[SCA] persona resources

[cellio]

Dear SCA Lazyweb,

(Ok, not completely; I'm doing my own work on this too.)

What are your favorite accessible, beginner-friendly resources for persona development? I'm especially interested in suggestions for specific periods. If a beginner is interested in the Crusader era or the Italian renaissance or early Celts (for example) and wants to do more than pick a name and wear roughly the right clothing, where would you send him? Aside from Google and "talk to so-and-so", I mean. :-)

(I've been asked to teach a class for newcomers in a couple weeks and want to hand out a list of sources they could try, sorted by period where appropriate.)

Comments

[loosecanon.livejournal.com]

For Norse, the Viking Answer Lady.
For pre-Norman England, Regia Anglorum.

There are others, but those two are reliable and have depth.

[vonstrassburg.livejournal.com]

The osprey books are good, but not cheap so you probably don't want to be handing them out.

[(Anonymous)]

This may be more specialized than what you're looking for (or your class may be over by now), but I love Cynthia Virtue's "Hats and Hair" section. Everything from how to braid/make a coif/wear a veil (that won't fall off your head) to how to make ridiculously difficult things like reticulated headdresses. It's great for most medieval European persona, but not so much for pre-1100 or post-Burgundian/Renaissance types.

http://www.virtue.to/articles/#Hats

--Pamela/Anastasia