War once again came to AEthelmearc on July 26th. PENNSIC WAR 48, is a two week SCA camping/fighting extravaganza. For those of you unfamiliar with the SCA, Pennsic is a yearly event where the Kingdom of the Middle (Midrealm) and the Kingdom of the East gather in the Kingdom of AEthelmearc to duke it out with one another. Each side has their own set of allies. This year AEthelmearc (my kingdom) allied with Midrealm.
Mundanely, the event takes place at Cooper’s Lake Campground in Slippery Rock, PA. This SCA event has been going on for nearly 50 years now. This year the total attendance reached upwards of 11,000 people. Event attendance has averaged around 10k since 1996. Medieval participants bring in an average of 1.8 million dollars to the local economy.
The history of this event is as rich as the origins of the SCA. The following excerpt from HERSTADR-SAGA details how the idea for Pennsic first came about.
One day, almost 30 years ago, Cariadoc of the Bow, the King of the Middle, got bored with peace and declared war upon the East, loser to take Pittsburgh. The King of the East read the declaration of war, filed it away and forgot about it. Time passed. Cariadoc moved to New York and subsequently became King of the East, whereupon he retrieved the declaration from the file cabinet and said, “Let’s fight.” The Middle won, and Cariadoc has the distinction of being the only king who declared war upon himself and lost”
HERSTADR-SAGA: An Incomplete History of Pennsic
There is more to Pennsic than just the fighting. An entire section of the site is dedicated to classes teaching many arts and sciences from the middle ages. Shows and performances happen daily as well as wandering bards that perform in the merchant and food areas. Speaking of which, there is a large array of merchants selling anything from clothing to weapons scattered in areas throughout the site. Food vendors serve everything from hamburgers to bread boules laden with stew, spaghetti or a variety of other dishes.
Throughout the nights there is a large party scene that includes period and not-so-period style parties. There are free bars setup for visitors scattered throughout the camp ground. Included with the parties are musicians playing a variety of period instruments. Ask anyone in the Society and they will all tell you that at Pennsic, the drums beat all night, every night.
That is Pennsic in a nutshell. It would require an entire book to describe everything that happens there in detail. My next post will cover my adventures at Pennsic #48. I will probably split it into two separate posts, one covering peace week and the other war week.
The SCA Adventures of Jodocus van Cleeff 