My Medieval Life Beginnings

I was introduced to the Society for Creative Anachronism by a new friend who had been a part of it for 27 years. The Society for Creative Anachronism is a world wide organization that is dedicated to the re-creation of life during the Middle Ages. I would describe it as being a part of a community who actively immerses themselves in gaining more knowledge and understanding of history through the act of doing activities,research,combat,events and demos. When I met my friend in May 2013, it was supposed to be a short lunch, however when I got to the restaurant, he then asked me; what do you want to know. He then slid The Known World Handbook to me. This book is the guide for beginners who would like to learn anything about the SCA. 9 hours later of conversation, I was hooked. The first event that my friend introduced me to was The Great North Eastern war held in Hebron, Maine July of 2013. Between May and July I had jumped down a major rabbit hole searching for the perfect medieval clothes to make. I have a heavy background in sewing and as anyone who sews a lot, I had a huge stockpile of fabric to choose from. I made a couple of dresses to get me through the weekend and my boys some outfits as well. I arrived at Hebron Pines Campground not knowing what to expect. Roughly a 1000 people attend this event every year, naturally this was so unexpected and a bit overwhelming at first. The sea of medieval tents that were set up was amazing. The tents looked like they came right out of a story book. The garb people were dressed in just looked so good. I hope my jaw wasn’t dragging on the ground too much. From the very first battle( the Deed) that I saw on Friday evening, I was sold! The soldiers rushing at each other, waving their sticks in the air, and the glorious sound of the armor smashing in to each other upon impact was amazing to say the least. My boys and I watched in awe at the chaos. This was the moment when my life and my boys life changed forever.

From then on I immersed myself on research about my persona, time period, clothing and anything else I could learn. I quickly delved into learning about brewing, sewing garb,researching garb from all centuries, archery and throwing weapons. I eventually built a persona to fit my time period late 12th century to early 13th century. I then chose my name, Sigrida Arnsdottir. This one of the processes that excited me the most. Figuring out who I was going to to be known to everyone.

I then very quickly became active in building a local group , The Riding of Ravensbridge in 2014. I started out as its Arts and Sciences Officer. I then began hosting many Stitch and Bitches at my home. In 2016- present, I became the Chatelaine for the Riding. The Chatelaine is the newcomer welcome person. There are many other things that I have done as well. However I will get in to those things in later posts. There is just too much to try and cover all in one post.

In addition to attending my first event in 2013, I met my husband to be, Lord Magnus Surtsson there as well. Our lives quickly intertwined in everyday life, medieval life and in my business. We found that we enjoyed making medieval items for ourselves and thought others may have a need for some of the same things , so we started selling them. We soon become full time merchants at most of the bigger events. Our storefront is named Sigrid and Magnus Leather Emporium.

My Persona

Your persona is who you are in the medieval world, your alter ego. People often ask me about how to go about choosing your persona. It is different for everyone. I personally started with the style of clothing I like to wear, then shaped my persona around that. Some people start with a name they like, or a family name, some people start with a century they like. There are many different ways to begin. Since I talked about it above I felt that this is a good way to introduce myself to you as I am known in the SCA.

I took a lot of time thinking about what I wanted for a persona. I started with the clothing style I liked best, found the century it related to and went from there. I had watched this movie called Arn when I was first introduced to all of this. It is a Swedish made movie and it really struck a cord with me. It inspired the creation of my persona. I had wanted something Scandinavian as I am of that background and everything about this just seemed to come together organically.

This is my persona.

Lady Sigrida (prefers Sigrid) was born in 1189 in Sweden, daughter of Arn Magnusson and Cecilia Algotsdotter. Theirs was a forbidden love for 20 years. Arn was a commander of the Knights Templar in Jerusalem during the time when Saladin was becoming the military power in the Holy land. Once released from his duties he returns home and is reunited with Cecilia. Soon after they marry and conceive Sigrda. The early part of her life was carefree and happy. She grew up on her parents estate amidst craftsmen from all over Europe and the Holy Land. Her father also took in young men and boys to become knights in training. There were a lot of cultural influences that lead her to be creative , inquisitive and gave her a want to explore the world. Thanks to her upbringing she never wanted for much and was able to have creature comforts, fine clothes and books from all over the world

This persona allows me a lot of flexibility as far as what I can wear, what kinds of materials I can use and gives depth to who I am as a person. I like many different styles of clothing, so this allows me to have a reason why my alter ego would wear these things. If you can’t tell I love fashion and it steers the directions I take when dressing.

When you are done reading this and have questions or would like to see more on a particular subject I have mentioned, please comment below or email me. sara@mundanetomedievallife.com I really could write a book on this stuff.

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