Welcome to the Ildhafn 2024-2025 A&S challenge! This online challenge follows in the great tradition of challenges in the Crescent Isles to help encourage our populace to Do The Things, as well as showcase some of the amazing talent within our barony. There may also be prizes!
What to enter: You may enter any project that fits within one of the categories below, and may enter as many (or as few) categories as you wish. Providing a photo of the finished product, as well as a short (a few sentences is fine) description of what you did, is all you need! Entries will be hosted publicly here on the Ildhafn page to inspire others.
Entries can be small or large, simple or complex! The challenge is about getting going in doing and making things, so taking your first step into a subject area is not only permitted but encouraged.
Entries should be new projects, started this calendar year, and be suitable for use at an SCA event.
Who can enter: Anyone!
Entries are welcomed from adults as well as children, members old and new. Entries can be submitted by individuals, or by a group. And for those who reside outside of the great City of Ildhafn, and the verdant and prosperous Canton of Cluain please note that this Challenge is also open to entry from those from elsewhere in the Crescent Isles, Lochac, and abroad!
How to enter:
Submit the following information to artsandsciences@ildhafn.lochac.sca.org
1) An image of the entry
2) A few brief notes about what you did, how you did it and what time/place in history inspired it. If you’re keen, you can write more detailed notes, but it’s not required!
Child entries should be entered with the assistance of (and permission from) parents.
When to enter: As soon as you’ve finished your first project! The contest is open now and runs through until St. Sebastians 2025.
Categories:
- Acta non verba (deeds not words)
Finish a project you’ve been telling yourself you’d get around to - Quid pro quo (something for something)
Make something as part of a barter exchange with another person - Terra incognita (unknown ground)
Make something using a skill or method you’ve never tried before - Terra firma (firm ground)
Make something using a skill or method you’re familiar with, but want to improve on - Panem et circenses (bread and circuses)
Make or perform something for entertainment - Alea iacta est (the die is cast)
Make something relating to period games, chance, or fate - Ante meridiem (before noon)
Make something that would be used in the morning - Ex nihilo (from nothing)
Make an item from the very beginning, starting from raw materials - Verbatim (repeat exactly)
Make two identical items (they can be mirror images – e.g. a pair of shoes) - Veni, vidi, vici (I came, I saw, I conquered)
Make something involving weaponry, horses, fire, or Anatolia - Tabula rasa (blank slate)
Make something to write or paint on - Tempus edax rerum (time, devourer of all things)
Repair or refashion an item time has not been kind to - Ars natura
Make a project focused on the sciences - Verba volant, sed scripta manent (spoken words fly away, written words remain)
A project using the written word - Cura te ipsum (take care of yourself)
Make a personal care item - Solvitur ambulando (it is solved by walking)
Make something to be used while travelling - Discendo discimus (I learn by teaching)
Share a skill you know with someone else - Dulcius ex asperis (sweeter after difficulties)
A project you finished despite adversity
Entries
- Terra Incognita – Glass Beads – Melissa WijffelsCategoryTerra incognita (unknown ground) EntrantMelissa Wijffels EntryGlass Beads Having read one too many papers about historical beads, modern beads could no longer satisfy me! I got a small torch and some glass rods from a former scadian and started playing with hot glass. After considerable trial and error (and thankfully not too many exploding hot glass beads), I got ...
- Dulcius ex asperis (sweeter after difficulties) – Gambeson – Rose TaillorCategoryDulcius ex asperis (sweeter after difficulties) EntrantRose Taillor EntryGamberson I hope I will write this project up properly with more details regarding decisions and construction, but given St Sebastians is tomorrow, this was my main project in the latter part of 2024, and it really fits the brief of Dulcius ex asperis, I thought I really should enter ...
- Terra incognita (unknown ground) – Tablet Weaving – Tureya Healey-DiazCategoryTerra incognita (unknown ground) EntrantTureya Healey-Diaz EntryTablet Weaving I’ve wanted to try my hand at tablet weaving ever since becoming interested in medieval garb, I’m just here for the bling baby! My determination was only increased by hearing horror stories of just how difficult this ancient craft can be. I wanted to be successful however, so rather than use a traditional box loom or ...
- Multiple Categories – 15th century vambraces – Ben of IldhafnCategoryActa non verba (deeds not words)Terra firma (firm ground)Verbatim (repeat exactly)Veni, vidi, vici (I came, I saw, I conquered) EntrantBen of Ildhafn Entry15th century vambraces Historical reference and comparisonThe item is a pair of vambraces to match my leg armour and while the material is a little modern (stainless rather than spring steel) and I have used the ...
- Terra firma – An Outfit for a Friend – Christine Bess DuvantCategoryTerra firma (firm ground) EntrantChristine Bess Duvant EntryAn Outfit for a Friend History: I have only ever made one Burgundian outfit. It was about 20 years ago, a doublet and over robe for a jouster friend and I was very much still in my infancy when it came to sewing. So much so, that I remember cutting the outer ...
- Terra incognita – The Royal Dragon – Christine Bess DuvantCategoryTerra incognita (unknown ground) EntrantChristine Bess Duvant EntryThe Royal Dragon History: The Royal Dragon In March 2024 we hosted Crown Tournament. A beautiful couple who were ruling at the time King Aonghus and Queen Ginevra, whom I had lots of time for and loved with all my heart, were coming with their children to witness the tournament for their heirs. I ...
- Verba volant, sed scripta manent – A Scroll In Place of a Person – Christine Bess DuvantCategoryVerba volant, sed scripta manent (spoken words fly away, written words remain) EntrantChristine Bess Duvant EntryA scroll in place of a person History: I have only made a few scrolls and it is something I desperately want to be able to do more often, but as we all know, time and energy is not always on our side. At Rowany ...
- Panem et circenses – King Baron Sir Master Bain the Magnificent – Christine Dess DuvantCategoryPanem et circenses (bread and circuses) EntrantChristine Bess Duvant EntryKing Baron Sir Master Bain the Magnificent History:In 2024 the Barony of Ildhafn hosted a most magnificent Crown Tournament that saw the wreaths go onto the heads of the future King Bain and Queen Iglesia.There were many lovely things about the reign, and many beautiful moments that warmed hearts ...
- Ex Nihilo – Bamboo Sewing Needle – Lihua LiCategoryEx nihilo (from nothing) EntrantLihua Li EntryBamboo Sewing Needle circa. Son Dynasty (960-1279) Sewing needles have been used for centuries – archeologists have determined that humans have been crafting garments for roughly 40 000 years; with early sewing needles being discovered and dated to 20 000 years ago (https://www.sapiens.org/archaeology/fashion-history-sewing-needles/) In China, sewing needles have been discovered made from bone, ...
- Terra incognita – Candle Clock – Lihua LiCategoryTerra incognita (unknown ground). EntrantLihua Li Entry Candle Clock based on a description of a 520AD poem by Chinese scholar You Jiangu. Although the origins of the “Candle Clock” are unknown, the earliest mention of such clocks was in a Chinese poem by You Jiangu (520AD). While I was unable to find the original poem, multiple sources confirm the description ...