The Armour Archive

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Did you also see my post on Facebook?

Donal Mac Ruiseart

I have been entrusted with a sword that was the property of a deceased Knight. It was in the keeping of his mother for many years, and now that the lady is moving into assisted living, she entrusted the blade to me, as one who called him friend during his lifetime. The sword has suffered benign negl...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Donal Mac Ruiseart

I'm using automotive-style clamp-on edging. It will pretty much stay on by itself, but I'm using adhesive also. The corners are stress points, which is why I want to reinforce them.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

The shield is aluminum. (not historical, I know; but at my age I think I've earned the privilege to use a lightweight!) The top corners are 90 degrees, with the corners rounded. The base (it's a heater shape) is an acute angle, I'd have to measure it but it's somewhere between 40 and 60 degrees. It'...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

I have seen a good many shields with leather tabs that fold around the corners (the chief corners and the base point) to hold the edging in place. I have NOT seen any illustrations of how they're made. I did a search in here and I seemed to get everything BUT what I'm looking for. Will someone pleas...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

I do use thread lock. I thought I had mentioned it in the original post.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

I’m not an armourer, and I don’t claim to have discovered any great new idea here. I’m writing this because someone who has a similar helm and a similar situation might find it useful. My present SCA helm is a bascinet with a moveable visor. The pivots, when I bought the helm, were large brass rivet...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

We used drop cloths to make a floor cloth for our pavilion, but we painted it. Three or four coats of latex paint. Looks sharp. WE put it down over a double layer of plastic tarp.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

http://www.metmuseum.org/~/media/Images/Metpublication/Cover/2010/The_Metropolitan_Museum_Journal_v_45_2010.jpg This is a book in the Metropolitan Museum with wonderful pictures of tournaments and parades from Nuremburg. The article is from the Met's Journal Volume 45 (2010). The article starts on ...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

There is a perception among many that mediæval cities were pretty much ratholes, but not everyone buys into that idea. The following is an excerpt from the book The City in History by Lewis Mumford (A leading historian of urban life), published in the July 1961 issue of Horizon , a distinctive hardc...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

This thread has been pretty much derailed. Perhaps I should have been more specific about it being within the SCA context.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

The only one where standing is necessary* is the Loyal Toast (Currently.... "The Queen!") *Obviously, just a Commonwealth thing. Oh, and excluding the Royal Navy, who were granted permission to toast it sitting down. The Royal Marines too. They were granted the same privilege by Queen Elizabeth in ...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Actually, I'm interested in the custom of "toasting" in general. I know that in one form or another, drinking to a person's health or as a salute goes back quite a way ("Was Hael!" "Drink Hael!"), and I know that the expression "drink a toast" is probably of relatively modern origin. But I would app...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

The title of the autobiography of Jörg von Ehingen appears only in German. Is there an English translation in print? If so, I would like to read it. I could probably find my way through a French version as well. though I'd probably struggle with old fashioned terms.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

I could see a shield in the shape of that war fan, gripped with a regular handle at the back or even strapped as a forearm shield. At least it would have the right look.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Is that a "because you can" project?

Donal Mac Ruiseart

That is a handsome horse.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Looks like a good piece of work, though (20-20 hindsight!) you might have done well to size the grip hole to fit your gauntlet (unless you plan to simply wear a demi).

Friend of mine uses a shield similar to that, but the grip is oriented horizontally rather than the more common vertical.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

How about a pic or two of it on?

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Well, only someone who knew the place would know that, with the text all in Russian . . .
Thank you, Suzerain.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

I'm not sure of the details, but this link is to a gallery of photos of historic blades in what I originally thought was a Russian museum, the text being all in Russian, but is actually the Reichsstadtmuseums Rothenburg, in Germany. Thanks to Suzerain for setting me straight. http://mreen.org/galler...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Negotiations should be done ... 1. face to face between the reigning monarchs. 2. through appointed emissaries. 3. not using modern technology . You want to align yourself with the King of Drachenwald? Fly to an event where the King will be in attendance. To the best of my knowledge, air travel is ...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Your Highness is correct. The label is not reserved for royalty, although it is rarely used in REGISTERED SCA arms except by royalty, as mentioned above. It is an accepted (though not official) practice to identify minors with differenced arms, with the understanding that when they get old enough, t...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

ARE those ermine spots or are they caltrops?

If they're ermine spots, then I agree with ladyilsebet . . . except that there are six, not five.

If they're caltrops, then it would probably be argent, six caltrops sable and a chief indented gules. They're too large to be a semy.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Concerning cadency: A heraldic will is more than a permission to conflict. It allows the heir to assume the legator's arms undifferenced upon the legator's death. That follows true to the way of cadency in the real world. The oldest son would bear his father's arms differenced while his father lived...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Was the minor noble status of being a knight hereditary? Where there any cases in history where is was pointedly not hereditary? There is an important aspect of the status of knighthood that I feel compelled to point out: Knighthood per se was not hereditary. No one inherited knighthood. Uniquely a...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Ingvarr wrote:In Atenveldt the universal weave for squires is the 0 in 0 Knowourplace

The same is true in Atlantia. In Atlantia we know that to wear a loop of chain is the sole and unique privilege of a Knight.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

I have found some essays addressing the role of chaplains in the Middle Ages, but they're in subscription areas. I may just go ahead and subscribe, so I can see some of the scholarly papers.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

I'm curious about how a Christian army in the field - not necessarily a crusading army - dealt with religious practice. Did the leaders make any deliberate provision for it? Were there clergy among the troops, like modern chaplains? Were any kind of services performed by of for the troops? Did a pri...

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Sir Aradd here in Marinus has one. He has expressed some concern about its durability, but all who have seen, tested, or hefted it have seemed satisfied that it would be effective.

Donal Mac Ruiseart

I concur with Eff on that.

However, just for the exercise, I would blazon it:

Per fess (tincture) a lion passant (tincture) and (tincture) two scimitars inverted in saltire (tincture).

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Heh, that's what I used for the handles/runners of my armour chest!

Donal Mac Ruiseart

Halbrust wrote:That mallet and crescent crest is sick!

The Hammer of Justice, yes?

Re: To Restore a Neglected Sword

To Restore a Neglected Sword

Re: Shield Corner Tabs

Re: Shield Corner Tabs

Re: Shield Corner Tabs

Shield Corner Tabs

Re: Helm Hinge Hardware.

Helm Hinge Hardware.

Re: Canvas Drop Cloth for Tent

A Book of Tournaments and Parades from Nuremberg

Were Mediæval Cities THAT Bad?

Re: Who Should Rise When A Toast is Made?

Re: Who Should Rise When A Toast is Made?

Who Should Rise When A Toast is Made?

Re: Article on Physicality of Knighthood

Re: Is this really a samurai shield?

Re: Blog post about me making a parrying spear.

Re: The Young Warrior Grows......

Re: New Shield. Thoughts?

Re: How is this belt worn?

Re: SHENANIGANS!!!

Re: Russian Museum Collection

Museum Collection in GERMANY (not Russia)

Re: The War Shouldn't Be Over in June

Re: SCA Heraldry Question...amd I going to get in trouble?

Re: Can you Blazon this device for me?

Re: SCA Heraldry Question...amd I going to get in trouble?

Re: Knights and Heraldry-Rules of Thumb?

Re: Knights/Squire chain question.

Re: (Christian) Religion "In the Field" What did they Do?

(Christian) Religious Practices "In the Field"

Re: Anyone every handle a "Silver Fist of Fury" from Anvilhe

Re: Need Help with identification of coat of arms

Re: Amazing, undiscovered sourch for Ash

Re: "Knights' portraits