From nikolai@nwlink.com Wed Apr 29 11:02:39 1998 Received: from mxu4.u.washington.edu (mxu4.u.washington.edu [140.142.33.8]) by lists.u.washington.edu (8.8.4+UW97.07/8.8.4+UW97.05) with ESMTP id LAA13012 for ; Wed, 29 Apr 1998 11:02:38 -0700 Received: from mail.nwlink.com (mail.nwlink.com [209.20.130.40]) by mxu4.u.washington.edu (8.8.4+UW97.07/8.8.4+UW97.09) with ESMTP id LAA01607 for ; Wed, 29 Apr 1998 11:02:38 -0700 Received: from celine (ip186.usr1.eli.du.nwlink.com [209.20.135.186]) by mail.nwlink.com (8.8.8/8.8.8) with SMTP id LAA28688 for ; Wed, 29 Apr 1998 11:02:33 -0700 (PDT) Message-Id: <199804291802.LAA28688@mail.nwlink.com> From: "Justin Greywolf" To: "SCA at UW [Medieval Living History]" Subject: Re: Game of Courtly Love Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 11:14:50 -0700 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.71.1712.3 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.71.1712.3 I dont see why that should stop this from being done at an event. Its not a theme per se, just a game going on at an event already taking place. -----Original Message----- From: Badger To: SCA at UW [Medieval Living History] Date: Wednesday, April 29, 1998 10:55 AM Subject: Re: Game of Courtly Love > >Wow, that sounds Cool!! > >the next few college events are taken up with themes allready.. > >Spring FLing - too soon. >Tackey Tourney - Robin Hood theme >Cat and Cup Inn II - well, cats and cups. its already packed with stuff. > >but a winter event? it might be fun.. > >badger, Dregs Editor. > >On Wed, 29 Apr 1998, Peter Durham wrote: > >> This came across the mailing list for the Barony Janelyn and I used to live >> in. Might be fun to do something like this at a college event? >> - Trahaearn >> >> >Since the dawn of the SCA, all gentlefolk in our society have bemoaned >> >that when they were young, the moon stood still, the stars were as >> >numerous as the campfires at Pennsic, and their fellow scadians were more >> >polite, and acted with better manners and more gentility. We all think >> >longingly of the time when romance and chivalry were young, and new, and >> >the center of our lives. >> > >> >Well, it's time to stop bemoaning and longing for the past. It's time we >> >all throw our hat back in the ring, dust off those old nobility airs, and >> >perhaps give them a bit of a new shine. >> > >> >To this end, I am proposing a modest exercise. The point of this exercise >> >is simple: to give us all (or, at least, those who participate) a little >> >practice in the art of courtly love. The "game" will be played at Mayday, >> >where each participant will be given (secretly) the name of a participant >> >of the opposite gender, who is to be their inspiration for the day. Your >> >mission, should you choose to accept it, it is keep this person uppermost >> >in your thoughts for the entire day; everything you do, you do for her; >> >every word you say has in its secret heart the goal of furthering the >> >honor and glory of your inspiration. You must do everything you can to >> >further his causes. And, of course, you must do all this with the utmost >> >secrecy. Well, perhaps you can't help showing how inspired you are; at >> >least you can keep your beloved's identity secret. >> > >> >What this means in practice: >> > >> >There are very few rules here. They are: >> > >> >(1) No one must know, at the end of the day, by whom you are inspired. >> > >> >(2) Nothing untowards must be done (this probably should go without >> >saying, but let's be safe here). Remember, the honor of him or her by >> >whom you are inspired is paramount even to your own; nothing should sully >> >that honor, and in our period, any sort of display of affection (perhaps >> >other than with your spouse) would sully the honor of both. Besides, the >> >best reward a true gentleman can expect for his service is a kind word, or >> >a smile. >> >(3) You take whomever you get. I'm going to draw names randomly, so I >> >guarantee no active matchmaking. If there is someone specific with whom >> >you don't want to deal, tell me ahead of time. Please remember, however, >> >that given the secrecy and circumspection of the whole thing, no one >> >should be doing anything that is a problem for you; if they are, call them >> >on it loudly, and publicly. Or simply tell me, and I will call off the >> >person in question. >> > >> >These are the only absolute rules. It might be a good idea (if you think >> >you have proved yourself worthy enough) to make sure your inspiration >> >knows he inspires you. This is not, however, necessary; you may very well >> >decide you are not yet worthy of such honor. >> > >> >Beyond these, your goal is simple in form: always, always, always, through >> >your every action, and every word, over the course of the entire event, >> >keep your inspiration uppermost in your thoughts. Do everything you do >> >for them. Say everything you say for them. Think everything you think >> >for them. >> > >> >Here are some more practical suggestions as to what you might want to do >> >for your beloved, to further their honor and glory, or to show them how >> >worthy you are of their love. However, I beseech you, please do not limit >> >yourself to ideas from this list. >> >* Write an anonymous poem naming your beloved as heaven's gift to earth. >> >* Write a signed poem, describing the virtues of an anonymous inspiration >> >(shepherds and shepherdesses are excellent substitutes to maintain the >> >anonymity of your beloved). >> >* Bribe an actor to slip the name of your inspiration into the evening's >> >performance (in, of course, a flattering way; or as least as flattering as >> >an actor can do, they being of such base station). >> >* Hire a messenger to send secret letters to your beloved (shameless plug >> >- since I will be doing the name-drawing, I obviously can't participate, >> >and would therefore love to be a confidential messenger to any who wish :-) >> >* Bribe your beloved's servants to allow you a moment (and they shouldn't >> >grant you more than a moment) to speak to your beloved alone. >> >* Ask your beloved to dance - what better time to speak to them alone? Of >> >course, this would require bribing some musicians to play a dance, >> >convincing a whole lot of others it would be fun (so you aren't too >> >obvious about it), etc. Please remember that you shouldn't dance too >> >often with the same person - people would most assuredly talk. >> >* If you happen to be fighting, there are possibilities to do with the >> >lists; of course, you can't make it too obvious to whom you are paying >> >honor. Then again, sending those you conquer to pay homage to him or her >> >is probably legit - they are bound to secrecy, for you let them go with >> >their life. >> >* Send them a token - best of all, one they will recognize, and no other >> >will. >> >* Ask of them any task, and fulfill it. >> >* Gifts are always good. >> > >> >It might be noted that a lot of these ideas involve bribery. To those not >> >directly involved in a particular exchange: please be easy to bribe. This >> >whole thing will probably be much more fun for everyone (especially those >> >of modest means) if you are. In addition, please stay bribed - don't go >> >blabbing what you were told in confidence. Try to cooperate with those >> >playing - they should be making their own lives hard enough that anything >> >you could add would just be superfluous. >> > >> >In all the above, I have used male and female pronouns interchangeably. >> >In the historical version of this game, the women inspired, and the men >> >were inspired. For the purposes of this game, men and women will be on >> >equal footing (simply because, not knowing the numbers ahead of time, it >> >is probable that the ratio of men to women will not be such that the game >> >will be fun, otherwise). >> > >> >To put this all in a bit of perspective, I would like to expound upon my >> >ideas of how this game fits in, or doesn't fit in, with the probably dozen >> >or so cloved fruit that will be wandering around the event (in a vain >> >attempt to make clear exactly what I intend by all this). >> > >> >On the one hand, you shouldn't offer your beloved a cloved lemon - people >> >would most assuredly determine that you are in love, and probably infer >> >that your beloved has given in to your constant attentions, and therefor >> >would her honor be completely besmirched. Then again, if you took part in >> >many such exchanges, no one could assume you were overly familiar with >> >your beloved. On the third hand, your beloved would have every right to >> >be extremely jealous of you and the many others with whom you shared this >> >mark of esteem. Perhaps you could make up for this by doing enormous >> >amounts of service for your beloved, to show her and assure her of your >> >true intentions. But boy, would that take an extraordinary amount of >> >service. Perhaps it would just be simpler to stay out of the cloved >> >lemons' game. On the fourth hand (or is it sixth?), since when is taking >> >the easy way out the proper way to show your inspiration how much he means >> >to you? Perhaps it is best to go the hard route, do the service, and hope >> >for but a single kiss. Of course, after all this service, and all this >> >hardship, she could still refuse (and rightfully so!) even the smallest >> >mark of affection; that's to be expected, serving him is its own reward >> >anyway. >> > >> >Obviously, most of this game is internal. The main goal is merely to >> >think of someone constantly (and he says "merely." Ha!) There is no >> >single winner; there is no loser; we are all going to carefully avoid >> >cliches after those last two phrases. >> > >> >Now, the practical details. >> >If you want to participate, please contact me personally. "My wife and I >> >both want to do this" is not enough - I have to hear it from each of you. >> >All such contacts will be private. People can, of course, declare >> >publicly what they are doing; I will ignore such public announcements, but >> >they might have their purpose. >> >A day or two before Mayday, I will draw names from a hat, and determine >> >each persons inspiration. Please tell me when you contact me if you want >> >to know ahead of time or not. >> >The game will start when you arrive at Mayday, and will end when the event >> >ends. >> >> >> >> > >----------------------------------------------------------------------- >badger@nwlink.com * Brander (Badger) Roullett * branderr@microsoft.com >Homepage: http://www.nwlink.com/~badger > >In the SCA I am known as.... >Lord Frederick Badger of Amberhaven, Squire to Viscount Sir Nicholaus >Red Tree Pursuivant Barony of Madrone, Kingdom of An Tir > >When the water of a place is bad it is safest to drink none that has not >been filtered through either the berry of a grape, or else a tub of malt. >These are the most reliable filters yet invented. > -- Samuel Butler (1835-1902) > > > .