Squire's Tourney

This is a personal recollection by Brand aux deus Leons about how the - this is the full name of the tourney -- the “Sir Aweiodian Memorial (I’m Not Dead Yet!) Squire’s Tourney” was conceived and begun in the Kingdom of An Tir.

Back when large events might have 200 people, there was a Coronation held, I think, near the Barony of Adiantum (Eugene, OR). The Champion's Tourney was to be held on Sunday. But on Saturday, there were Courts and some other things to do, but no fighting. There were a few cases of heat-related sickness, I remember. I heard people didn’t drink enough fluids, because… well, there was no fighting and no water-bearers, so not enough water was being taken in. (Yes, it was, and still is legal for people to drink water on their own, but reason and action do not always keep good company.  ;-)

On the way home from the event, my Lady (Siobhan Iyatrosakis) and I discussed ways to prevent dehydration and heat sickness by giving fighters something to do on that Saturday. Simplified, the discussion went something like this:

We need a Tourney on Saturday of Coronation weekend.

It should be a different kind of Tourney.

Not just a "two and done."

Fighters come from all over An Tir.

Drive hundreds and hundreds of miles, and be knocked out of the lists in just two or three rounds sometimes, in an ordinary tourney.

They don't get seen by the Knights, don't get to keep fighting except in Pickups.

They don't get to share in the glory much.

How about a tourney for those folks?

Specifically for Squires, rather than Knights!

To do Honor for your inspiration AND the person who is your Knight, or you are under in a martial sense.

And not a double elimination tourney, but like for an HOUR?!

Win or lose… Keep fighting.

Get the outcome of each of your fights recorded.

Announce the totals in Court. Prizes (donated by those competing – who also get name-fame that way) for most wins, most fights, most ‘perky’, most Chivalrous… best armor… Whatever?!!

AND, it is to be organized BY the Squires.

So for the next large event, we contacted the event steward (in those days known as the autocrat) to see if we could put this on. We spread the word as best we could.

Oh, and I talked it up with my Knight, Sir Aweiodian aef Crowansdale (ahhh, now you see where the name of this tourney comes from...) and he told other Knights.

The First Sir Aweiodian Memorial (I’m Not Dead Yet!) Squire’s Tourney was held maybe AS XVII (1983) or so. Our hope of having all the Knights watch it from start to finish didn’t work out, because there was a huge Knight’s meeting of some sort. BUT at a break, there was a line of the Chivalry that came and stood and watched. AND the POPULACE came and watched from start to finish. AND there were (memory fades) maybe 50 fighters! Over the course of the hour, about a thousand fights, total, were fought. The Populace liked it. Volunteers to assist flooded in to do the work of taking fight results from the host of fighters. Water Bearers were praised. Fighters got all the rattan they could eat. Friendships made. Skills sharpened.

Yeah... it came off.

At Court, numbers were announced, prized awarded for Most Wins and Most Fights. The prizes went to the fighters' Knights (or whoever was above them in a martial sense.) The Chivalry Prize went to the Inspiration of the Fighters. Baroness Saewyn’s card-woven Trim became a frequent and sought-after prize.

And so it grew. It is now a regularly scheduled and eagerly attended fixture at Crowns and other events. The format has changed a bit. Something about the “Elite 8” being selected for a ‘final’. The full name of the Tourney is now rarely given, but the purpose of it still serves - to give unbelted fighters a chance to build stamina, sharpen their skill at taking control of a fight at the outset. To meet and fight people from all OVER the Kingdom and beyond. To win name-fame for their Inspiration AND their Knight. To just fight, and fight, and fight, and learn, and become known.

The Gathering of the Fighters at the start seems to have remained. As the Tourney begins, the fighters gather into a large circle. An admonition is given as to why they are there and how it all works. Then, one by one, the fighters step forward and (loudly) announce who they are, who their Inspiration is, AND who their Knight is. Everyone gives witness and salute. This takes a while, but the fighters put up with the time it takes, as it is important to give such witness.

Knights now can fight in the Tourney, but do not score their ‘wins’. They teach, stop a fight to train for a moment, enter into a fight to test someone. And they watch. More than one Squire’s Tourney has been interrupted for a Squire, long spoken of in Council, to be ‘taken out’ of the ranks of participants by being put on Vigil for entrance to the Order of Chivalry. More than one fighter has told me it made the long trip to the event worth the effort.

So, I guess… it was a good idea. Vivat our Majesties of An Tir. Vivat the Kingdom of An Tir. Vivat the People of An Tir.