Welcome to the Ildhafn 2025-2026 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:
- Geþyld byþ middes eades (Patience is half of happiness)
Complete a project that’s taken a long time (can be started prior to 2025) - Freond deah feor ge neah; byð near nyttra (A friend is useful, far or near; the nearer the better)
Make or perform something with a friend - Nu hit ys on swines dome, cwæð se ceorl sæt on eoferes hricge (It’s up to the pig now, said the man sat on the boar’s back)
Make something relating to swine, chance, or fate - Hwæt bið betst and wyrst? Ic ðe secge, mannes word. (What is the best and the worst thing? I tell you, man’s word)
Make something to do with the spoken or written word. - Ne byð þæt fele freond, se þe oþrum facn heleð (He who harbours treachery against another is not a faithful friend)
Craft something related to weaponry, poison, or betrayal - Ne wat swetes ðanc, se þe biteres ne onbyrgeð (He never knows the pleasure of sweetness, who never tastes bitterness)
Make, remake, or finish a project that went wrong (can have been started prior to 2025) - To nawihte ne hopað, se to hame ne higeð (He hopes for nothing, who does not think about home)
Make something that would be used inside of a house - Gyf þu well sprece, wyrc æfter swa (If you speak well, act accordingly)
Make or perform something you told someone else you would - Orthanc enta geweorc (The cunning work of giants)
Create something using a technology that was later forgotten - Seo nydþearf feala læreð (Necessity teaches many things)
A project that was necessary to complete in order to do something else - Betere byþ oft feðre þonne oferfeðre (Better to be often loaded than overloaded)
Make something to store or carry other things in - Ne mæg man muþ fulne melewes habban and eac fyr blawan. (No one can have a mouth full of flour and also blow on a fire)
Make something relating to fire, grain, or tomfoolery - Hwon gelpeð, se þe wide siþað (Little boasts the one who travels widely)
Make something from outside Europe - Muþa gehwylc mete þearf, mæl sceolon tidum gongan (Every mouth needs food; meals should come at the right time)
Cook something - Gemæne sceal maga feoh (Wealth should be shared by kinsmen)
Make a gift or largesse for someone else - Lef mon læces behofað; læran sceal mon geongne monnan (A sick man needs a doctor; a young man should be taught)
Make something relating to medicine OR teach someone how to make or something - Cræft bið bætera þonne æht (A skill is better than possessions)
Learn a new skill - Hy twegen sceolon tæfle ymbsittan þenden him hyra torn toglide (Two should sit at a game together, until their troubles slip away)
Make a period game or learn to play a game someone else has made - Bald bið se ðe onbyregeð boca cræftes (Bold shall he be who tastes of the skill of books)
A project replicating something described in a book, collating knowledge from books, or creating books - Ælces monnes lif bið sumes monnes lar (Every man’s life may be a lesson to someone)
Make a project using knowledge from someone else’s mistakes
Old English proverb translations courtesy of A Clerk Of Oxford.