Castel Rouge

The Secret Kingdom at the U of M

Melissa Hiebert Staff

Now you don’t even need a Delorean to travel through time! The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) is dedicated to recreating life in the times of the feudal system.

Originally started in the ‘60s by a bunch of people interested in fantasy and science fiction, the SCA currently has over 30,000 official members. In fact, with all their sword and fighting experience, I am pretty sure that they are gaining in numbers, ready to lead a surprise attack on the world, forcing everyone to wear capes and removing the word ‘you’ from the English language, replacing it with ‘thou.’ Or perhaps it’s because technology is just way less fun.

The SCA focuses on the Middle Ages. It is organized like a feudal society. There are 19 kingdoms that officially belong to the SCA, stretching across Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Each kingdom has a king and a queen, a prince and a princess, and many council members. The local branch of the SCA is called Castel Rouge, which is largely based out of the University of Manitoba. The leaders of their group consist of a baron and a baroness, a seneschal (organizer) and an exechequer (treasurer).

“I believe that traditions help you remember the good in the past to help set you up for a great future,” said Patty Anne LePage, the official chatelaine/goldkey of Castel Rouge, stressing the importance of keeping traditional practices alive. A chatelaine is the person in charge of welcoming new members to the group, and a goldkey is the person in charge of holding onto the group’s items. LePage has been a member of the SCA for three years.

When starting out, each new member picks a period name (basically, anything Lord of the Rings-ish). “We pick our names by looking at periods in history that interest us,” said LePage. “My name is Eibhleann, which is a form of Evelyn, which was my grandmother’s name.”

From there, members can participate in Castel Rouge’s weekly activities, which consist of practising archery three times a week, and fencing, heavier fighting and dancing once a week. Castel Rouge also participates in a wide variety of other activities, ranging from sewing to medieval cooking, and holds some major events, including feasts, combat tournaments and other games. Anyone is welcome to attend these events, but it is recommended that you dress up in appropriate costume. Most groups will have costumes to loan to those without.

“The SCA has helped me really celebrate my interests and provided an opportunity to try something new,” said LePage. “I wish I could share that with people, so that they could at least try it once.

It’s open to everyone and just may be your kind of history. LePage/ Eibhleann is a welcoming chatelaine.

“Sometimes people that notice a “knight” decked out in full costume roaming the halls of the university may have a chuckle, but once you get past all of those images of Dungeons and Dragons players hunched over in a basement somewhere, the SCA is a fun and interactive look at history.”