But there is danger lurking in the Greater Hawkwood metropolitan area.
The minions of
Yohko
(Oh, no!)
have been spotted in their haunts along the river.
There have rumblings in the trees that might even be
Yohko
herself.
If Yohko
attacks, will the
Hawkwoodian Militia
be up to the task?
Who cares?
Yohko
is only a legend. There are no dragons here.
So brush the burrs out of you tail and join me at the
1998 Hawkwood Medieval Fantasy Faire!
Remember, click on the small images to see the full size picture.
One of the new shows at Hawkwood this year is
To The Hilt.
Leondaro,
the best gypsy sword swinger to ever don a pair of ugly pants,
and
Katya,
the femme fatale Russian gypsy,
entertain with feats of swordplay and staff.
They even demonstrate that most sacred technique of gypsy dueling, the ...
Oh! I can't tell you. You're not gypsies.
If I told you then you'd have to die.
I guess if you want to know just what it is they do, you'll have to
come to Hawkwood so you can join the gypsy caravan and find out.
And, you'll also learn what 3 things all gypsies have in common.
There is only one way to play
checkers
at Hawkwood, and that is
with an Attitude.
Tiger Lily
looks very pleased with herself.
I think she's been sharpening her claws on her opponent!
And I wonder what
Boney
has been saying to elicit such a response?
Or maybe it's just the sight of those tights!
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What dastardly deed
could Trotter have possibly done to end up in this position? |
This is the first year for
Spoonfed Tribe
at Hawkwood.
These guys give a fantastic, high energy, performance.
They are
drum jam
personified.
No two performances are identical.
The Tribe are not simply musicians, they are comedians, fire breathers,
performance artists ... in other words, street performers.
OK, so they don't perform period music.
But I think they are closer in spirit to traveling
performers of the middle ages and renaissance than most other perfomers
at faire.
Go see them.
You won't be sorry.
The
Scottish Caledonian Gamers
are back with their own pecular style of Highland gaming.
Gareth
and
Lucky
are the Horned Stags team;
Trotter
and
Logan
are the Red Roans.
And
Dagger
is, well, Dagger.
Things sometimes get out of hand at the games, and the boys
segue (how much does a seg weigh? Thank you, Leonardo!)
into armed skirmishes.
Take a good look at the picture on the left.
The head of Trotter's axe has flown off the handle, just
missing Logan.
My friend
Sharon
likes the boys, too!
Surrounding Sharon are Gareth (on the left), Logan,
Lucky (on the right) and Trotter (stretched out in front).
One of my favorite shops this year is
The Highland Anvil.
Charles
and
Athena
create stunning helms, diadems, necklaces and
other wonderful pieces.
The breastplate and helm that
Mags
is sporting came from
Charles & Athena.
I bought a necklace and a pair of pins from them for my new Inverness
that I ordered from
Cloak and Dagger.
Another place where I did a bit of shopping
(translation: spent more money than I should have) was
Alchemy Studio
where you can find jewelry crafted of hand-made glass beads.
I had a lot of fun rummaging through the trays of beads, selecting
the ones that I wanted made into necklaces, bracelets or earrings.
Mitchael
also gives daily demonstrations of bead making.
Just down the path from Alchemy Studio is
Faerie Cats.
Here you will find (besides a very pink booth) winged
cat-people dolls, tiny sculpted critters and other
delights.
You can even have faerie cat made to look like your
favorite kitty.
The Brotherhood of the Bow
gives archery demonstrations daily.
They shot through rings in a test of accuracy, as well as against each other
for accuracy and time.
One of their targets is a
plush, purple dinosaur
that has adults cheering for its demise.
It's not a sight for young children.
There is also an archery game where you can shoot at a live target.
Dustin
doesn't just stand there.
He moves around (even with the padding, those arrows can hurt).
But if you tip him an extra pound or two, he will grovel and beg for mercy
while you shoot.
It's the men against the women in the
Amazon-Barbarian Games
hosted by the
Falcon Fire Warriors.
While the men cheat their way to victory in the preliminary rounds, when
it comes to the final challenge, the women emerge victorious!
As usual
In the woods next to the Arena of Valor, the
Star Dancers
are back, delighting audiences with their dancing
and selling baubles, bangles and beads at
Belly Dance Treasures.
I splurged a bit here as well.
I bought a purple scarf littered with gold coins and
several bracelets.
The girls even braided the bracelets into my tail for me.
Commedia dell' Carte
is back again.
Just look for the cart as it rumbles around Hawkwood.
I generally watched the show immediately following the
Spoonfed Tribe show on the Hollywood & Vine stage down by
the river (well, it's called a river ... this year, with the lack
of rain, it was more like a trickle).
This was the "adult" show, and always had more ad lib and audience
participation than some of the other shows.
Sometimes there was even a mystery guest.
Just who is that white robed man?
Don't forget to visit the
Commedia dell' Carte home page.
Speaking of vibrant and outrageous colors, the
yellow booth
belongs to
Dark Rose Armoury.
If you are in the market for chain mail clothing or accessories,
this is the place to shop.
Ask about the
tickle tassle.
Eric
and
Greg
wanted their booth to be noticed, and with
this paint job, it certainly is.
Although I do have to admit that it was a couple of weeks
before I made my way over there, but that was probably
because I was spending all my time at
SaferSwords.
Oh, no!
It's
Yohko!
There really is a
dragon
as
Gareth McTehner,
the local land baron,
found out!
Luckily
Zippo
was around to transform the dragon.
At least he was around until she extinguished him.
But
Yohko
is just as evil and dastardly in human guise.
Can the Hawkwoodians defeat
Yohko
and her minions?
Will their secret weapon work?
What is their secret weapon?
You think I'm going to tell? No way!
Besides being two very good friends,
Ed
and
Ellen
collectively are the
SCRIBE
.
Together with their many associates, they maintain an online
archive of information on Renaissance events, people and
general information.
Now, a gentle reminder for everyone who is registered with
the SCRIBE: FILL OUT YOUR UPDATES AND RETURN THEM RIGHT NOW!
And for those of you who have never registered in the first place:
DO IT NOW!
There, now don't you feel better?
And then there were just the assorted characters roaming about Hawkwood ...
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