Well, this weekend was thew annual Norman Medfair, the single biggest recruiting opportunity for Oklahoma SCAers.
The original plan was for Myself and Cair (the 9 year-old daughter of a friend) to load up in my car and spend the weekend down in Norman with the Barony of Namron working the SCA display at the fair.
Well, Plan A fell through on Friday when the mechanic said my car wasn't going to be ready for another week (New engine, the old one died). So I headed back to my house and called some friends.
Fortunately, I managed a ride down to Med Fair Saturday morning, as well as rides to the post revel, and a place to stay Saturday night. Thank God for friends and the hospitality of the Barony of Namron.
The fair itself was something else, word amongst the SCAers there was that the 3 day total would be over 500,000 attendance. I arrived before the fair opened on Saturday morning, and after helping to pitch tents and pavilions I wound up helping Lord Wolfgang with showing people the rather Impressive Ballista and Trebuchet that were set up at the entrance to the SCA encampment. I wasn't trying to become a showpiece performer or anything, but by lunchtime I had a lot of SCAers telling me that they were referring visitors to me with questions about the siege equipment because I knew what I was talking about.
If they only knew ;)
but seriously, by the end of Saturday, and lunchtime Sunday, i was commanding crowds of fifty or more every half hour or so for my little ten minute lecture about the workings and history of siege weapons. I spoke about the English "War Wolf" treb, which was reportedly able to put a 300 pound projectile through a castle wall like a hot knife through butter. And about the old Roman Ballista, which were fielded in batteries like modern light artillery and used with devastating effectiveness in the centuries before and after Christ's birth. I also talked about how modern reconstructions of Ballista were able to launch projectiles with enough force to crack small engine blocks if they had the right type of bolt.
Here is some footage of a modern Treb to give you some idea of what type of firepower these things did (and didn't) have.
The original plan was for Myself and Cair (the 9 year-old daughter of a friend) to load up in my car and spend the weekend down in Norman with the Barony of Namron working the SCA display at the fair.
Well, Plan A fell through on Friday when the mechanic said my car wasn't going to be ready for another week (New engine, the old one died). So I headed back to my house and called some friends.
Fortunately, I managed a ride down to Med Fair Saturday morning, as well as rides to the post revel, and a place to stay Saturday night. Thank God for friends and the hospitality of the Barony of Namron.
The fair itself was something else, word amongst the SCAers there was that the 3 day total would be over 500,000 attendance. I arrived before the fair opened on Saturday morning, and after helping to pitch tents and pavilions I wound up helping Lord Wolfgang with showing people the rather Impressive Ballista and Trebuchet that were set up at the entrance to the SCA encampment. I wasn't trying to become a showpiece performer or anything, but by lunchtime I had a lot of SCAers telling me that they were referring visitors to me with questions about the siege equipment because I knew what I was talking about.
If they only knew ;)
but seriously, by the end of Saturday, and lunchtime Sunday, i was commanding crowds of fifty or more every half hour or so for my little ten minute lecture about the workings and history of siege weapons. I spoke about the English "War Wolf" treb, which was reportedly able to put a 300 pound projectile through a castle wall like a hot knife through butter. And about the old Roman Ballista, which were fielded in batteries like modern light artillery and used with devastating effectiveness in the centuries before and after Christ's birth. I also talked about how modern reconstructions of Ballista were able to launch projectiles with enough force to crack small engine blocks if they had the right type of bolt.
Here is some footage of a modern Treb to give you some idea of what type of firepower these things did (and didn't) have.
Lord Ivo Blackhawk
Province of Mooneschadowe
Kingdom of Ansteorra
"God Save the King!"
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