Authenticity
Each aspect of what we do, as part of our events, is important. The combat must look good and be safe; and it does and is. The special effects must be special; and they are. The living history ‘lives’. All those behind-the-scenes-things that make T?ɬørsli?ɬ? tick, have to be authentic to our period, when the public sees the end result of all the hard work put in by the members. There's a lot more to that than just making sure no one is wearing a watch. People's clothing is only one aspect. Their tools, weapons, armour, etc; tents and all that are within them; their period names and what they say must all be considered. In fact, when in front of the public all our members should be ‘in character’. The king or queen would not have been called "majesty" then. Even the toys children have and the games they play must be correct for a thousand years ago.
This must all be carefully researched. Libraries and the Internet are invaluable; but everything needs to be double-checked. An author writing a book 20 years ago will not have been able to take advantage of new finds and scientific research methods discovered and worked out since then. Photographs of archaeological finds have great value, as do contemporary writings and artwork. Put together, they start to create a vivid picture of the world as it was then.
When we consider cloth and wood, especially one which may have rotted away, a description or tapestry, which has survived, can be of great help in ascertaining how something was worn and used, and by whom. We know a peasant would not have worn a golden crown, but what did his hat look like? What was the difference between a Norwegian lady's dress and a Mercian lady's dress?
Where things are found at archaeological digs can tell us about what they were used for. The clothes a person was wearing may be all but gone, but the position of the metal broach can tell us how it would have been worn. When deciding what to use in camp, it is obviously important to know the difference between a funerary urn and a pot in which to store grain! We must also consider the ecology surrounding our ancestors. Their daily meals would not have included potatoes, but the humble onion would have been both food and the skins would have provided part of a dye for clothing.
A walk in the English woods in those days to look for firewood could also have found the European wolf; a now endangered, larger animal that the timber wolf people today know from post cards and T-shirts.
We should not think of our ancestors as primitive. In 1001 navigation skills were sophisticated enough for Leif Eriksson to find what is now called America; and people came back to tell others about it. Trade links stretched to the Far East for silks. The finest metalwork and fine weave fabric remains have been found. This was a complex and fascinating world to live in, and recreating it can allow us to learn a great deal about our past.
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