Fair, part 2
Jun. 19th, 2009 04:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seiberwingAnd here is the fun part of the fair, the metal-clad people beating each other about the head and torso with long hard objects.
In the interest of giving credit where credit is due, the group's apparently known as Swords of Chivalry and they do a lot of reenactment type things.
For a large part of the fair they stood around explaining things and displaying weapons to small children and Japanese tourists. It was actually pretty interesting.
Sir Ralph De Montfichet (oldest guy there and still fighting) explains more things in a funny hat.
Lady De Montfichet is very stylish today.
No idea who this guy is, but he has an even funnier hat even if it is weather-appropriate. I'm sure he didn't get the top of his head sunburnt like I did.
Sir William of Ely in half his trousers. Given that Lady de Montfichet referred to him as having a "revolving tent door", this may be a common state of affairs for him.
Standing around in their tents. Given how hot it was I hardly blame them.
Practicing with training dummies.
The inside of one of the tents. No, that is not a person sleeping, that is a severed head tucked into the bedclothes. I'm not sure why they had it but it made for a fun prop.
And now they're finally suiting up for battle. With her back to us is Squire Alys of March, who for unknown reasons has a fox's tail attached to her belt. I suppose it suits her.
In the black with white crosses is William of Cornwall. Apparently that's his actual family heraldry, which is nifty. In the yellow and red is Sir Ralph De Montfichet, the old guy we met earlier, and in the black and green is...I fully admit I have bugger all idea, he doesn't show up on the website as far as I can tell. We will call him Sir Get Up, as that seemed to be the cheer most shouted by his supporters during the battle. He turtled a lot.
Sir De Montfichet's horsehair helm. No explanation, but it looked cool.
Sir William of Ely with his trousers all the way on, and Lady De Montfichet coming up to play announcer.
William again, looking prepared and thoughtful.
Lady de Brac basically brought everyone up, introduced them, and told us which ones we were supposed to cheer for. Squire Alys is looking a bit unsure of herself, and given she's about to go up against several men who are half again as tall as she is I'm not surprised.
(I seem to remember Sir de Montfichet coming up and making jokes about Sir Get Up's girth at this point.)
Sir Edmund Montmercy, Earl of Cambridge and Marshal of the Lists. I'm not sure how many other sports allow the referee to get in there and beat the other players in the face, but he did reasonably well.
The adoring crowd.
Fighters stand ready in a circle, and...
Boom, they're off. Mostly. If you'll look in the purple and black tent you'll notice that Sir Áengus of Lothian has left the field and taken a seat to watch the proceedings. He left the field more than once during the fight and just stood around watching everyone else, like he could barely be bothered to deal with them. I suppose you can guess who I wanted to win.
A tackle that went badly.
"Stop dicking around and fight, you idiot!"
Alys kicks William while he's down.
And once again, just standing there.
Daring fight scene! I think this was near the point that Sir Montmercy had to leave the field and go lie down in his tent for the rest of the battle.
It's a bit hard to see because of the distance, but after downing Sir Get Up, Sir Sir Áengus picked up his polearm and drove it into the ground between Sir Get Up's legs to add insult to injury. He's still stuck in that position.
"Who else wants some!?"
*facepalm*
And Sir William is also pinned by his own sword, while the two warriors battle it out.
Sir Áengus downs Sir de Montfichet, only to be toppled by Squire Alys attacking from behind them. Lady de Montfichet cheers her as the winner and bids her to come take a bow.
...before hitting her on the back of the head with the pommel of her dagger for no particular reason. Do not mess with old medieval women, they will fuck you up.
At this point the field was littered with dead bodies. In a rather anachronistic pro-necromancy gesture, Lady de Montfichet bid us chant "Let the dead arise!" to bring them back to life.
Our efforts were not enough and the fallen warriors merely twitched before falling still again. The audience was bidden to chant louder.
And finally they get off their lazy dead arses, to great applause.
Curtain Battlefield call for our noble warriors. In true bastard knight fashion, Sir Áengus kept his helmet on.
Their banner, which kept getting in the way of my shots.
The knights and squires being greeted by their wives. I believe Lady de Montfichet's company was something about them being the moral support and there to warm their beds--and then get out of them again once they showed up. I forget the quote, but it was a good one.
...it was a pretty tent, okay?
Some of them stood around and talked for a bit afterwards. I'm still not sure how they didn't die of heat stroke. Here Sir Montmercy is howing off the leather-bound metal plates under his armor.
William in full regalia, and the craftsman's mark on his armor. He even let me hold his sword, which was pretty cool.
I got toasty as all get out afterwards, but the sunburn was worth it. I wish we had stuff this cool back home.
In the interest of giving credit where credit is due, the group's apparently known as Swords of Chivalry and they do a lot of reenactment type things.
For a large part of the fair they stood around explaining things and displaying weapons to small children and Japanese tourists. It was actually pretty interesting.
Sir Ralph De Montfichet (oldest guy there and still fighting) explains more things in a funny hat.
Lady De Montfichet is very stylish today.
No idea who this guy is, but he has an even funnier hat even if it is weather-appropriate. I'm sure he didn't get the top of his head sunburnt like I did.
Sir William of Ely in half his trousers. Given that Lady de Montfichet referred to him as having a "revolving tent door", this may be a common state of affairs for him.
Standing around in their tents. Given how hot it was I hardly blame them.
Practicing with training dummies.
The inside of one of the tents. No, that is not a person sleeping, that is a severed head tucked into the bedclothes. I'm not sure why they had it but it made for a fun prop.
And now they're finally suiting up for battle. With her back to us is Squire Alys of March, who for unknown reasons has a fox's tail attached to her belt. I suppose it suits her.
In the black with white crosses is William of Cornwall. Apparently that's his actual family heraldry, which is nifty. In the yellow and red is Sir Ralph De Montfichet, the old guy we met earlier, and in the black and green is...I fully admit I have bugger all idea, he doesn't show up on the website as far as I can tell. We will call him Sir Get Up, as that seemed to be the cheer most shouted by his supporters during the battle. He turtled a lot.
Sir De Montfichet's horsehair helm. No explanation, but it looked cool.
Sir William of Ely with his trousers all the way on, and Lady De Montfichet coming up to play announcer.
William again, looking prepared and thoughtful.
Lady de Brac basically brought everyone up, introduced them, and told us which ones we were supposed to cheer for. Squire Alys is looking a bit unsure of herself, and given she's about to go up against several men who are half again as tall as she is I'm not surprised.
(I seem to remember Sir de Montfichet coming up and making jokes about Sir Get Up's girth at this point.)
Sir Edmund Montmercy, Earl of Cambridge and Marshal of the Lists. I'm not sure how many other sports allow the referee to get in there and beat the other players in the face, but he did reasonably well.
The adoring crowd.
Fighters stand ready in a circle, and...
Boom, they're off. Mostly. If you'll look in the purple and black tent you'll notice that Sir Áengus of Lothian has left the field and taken a seat to watch the proceedings. He left the field more than once during the fight and just stood around watching everyone else, like he could barely be bothered to deal with them. I suppose you can guess who I wanted to win.
A tackle that went badly.
"Stop dicking around and fight, you idiot!"
Alys kicks William while he's down.
And once again, just standing there.
Daring fight scene! I think this was near the point that Sir Montmercy had to leave the field and go lie down in his tent for the rest of the battle.
It's a bit hard to see because of the distance, but after downing Sir Get Up, Sir Sir Áengus picked up his polearm and drove it into the ground between Sir Get Up's legs to add insult to injury. He's still stuck in that position.
"Who else wants some!?"
*facepalm*
And Sir William is also pinned by his own sword, while the two warriors battle it out.
Sir Áengus downs Sir de Montfichet, only to be toppled by Squire Alys attacking from behind them. Lady de Montfichet cheers her as the winner and bids her to come take a bow.
...before hitting her on the back of the head with the pommel of her dagger for no particular reason. Do not mess with old medieval women, they will fuck you up.
At this point the field was littered with dead bodies. In a rather anachronistic pro-necromancy gesture, Lady de Montfichet bid us chant "Let the dead arise!" to bring them back to life.
Our efforts were not enough and the fallen warriors merely twitched before falling still again. The audience was bidden to chant louder.
And finally they get off their lazy dead arses, to great applause.
Their banner, which kept getting in the way of my shots.
The knights and squires being greeted by their wives. I believe Lady de Montfichet's company was something about them being the moral support and there to warm their beds--and then get out of them again once they showed up. I forget the quote, but it was a good one.
...it was a pretty tent, okay?
Some of them stood around and talked for a bit afterwards. I'm still not sure how they didn't die of heat stroke. Here Sir Montmercy is howing off the leather-bound metal plates under his armor.
William in full regalia, and the craftsman's mark on his armor. He even let me hold his sword, which was pretty cool.
I got toasty as all get out afterwards, but the sunburn was worth it. I wish we had stuff this cool back home.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-06-19 03:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-19 03:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-19 03:57 pm (UTC)2) your icon made me laugh like a drain
no subject
Date: 2009-06-19 04:07 pm (UTC)2) ^_^
no subject
Date: 2009-06-19 08:39 pm (UTC)If you wish, you may fight heavy or rapier (check my facebook for the newest pictures). A woman won the crown of Ansteorra by right of arms! You are actually in the Kingdom of Drachenwald -- and there are some very active folks in the UK.
Let me know and I can send you contacts for there when you get home -- and of course, back in TN as well.
no subject
Date: 2009-06-19 08:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-19 08:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-19 08:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-19 09:12 pm (UTC)And then you can do just like you did and sit and watch and just soak up the atmosphere. There's nothing quite like it. Big difference between "us and them" -- they're doing it as a performance. We're doing it for *us*
And, IMO, there's very much room for both!
no subject
Date: 2009-06-19 10:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-19 10:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-20 02:49 pm (UTC)I definitely prefer unchoreographed to some of the stuff done at Ren Faires where there's definitely choreography. Takes something away from it. I think this is more along the lines of what Gary used to do at that one restaurant.
no subject
Date: 2009-06-21 04:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-21 04:18 am (UTC)