Calontir Fall 2008 Crown Tourney photos online

Calontir | Photo Album | SCA Royalty
Cathus has posted an album of photos from the recent Fall 2008 Crown Tournament in the Kingdom of Calontir.

"Reclaiming the Blade" trailer online

Armoured Combat | Armouring and Weaponsmithing | Media | Rapier Combat
A trailer from the soon-to-be-released documentary Reclaiming the Blade is now available to view online. The film was directed by Daniel McNicoll and stars Viggo Mortensen.

Relief donations sought for Caidans severely burned in fire

Caid | Crisis Response
Thursday November 13th, 2008 two members of the Shire of Isles in the Kingdom of Caid were seriously injured. Wilhelm Caius (mka Lance Hoffman) and his wife Carla were severely burned escaping the Tea Fire in Montecito, CA.

New mailing list for SCA Teachers

SCA | Modern Society
A new Yahoogroups discussion forum has been created to help teachers in the SCA find resources.

Modern technology used to help restore "Madonna of the Goldfinch"

1501 CE to 1600 CE | Fine Arts | Italian | Yahoo! News
"X-rays, CAT scans, reflective infra-red photography, lasers, men and women in white coats, microscopes, latex gloves" all played a part in the restoration of Raphael's masterpiece "Madonna of the Goldfinch," a 10-year project with stunning results. (photo)

Stefan's Florilegium updates for November 2008

Arts and Sciences | Stefan's Florilegium
THLord Stefan li Rous has posted updates to Stefan's Florilegium for November 2008.

Amethyst Tourney videos online

Aethelmearc | Armoured Combat | Video Album
Olafr reports that he has posted videos from the recent Amethyst Tourney in the Kingdom of AEthelmearc on Youtube.

SCA in evidence at Doña Ana Arts Council Renaissance ArtsFaire

Fine Arts | Interview | Outlands | Ren Faires
Members of the SCA were present at the recent Renaissance ArtsFaire sponsored by the Doña Ana Arts Council in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The Faire features artists dressed in period garb who display and demonstrate their wares. S. Derrickson Moore of the Las Cruces Sun-News has the story.

Treasures of "first Byzantine port" wow experts

601 CE and Earlier | Byzantine | Nautical
An amazing assortment of artifacts have been found beneath the waters on the Marmaris Sea near Istanbul with the discovery of what is thought to be the "first Byzantine port of the ancient city of Constantinople." The treasures are giving archaeologists a glimpse of life in 4th century Byzantium.

Photos from Calontir's Fall 2008 Crown Tourney

Armoured Combat | Calontir | Photo Album | SCA Royalty
Hrothgar has created an album of photos from the recent Crown Tournament in the Kingdom of Calontir.

Vienna Schatzkammer photos online

Arts and Sciences | Drachenwald | Embroidery | Jewelry/Lapidary | Photo Album
Racaire of the Shire Ad Flumen Caerulum in Vienna, Austria, has posted photos from her recent trip to the Schatzkammer (Treasury) in Vienna, Austria.

Elysant atten Oke elevated to Pelican in the West

Pelican | West
Owen ap Morgan reports that Her Majesty Kara of the West Kingdom recently elevated Elysant atten Oke to the Order of the Pelican.

Climate change may have affected Chinese dynasties

Chinese | General Science
A new report by researchers from the University of Minnesota and Lanzhou University in China in the journal Science has linked climate change, especially lack of rainfall, to the rise and fall of dynasties in China.

Road to Alexandria photos online

Dance | Middle | Middle Eastern | Photo Album
Llywelyn has posted an album of photos from the recent Road to Alexandria event in the Marche of Gwyntarian (Middle Kingdom) on his Flickr website.

Zhigmun Broghammer vigiled in Atenveldt

Atenveldt | Chivalry
Sir Elias Loredan reports that a vigil was held October 31, 2008 for Zhigmun Broghammer to contemplate elevation to the Order of the Chivalry.

"Glimmering visions" await visitors to Byzantine treasures exhibit

Byzantine | Exhibits | Fine Arts | Review
Visitors to Byzantium: Treasures of a lost empire at London's Royal Academy of Arts are in for a treat. Over 350 seldom-seen artifacts from the museum's collection and others will be on display until March 22, 2009. Rachel Campbell-Johnston of the Times Online has a review.

Gatalop 2008 photos online

Armoured Combat | Gleann Abhann | Meridies | Photo Album
V. Danielle of the Kingdom of Gleann Abhann has published an album of photos from the recent Gatalop event which took place at the fort on Dauphin Island in Mobile, Alabama (Kingdom of Meridies).

"New" Vikings enjoyed fashion and poetry

901 CE to 1000 CE | Archaeology | Scandanavian | Telegraph
Scholars at Cambridge University feel that Vikings have gotten a bad rep, and they have set out to right it by way of a campaign "to recast them as 'new men' with an interest in grooming, fashion and poetry."

Shire of Pavlok Gorod goes full status

Milestones | West
Lady Tama, Herald and Rapier Marshal for the Shire of Pavlok Gorod, reports that the Shire has achieved Full Status. Pavlok Gorod is located in Kodiak Island, Alaska and is a canton of the Barony of Eskalya (Principality of Oertha, West Kingdom).

Archaeologists continue to search for Hull's ancient friary

1201 CE to 1300 CE | Architecture and Construction | English | Places of Worship
Archaeologists working on an excavation in the town of Hull, Yorkshire, are delighted to have discovered the medieval Humber Gate, but are still looking for the elusive Carmelite friary, built in the town in the late 1290's.

It's not the SCA but....

Media | Modern Society
The comedy film Role Models features a young man who engages in medieval fantasy role-playing - played for laughs in this "horny man-child comedy for the overgrown banana peel crowd." But, according to Gina Carbone of Seacoast Online, "The film's major battle is as pumped as any butt-kicking in “The Lord of the Rings” with way better death scenes."

My-Space forum for SCA Newcomers

Newcomers' Information
Shara of Starwood has created a My-Space forum to help newcomers adjust to life in the SCA. SCA Big Brothers / Big Sisters for Newcomers is a "place to discuss anything pertaining to the SCA."

Baroness Dagmar Halvdan Wins Lions Road Give Away

Audio/Podcast | Lions Road
Baroness Dagmar Halvdan from the Kingdom of Ealdormere has won the first annual Lions Road Podcast membership giveaway.

Archimedes Palimpsest Project celebrates 10th anniversary

1201 CE to 1300 CE | Byzantine | General Science | Scribal Arts
William Noel, Curator of Manuscripts for the Walters Art Museum, reports that the Archimedes Palimpsest Project has just celebrated its 10th anniversary. The project was established to rediscover lost passages from the 13th century Byzantine prayerbook containing at seven treatises by Archimedes.

SCA Photograph Contest Welcomes Beginner and Expert Alike.

Audio/Podcast | Lions Road
Lions Road Podcast is holding its end of the year SCA photo contest. In this search for the best photograph they are seeking the best picture, not the best photographer, so anyone can enter and have a fair chance at winning.

Public may help look for tomb of Genghis Khan

1201 CE to 1300 CE | Chinese | General Science
800 years after his death, scientists at the University of California San Diego's Center for Interdisciplinary Science in Art, Architecture and Archaeology (CISA3) are using advanced visualization technologies to try to find the long-lost grave of the emperor Genghis Khan.

Looking for St. Edmunds

1101 CE to 1200 CE | English | General Science | Places of Worship
A high-tech survey is underway with hopes of learning more about Suffolk, England's ancient shrine to St. Edmund. The geophysical survey will look for traces of the "outline of vanished workshops, storerooms and refectories - the evidence of an extinct way of life" in the abbey ruins in Bury St Edmunds.

Ealdormere event photos online

Arts and Sciences | Ealdormere | Photo Album | Scribal Arts
Alexander reports that he has posted several albums of photos from recent events in the Kingdom of Ealdormere on the Two Ravens website.

Study of graves gives new insight into early Norse life

701 CE to 800 CE | Archaeology | Scandanavian
New research on excavations of early pagan Norse burial sites has given scholars a new understanding of the lives of the Vikings, especially in regard to their funeral practices.

Pick the best historical fiction blog

Fine Arts | Modern Society
Nan Hawthorne invites readers to visit theTales from the Shield-Wall Books website and vote for the five best historical fiction blogs.