SCA Resume

Farolfus filius Richardi

My persona is a Langobard gasindus (retainer in a lord’s household) in what is now northern Italy, c.600 CE. My research and crafts focus on the material culture of Europe in the Migration Era and Merovingian/Vendel Period. Interests include pottery (particularly decorative stamped wares), garb, Iron Age shoemaking, and other leatherwork. I was made a Companion of the Order of the Laurel in A.S. 58.

Teaching

Pottery

Learn to Make Norwegian Iron Age Bucket Pottery

Warriors & Warlords, July 2022/AS LVII
St. Radegund’s Faire, August 2022/AS LVII
University of Atlantia, Session #111b, September 2022/AS LVII
Autumn Rose…bud, October 2022/AS LVII
Stellar University of Northshield, November 2022/AS LVII
Boar’s Head, December 2022/AS LVII
Warriors & Warlords, July 2023/AS LVIII
Haustblot, September 2023/AS LVIII
Stellar University of Northshield, November 2023/AS LVIII
Boar’s Head, December 2023/AS LVIII

This class is a hands-on workshop in which participants make and decorate a small ceramic vessel in the style of the distinctive “bucket-shaped” pots found in Norway from c.350-550 CE. The pots are slab-built around a cylindrical form and decorated using stamped and combed designs. This class is suitable for those with no prior pottery experience, and I provide all tools and materials, including a selection of stamp dies reconstructed from extant examples. Participants will have the option to have their pots fired after the event. For the University of Atlantia, the content was presented virtually with a slide show and instructional video.

Intro to ‘Early Period’ Stamped Pottery: Decorated Wares of Britain, Scandinavia, and Western Europe, 5th-7th Centuries CE

University of Atlantia, Session #109, February 2022/AS LVI
Nordskogen Virtual Baronial Meeting, February 2022/AS LVI

This class looks at several of the highly-decorated pottery traditions in Europe c.450-700 CE, particularly the styles found in Migration Era/Vendel Period Scandinavia, Anglian/Saxon Britain, and the Langobardic wares from Pannonia and northern Italy. We will discuss manufacturing methods, decorative motifs and styles, and methods for reproducing the stamping dies used to decorate the pots.

Early Medieval Stamped Pottery: Anglian & Saxon Decorated Wares in Britain, 450-650 CE

Feast of the Boar’s Head, Barony of Caer Anterth Mawr, December 2021/AS LVI

This class is an introduction to the pottery associated with the Anglian and Saxon communities in Britain from around 450 to 650 CE. It discusses the associated forms, production methods, and various styles of ornamentation, with a focus on a decorative stamped pottery tradition that originated in continental Europe and continued to flourish and develop in Britain and situates these wares among the pottery of neighboring areas. When taught in person, I present slides of many of the original vessels, but also have replica pots on hand as well as reconstructions of many of the stamp dies used to decorate the pots.

Hands-on Intro to ‘Early Period’ Stamped Pottery

St. Radegund’s Faire, August 2021/AS LVI
Warriors & Warlords, July 2023/AS LVII

This make-and-take class is an informal look at European stamped pottery c.450-700 CE with a focus on Anglian/Saxon Britain. Participants are guided through the process of making a simple pinched and coiled pot and decorating it using my extensive collection of stamping dies reconstructed from period examples of stamped pottery. Pots are fired offsite and sent to the makers afterwards.

As the Wheel Turns: Imported Pottery in Britain and Scandinavia

University of Atlantia, Session #106, February 2021/AS LV

This class is an introductory overview of imported pottery found in Britain and Scandinavia from the 6th-10th centuries C.E., looking primarily at Frankish- and Slavic-made wares, and discusses the shapes, decorations, and techniques used to produce these vessels.

History

Meet the Langobards: 568-774 CE

Known World Italian Symposium III, May 2022/AS LVII

This class introduces attendees to the Langobards (aka the Lombards), a Germanic-speaking group that arrived in what is now Italy in the late sixth century CE. Over the next 200 years, Langobard rule eventually extended throughout much of the Italian peninsula; rather than a simple story of conquest, however, this period saw the gradual fusion of Langobardic and Romano-Byzantine cultures. The class hits the historical highlights, looking at a dazzling array of weapons, jewelry, and pottery, and touches on a range of other subjects including language, law, origin myths, and religion. Fibulae, toponyms, and lamellar armor – oh my!

Leatherworking

Before They Wore Turnshoes

Stellar University of Northshield, November 2020/AS LV
Trident Tourney, Barony of Darkwater, Kingdom of Trimaris, February 2021, AS LV (reprised by request as part one of a two-part class entitled “Out of the Bog”)

A survey of historical footwear based primarily on finds of shoes from modern-day Germany, Denmark, Belgium, and the Netherlands dated from the 1st through 6th centuries CE, looking at surviving examples and discussing their patterning and construction methods.

Patterning a Germanic One-Piece Shoe

Stellar University of Northshield, November 2020/AS LV
Trident Tourney, Barony of Darkwater, Kingdom of Trimaris, February 2021, AS LV (reprised by request as part two of a two-part class entitled “Out of the Bog”)

A class on the basics of how to draft a pattern for a late Iron Age/Migration Period shoe made from a single piece of leather. Starting with a well-preserved historical example, it covers the steps involved to adapt the pattern to an individual’s foot and discuss various tips and tricks to ensure a good fit and historically accurate appearance, as well as “care and feeding” of this type of shoe.

Intro to Early Medieval Leather Tooling

Warriors & Warlords (Northshield), July 2020/AS LV
University of Atlantia, Session #106, February 2021/AS LV

This class is an introduction to the tools, techniques, and motifs used in decoration of leather knife and seax sheathes from the 8th-11th centuries CE. Using historical examples from Anglo-Scandinavian York, Dublin, and London, it discusses the way the designs are composed and breaks down the individual motifs. The class covers the basics of tool-handling and discusses how to execute these designs using simple tools – or even common household objects.

Major Projects

Pottery Stamp Replica Project

This ongoing project seeks to reconstruct stamping dies and other tools used to decorate pottery from a variety of related northern European ceramic traditions including Anglian, Saxon, Frankish, Langobardic, Alemannic, and Scandinavian wares. To date, I have reconstructed well over 100 stamping dies and rouletting wheels using historically documented tools, materials, and methods. My reconstructions are based on published archaeological finds and museum examples from the late Migration Era and early Medieval period (roughly 450-700 CE) and I have produced many pots as teaching aids and for general use.

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Viking Era Footwear Finder

A GIS-based project (ESRI Storymap) that included creation of a database of documented footwear finds in and adjacent to the Norse sphere from c.700 to c.1100 and representative illustrations of the various styles using the typology developed by historical footwear expert Marquita Volken. The dataset was then used to create an interactive map that allowed users to see what shoe styles were found in various regions and the approximate date range of the style.

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Before They Wore Turnshoes

A GIS-based project (ESRI Storymap) that examines the distribution of archaeological footwear finds from 200-700 CE in northwestern Europe. The project included creation of a database of documented one-piece shoes from late antiquity and the early Middle Ages, and the dataset was used to create a series of interactive maps with illustrative pop-ups that show stylistic distribution in relation to the shifting political boundaries in the former Western Roman Empire.

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Arts & Sciences

Grand Champion, Allied Champion; Gulf Wars A&S War Point, AS LVII: 101 Migration Era and Early Medieval Pottery Stamp Dies

Winner: Triathlon; Winner: Highest Overall Score, Kingdom A&S, AS LVII: 4th-century CE Scandinavian Masculine Attire, Migration Era Pottery Stamp Dies, Gotlandic Tubular-handled Mugs

Winner: Queen’s Choice and Populace Choice, Extreme Documentation Category, AS LVI: Research on Langobardic pyramidal bone scabbard mounts

Winner: Arts & Sciences Queen’s Largesse Competition, AS LVI: Set of stamped pottery cups

Knowne World Arts & Sciences Entry (not judged): Decorative Stamps for Migration Period and Early Medieval Pottery (July-August 2021; Virtual Pennsic)

Winner: Queen’s Choice and Populace Choice, Extreme Documentation Category, AS LV: research on woven leather decorations on items from Birka

Winner: Intermediate Division, Kingdom A&S Competition, AS LIV: Langobardic seax sheath

Winner: Box Division, Griffin Needle Challenge, AS LIV: 4th century CE Roman soldier’s soft kit

Awards

Companion of the Order of the Laurel, elevated by Queen Mary and King Lars III, AS LVIII
Award of the Pantheon of Northshield, Kingdom of Northshield, awarded by Queen Guenievre and King Tom, AS LVII
Joint Cypher, Kingdom of Northshield, awarded by Gaia Regina and Ajax Rex, AS LVII
Brigit’s Flame, Kingdom of Northshield, awarded by Queen Genevieve and King Hans, AS LVI
Order of the Pyxis, Kingdom of Northshield, awarded by Ciaran Ri and Elis Banrion, AS LV
Heliotrope, Barony of Nordskogen, awarded by Baroness Caoilfhionn and Baron Gabriel, AS LV
Black Flame, Kingdom of Northshield, awarded by Ciaran Ri and Elis Banrion, AS LV
Award of Arms, Kingdom of Northshield, awarded by Queen Jehanette at Stellar University of Northshield, AS LIV

Skills & Offices Held

Offices:

Kingdom Minister of Arts & Sciences, Kingdom of Northshield, AS LVII-present
Scribal Gallery Curator, Kingdom of Northshield, AS LVII-AS LVIII
Cartographer, Kingdom of Northshield, AS LV-present
Social Media Deputy, Kingdom of Northshield, summer AS LVI

Skills: