Yesterday, Gail, Nora, and I spent most of the day at the 8th annual Tournament of the Phoenix and Festival of History "Rome to the Renaissance". Soren had a baseball game so had to miss this one. Clicking your mouse on a picture will show off the colors and details of the elaborate craftsmanship involved.
The opening ceremonies started off with two Escondido Sheriffs leading the way.
Pageantry was in abundance.
Two of my favorite three redheads!
Next came the knights.
There were six knights competing in the jousting tournament. Two were from the U.S, and one each from Russia, France, England, and the Netherlands.
The Dutch knight was the only woman jouster.
The "Lady of Honor" appeared throughout all the events. No, she is not missing a leg.
The knights in a group hug. They form a small but close community that spans the world.
In the first event, the rider had to try and spear the head on the pole while riding past. Points were awarded for spearing the eye, carrying away the head on the sword, and horsemanship. Here, "The Lady of Honor" makes a pass at it.
The history enthusiasts were very eager to talk all about armor, helmets, chain maille, chivalry and other facets of history. Some were history professors. Here, Gail tries on a chain maille shirt. This armor would take about six months of labor for one person. A full set of armor would cost a knight up to two million dollars in today's money, and therefore, only the most well off had the best armor.
We learned all about the intricacies of helmet design. The helmet above would be very good at deflecting a weapon off the top or side of the head, while the one below, a "dog-faced helmet", would not be as good if you were bashed on top to the head.
The plated armor was a favorite of Nora. This hand is like a lobster tail.
Chain maille protection! Authentic chain maille is made by flattening the ends of each small loop, drilling a hole through both ends, putting a small nail through the holes, and then flattening the nail-ends like a rivet.
All of the armor you see in these pictures is made by hand.
Okay Mom, "Try and make
ME go to bed!"
This boy, about Nora's age, was one of the delights of the whole day. He was dressed as a Carthaginian, and made all of his costume and armor. He talked at length about construction of helmets, warfare strategies, and Roman history in a depth that would have been impressive if he was an adult. When Gail pointed to a hinge on a helmet and asked if that was authentic, he exclaimed, "The Romans
loved hinges, they put them on everything!"
The next event was hand to hand combat, usually forced on enemy captives in gladiator fashion.
Gail picked the eventual winner, the man with the red bandanna.
A little more pageantry before the jousting tournament.
Meanwhile overhead, crows were mobbing a red-tailed hawk. Battles high and low!
Knights in shining armor entered the arena.
The jousting begins! Each jouster gallops from opposite directions, separated by a barrier for the safety of horse and rider. There is a horseman whose sole job is to monitor the safety of the horses. The lances break if they hit the opposing knight. The closer to the tip they break, the better the hit was.
We saw one lance break upon hitting a shield, and a section of it flew straight up about thirty feet!
This knight was knocked off his horse, and was motionless for a minute or two.
He was unable to compete in the rest of the event. We learned that historically, killing your opponent was not the object. If it was determined that you intentionally tried to kill an opponent, it was considered a very serious crime. These tournaments were to sharpen skills, and keep testosterone levels high.
Not too many places one can watch armored knights jousting on horseback!
The Russian charging!
A moment before impact!
Jousting!
A rack of lances.
All aspects of the event were very open to the public, with very friendly participants happy to answer questions or just talk about history or their horses. This horse had a life of pulling carts, now it has the exciting life of carrying a knight into battle!
We settled on pizza for lunch.
The blacksmith was fashioning a helmet nose-piece right before our eyes.
He also made some incredible art out of horseshoes, spikes, and files.
Meanwhile, these ladies were spinning yarn and creation clothes.
This armored glove was actually quite comfortable. I thought it would be perfect for handling cormorants at IBR!
There was also a birds of prey exhibit that included several Harris Hawks, a Peregrine Falcon (above), a Great Horned Owl, and a small falcon.
We all loved these two elderly and very mellow greyhounds.
A full scale ballista! This giant crossbow can shoot big darts 300 yards. Nora was familiar with all these weapons from her Playmobiles, Legos, and reading.
Battle on horse back was up next. The knights skirmished around, whacking each other with clubs, swords, and axes.
Nora got to handle a very authentic sword, and was invited to join a Swords of Chivalry class.
Trying on another helmet. This one is a "hounskull helmet".
To me it should have been called "the woodpecker helmet".
The helmets of the six knights were on display.
The firing of the ballista had adults muttering about potential lawsuits, as one of the harpoon sized darts went over the fence into a roadway, and the others missed their target considerably.
Our hero was everywhere, and was in charge of retrieving the steel tipped darts.
Talk about courage, can you imagine lining up a bunch of unknown kids, handing out metal spears, and then standing in front of them?
The spear throwing was interrupted by the big boys bringing back the ballista.
Heave! Sure looks fun if you are a kid!
Bene autem, quod finem habuerat rarissimo educational Dominico ad vestibulum Poway fundamentis .
Gail got us tickets for Evil Dead: The Musical. It mostly follows the 1980's movie plot of a group of teens breaking into a cabin in the woods, and then making a series of bad decisions leading to bloody mayhem. 
Key lines in the movie were, "The woods are alive!" and "They won't let us leave!" We, too, were attacked by savage branches and vines.
Ow, that smarts.
We used to like the forest!
We were seated in the "splatter zone" (before picture), but opted to go au naturel.
A couple of the cast members here, who appreciated our efforts. The "musical" was great fun, the audience exuberant, and the Arts Center folks gracious. We attended the upstairs party briefly, took a ghost tour, and made it home alive. The week begins!
