The Daily O’Collegian

It’s not often that you see six grown men fighting one another. Maybe you saw some last weekend at a bar, or on the Strip at 2 a.m.

It’s also probably been a while since you have seen six grown men fighting each other dressed in full medieval battle armor and fully armed with medieval weapons.

That was the scene Wednesday as Library Lawn was taken back to the Middle Ages for a day.

The Medieval Studies Group, along with the Society for Creative Anachronism, demonstrated some of the activities the groups are involved in to make students aware of the group and provide information for those interested in joining.

Melissa VonAschen, an undeclared senior, said “anybody who has an interest in history” should take a look at the groups. VonAschen also serves as the “Hospitaler,” or the person in charge of helping people new to the group, of SCA.

“Medieval Studies Group is the group here on campus, and we work really closely with the SCA, which is a worldwide non-profit organization,” VonAschen said. “We host our meetings together, and a lot of our members are members of both.”

The Medieval Studies Group has been on campus for a while, but has become more active.

“We got everything reworked, and I think we are going into our third year getting everything active on campus,” VonAschen said.

VonAschen said there is something in the group for everyone.

“Anything that was done in the Middle Ages, we are doing it here,” VonAschen said. “Today, we’ve got the combat, different types of archery, chivalric heavy fighting, rapier fencing, a variety of arts and sciences, weaving, calligraphy, armor making, the garb we are wearing, personas of people living in the middle ages, devices, art on the tents — so anything done in the middle ages, we are trying to do it here.”

Elsa VonSchammach, the “Seneschal,” or local administrative head of the SCA, believes it is difficult to become bored doing the group activities.

“[There] Is a little bit of something for everybody, and every time you get bored with something, the party has already shifted, so you can do something totally brand new,” VonSchammach said. “There is not usually a large learning curve, and most everything can be learned at a really basic level and taken to [an] extremely sophisticated level from there.”

VonSchammach, who graduated from OSU in 2004, recalled joining the group about five years ago.

I met a guy on campus, and he said he had a meeting that night,” VonSchammach said. “He dragged me along, and they were really friendly, so I thought, why not?”

Sandra Bradley, a history sophomore and member of the group, said she joined after seeing last year’s demonstration.

“I was wandering by the student union, and [VonAschen] handed me a pamphlet and she told me to go to fighter practice on Thursdays, and I did,” Bradley said. “I got to hit people with weapons, and it’s actually pretty cool.”

Bradley said the fighting isn’t random weapons tossed around.

“They do a lot of research on how to use the weapons for a strike, they just don’t swing widly, so it was pretty much the fighter practice that got me to stick around.”

Laura Haynes, a junior in rangeland ecology and management, was intrigued by the demonstration.

“I’ve always liked medieval fairs,” Haynes said. “When I was in high school, we would always go to medieval fairs, but now I don’t [know] when they are or where they are, so I don’t go anymore. I play Dungeons and Dragons and stuff like that, so this is similar.”

Sarah Doughty, a finance and statistics junior, enjoyed the demonstration also.

“It feels good; I like learning about stuff like this,” Doughty said after shooting a crossbow at an armored woman.

Asked whether she had seen anything like this before, Doughty laughed.

“No, I haven’t ever shot a crossbow on campus before,” she said.

For more information, visit the Stillwater SCA’s Web site at http://mooneschadowe.ansteorra.org, or e-mail VonAschen at melissavonaschen@yahoo.com.