk, Türkiye.

While it cannot be definitively proven that they were used for games… no one can prove that they were not, either. At the very least, we know that ten thousand years ago, humans were making balls large enough to play lawn games with.

Fig.4: Clay balls and ball fragments from Catal Hoyuk, 7400-6200 BCE

There are lots of finds of neolithic stone balls in lots of places around the world. Some found in Scotland, and dated to 3500 BCE, are interpreted as weapons used to bash heads, based on skeletons found in nearby Orkney with skull fractures vaguely similar to those that would be caused by a stone ball.

Fig.5: Scottish carved stone ball found in the Orkneys, 3500 BCE

I don’t really buy this explanation. Making a perfectly round stone is a lot of work, when any number of roundish stones found in any riverbed anywhere in the world would work just as well to bash in heads. Yes, mankind has spent an inordinate amount of time throughout history beautifying our weapons, but it just seems unnecessary here to make perfect spheres when oval river rocks would be functionally identical. You know what DOES require a perfect sphere though?

Balls for rolling on the ground in games.

There is also a lot of woo-woo conjecture around neolithic “Celtic” stone balls involving ancient aliens and obelisks and sundials and pyramids and such. I put this explanation at a distant third, well behind the “They’re for weapons” theory and the “They’re for games” theory.

A stone ball found in ancient Egypt, from between 1500 and 1450 BCE, has been explained as a “stone chipping tool” at the site of an “unfinished obelisk”, but explain to me how a round diorite stone is going to chip out rectangular sandstone blocks? Far more likely, in this researcher’s mind, that this excavation was the beginnings of the construction of a bocce court, abandoned when careless stonecutters accidentally cracked the block that was to become the boundary curbs of the court.

Fig.6: Ancient Egyptian bocce ball (conjectural) and abandoned bocce court (conjectural) construction, 1500-1450 BCE

The ancient Egyptians were actually prolific players and inventors of leisure sports and games. Another stone ball-throwing game was found at Narmoutheos, in the Fayoum region, some 90 kilometers south of Cairo. The court was found in a large room that seems to be the prototype of a modern bowling alley; the room was part of a structure, perhaps a residential building, dated from the Imperial Roman period, between the 2nd and 3rd century CE.

Fig.7: Stone balls and ball-court in Narmoutheos; Egyptian hieroglyph of a person playing bowls.

Evidence for a bocce-like game in classical Greece is clear; Homer himself says in The Iliad that during slow times at the siege of Troy, Achilles and his companions played at games by rolling stones.

Fig.8: Terracotta figurine depicting a girl playing with a ball. Magna Graecia, 200 BCE

The ancient Romans were responsible for the leap in quality of the balls used to play bocce; it was them that first began making the game balls from wood, rather than stone or clay. The conquering Roman Legions carried the game far and wide, to Gaul, Germania, and Brittania.

The impact of Roman culture on the game of bocce is evident in its very name; “boccia” originates from the Vulgar Latin term “bottia,” which referred to a simple “ball.” It was the Romans who initially embraced the use of wooden spheres instead of stones and terracotta; they were known as “pili lignei.”

Fig.9: Olivewood bocce ball from Imperial Rome

Starting from the Middle Ages, this game gained popularity among people from different social backgrounds, with variations in materials and rules appealing to both commoners and nobility alike. England, France, Bavaria/Swabia, and Italy in particular were overrun with public crazes for bowls or bocce at various times.

In 1366, bowls received its earliest documented reference in England, with King Edward III issuing a ban on the activity, citing it as a diversion from archery training. This was just the beginning of government restrictions on bocce in England. The name “bowles” appears explicitly in a list of prohibited games in an act by Henry VII in 1495, alongside others like Tenys, Closshe, Dise, and Cardes. This reference reappears in a similar statute enacted by Henry VIII in 1511. Subsequently, the Unlawful Games Act of 1541, which remained in effect until 1845, restricted certain social classes, such as artisans, laborers, apprentices, and servants, from playing bowls except during Christmas and solely within their master’s premises. Moreover, it stipulated a fine of 6 shillings and 8 pence for playing bowls outside one’s own garden or orchard, with exceptions granted to landowners with properties valued at £100 or more, who could obtain licenses for private greens.

Fig.10: Poplar wood ball, England, 1050 CE

Fig.11: Wooden bowles dating back to the reign of King John “Lackland” (1199-1216), brother of Richard “the Lionheart,” were discovered in England

Fig.12: Marginalia of bocce players from a 14th century psalter

Gameplay Overview:

The game itself is simple, which is undoubtedly part of the reason for its longevity. The game is played with larger balls (80-120mm), usually colored in pairs, and a smaller ball (usually white, called the jack, the pallina/o, or the boccino). Two teams of one, two, or four players take turns rolling or tossing their balls in an effort to have them closest to the pallina. The team with the closest ball to the pallina gets a point, and the game is played to sixteen.

Gameplay Rules:

Historically, and in many places today, the starting team is determined by the morra. Similar to the game of “rock-paper-scissors” many of us are familiar with today, the two team captains will simultaneously display a hand with one-to-five fingers extended, while calling out their guess as to the total numbers of fingers displayed. This is repeated, rapidly, until one of them guesses correctly. If the players are not familiar with the morra, a coin flip can be an adequate substitute.

If there are multiple players on a team, they establish a throwing order amongst themselves. Once established, the throwing order may not change.

The number of balls thrown by each player depends on how many players are on the team:

One player: player throw four balls
Two players: each player throws two balls
Four players: each player thrown one ball

Once a starting throwing team is determined, and the team’s throwing orders are agreed upon, the throwing team chooses their color(s), chooses which end of the court to start on, and the throwing team’s first thrower begins a frame (round) by tossing the pallina.

All balls are thrown underhanded.

The pallina must cross the centerline of the court, and must remain in-bounds. If the court has a border curb of stone, concrete, or boards, the pallina must not touch them. If the first team’s pallina toss is illegal, then the second team becomes the throwing team, and throws the pallina. If the second team’s toss is also illegal, the referee will seat the pallina manually, then the original throwing team resumes their place. If there is no referee present, then the teams continue to alternate pallina tosses until one is legal.

The throwing team’s first thrower throws one ball. This must be a legal throw; if it is not, the throw is repeated until a legal throw is made. Then the second team’s first thrower throws one ball, trying to get closer to the pallina than the first team’s first ball. If this, or any subsequent ball thrown by either team, goes out of bounds, or is otherwise illegal, the ball is not re-thrown.

Thereafter, whichever team is NOT closest to the ball throws. If they then throw a ball closer than the other team’s closest ball, they step back and let the other team throw. Play repeats in this manner until all of each team’s balls have been thrown. If at any time the pallina is knocked out of bounds, the frame ends with no score awarded, players switch ends, and the next frame is started.

Once all balls have been thrown, the frame is scored. Each ball closer to the pallina than the other team’s closest ball scores one point. Only one team scores points in each frame. Distances are measured from the center of the pallina to the edge of a ball. Most measurements can simply be made by pacing off the distance, heel-to-toe. Closer or disputed measurements should be made with a string or other measuring device.

The team awarded points in the previous frame begins the next frame by tossing the pallina and the first ball.

The game ends when one team reaches 16 points. Continue playing new frames until one team wins.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Corpulent, Salamallah the. (1982). Medieval games. Raymond’s Quiet Press.

Daniele, R. (2000). Bocce: A sport for everyone. 1stBooks Library / AuthorHouse.

Di Chiara, D. (1997). History of bowls in Italy and in the world. From its origins to our times , 3 vols., Pomezia, Poligrafia.

https://boazz.com/history-of-bocce

https://bocce.org/history-of-bocce/

https://bocce.org/rules-of-bocce/

https://colleonibocce.com/en/the-game/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowling

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowls

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_sport

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morra_(game)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unfinished_obelisk

https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/83027/1/NeanderthalChildhood_OA_Images_sml.pdf

https://storiearcheostorie.com/2020/01/29/bocce-nella-storia/

https://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2007/07/27/1989990.htm

https://www.ancient-origins.net/artifacts-ancient-technology/neolithic-stone-balls-0018317

https://www.archaeology.org/news/9977-210907-scotland-stone-balls

https://www.backyardbocce.com/basic-rules/

https://www.boccebuildersofamerica.com/history/

https://www.meisterdrucke.us/fine-art-prints/Gallo-Roman/946416/Gallo-Roman-art-(galloromain)%3A-marble-frieze-in-low-relief-from-a-sarcophagus-and-representing-children-playing-ball.-2nd-century-AD.-Paris%2C-Louvre-Museum.html

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321274346_Clay_Balls_and_Clay_Objects_pp_251-55_in_Catalhoyuk_Archive_Report_2017_by_members_of_the_Catalhoyuk_Research_Project_teams

Layne, J. M. (2008). The enculturative function of toys and games in ancient Greece and Rome (Publication No. 1465411) [Doctoral dissertation, University of Maryland, College Park]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.

Tyldesley, J. A. (2007). Egyptian games and sports. Shire.

March 21, 2026 0

Cutting Arrow Self Nocks

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!

June 19, 2025 0

Court Entry Words for Godzimir the Golden’s Elevation to the Order of the Mark

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.

June 16, 2025 0

A Viking Arm-ring of Unusual Design

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

A Viking Armring of unusual design Download

March 6, 2025 0

Roman Garb for SCA Men

Snorri and Annika at Pennsic 50th, on his 50th birthday, getting ready to go to the Roman Bacchanal. Author’s garb made by himself, wife’s garb made by MK at LARP Essentials. Gigantic amber and quartz necklaces by Ran at A Case of Random.

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:

Head: nothing
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.
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).
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.
Legs: bare. I wear basketball shorts of a matching color under my tunicas like a godsdamned savage.
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.
Jewelry: circlets are fine. Rings (LOTS of rings) is good. One or two necklaces maybe.
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:

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.
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.
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/

November 24, 2024 1

Archery Intersectionality: Target Archery Meets Horses

_{Master Bowman Elska a Fjarfelli, OL, participating in mounted archery on her Icelandic pony. Photo by Julie of Delftwood.}

My fellow Target Archery Marshals,

Recently, I attended an event with mounted archery (archery while mounted on an equine, or mounted on an equine-drawn vehicle), and also received questions about running/assisting with mounted archery at an East Kingdom event that I’m archery Marshal-in-Charge of. We didn’t get too far into details because (knowing nothing about horses or mounted archery) I quickly declined to take responsibility for anything horse-related, instead offering them range time when I would not be running target archery.

_{Mistress Ysabeau Tiercelin, OL OP, and Master Bowman THL Godzimir the Golden participating in mounted archery. Photo by JJ Art & Photography.}

After that conversation, I started thinking about what my responsibilities as an archery marshal, vis-a-vis mounted archery, might be. Mounted archery as a hobby is growing rapidly, not only in the mundane equestrian world, but now in the SCA equestrian world too. I spoke to my wife, who not only has held numerous SCA offices locally, but also has a long history in corporate compliance-type roles professionally. She had a lot of questions regarding safety, insurance, and how this would shake out if there was an injury – none of which I had a good answer for.

I also had some very real (to me, at least) concerns about being unjustly blamed if something DID go wrong. The recent situation with Master Wulfric at Gulf Wars has many Marshals worried about how much support we might get at the corporate level if someone powerful gets mad at you for enforcing the rules on them – and I don’t even know the rules for equestrian stuff! Additionally, while I’m prefectly comfortable safely running a target archery range, I don’t want to be responsible for horses or their safety in any manner.

This was all one big mess to me, at this point, so I reached out to Duke Timothy of Arindale, Æthelmearc’s Earl Marshal, for clarification. He leaned in the opposite direction from me: “It’s archery, you should be involved”. I then brought up the perceived insurance issues (the SCA requires separate insurance and waivers for equestrian for a reason), and he quickly decided that his best course of action here was to kick the question upstairs to our new Society Earl Marshal, Maestra Arabella da Siena:

“I received a question from one of our local archery marshals and I wasn’t sure how to answer it.

Equestrian archery is becoming a thing in this area. Does he submit the details of it on his report, does the equestrian marshal submit the details on their report, do they both do so, or should I not be allowing such activities to take place unless the MIC is warranted in both?

Thank you for your time,…

Sir Timothy”

The answer he received:

“Sir Timothy,

Great question.

Equestrian archery should be submitted under Equestrian.

The MIC does NOT need to be warranted in both. Equestrian activities fall under the equestrian marshallate. The rules actually make it clear that an activity in one marshal form can’t require a marshal from another form.

However, we have been talking about cross-over at the Society level. A Target Archery marshal of course should be able to help with archery equipment inspection, and other non-horse related aspects of EQ archery. But a TA marshal can’t run EQ archery by themselves due to the extra specifics related to horses.

And very glad to hear that EQ archery is picking up in your area!

-Arabella”

I also went ahead and read through the SCA Equestrian Handbook. The vast majority of it was irrelevant to me, but there is actually a section on archery in the back. An interesting thing there is that the equipment standards for mounted archery seem, to my reading, at least, to disqualify traditional/trad archery equipment. The equestrian rules say, in section C-3-a:

“All archery equipment should be consistent with pre-17th century archery in looks and function. Modifications for safety are excepted.”

This seems to say that a mounted archer would be allowed to shoot arrows shafted with wood grain carbon shafts, but would not be allowed to use their Samick Sage takedown bow that they use in SCA target archery. There is definitely no Open Class and Period Class distinction here, it’s kind of a mashup of both – more restrictive in some ways, more permissive in others.

The Equestrian Handbook also has some very brief rules for laying out ranges and safety zones, a rule prohibiting crossbows in any manner, and a rule requiring ammunition to be inspected prior to each use (as is done in combat archery). It’s very short and TA marshals should certainly read it before agreeing to assist with anything having to do with mounted archery.

I believe that, going forward, my personal policy for mounted archery at SCA events will be:

Mounted archery should happen within the confines of the equestrian part of the event site, not on the target archery range
If asked, I will assist with training equestrian marshals in how to check bows and ammunition, and checking them at events
If asked, I will assist equestrian marshals with setting up safe ranges and building targets, and training them how to do so
I will do nothing else

_{HRM Kallista II shooting with Mistress Tiercelin, OL OP.}

It is clearly important that I remember that I am simply providing suggestions to the Equestrian Marshal-in-Charge, and it’s their show. I am, upon request, offering expertise as a subject matter expert in the areas of range and equipment safety, not making calls. You, my fellow Target Archery Marshals, may choose to address this issue differently, but lacking other, clearer direction from on-high, this is how I will be proceeding when target archery intersects with mounted archery.

I’d be very happy to discuss this with other TA and Equestrian marshals – it’s an emerging area that needs more thought and discussion, and I have a lot of questions. For example: why isn’t everyone on a horse wearing a helmet at all times?

Yours in Glad Service,

Baron Snorri skyti Bjarnarson, Scarlet Guard
Master Bowman, Captain of Archers of the Duchy of Arindale
Æthelmearc Regional Target Archery Marshal, Region 5 (central New York)

REFERENCES

SCA Equestrian Marshal’s Handbook: https://www.sca.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/equestrian_handbook.pdf

SCA Target Marshal’s Handbook: https://www.sca.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/target_archery_rules.pdf

September 25, 2023 2

Arrows and Bows in Hedeby, by Harm Paulsen

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).

arrows-and-bows-in-hedeby Download

June 16, 2023 1

Heralding, Spring Crown 2023

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.

May 12, 2023 0

Rus-Inspired SCA Coronet

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: