A Roisin by any other name...

So, you know a little bit about why I'm here. Now, here's who I am (sorta)...

I am Aine inghean Fhearghuis. Don't ask me to pronounce it, I honestly have no idea how (other than Aine=Anya or Awnya. There's also a funny little symbol on there that I'm too lazy to insert.) I'm not even sure I have the spelling correct. I've changed it about three times now. This time, I at least saved the websites I found them on so if I get yelled at for being completely wrong, I can say I'm not completely insane. It took me about nine months since I discovered the SCA to decide on it (well, the first part anyway). Apparently, I was lucky. I don't know about other groups, but my local shire has an unofficial rule that if you don't have an SCA name within three events, much like a lawyer, one will be provided for you. I went unnoticed for four events and five months of weekly rapier practices.

I had been looking at various names for a while and Aine had been near the top for a while. I had unofficially chosen it but, as this was possibly the only time I'd ever get to choose my own name, I wanted to be sure it was "the one". So I'd really only wanted to give it a test run. However, the first event after I started going by this name, a friend from the college group I was a part of came running up to me. Gallus had apparently been talking to a friend of his and they decided they hadn't nicknamed anyone in a while. Apparently, he suddenly realized I'd been going by my mundane name for almost a year and was....incredibly eager. Needless to say, he was incredibly disappointed when I gave him the name I had chosen. Then I made the mistake of asking what the potential nickname was.

Then I thought, "Hey, nicknames aren't so bad. His is Badger. That's kinda cool." So I asked him what the nickname was going to be.

Poop shovel.

I was almost the future-to-be Lady Poop Shovel. Or future-to-be Queen Poop Shovel. (Queen by Right of Arms, but that's a different article...)

Also, regarding the title, Roisin (pronounced Row-sheen, also with funny symbols), is a name I had almost chosen. However, Irish names terrify me and I was more confident that Aine would be an "easier" name to handle than Roisin. This turned out for the best because there's already a Roisin in the shire and, besides creating unecessary confusion, apparently it would have been a tough act to follow.

I would have had more fun explaining why I chose Roisin though. If my name had been Roisin inghean Fhearghuis, it would have translated to English roughly as Rose, daughter of Fergus. The closest modern, Anglicized version as far as I can tell would be Rose Ferguson. Rose for Rose Tyler from Doctor Who, Ferguson from Craig Ferguson, one of my favorite talk show hosts, comedians, and also a Whovian.

I chose Aine/Anya because I think it's kinda pretty. And I wasn't completely sure I had the pronunciation of Roisin right, and I tried to keep other people's pronunciation struggles in mind. That being said, I sign pretty much everything as "Aine (Anya)". Just to be nice.

I had meant to make this about my persona in it's entirety but this is good enough for now.

Why I do this...

Let me say....HOLY CRAP!!! I completely forgot this existed! And to my imaginary reader, I'm sorry. I will never abandon you again. Now to begin my second post...

I suppose if I'm going to post once a year about my involvement in the SCA, I might as well start with the big question. Why?

That is a very good question. I'm going to be honest...I don't particularly like medieval. Don't get me wrong, I do. But if I had to choose, I would pick a more medieval-fantasy atmosphere. I've been working on my persona for ages and whenever I look at histories, garb, lifestyles, etc., all I think is 'eh'. My ideal garb would be something straight out of Lord of the Rings but alas, tis not period (and I've looked).

So why do I love the SCA? Well, I do like the artsy fartsy side. I knit both mundanely and period. I'm terrible at it, but I would like to learn to sew something passable. I've dabbled in chain-mail, wire weaving, pewter casting, drop spindle,calligraphy, and so much more and loved it all. But what I love most is being the hero of my own story. As a kid, my heroes were Power Rangers, Beetleborgs, and Xena. Growing up, I fell in love with Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. I wanted to run away with the Doctor and explore Pandora with Neytiri. I wanted adventure and I wanted to be the hero.

When I'm Jillian, I'm a college student working on a degree that is going to be dead useless in the future and can't find a job to save my life. When I'm Aine inghean Fhearghuis, I'm a 16th century Irish pirate with nothing ahead of me but the open sea and adventure. Jillian is eaten alive by insecurities and depression with the feeling that her life is falling apart all around her. Aine is free.

Once Upon A Time....

Let me start at the beginning. I am a proud member and rapier fighter in the SCA. I got involved when I started University two years ago (2010). I came across a student organization that acted as a sort of introduction to the SCA and I couldn't help but become intrigued. By my first event in December, I was hooked and haven't looked back

As of this first post, I've been rapier fighting since December 2010, authorized since December 2011 (still waiting on my auth card though). I'm getting pressure from every side to dabble in heavy fighting and to get secondary auths. While a dagger auth is tempting, I'd still like to get good at single rapier first. I've also learned the very basics of chainmail and various other A&S crafts, though the only one I'm deeply involved in is knitting, which I'd been doing LONG before I knew the SCA. I am also in the middle of putting together my own rapier gear and first set of decent garb, which is a challenge in that I don't sew! At least, not until now. So here we go.....