Helm for sale

[John Wash <jwash@dns.tico.com>]

Poster: John Wash <jwash@dns.tico.com>

Some time during the past millenium, Thorpe, John said:
> 
> 
> Poster: "Thorpe, John" <thorpj@caepo1.columbiaSC.NCR.COM>
> 
> 
> Greetings from Eldred!
> 
> Scipsit Tibor:
> %Eldred wrote:
> %  In the context of "playing" SCA, we would like to maintain the illusion
> %  that we "own" our registered armory.  As Tibor so eloquently points
> %  out, we don't own it--it is just on a list maintained by the Laurel
> %  Sovereign of Arms.  When someone violates the rules(customs)
> %  we use in our game, then our illusion begins to fragment.  We have
> %  no formal recourse for arbitrating disputes nor enforcing those
> %  decisions.
> 
> %Ahh, but which illusion?  The illusion of ownership of armory?  That
> %illusion is not a good one: for it is not only false (as all illusions are)
> %but it prevents us from understanding history, and from playing more and
> %better games of history.
> 
> Reality check #1:  Illusion of armorial ownership.  Armorial ownership
> is a reality in period.  Exclusive ownership is another matter.  We have
> formulated an illusion within the SCA that we have exclusive ownership
> of armory.  Tibor is correct that this obscures the real view of history.
> 
> %I have some of the most fun I can have in the Society, when I can act as a
> %period herald acted.  Resolving such disputes in a peaceful and period 
> style
> %manner seems to me to be the ultimate fun,
> 
> Cool.  That may play well in the East, but I seriously doubt I would survive
> such encounters intact if I tried that here in Southern Atlantia....  Just 
> another
> d**n stuffy herald...  8^)
> 
> %Or, is the illusion you feel that is being shattered the period illusion we
> %attempt to create? Nothing could be further from the truth.  Identical arms
> %were born all over history.  (I could bear that out with a quick check in
> %Papworths Ordinary, any random page.)
> 
> Reality check #2:  The period illusion we attempt to create is not shattered
> by armorial display.  The illusion is shattered when we attempt to
> arbitrate matters in a modern style--which is what seems to happen more
> often than not.
> 
> %That seems like an interesting challenge.  I happen to be working from home
> %today, so I will check some random page in Papworths...
> 
> %Page 356.  The first arms listed belong two different names, the third
> %arms listed belong to 3 different names, the fourth arms listed belong to 4
> %different names, the fifth arms listed belong to 4 different names, the
> %seventh arms belong to two different names.  Half the arms belong to
> %multiple names.  (And this is England alone: I know not for the continent.)
> 
> %Let's check a few other pages, the first 10 arms:  I find that somewhere
> %between one half to one third of these random arms have multiple holders.
> 
> Torpedoes away!  Well, now that you've scuppered our notion that
> armory must be unique.... 8^)  You now need to change the minds of
> the rocks:  "Armory has been unique in the SCA since day one, and we
> *like* it that way!"  How to change the status quo....education?  Change
> the system under them?  Do you really want to go against the will of
> the people(if you could get a large enough sample of them to respond)
> that wants unique armory for the sake of creating a more period model?
> I'm sure many heralds would like to see a more period model, but alas,
> we are not the majority of the populace, are we?
> 
> In service,
> Eldred
> Neutral Minion(tm)
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