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Words from the Warlord

January A.S. XVII

For the last several issues, I have dwelt basically on the paraphernalia and mechanics of fighting and winning wars. In this issue I will move in a somewhat different, but in my view no less important, direction. By this I mean conduct in war, SCA-style. More precisely, I speak of chivalry, gallantry, and honor.

While wars can be, and usually are, hard fought struggles, this does not mean that they are ruthless total war against an implacable enemy. Rather, wars should be more in the manner of a hard fought game between friends. But a game nonetheless. There is far too much of the other variety of warfare in the mundane world.

I have heard it said that wars are neat because "you don't have to be so chivalrous!' While it is true that you don't have to do things like wait for the other fighter to pick up his weapon before killing and other such things, and you can kill from behind, this does not mean that you need not be chivalrous. On the contrary. In a situation where the rules are relaxed, it is easier for things to get out of hand and for tempers to flare. In many ways it is vital that we make every effort to be more chivalrous and tolerant, and more in control of ourselves.

There are factors which can enter into the conduct of war which tend to erode the friendly nature of SCA war. The most important negative factor I have personally observed in some past wars is the Us vs. Them, Good vs. Evil mentality. This type of mentality says that we are the good guys, and we are fighting them, so they must be the bad guys, so we should annihilate them.

In the past, such animosity existed between the Kingdoms of the West and Caid. In West-Caid I and II, many of us not only went there to beat Caid, we went there to crush them, to win every battle if possible. At the same time, Caid had many people who not only wanted to win the war, but ... By God, Wanted to Beat the West. Especially after losing the first war, West-Caid II was in some ways a War of Revenge. A sensitive and maybe even a not-so¬sensitive person could almost feel the tension increase, especially as the West piled up the points over Caid. The war was very wisely stopped by the Queens of both Kingdoms and called inconclusive.

War should be the most challenging and fun form of SCA combat, it should not be the cause of, or the means to, fulfilling enmity and bad feelings toward any of our SCA brothers and sisters.

But the Us vs. Them, and the extremely competitive nature endemic to the 20th Century combine and make victory imperative. And no, I’m not saying that we should not fight to win; of course we should. 'I'here is no point in playing a game to lose. But at the same time, when we place victory over honor, over integrity, then we have lost something critical and precious. We have dealt a blow to one of the primary reasons, if not the primary reason we do this thing called the SCA.

If we wanted to dress up in funny clothes and do eccentric things, we would not have to give it the pretense of culture, creativity, etc., we could just do it and be weird. But what we are damaging is a dream, an Intangible. We are more than funny clothes and language, doing funny things. We are people who are supposed to be trying to add something more to our lives than what the barbarian age in which we live has to offer.

What is more, we are battling not only the mundane barbarians, we are battling ourselves. And we may not win. We are 20th century people brought up the same as those people out there. If we are to find some measure of graciousness in our lives, if we are to rise above the barbarian, we must defeat him first within ourselves. And this is never more obvious than in warfare.

When victory becomes imperative, the desperation to win mounts, the blows get harder and the pain threshold for receiving them increases. Anger flares and grudges are held. This is not a very fertile ground for honor, chivalry, or gallantry. It is also not a lot of fun.

In later West-Caid war maneuvers, sides were mixed to undercut Us vs. Them", and having fought in some of these, let me say that they were most enjoyable. I got to know and came to really like some of those people. They are crazy like me. It was a pleasure fighting alongside them, and I would like to say that they have some very gallant and chivalrous lords and ladies. I salute them as I salute other former foes from other Kingdoms.

But also, and most importantly, I think it is a shame that we couldn't have done it any other way. It's a shame that we couldn’t have been mature enough to fight a war in which the victor was magnanimous and modest of his fortune and which the loser felt his pride and self-worth remained intact.

Perhaps someday we can. I hope so. But unless we continue to place honor over victory, and victory without honor is hollow and without savor, then the dream is still just a dream.

And, my lords and ladies, that is not why we are here.

Thomas Buttesthorn

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