Another SCA Question

[gwyneth1362]

When you are at Coronation (or I suppose any event, really) and the Peers swear fealty, do you notice if they swear in unison, with the oath memorized, as opposed to having the herald read and reapeat

Comments

[aaron_pike]

I have a little song I wrote for the Oath of Fealty for Northshield Laurels, so I can swear fealty at the drop of a hat (which I've needed to do, lately, since I haven't been to many events and luckily I can mug the royals here in Jara for an oath).

[aaron_pike]

Right, there was a point to me posting that. I think it would be nifty to swear our oaths together (and in song, but not the song I use, cuz I wrote it more like a nursery-rhyme song to make it easier to remember) without prompting, but I think it's more about the sincerity of the oathtaker than the mechanics.

[elasait]

Um, not sure what you mean by "nobody swears alone"?

Most everyone here swears for every separate thing, so I don't really pay any attention to it. The peerage oaths are all pretty similar, usually.

When I was a kingdom officer and a pelican at the same time, I did swear the separate oaths because they were *different*. In the extremely unlikely event that I ever find myself possessed of two peerages, I'm not sure what I will decide to do.

[gwyneth1362]

Especially with the chivalry (but the other orders are picking it up)if only one person needs to swear fealty, other folks will go up with them so that they are not swearing alone. It's a group unity thing.

[aztecknight]

I swear both. I notice when Masters of Arms go up or if they do not. I think that is a function of being a Knight in a household where my brother Master Chen, always swears fealty. I think it is really cool that I and my brothers have memorized the knights oath. I am still trying to get Pelican oath down, so I think you could say one is more me than the other.

[mateobard]

Watching the Chivalry swear their oath together was a very important moment in my SCA career. Ive never really picked up on the no one swearing alone thing. I certainly feel that oaths from peers and terminal award holders should be public. I feel non-trivial discomfort playing in the SCA when I am not operating under a specific oath as a Don.

[mateobard]

Just realized I didnt really answer your questions properly.

1) It doesn't really register if they say the oath from memory or prompting. Often, the prompting cannot be heard past the first row anyway.

2) Never really noticed that, no.

3)Sometimes.

[gwyneth1362]

I thought about other folks who swear oaths (like the Dons) when phrasing the question, but it broadened the topic more than I wanted to for this specific thing.