[SCA] Stuff we recreate better than we know
It has sometimes been said that our most accurate re-creations are things we don't do on purpose. Here is another example, from 13-c. Austria:
[Wate the Old (pronounced with two syllables, please, not like 'wait') is the greatest fighter in all the Northlands. He and some fellow-countrymen are visiting the court of Hagen the Wild, King of Ireland, disguised as merchants.]
The king's men jousted at court with great shields, with maces and with bucklers. There was single combat with the sword, and spear-throwing at shields set up as targets. The young warriors never tired of it.
King Hagen then asked Wate and his men whether such fiercely contested combats as he had seen from these warriors in Ireland were known at all in his own country? Wate smiled slyly. 'I've never seen the like of it,' said the warrior from Stormarn, 'but if anyone is prepared to teach me how, I would be glad...'...
Accordingly an expert was brought along, and he began to give Wate instructions, but very soon he was in peril of his own life. Wate fended every blow just like one who is a fighter by trade....
'Give me the sword,' shouted Hagen the Wild. 'I want to have some fun, fighting with the man from Stormarn.' ... Wate the Old welcomed the suggestion, and said to the king: 'I want a promise from you, my Lord Hagen, that you will not put me in real danger....' In reality Wate could fight, of course, quite unbelievably well.
Hagen was hardly able to hold his own against the supposed beginner, and began to fume like a doused firebrand, although he was the teacher and the other was the pupil! But Wate was very strong. The king and his guest struck blow after blow against one another... Hagen soon realized Wate's true skill....
They stopped, and sat down. The king said to his guest: 'And you are supposed to be a beginner? ... Wherever such things are practised, you must be a champion in set combats.'
'It is true, my lord,' said Irolt to the king. '...We have seen combats like this in our master's country, and both knights and squires practice it there every day.'
'If I had known that,' replied Hagen, 'I would never have laid hands on a combat-sword! I have never known anyone learn the skills so quickly.' Many of the nobles present laughed at this.
- Kudrun, trans. Brian O. Murdoch (Everyman, 1987)
[Wate the Old (pronounced with two syllables, please, not like 'wait') is the greatest fighter in all the Northlands. He and some fellow-countrymen are visiting the court of Hagen the Wild, King of Ireland, disguised as merchants.]
The king's men jousted at court with great shields, with maces and with bucklers. There was single combat with the sword, and spear-throwing at shields set up as targets. The young warriors never tired of it.
King Hagen then asked Wate and his men whether such fiercely contested combats as he had seen from these warriors in Ireland were known at all in his own country? Wate smiled slyly. 'I've never seen the like of it,' said the warrior from Stormarn, 'but if anyone is prepared to teach me how, I would be glad...'...
Accordingly an expert was brought along, and he began to give Wate instructions, but very soon he was in peril of his own life. Wate fended every blow just like one who is a fighter by trade....
'Give me the sword,' shouted Hagen the Wild. 'I want to have some fun, fighting with the man from Stormarn.' ... Wate the Old welcomed the suggestion, and said to the king: 'I want a promise from you, my Lord Hagen, that you will not put me in real danger....' In reality Wate could fight, of course, quite unbelievably well.
Hagen was hardly able to hold his own against the supposed beginner, and began to fume like a doused firebrand, although he was the teacher and the other was the pupil! But Wate was very strong. The king and his guest struck blow after blow against one another... Hagen soon realized Wate's true skill....
They stopped, and sat down. The king said to his guest: 'And you are supposed to be a beginner? ... Wherever such things are practised, you must be a champion in set combats.'
'It is true, my lord,' said Irolt to the king. '...We have seen combats like this in our master's country, and both knights and squires practice it there every day.'
'If I had known that,' replied Hagen, 'I would never have laid hands on a combat-sword! I have never known anyone learn the skills so quickly.' Many of the nobles present laughed at this.
- Kudrun, trans. Brian O. Murdoch (Everyman, 1987)