Horned hennin documentation

Selfie in my new horned hennin

On January 20, 2018 I’ll be presenting my research, documentation, and finished hat for comment only at Montengarde’s Twelfth Night. I’m not entering the competition to be Montengarde’s next A&S champion (since I only stepped down as Kingdom champion in November!). I wanted to share my documentation here – in case I need a digital version at the event!

Horned hennin documentation PDF

To see the full blog post with even more photos of construction/etc, visit my horned hennin blog post, or click the category for 15th century French to see more research, accompanying garments, and other projects from this era.

UPDATE
Here’s a photo that the Baroness of Montengarde took of my display at Twelfth Night!

Horned hennin competition display

Results of the Apprentice’s Tournament

Prizes for the belted competitor

At Samhain, I co-autocrated the event and also ran an Apprentice’s Tournament. There were three suggested categories if anyone wanted to be inspired:

• Anything Irish
• Anything from the 7th century
• Recent work

Arts & Sciences at Twelfth Night

The second session of judging for A&S at Twelfth Night in Montengarde

After a year and ten months serving as Montengarde’s A&S champion (Emerald Rose) I was happy to host the competition to find my replacement at Twelfth Night.

Montengarde is the name of the Barony in the SCA – it’s the mundane city of Calgary, Alberta.

The competition

I had four individuals enter for the chance to win the honour of being the next Emerald Rose. Each of these individuals offered two entries. Additionally I had three single-entry

One of the two sessions in the second half of the A&S competition at Twelfth Night in Montengarde.

competitors. These individuals were looking for the chance to show their work and get feedback, but were not competing for the title. Entries included:

• Hand-woven leg wraps
• Beeswax candles
• A research paper on Anglo-Saxon culinary
• Flatbread
• Skyr
• Briw (a cooked stew kind of dish)
• Tallow candles
• A block-printed garment
• An Italian gown
• English knitting
• A Tarim Basin outfit

Many people came to hear the presentations – beyond just the judges at the A&S competition at Twelfth Night in Montengarde.

I was really excited at how many entries there were, and how many of them were culinary entries. While culinary isn’t an area I’m particularly well-researched in, I have heard over and over how it’s one of the more difficult subject areas to compete in (alongside research papers and bardic entries) and so I’m super-impressed that the participants opted to put their efforts into this for the competition!

Judges needed!

A&S display at Avacal Sergeant Trials

As some of you living in Calgary or the SCA Kingdom of Avacal know, I’m hosting the competition to find my replacement as Montengarde’s Arts & Science champion at Twelfth Night, on January 21, 2017.

With that… I’m looking for judges!

Information about the competition (format, rubric, judging forms, etc) can be found here. You will note that the format is collaborative and supportive; I’m hoping that all of the judges can help competitors strive towards their best, can encourage amazing arts & sciences, and assist student judges (if applicable) to learn more about the process and participate to the level of their comfort.

Why to enter an A&S competition..

… challenge, or tournament

Photos of the Laurel’s New Works display

As you might know, I’m hosting a few SCA A&S (Arts & Science competitions) this year, and one of the questions/concerns I’ve heard from people is “Why should I enter?” (often followed by a silent: “…if I don’t think I can win?”)

I’m in NO way an expert on this… I’m still pretty new to the SCA, and haven’t travelled outside of Avacal to see how things are done elsewhere. Still, I’ve been to, judged, and competed in a few competitions, and have some suggestions and things to think about…and this is my soapbox! 😉

Winning is cool

Yeah, It’s cool to win anything. Let’s get that out of the way right away. It’s cool to do your thing, have other people say your thing is awesome, and win an award or title or prize for how good you did your thing…

…but there’s more to it than that.