Toys For The Royal Toy Chest

Queen Thyra put forth a request for toys for the Royal Toy Chest.  As the kidlet has been given the opportunity to choose a toy donated by some generous individual, I felt like I should create something to give back.  Plus, I really like making toys.

I made these wooden soldiers.  The knights are dressed in the colors of the east, but the one in green is based off pictures of King Edward at his crown tourney.  Her Majesty later commented that she really wanted to keep that one for herself, so there are plans to do another one for Her amusement.

I also did a soft doll with a lovely embroidered face and a simple dress and, much to my dismay, I  didn't get a picture of it.  I hope that whichever child received her will think she's pretty cool for a toy that doesn't light up.

Period Gift Giving

This is a bit of art and an article I wrote for the December 2012 issue of Northern Watch, the newsletter of Endewearde.

With the winter holiday season now upon us, we find ourselves bombarded with advertising for gift-giving ideas. It can make these last months of the year a delight or a hectic nightmare. One of the great parts about the SCA, though, is just how easy it can be to find that perfect token of admiration and affection for anyone else who partakes of our hobby, and often without breaking the bank.

Gift Giving is Period

While Christmas as we celebrate it today is a decidedly modern invention, the roots of its gift-giving custom can be traced back to the Romans. Roman poet and satirist Marcus Valerius Martialis, known to English-speakers as Martial, wrote two books on the customs of the winter festival Saturnalia, one of which is solely on gifts. It was Martial's opinion that you could judge the quality of a friendship by the gifts that were given. Close friends were given token gifts of low value while more grand presents were given to those people with whom a friendship was not so intimate. 1

The practice of presents continued into the middle ages, with New Year's Day being a common day for gift-giving. The 14^th century poem, Sir Gawain and The Green Knight, begins on New Year's day as King Arthur and his court exchange gifts and wait for the feast to begin. On New Year's of 1376, King Edward III gave his daughter Isabella a complete set of chapel furnishings, two saddles, and a dozen ornamental bowls. ₂ It was during this time, however, that the practice of giving gifts also became corrupt. City officials would make the rounds to people in their jurisdiction to collect tokens of holiday “generosity”. Demands for presents were so bad that in 1419, Henry V of England issued regulations ordering sergeants, officers of the mayor, sheriff, and city not to beg for gifts. 3

By the 1600's, many of the Christmas traditions were discouraged or banned by Puritan governments. In the United States, the holiday fell out of favor until the mid-1800s, when Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol breathed new life into winter holidays.

Gift Ideas

The question of what to give for holiday gifts is an old one. Gifts were often of a practical nature. Pins, money, gloves, socks, food, and pomanders were all acceptable gifts throughout the years that make up the SCA period. The Romans also enjoyed joke gifts. Gaius Valerius Catullus, in his poem Carmen 14, laments a book of bad poems given to him as a gift. He writes, “If I did not love you more than my eyes, most delightful Calvus, I would hate you with a Vitinian hatred because of that gift of yours: for what did I do or what did I say, why do you ruin me with so many bad poets?” 4

History provides some great suggestions for gifts for SCAdian friends and family, and while an oil flask of rhinoceros horn might not be practical or easy to come by, the token gifts, the small things of no great monetary value, will bring a smile to just about any medievalist's face.

Food and Drink. As popular a gift now as it was hundreds of years ago, food and drink are great for giving because we've all got to eat sometime. Its enjoyment is fleeting, but the memory of a tasty morsel won't take up valuable shelf space and doesn't require dusting. Recipes for medieval fig tarts, savory hand pies, fried cracker-like breads, fruit puddings and sweet honey candies are all available online. Check medievalcookery.com and godecookery.com for historical recipes and innatthecrossroads.com for historical-ish recipes with drool-worthy photos inspired by George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire books. Brewers often have a ready stock of home-made gifts waiting on their shelves. For folks who love to cook, consider giving them potted herbs, nuts, or bottles of spices that they might not buy for themselves, such as saffron, grains of paradise, or cardamom. Though they have a shorter shelf-life, presents like sausages, roasts, fruits and vegetables are also interesting and period gifts for foodie SCAdians. Some of the larger grocery stores and many local farmers offer things like rabbit or duck, and fruits like pomegranate and orange are in season now and are perfectly period gifts.

Clothing. Very few of us would say no to a hand-stitched linen or wool heraldic garment, but that is a pretty serious time commitment. Still, there are lots of “detail” garments that are simple and quick to make that take the game to a new level. Headgear is not only a period gift but can improve the look of even the most basic t-tunic or gown. Coifs are useful for men, women and children and there is a great tutorial on making them at www.virtue.to/articles/coif.html. Headgear can be extended to veils for women - fashionable throughout much of our time period – and the unisex hood, which can be warm and worn in a multitude of ways. There is a basic hood tutorial at www.virtue.to/articles/hoodlum.html which has a pattern and some alternate ways to wear them.

Gloves, belts, hose, aprons, and shoes are all great gifts to consider for the holidays for both men and women and provide those little details that make a garment feel more like clothing and less like a costume. http://www.dagorhir.com/forums/index.php?topic=15949.0 provides a detailed walk-through of how to make a medieval turn shoe while earthandliving.blogspot.com/2008/08/viking-shoes-tutorial-sort-of.html has an earlier shoe design tutorial. Hose were worn from the 11^th to the 15^th centuries and have a fairly simple construction, provided you have access to your giftees leg. A basic tutorial for them can be found at historiclife.com/Essays/howto_hose.html. Smocked aprons may be more time-consuming than busy schedules will allow for, but they do look stunning: catrijn.blogspot.com/2009/05/smocked-apron-part-1.html and there are plenty of much simpler aprons for men and women. Of course, with cold weather here, who wouldn't like a pair of gloves or three fingered mittens? http://www.renaissancetailor.com/demos_gloves.htm has an interesting piece on making gloves which can be modified to make three-fingered mittens like those at http://thomasguild.blogspot.com/2012/01/winter-is-coming.html

Games. Much like today, people in period enjoyed boardgames and many of them are quite easy to make. There is a well-documented collection of period games from a lady from Meridies, as a part of the Arts & Sciences 50 Challenge. Her blog, http://janinwise.blogspot.com/2010/06/50-challenge-medieval-board-games.html, has great print outs of dozens of games that could be made of fabric, leather or wood.

The “Elements” of Projects. Anyone with an interest in the arts and sciences can be a very easy person to find gifts for since he or she will probably have nine or ten projects going at any given time. Calligraphers can always use paper, inks, pen nibs, and gouache. Fabric, cording, beads and trim are welcome gifts for any garb-maker. Period embroidery kits can be put together inexpensively as shown here, http://coblaith.net/PeriodPresents/SewingKit/ Brewers can always make use of ingredients and a beautiful golden jar of honey has a shelf-life of years. Experienced brewers can put together mead or beer kits as gifts for people who are just starting out. Blacksmiths using coal might be the only people to appreciate it in their stocking along with some steel rod, of course. Armorers never seem to have enough rivets or buckles and anyone who has ever tried their hand at chainmail will tell you that links are most welcome. No matter the craft, keep an eye out in workshops and sewing rooms and see what items get consumed frequently. Or make note of the projects that your gift-receiver mentions they'd like to start. The crafting side of the SCA is a gift-giver's blessing when it comes to ideas.

Bits and Bobs. The SCA is often a hobby about collecting gear for a whole second life in a different century. As events happen weekends and the occasional extended stay during the summer, the need to gather the trappings of a medieval life can proceed slowly when it's not vital to the modern world. Feastgear is one of the early acquisitions for most SCAdians, but table linens, candlesticks, candles, salt cellars and even small liquor cups for sampling offerings at events make excellent period and practical gifts. Arrow tips, sticks of rattan, and duct or electrical tape are less historically accurate, but always useful for folks interested in the martial pursuits. Combs, sealing wax, cloak pins, knives, veil pins, lamps, perfumes, fans, masks and jewelry are all historical gifts and can be made or purchased easily. Bards and musicians can make recordings of their best pieces to give on CD.

It seems likely that children have always been fond of winter gift-giving holidays. Why not give a period toy or game this year? Sure, most modern kids want something noisy and blinking but leather or cloth balls, toy swords, dolls, wooden soldiers or animals, rattles, and whistles are period gifts that even most modern children will enjoy despite the lack of “on” switches.

When all else fails, books are rarely a waste. From DIY to historicals, SCAdians are some of the most book-hungry people around and are forever adding to collections.

Let's Not Forget the Wrapping

So you've found or made the perfect gift for someone, but printed wrapping paper and tape are 20^th century inventions. Fabric and ribbon will certainly cover your gift, but consider that cloth or leather pouches, wooden boxes, and baskets can all do double duty as both wrapper and secondary bonus gift. If you aren't inclined to make boxes and baskets, the big-box arts and crafts stores often carry inexpensive models of both that will easily accommodate most small gifts.

Happy holidays!

1. Ruurd R. Nauta, Poetry for Patrons: Literary Communication in the Age of Domitian (Brill, 2002)
2. Barbara Tuchman, A Distant Mirror, (Knopf 1978)
3. William White, Notes and Querries, Vol 46 (John C. Francis, 1872)
4. Cataullus, Carmen 14, translated by David Kimmel, http://rudy.negenborn.net/catullus/text2/e14.htm

A Treasury of Winter Holidays

Winter has always been a grand time for holidays and festivals. With the harvest complete and short, often cold days, there is no better time for some lighthearted merriment. With this in mind, there is a day for gift-giving for every persona.

Saturnalia – A ancient Roman holiday celebrated beginning around December 17 and lasting a week.

Kalends – A Roman holiday from around 45 B.C. And celebrated beginning January 1 and lasting until January 5

Twelfth Night – The Twelve Days of Christmas begin December 26 and stretch to January 5, the day before Epiphany. Though the familiar gift-receiving carol was first published in 1780, the origins of the song are believed to be much older and suggest that presents were given every day from Christmas to Epiphany, as both an English and French custom. German tradition gives small gifts on January 5.

Epiphany – January 6 is the celebration of the visit of the Wise Men to Jesus and is a popular day for giving gifts, especially in Spain.

Saint Nicholas Eve – St. Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, thieves, children, and students and his feast day is celebrated on December 6. As a bringer of gifts, children in France, Italy, Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium put out socks or shoes in hopes that he will bring presents.

Yule – The winter holiday celebrated by ancient Germanic people on or around the winter solstice.

New Years – January 1 has long been a traditional gift giving day across Europe.

Purim – While coins (or gelt) were given on Hanukkah, the giving of Hanukkah gifts is a new tradition. Purim, which falls sometime between the end of February and the beginning of March, was the more common day for gift giving in the period Jewish community.

Christmas Eve – Another popular time for the exchanging of gifts, particularly in France, Spain, Portugal, Scandinavia, Poland, and Belgium.

Huva or St. Birgitta's Cap

Finally finished up my huva thus bringing my garb one step closer to being better.  The hardest part of this process was the pattern, which turned out to be not hard at all with a talented friend like Lady Elgiva available.  She basically held fabric up to my head and sketched out the curve and voila!  Cap Parts!

The whole piece is hand sewn, which I'm quite proud of, and if you're interested in making one for yourself, the Maniacal Medievalist is the site you need.  She breaks down the documentation and then takes you step by step through the process of making one and how to wear it.  There are even links for the interlaced herringbone stitch in the center of the piece, should you decide to make one with embroidery in the middle.

Of course, my modern short haircut means I'll have to have a filler at the bottom to get it to sit right on my head and I still have to find good veil material to finish off the look for fancy occasions.  It was super easy to do though and is quite comfortable to wear.  I highly recommend this project for any of the 13th and 14th century SCA ladies who are looking to add headgear to their garb.