Source:Bold knights, fair damsels bring back Middle Ages
| This page is a verbatim reproduction of original source material and should not be edited except for maintenance. | |
| Description |
"Bold knights, fair damsels bring back Middle Ages", an article about the Society for Creative Anachronism in Des Moines. |
|---|---|
| Source |
Des Moines Tribune |
| Date |
10 August 1981 |
| Author |
Pat Denato; photos by Frank S. Folwell |
| License |
It is believed that the use of this copyrighted item in Eamon Wiki qualifies as fair use under the copyright law of the United States. |
| Other versions | |
Bold knights, fair damsels bring back Middle Ages
The days of knights and shining armor are not dead. They live today, in Des Moines, in the Society for Creative Anachronism (a-NAK-ro-nizm). If King Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot are your kind of folks, you may want to look up the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) at the Iowa State Fair.
When the SCA gets together, the members dress, dance, fight and feast as if there were back in the Middle Ages. They even use different names.
When Bill Fesselmeyer of Des Moines goes to an SCA event, he becomes Lord William Coeur du Boeuf (Coor-dew-Beuf), a noble swordsman. He takes along armor, helmets and weapons he made himself.
Fesselmeyer gets ready to fight. He straps on leather pads and a metal breastplate. He puts on his metal helmet, chooses a sword, picks up his shield.
"Be ye ready?" the herald asks the swordsmen.
"Aye," they reply.
"Lay on!" commands the herald.
What happens next is not just the way is used to be in the Middle Ages — thank goodness. Nobody gets bloody. If a fighter gets hit in the arm, or leg, he must think of that arm or leg as wounded and not use it any more in the fight.
The Society for Creative Anachronism will appear at the Iowa State Fair on Saturdays and Sundays.