# Ask the medieval re-enactor... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 26, 2000, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-medieval-re-enactor/23543 "2000-06-26T05:05:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oicu812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f475e1/32.png) [@Oicu812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oicu812)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-medieval-re-enactor/23543/1 "2000-06-26T05:05:37Z")
…Anything about the Middle Ages and Rennaissance!~ O \*;O) ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-medieval-re-enactor/23543/2 "2000-06-26T05:10:03Z")
What’s a good mace go for nowadays? And are they regulated like crossbows and guns? Where would you buy one? There isn’t a Death and Dismemberment Tool R Us on every corner, if you know what I mean? ---
**Author:** ![Falcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/49beb7/32.png) [@Falcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Falcon)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-medieval-re-enactor/23543/3 "2000-06-26T05:13:19Z")
…I can’t let this one go. Chief, yer not planning on using that mace on me at the Norfolk Gathering, right? RIGHT?? ---
**Author:** ![Oicu812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f475e1/32.png) [@Oicu812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oicu812)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-medieval-re-enactor/23543/4 "2000-06-26T05:17:20Z")
You might try [www.varmouries.com](http://www.varmouries.com) or [www.museumreplicas.com](http://www.museumreplicas.com)] I don’t own a mace currently, having specialized in swords for years… O ---
**Author:** ![Oicu812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f475e1/32.png) [@Oicu812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oicu812)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-medieval-re-enactor/23543/5 "2000-06-26T05:21:05Z")
[www.museumreplicas.com](http://www.museumreplicas.com) O ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-medieval-re-enactor/23543/6 "2000-06-26T05:35:45Z")
I fancy myself a sword handler too. I can write my name on a wall. ---
**Author:** ![Oicu812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f475e1/32.png) [@Oicu812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oicu812)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-medieval-re-enactor/23543/7 "2000-06-26T05:37:14Z")
Gee, is UBB pic posting available here? I would love to see that! O ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-medieval-re-enactor/23543/8 "2000-06-26T05:40:50Z")
Ignore Falcon. She can be a bit annoying, but I’ve called the exterminators. ---
**Author:** ![Oicu812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f475e1/32.png) [@Oicu812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oicu812)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-medieval-re-enactor/23543/9 "2000-06-26T05:43:25Z")
Chief, the reply to your question is $106.95, plus shipping! O ---
**Author:** ![Falcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/49beb7/32.png) [@Falcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Falcon)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-medieval-re-enactor/23543/10 "2000-06-26T05:47:22Z")
WHAT??? Exterminators??? Just remember, I have **Satan** as a friend, so you’d better watch it, Chief. ---
**Author:** ![JavaMaven1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cab0a1/32.png) [@JavaMaven1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JavaMaven1)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-medieval-re-enactor/23543/11 "2000-06-26T05:59:41Z")
Ok, I’ve been a re-enactor for a part of my life, so I gotta see what it’s like on the other side of the New World… 1. How can some SCA members(female) be taken seriously when they dress like Thunder Bunnies? 2. What is the Faire scene out there? We’ve got quite a few out here around the L.A. area, unfortunately, the “big one” has turned to crap. 3. I don’t know what it’s like for you over there, but I remember SCA being very poorly dressed wicker warriors. I don’t ever remember, in all of the history books I’ve read, where polyester was a fashion choice. And–ooooh, m’lord, that-piece-of-patio-furniture-duct-taped-to-resemble-a-weapon really scares me. 4. What is the situation for people who do not fight in the SCA? Is there actual time for the study of the history that is being re-enacted? ---
**Author:** ![Oicu812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f475e1/32.png) [@Oicu812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oicu812)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-medieval-re-enactor/23543/12 "2000-06-26T06:08:21Z")
GREAT reply, JavaMaven! Granted, the SCA allows members that might not be able to afford the best garb or armor the right to participate, that is true. Meanwhile, those who CAN recreate the middle ages do so. The “Faire” scene has turned into crap, i.e. a medieval carnival pretty much every where in the country. Tampa not excluded. We do fight with Rattan swords, as we don’t want to hurt our friends, we merely want to kill them. And as for the non-combatants, we re-create the time period from 600-1600 Anno Domini; All cultures. O ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-medieval-re-enactor/23543/13 "2000-06-26T08:52:44Z")
Have you ever been repressed? ---
**Author:** ![Commander\_Fortune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Commander\_Fortune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Commander_Fortune)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-medieval-re-enactor/23543/14 "2000-06-26T09:54:39Z")
but have many SCA friends. JavaMaven - My initial impression of the SCA was similar to yours. A bunch of guys in cut up trash cans beating each other on the head. I go this impression because medieval lace tatting is not a very newsy thing to show when you have three minutes to fill at the end of a broadcast. But a few years ago, needing time off work, I accompanied my friend to the “War” at Estrella Mountain in Phoenix, AZ. This was a week long event. I figured, “What the hell, I’ll lay around in ultracomfortable garb, rest, and watch the fighters.” Instead (really, in addition, because certainly some of those fencing boys got watched) I ended up going to several highly organized “workshops” ranging in topics from heraldry, to caligraphy, to lace-making, to belly-dancing, to glass etching, to leatherworking. All of it was taken very seriously. There was a great deal of hobbiest integrity at the particular event I went to as well. In most SCA regions, you can’t just decide you’re going to teach a class, you have to earn the right to teach through demonstration of your abilities as judged by your peers and elders in the society, usually spending a great amount of effort in an “apprenticeship” to learn the trade. I was pretty impressed with the unsung talents of the non-fighters, and it was sad to leave. It was so easy to immerse myself in this kind of behavior for a week that putting regular clothing on and driving back to Boulder was a real downer. I’d go do it again in a hot minute. ---
**Author:** ![Heloise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e36b37/32.png) [@Heloise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heloise)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-medieval-re-enactor/23543/15 "2000-06-26T14:37:26Z")
Does anyone know of any SCA-ers they can recommend who live in/around L.A. or Glendale CA? I know all of my friends in Arizona, but not many out here. ---
**Author:** ![MadPoet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8c91f0/32.png) [@MadPoet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPoet)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-medieval-re-enactor/23543/16 "2000-06-26T23:57:57Z")
#1 reason to go to SCA events? Chance of seeing MadPoet belly dancing. What? For quite a bit of time, women were forbidden to dance publicly in much of the middle east. So, the only ones that were allowed to dance were the men. One instructor I had even placed the invention of the dance with men, though I am not so inclined to believe that. Mind you, I’m still a horrible dancer, so the chance is VERY slim… but it could happen given enough mead. And if you’re still laughing, remind me to post the picture of me wielding a 54" Claymore one handed. ---
**Author:** ![Oicu812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f475e1/32.png) [@Oicu812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oicu812)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-medieval-re-enactor/23543/17 "2000-06-27T00:11:45Z")
Try [www.sca.org](http://www.sca.org) They have links from there to kingdom level sites… And good luck! O