The Bard’s View: May Crown

I am back, exhausted and happy, from my first large event as the Kingdom Bardic Champion of An Tir. Good times were had and lessons learned, the biggest of which is that I cannot be in two places at once. :-P

For the uninitiated, a ‘Crown’ event is a large, kingdom-wide event. Typically, when someone refers to a  ‘Crown’ event, they are referring to the large event where we either determine the next heirs to the Thrones by combat, or coronate them our new Majesties.  And when I say they are a large event, I mean it: the lists had 105 couples (1 fighter + their inspiration) for the tournament to determine the new heirs to the Thrones. Plus their retinues. Plus the other fighters who came for “pickup” or practice fights. Plus the non-fighters and merchants who attended. The tent city sprawled across the site and hummed with activity.

As I mentioned above, the biggest lesson I take away from the weekend is that from now on I must be careful to not book myself solid. Granted, Crown events are busy affairs. But the biggest thing is that I barely saw my husband all weekend, and spent a good portion of my time hoofing it to various functions. The worst part was not feeling like I had enough time to devote to any one thing. :-/ So: lesson learned. Though I may try, I simply cannot be everywhere.

But that makes it sound like a sub-par event, and it most definitely was NOT. :-)

I had the honor of meeting several members of the Bards group, and enjoyed every moment. Such lovely, talented people! I look forward to meeting more of them as the year progresses.

And, I have to say, it was a BANNER weekend for my local Barony — our Baron and Baroness became our new Crown Prince and Princess, and many well-deserved awards and honors were presented to members of the populace. It is truly a privilege for me to stand behind the Throne and witness award-giving process: the joy in which they are presented and the joy in which they are received. After my term as Bardic Champion ends, that will be one of my fondest memories I take with me — being witness to the beautiful recognition given to deserving souls. :-)

In the evening at our baronial encampment, I debuted the baronial anthem which I had been working on, “The Blue, the White, and Gold.” I originally had not intended to perform it until our next local event, but after such an awesome showing, I could not resist. It is a lovely anthem which, unfortunately, has not been heard in our Barony for many, many years. I was honored to be put in touch with one of the composers several months ago, and knew I had to learn and revive this piece of Wastekeepian history. I am pleased to say it was well-receieved, and many of the “old guard” sang the refrain with me around the fire. My heart soared.

So I am home now, happy, exhausted, and back to the grind so to speak. There is a growing part of me that wishes I didn’t have to leave the magic of an event and rejoin day-to-day life, but I also think it is the contrast between the two that makes the memories so special.

Until next time…

Tagged: An Tir, bardic, medieval, music, Renaissance, sca, Society for Creative Anachronism