All people have dreams; some of traveling to exotic places, some of become great leaders, others of Hollywood stardom. The Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc (SCA) contains thousands of people whose dreams are of knights in shining armor, time travel, honorable society, and a plethora of other heart-felt things.
Like the SCA, this compendium is made of pieces that suit the sensibilities of a wide variety of people. The idea for this webzine was born with an Arts and Sciences contest at the Barony of Caer Anterth Mawr's winter event, Boar's Head, in 2011. Arts and Sciences contests tend to focus on things that can be held. Quiet things, like the written word, are sometimes hard to display against stainless steel armor or gold-laden illuminated pages in gilded frames. Members of the SCA were invited to submit pieces for a second A&S contest, a contest that would focus on the arts of poetry and prose. Individuals were welcomed to submit what they wanted, encouraged to provide documentation about their piece or pieces, and asked to select something that would fit in with the theme of the Boar's Head 2011 event, Marauders of the Waterways.
It's been interesting learning how people might interpret that phrase. The compendium contains works about cultures known for their plundering ways, of course, but there are also pieces that conjure the problems of distance and death and birth, things certain to plunder a soul in the same way a Viking might plunder a treasure. The compendium also contains works that are documented as written in a style known before 1600, pieces that add to the ambiance of the SCA without necessarily being document-able, and pieces that are just for fun.
I sincerely hope that you will enjoy this compendium, and that you will start writing for the next one.
ECB
19 March 2012
West Allis, WI
