Red & Gold: a weekend with the SCA in Germany

In this personal event report, Mishka looks back on Red & Gold, an annual camping event of the Barony of Knight’s Crossing, the German branch of the Society for Creative Anachronism. During the gathering in Limeshain, archers, fighters, artists, craftspeople, and other members of the SCA community came together. From archery tournaments and combat to court, creative workshops, and a shared feast: Mishka captured a large part of the weekend with his camera. The experience brought him new knowledge, valuable memories, and a warm introduction to the wider European SCA community.

Mishka’s story:

Every year, the Germany chapter of the Society of Creative Anachronism, called the Barony of Knight’s Crossing, hosts a camping event called “Red & Gold”. This year it took place from July 21-26 in Limeshain.

I arrived on the 23rd, and spent most of the weekend behind my camera, as usual. I did do a little bit of fencing, but for the most part I was running around taking photos of everything going on.

On Thursday, the 23rd, the two big activities going on were Archery and Chivalric Combat. I started my day with the archers, and spent an hour or so taking photos of them shooting for target practice. There were some pretty cool archers there, including the man leading the practice who was shooting two arrows at a time.

After a while, I wandered over to where the fighters were getting ready for an “unbelted tourney” (nobody knighted in combat was allowed to participate, thus allowing newer fighters to shine in a lower pressure environment). This was particularly gruelling in the heat of the day, and many breaks were taken as fighters hydrated and cooled off to avoid heat exhaustion. The top three fighters ranked very closely to each other, everybody had fun, communicated well, and no injuries, heat or otherwise, were had, so I consider that a successful tourney!

Friday morning the Archery field held a unique tournament format. Archers were grouped together, and shot at targets 20 yards away. The targets were dowel rods held onto a backboard. Each archer started with 4 arrows, and after shooting all 4, whoever had the arrow furthest from the target’s center had that arrow “eliminated” (meaning they now only have 3 arrows to shoot next round). This continued until there were only two archers left. It came down to the final shots with a single arrow apiece, and the winning archer was from our group here in the Netherlands! Notable shots included one that split the wooden dowel rod target in two.

After the Archery tournament, I headed to the fighting field where both Chivalric fighters and Rapier fencers were pairing up and having makeshift bouts in the shade. Pretty soon, the fighting turned into lessons, and high ranking fighters of both disciplines were showing newer fighters their ways. It was really interesting to learn some theories myself as a novice fencer, and I’m realizing how much I have to unlearn from previous bad habits!

After that, I spent some time in the Arts & Sciences tent, where my wife picked up tablet weaving and I had several great discussions with other artists about their works. There are some VERY talented artists within the SCA, making items such as metal helmets and armor, leather gear, cookware, fabric and textile works, and so much more. If it was done in the Middle Ages or Renaissance, you can bet we have somebody who does it as well! 

Saturday morning the Baron and Baroness (the leaders of the group) of Knight’s Crossing held court. They recognized the event staff who put on the event, the newest members of the group, and named the newest Arts and Sciences champion. News of upcoming events was shared, and soon a martial tourney was called to determine the newest Chivalric and Rapier Champions.

The fighting went for two hours, and the list field was half shade and half sun, so the lighting was a mess and a half to navigate but I feel the photos turned out alright. The fighters definitely favoured the shaded side, and I don’t blame them!

After the tourneys finished, there was a class on how to grow the SCA, which focused on “here’s what the successful groups are doing based on data”. No opinions, no “maybe you should try this or that”. Just straight up “Here’s what these groups are doing, and here are the results.” It was very straightforward and I’m hoping to use my background in media to be able to help grow the SCA and Polderslot, the Netherlands chapter specifically.

Saturday evening wound down with Feast, which was cooked largely on site and was absolutely delicious. Over 120 people were fed and had room for seconds and thirds, with leftovers for those who wanted to take some home!

Sunday was dedicated to taking down camp and packing everything up. We said our goodbyes to everybody, and my wife and I agreed: We’re committing to this lifestyle. We’re going to dive in the deep end, travel around Europe hitting medieval reenactment events, and share our arts with those who will have us.

10/10, I’ll be coming back to Red & Gold. The SCA in Europe may be much more spread out compared to what we are in the States, but I have yet to find a group so welcoming and kind.