In the heart of Tuscaloosa, lies a group who lives these scenes almost every weekend: The Shire of Okeborne Keep, a local branch of The Society for Creative Anachronism.
“It’s not exactly reenactment, because we don’t recreate a particular battle from the Middle Ages,” said Katheryn Meadows, the advisor for the Alabama student chapter of the Shire of Okeborne Keep and computer programmer for the University. “We live like we would have in that time period.”
Meadows, or Lady Katja the Forthright, has been actively going to SCA events for 15 years and even met her husband through the SCA in Arizona.
“My persona is a 15th century Russian, a traveling merchant’s daughter,” Meadows said.
The local Shire is one of 38 groups under the reign of The Kingdom of Meridies, which covers parts of Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky and Georgia. With over 30,000 members worldwide, the SCA is a global nonprofit educational organization that supports direct engagement and research in the culture of the European Middle Ages. Although the parent organization is enormous, it does not take away the incredibly close-knit feeling between groups and members.
“Our Kingdom has events almost every weekend,” Meadows said.
Jennifer Andress, a graduate of Alabama who helped create the student chapter, runs youth activities at many events and helps other local groups.
“There’s an educational component of the youth activities, you learn something from the time period and then you get to do or make something related to the lesson you just learned,” Andress said. “Part of mine this weekend will be about siege weapons, so we’ll be building little catapults and firing marshmallows or something.”
No event for members of the SCA would be complete without the perfect medieval attire. Many people make their outfits, barter for them, or buy them from markets at kingdom events.
“An attempt at pre-1600 clothing is the requirement,” Meadows said.
Brenda Hanson, president of the student chapter and a graduate student studying women’s studies, said members are allowed to branch out to other medieval clothing.
“You don’t have to stick with what your persona is doing; So my persona is 12th century English, but I have Viking, Greek, and Middle Eastern clothing,” Hanson said.
The Shire of Okeborne Keep has Arts and Sciences meetings every third Wednesday of the month, where members can teach one another what they’ve learned from their research or bring in an outside professional to teach a lesson.
“They’re less formal than an event, more of a meeting where we get together, learn a specific thing or work on a task,” Meadows said. “And we do dance classes. We rotate through. wI could maybe teach a class on hair braiding one time, another time someone can teach a class on games, [and] another time someone can teach on basic sewing. My husband will teach on heraldry and the pomp and circumstance, or vwhat to do when you get called into court.”
Getting called into court is a very real occurrence too, whether it’s for combat, or recognition. There are several honors that an SCA member can be awarded, and these three SCA members happen to have many.
All three have received their Award of Arms by participating in events, which is the right to have a heraldry, or coat of arms, and comes with the title of “Lord” or “Lady”. Of the many Andress, or Muirgel inghean Ghriogair, has received, the Grant of Arms is an honor given for special service to the Kingdom, which allows her to add an animal to her coat of arms.
“A lot of the awards come with regalia,” Hanson said. “Like an Award of Arms comes with a thin little circlet that you can wear, and a Grant of Arms has a thicker circlet to wear. A lot of people wear those to court.”
Among others, Meadows has received the Meridian Cross, which is an award of the arts; and Hanson has received the Argent Slipper for teaching lessons in dance.
Combat is a very vital part of the SCA, and happens in the local chapter as well. If you have dreams of being royalty, you need to practice a type of fighting because the king and queen are decided by combat every six months. Different styles of fighting include archery, rapier fighting, thrown weapons, equestrian and more.
“It’s really fun and exhilarating,” Andress said. “You learn a lot about footwork and movement control because you want your shots to go in a certain place – you can’t just be flailing about.”
Pushed out by construction and lack of space at Manderson Landing, The Shire of Okeborne Keep now practices at Snow Hinton Park on Sundays. Heavy combat is practiced using rattan, a sturdy palm plant similar to bamboo but solid instead of hollow. As it should be, armor is a very serious accessory for combat practice, with getups of padded gambeson, steel helmets and padding underneath for added protection.
“It’s an athletic activity, so you have to be in good shape and prepared for it – it’s a full contact sport,” Meadows said.
Remove all the glitz, glam and high-intensity activities, and you’ll get to the heart of what it truly means to be a member of the SCA and The Shire of Okeborne Keep.
“There’s that sense of family and community,” Meadows said. “We’re all pretty close knit. We may not all get along with everyone else, just like anything, but we all have something in common, and it’s this love of the Middle Ages, chivalry, past times, research and whatever else it is that we love to do.”
“I’ve met so many interesting people that I would not have otherwise,” Andress said. “I’ve become friends with people that live in Prattville and Huntsville that I go visit every year now.”
Meadows, who now has three generations of her family involved in SCA in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, has seen firsthand what it’s like to be a part of the “Known World.” When she first moved to Alabama from Arizona, she moved without her family because she wanted her kids to finish school. Through SCA, she was able to make friends in town who let her live with them until her family could move too; Andress was one of the sweet strangers who took her in.
“That’s something that’s pretty much worldwide,” said Jim Meadows, Katheryn’s husband. “No matter where you go, you’ve got family. Even after you leave the University here.”
Students who are interested in getting involved with SCA or joining the UA student chapter of the Shire of Okeborne Keep can contact Brenda Hanson at [email protected].
