Hobbit Day 2017 was a HUGE success. It is only natural that the chairmen of the club decided to cancel the layout for 2018, making it a slightly medieval crafts fair in actual. I was really fond of a lot of people contributing, and I post this to give them a big "Thank You". One of the biggest thanks goes to Stefan Dieke, chief instructor for
www.alte-kampfkunst.de, an internationally renowned HEMA school in Wuppertal, who gave us valuable insight in fighting with a longsword after the Liechtenauer system.
He had us training in pairs, and it became abundantly clear very soon that swordmanship is not at all like the stuff you see in movies. It is a highly complex martial arts.
The moves we learned were basic... and still, yours truly really got confused with leg work and sword coordination. This was only partly due to a slightly Eastern background, so to say, but to the complexity in the first.
Jonas apparently had fun learning...
Olaf had dropped by, with his son. I learned last week that Olaf has died from a heart attack. He called me brother, and I tried my best to be a friend, but I fear did not do enough. He will be remembered, so much I can say. I like to think that he was happy in the smithy... he will not go to Vallhalla, as he so much yearned for... but I hope, his soul will find a way to another golden hall. He would certainly deserve it. #rememberolaf
Two cuties who would bang the shite ouutta me for calling them cuties... Tina and Ben dropped by, as well as my lovely magic troll. People from all over Europe came for the event.
I was really astonished to see Irmi and her man coming over from Wien, and people from all over Germany. The magic troll came from Marburg, as well as Ulrike and Siggi and Doro,Tina and Ben from the Westerwald region, Erich and Danuta from Bavaria, and other people from Ireland and Czechia were thinking about coming, and while they did not manage this time, they are still thinking about it. This means a thing or two.
Jonas etch-burning a sign for the reenactment camp.
Our lovely Homie band, Amulett, www.amulett.jimdo.de, came over and played for us.
De Coggenmakerey, in person of Dietmar, came from Lüdenscheid.
Tina was offering leatherworking tutorials.
Harald from Lüdenscheid proved the good spirit of the encampment, always laughing, always willing to help, and a big help at that!
But the most important attraction of all the days was the Bingo lottery. Never yet seen before. Prominently displayed. Professionally organized.
Jürgen had his goodies on hand. Jürgen is a beeskeeper from around the corner, a good-natured fellow with lots of ideas.
A big and fond personal "Thankyou" goes to Doro, who gave me two lovely Khukhuris as a gift. They had a very personal meaning to her, and I will value them and hold them in high esteem. Your true friends you find on a battlefield, and a battlefield it was for me. Don´t take me wrong: It was a cool event, but due to many adversaries and adversities I had to face, it was burning me out. Thanks go to Erich, danuta and my beloved magic troll for just packing me up after the event, and for Doro for offering me a drive back home from Prichsenstadt.
Nick preparing the pig roast.
Thiemo helping out.
Piggy ain´t feeling too well... ;-)
Senior blacksmith and Kaetzler clan.
We roasted the pig Asado -style this year.
Did not work that well.
;-)
Danuta, upon arriving, headed straight for the swing... slightly irritating the elderly persons... ;-)
One thing with this beauty is...
That her beauty lies in things like this. The magic troll was one of the few reasons to stay sane that weekend.
Ericxh showing off his new oldtimer car to Harald...
...and the van...
Piggy wasn´t feeling well...
...so resolved to the bottle...
....
When all was running more or less smoothly I headed for the woods to do some foraging.
And nearly needed a scythe to harvest all the ´shrooms!
With that stuff I made a stew for myself, since noone cared to join in.
...and soup for all...
Morning coffee by the fireside...
...or morning beer... everyone to one´s liking... ;-P
A man´s meal. innit? ;-)
Piggy was feeling even worse in the morning....
Erich preparing the pig´s head for stew...
Nick and the magic troll preparing stew...
A lamb´s leg with rosemary and garlic, honey and whisky.
More impressions from the tutorial.
It was a very arduous weekend for me. I had done a lot of work beforehand and was on my feet 14 hours each day, constantly facing adversities, abuse and disrespect.
But there´s a learning effect involved.
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