In the Society for Creative Anachronism (your local medieval loonies) I'm known as Oliuier le Floch (for now, anyway, I still haven't documented the thing), and for the last year or so I've been slowly learning the art of the SCA herald. I've been doing this by watching and listening and reading everything that I can get my hands on, and also by being wrong in a variety of online environments, allowing my fellow heralds to teach me the true path. I say online environments, because as of yet I've still not actually attended an SCA event, save one college AGM which really doesn't count.
Nominally, though, I belong to the College of Blessed Herman the Cripple (mundanely Adelaide University), the Barony of Innilgard (South Australia) and the Kingdom of Lochac (Australia and New Zealand). Even though I'm not a practicing medievalist, I've found the support of the populace, and the Lochac college of heralds in particular, to be invaluable to my learning. When I asked questions, they answered patiently. When I kept doing it and started into the terrible habit of punning at the drop of a hat, they made me a Macer (trainee herald) and pointed me in the right direction to find the answers myself.
This blog is my way of trying to give back a little. I hope that it will help me to be a better, more confident medievalist and give those who can be bothered another chance to correct my errors, but I also hope that by documenting my mistakes and rambling on a bunch of topics heraldic I can help prevent another from making the same errors. It's not an official SCA blog in any sense of the word, and I like it that way.
So, be welcome, grab yourself a glass of something (I don't drink, but I appreciate those that do, particularly if they also sing), and enjoy your visit.
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