Lady Patricia of Trakai

So many arts and crafts, so little time...

2011-12-07T23:11:00.000-05:00

Since I have so many things that I do in the SCA -- plus things that I want to do, plus some that I used to do -- I thought I'd list them all. This list is in no particular order, and it will include activities that I did once or twice. At least I will have this as a reference if anyone asks.

Costuming/sewing. This is probably the most fundamental A&S activity within the SCA, as Corpora (our Society-wide governing document) specifies that the only requirement to attend an SCA event is "an attempt at pre-17th-century clothing." (Well, that and a few bucks.)

Granted, many perfectly good SCAdians, even some Peers, don't make their costumes. Either they have a family member or close friend make them, or they buy them from a merchant, or they barter something else for clothing. Or a combination thereof. Still, unless your body perfectly matches a standard clothing size and/or you have a huge pot of disposable income, eventually you need to apply needle and thread to cloth.

Still, I find garb sewing to be a time-consuming and somewhat tedious task. Maybe my feeling has to do with my late mother's enthusiasm for sewing clothes for herself and for me (at least until she got into her late 60s or maybe age 70 -- I can't recall exactly when she stopped sewing). The construction of a garment, at least in my view, is not something that you can do for a short while, then put down and pick up again later. If you're using a sewing machine, you are using a rather large tool tethered to a table and an electrical outlet, and if you're hand-stitching, the garment is still usually too large to lug around on public transportation. Remember how I wrote back on July 15 that I was making myself a light blue linen dress? Well, I still haven't finished that dress. At the 30th-Year event I wore another light blue dress, but that one was of indeterminate fiber content, and it was something I'd bought for $2 and then stashed away for several years before digging it out of storage.

I've also heard (or read somewhere online, can't remember exactly where, though) that, in order to be considered for a Peerage (any Peerage) someday, you really ought to wear something with more thought in it than a T-tunic. Good point. Most of us are visual people, and first impressions count. It was one thing to be new in the Society and to have the need to build up a simple wardrobe that could take me through Pennsic and a few other events. Now, if I want to be taken seriously as a Lithuanian lady persona, perhaps it's time to start dressing like one. (If only the clothing evidence weren't so sketchy....)

I am starting to make a list of sewing projects I'd like to do, but since this entry is supposed to be an overview of my status with all the various A&S activities, I think I'd better move on.

Instrumental music. Besides the Lithuanian studies, this is probably what I'm best known for among the SCA A&S activities. (Indeed, it's what I got the Storvik Order of the Owl for.) I am certainly not professional/Laurel caliber in this area, but I can keep a beat on a drum or tambourine, and I have learned how to play some simple dance tunes on a soprano recorder. I've come to realize that my bowed psaltery is not any more period than a 20th-century guitar, but I still enjoy playing what I call a "rhythmic harmony" on it. See, I don't think that the bowed psaltery (or BP) is well suited for the quick, intricate tunes of bransles, English country dances and some other dances -- or at least I have trouble playing those notes as fast as required -- the bow catches on the upper pegs. Thank goodness I've got enough knowledge of chords to be able to fill in with harmonious notes (most of the time).

To be continued, of course....

Late summer and fall activities

2011-09-30T14:30:00.004-04:00

Once again: long time, no post...

Perhaps it's a good thing that I didn't plan on teaching any classes at Pennsic XL this summer, as my car broke down while I was traveling up to Cooper's Lake. Since everyone I knew was already at War, and since I didn't have enough money for a rental vehicle, I ended up missing Pennsic entirely. :-( It's only thanks to the grace and kindness of a group of my friends, who collected some money for me and presented it to me, that I was able to afford the expensive repair bill and get my 15-year-old Pontiac back on the road.

At least I was able to attend the Kingdom of Atlantia's 30th-anniversary celebration earlier this month. For one of the gift baskets that were presented to the winners of the various competitions, I made a small pincushion embellished with a cross-stitch replica of the Atlantian ensign (the kingdom's arms without the crown and laurel wreath). Here's how it came out before I attached it to the pincushion:

It had a few flaws that I'm not proud of -- especially the slightly different shades of blue and white. I hope the recipient, whoever he/she is, overlooks those details and enjoys the overall picture.

Anyhow ... I am getting ready for the next University of Atlantia session, which is tomorrow (Saturday, October 1) in the Barony of Bright Hills. I will be teaching a one-hour class called "Survey of Medieval Lithuania" at 3:30 p.m. I have only two student pre-registered for the class, but I suspect that I'll get more attendees, because I also suspect that a lot of people haven't pre-registered for anything.

I'm also trying one extremely non-medieval innovation: PowerPoint slides. I wouldn't ever try a slide show at Pennsic, because the inside of the A&S tents doesn't get very dark in the daytime (and the insides of the red and yellow tents make lousy screens). However, I am hoping to show even more images and maps than in previous iterations of the class.

A battle well fought

2011-07-15T17:32:00.002-04:00

Today I got a nice message from one of my fellow Atlantian heralds. The subject line said, "From my German family to your Lithuanian one..." And in the message he wrote: "Congratulations on a battle well fought." Yes, today is the 601st (601th?) anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald, and after last year, I would be remiss if I didn't mention it. :-)

This month is rather quiet on the SCA front, mostly because people in this region are gearing up for Pennsic XL. I'm slowly working on a simple short-sleeved tunic dress. It's not the most authentic, but I've had the light blue linen in my stash for seven years and it's about time I used it on something. I figure that I can wear it on those really hot, muggy days and look somewhat better than I do in a chiton or "bog dress." I plan to trim the sleeves with the "Spike" (Kingdom populace badge) ribbon that Baroness Janina gave me a few years back, and I should have a new outfit for Atlantian 30-Year.

I also am about to start working on a small cross-stitch project for the prize baskets at the 30-Year event. I'm doing a small ensign based on this design, and I'll probably make it into a pincushion or belt favor. I'm embroidering the ensign rather than "Spike" (a unicornate seahorse) to honor Mistress Moira Maureen ua Seamus of the Green Hills, first Triton Principal Herald, who designed the arms of Atlantia when it was forming as a Principality of the East. Mistress Moira is in a nursing home, last I heard, but I want people to know of the role she played in the Kingdom we enjoy today.

One final note: I'm not teaching at Pennsic this year, but I am considering teaching "Survey of Medieval Lithuania" at Fall University, unless something comes up to conflict with that.

Curses, in period

2011-07-04T14:39:00.003-04:00

A few years back, the Barony of Dun Carraig held an event -- I can't remember which one now -- at which the populace was given actual medieval curses (translated into English if necessary) on slips of paper, in case we wanted to use them. I grabbed some extras, and I found them recently while cleaning. Just for fun, I thought I would share them with my readers.

Methink'st thou art a general offence and every man should beat thee. (from Macbeth)

Kerling! (Translation from Old Norse: "Old hag!")

Hang, beg, starve, die in the streets. (from Romeo and Juliet)

Mewling, notty-pated hedgepig! (Elizabethan)

Would thou wert clean enough to spit upon! (from The Life of Timon of Athens)

A stony adversary, an inhuman wretch, uncapable of pity, void and empty from any dram of mercy... (from The Merchant of Venice)

These curses are certainly not directed at my readers. I love my readers! I just aim to give people a thing or two to say when they get angry, besides today's modern F-word.

Of course, if you've got more period curses to add, please comment!

A brief encounter with a leader of the Rebel Alliance...

2011-06-07T16:08:00.006-04:00

Why, yes, the title of this entry does sound more like Star Wars than medieval Lithuania. But, seriously, it's not every day you get your photo taken with someone who helped bring down an Evil Empire!

Let me explain. On May 22 I went to the Lithuanian Festival with a couple of friends, one who had gone there with me before and one who hadn't. (I like to go every year, but last year a business trip got in the way.) Of course I wanted to show my newcomer friend all around the various booths selling crafts and food. After a lunch of cepelinai and a chance to watch the dance group Malunas, I took him into the side room to look at the military and historical exhibits.

In that side room, I noticed an older gentleman with slightly hunched soldiers, a light-colored jacket and a boutonniere in the Lithuanian flag colors. The members of the Lithuanian post of the American Legion were pointing out various exhibits to him and having their picture taken with him. Chatter flew back and forth in a mixture of English and Lithuanian.

My friend nudged me. "That's Vytautas Landsbergis!" he whispered excitedly. "You should introduce yourself."

True enough -- if I didn't do it right then and there, I knew I'd regret it, maybe not right away but soon, and for the rest of my life. (Channeling Casablanca there, I know.) After briefly wishing that I'd made a better clothing choice than a T-shirt and shorts, I walked up to him and (with the hope that I was pronouncing my surname in the correct Lithuanian fashion), introduced myself with my real name: Patricia Daukantas.

He shook my hand and replied, "Ah, you have a famous name!"

I nodded and explained that my grandparents came from Lithuania but died before I was born. Then I said "it's an honor to meet you!" and asked if someone could take our photo together. He agreed, and here's the result.

So that was my brush with real-life greatness! I had no idea that this festival in Maryland would attract a former head of state of the home country -- an important figure in Lithuanian history at that.

So, what's next?

2011-05-13T18:31:00.001-04:00

Wow, once again it has been a long, long time since I have updated this blog. Mostly I have been plugging away on my freelance career, my SCA heraldic endeavors, and my SCA musical endeavors. I even started a professional blog. But every once in a while I think about the "bigger picture," so here goes.

In one of my favorite TV series ever, The West Wing, President Bartlet frequently ended discussion of an issue by saying, "What's next?"

This phrase comes up for me every time I think ahead to what I want to accomplish in the SCA. And by "what I want to accomplish," I mean my Lithuanian studies. Yes, I do have other responsibilities to my barony and Kingdom, and those tasks will get done because they are part of being an all-volunteer group. For instance, at the most recent baronial business meeting, I took notes and then typed up the minutes and sent them to the seneschal, because our regular chronicler was out of town for the weekend.

For me, my Lithuanian studies are the "special sauce" on top of all the other cool things I do in the SCA. But the "special sauce" won't happen if I don't procure the ingredients and mix them together in a way that makes sense.

I've taught classes about Lithuania and I've been recognized by Their Majesties, but still, I can't help feeling that I've only barely scratched the surface. There are still so many "persona questions" (from lists like this and this) that I cannot answer yet. Thanks to the Web, I see photos of Lithuanian reenactors such as the members of Pajauta, but I don't have firm documentation for what they're wearing, and I'm not sure that documentation exists (Lithuanian medieval graves contain metal artifacts, but no fabric -- and they didn't document their lives with paintings the way western Europeans did). A few books out there may provide some answers, in either English or Lithuanian, but they're not generally available outside a few academic libraries and/or the Library of Congress. (Yes, I do live in the general metro area of the Library of Congress, but I'm not very good at finding the time to visit the place.)

Once I define what I'm looking for, and then I find it, then what do I do with the information? In the short term, I know that I missed the deadline for getting classes listed in the "Pennsic book" for Pennsic XL, coming this August. I still really, really want to go to Pennsic, but I may be able to attend for only a few days, perhaps an extended weekend. (Now that I don't have a steady job, I have time but no money; if I land a full-time job, I will have money but absolutely no vacation time.) I think it's better for my sanity to avoid teaching if I'm just going to be there for a couple of days (with a third day for setting up and a fourth day for packing out).

Perhaps the thing I need to jump-start my Lithuanian research efforts is to write up a short generalist article for something like Tournaments Illuminated, the SCA's quarterly magazine. Maybe I could give it a clever title, like "Seven Reasons to Consider a Lithuanian Persona" or "Ten Things You Didn't Know About Medieval Lithuania." Would anyone even be interested in reading such an article?

I also can't help feeling that I need to specialize in "an art" that has something to do with my persona: tablet weaving, naalbinding, clothes-making, amber-carving, music-making, etc. I tend to dabble in a lot of different things and specialize in none of them. Not quite sure what to do about that.

Sometimes I think I should be apprenticed to a Laurel who would guide me in the "how to do what I want to do" part of the SCA. Again, I know a lot of Laurels, but no one individual close enough to apprentice to. Maybe someday....

'Your First SCA War'

2011-03-10T17:22:00.003-05:00

The class I taught at the most recent University of Atlantia, "Your First SCA War," is now online at this location. The Web page is an extended version of the two-page handout from class. It's a bit rambling, but it still presents a lot of the information that I was given when I was a newcomer to the SCA and preparing for my first Pennsic War. I hope it aids people who might not have so many kind-hearted advisers in their own local branch.

(I was also motivated to get these notes posted because Master Liam St. Liam of the East Kingdom is thinking of teaching and/or organizing a newcomers' track, and here is something he can link to!)

Companion of the Coral Branch

2011-02-28T18:29:00.005-05:00

I have been meaning to post about this for a while ... but at the Bright Hills Baronial Investiture on February 12, Their Royal Majesties of Atlantia saw fit to make me a Companion of the Coral Branch for "divers Lithuanian Studies," according to the court report. You can read my account of the event and presentation here.

Needless to say, I was very excited! Not just because it is an honor to join the Order of the Coral Branch, but also because I am glad that medieval Lithuania is being recognized as a fit subject of study within our Society.

Of course, I would have to have an "attack of life" immediately thereafter ... between the flu, the car repairs and my freelance-for-pay deadline, things got interesting. Fortunately, I got past all three of these hurdles; I'm just now waiting on the final word count for the big feature article so I can send in a nice fat invoice.

My next project for the SCA really isn't about Lithuania at all, though. I have signed up to teach a University of Atlantia class on "Your First SCA War." I thought it would be helpful to newcomers to talk about things that aren't on any packing list or FAQ list for big events like Pennsic -- for instance, how do you find a group to camp with and how do you shower?

A Pair of Peers

2011-02-01T16:55:00.003-05:00

Soon the Slavic Interest Group will be gaining two new Laurels. (For those of you not in the SCA, the Order of the Laurel is the SCA's highest award for excellence in the arts and sciences. It is one of the SCA's three Bestowed Peerages -- the others are the Order of the Chivalry, for martial arts, and the Order of the Pelican, for service.)

At the beginning of January, Pan Zygmunt Nadratowski received a Writ from Their Majesties of the Middle Kingdom. Pan Zygmunt, who resides with his lady in the Shire of Talonval, will be recognized as a Laurel at the February 12th Midrealm event known as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre and Tournament of Chivalry. His website is plcommonwealth.org.

At A Market Day at Birka, Their Majesties of the East Kingdom caught up with Posadnitsa Sfandra Dmitrieva Chernigova and presented her with a Writ to be recognized as a Laurel at Their Last Court on April 2 (Coronation Day for Their successors). Posadnitsa Sfandra resides with her lord in the Barony of Carolingia, and her website is sfandra.webs.com.

Unto these fine gentles I say VIVANT! Not only am I extremely happy for them personally, but I'm also excited that the Society is paying heed to research in the Eastern European arts and sciences. As I've said before, if you ignore Eastern European history, you're omitting a huge part of European history.

Defenders of Freedom Day - Laisvės gynėjų diena

2011-01-20T20:01:00.004-05:00

OK, I didn't get to posting this last week because of other stuff going on in my life, but better late than never. January 13 of this year was the 20th anniversary of an important event in the emerging modern-day Republic of Lithuania.

Yes, Lithuania had declared itself independent of the Soviet Union on March 11, 1990, but of course Moscow didn't recognize that and indeed tried to impose an economic blockade on its wayward "Soviet Socialist Republic." Figuring that they who own the communications media control the message, the Soviets tried to take over the Vilnius TV tower, only to meet with mass opposition. The troops killed 13 unarmed civilians (sometimes given as 14; one more died of a heart attack), the news of the massacre got out to the world anyway, the Soviet troops had to retreat, and subsequently Lithuanians voted hugely for independence in a referendum on February 9.

Iceland's recognition of Lithuania's independence was already five days old at the time of the vote. On September 17, 1991, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia joined the United Nations in their own right. The Soviet Union was crumbling.

Grunwald reenactment videos

2011-01-07T21:44:00.001-05:00

Greetings to all! Happy New Year!

The following is a post I started way back in September 2010 and saved as a draft. I am finally getting around to finishing it.

Happily (i.e., through Facebook) I stumbled across a fabulous post at Medievalists.net: a set of videos showing this year's commemorations of the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald. Woo-hoo! Of course, being there in person would have been the best thing of all, but I guess this is the next best thing.

The first video is a short one (less than two minutes) and seems to be a random montage of scenes from the commemoration ceremony. (In all these videos, the blonde woman with the white jacket and black pants is Dalia Grybauskaitė, the current president of Lithuania.

The second video comes from the Lithuanian news broadcast "Panorama," which is shown regularly on TheLithuanians.com. Granted, the only words I can understand from the audio track are "Labas vakaras" ("Good evening"), "Grunwald," and "Zalgiris." But the Panorama camera people got some good shots of jousters on horseback and, about halfway through, an interview with a female living-history reenactor whom I'm quite sure I've seen in still photos of Kernavė. You can also see President Grybauskaitė reviewing the medieval troops. The last couple of minutes of this video are devoted to some sort of concert related to Grunwald. I wish I knew more about the performers and the musical pieces.

The third video is a montage of scenes from the day's proceedings without any kind of voice-over commentary. You can see some of the speechifying and jousting and wreath-laying, and you can see President G. and her entourage enter the living-history encampment. She even takes a bit of meat off a two-tined fork and eats it.

The fourth video is of a concert, "Banderia 1410," held at Malbork on July 15 (that's what "15 Lipca" means). The garishly lit stage with its LED backdrop is definitely not medieval, but the music is stirring. At least some of the musicians (not all) are playing plausibly period instruments, including a portative organ.

The fifth and final video is a short news clip from a Polish website. As far as I can tell, the guy in the video is talking about a complex sculpture depicting the battle in 3D, but whether he's the sculptor or just an art critic, I can't tell.

Anyhow, I hope you all enjoy watching these scenes!

Wrapping up the year

2010-12-11T19:27:00.003-05:00

Last weekend I traveled to central North Carolina for Unevent, the Kingdom of Atlantia's annual business meeting. I wonder whether any of the other SCA kingdoms have a similar gathering. The local branch officers get to meet their Kingdom superiors, and the polling orders (people who have already won certain high-level awards) get together to discuss their recommendations for passing along to Their Majesties. And of course all of us get face time with each other.

So another year goes down in history. For me, thirteen SCA events in twelve months. Who knows what the new year may bring?

Apologies for my long hiatus

2010-11-18T17:46:00.004-05:00

The subject line says it all. For the last few months I have been quite wrapped up in personal issues -- specifically, transitioning from being a full-time worker bee to a home-based freelance writer who is still open to the idea of another full-time job with benefits, if such things can possibly be had in the new global economy.

Of course, I haven't completely abandoned the SCA. In September I was head troll/gatekeeper for the Storvik Baronial Birthday and Investiture, during which we welcomed our new Baron and Baroness, William and Sorcha. The following week I went to the East Kingdom Metalsmiths' Symposium, which was not in the East Kingdom this time around, but in Atlantia's Barony of Stierbach. Not only did I take an interesting class on learning how to distinguish Viking wire-woven (trichinopoly) chains from those made by the loop-in-loop method, I made my first-ever glass beads and forged an iron S-hook. Bead-making is highly addictive, because you get results in roughly five minutes from start to finish. And though I was tired and achy after all that iron-pounding, I felt truly amazed to pick up a hard S-hook that, only an hour previously, I had been twisting as if it were made of Sculpy.

In the meantime, if you want a fix of Lithuanian goodness, I commend you to the Loose Threads blog, where you can read a review of the Lithuanian costume calendar I've been drooling over. Gotta watch my pennies, though....

Back from Pennsic

2010-08-19T13:16:00.006-04:00

Greetings to all!

On Sunday the 15th I traveled home from a very enjoyable Pennsic War XXXIX, where I taught two sessions of my Battle of Grunwald class and one session of "Survey of Modern Lithuania," which was essentially the same class as this.

Right now I'm just posting a short note to remind my students -- especially my students in the Grunwald class, who got just a one-page handout due to my pressing personal issues prior to Pennsic -- that I haven't forgotten about you and I'll try to get this information up as quickly as possible.

In the meantime, blogger Cathy Raymond ("Loose Threads") has posted a review of the first chapter of Medieval Clothing and Textiles 6, edited by Robin Netherton and Gale R. Owen-Crocker (not "Owen-Crocke" as the cover says!). That first chapter presents a survey of Latvian clothing and textiles from the seventh to the 13th centuries, all based on archaeological findings. Granted, the essay is about Latvia and not Lithuania, but there is some overlap. In particular, I did not realize from other sources that the soil gets slightly different as you move south through the Baltic region, so that scraps of fabric are found in Latvian digs but not in Lithuanian sites. I don't know exactly what creates the change in soil composition, but it does seem to have an effect.

Hmm. Maybe the class I would really like to teach in the future, "Lithuanian Women Through the Ages," will have to become "Lithuanian and Latvian Women Through the Ages." But that is an issue for another day.

SIX HUNDRED years ago today...

2010-07-15T12:59:00.007-04:00

As I said to a co-worker this morning, "How cool is it that we know that something big happened exactly 600 years ago today?" (OK, I'm ignoring differences between the Julian and Gregorian calendars here.)

I'm looking for online news of the commemorations. I hesitate to say "celebrations" today because, although the victory at Grunwald/Zalgiris was A Big Deal for Poland and Lithuania, an awful lot of human beings lost their lives that day. I grew up in a community of 20,000 people, so if you estimate the total toll of that battle at 12,000 to 13,000, then it's almost like two-thirds of my hometown vanishing in a single day. That's a lot of blood.

But back to the news....

PressEurop.eu calls Grunwald "the battle that changed Central Europe." Belarus Digest claims that most of the Lithuanian units at the battle were from lands that are now part of Belarus and that the Belarusian president was not invited to the official commemoration "for obvious reasons." (Jealous much?) Expatica.com takes a look at the reenactors.

For a more Lithuanian perspective on the anniversary, check out this article (in Lithuanian) and especially the miniature version of the battle created by a Vilnius museum. An English-language article appears here. (It's a bit difficult to search Google News for "Zalgiris" because the name is so big in basketball.)

Since the New York Times did such a detailed writeup of the 500th-anniversary commemoration of Grunwald, I was a bit miffed that the publication did not mention it on its "On This Day" page today. After all the things that happened in the last 90 years of the 20th century, one could argue that it's even more important today to remember Grunwald than it was in 1910.

Finally, thanks to Wikipedia (which *did* mention Grunwald on ITS "on this date" page), I finally found the official website for the 600th anniversary. It's offered in six languages -- including Belarusian. (Ha!) Some of the historical articles contain interesting ideas, which I must study in preparation for my Pennsic classes.

The Grunwald/Zalgiris anniversary nears...

2010-07-13T15:28:00.009-04:00

Woo-hoo, it's almost that time! Here's a roundup of stuff I've found just through a quick search on Google News.

First off, Reuters has a short feature on an armorer, Tomasz Samula, who is racing to finish outfitting the knights in all their shiny accoutrements. The gentleman who will portray King Jagiello predicts that 6,000 people will be in the military camp and 2,200 will take part in the battle reenactment. (Another report, however, places the expected number of fighters at 1,500.) Reuters has also sent out a short historical blurb for those people whose first reaction is "Grun-what?"

Suite101.com reports that Lithuanian's pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo is the host of recreated Grunwald/Zalgiris battles today through July 20. The pavilion has had more than 1 million visitors so far this year.

Meanwhile, the leaders of Minsk don't want their youths to celebrate the 600th anniversary of Grunwald with a pillow fight, the way they celebrated the 599th. (Today's capital of Belarus was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the time of Zalgiris.)

Tomorrow, the president of Lithuania will join the president-elect of Poland in laying a wreath on the grave of the real Jagiello in Krakow.

Also, the modern-day director of Wawel Castle discusses how this year's anniversary compares to the 500th anniversary in 1910 and how Grunwald resonates through other aspects of Polish history. Another part of this interview -- less related directly to Grunwald, but still interesting -- is here.

Halfway between anniversaries

2010-07-09T13:54:00.009-04:00

We're more or less halfway between two anniversaries of big Polish battles. Now, if you've read this blog before, you already know about Grunwald (July 15, 1410), but today I learned about the Battle of Klushino, which took place on July 4, 1610. That part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's history is outside of the SCA time period, but only just, so reenactors could presumably use their winged hussar uniforms from the late 1500s.

(In case you're wondering, the Poles beat the Russians quite handily.)

I stumbled across this page chock full of photos of the recent Klushino reenactment. Looks as if everybody had a good time!

Meanwhile, back in the High Middle Ages, it looks as if the commemoration of Grunwald/Zalgiris is already beginning.

I wonder whether the Grunwald anniversary will get much notice on the western side of the pond. At least one of the blogs on the Wall Street Journal site has noticed. Who knew that the guy who heads Poland's largest bank in 2010 shares a name with the king who ruled Poland in 1410?

The bank spoke of a war during a press conference on the subordinate bonds. Instead of a clear declaration that the bonds would finance the Bank Zachodni WBK buy, at the meeting with a small group of business journalists Mr. Jagiello spoke of the upcoming 600th anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald, also known as the first Battle of Tannenberg — one of medieval Europe’s largest battles, in which the Teutonic Order was defeated by the Polish-Lithuanian monarch Wladyslaw Jagiello (incidentally, the PKO Bank Polski CEO shares the last name with the famous king).

Mr. Jagiello, the bank CEO that is, would make references to the battle, citing chronicles by medieval author Jan Dlugosz, each time he got questions about the planned acquisition.

Early-summer update

2010-06-28T13:32:00.004-04:00

Whew, it's mighty hot and humid here in the USA's capital city, and I'm thinking Pennsic -- what about you?

Currently I'm reading a book called The Baltic Revolution: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the Path to Independence by Anatol Lieven. It was originally published right after the events of 1990-1991, so it's actually got a bit of a dated feel to it -- it would be interesting to read whether the author's initial hunches were borne out over time. I suspect that Algirdas Brazauskas, the first post-Soviet president of Lithuania, plays a pretty big role in this book -- I just learned from Wikipedia that he died a couple of days ago. (You'd never know that from the American media.)

Although most of the history outlined in Lieven's book is way past the SCA's time period, the author keeps placing the more recent events in the context of the cultural history (both real and imagined) of each of the three Baltic nations. Personally, I'm glad to know about this, if only to answer the question of "why do we care at all about Lithuania?"

In other post-SCA-period news, Wikipedia tells us that today is the anniversary of the Battle of Berestechko, which seems to have primarily involved folks from present-day Poland and Ukraine, even though it took place during the era of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

My Pennsic 39 teaching schedule

2010-05-22T14:57:00.005-04:00

I've known this for a few weeks now, but due to a very hectic month of May, I haven't gotten around to posting it until now.

I will be teaching "Smackdown of the Teutonic Knights: The 600th Anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald" on Saturday, August 7, at 3 p.m. in AS 6 and on Wednesday, August 11, at 4 p.m., also in AS 6.

I will be teaching "Survey of Medieval Lithuania" on Sunday, August 8, at 5 p.m. in AS 11.

To my students and "fans": Mark your calendars now!

To myself: O.K., time to ramp up the research in earnest....

{Edited on May 26 to correct the date of the first session of the Grunwald class.}

I'm committed!

2010-05-02T16:00:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was the deadline to submit Pennsic University class proposals to be listed in the "book" that Pennsic attendees get when they check in. I just squeaked in with my two proposals.

This time I signed up to take two classes -- and I will teach one of them at two separate times. Wow, I'm expanding....

The first class is titled "Smackdown of the Teutonic Knights: The 600th Anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald." (How's that for an intriguing title?) I asked to teach this one Saturday the 7th between 3 and 6 p.m. and Wednesday the 11th between noon and 3 p.m. That way, maybe some people who can't get to one session can make it to the other.

The other is simply titled "Survey of Medieval Lithuania." (Since I've taught at the previous two Pennsics, how can Lithuania still be "the biggest medieval country of which you may not have heard"?) My requested time slot is Sunday the 8th between 3 and 6 p.m.

That's all I know so far. Now here comes the fun part ... getting ready to teach TWO classes!

Drinks & clothing & stuff

2010-04-23T14:43:00.011-04:00

Photos are still forthcoming. I actually didn't take many photos at Slavic University because I was busy doing other things. You can go to the photo gallery mentioned at the end of the previous entry if you really are curious. Most of the pictures I've still got on my memory card are of various steps in the process of making five margučiai last month.

Yesterday someone asked me (on my LiveJournal account) whether I'd been able to find any documentation that Lithuanians made and drank krupnikas in period. Krupnikas, of course, is that dense honey liqueur that Sfandra was offering to fellow Slavik University attendees.

I responded with various links that I picked up from various Web searches. To summarize, I found some online claims that Lithuanians invented krupnikas during the SCA period, without any evidence to back it up, and I also found claims that viryta (another variation on the honey-liqueur theme) was dreamed up by Lithuanian-Americans in Maryland and Pennsylvania.

As I told my correspondent, I have a hard time believing that the immigrants of a century ago invented honey liqueur out of the clear blue sky. I suspect it was a recreation of something they had drunk back in their homeland. (And of course, all the recipes for krupnikas and viryta are a little different from each other, because families individualize the stuff the way they do with meatloaf, spaghetti sauce, and whatnot.) Now, there is no guarantee that Lithuanians were drinking that stuff back in the Middle Ages and Renaissance -- a lot of "folk music," "folk dress," "folk dancing," etc. turns out to be way post-period. (Side note: I have no idea whether this honey krupnikas is at all related to Polish raspberry krupnik, which is basically berries marinated in vodka.)

I can't resist delving into all things Lithuanian, so I decided to do a little Web surfing to check out some of the claims in one of the articles. Long story short, I ended up on a Web site with high-resolution scans of the city maps from the multivolume atlas Civitates orbis terrarum, published between 1572 and 1617. It turns out that collaborators Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg included Vilnius in the third volume of the atlas (1581). Here's what their bird's-eye view of Vilnius looked like:

Now, at this point in my research I'm not so worried how the streets were laid out -- I'm much more interested in the people in the foreground. The site "Working-Class Images" has a close-up view of the man and woman in the center of the foreground. At last -- a period idea of what very ordinary people looked like, not just the fancy Elzbieta and Barbora! Something I might actually be able to sew for myself with my limited skills, too.

The map of Riga, Latvia, also published in 1581, has much less detailed images of people -- nothing for the clothier to take note of there. However, the map of Gdansk from the second volume of the atlas (1575) has several women in the foreground. Their gowns look more detailed and seem to have more German influence than their Lithuanian cousins, but again, they look like ordinary folk and not royalty.

I'm really, really glad I found these resources, because even though I can buy a pattern to make a Cranach-style gown, modifying it and encrusting it to look something like this portrait of Barbara Radziwill would be a bit beyond my skill level. Now I can set some realistic garb-creation goals.

Slavic University, Part Two

2010-04-16T17:58:00.014-04:00

To continue the tale of last Saturday....

Another thing I did during the morning, instead of sitting in on the classes, was to take the pictures of medieval Lithuanian leaders I'd printed on the color printer and glue them onto the tri-fold "school project" cardboard display. Of course, I'd vastly underestimated the amount of display "real estate" those pictures and their captions would take up. But, then again, I'm looking at this as a work in progress. I should make time between now and Pennsic to fill up the rest of the display board with additional maps of the changing borders of Lithuania and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, plus images of artifacts and reconstructed garb (such as it is).

While waiting for Sfandra to finish up her portrait session with Baron Bardulf, I hung out at with the folks at Troll (registration table). It was getting close to the scheduled lunchtime of 12:30 p.m., and Lady Marija, the autocrat (event steward), was starting to fret that she was going to have some huge holes in her afternoon class schedule if Master Mordok and his apprentice, Pan Zygmunt, did not show up from the Middle Kingdom. But, lo and behold, right at 12:30, a car pulled up and disgorged the two of them! That was a long drive from Michigan, through Ohio, and to the eastern panhandle of West Virginia!

For lunch I had cheese cubes, creamy potato soup, a mushroom tart, and some sweet bread. More coffee, too. Why, yes, I run on coffee -- I don't care whether or not it's period.

After lunch I decided to take Master Mordok's class on cloth shoes. He is experimenting with a way to make a simple cloth shoe made up of a sole and a wrap-around vamp. Of course, you put a leather sole on the thing, outside the cloth. Mordok was also interested in getting copies of our individual shoe patterns with our sizes marked on them, because he'd like to start selling them (kids going to college and all that...). We ran well over our allotted hour into the next hour, and even then intruded upon Pan Zygmunt's zupan class, but at least I could listen in while finishing up the cutting. I now have a pattern to fit my weirdly shaped feet and will have to start looking for suitable fabric scraps. I'm not anticipating that I would be able to wear such handmade shoes on a heavy day of Pennsic walking, but maybe I could make some cute lil' booties for indoor events.

Finally it came time for my class on medieval Lithuania. I got about eight people in there, including Igor and Fevronia; the former kept making his signature wisecracks. :-) I think it went pretty well, considering that I hadn't been marinating my brain in the subject leading up to the event. Afterward I collected my books and eggs and packed them in the car.

By the way, you can read the Slavic University lunch and dinner menus here. Sadly, I didn't see any sour cream, but both kinds of pierogies were excellent -- a little different in taste because they were made with buckwheat flour (not sure if they were 100 percent buckwheat or a mix with regular wheat flour). The pre-sliced kielbasa was also outstanding. Some people brought additional dishes, so there was a bit of a potluck going on, but I was slow to get to the table, so I missed the cheesy potatoes. Again, sadness.

After dinner, the shire members gave away some extra bread, so I ended up with a bag of some very dense sourdough slices. As the shire folks busied themselves with putting away furniture and cleaning up the site, I was thinking that I didn't get to talk to Sfandra enough during the day, and she and her friend from Rhode Island were inviting people over to par-taay in their room at the Comfort Inn. So I drove over there at dusk. Good thing Sfandra had told me that the Rite-Aid store was a landmark, because otherwise I would have driven right past the little lane where the hotel was hidden.

As it turned out, Sfandra and Katrina/Catriona had a great crowd in their room: Igor and Fevronia, Mordok and Zygmunt, and me. It was getting late and I was getting a little tired, so Igor and Fevronia graciously invited me to crash on the sofabed in their room at the inn. So I called home and informed my friend about this, and then I hit the krupnikas and the Stoli and the rum. *grin*

(To be honest, Shepherdstown is not right off the interstate highway, and I'm glad I didn't have to negotiate the twists and turns of unfamiliar two-lane state roads in the darkness.)

After watching the first few Tina Fey skits on SNL, I went downstairs and fell asleep like a log. In the morning, I certainly didn't have much to pack up. I washed my face, made one of those big round waffles in the "free breakfast" room off the lobby, and headed home in the brilliant sunshine, past the battlefield of Antietam and several adorable little towns.

Don't worry, I'll show pictures! But this entry has gone on long enough already. In the meantime, the Slavic University website has lots of links to photos.

Slavic University: A happy experience! (Part One)

2010-04-12T11:10:00.019-04:00

Why, yes, I did enjoy Slavic University after all!

I think attendance was about 50 people -- not bad, considering that the kingdoms of Aethelmearc, Atlantia and the East were all holding their Spring Coronation events the same day. (I can't speak for other kingdoms, but I know that Atlantia's Spring Coronation is almost always the first Saturday in April; it was moved back a week in order to avoid conflicting with Easter and Passover.)

Lady Marija Kotok, the autocrat (or event steward, if you prefer) made wonderful site tokens out of amber and leather. They are called znaki. (Literally, the word means "signs" in Polish, according to Google Translate.) I haven't been able to find much listed under that word, because it is so common, but a search for the phrase gromoviti znaci was a bit more enlightening (try it yourself). Here's what was written on the back of our event programs:

These [tokens] have been designed so that you may continue to use them as a period-appropriate piece of your Slavic/Rus garb. Although they show religious symbolism, they are not intended in any way to be religious. Rather like the crosses you see on Templar garb, these represent a period practice of that time.

What is a znaki and how was it important in Slavic culture?

Znaki means a word or symbol, often one associated with power. A talisman or charm. For thousands of years, Slavic people have made talismans. The designs on them were called znaki, which means "charm or symbol." Each of the znaki had special meaning, and since the ancient Slavs had no written alphabet, these symbols were the expression of ideas and the method of communicating magickal desires. During the Middle Ages in times of double-faith, it was common to see many people wearing double znaki. In the case of our tokens, one side bears the symbol of Svarog the ancient pagan sun god, and the other symbol of the new faith. This way they could turn the znaki to present the symbol they wished to be displayed at any given time -- appearing Christian or Pagan as they deemed suitable and/or safe at the moment.

I left home a little later than I had intended, so I missed Sfandra's class on Ukrainian gerdany, or beading. Sadness! (OK, I believe she may teach the class again at Pennsic.) Yes, this is one of those "not-quite-Lithuanian" topics, but a good part of Ukraine was under the influence of Lithuania for a chunk of the SCA time period, and gerdany just looks like something that's fun to do. (Note to self: One of these days I ought to look up the history of Ukraine and Belarus from the Ukrainian and Belarussian points of view.)

So, anyhow, once I arrived around 11 a.m., I busied myself with setting up my books at the library table (where there was already an excellent selection) and my A&S display (the five natural-dyed eggs I'd managed to make before the event). I honestly don't know if anyone noticed my eggs. They probably would have looked much more appealing if I had had the time to shine them up with clear nail polish. (Yeah, that's not a period substance either, but it makes them look purty, and it probably helps to preserve the designs and the shell in the long run.) Around this time I greeted Master Igor and Mistress Fevronia, who are among the former landed baronage of Storvik and still reside in my barony. They were dressed in their full Russian garb and looked great (especially since Master Igor has dropped about 80 pounds recently).

I will write more, I promise!

Eve of Slavic University...

2010-04-09T20:56:00.003-04:00

'Twas the night before Slavic University and I have SO much to do! Don't worry, though, at least I remembered to print out some handouts for my class. :-)

If you're going to be anywhere in the vicinity of West Virginia tomorrow (Saturday, April 10), PLEASE stop by! The event details are all here.

Joint Grunwald/Zalgiris reenactment planned

2010-03-25T14:08:00.003-04:00

On a Polish-news site, I found a newsbrief about the coming 600th anniversary celebration of the Battle of Grunwald, a.k.a. Zalgiris. Apparently, the heads of state of both Poland and Lithuania will attend.

The 600th anniversary of the victorious battle of Polish and Lithuanian forces against the Teutonic Order will be jointly celebrated by both countries’ presidents.

A relevant document has been signed in Warsaw by Lithuania’s deputy defense minister Vytautas Umbrasas and secretary of state at the Polish ministry of culture and national heritage Piotr Zuchowski. It covers cooperation in organizing the celebrations and their promotion.

The anniversary falls on July 15 and the main events shall be held at Malbork Castle, the former seat of the Teutonic knights, and on the fields of Grunwald where the battle of 1410 is to be reconstructed in historical costume by special groups of enthusiasts from Poland and Lithuania.

The official anniversary events will be attended by Polish head of state Lech Kaczynski and Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite.

Go to the original website to read the comments, if you wish.

You could also take this Grunwald-themed tour, though you won't be in Grunwald on Thursday, July 15. Hmmm.

Still counting down the days to Slavic University III in the Kingdom of Aethelmearc. I've been told that the schedule of activities will be posted next week.

Starting the colorful journey...

2010-03-18T23:23:00.004-04:00

I know it's getting late, but I just wanted to post that I have started to make the natural dyes for this season's margučiai.

My male foodie friend and I have been saving up the outer skins from yellow onions since last summer. Following the directions from this website, I took about three handfuls of the dried skins and crumbled them into a bit more than a cup of water. I brought the mixture to a boil and then let it simmer for a while. Some of the water evaporated, so I added some more. Even so, once I strained the liquid into a clean glass jar, the level seems barely enough to cover an egg. Then again, the level will rise when I put an egg into the jar.

Now I'll add the vinegar and cap the jar, and I'll be ready to start dyeing ... at least with that color. I would also like to experiment with turmeric, spinach, and red cabbage, and maybe even grape juice and beets.

A housekeeping question

2010-03-15T12:04:00.004-04:00

My previous post has an obvious spam comment attached to it. I just now enabled moderation for all comments, but how the heck do I delete this spam comment? There doesn't seem to be a button allowing me to do that.

Thanks!

Happy Lithuanian Independence Day -- AGAIN!

2010-03-11T12:17:00.005-05:00

Twenty years ago today, Lithuania rose up and declared itself the first of the Soviet Socialist Republics independent of the USSR. At first it almost seemed like a quaint, quixotic, symbolic thing to do ... but no! The Lithuanians were really free, and as more countries joined them, the Soviet Union crumbled around them! (And of course, some countries had never recognized their incorporation into the USSR in the first place.)

To commemorate this anniversary, here 's a timeline of the events leading up to that momentous decision and a retrospective article from the Irish Times. Finally, here's the obligatory Wikipedia entry.

Remember, it took the Soviet Union almost 18 months from this date to recognize Lithuania's independence -- following bloodshed, a failed Soviet coup and the U.S. president's siding with the Lithuanians. By then, the USSR was about to fall apart.

Springtime

2010-03-08T17:01:00.006-05:00

Slavic University is but a month away, and I'm looking forward to it! I'm not going to have a perfect kit, but I will try to spiff up a bit (and document my efforts here).

I also think I ought to make some margučiai and bring them to Slavic U. What am I talking about? Well, the singular is apparently margutis -- and margučiai are the same as pysanky -- in other words, decorated Easter eggs. Since the event is the weekend after Easter and the mid-Atlantic region will be bursting with new flowers and plant growth, what would be a better A&S display?

I've been saving yellow onion skins for a while now, and I have a gallon zip-bag filled with them. I look forward to boiling them and mixing in a spoonful of vinegar to create a natural dye. I may also experiment with the cooking water from red cabbage and green spinach leaves. These plant-based materials may not provide the intense color of modern commercial dyes, but I'm willing to try them nevertheless. If they all fail, I've got some dye tablets left over from last Easter!

The more common (and especially Ukrainian) technique is to use hot wax to draw the designs first, then color the eggs. I seem to recall, though, that last year I found some examples of Lithuanian eggs in which the artist dyed the eggs first, then scratched off the designs with a knife. I may experiment with both methods.

There's also the question of whether to draw the designs on raw eggs -- and then blow the contents out, leaving only a varnished shell to keep for the long term, or to decorate hard-boiled eggs -- and then have people peel and eat those artworks. Again, I may try both methods. I am thinking that the scratch-off method may leave the eggshell weak. Maybe I should try that on the hard-boiled potential lunch specials. :-)

So, without further ado, here are some links to eye candy!

The decorated egg I made at the 2009 Kingdom A&S Festival (a beginner's effort, to be sure).
A very nice blog post from 2009 with photos of margučiai and even a short video on making them (the artists seem to be using hot wax and either a very fine brush or a pin embedded in a pencil eraser).
The previous blogger's 2008 set of Lithuanian eggs.
There's a whole Flickr pool of photos of margučiai!
A Wordpress blog with lots of photos of pysanky decorated in a more Ukrainian style.

Happy Lithuanian Independence Day!

2010-02-16T18:26:00.002-05:00

Today is the anniversary of Lithuania's brief independence in 1918. In honor of the date, I'm posting a couple of links to YouTube videos (here and here) showing some military-type observances of the 10th anniversary celebrations of independence in 1928. It's way out of the SCA's period, of course, but in some of the banners, and in the decorations at the end of the second film, you can see the Vytis and the Pales of Gediminas -- both ancient heraldic symbols of Lietuva and its leaders.

My apologies for again abandoning this blog for a couple of months. Not much happening here at the moment. However, the calendar is sneaking up on me -- Slavic University is less than two months away! Holy moley! Also, registration for Pennsic University at Pennsic 39 is now open. I guess it's really getting to be time to decide whether I'm going to teach something special about the Battle of Grunwald's 600th anniversary and, if so, what I'm going to say.

One note: At the Storvik Performers' Revel, I told a five-minute version of the Tale of the Battle of Zalgiris, and it went over pretty well with the audience, even though I'm not much of a bard. Maybe I will practice that for future use at SCA events this year.

Baltic-style provisioning

2009-12-19T20:52:00.005-05:00

Ah, where to get Eastern European food without spending all that money on airfare and hotels? Wouldn't it be great to have a listing of stores and restaurants that provide such tasty ethnic victuals?

Disclaimer: The following is not a commercial endorsement. I'm simply pointing out a few food sources that I know of.

Not far from Storvik, I've found the Kielbasa Factory in Rockville, Md. LOTS of varieties of frozen pierogies and other treats. Plenty of candy and canned goods imported from Poland. Some of these things are Polish specialties; others are simply food products you can get elsewhere, but with Polish-language labels. I think the people who run the store are natives of Poland, too.

Also in Rockville, plus two other sites in northern Virginia, is the Russian Gourmet. I haven't had a chance to check it out yet, but I hope to do so in the new year.

In my hometown of Gardner, Mass., Bonk's Market is still in business. I know, "Bonk's" isn't much of a Slavic name, but when I was growing up, it was the place to go for Lithuanian "white" (i.e., not smoked) kielbasa and fresh rye bread. (My hometown has even more French Canadian Americans than Polish Americans -- that's why Bonk's also serves up poutines rapées at this time of year.) I haven't been to Bonk's in years, but when I'm in Massachusetts next week, I'll have to check it out!

In the Boston area, the purveyor of Eastern European groceries seems to be the Baltic European Deli not far from Andrew Square. I've never been there, but maybe I ought to check it out on a future trip.

Finally, I stumbled upon PolishPlate.com, a Web site that lists lots of Polish shops and restaurants around the U.S. Of course I can't vouch for its completeness. Mostly, I'd like to hear from other Slavic Interest Group members, SCA folks, and re-enactors who can suggest food-related business they're familiar with.

Lithuania's castle in the air?

2009-11-30T22:17:00.002-05:00

I meant to post this over the weekend, but I got busy.

Believe it or not, the Washington Post actually published a news story about a medieval Lithuanian palace! Of course, the article painted the palace -- actually an ongoing reconstruction of a 15th-century palace in Old Town Vilnius -- as ye olde white-elephant boondoggle. After all, nobody remembers exactly what it looked like, since the original was destroyed 200 years ago. Ah, well, even if it can't serve as SCA documentation, I'd like to visit it some day -- along with the rest of Old Town Vilnius.

Slavic stuff on the horizon...

2009-11-30T12:36:00.006-05:00

Since I last posted on this blog, I've been added to the tentative class list for Slavic University 2010. (Yes, I know, that's the title of my existing course instead of the one I've been developing, but we'll see how far the development goes.) Several other classes have been announced. I know that Posadnitsa Sfandra is a dynamic teacher because I've taken one or two of her Pennsic classes over the years.

Plus, Baron Bardulf is planning to bring his portrait-photography setup to Slavic U. He is the gentleman who took the formal photograph of me in my Cavalier outfit at Atlantia's Twelfth Night 2009. This is just a little more motivation for me to get a Baltic/Lithuanian outfit together in time for the event. Of course, if the Baron's time gets all filled up with appointments with people who haven't yet had the chance to pose for him, I will let them have their turns.

One more thing: I've learned that the Midwinter's Revel (Barony of Lochmere, Kingdom of Atlantia) will host an "Anything Slavic" A&S competition/demonstration. Since this is a fairly local event for me (roughly a 45-minute drive from my residence), I'll be really tempted to prepare something to enter -- and maybe not even Lithuanian specifically, just something Slavic. (This competition theme wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that Their Royal Majesties have Russian personas and live in Lochmere, right? Naah....)

Just what I was looking for!

2009-11-09T15:09:00.004-05:00

Not long after I wrote last week's post, I learned that Slavic University 2010 has indeed been confirmed for next April! I had met Lady Marija at Pennsic 38 and she said this event was in the works, but I didn't want to mention it on this blog until there was an official announcement.

Slavic University will take place April 10, 2010, in the Shire of Sylvan Glen in the Kingdom of Aethelmearc. Mundanely, that's Shepherdstown, West Virginia -- in fact, the event site is less than one mile from Atlantia's border! I can drive to it in 90 minutes to two hours, depending on traffic.

I told Lady Marija I'd be happy to publicize the event within Atlantia. I'm thinking of putting together some flyers to hand out at the University of Atlantia in February and the Kingdom Arts & Sciences Festival in March. Atlantia's current King and Queen, Their Majesties Vladimir and Kalisa, have Slavic personas -- see their photo here, at least until the next Coronation on April 3 -- so I'm hoping that sparks at least a little more interest.

So, there I have it -- more motivation to get off my duff and dive back into Lithuanian history and material culture!

One semi-related piece of news: the Lithuanian embassy has donated 62 new books about Lithuania to the Library of Congress. Dang, I can hardly wait to get a look at them!

The post-Pennsic sloth continues...

2009-11-03T17:51:00.004-05:00

... but there is a ray of hope.

Seriously, you've probably noticed that I haven't updated this blog in over a month. It's a rather quiet time for me in the SCA; my home barony isn't having another event until February, and other things, such as mundane business travel, have gotten in the way of my attending other Atlantian events.

However, I recently noticed that the February 2010 session of the University of Atlantia will be held in the Shire of Isenfir, which is in central Virginia. It's a rather long but still reasonable drive for a day trip. Maybe this will become motivation to prepare for a "test run" of either of my class ideas for Pennsic 39. I'm open to suggestions, of course.

Cavalier outfit, again

2009-09-22T18:22:00.006-04:00

Here's a better portrait of of me in the Cavalier outfit that I mentioned in the previous entry. It was taken at Atlantian Twelfth Night 2009 by Baron Bardulf Rauen of the Shire of Border Vale Keep. He kindly takes portraits of Atlantians with a professional camera/lighting setup and doesn't even charge for it. I am most grateful to him for making me look good!

I do enjoy this Cavalier outfit, even though I don't wear it often (and definitely NOT at outdoor events). My only quibble is that I wasn't wearing a bum roll under the skirt because I couldn't find it in time. Now I think I know where I put it.

And, yes, I know that this has nothing to do with Lithuania ... but I think a Lithuanian woman visiting western Europe would have "done what the Romans did" and chosen clothing to suit her new environment.

I would really like to write about late-period Lithuanian clothing -- the little we know about it -- but that will have to wait until another time.

Update on post-Pennsic sloth

2009-09-16T19:04:00.003-04:00

In my last entry I reported on "post-Pennsic sloth." So, what have I been doing?

I'm still working on the second of a pair of mundane knitted socks -- the first ever that I have knit. Eventually I'd like to knit stockings in a more medieval/Renaissance pattern, but that's for the future.

I started messing around with tablet weaving on a secondhand loom that Lady Teleri gave me when she moved several years ago. I'm only using cotton yarn from my stash. I'll have to post some photos.

The major project is a non-SCA wedding at which the musicians of Three Left Feet will be performing on September 26. I'll have to learn some new pieces, and I need to get my Cavalier outfit all in order. This will be a good chance for me to expand my musical horizons in terms of style (non-dance music) and ensemble playing (a different lineup of musicians from our normal Monday night dance practices).

Post-Pennsic Sloth

2009-08-24T15:44:00.005-04:00

My apologies for taking so long to post the new-for-2009, improved handout from my Pennsic 38 survey course on medieval Lithuania. I will publicize the URL when it goes "live."

While you are waiting for the handout, please feel free to explore my online bookmarks at http://delicious.com/luscious_purple. Try the keywords "lithuania," "baltic," or "sig" (for "Slavic Interest Group"). Not everything in my bookmark file is period or period-appropriate. I've got some modern-day cultural stuff in there, plus even a few Victorian-era depictions of medieval folks like Mindaugas -- depictions that are so obviously wrong. But I bookmark things there as soon as I find them, and I figure that eventually I'll study them further and figure out whether or not they are accurate and/or useful.

In the meantime, I'm trying to poke myself into doing some A&S projects. I had hoped to make a proper apgalvis or diadem for the Tempore Atlantia competition at Coronation, which is this coming Saturday. Tempore Atlantia is a rotating series of competitions for reconstructed items of material culture from a given time period. I could probably argue that different types of diadems were worn in the Baltic era on both sides of the A.D. 1000 dividing line, although I was thinking of making an early-period one. Oh, well, I can always wait until the next pre-1000 competition, which will probably be next April. Maybe I could actually get the thing DONE by then.

Also, at Pennsic 38 I took three classes in Old Norse poetry specifically because of the upcoming poetry challenge at Storvik's 30th Baronial Birthday. One cannot possibly write verse in "Eddic style" without knowing what Eddic style is (and is not). Our Poeta Atlantiae has provided additional resources. Now all I have to do is find some inspiration and apply pencil to paper. Inspiration? Ha ha ha.

Oh, and I'm knitting myself some not-very-period socks ... and trying to find time to practice my music ... and last week a friend tempted me with a brief lesson in tablet weaving ... aargh!

Report on Pennsic 38 ... and looking ahead to Pennsic 39 already

2009-08-12T12:34:00.003-04:00

Overall, I believe that my survey class on medieval Lithuania went well ... even though I forgot to bring the tri-fold display board on which I was going to post photos, maps, etc. D'OH!!! Good thing I brought my stack of books along, even though I had to spend most of my time at War worrying whether they would get wet if it rained. I was able to pass around some of the books to illustrate my points.

Once again, the tent was full of students, and some of them asked really good questions. One person told me afterward that she learned more about her ancestry than she had ever known before. I'm always glad to help in that regard!

Next year I'm thinking of doing Pennsic University a little differently. In fact, I have thought of two separate classes to teach:

The 600th anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald happens next year, just before Pennsic. Wouldn't an hour-long presentation about this battle and its historical context be just fabulous? Perhaps the subtitle of the class could be "Smackdown of the Teutonic Knights" or "Last Battle of the Crusades." Hee hee!
A survey of Lithuanian women's clothing through the ages. (Sorry, guys, I am less knowledgeable about what the menfolk wore, especially since I don't have to dress a guy for the SCA.)

As always, I welcome comments from my readers! I'm particularly interested in hearing whether a non-fighter like myself would be a credible lecturer on a subject like Grunwald.

Also, at the annual Slavic Interest Group (SIG) meeting at Pennsic, I tasted some incredible krupnikas from a New England brewer. That was seriously smooth and had great legs! Sorry, the brewer doesn't seem to have a Web site, but I have his business card, so he may be getting an order from me.

Other Eastern European classes at Pennsic 38

2009-07-22T12:11:00.003-04:00

I'm certainly not the only Pennsic University teacher who will be teaching about Eastern Europe. The summer 2009 issue of Slovo, the newsletter of the Slavic Interest Group (SIG), lists all sorts of cool classes on clothing, iconography, bardic arts, history, and material culture. You could even brush up on your conversational Russian.

Now, time for some Pennsic prep work!

My Pennsic class on Lithuania!

2009-07-20T14:50:00.003-04:00

If you are going to Pennsic War 38 this year, you're invited to my Pennsic University class, titled "Lithuania: The Biggest Medieval Country of Which You May Not Have Heard." I will hold the class on Wednesday, August 5 (middle of "War Week"), at 2 p.m. in A&S tent #1.

Summary from the Pennsic book: "In 1400 CE, Lithuania stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea. I will discuss its history from ancient tribes to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, plus clothing, names, culture, and more as time permits."

I hope to have a lot more copies of my handout this year than I did last year. I'm also considering putting up a cardboard display of various maps and pictures, so that people can browse them. I'm even hoping to display a few photos that I took at the local Lithuanian Festival in May:

These are some "prehistoric" artifacts in a display case at the Lithuanian Festival. But remember, in Lithuania, "prehistoric" tends to mean "prior to 1200 CE."

I also hope to attend the Slavic Interest Group (SIG) gathering on Tuesday, August 4, from noon to 3 p.m. in A&S tent #12. It's a great networking event for SCAdians interested in all parts of Eastern Europe.

Happy Rasos, Kupolės and/or Joninės!

2009-06-24T14:50:00.005-04:00

Happy St. John's Day, Saint Jonas' Festival, or Fête St-Jean-Baptiste! Or maybe I should call it by one of its other, more Lithuanian Pagan names: Rasos, Kupolės, Joninės. So many names for a single day celebrated by so many cultures.

Yes, the summer solstice actually occurred on June 21 this year, but June 24 is the traditional date of Midsummer Day festivities -- a blending of Pagan and Christian sensibilities, or one or the other, depending on where you are and what you believe it. (Personally, I think it's cool that the day is important to both Lithuanians and French Canadians -- that takes care of all my ancestors.)

While poking around on the Web, I found this Vimeo video of a modern-day Rasos-Kupolės Pagan festival in Lithuania. At first the participants look as if they're getting ready for Pennsic, but shortly the techno music starts up and the festivities look like a cross between an urban rave and Burning Man. :-)

I'm starting to get my act together for my Pennsic University class, which will be held Wednesday, August 5, at 2 p.m. in A&S Tent #1. That's the day after the Slavic Interest Group (SIG) gathering on Tuesday, August 4, at noon in A&S Tent #12. If there's anything that you, my loyal readers, would like me to discuss on the general topic of medieval Lithuania, please let me know. However, please remember that I'll have only 50-55 minutes to talk.

It's festival time!

2009-05-27T17:24:00.005-04:00

For the past several years I've been happy to attend the annual Lithuanian Festival held at the National Guard armory in Catonsville, Maryland (a suburb of Baltimore). The 2009 festival -- One Thousand Years of Culture! -- is coming up this weekend; the press release is here (PDF).

This is my annual opportunity to chow down on cepelinai and kopustai and kugelis and wash it down with Utenis or another imported beer from the native land. Then there is viryta -- a honey liqueur a bit more concentrated than regular mead, and flavored with a combination of spices that seems to have been dreamed up by Lithuanian immigrants to the New World (*sigh*).

I enjoy watching the dance group Malunas, even though the music and dances probably aren't medieval and the costumes certainly are not. The shopping is good, too; I've picked up a few decent books at past festivals, plus some amber earrings, which, sadly, I always manage to lose.

On Saturday, look for me in the red, gold and green tie-dyed shirt with the drawing of two skeletons dressed in Lithuanian national costumes. Bonus points if you know the story behind that picture!

Pennsic University Class

2009-05-15T12:36:00.003-04:00

I have submitted my class to Pennsic University for Pennsic War XXXVIII.

Just like last year, the class will be titled, "Lithuania: The Biggest Medieval Country Of Which You May Not Have Heard." This year there's a strict character limit on class descriptions in the Pennsic book, so I wrote simply: "Survey of Lithuanian history from ancient tribes to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, plus clothing, names, culture, and more as time permits." Note those last three words. :-)

Last year I went to Pennsic wondering if anybody was going to show up for my class. As it turned out, every seat in the A&S tent was taken, and people were standing in the opening to the tent until the rain arrived just as I was wrapping things up. Granted, I don't know how many of the attendees are interested in the Baltic lands and how many just saw the class title and thought, "Holy [expletive deleted]! I've been in the SCA for 20 years and there's still a country I haven't heard about!" Nevertheless, I was gratified for the turnout.

Looking forward to another successful class in early August!

Question for my readers

2009-04-23T14:56:00.003-04:00

Last year I taught "Lithuania: The Biggest Medieval Country Of Which You Might Not Have Heard" at Pennsic University. The link to the class handout is here (and it's also linked to the first post in this blog).

The deadline for getting courses listed in the Pennsic XXXVIII book is coming up FAST (a week from tomorrow, I think). Do you think I should teach this course again? Should I change the focus at all? I'm not sure that I have enough material to stretch into two separate one-hour classes, although I will try to work on that for Pennsic XXXIX in 2010.

Comments and suggestions welcome!

Margutis time!

2009-04-11T22:21:00.007-04:00

Easter Sunday hasn't started yet where I live, but I'm sure the preparations have been going on for a while now. For many of us, the preparation involves coloring eggs.

A month ago, at Atlantia's Kingdom Arts & Sciences Festival, a woman was running a demonstration of making pysanky, or Ukranian Easter eggs. I had the opportunity to make one myself. I can't say I'm the world's greatest artist, but here's how mine turned out:

I enjoyed doing this pysanka, certainly. But how would it fit in with my Lithuanian persona?

Well, as you might suspect, pysanky are part of a lot of Eastern European cultures. The Lithuanians use the word margutis for this type of artwork; it doesn't sound much like pysanky, but there you have it. Lithuanian eggs tend to be a little more muted than their Ukrainian counterparts, with more earth tones, and different patterns too. Right after the Kingdom Arts & Sciences Festival, I found this example. I also found a page describing Lithuanian Easter customs. It's interesting to read through the customs and tease out the old Pagan traditions mingled in with the Christianity. The essay also explains why, for years, I could never find other people who did "egg fights" with hard-boiled eggs on Easter Sunday, the way my family did. It's a Lithuanian custom! My father must have gotten it from his Lithuanian-immigrant parents.

By searching around a bit, I found more examples of Lithuanian decorated eggs. You can probably find more, especially if you search on the word margutis. Finally, through the Web site of the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture in Chicago, I found an online tribute to Ramute Plioplys, a folk artist in the Lithuanian tradition.

Enjoy!

The Millennium Odyssey

2009-04-09T18:19:00.004-04:00

I can't believe I haven't already mentioned that this year is the millennial year of Lithuania! Well, specifically, it's the 1000th anniversary of the first mention of Lithuania in a manuscript (the Quedlinburg Annals). Of course, the nation is commemorating the round number in typical fashion.

One thing I think is cool is the Millennium Odyssey -- the voyage of the yacht Ambersail around the world to visit "Lithuanian communities" on five continents. The ship arrived in Miami just two days ago. Sad to say, although Baltimore has a thriving Lithuanian American community, the Ambersail won't be sailing up the Chesapeake Bay to the Inner Harbor. It's bypassing Maryland and Washington, D.C., and going straight to New York. :-(

Ah, well, next month the annual Lithuanian festival will still take place in the Baltimore suburbs, and I'll have my fill of culture for another year.

Just a quick update

2009-04-07T18:03:00.002-04:00

I've created a "syndicated feed" for this blog over at LiveJournal, where I have been active for many years. Mostly I'm doing this post as a test to make sure the feed is working.

If you're new to this blog, please feel free to check out the older entries and also my Pennsic 37 class handout.

Topics I would like to cover in the not-so-distant future include period Lithuanian documents and my upcoming adventures in the world of SCA tents.

Finding stuff in the "missing" book

2009-03-28T17:27:00.006-04:00

Last weekend I purchased my second copy of "Women's Garb in Northern Europe, 450-1000 C.E.: Frisians, Angles, Franks, Balts, Vikings, and Finns" by Christina Krupp and Carolyn A. Priest-Dorman. It is #59 in the Compleat Anachronist publication series of the SCA. (To buy back issues of this fine quarterly publication yourself, go here.) I had bought my first copy of CA #15 from Poison Pen Press a few years back, but it's gotten lost somewhere, and I didn't have it in front of me when I taught my Pennsic course last summer.

I vaguely recalled that I'd noticed something wrong with the booklet the first time I read it, but I couldn't remember what it was until I read the section on Baltic garb again. It turns out that not all the sources mentioned in the Baltic garb section are actually listed in the bibliography in the back of the booklet. One of them was "Moora, 1932" and the other was "Kulikauskiene & Rimaniene, 1958, Abb. 567, reproduced in Ginteus."

Thanks to Worldcat.org, I think I've tracked down the former. It's a book called Die Vorzeit Estlands ("The Prehistory of Estonia") by H. Moora, published in Tartu, Estonia, by Akadeemiline Kooperatiiv. Fortunately for me, the Library of Congress has a copy, so I might actually get to see it someday.

I'm having more trouble with the second search. "Ginteus" doesn't even exist in Google. Through BookFinder.com I noticed a volume called Senoves Lietuviu Drabuziai Ir Ju Papuosalai: (I-XVI A.) ["Ancient Lithuanian Clothing and Ornaments: (I-XVI century)"] by R. Volkaite-Kulikauskiene, published by the Lietuvos Istorijos Institutas (Lithuanian Historical Institute) in 1997. Again, the Library of Congress has this and other works by this author. (If she's the same person as in the 1958 reference, then she's had quite a long career!)

I wonder if "Ginteus" is a typo for "Ginters," as in the bibliographical listing for Tracht und Schmuck in Birka und im Ostbaltischen Raum ("Costume and Jewelry in Birka and the East Baltic Area") by Valdemars Ginters (also at the Library of Congress).

I suppose I could e-mail the co-author of CA #59 for the identity of "Ginteus," although since it's been 17 years since the booklet was published, she probably doesn't have the answer at her fingertips.

To summarize, I'm really glad I got myself another copy of this CA issue, because it's very handy for getting some plausible female garb together. However, I have to remind myself that this booklet was published in 1992, just months after the Soviet Union fell apart and the Baltic republics got their full identity back. I'm sure that much new research has been done in the last 17 years, and it would be great to pull it together so that it could be of use in the SCA.

Persona Pentathlon ... someday?

2009-02-18T18:06:00.003-05:00

Every year, Atlantia holds a Kingdom Arts & Sciences Festival, at which the finest artisans and performers of our fair lands gather to compete, network, or just show off their stuff. An annual competition for adults is the Persona Pentathlon, in which each entrant must display five entries pertaining to a single persona -- a tenth-century Viking, perhaps, or a 16th-century Elizabethan.

I would love to "evangelize" medieval Lithuania by choosing one time period in Lithuanian history and crafting five related entries, all representing things that a woman of that era would have done or known about. But what to do, what to do? My knowledge, so far, is more abstract than practical.

Scribal arts -- of the five major categories, this is the one I'm weakest in. I love books, just don't ask me to illustrate or bind them....
Costuming and needle arts -- I could certainly come up with a few costume components, but I would have to document them to Lithuania and/or the Baltic region quite precisely.
Pyrotechnica -- Not all of these would be applicable to Lithuania, but perhaps I could put together some jewelry and one of those headbands that some women wore over their veils.
Domestic arts and sciences -- I would have to do some research to figure out which "traditional" foods are really SCA-period (I'm sure that potato-laden dishes such as ceplinai and kugelis are NOT). Weaving is important to Lithuanian culture, of course, but I'm not very good at that.
Courtly arts -- if I could get my hands on kanklės or skuduciai (panpipes), I could try some Lithuanian tunes -- again, IF I could document them. (I don't think anyone wants to hear my solo voice.)

I certainly don't have my act together for this year's Persona Pentathlon, but I'm going to be looking at all the 2009 entries to see the amazing skills among Atlantia's populace. And I hope to do some networking. As I said in a previous entry, I want to develop a Lithuanian persona much more fully, but it strikes me that most of the stuff I've been doing and teaching has been based on tertiary sources at best (photos of European reenactors, Victorian-era drawings, books and Web sites that discuss "folk arts" without specifying their time period, etc.). I want to increase my authenticity -- well, as best I can without actually journeying to Lithuania, which is a bit out of my price range, sadly.

Featured entry of the day

2009-02-09T15:32:00.004-05:00

Well, lookie here, see what's the featured article of the day over at Wikipedia -- the House of Gediminas! Now, I'm no stranger to this part of Lithuanian history, but for the average reader of the online encyclopedia, this must be pushing the limits of obscurity.

A quick read of the entry reveals one of the problems in getting people to take an interest in Lithuanian history: the names are long and complicated and don't have much to do with English, German, or the Romance languages (at least superficially). Gediminas, Skalmantas, Daumantas, Jaunutis, Mindaugas, Traidenis, Vaišvilkas, Algirdas, Kęstutis, Vytenis, Vytautas the Great, Vainius, Vykintas -- hoo boy, even my head starts spinning after a while, and I grew up in a town with a lot of people with non-Anglo-Saxon names.

Part of the problem for modern-day scholars is that, as this author writes, Lithuanians didn't really use surnames until the late 14th and early 15th centuries. Before then, men used single names that came from two root words: "much strength" or "great hope" or something like that. (My mundane surname seems to mean either "much patience" or "much endurance" -- I guess I'm descended from a guy who had a hard life.)

Someone else wrote an article on feminine names from the Gediminid line, but as you can see, there aren't too many attractive-sounding ones to choose from.

Some people of Lithuanian descent actually use some of these old names as their given names. When I was a kid, the electrician who worked on our house was named Gediminas -- no wonder we always called him "Gid"!

What I'm trying to accomplish as Lady Patricia of Trakai

2009-01-23T14:41:00.006-05:00

In my five years of participation in the SCA, I've dabbled in a lot of different activities, some more so than others. I've made a few garments, I wove/braided/knitted several wire necklaces (in a technique some call trichinopoly), I've learned about the historical uses of knitting, I've brewed a few concoctions of varying quality, and I've tried to learn nallbinding and sprang. At the moment, I'm probably most active in instrumental music. (When I sing around a campfire, people tend to drift away to another campfire.)

But I have one overarching mission, one to which I alluded in my introductory post: I want to increase and spread the knowledge of Lithuanian history and culture within the SCA.

The method of "spreading" knowledge is obvious -- teaching classes at our SCA "universities" -- but what about increasing knowledge? As someone who is partly of Lithuanian heritage, I've been aware all my life that most Americans (from whose ranks the SCA draws much, though not all, of its membership) hardly know anything about Lithuania. During the Soviet era, it was one of the most closed regions of the USSR, and it was difficult if not impossible for Americans to get permission to visit the region unless they had relatives there. Fortunately, Lithuania regained its independence right around the time that Internet technologies exploded in the early 1990s, so suddenly I was learning about stuff I'd wondered about all my life.

Since its inception, the SCA has been mostly about Western European medieval culture -- it's what we all learned about as we were growing up, and it's the inspiration for countless fantasy novels and movies. However, as our modern society has grown more diverse and less Eurocentric, SCAdians are exploring all sorts of other cultures that interacted with Western Europe prior to 1600 (or 1650, depending on how you define "pre-17th-century").

For Eastern European countries and cultures, the umbrella group within the SCA is the Slavic Interest Group (SIG). SIG covers a huge swath of territory, from the Balkans and Poland to Kievan Rus to the central Asian steppes. I've been on the SIG e-mail list for a few years now, and I've found a few other Polish-Lithuanian enthusiasts -- from as far away as Australia (Lady Asfridhr of the Barony of Stormhold in the Kingdom of Lochac).

So far, I've learned enough about Lithuania to teach an hour-long "introductory" class (again, see the link in the first post in this blog). The warm reception I got for both classes (at Pennsic, it was SRO!) has convinced me that there is an interest in the topic -- at least, the title of the class gets people in the door to see what they've missed in all the other medieval history courses they've taken throughout their lives. But I feel as if I've only scratched the surface.

What do we mean by "Lithuania"? The incorporated borders of the modern-day nation? The farthest extent of the Grand Duchy, which stretched to the Black Sea? The ancient tribes who inhabited the Baltic coast -- the Letts, Semigallans, Livonians, Curonians, etc? Watch for my future posts on the subject.

Countdown to Twelfth Night

2009-01-09T16:00:00.002-05:00

It takes quite a bit of work to get out the door and head to a major event like Kingdom Twelfth Night. You don't just jump into the car and drive off.

I've already accomplished some of the prep work: hand-washing my chemise, purchasing some finger foods to nibble on during the day (because our hosts are not offering lunch, only dinner), printing out some sheet music that I don't already have, and printing out the directions to the site in Virginia.

Tonight I will have to:

press the parts of my chemise that will show when I'm wearing the dress, and probably press some of the cloth napkins
check the silk dress to see if it needs touch-up pressing
check feast gear to make sure it's all clean (sometimes it gets dusty)
pack garb, feast gear, and musical instruments/supplies and get them out to the car TONIGHT because it's supposed to be rainy tomorrow
make sure the perishable products are grouped together in the refrigerator so that I can grab them tomorrow morning.

Here is my packing list:

the three pieces of my Cavalier outfit (jacket, shirt and chemise -- see previous post)
the Cavalier hat (for indoors) and a felted wool hat (for possible rain outdoors)
my wool cloak (needs some repairs, but it's what I have right now)
pearl earrings and necklace; Opal medallion
extra pair of shoes for dealing with the weather
feast gear in its basket
cameras (video and still)
small basket (for carrying small items around the site)
musical instruments and accoutrements
small cooler with snacks and the rest of the Diet Peach Snapple in the back of the fridge
directions to the site
maybe the olive-oil lamp (but then I have to bring olive oil).

Quite a bit of stuff, huh? And this is only a day trip to an indoor site!

Cavalier outfit

2009-01-06T16:26:00.004-05:00

I'd like to write a little bit about the outfit I'll be wearing for Kingdom Twelfth Night.

This dress was made in the Cavalier style, which actually existed in the early to mid-17th century (see this page). That makes it a bit post-period in terms of the SCA, which generally covers the sweep of human history prior to 1600 C.E. (In other words, the time span ends with the Elizabethan era, since England's Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603.) However, I wore this outfit to Kingdom Twelfth Night 2007 and I got no complaints, just lots of compliments. It's stunning enough that nobody seemed to get bent out of shape.

The jacket, chemise and skirt were hand-sewn by a woman who played in the SCA and other reenactment groups before giving up the historical stuff to go to law school. Sadly, I do not know her name. When she was preparing for law school, she passed along some of her outfits to Dame Brenna of Storvik, who sold them for her at an SCA event in northern Atlantia.

The jacket and skirt are made of rose-colored silk (silk noil, maybe?) and have gold-colored trim. The jacket uses hooks and eyes to stay closed; I attached some extra-large hooks and eyes to make sure the thing stays closed. The chemise is white cotton; the lace on the collar appears to be hand-made by somebody, but the lace on the cuffs seems to be of commercial provenance.

Mostly this outfit fits me amazingly well, considering that I never met its creator. The one small detail is that I can't button the jacket cuffs because my forearms are too fat, but I hope the large cuffs on the chemise disguise that. Perhaps I should get some fabric sizing to make the chemise cuffs a little stiffer.

To accessorize the outfit, I purchased a black Cavalier hat from Tall Toad Costumes and added a rose-colored feather. I also purchased a pearl necklace from a jewelry-maker at Kingdom Twelfth Night 2007; sorry, I cannot remember the name.

I'm looking forward to an enjoyable Twelfth Night this year, and I'll try to remember to ask Dame Brenna for the name of the costumer.

Introductory post

2009-01-06T16:08:00.003-05:00

Welcome! I'm Lady Patricia of Trakai. I've been in the SCA for five years, all of which have been spent in the Barony of Storvik, part of the northern lands of the Kingdom of Atlantia.

I serve as my barony's branch herald and as chronicler to the Atlantian College of Heralds (meaning I edit the bimonthly newsletter, "Herald's Point"). I dabble in a lot of the arts and sciences: instrumental music, Viking wire knitting/weaving (trichinopoly), cross-stitch, kumihimo, and garb sewing.

To speed things up, here are links to my SCA resume (http://planet.pat.googlepages.com/) and the handout from the class I have taught about Lithuania at both Pennsic University and the University of Atlantia (http://planet.pat.googlepages.com/lithuaniaclasshandout).

My intent for this blog is to use it for sharing my ongoing SCA projects with other people.