First few days

 I began sabbatical on Saturday, July 1. Honestly, it took some getting used to... While there weren't a bunch of things vying for my time, we did realize that we were going to need to take our van to the mechanic. This meant that we were going to be without one vehicle until we got the situation resolved. Meanwhile, we have been trying to remain nimble while our street is supposed to be getting paved. This process was supposed to begin on June 19th but has been an extended experience because of weather and now the upcoming holiday on Tuesday (4th of July). However, that is to say that I have dutifully gotten up early each weekday morning to stash our car somewhere in anticipation of road paving that has yet to happen.

However! This is to say that I have been able to start some projects and get things together for martial arts training. I'm intending to get into a regular routine after this week because this week is "Family Camp" at Claggett Center.

As I mentioned, though, I have started some projects. And while I do plan to post pictures and videos of what I'm doing, I should probably warn everyone that the projects I'm choosing are sometimes a bit quirky. But what I find happens is that I start reading something (a book, an article...whatever) and something is mentioned that piques my interest. Before I know it, I'm down a rabbit hole researching some of the most obscure things. So, this is to say, don't be surprised when I post stuff about obscure, ancient games--or post about a random, mythical creature or legendary weapon from some fairy tale or mythology.

With that being established, I'll mention some of what I have been working on creating.

Probably the easiest to explain are the "Viking Stargazer Chairs". I actually found plans for these a while back to do as an easy project with my boys. Believe it or not, the "viking" part was incidental. Anyway, Gareth, Galahad and I made our chairs a while back (Gareth's is not quite finished, but I'll post a picture when it is done).

 

 

 But on Saturday (June 2), Alex and I made his chair.

 

 As to one of my other projects, they could require a bit of context.

In one of the books I was reading a while back, it made an odd reference to "Chess" that didn't make sense. It described a common battle strategy in which the king is at the center of the soldiers. Obviously, this wouldn't make sense with regard to Chess, because each side has a king on the last line of the board, set behind a line of pawns, and flanked by other strong pieces. But, as the story was set well before the Norman Conquest in 1066--and Chess had not come to Britain at that time, I decided to research the book's reference.

I didn't have to go too far down a rabbit hole before I found reference to a game played by Saxons in 10th Century Britain. It was likely a game called "Hnefatafl", which is a name that appears to have all of the vowels in the worst places. It is called "Tafl" for short, and seems to have been brought to England by the Vikings (I promise this was just a coincidence!). Anyway, in this game there is only one king which is placed in the center of the board, surrounded by a number of soldiers, and the opposing player plays as a number of attackers.

Apparently the rules were largely regional, and there are a variety of historical sources regarding the rules, the number of pieces, and even the size of the board (which is not helpful).

However, a little further down the rabbit hole, I was able to find a game derived from Tafl which was popular with the Irish (huzzah!). And this game is known as "Brandubh" (pronounced something like "bran duhv") and translates as something like "black bird." This game apparently still has some consistent rules, et cetera, and is apparently more complex than it, at first, seems.

As a side note, at this year's Celtic Festival, there was a vendor selling some really cool hand carved Brandubh sets. However, his pieces were relatively simple in design--which appears to be consistent with the original sets. But it made me want to see what I could come up with... So, after all of my rabbit hole research, and some inspiration from the vendor at the Celtic Festival, I began carving pieces for a Brandubh set.

I decided I wanted the pieces to have more detail, but I also wanted them to reflect the style of art from the 10th Century (think Book of Kells). So, the people have an odd proportion.

This is to say that I also adapted the style a bit, and the pieces will each also have some historical, cultural characteristics of the Irish.

At this point, I have only made a king, and begun the king's warriors. Eventually I will begin making the attackers.

It's important to note that I am not trained in carving techniques, and I am figuring all of this out as I go. I'm also relatively new to this art form--so, my work is not as clean or precise as I would like it to be. But, that is part of my reasoning for doing this stuff during my sabbatical.

The next picture is a closer look at the king. He's made from holly wood. Again, it's not "great", but I'm still learning.

 

Some features of the king are that he is dressed in a belted tunic (which was common to nobility). He's holding a wooden shield and a style of sword that has an "anthropomorphic" handle. The king also has a beard, and this would have been the style of commoners, or nobility at different times in history. But, apparently the most consistent style of facial hair was a long mustache. I decided to put mustaches on the warriors.

The warrior above is still in process. However, it is wearing a series of braids (referred to today as "cornrows"). This apparently one of the hairstyles worn by the warrior class. This warrior is also sporting a cloak, which would have been a common garment, and will eventually also wear "trews".

This piece is a spearman. Like the king and the other warriors, the spearman has a round wooden shield, and a cloak. It's difficult to see in the picture, but the warrior is wearing a "mohawk" hairstyle. This was one of the hairstyles apparently popular with some Celts. Some articles say that this was in honor of the goddess Epona who is sometimes represented by a horse.

Well, that's probably more than enough for a first entry. I do plan on shorter entries in future, as well as other types of entry. So, there could be pictures, links and even videos. I am going to do my best to stay disciplined about posting regularly.

Before I forget, I have begun a training regiment, but will need to wait until after Family Camp to really make it consistent. Next Monday I plan to do Intro to Boxing, and then try to get in a Muay Thai class that same evening. Fingers crossed.