What is the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA)?
Anachronism – something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time, especially a thing or person that belongs to an earlier time: The sword is an anachronism in modern warfare.
We are a group that is dedicated to researching and educating about the Middle Ages, approximately 600 AD to 1600 AD. As apposed to re-enacting a specific date or event, we work toward understanding and recreating ‘life as it happened’ in the Middle Ages.
The SCA is an international non-profit educational organization. We have branches around the world. You can find “Scadians” in Europe and Australia, as well as Africa and the Middle East.
The avowed purpose of the SCA is the study and recreation of the European Middle Ages, its crafts, sciences, arts, traditions, literature, etc. The SCA “period” is defined to be Western civilization before 1600 AD, concentrating on the Western European High Middle Ages. Under the aegis of the SCA we study dance, calligraphy, martial arts, cooking, metalwork, stained glass, costuming, literature… well, if they did it, somebody in the SCA does it (Except die of the Plague!).
As you can probably guess, the thing that separates the SCA from a Humanities 101 class is the active participation in the learning process. To learn costuming, you design and build costumes. To learn SCA infantry fighting, you make armor, weapons, shields, etc., and put them on and go learn how it feels to wear them when somebody is swinging a (rattan) sword at you. To learn brewing, you make (and sample!) your own wines, meads and beers.
You will frequently hear a SCA person describe the SCA as recreating the Middle Ages “as they ought to have been.” In some ways this is true — we have few plagues, indoor plumbing, few peasants. In the dead of winter we have other things to eat than King’s venison, salt pork and dried tubers. However, a better description is that we selectively recreate medieval culture, choosing elements of the culture that interest and attract us.
The SCA was started in 1966 in Berkeley, California by a group of science fiction and fantasy fans who wanted a theme party. Following the party, a group got together to discuss the idea of a medieval re-creation and re-enactment group (which has ended up being much like the Civil War, Revolutionary War or Buck-skinning re-enactment groups that were beginning to form in the US). In Britain, medieval and British Civil War recreation societies had existed for any number of years. The Californians incorporated as a non-profit educational society, started forming groups, and away they went.
Adiantum – How It All Began
Alyanora of Vinca threw a Halloween party in 1973, and five people decided to sponsor a “first SCA event” which happened January 26, 1974, at Laurelwood Community Center. That was followed by a Revel at the Hendricks Park shelter autocrated by Michael of Dragonswood and Alyanora. The next known event was a feast on January 11, 1975 at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church.
After that, activities picked up: in March there was an in-garb visit to the movie The Four Musketeers, followed by a potluck after-revel in Hendricks Park. The following month, there was an April Revel at St. Mary’s with dancing, fencing, belly dancing, singing, a potluck feast and contests for Homemade Wine, Meat Pies, Men’s & Women’s Renaissance Costume. Michael of Dragonswood was again the autocrat.
With this run-up, the group was ready to hold the first Egil Skallagrimsson Memorial Tournament on Memorial Day weekend in Armitage Park. There was a lunar eclipse, and Daphne of the House of Cruzan’s husband LeRoy cooked a whole suckling pig. It was too long for his stove at home so he smuggled it into the restaurant he worked in and cooked it there. The tourney prize was a silver mounted drinking horn by Thorgeirr Eikenskjaldi. A full page article about the tourney appeared in the May 23, 1975 Springfield News.
The next month Ulfhedinn organized a booth at the Oregon Renaissance Faire (predecessor of The Country Fair). Another Hendricks Park Revel followed in August.
At this point the group was holding monthly get-togethers for costuming, bardic singing, and culinary research. In October they held two revels: a New World Revel in Hendricks Park on Oct. 4 and a Trick or Treat Revel on Halloween. The New World potluck theme was pre-1650 western hemisphere food and there was a contest for the best story about how you got to the New World.
In November, Adiantum sponsored a showing of the film Cromwell at the U of O and planned a winter film series. In December they held a Wassail Christmas Party and roasted a goose. Dance practices were preparing everyone for the first Midwinter Feast, held January 17, 1976, at the Lane County Fairgrounds. The autocrat was Diana of Cruzan. The feast included a peacock in velvet and a dragon ice sculpture. There were contests for Best Decorated Vegetable Dish, Men’s Costume, Women’s Costume, and a Bard’s Contest for short adventure stories.
Adiantum applied for Baronial status, and the SCA Board of Directors granted their request on February 10, 1976. On March 27, Michael of Dragonswood and Alyanora di Vinca, newly appointed Baron & Baroness of Adiantum, received Grants of Arms from King William of Hoghton of the West at An Tir’s Principality Coronet Tournament in Three Mountains. In less than two and a half years Adiantum had gone from birth to Barony.
By late summer 1977, the Barony’s monthly newsletter, The Elf Hill Times, had evolved into a twice yearly arts and sciences magazine, and monthly event information was sent to the Principality’s newsletter, The Crier. In March 1978, Manfred & Koressa, Prince & Princess of An Tir, declared the Elf Hill Times the Arts & Sciences Magazine for the Principality of An Tir. The Elf Hill Times would go on to publish twice yearly editions through January of 1991, with three more numbers published between 1992 and 1998.
Adiantum has many talented and active members and has hosted a variety of events throughout its history. By far the largest and most well-known event is the Egil Skallagrimsson Memorial Tournament, held every year over the Memorial Day weekend.
The name “Adiantum” arises from the scientific genus name for the maidenhair fern, which can be found in plentiful quantities throughout the forests of the Barony.
Legend has it that Adiantum’s original proposed arms featured a banana slug — another common fixture of the region — but that this was squelched by the College of Heralds, leading to the adoption of the current arms: Sable, a double-headed bear erect affronty, forelegs upraised, heads displayed, Or, armed argent, langued and orbed gules, within a laurel wreath argent. The baronial mascot is also referred to as “The Bicranial Bear.”