Today I have a very special treat for my readers as I am posting an article written by Eideann (her online name) back in the days when she was the scribe for the Barony of Fettburg in the Principality of Cynagua in the Kingdom of the West, and she published the barony’s newsletter, The Skald. In her mundane life, Eideann has a B.A. in English from UC Davis, and grammar is one of her all time favorite hobbies.
Yes, you heard that correctly. The woman adores grammar, syntax, and all things language related. So sit back, read, and learn some things you probably never knew before. Oh, and please leave comments as Eideann craves feedback more than anything else. 
Without further ado, I present, “A Jumble of Jargon!”
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A Jumble of Jargon!
I would like to examine the jargon of the SCA from an etymological standpoint. To simplify this, I have selected seven jargon words from the speech of the society: autocrat, garb, household, mundane, offside, privy and tourney. All of these words have meanings outside of the SCA. Only two of them have the same meaning outside the SCA as they have in it, and they are both archaic terms not much used in modern speech. I then looked up all of these words in four dictionaries, ranging from Samuel Johnson’s work in 1755 to “Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary” published in 1988. I compared the definitions I found with the meanings these words have taken on within the Society. Other sources I’ve used for this paper include “The Known World Handbook, Forward Into the Past: An Introductory Guide to the SCA”, and a book by Mary Monica Pulver, “Knight Fall”, originally published as “Murder at the War”. This last is a murder mystery that takes place entirely at an actual SCA event that occurs every August in Pennsylvania, the Pennsic War.
Mary Monica Pulver
The first word I have selected is autocrat, which in the society is the person who is in charge of any given event. He or she is the Society’s legal representative at the event, and plans all the details of an event. This person has ultimate authority over the site and those on it for the duration of the event, and in fact can have people removed if he or she has a valid reason. In the earliest two dictionaries I checked, autocrat did not appear, however, the word it derives from, autocracy, did. The gist of the definitions for autocracy is an all-powerful government. The definition of autocrat in “The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles” reads “a monarch of uncontrolled authority; an absolute, irresponsible governor.” The definition in “Webster’s” reads “1 : a person (as a monarch) ruling with absolute authority 2 : one who has undisputed influence or power.”
The source for the SCA usage of autocrat is evident; however, the SCA meaning does not conform precisely to modern usage. To be called an autocrat outside the SCA would generally be considered an insult, for it implies a person who makes decisions without consulting any other person. Within the SCA, the term is more limited: it refers to only one person at a given event and that person only has that title for one event. It is not insulting, but merely stands as an official title. Furthermore, the position of autocrat is strictly limited by the rules and traditions of the SCA. This word was undoubtedly selected as the name of that office because of its slightly archaic-sounding quality, though it is not medieval in origin but originated in 1803.
The second word I selected is the word garb, which has referred to clothing all the way back to Johnson’s dictionary. According to Johnson, the word originated as garbe in France, but both the “OED” and “Webster’s” recognize a connection to garbo in Old Italian which had Teutonic origins. One of the rules of any SCA event is that all participants must wear clothing that at least approximates a style current between the years 650 AD and 1650 AD. Thus, in the SCA, the term garb refers only and specifically to clothing that is medieval in style.
This word’s antonym, mundanes, will be addressed later. The closest a person can come in a standard dictionary to this meaning is the fourth definition in the “OED”: “Fashion of dress, esp. official or other distinctive dress.” However, one refers not to SCA garb but simply to garb. The clothing is not referred to as a costume because that implies either something made to be worn only once, or a certain theatricality that does not exist in the SCA.
The third word I selected is household. According to all the dictionaries I consulted, household refers to either the members of a family living together or all those who live in the same house, and also to the management of said group. Within the SCA, a household is similar, but by no means the same. Most SCA events occur on campgrounds and last between two and three days. Economically, it’s more feasible to gather several people together to share tents, food and camping space than to camp by oneself. Thus, households were born. A household is a group of people who camp together regularly and who generally share food and camping expenses. Nearly always the members of a household consider each other friends, but they don’t always live together and they’re not always related in any mundane sense.
Households are recognized by the SCA as a whole as distinct units, and can register heraldic devices to identify themselves. Fighting members of households usually fight together in melees, and will sometimes hire themselves out as mercenaries for large battles or wars. The household is an important subgroup in the SCA.
An important word to understand in an SCA context is the word mundane. In ordinary English, mundane is strictly used as an adjective, and it means simply “belonging to the world.” It derives originally from the low Latin word mundanus meaning more or less the same thing. In the SCA, the word mundane has many uses. It is used as an adjective to refer to things that are outside of The Known World. From the SCA usage of mundane another common word has derived: mundanes, which means modern clothing. The SCA usage of mundane may have derived from the fantasy writings of an early SCA member, Piers Anthony. In Anthony’s Xanth novels there are two major regions, Xanth and Mundania. Those who live in Mundania are called Mundanes.
The fighting term offside did not show up in the first two dictionaries, but did in the last two as a sports term meaning “illegally in advance of the ball or puck.” In SCA fighting, the term has two meanings. First, a person fights offside when he or she fights with his or her nondominant hand, whether or not that dominant hand is the right hand. In the Middle Ages, it was strongly preferred that every fighter use his right hand so that he would not be at a disadvantage when fighting right-handed opponents. This is also preferred in the SCA, but not with the same zeal, so there are quite a number of offside fighters in the SCA. Frequently, a canny fighter will learn to fight equally well with both hands, so that if he loses an arm, he can simply switch hands and fight offside. Another meaning of the term refers to a fight between two people using opposite hands. “I fought him offside” also means a person fighting left-handed against a person fighting right-handed, regardless of dominance. This is a notoriously difficult situation because each fighter is moving essentially backwards in relation to the other.
The term privy has, since the time of Johnson’s dictionary, had essentially the same meaning, i.e. first private and second an outdoor toilet. It is less common in modern America to use the term privy than the term outhouse to refer to an outdoor toilet, which is no doubt why the SCA chose the word privy. It has a medieval lineage according to the “OED,” which identifies it as originating in Middle English. Webster’s dates it as 1548. Within the SCA, the term privy refers to port-a-potties, and the term flush privy refers to the flush toilets available at some campsites. Mundanes, hearing a reference to flush privies, often laugh and ask if that isn’t a contradiction in terms. However, within the SCA, there is a concerted effort to avoid overt modern terminology. For example, one speaks of farspeakers rather than phones, dragons and chargers rather than cars and motorcycles, and privies rather than bathrooms.
The term that has changed the least since its first placement in the dictionary to its adoption by the SCA is tourney, which is short for tournament. It shows up in the Johnson dictionary, the “OED” and “Webster’s,” but is absent from Woodyard’s 1848 dictionary. I presume that this is because the word has largely fallen out of use in standard English. However, neither the “OED” nor “Webster’s” identifies the word as archaic. SCA members seldom use the word tournament when referring to SCA events. We talk of Crown Tourney, and ask if Obediah will be at the tourney this weekend. Most weekend SCA events are or include tourneys. The word tourney, in Johnson’s dictionary as in the “OED,” is referred back to tournament where the main definition is given. The most complete definition is given in the “OED”:
“I. orig. A martial sport or exercise of the middle ages[sic], in which two parties of combatants, mounted and in armour, fought with blunted weapons for the prize of valour; later, a meeting at an appointed time and place for knightly sport and exercise.”
This definition closely describes SCA combat in all particulars except one — SCA combat is almost never mounted. One small point, SCA fighters do not use blunted weapons, they use weapons made from rattan, padding and duct tape. There is no tangible difference between the standard English definition of tourney and the SCA usage. Thus this is less a jargon term than a reintroduction of an old form. On the other hand, tourney can be used as an adjective, as in tourney box, typically a box that can contain any sort of gear one might require at an SCA event, from garb to armor; from cooking gear to weapons.
Any organization has its own form of jargon that is confusing to those outside it. The SCA’s can be daunting because of its sheer density in conversation. This can be understood quite simply. All sports groups have a set of jargon words which relate to the rules of the sport. All knitting, sewing, cooking, etc. clubs have a jargon that relates specifically to the given craft. All research groups have jargon that relates to the topic being researched and studied. Well, the SCA combines all three of these types of organizations in a peculiar cohesion that creates an enormous jargon all its own.
Society for Creative Anachronism, anachronist, sword fight, privy, UC Davis, reenactment, mundane, garb, Mary Monica Pulver, Murder at the War, Knight Fall, SCA, etymology, etymological, jargon, household, Samuel Johnson, Webster’s Dictionary, offside, autocrat, heraldry, herald, privy, privies, tourney, tournament, renaissance, medieval, middle ages, history, knights, knight
Over time words fall out use. They become unusual, making people smile or widen their eyes. Then they become archaic, known only to enthusiasts or scholars. Finally, they may vanish altogether. I’ve always been a fan of unusual, archaic and just plain bizarre words. So, today I present you with a list of some interesting medieval words beginning with the letters A, B & C. The source for all spellings and definitions is “
I recently ran across a copy of From Clermont to Jerusalem: Crusades and Crusader Society (International Medieval Research) by A.V. Murray in a used book store. It’s a bit dry, but an entertaining and fact-filled read. If you are interested, it can be purchased at either of the following two links.
Period Saxon Vocabulary
For this week’s “R if for Research” I challenge you, my readers, to complete the medieval alphabet just as I have below. Think up your own words of course, and share any results in a comment. You needn’t complete the entire alphabet unless you are of a determine humor. Have fun.
