Sca-isms, or Why I Don’t Store My Buttons in Urine

by Tonya Adolfson in Organizations, November 5, 2009

Class handout for Maitresse Tanglwyst de Holloway.

Likewise, the discussion of certain dances needs to be accepted as SCA-isms instead of ignored and dismissed because they might not be period. The Playfords are a great example. John Playford published a book cataloging dances done at the country estates in 1651, but it is argued that he did not create these dances. He merely wrote them down and that they are mentioned in other publications in period. Thus, the authenticity mavens refuse to dance or teach them because there’s no PROOF they were done in period and they can give us a bunch of other dances that WERE done in period so those should not be included, but instead, weeded out of all dance repertoires. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who were taught these dances and they enjoy them. I propose that these dances, Hole in the Wall, Korabushka and the like, are SCA-isms and are actually a part of our culture, not a part of history.

Knighthoods were period, but Pelicans and Laurels are not. We do not choose to discard them. We likewise do not recreate specific reigns or wars. Our battles are freeform. We also do not call our kingdom France, we call it Artemisia. We made up the names of all our kingdoms because we do not reenact the Middle Ages, we idealize them.

Conversely, we also have competitions that service those who want to be as authentic as possible. There are the Enchanted Lands, where nothing modern is allowed to show, and the encampments are beautiful and period and the discussions reflect the topics done in our time periods. Arts and Science competitions are designed to encourage people to research and dedicate their time and energy to the pursuit of perfect authenticity. It is through these competitions we are pushed to search and find things we never knew existed, such as period Vodka (1598). We are challenged to nurture antique flax plants and shear sheep with period tools. We try our hand at forging iron or glass blowing and these endeavors are inspiring!