Tag: War

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2024-The GNEW Edition

In the 14+ years I have been playing in the SCA, I have yet to miss a GNEW.

This year was emotionally tough to get motivated for. Had I not had prior commitments, I had thought about skipping. It has nothing to do with the event itself as it is a wonderful event. It had nothing to do with the offerings or the people. It was simply “It’s hot, I’m tired and I don’t wanna”.

The weather until the day before had predicted rain. LOTS of rain. If you are not from New England, a lesson you should know is that, “If you don’t like the weather, wait 5 minutes”.

So, I waited. The weather cleared for the entire weekend and that was grand.

Wolfgang, Child and I arrived on site about 3 hours later than I had planned, which worked out with the weather (heat).

We set up camp, but I was already full of anxiety. There were some things in my personal life plaguing me, but I won’t get into them here, plus the anxiety of teaching a new class, running an ensemble with very litter external direction from the coordinators and a performing a boast which I had written for a dear friend.

Thursday evening, we sat in camp and wandered about to see friends. Much of my memories for the evening was a blur, but I suspect it was due to my busy day ahead of me on Friday.

Friday am came too quickly and it was rehearsal time. 9:00 am is not my favorite, but it’s when we were all available. The rehearsal was for playing in the Deed of Arms. If you read my blog last year, we did the same thing.

This year we played an assortment of Duets and Trios from the Rosenbeck books (1 and 2) and some other gems I grabbed off the internet. All of the pieces we played would have been heard in the 14th century (So, 13th and 14th century pieces).

I am grateful for Ameline (Center) and Richard (Right) for their willingness to play and be flexible… and meeting me at 9am for rehearsal.

After we finished up, I was off to teach my brand new class, “16th Century Vocal Technique and Pedagogy”.

The class was attending by a few people, but their varying levels of background gave me a good sense of what was working and if anything had areas of opportunity for growth. I focus on a very niche topic and I am always concerned that there will be no interest in it. I am excited to present this class at Pennsic. This will be 1 of 2 class offerings that I will be bringing to Pennsic.

From there, I hid back in my tent until it was just time to change for the Deed. Part of the Deed was not only playing 14th century music, but also dressing. Apparently, my performers and I chose an unofficial uniform. GREEN FOR DAYS!

The Deed itself was wonderful to watch and each of my instrumentalists were a delight. Not pictured is our wonderful bagpipe player.

The rest of the evening was spent socializing and prepping for the next day.

The next AM, the true reason I was excited to be at GNEW were my friends, Tessa, was about to be elevated to the Order of the Pelican, Cedric to the Order of Defense and Matt to the Order of the Pelican.

Tessa is my deputy for Harper’s retreat 2024 (COME! IT WILL BE A GREAT TIME). I had been told about her elevation and was asked to boast/herald her in. Who was I to refuse this great honor to celebrate my friend. She and I were doing a site walk and had stayed behind to do some follow-up discussion from the site-walk. I had a stroke of genius… or perhaps just a stroke, but I figured out how I was going to get what she wanted for a boast (Mind you, she has no peer, no ICOP…just friends desperately trying to not ruin the secret).

“Hey Tessa… I’ve got a friend down in Atlantia who’s going to be elevated to Laurel in September. They’ve got a 14th century Italian Persona and they -love music/performing arts. Any idea what they might like for a boast?”

“Solveig, you should do it based on Chaucer from “”A knights tale””. His speeches are *chefs kiss*”.

There… that is what I was going to do. I watched all of the speeches and settled on his 2nd speech. Separate post coming with the boast and information.

After she was taken to Vigil (and I had shot a little archery with Wolfgang) I went to go visit my friend, Tessa. (I did not visit the other two as Cedric lives 2 miles from me and had a mile long list of visitors and Matt also had a mile long list of visitors.) I went in by myself (though, I typically take Wolfgang in with me, I wanted this to be a private moment between us.

I’m not a peer, but I always try to bring some words of wisdom and support to candidates I am talking to. I never rehearse anything and only speak from the heart. It is, however, my goal to make them cry. Cry from being touched, from feels… whatever.

Anyways, I walked in. I shared with Tessa that information. I shared with her that I did the wordsmithing on her scroll (But would not share it at that time) and also that I was who was going to be boasting her in. I gently reminded her of our last Harper’s walkthrough. I explained I wanted to share her boast with her now as she would likely be too wrapped up in emotions to be able to hear the boast (Despite my crystal clear diction and projection ^_~). As I started to read it to her, her face lit up.

“You bitch!” said in the most loving way possible.

We laughed for the last few minutes and I left her with a hug.

From there I ran off to go to practice read through the scrolls at court. Audrye runs a tight and well oiled machine and I am always thankful to work under her. I read scrolls and found out I got to spend some delightful time sitting with Wolfgang and Erik (We share a Peer…actually all 3 of us do but anyways).

It was time for the Silver Wheels to be called up. I knew 5/6 of the recipients. I…. made a medallion for each of them. I care for them all and they have all touched me in different ways that this was just something small I wanted to do for them. I suspect many may be passed down or given away, but I wanted them to feel cared for in the moment.

I had not realized that there was only 1 recipient that I didn’t know. I wish I had so I could have gifted her one as well. The schtick of this court became “Is there a medallion?” “Yes, your majesty” *Hustles up to the front of court* “Is there a legacy?” “Nope…. I made it” and some form of variation for each of the 5 I made.

Finally, it was time for the boast. An adult beverage consumed before hand to “Take the edge off” and then here we go!

This was my first truly “Heroic” style boast. I was trying to channel Paul Bettany but still make it my own.

I could not do a better set of timing because I had a parade of folks behind me, but I still tried to do my best. I feel like I at least nailed the timing for the finish.

I heard some snickers, I saw folks reacting in pictures. I watched the video that Arlyanna van Wyck had taken (Thank you as always, Arlyanna for all your hard work and the gift you give to the kingdom with your videography. You capture so many memories).

It wasn’t perfect, but it was perfect for the moment. I, as a performer, am mostly content with it, but the fact that it did make my friend’s day, is all that mattered.

My heart is full and I feel somewhat revitalized. I am still taking the rest of the summer easy as I have responsibilities at Pennsic and Harper’s and in October, my royals step up and I work more for my Largesse coordination.

Please check out the boast video and the scroll words when you get the chance.

The bard go flop now.

-thud-

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GNEW 35! Same name, new stuff!

GNEW has been one of 2 events I have never missed since I started in the SCA in 2010. It has seen me at my worst and it has seen me at my best. This year I was in charge of running -all- performance related items as well as had separately been in charge of all performances for “The Deed of Arms”.

The weather was not anticipated to behave and it was also looking to be excruciatingly hot. I had apprehension about attending, but I know I had duties to complete. I had recruited a deputy to help alleviate some of my commitments as well as additional help for one of the classes I was running, but life happened.

Thursday, Wolfgang, Smöl and I arrived on site to realize we had forgotten some things, so off to ye olde Walmart I went. Upon return, I started with a rehearsal for the Deed of Arms. For anyone who doesn’t know, The Deed of Arms is a 14th century immersion battle scenario, inclusive of a gallery. One of my vocalists had dropped last minute and another did not make it back to site. I had created a contingency plan to make this all work. I was lucky that we worked through several quirks of the music and was able to create a more comfortable situation for each of the performers. The music was all 14th century homophonic or polyphonic and to a level that individuals who were not deeply immersed in music could manage in a short period of time. For vocalists we did “Miri it is”, “Sumer is icumen in”, “Dona Nobis Pacem” and “Ecco la Primavera”. Our Bagpipist played “Douce Dame Jolie”, “Stella Splendens” and “Quant je sui mis au retour” and our poet did a 3 minute poem”. In addition, Aalina sang ” Ego Humilitas” from Ordo Virtutum by Hildegard von Bingen and ” Ut Queant Laxis”, an 11th century Gregorian chant. However, I only rehearsed with the vocalist ensemble.

To help my vocalists prepare, I created learning tracks for each of the songs and voice parts.:

Ecco Both Parts

Ecco Top

Ecco Bottom

Sumer is Icumen In

Dona Nobis Pacem

Miri it is

Friday am started with a youth Bardic circle. I only had 2 youth who showed up, but heck did they sing their little hearts out about unicorns everywhere and pandas everywhere.

Rehearsal 2 and I found out that my 4th vocalist who was supposed to double the bottom of Ecco with me was in a car accident and would not be attending for the rest of the day so PLAN B.

A short break and then off to teach my rounds class. I had a women come who asked if she could just listen. I coaxed her to sing with us anyways and she was a very welcome addition. All of my attendees did a wonderful job. One of them was BRAND NEW to the SCA and I got to listen to his beautiful voice as well.

The Deed of Arms came and my amazing vocalists joined me (Plus my student who was fighting in the Deed) and a resounding applause. It seemed we were well received. More planning for next year to see if we can obtain a larger ensemble and more music can be made.

Saturday and back at it. I was not really anticipating anyone would show up to my recorder jam. This was a class to be a supportive measure for newer recorder players and a way to give out resources so they could obtain free music and also music transcribed by other scadians. Much to my surprise, I had 3 attendees. We worked through one of the Carmina Buranas from Al Cofrin’s books. We have varying level of skills in the group but great attitude. This is what we accomplished:

Recorder Class

I ran off to Tiffan’s vigil to present them with a Taranus wheel I had made them but forgot to take a picture. Whoops. Oh well.

Then after I ran an adults Bardic Circle in the Barn. This was unusual. We typically imagine Bardic during the night. We wanted to try to create an accessible bardic space. If you think about those who cannot camp, those who have difficulty seeing in the dark, dealing with flickering lights and those with families, bardic at night can be difficult. We had about 10 of us over 2 hours but everyone got several turns, new friends made and all in all a delight!

Over both days I also organized having a puppet show for the youth each day.

Finally! Reprive! I get to sit for court. I knew many people receiving well deserved awards. Little did I know, one of those people would be me. We were getting towards the end of court and the smöl was still there despite me having offered to let him head back to camp. 4 hours for a 10 year old is ROUGH. I was so proud of him that he sat with us. Then, I had lost attention for a breif moment as a friend was asking about Bardic for the night. I had to sadly admit we were heading home because of the weather when my husband started pulling me up to the Dias. My name was called. Why? I missed who was up there. What did I do?

Apparently, it was time to join the order of the Silver crescent. This is an award for your dedicated service to the kingdom. I do what I do because I love this game, the people, events happening and I can’t watch things burn. To hear I was receiving an award for it blew my mind.

Here is the scroll I received:

Now you all know this bard and their song.
While hours do go by, I’ll keep you apprised.
For the deeds of Solveig should be heard ‘cross the East.
Let all hear my words about the service and fight.
Let’s sing the bard’s song.


Chatelaines are all work and play, welcome us home.
Newcomers will always know her name.
But the bards’ service will remain.
Her hard work will set the stage where performers play.
Their fame lives on due to her service strong.


There’s only one song left to be sung.
Tale of a brave bard called before the throne.
Now the Order gathers to welcome them near.
No one need ask you how they serve the Kingdom.
We’ll tell their story.

So is the fame sung of our bard, one Solveig Bjarnardottir, by Ardri Brennan and Ardrígain Caoilfhionn, who proclaim her inclusion into the ranks of the Order of the Silver Crescent. Their words are received by beloved populace and joyous companions alike upon the field of the Great Northeastern War this fifteenth day of July, AS LVIII (58).

Scroll by THL Lily Aubrey, Words by THL Eleanor Grey

Beyond that there was one more item. The medallion I received belong to my mentor, my Pelican, Rowen Cloteworthy. This was his. My first and only legacy piece.

As a bard, this is the best gift you can receive. There is a story. A story is how someone lives forever. Thank you, Jedi, for this most precious gift. The cord, also beautifully and lovingly crafted by the amazing Astridr Saegersdottir. I feel truly loved.

#FallDownGoBoomNow

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This year was different….

This year was different. I just couldn’t get out of my own way. 2 years of virtual performance just aren’t the same. I hadn’t been focusing on my music as much as I should have and the passion for competition didn’t light the flame underneath me. This was the first year I just didn’t feel like competing, but I knew it was good for me. So, I continued on. I had originally picked my repertoire, believing that this year would be like the last 5 where I would have to do 1 piece that was SCA appropriate, 1 piece that was period and the final round would be the crowns whim.

It was announced 6 weeks prior to crown bardic that there would be a theme. “War”. War was not really something that was comfortably in my repertoire. Sure, I like to make people sad like anyone else, but the war in the Ukraine had really put a damper on my soul. I needed to rework my plans for competition this year.

My head had tossed and turned about my first round piece. I wanted to tell a story. Folks don’t really know me for my story telling skills. They mostly know me as a singer. I had originally thought about telling the story of beginning the great unification of Japan. Our King, Ryou, based his persona off of Oda Nobunaga, who was one of the 3 unifiers of Japan. I thought that may be really neat. However, my addled brain just couldn’t bear to add new repertoire to it. Also, finding the right way to keep Oda Nobunaga in a positive light was evading me. So, I chose to tell a humorous tale. It wasn’t period, but it was SCA appropriate. I told the story of “How I caught the red dragon”. It was a strong way to start/finish round 1 and vastly different than anything my other competitors would be doing.

I chose for round 2 to do a completely persona accurate piece. I found a landsknecht piece called “Unser Liebe fraue”. My persona is a Trossfrau who would have traveled with the soldiers as they marched off to mercenary jobs.

The final round would be up to the crown.

The weeks passed and every day I asked my husband if I should still compete. It would put a damper on our house remodeling and also would limit my ability to care for our son at events. Every day he encouraged me to continue on. So, I did.

The bardic community is tight here in the East. We are all friends and there is no ill will towards anyone. We spoke often and I would see who would be joining me at Roses. The numbers were low. It was tough hearing the numbers that low. Daily they ranged from 3-7. Would it feel awful if I didn’t win? Would I feel awful if I did win? Did I deserve it? It’s so many feelings rushing through.

Day of came.

I had my community behind me. Again, nothing seemed like it was as it should be. I donned my German, which was my armor and off I went. My husband was trying to MIT for archery so I went alone.

I saw familiar faces. We hugged. We chatted. I found a new face. I welcomed her as I had never even met her before. She was one of us today. I don’t care what her skill level is. She would be one of us.

The day started with Anne de Basillion heralding us in. It was so cool to feel special. To feel like our championship, though small as it was, mattered.

Round 1 went off with out a hitch. A minor hiccup, but nothing I would call a mistake. I was pleased with my story. It’s not for everyone, but I made folks smile.

Round 2… thats another story. I had forgotten half of the words. I didn’t stop. I made them up as I went. This was a skill I picked up in college. Fake it till you make it. No one seemed to notice. Not even the judges who I had presented a copy of the text and translations to. WHEW.

The finals. We all went to the finals since there were only 5 of us. TRM picked my Ladino piece. I got to geek out and talk about my deep knowledge of ladino, a dead language and sing a beautiful piece of love and loss. I got to chit chat about batties and the macabre. I got to feel a bit more whole about my love.

The day was long, but over. I missed my Bardic family. I missed Agnes who was home with Covid. I missed the hugs and camaraderie that is our community. It was small, but we protected one another during each round. We were family.

We were each gifted a favor from HrRM and Agnes sent us all bracelets. I did not receive one from my sister. She only sent 4 and there were 5 of us. I was gifted a special one from Aneleda Falconbridge. This had a history.

Then… court happened. Sovereigns champion was named as Leyli Shirazi. This was the new to me bard. New to our community. She was magic and it was an absolute delight seeing her called up.

Then, this happened:

After my name was called, I stood there, dumbfounded and hid behind the court banners for the rest of the night. This was something I had been working towards since 2015. It finally happened.

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Pennsic! There is no place like home

PennsicThis was my first year at Pennsic. I’m not going to lie. It’s all pretty much a blur right now so I will keep this short and sweet. I sang every night till the wee hours of the morning.  I went to a Bardic Circle every night and sometimes multiple in a night.

The only super notable things I did were sing at the VDK Invitational Bardic. I learned a new piece of music (to be) composed by the Queens Bard Geoffrey – MKA-David Yardley (AKA captain Speccy Pants) and then I sang in Drake’s Concert, who opened for Heather Dale. That was pretty cool!

 

One more thing of note. I did record for the Known World Bardcast. I put up an original composition (Lullaby for the Queen). Anyone who knows me, knows how anxious I am putting my work out into the public.

 

Pennsic2

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Scroll for Noble Bird the Bard

When the mead of poetry falls upon dumb lips, the tongue lay now silvered. Sweet rhapsody resonates, flowering from what was once small buds, fragment gardens. Firey passion and never hesitation from the spirit. As a nightingale sings so does our beautiful azure songbird. They grace us with music, poetry, performance from dawn till dusk and never do they falter. Today, we the people and landed Baron and Baroness, Rowen and Suba, do see it fit to bestow this honor upon the muse amongst us by inducting them into the order of the (insert) at Pennsic

Text by Lady Solveig Bjarnardottir

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GNEW- GNE- A new? 2018

I often find that GNE has been my event home since I started playing in 2010, but it wasn’t my first even. It is always one that has resonated with me as a war… a true immersion event for me.

This year was no different. I got to get my hands dirty with Bardic from helping to arrange the Bardic space, advertising and even performing myself.

I spent the weeks prior to GNE helping Gregor set up the Bardic space and quire Bardic Talent. I’ll admit, however, I was a bit preoccupied with my own agenda. This was my boyfriend’s first event and I wanted it to be as magical for him as it was for me.

Friday I spent fencing and showing my boyfriend around the range and doing a little bit of shopping. Saturday, I made sure I was there for the other performers as well. Prior to my own performance, a friend of mine was having a difficult time building up her own confidence. I spent time prior to making sure she knew people would be there and the massive amount of skill she possessed. I even requested she sing a song specifically for me.

When it was time to perform, I took the stage. This would be a casual performance. I really feel it’s important to read your venue. I chose not to sing the songs that made me feel like a million bucks, but ones that my audience would enjoy. This concert was not for me. It was for the audience.

The Friday prior, my good friend, now Mistress Christiana Crane had been sent to vigil. I feel like I only truly have one gift I can give and so this is what I made for her.

 

Recording forthcoming:

 

In the forests of mid Malagentia

Shimmers the snowy white gleam

Carried on the beams of Polaris

The Winter witch schemes

 

The harmony of her cackles

Delighted as temperature drops

When the snow fall curtains the skyline

The witch never stops

 

The icy blast from her chill

Her powers make you succumb to her will

Though with no terror you shall fill

From the winter witch

 

When autumn passes slowly

And you feel her chill in the air

The summer spells has faded

Your skin halts to  bare

 

The icy blast from her chill

Her powers make you succumb to her will

Though with no terror you shall fill

 

From the winter witch

The icy blast from her chill

Her powers make you succumb to her will

Though with no terror you shall fill

From the winter witch

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The Great Northeastern War

She turned me into a GNEW-t!… I got better.

Lord Frederick Vanderveer had approached me once again to open my mouth to make pretty noises. It was time to arrange another concert for GNEW. It was a bit harder to wrangle performers this year due to the fighting schedule and the notoriously long pomp and circumstance of Court.

I had lined up a few new acts for the concert. Something about this year filled me with the anticipation of new and exciting talent.

A few days prior to the concert, I began to receive multiple messages from people who could no longer perform. What started as a venue of 7 performers was now down to 4. This would still work, but we all suddenly had more stage time to fill.

Bardic Grove had been moved to Merchants Row, and the stage was now more intimate. The concert was slated for Friday night so it would not compete with Court (besides, some of us like to go to bed BEFORE the thunder parties are over).

Waiting with me to perform was Lady Nuala McKensie, but my 2 other performers never appeared.

I swore I would still make this work.

Nuala and I would weave between pieces. I also had the genius idea to turn the concert stage into a safe space for newer and less confident performers.

Lord Frederick Vanderveer happened to be in attendance. I asked him if he would grace us with a piece. He gladly accepted and entertained the audience with a beautiful melody. It was really nice to see him perform. He doesn’t often get a venue to perform vocally and sometimes the bard factor can be intimidating.

After that, we also had the joy of being entertained by Lord Greger when he told us a humorous tale of one of his many experiences within the SCA.

To round out the night, we had a young woman with a beautiful voice who had never performed publicly before. It was absolutely lovely to have new blood show such bravery as to perform in front of an audience at our show.

We finished with a group performance of “Life Blood”, which has always been an SCA favorite of mine.

The next day, there were to be several courts held. There was one mid day at which a friend of mine would be receiving an award, so I made sure to be present.

There was a hold with the royalty (not uncommon in these situations). They had called for a bard. Typically, in these circumstances the King’s or Queen’s personal bard would be called to perform, however, neither was present for this event. Being noticed by the King, I was called to perform. I did not have my bard book on me, but without hesitation I began to sing. I few verses later, my services were no longer needed and court resumed.

I had never been called on to perform so suddenly and without preparation. This was a huge honor bestowed upon me by the royalty, and I can only be thankful my performance was not preceded by me losing my lunch all over the court attendees.