Ow!

[bunnyjadwiga]

One of my favorite Atlantian peers just posted the newest edition of The Quarter, a satrical SCA mag:
http://www.thequarter.org/
Ow. Ow. Ow.
Thanks... that cheered me up.

Comments

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

Yay! :)

[alphaggek.livejournal.com]

Think we should print out the SCA bingo cards and bring them to Landsknecht? :)

[bunnyjadwiga.livejournal.com]

Of course. I wonder how many I'll see in the kitchen, though.

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

What's a Pelican, please?

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

Albatross.

Stranger in a Strangeish Land

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

And an Albatross is...?

Re: Stranger in a Strangeish Land

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

My apologies - I had not realized it was a serious question and not a mild attempt at humor.

SCA awards are ranked, and have precedence, and amongst the highest ranks and precedents one can received are the so-called "Bestowed Peerages", as they are awards one cannot earn by performing specific acts, but only by the hand of a King and Queen, and general acclaim.

There are 3, basically: The Chivalry, Laurel, and Pelican. The Chivalry are for embodying the noble ideal of the medieval Knight, the Laurel is for excellence as an artisan in the works of the Middle Ages, and the Pelican is for general levels of service to the organization at a sustained and high level.

The iconography of the Pelican is a Christian one, it is a symbol of self-sacrifice. For when the Pelican could not feed its chicks, it would tear strips of its breast free, and feed its young through its own body.

I mentioned albatross both for the Monty Python reference, and also the literary notion of an "albatross around the neck" being something which hinders a person. See Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner for a super-long explanation.

I hope I have answered your brief question properly, and I apologize for mistaking a query for a joke.

Pelican

[bunnyjadwiga.livejournal.com]

A slightly jokey answer: a person who has taken the notion of service in the SCA beyond the realm of insanity.
In a church context, the kind of person who ends up running into the Board/Trustees meeting a bit late because they just got cleaned up from painting the Toddlers' classroom and dropping off the supplies for next Sunday's coffee. Of course one is also supposed to have admirable personal qualities!

Re: Pelican

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

Ah! So pelican for the piercing of one's own breast for the feeding of offspring. I wondered whether that was it.