Monday March 07, 2005
Here's the second post. I separated them because it seemed like the thing to do as I talk about my real life in the first and talk about my hobby in the second.
September is a long way away, but I suspect it's going to fly by. This is going to be the most interesting reign I will have seen because for the first time I'm seeing it from the inside. I've never been part of retinue before.
Yesterday, though, I swore my fealty to TRMs Tristram and Katrine as Queen's Champion.
Not surprisingly, I am incredibly excited. I have been bouncing since Her Majesty asked me at Estrella. The request came from nowhere, as while I have spent time with Her Majesty and her husband Eric St. Leger at events before, I did not know them very well. I think I'll know them better in six months, :).
Some early notes. I've never dealt with Kingdom regalia before. Now I have in my possession the Champion's Axe; the Champion's Circlet, a replica of the circlets that the Warlords of Calontir wore; two Queen's Favor Gloves, one beaded, one painted; several Champion's Tabards, including a beautiful embroidered tunic donated by HE Magnus, a great friend, who was Queen's Champion a few reigns ago. The history that each of these items has is amazing, simply holding these things is an incredible honor and a great responsibility. They're also a great inspiration. I can already tell that if I even think about relaxing any, a simple look at one of these items and my enthusiasm will be reinvigorated.
The overall responsibility is awesome. I felt a great responsiblity to live up to the ideals of the fyrd when I was fyrded three years ago. This is a hundred times more. I am now a representative of the Crown and Kingdom of Calontir and a missed shot or a crass word or a mistreatment of someone now does not reflect on me but on something much greater than me, something I truly love. I am both terrified and overjoyed at the prospect of living up to this ideal.
More mundanely, I am very glad I went and got gel-soles for my boots last week. After two courts, fighting, and helping clean site, my feet and knees are sore. I shudder to think what it would have been like without the new soles.
Stamina is my greatest concern, in fact. I'm very concerned with being able to keep up at Gulf Wars, but most importantly at Pennsic. Her Majesty's request has crystallized my goal of exercising into a need, so that's a positive. And it's not just feet. The axe that the Queen's Champion bears is very heavy.
So Coronation is over. Gulf Wars is next week, and I am thanking my lucky stars that I have spent the past two summers up in Ealdormere. Those summers gave me a much better understanding and appreciation of the SCA as a whole I feel, and I am glad for the experience as I approach a foreign war as a person who will interact with Royals and peers of other Kingdoms. It should be one of the most interesting and fun wars I've ever been to.
Anyway, much of my LiveJournal over the next six months will consist of me trying to record my experiences as Queen's Champion. No matter what the next few months entail, I know that I'm going to grow as a person because I'm going to have to to fulfill my obligations.