New Article Posted

My class notes for Medieval Debate Poetry have been posted to the Athenaeum Hectoris site.

New Poem

I have added a new poem commemorating the VERY hot Crown Tournament held yesterday in Bastille du Lac.

From the Flames Forged

Update to Challenge Page

I have made a slight update to my Challenge page, adding an introductory paragraph and two older challenges I made before I started tracking them.

I am considering what my next challenge will be, and am open to suggestions.

50 Poems in AS 50 Challenge

Back on June 3rd 2015 (the second month of AS 50) I made the following challenge:

Hereby do I, Colyne Stewart, as I wish to better myself in all ways, challenge myself to write a number of poems to number no less than fifty in number to mark and celebrate and honour the fiftieth year of our Society. This I pledge on this feast day of Clotilde.

I am pleased to announce that I have just posted the 50th SCA/medieval poem that I have written during the past twelve months to succeed in this challenge! I really tried to challenge myself, by writing in several different genres and forms from many different European cultures and time periods. I had fallen behind in my task and about 20 of these poems were written in the past two months. I hope I did them all justice.

1. Poem for Grom Meinfretr's Barony Scroll

2. Poems for Feast at Septentrian Investiture AS 50 (2015)

3. For Quilliam III and Domhnail II

4. For Korigan and Helen upon the Occasion of their Wedding

5. Helheim Unfed

6. For the Honourable Lord Albrecht Stampher upon being Named a Vigilant of the Order of the Laurel

7. Ardchreag Einvigi

8. Ode to my Leg (Lost at Pikeman’s in AS 50)

9. Ardchreag Einvigi II

10. Ten Shall Remain

11. For Bjarn and Orlaith on the Occasion of Their Wedding

12. For Percival de la Rocque upon His Elevation to the Order of the Pelican

13. Arrochar Strikes

14. Roland of Atlantia

15. Napping War Point

16. Guarding the Hearth

17. The Wolf Pack Came South

18. For Baroness Eleanor von Atzinger upon being named a Vigilant of the Order of the Pelican

19. Her Excellency Ysemay

20. For Helen Grey

21. The Tudor Ivy

22. The Hart’s Tale

23. Ealdormere’s First Master of Defense

24. Journeying Song

25. Of the Worthies, She is One

26. Winter Solstice

27. In Memory of Blueberry

28. Fafhrd

29. Kolbjorn Skatkaupandi, Order of the Pelican, 2016

30. "Through the mists a northern ship"

31. Faith

32. Pennsic Dawn

33. My lady love a warrior be

34. O'ber Dog

35. A horn upon his head does grow

36. My love is always by my side

37. I try to write

38. Kingdom Barding

39. A wolf runs free

40. A poem is more than words on page

41. “I find that”

42. The sun never sets

43. What Honour’s Wrought

44. My armour is cold

45. Espinela 1

46. Carl and Scop

47. Sing the song

48. The dog is intent

49. The Muses

50. The Partimen of Rhodri ap Hywel and Colyne Stewart

Poetry Challenge Success! 50 poems for AS 50!

Back on June 3rd 2015 (the second month of AS 50) I made the following challenge:

Hereby do I, Colyne Stewart, as I wish to better myself in all ways, challenge myself to write a number of poems to number no less than fifty in number to mark and celebrate and honour the fiftieth year of our Society. This I pledge on this feast day of Clotilde.

I am pleased to announce that I have just posted the 50th SCA/medieval poem that I have written during the past twelve months to succeed in this challenge! I really tried to challenge myself, by writing in several different genres and forms from many different European cultures and time periods. I had fallen behind in my task and about 20 of these poems were written in the past two months. I hope I did them all justice.

You can find links to all the poems from this challenge on my Challenge page.

Collegium disceptationis poeticae

Yesterday I founded the the Collegium disceptationis poeticae which is a group (on Facebook) for SCA poets who would like to collaborate in the writings of débats, partimens, flyting and other medieval poetic contests.

What I am hoping for is that this group will be used to instigate collaborative writing. If a member has an idea for writing a medieval debate poem, they can post the idea to the group and be matched up with a partner (or partners) as well as judges (if required by their form).

The group is located here.

List of Ealdormerean Blogs

I began a new project today, which is to collect a list of blogs belonging to Ealdormereans.

I know lots of people don't like to toot their own horns, but I would encourage everyone to start an SCA blog. Albums on Facebook are not enough. Most of them aren't set as public, so people who aren't friended with you can't see them. And photo albums don't track your service. You can be proud of what you have done without giving in to Pride. I'm proud of you, and I want to spread your wordfame. You may think no one cares about what you have to say, or do, or make, but that is often far from the truth.

In fact, quite often someone's name will come up in a discussion and I want to point out the cool things they have done and having a blog to point to with fully documented details of how cool and productive they are is really handy. It helps for award recommendations too. Just sayin'.

So, if you have a personal SCA blog, please consider sharing the link with me as I begin to compile this resource!

Please note, I am not looking for links to Facebook profiles (though Facebook pages may be appropriate) or to business/merchanting sites.

The list is currently being housed by the Archive of St. Etienne.

Slight Update to my Persona

A Scottish poet in the 15th and 16th century was apparently called a makar (or makir), meaning both poet and maker. My persona is from the mid-14th century Scotland. I think that's close enough for me to use the term. My persona has therefore been slightly updated.

Encyclopedia Britannica has this to say about the makar:

Alternative titles: makaris; maker; makeris; Scottish Chaucerian
Makar, also spelled Maker (Scottish: “maker,” or “poet”), plural Makaris, or Makeris, also called Scottish Chaucerian, any of the Scottish courtly poets who flourished from about 1425 to 1550. The best known are Robert Henryson, William Dunbar, Gavin Douglas, and Sir David Lyndsay; the group is sometimes expanded to include James I of Scotland and Harry the Minstrel, or Blind Harry.Because Geoffrey Chaucer was their acknowledged master and they often employed his verse forms and themes, the makaris are usually called “Scottish Chaucerians”; but actually they are a product of more than one tradition. Chaucerian influence is apparent in their courtly romances and dream allegories, yet even these display a distinctive “aureate” style, a language richly ornamented by polysyllabic Latinate words.
In addition, the makaris used different styles for different types of poems. The language that they used in their poems ranges from courtly aureate English, to mixtures of English and Scots, to the broadest Scots vernacular, as their subjects range from moral allegory to everyday realism, flyting (abuse), or grotesquely comic Celtic fantasy.

There is also an entry for makar on Wikipedia.

New Book on Chivalry by Sir Nigel and THL Colyne

Within the Society for Creative Anachronism, Duke Nigel MacFarlane, KSCA, has reigned as king twice in the Kingdom of Ealdormere and has been a knight for over a decade. Originally from the Middle Kingdom he now dwells in the northlands with his lady, Duchess Adrielle Kerrec, OP, OL, surrounded by their household of Arrochar. In this volume, Sir Nigel expounds on the nature of chivalry, with his words on the subject being transcribed by his squire, TH LairdColyne Stewart (also known asTodd H. C. Fischer). Within you can read his thoughts on the virtues, pilgramages, the taking of dependents, and more.

Order it on Amazon.