“You’re going to want a left-handed gauntlet and a right-handed hockey glove,” Steve Canfield tells a partially armored figure as he digs through a large plastic tub with various gloves, bits of leather and metal armor. In the background others are comparing wooden swords trying to pick the one that best suits their taste. These preparations aren’t for a historical re-enactment or a performance about the Middle Ages. In the words of Mississippi State University graduate April Edwards, she and the other members of the Society for Creative Anachronism are doing it just to have fun.
People join the society for their own enjoyment, said Edwards, who joined the SCA during her freshman year at MSU.
“We do research learning about the Middle Ages; the guys make their own armor, [we make] our costumes. We recreate the Middle Ages as they should have been. It’s an interesting way to make history come alive,” she said.
On Bell Island between Hull Hall and the State Fountain Bakery, the local chapter of the SCA meets Sunday afternoons for their weekly fighting practices, but Sunday’s practice was different; the club gained two interested persons who would participate in fighting practice for the first time.
The two new members heard about the group from other members, but Edwards said the SCA moved their practice to Bell Island to attract new members. The group had practiced on the Drill Field, but moved off campus temporarily until they found a more suitable location.
The SCA, a worldwide non-profit organization, was founded in 1966 in Berkley, Calif. Edwards said the society is divided similarly to those of medieval Europe.
“Shires are smaller groups. [Our shire] probably has about 20 people,” she said. “There are baronies, which maybe have 100 people, and kingdoms have more than 500 people.”
The Starkville and Columbus chapter of the SCA is called the “Shire of Tor an Riogh,” a member of the “Kingdom of Gleann Abhann,” which encompasses Mississippi, Louisiana, a majority of Arkansas, one county in Kentucky and Memphis, Tenn. The SCA boasts 19 kingdoms worldwide and a membership of more than 300,000.
Members travel throughout the region and country, participating in tournaments and other SCA events.
From the back of his SUV, one combatant is strapping gleaming metal armor onto his legs, reaching in to choose which pieces will best protect him when he goes into combat. Close parking is a must for some SCA members who may need to carry armor and other period equipment used in recreating the past.
Safety remains a top priority for the group, said Canfield, an MSU employee who explained that they use rattan wood for their swords because it doesn’t splinter, they require protection of vital areas and their armor must resemble that from the medieval period.
“The first thing we try to teach them is how to be safe,” Canfield said. “What we do here has a bit of energy but is not very aggressive. We want to recreate how people swordfight but we want to be safe.”
The equipment at the meeting varies from crude homemade fighting gear, made from scavenged metal, salvaged sports gear, belts and plastics to intricate metalwork-like brass inlaid helmets and stainless suits of armor.
“You could make your armor out of anything if it looks a little medieval and provides the protection,” he said.
Two experienced fighters instruct the new members, showing them how to handle a 4-foot sword, how to parry blows to their decorated yet obviously well-used shields. Several other members of the society sit in folding chairs and watch the combatants as they prepare for battle.
Fighting, although fun, is just one aspect of the SCA, whose members study and participate in many Middle Age period skills and techniques, Canfield said.
“You study it a different way than in a classroom,” he said. “How did they make their clothes? How did they do metalworking like blacksmithing? There’s a lot of that kind of stuff going on.”
Canfield explains that SCA members are not required to fight, saying although many enjoy it, members are free to study and research the Middle Ages as much as they want.
“If you want to spend hours and hours of study you can, and people in the club would read and enjoy it,” he said. “But if you wanted to learn [a medieval skill] and teach it to members, you could. There’s something for everybody.”
After learning to swordfight in the first half of the meeting, veterinary student Lindsey Anderson said fighting in armor was a new experience for her, but it was the medieval costumes that enticed her to join the SCA.
“I like to dress up, I like to wear costumes and it gives me an excuse to buy them,” Anderson said.
Because the organization spans the nation, MSU employee David Fulton said he was able to continue participating in the SCA after moving to Starkville from California.
“I’ve been in the SCA for about eight or nine years,” Fulton said. “If you’re really into a particular hobby, you’re going to find [other] people that have the same interest.”
Canfield, who is celebrating his 20th year in the SCA, said the social aspect was his favorite part of the organization.
“I met my wife at the SCA,” he said. “Being able to go hang out on the weekends in a medieval atmosphere is just a whole lot of fun.