Photo by: Fred Blonder
By Fred Blonder
Every Pennsic since 1999 has hosted a unique tradition in the SCA. With the passing of Sir Thorbjorn Osis Brandsson, who died while king of Ealdomere, Baron Garwig Botbindr created a Viking-style ship and set it ablaze, honoring the knight’s memory. Since then, a tradition developed to paint memorial shields in honor of the Travelers and place them on a new ship. The ship is floated onto the lake and set afire until it reaches the waterline, when it is taken to what is now La Familia Gladiatoria to be burned completely. Camp Mugwort, no longer in existence, originally hosted the launch point of the ship in the center of the spit of land jutting into the lake.
Baron Garwig continued to create Viking Memorial ships until 2008. When he could no longer do it, the honor passed to Unnr (now Halli) who continued the tradition. Martin Bildner is also a key player in the creation of the memorial ship for Pennsic and Lady Myfanwy made the sails for all of the most recent ships. In 2020, with no Pennsic, an online virtual memorial was created, where shield-designs were emailed in from all over and printed onto shield blanks and the entire ceremony was livestreamed.
Along with members of the SCA, others have been honored with a space on the ship, including Terry Pratchett, Leonard Nimoy, Sir Christopher Lee, and Cooper’s own Greebo, whose catnip-filled shield boss was the perfect memorial for a feline that stole the hearts of so many.
Tomorrow, the Pennsic 50 ship will be in its place of honor at the White Wolf and the Phoenix merchant space 120 along with memorial shield blanks ready to be painted in the heraldry or in memory of the fallen. Paints are provided and there should be room for all those who wish to partake in this tradition.