[SCA-AE] scrolls

[muirgens at aol.com]

This is but a simple musing on scrolls...

One of the things I find fascinating is having the opportunity to look 
at scrolls that others have recieved over the years, either in this 
kingdom or from others or the East before we were Æthelmearc.

If you pay attention to the dates, you can see an astounding 
progression in scribal talent, skill, and craft over the years.  I have 
seen everything from scrolls proudly depicted in felt tipped marker on 
typing paper from years back to exquisite works done on velum in 
entirely period media, down to the rabbit glue under the guilding.

When I started in the SCA over 20 years ago, AOAs and baronial awards 
were commonly done in tempra on bristol paper or oaktag and usually 
consisted of a fancy capital with calligraphy and no border, etc. These 
days these awards are quite elaborate.   There used to be very little 
guilding on scrolls and the use of period pigments and velum was rare 
and usually reserved for peerages.  Now period materials, excellent 
guilding, and more elaborate designs are quite common.  This is in part 
due to improved availability of materials as well as increased interest 
in learning period techniques.  I have even seen a trend in certain 
circles towards more period "proclaimation" type documents, rather than 
illuminated book page reproductions, even though these proclamations 
tend to be relatively plain and don't have as much "ooh" factor from 
the crowd in court.

So perhaps we might do well to look at scrolls as part of the fabric of 
our history as a kingdom and as a society.  They reflect where we have 
been and where we are going as well as what we have learned along the 
way.


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