Aelis de la Rose

Photo
An Tir/West War 2017
Information
Resides: Currently Three Mountains, formerly Adiantum then Briaroak Pronouns: she/her Date Started: AS XXXVI (Summer 2001) Awards: Order of Precedence Name pronunciation: Not specified Prefered Title: Her Ladyship Offices: Golden Bear Pursuivant (Baronial Herald/Court Coordinator for Adiantum), 2013-2019 Sable Mountain Herald (Royal Voice Herald for Their Majesties), July 2025- January 2026
Heraldry
Azure, on a compass rose Or a rose gules and on a chief invected Or three ships proper sailed argent

Meet Aelis de la Rose- bard, herald, teacher, and chaos coordinator.

Aelis' name comes from one of her favorite books growing up- "Catherine, Called Birdy" by Karen Cushman. Her formative years in the SCA were spent onboard a sailing ship (the finest ship on all the dry seas), and her love of roses influence both her name and device (where you can see many ship-related elements as well).

Bardic

Bardic at Egil Skallagrimsson Memorial Tournament

Performance of "Your Reign," a filk written by Aelis for Turk, Vesta, Tryggr, and Temperance

Aelis has been a performer since starting dance classes at the age of two. Unsurprisingly, she started participating in bardic arts shortly after she started attending events in 2001. She wanted to share her love of Middle Eastern dance and did so for several years, but what caught her attention for the long-term was when she heard her first filk. She loved the concept, and as an excellent wordsmith but definitively *not* a composer of original melodies, this seemed like the perfect way to express her own ideas through song.

She started writing filks shortly after joining the SCA and hasn't stopped. She has written filks about friends, royalty, events, camp happenings, and even donated a bespoke filk to a Baronial fundraiser for Glyn Dwfn.

In 2016, she challenged Victor de Guers for the Lion's Heart, the An Tir challenge garter that is focused on whimsy, wit and wordplay. (For steel fighting challenge garters, see The Challenge of the Lion.) For the challenge, the Princess of the Summits requested that they each write a poem extolling the virtues of the Summits. They each did so, and her Shakespearean-style sonnet won the day and the garter:

The Summits, it is my forever home.

My love for this land, never will it die.

Though I may venture forth, go out and roam,

I come back every time, and this is why.

The talents of our artisans you know:

One need only to look around and see.

Our fighters, with their martial skills, do show

the fierceness of our Principality.

And those who serve, their kindness we do feel

as they help ev'ryone along their way.

And as for Summits Highnesses- for real,

our Prince and Princess, frankly, make my day.

So take all of these people and you'll see

why Summits is the perfect place for me.

In 2018, she wrote another Shakespearean-style sonnet that Rickrolled the entire populace- this piece gained her entry into the finals of the Summits Bardic Championship. She then took the next 30 minutes to compose and rehearse a filk about the Summits, accompanying herself on ukulele. This is the piece that won her the Championship that year.

Heraldry and Court Coordination

Heralding court during the reign of Prince Turk and Princess Vesta

Heralding and Court Coordinating for Baroness Ceridwen of Adiantum.

It was after her first ten years in the SCA that she got involved in official activities, stepping in as court coordinator for Luciano and Elizabeth. This opened the floodgates as she discovered her skills in public speaking and organization had a very fitting home behind the thrones. As her wordfame in court heraldry grew, so did requests for her to take on the mantle of Royal Herald from those stepping up to wear the Coronets of the Summits. The next ten years looked like this:

2012-2013 Court Coordinator, Luciano and Elizabeth (Summits)

2013-2019 Court Coordinator/Herald, Durin Oldenmoor and Ceridwen ferch Morgan (Adiantum)

2015-2016 Royal Herald, Turk and Vesta (Summits)

2016-2017 Royal Herald, Tjorkill II and Alina (Summits)

2017 Royal Herald, Durin and Ceridwen (Summits)

2017-2018 Royal Herald, Turk II and Seamus (Summits)

~ After heralding four reigns with only one break, she was asked to take on the next reign but recognized she needed to step back a bit in order to avoid burnout. As a result, she offered to assist as needed but was not the primary herald on the reign. ~

2018 Assistant Royal Herald, Attila and Eleanor (Summits)

~ And then she was ready to go again! ~

2018-2019 Royal Herald, Njal and Sif I (Summits)

2019 Court Coordinator, Antoine and Kathren (Summits)

2019-2021 Assistant Royal Herald, Kenric and Dagmar (Summits)

2021-2022 Royal Herald, Luciano and Tessina (Summits)

2022 Royal Herald, Bato and Emma (Summits)

While she joyfully served in many Principality reigns, it took several years of trying for her to get a foot in the door to become part of a Kingdom-level herald team.

In 2024 she was afforded the opportunity to join the herald team for the reign of Eirik Daegarsson III and Brynhildr Ansvarsdottir. Under the guidance of Sable Mountain (Royal Voice Herald) Giata Magdalena Alberti, Aelis gratefully accepted the role of Regional Herald for Summits, thereby taking on the duties of Royal Herald at all Summits events which Their Majesties attended.

2025 presented her with a new Kingdom-level opportunity and challenge which she joyfully accepted: Sable Mountain (Royal Voice Herald) to Octamasades Skuthikos II and Achaxe Ek Auchatae II.

Teaching

Drumming for a hafla (on the floor, left) after a Middle Eastern drum class at 50 Year.

Aelis has been a teacher in mundania since 2007, primarily teaching high school theatre. She loves to teach and has offered classes at events in a number of areas. Some examples of classes she has offered over the years, many of which she has taught multiple times:

• African Hand Drumming
• Middle Eastern Drumming
• Bardic Workshop (performing a piece and getting constructive feedback, much like in a performing arts class)
• How to Bard Better: Elevating Your Works
• Gettin' Down to (Court) Business: A Court Coordinator's Primer
• Yelling at Your Friends for Fun and Profit: A Herald's Primer
• From Lesson Plans to Peerage Paths: The Syllabus of Success (AKA Teaching People How to Teach Better)
  
  

Chaos Coordinator, or: Shenanigans for the Good of the Realm

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Aelis volunteered to take on the task of compiling and editing videos for several inter-kingdom challenges. These challenges varied in timing and style, but all were designed to keep everyone's spirits up.

The largest of these compilations was the An Tir Dance Off, which consisted of videos that featured a full 100 people and animal friends. She selected prime portions of each clip, ensuring that every individual got equal screen time, and also timed each clip with the song so that every moment matched up musically. Some time after this video premiered, she had to change the link location to a new Youtube page, but before moving the location it had received over 10,000 views.

She also did the same work of compiling and editing for the An Tir Glow Up- so many submissions were received that she split this into Part 1 and Part 2. Not long after, the An Tir Smolder was born.

You can view her complete SCA Youtube playlist here.