Pennsic 41- War Stories

It's really hard for me to believe that Pennsic has been going on for 41 years, and that I know friends who have been going for all or most of that time. Pennsic is always an amazing two weeks, and Pennsic 41 was no different.

As always, Pennsic was a gathering of friends and family. I love my whole Celtic family: my own Clanne, and my kin in other clannes like Anglesey, Concusare, and Galatia. More and more these days, I feel like a true citizen of the Bog. I love walking in to any camp and finding people that I consider kin and kith- and receiving the same sort of welcome from those people.

Though I did not get to fight as much as I would have liked this year, I still had a blast on the field, until I got a concussion! During the final battle- the field battle (which is actually 5 battles)- I was whacked really good on the head by a guy with a glave. My vision went white-out and I dropped to my knees. I somehow had the wherewithal to get off the field, but that was about it. One of the guys in our group did a pupil check, and my pupils were disturbingly slow to react (maybe because of my concussion back in April??), so they sent me to the EMT tent. Needless to say, I have recovered now. Here's some footage of the first field battle. According to the hubs, I appear somewhere in this video!

This year was an interesting year, as our kinsmen, Ailgheanan and Amber, were King and Queen of Meridies.

Our Clanne had already decided to fight for Ailgheanan, and he made a bid at the Bar-Bar for the rest of the UCF (Anglesey, Concusare, Galatia). The other Celtic Clannes accepted his offer, and the UCF got to fight together for another year! Here are some pictures of the warlords from Anglesey, Concusare, and Galatia as they field offers from various royalty. The beautiful Morganna is always serves as the voice of the warlords to interpret their "barbarian" speech for the visiting royalty.

Murdiagean and I were privileged and honored that Ailgheanan allowed us to be part of the procession that accompanied him to the Bar-Bar. Since Ailgheanan is Preachanii, and the Preachanii have a long history (some good, some bad) with the other Celts, he decided to go to the Bar-Bar not as a King, but rather as another Celt. Here's a picture of Ailgheanan and Amber's procession entering the Bar-Bar:

As always, in Preachain, we did some really awesome things. We are blessed to be the home of Scot the Viking and Maggie the Potter, of Viking-u-like. This year, Maggie brought her tools, clay, and expertise to us and allowed us to sculpt and pit-fire our own clay objects. My penis oil lamp turned out fabulously and functions very well, but I do not have a picture of it to share with you. Our items, however, were fired under the fire we used to roast Tasty the Pig (Tasty's head was removed in true Celtic fashion with a sword). Here's a picture of tasty with the clay being fired buried in the pit beneath the fire:

Of course, there was lots of fun to be had, parties to attend, and woding to get done. We also had our very popular Early Period A&S day, which attracted lots of folks and many talented artisans.

All in all, we made many fabulous new friends, who will, like most of the others we've met over the years, likely become lifelong friends that we reunite with in our Iron Age lives at Pennsic and various other events. Here are some other awesome, random photos of this Pennsic for your enjoyment:

Of course, Women in White was fantastic, spiritual, and healing all at once. It was exactly what I needed in that moment, in that time, in that Pennsic. Here's a few pictures of Women in White:

 

Now I'm homesick. When is the next Pennsic??

~Ceanag