So, I went to Las Vegas. (Please supply your own Show Biz Kids reference.) Michael Chidester and I brought HEMA Bookshelf to CombatCon, and we both also taught some classes.
I have been politely referring to some parts of the trip as “misadventures” and “learning experiences,” but in the interest of transparency, “minor disasters” is probably more accurate. If my recounting sounds less than glowing, please read that not as a reflection on Vegas or CombatCon, but a natural consequence of having an unexpected 17 hour layover on the way in. Case in point, this probably isn’t the right place to start my story, but here we are.
Let me skip to a different part of the story, then! I did Primary Source Storytime and it was great– it was the most continuous reading I’ve done yet, filling a whole hour with three substantial pieces. (Past installments have been more like 20-40 minutes of reading at a time.) I was delighted to find that not only did my voice hold out, but also the audience seemed totally engaged the whole time. When I first had the idea for Primary Source Storytime, I hoped people would like it, but every time I sit down to read at a new event I get a little nervous that this’ll be the time it’s boring. So far, you keep proving me wrong and being fascinated, and that’s why you’re great.
Also, for the second time someone sketched while listening, and gave me the drawing, which is of an ox-like grazing fish creature described in one of the readings. After someone at Swordsquatch showed me their sketchbook, I hoped something similar might happen at a subsequent storytime, and it was even more delightful than I imagined.
Here’s the drawing anchoring my CombatCon and Vegas haul pile:
If you came to this blog hoping to get more info about the texts that I read at storytime, you’re in luck!
The first piece was “The Knight under the Baking Tub” from Erotic Tales of Medieval Germany by Albrecht Classen. This book was recommended to me by the amazing Jess Finley, with the comment “I didn’t really understand the medieval idea of pursuit until I read these stories.” The stories are not (to my eye) erotic in the modern “pornographic, causing sexual excitement” sense, but they do generally concern what happens before and/or after people have sex, like how many sexual encounters constitute appropriate barter for one really cute pet bunny.
The second piece was “Battered and Bruised: A Translation of the ‘Fish-Knights’ Episode from Perceforest” by Coline Blaizeau. This curious and thought-provoking bit of adventure was recommended to me by the excellent Katie Vernon who helped me connect medieval images of merfolk in armor to contemporary fiction. If you want to read more of Perceforest in modern English, Blaizeau suggests Nigel Bryant’s 2011 book. I have read and liked another of Bryant’s translations, so I feel good repeating the recommendation.
The third piece was a selection of chapters from Michael Chidester’s transcription and edition of Thomas Bedingfield’s 1580 translation of Paride del Pozzo‘s Italian treatise on dueling jurisprudence. (Whew.) Michael published those and more chapters on his Patreon throughout 2021 and plans to return to the project someday when his book-publishing schedule chills out. If a lot of you subscribe to the Patreon and ask for more Pozzo, maybe someday he’ll publish a version with a title that’s easier to cite.
While at CombatCon, I also took classes from Steaphen Fick, Morgana Alba, and Simone Belli, which were all excellent. This is the most hands-on workshops I’ve attended at a single event in a long time, and even though it made HEMA Bookshelf table coverage hard to schedule I’m really glad I did. I learned new things in every class, and I spoke up and asked questions and got things wrong (but not as much as I thought I would). All this sword travel is often exhausting, but getting to learn new things and see different teaching styles and learn old things in new ways keeps me coming back for more.
At the risk of explaining a joke, the armored plushie in the photo is an official Combat Wombat.
Darth Kendra Research 