Trying to describe the Society for Creative Anachronism’s Estrella War event, held for the past 21 years at Estrella Mountain Regional Park in Goodyear, is not unlike trying to describe color to someone who’s never seen it.
The food, the merchants, the pageantry, the battles — even when you do see it, it takes a while to believe it.
Literally hundreds, if not thousands, of fully armored, shield-wielding warriors square off on a battlefield that’s flanked by tents selling a variety of dishes, including hot stews and meats, which are adjacent to merchants hawking jewelry, beads, clothing — it’s the medieval equivalent of sensory overload.
A falconer, woodworkers, metal workers can all be found plying their crafts.
Individuals select names for themselves, join others with similar anachronistic ambitions, and households are formed. Many members travel across the country to similar events, sharing information, enjoying each other’s company and, more often than not, pummeling each other with wooden replica weapons.
“The whole idea is that you pick a time and a place, and a person that you’ve decided to create a character around,” said Cary Riall, aka Bartholomew. “There’s such a broad range of the Middle Ages, depending on what you want to use as the endpoints of that.
“Say I’m interested in woodworking — I might pick Holland in the 1400s and focus on that. And some folks like to bop around, working in different areas, working in different times and places.”
Because “medieval,” can mean just about anything between the 10th and 15th centuries, or even earlier or later depending whom you ask, it allows participants tremendous flexibility to be creative.
One tight-knit group of re-enactors during the five-day event lives as though they were 10th century Vikings from Dublin. They eat the same foods, live in similar tents and wear the same clothing and jewels.
Other groups may not be quite as historically accurate, but that’s never really a problem with others in the SCA, Riall said.
“It’s a very tolerant group, from that point of view,” he said. “You get into it to the extent that makes sense for you.”
Freedom of expression
Riall, who lives in north Glendale and grew up in Scottsdale, said he was first attracted to the SCA lifestyle as a 12-year-old, some 34 years ago, when he was out for a drive with his parents.
“I saw people fighting in a tournament, and I made my folks stop the car, and I got hooked, right there,” he recalled. “I’ve always been interested in the Middle Ages. What 12-year-old boy wouldn’t want to go out and strap on some armor and whack people with a sword?”
Riall also got very involved in woodworking and metalworking, making most of his own armor, which now can be purchased directly at the Estrella War.
“Nowadays, you could show up in street clothes with a credit card and pretty well build yourself a completely medieval encampment,” Riall said. “There are many people who have actually built a profession around armoring, the woodworking, the leatherworking, and all of that.”
With more than 100,000 participants worldwide, the SCA certainly can’t be faulted for a lack of interest. Participants at the Estrella War came from as far away as Sweden.
John Bostwick, aka Sir Arik, had a much shorter trek, coming from Chino Valley.
Bostwick is a licensed falconer and has been practicing the sport for almost 20 years. As he held his red-tailed hawk, Borte (pronounced BORE-tie, from the Mongolian word for “beautiful one”), Bostwick explained how the slight traces of blood that remained on one of Borte’s talons were from when she earlier killed and ate a gopher.
“I hunt with her,” said Bostwick, adding that he spends at least an hour every day training Borte.
“I go looking for rabbits,” he added, laughing. “And she comes back with ground squirrels, lizards, snakes, grasshoppers.”
Katie Lewis, aka Catherine Throckmorton, said she enjoys building clay ovens and using them to bake a variety of goods — breads, pretzels, hams, chicken and pies.
A standard mud and brick oven takes about an hour or two to complete, with several people working on it.
“Once you get the mud put on it, it takes about five or six hours, depending on what the weather’s like, to get the mud to dry,” she added.
The battlefront
What draws the largest crowds, by far, are the intense battles, typically staged from late morning until early afternoon.
While younger children are given the chance to square off in mock duels with extra-padded weapons, anyone 16 or older can fight in the main battles.
“At 16, they can transfer to the full fighting,” Riall said, adding with intended understatement, “which is less padded.”
The battles can last minutes; the battles can last hours. Some may be full-fledged onslaughts. Others may be re-created situations, such as where one side imagines it’s arriving by boat to storm a city.
Smaller groups of soldiers “land,” one by one, at which point a runner sprints back to the “castle” to alert the guards. All it takes is a few cleverly placed hay bales and some imagination.
“We don’t actually pick a battle from the Middle Ages,” Riall said, meaning any specific, historical fight. “It’s kind of like capture the flag in a lot of ways. It’s similar to paintball in which we’ll set up a scenario and have the folks split into two groups and have a battle together. Very often, we’ll then mix it up again and have different battles.”
Battles often are determined by geography. This year, in one very large battle, SCA members from Arizona and California took on everyone else.
Each fighter is responsible for making sure his weapon and armor meet safety specifications before he or she is allowed to fight. Most weapons are constructed from rattan, a wood that resembles a more solid form of bamboo. Armor, most often steel, can be seen in hundreds of varieties.
Because armor can vary so much, for battles purposes a standard armor — a chain mail shirt, leather leggings, and a steel helmet with an open face — is assumed by every fighter.
Stickers, typically red or blue, are placed on helmets to tell friend from foe.
And as for the fighting itself, you’re dead when, well, when you decide you’re dead.
“The way that they decide when they’ve been hit sufficiently is a total honor system, as is most of the SCA,” Riall said. “If you take a blow that is sufficient, that through medieval armor you would have been incapacitated or killed, you’re dead.
“If you hit me in the arm, that’s a good shot, I lose use of the arm. Or, on the leg, you lose the use of the leg. It’s completely on your honor and that system works out quite well.”
Combatants are instructed, out of safety, not to purposely try to swipe other fighters’ legs, smash someone’s helmet unnecessary or — literally — stab an enemy in the back.
Battles are monitored by marshals responsible for halting any action in which someone is seriously injured. Once someone yells out “Hold!” all fighting stops until that person gets up and leaves the battlefield.
“What’s amazing is, we actually did a check one time, and our injury rate is less than that of amateur softball — mainly because we are wearing decent armor,” Riall explained.
Most battles are lush with strategy, as pikemen and shield-bearers team up to both parry troop advancements and lead advancements of their own. Fighters’ rattan weapons, roughly equal in size and weight to metal weapons of that time period, include everything from swords to axes to blunt arrows used by the archers.
“When you’re actually in there, it’s very real,” Riall said. “When you’ve got the armor on and you’re sweeping forward, with that kind of charge, the exhilaration rush is pretty tremendous.
“Some of the most significant battles of the Middle Ages were a matter of hundreds [of soldiers]. And we can have a matter of thousands. From a reality point of view, it really does give you a feel.”
Estrella War one of many
With SCA chapters now located as far away as Russia, it should be no surprise that Riall is among those who travels to fight in other similar wars.
The first Estrella War drew about 400 to 500 people. This one drew more than 6,000.
“There are a number of these kinds of conventions around the country, and around the world at this point,” Riall said. “There’s another one that’s actually larger than this, in Pennsylvania, called the Pennsic War, that’s more like 10,000 people because it draws more from the East Coast. I try to get back there as much as I can because it’s an amazing event.”
The event, held in late August, features an enormous battle, Riall said.
“The purpose of that war is to decide on which of the groups gets Pittsburgh,” he said, adding with a smile, “and whoever loses gets Pittsburgh.”
Unlike the local Renaissance Faire, the SCA isn’t so much about putting on a show but instead celebrating culture. The general attitude is less, “Hey, look, over here” and more “We’re doing some cool stuff and you’re more than welcome to join us.”
“The focus here is on doing it for the sake of learning and enjoying it,” Riall said. The SCA hosts school groups, for example, educating students on everything from cooking to metallurgy.
“We talk about the various arts and the sciences. It’s very much hands-on. It’s a very participatory thing,” Riall said. “You pick what interests you about the Middle Ages and then you go out and actually do that stuff.”
Riall’s favorite part of SCA events is perhaps at night, sitting around a fire with his fellow Medievalists, enjoying a good meal, singing songs and swapping stories, he said. Every night is a chance to hear something for the first time.
“The saying in the SCA is, ‘Kill your friend during the day, drink with him that night,’” Riall said.
“One of the things I really like about this is that not only is there a really broad range of arts and sciences and sports that you can get involved in, there’s this amazing spectrum of people,” continued Riall, who works as an engineer. “The person you’re out there whacking on, or sitting around a fire swapping tales with, could be a plumber, a carpenter, a lawyer or — an engineer. There’s a really wide spectrum of folks, and that’s kind of fun, too. It gives you an opportunity to break out of your own little circle.”
About the only thing that doesn’t change is each fighter’s memory of that day’s battles.
“Everyone says they killed eight or nine guys, which would mean there are like 50,000 out on the battlefield,” said Riall, laughing. “Everyone exaggerates their kill totals.”
Justin Doom can be reached by e-mail at jdoom@westvalleyview.com.
