EEEEC: Narrow bands for Viking summer and winter garb:
Entered in Exploration
Two separate lengths of narrow-band weaving done via a rigid heddle in the back strap style, in wool made to trim both summer weight and winter weight “Viking-ish” tunics.
I wanted to make them both just a little bit fancier, even though they are what I consider my more casual or easygoing garb option -I joke that I don’t have a persona characterised by time or place, but that I am simply “high maintenance” so even my casual clothing has to be a touch swish!
EEEEC: Astrid Sudeying’s Scuola and Mariegola for the Gildenwick Society of Infusers, Distillers, Brewers, Quaffers, and Other Professional Drinking Persons.
Entered in Imitation, Preparation, Participation, Exploration, Collaboration and Inspiration, this multi-faceted entry is ably described by Astrid:
“The Gildenwick Mead Society came about from the need for a group salutation after a tipsy missive was sent to one of our lovely Baronesses. A year later (at Canterbury Faire 2023) and we had started making up silly rules for our society. After a delicate nudge/inspiration from Her Excellency katherine kerr, I began exploring the possibility of using our ragtag bunch to create an informal, yet cohesive group based on the guild scuolas of Italy, around the mid 1500’s. The idea being that we would, like the various guilds that made up each scuola in period, include the mead makers, tea infusers, distillers, poisoners, alchemists or any other liquid arte that the members of Gildenwick were experimenting with. The long-suffering members of Gildenwick participated in and put up with many votes and discussions on what we did and didn’t want to be and how we would govern ourselves as a functioning scuola.
“By this time our Mistress had become Quene katherine, and so I used choice phrases from a letter to Queen Elizabeth on the subject to write her a letter of request for permission to start a scuola. My goal had originally been to have our scuola prepared for next Canterbury Faire, but the timeframe moved up so that we might be given permission for existence from “Our Quene”. She responded with a parchment decree, handwritten and sealed by both their Majesties.
“One of the key artifacts of any good Scuola is it’s Mariegola. A book within which is held all the rules, regulations, punishments, patrons, and participants of the Scuola. I decided that the book itself would be made to Imitate one from the mid 1500’s Italy, and so I consulted “The Archaeology of Medieval Bookbinding” to make sure I was constructing it correctly. I found rather quickly that the rag paper I could get was not useful for handwriting, only printing, so I had to compromise and use a good quality paper instead. I half sewed the book, with the extra pages that would be used in future, and then tacit collated (with cord, not parchment) the front pages, so that the book could be brought to Faire ’24 and presented for ratifying to the new Queen, while still being able to be deconstructed so I can illuminate it in future.
“I chose Rotunda style hand to learn for the writing as this was the style I could find being used within Mariegola from the time period and place especially the Mariegola della Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista. As I am new at the scribal arts, and I had what felt like a very short amount of time to get comfortable with writing and the specific hand, I am aware of many mistakes within the Mariegola, (and the original letters to the Quene) but am glad the bulk of the writing was done in time. It will have to suffice – warts and all. Eventually I will finish the formal part of the writing and illumination of the book and leave the rest of it to be filled with recipes, new members, mead tastings and miscellanea of the scuola.
“In collaboration with: Mistress Katherine Kerr, Master Bartholomew Baskin, Lady Ailith Ward, Lady Eryl the Beehyrde, Lord Emrys Grenelef, Lord Baldwin the Wanderer, Lord Zoltan di Magnifico, Lord Kevin Ost, Benet Vernon, Harold Brewster, Oberon, Louise, Rosemary, Levi and Helena of Gildenwick.”
I had a dozen arrow shafts and a dozen combat blunt tips that I wanted to make into combat archery arrows but the arrows shafts were 11/32″ rather than 5/16″ and I was unable to use them for that purpose.
I then talked to some friends and acquired all the bits and pieces I needed to make 12 x 4-fletch combat arrows and 9 x 3-fletch target arrows, including the use of a fletching jig along with a couple of instructions on how to do so.
After attaching all the knocks to the arrow shafts, I then tweaked the fletching jig until it was set-up correctly and spent a couple of nights attaching 48 fletches in between doing other things. Next was taping the shafts with filament-tape attaching the blunt tips and taping the tips and flights.
Just like that, I now had a set of combat arrows.
I then repeated the process minus all the taping for my nine target arrows.
Now that I had made my first set of arrows, I decided that I would like a new quiver for them. I had picked up a nice looking quiver at the market made by Sir Callum and I used this design as the basis for my quiver.
I grabbed some leather and cut it into the desired shapes then stitched it together using saddle stitch, whip stitch and cross stitch.
I now have a new quiver and set of target arrows and an old quiver for my new combat arrows.
Isabel Maria shares her entry for the categories of luxuriation, degustation, and exploration. As she says:
“There was an upcoming event called An Evening in Granada, and the promotional material read “It is 1526 and we invite you to join us in Granada, to celebrate the glad tidings of the nuptials of Carlos of Spain and Isabella of Portugal in an evening of fine food, fine company, and fine entertainment. Rumour has it that this is where the happy couple will be spending their honeymoon!”. As I had offered to make some sotelties to complement the feast and theme, it became obvious that I needed to learn some new skills in order to make the envisaged items; red sugarpaste carnations and a pomegranate decorated with gold leaf.
“Having never gilded anything, nor created anything so fine as carnation petals in the medium of sugarpaste before, I embarked on a journey of research, shopping, bodging equipment to approximate the ‘proper’ tools, and a testing amount of testing to see what worked for me. This was the exploration part of the project.
“Somewhere along this process, the pomegranate became a box to hold actual pomegranate arils and I decided to gild the carnation calyxes. (I’m not entirely sure how that happened.)
The pomegranate was made by forming the shapes over a suitable shape and allowing them to dry for several days before being removed and allowed to dry further. Once I was comfortable with their structural stability, I added the red ‘skin’ layer, and added the sculpted flower to the top. The gilding was added after further drying, and the application of a little sugar glue.
In contrast, the carnations were much more intensive in their construction and were completed over many evenings. Each layer of petals had to be cut out of the paste, then thinned and the edges thinned further until they ruffled. This delicate layer was then added to the wire and allowed to dry overnight before another layer was created and added. The calyx was cut from paste and moulded around the base of the petals when the petals looked sufficiently full and carnation like.
As these sotelties were edible they meet the definition of degustation even though they didn’t really feed anyone (Her Excellency excepted), and were created simply to add glamour and luxury to the event, it is clear they fall into the luxuriation category for this challenge. Which is not to say they didn’t generate a lot of enjoyment in their creation and display.”
Simon shares his linen hat in the categories of Imitation, Exploration, and Personification
“This is a hat based on as close as I understand materials and construction available to reproduce a hat dug up at the Birka archaeological site. Birka was a Viking settlement on the Swedish island of Björkö located on Lake Mälar.”This is a hat based on as close as I understand materials and construction available to reproduce a hat dug up at the Birka archaeological site. Birka was a Viking settlement on the Swedish island of Björkö located on Lake Mälar.
“I used the research and work of: Margaret “Mairghread” Wilcox Festival of the Passing of the Ice Dragon March 22, A.S. XLVIII (2014) Barony of the Rydderich Hael
“This informed the design and choices. I used a hounds-tooth weave linen, having discovered a damaged pair of trousers in an op-shop, sensing both an opportunity and the potential of a new hat. The band should show my victory or status, and thus should be archery related, however I had a gorgeous celtic braid so I used that on the first hat I have ever made. Maybe ösenstich or mesh stitch on a future hat.
“The hat made it’s first outing at the wee highland fling. Success if maybe a little loose. Should I defeat a bear in close combat the tension of the hat may be improved by a fur band.”
