Why We Joined?
These are stories on why people joined the SCA. Each one was submitted by the webminister's request.
Name: Gary Robertson
Location: Williamsburg VA
Story: It was the carol "Good King Wenceslas" that sucked me in. I have a pictorial approach to things, and the song made me wonder "What did this Wenceslas look like", or "What did he look out of?" So I began looking for information. Well, there isn't much information on 10th Century Bohemia about such things, so I cast my net further afield, to the old Rus', Carolingians, and so forth. My interest settled on costume and vernacular architecture. Finally, I discovered a book called "Death and Life in the 10th Century." It was a pivotal century. Civilization had been going downhill since about the Fourth Century, stabilized during the Carolingian Era, and then crashed under the weight of the Viking, Magyar, and Moslem attacks of the 9th and 10th Centuries. However, during the 10th Century, these threats were blunted, and the "Middle Ages" really took shape. Once the Y1K problem was passed, things really started getting better. Like I say, not much is available about 10th Century Bohemia, and middle Europe WAS a pretty dangerous place to live in. So my persona migrated down to Italy, where city life never completely went out of style. His name is GUIDO, and will live either in Verona, or Pavia (the capital of Lombardy). I'd heard of the SCA back in the 70's, met some Tiy-Y-Don folk at Fort Eustis in the later 80's, and decided to join. Since I didn't like to travel at night, the Rencester group was the obvious one to attend.
Name: Erin Epperson
Location: Williamsburg VA
Story: What interested me the most about the SCA was being able to learn more about different views and interpretations of various periods in history. I have a serious dislike for how history is taught in schools, so it was relief to find a different approach to the appreciation of history. I have always had a love for the Renaissance and Medieval periods for their philosophies and musical achievements (anything by Orlando di Lasso is great in my opinion!). Having the opportunity to learn how to fight with swords is cool too. Because pointy objects are cool.