Bardic Verse: ‘The Curse of Camping' by Milady Nelly Iverson

A trip to take
Our trio wished,
To the world full of wonder

West of our home. Our shire’s story To see for ourselves, Of mystery, magic and More of the same. We wanted and wished for The weather to bless us, We looked with great longing For low winds and high heat. Our planning was perfect We all presupposed, Though fully fallible We felt before long, With tent and titillation Our trip started out. Until a rather minor misstep Materialized on the way. For controlling our carriage, Continue I must. Such studies my friends Saved had for later. To fight such a strain, I swallowed hard. And half-day after Arrive we did. Museum of magic And mysteries we saw. Before sandman with sleep Shut our eyes.

Bardic Verse: ‘Waiting' by Lady Alessandra di Riario

(one of my most vivid Raglan experiences was walking just before dawn into the castle and almost straight into a grey heron, the colour of the sky, sitting on the bridge)

“I forget” was the name of the heron who hovered over the feast
But you, you remember
Arms and alarums

fires and festivity
swords and celebration
a woman in white, weeping
A squire, in the corner, readying himself for glory
Shards of cannon
and a king, next a fountain, raising a cup to the dead.
 
If I asked you to speak would you tell me
of guards guarding fallen towers
a light at midnight, without a candle
children in sunshine dreaming of being knights
and mothers, dreaming of a moment without children?
would it be prophecy, poetry,
or simply nature’s truth?
 
“By all means rise at dawn,
and don your armour
dream of crowns
and count your marks after.
but leave me my realm, my grey twilight
my flight and my silence
my humble pursuit
and the man there, the one under the bridge,
dressed in his finery, serving princes
tell him I’m waiting
tell him to cook fish when I want my breakfast.”

Bardic Verse: ‘My Virtual Raglan' by Milady Astrid Pålsdottir

Within known walls
and not castle halls
was my very first Raglan fair-
yet without it, I wouldn’t have been there.

 

Remembered a few people from Shire events,

met many more who were new

to me, and the SCA,

which is what happens when you’re new anyway!

 

A few new things I got to see,

not as many as I’d have liked, but still-

Camp fires and another Bardic Circle,

I finally performed at this one,

in a great night of skill and happiness

even if it did all go too fast.

In the future, I’d love to see those castle walls,

but glad I could still take part in these halls-

I’m happy to remember my first Raglan fair.

History of Drachenwald: ‘Why the Dragon Has Its Tail Between Its Legs: Or, A Tale of How the Drachenwald Arms Came To Be' by THL Ommadan inigena Ru, OM (East Kingdom)

When I first arrived at Ramstein, Germany in AS XIII, being 1978 CE, stationed there with the U.S. Air Force, I found myself in the Protectorate of Thairis -- the East Kingdom's European holdings. Change was afoot, though, to sweep away some of the old and bring in the new, starting with a new name: Drachenwald. New arms would be needed for the new name, and it was decided to hold a contest. Being something of an artist as well as a budding armorial herald at the time, I figured I would give it a shot. What was the worst that could happen -- people wouldn't like my design, right?

So, the arms. Drachenwald in those days was largely based in Germany, so I chose the colors of the German flag: gold, black, and red. It made sense to me to make the field gold, and the other elements red and black, because I felt a field division might confuse it too much with the German flag. 

The name itself dictated the rest of the design, a dragon in the woods. Pine trees were what I decided to use, since most of the woods I had seen around Ramstein were coniferous. I drew them eradicated, with the roots torn, and decided to make them red and keep them simple in design, because I liked the look and figured a black dragon on red trees would offer better contrast. 

The dragon's design came from a book on heraldry; somewhere I had read that the typical German depiction of a dragon was cowed, with its tail between its legs, and this particular dragon was in fact described as a German dragon. Besides, I loved its overall look. So on it went, making sure it was sized so that a good portion of it was on the gold field in order to follow the heraldic rules of contrast. Voila!

I was pretty happy with the result. Now to see if the populace of Drachenwald liked it as well.

I don't remember where the contest was held specifically. There was one other design besides mine in the competition, and again memory fails me as to what it was or who submitted it. When it came time for a hand count, I didn't put my own hand up for either design -- I didn't want to come across as beating my own drum or voting against myself. But when I saw all the other hands shoot up at my design, I was beyond happy. I WON! My design, with the addition of a laurel wreath, was going to be the arms of the new Protectorate of Drachenwald. 

My original design still lives on in the Drachenwald populace badge. I hope you all like it as much as I still do.