🚀 go-pugleaf

Good gentles, greetings --

Hossein/Greg writes an interesting post about Courts and scribes,
but ends it with a comment about pre-1601 analogues of modern
SCA attitudes.

> The notion of the scribing of legal documents as a work of artisanship is
> a function of the pretentious bourgeoisie flocking with gold in hand to
> private scribes to obtain fradulent "evidence" of noble heritage by
> commissioning groundless achievements of arms.  It is a Renaissance
> phenomenon, not a medieval one, although I grant that a good deal of the
> attitude toward awards in the SCA has a lot more in common with the
> mindset of Renaissance bourgeoisie than with anything medieval.

I wonder if we could enumerate the various sources of modern SCA attitudes.
Here are just a few, from my understanding of our organizational history:

   o Victorian romanticism about the Middle Ages (Tennysson, Morris)
   o Modern fantasy (Tolkien, Heinlein, Anderson, de Camp, Twain<!>)
   o Science Fiction Fandom
   o American political liberalism (founded in Berkeley!)
   o Movies (Robin Hood)
   o Some period authors/works -- Shakespeare, Chaucer, Mallory, Beowulf

What are some others I've missed in this quick note?

What might be on the list of "Fifty books that shaped the SCA?"
(and how might you prioritize their influence?)

   1) Tolkien's     "Lord of the Rings"
   2) Scott's       "Ivanhoe"
   3) White's       "The Once and Future King"
   4) ...            ....

I'll look forward to continued discussion, but for now must go comfort
a crying five-month-old who _really_ wants to go to sleep but just
doesn't know it yet.

My best to you all -- Bertram

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Bertram of Bearington                                      Dave Schroeder
Debatable Lands/AEthelmearc/East               Carnegie Mellon University
INTERNET: ds4p@andrew.cmu.edu                         412/731-3230 (Home)
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      "He indulged in every excess, yes in each licentious whim..."