Medieval Living

Of course, anyone who reads that title will think that I don’t know much about grammar . . . the title should probably read “Nine Men Morris Is Coming” but . . . meh! On June 8th at 10:30 am, Medieval Living is holding a class for homeschoolers on Nine Men Morris – that Medievalish game that was right up there with chess and draughts (checkers). Every homeschool family who attends will go home with a nine men morris gameboard and pieces. I think the game is easy to learn and alot of fun – and similar to checkers, it can be played by any age level. So far, there are two families signed up for the class (four kids total) – plenty of room for more to sign up!

Just a quick note: there were eight students at the Los Lunas Library for the pennywhistle class! Nice turn out and some very good pennywhistle players!!! Considering that most of them had never played an instrument before, they did very well. Some of the smaller hands had some trouble with getting the fingerholes covered, but with some practice, they will get better at it. I had worked up some music with both traditional music score and also whistle fingering diagrams. That seemed to work well, considering most did not know how to read music. I will work up a few more tunes and post them here on the blog or website.

All for now . . . just remember . . . Nine Men Is Coming!!!

We had a wonderful response to our chainmail classes . . . James handled two of them on his own in Los Lunas . . . he seemed to have held his own – no surprise there!
I held our first pennywhistle class. Although attendance was a little sparse (ok, there two), every one had fun and we received some very nice comments. The Los Lunas group has given an indication that they will have 11 at least for our class there on June 2. I will schedule another class if there is interest.
Nine Men Morris is on the schedule . . . two classes in Albuquerque and two in Los Lunas. Again, we will schedule more if there is interest. There was an expressed interest in some chess playing . . . both James and I are avid players, so we are definitely up for that!

Working on some “wasters” so that we can get a little sword play going during the summer – I will keep you posted on how those are coming.
Sure could use a little financial help for the archery program . . . that’s more expense then we have resources for at the moment.
We want to revisit the inkle loom classes also . . . that was fun, but the folks in Los Lunas didn’t get the chance to participate yet.
I can think of a dozen other activities that I’d like us to get going if we can find a semi-permanent facility – almost need one in Albuquerque and one in Los Lunas . . . not sure how we will handle that yet.

Just a quick announcement . . . I’ve scheduled a Nine Men Morris class for June 8 at the Cherry Hills Library. I also plan on offering a class or two at the Los Lunas Public Library as soon as I confirm the date. Nine Men Morris is a simple enough game, yet it offers some challenging strategies for the advancing players – a friendly game for all ages and skill levels!

I am being optimistic by scheduling a Nine Men Morris tournament for June 24th, also at the Cherry Hills Library. I’ve had enough discussions with parents to believe that there would be a real interest in some healthy competition – and Nine Men Morris would be a good outlet. I also plan on adding a fund-raising element to the tournament, with each participant gather pledges for number of games completed during the tournament. I hope we can come up with some nice prizes for all who participate and for the Morris Champion!

I’ve also offered to teach the game to the children’s librarian for the library’s teen boardgame night. We will see how that develops . . . but I think its the least we can do considering how much we are using their facility for our classes. I might even show up for the gameboarding session to offer some instruction on how to play.

We had seven students at the second chainmail class . . . a quieter event, but still a little demanding for the younger ones. Still, we had fun and learned alot about chainmail making and about Medieval armor in general. But I think the pennywhistle and nine men morris events will probably be alot more fun!!!

I’d like to report that Medieval Game Night was such a huge success that I need to rush out to the workshop and make a dozen more Morris boards to use the following week . . . but . . . that’s not the case. As with any new endeavor, the results do not always match the hopes and expectations. Unfortuantely, Thursday night’s attendance was zero. The chess club had a nice turn-out . . . I think there were about 10 people at last count. But my little corner of the world was rather lonely. Meh – I wasn’t really expecting throngs of people and news reporters and police officers directing traffic. Any number of things could have prevented people from attending.
So . . . next week, we will try again. A little more effort on my part to advertise the event . . . and maybe a few more weeks of no one showing . . . but in due time, there will be some one interested and . . . and that’s all I am really hoping for at this point . . . to bring one other person into an awareness of some of the activities of people in the Medieval era. Then in another week or two or three, another person might find some interest . . .and so on. Patience, damn it, patience!!! Oh . . . as always, Starbucks makes a good cup of joe, so the night was not a total waste. And Barnes and Noble always has a few good books to read – found one on chainmail jewelry which was nicely done!

We will begin Game Night on Thursday, January 7, 2010! It will be held at the Cottonwood Barnes and Noble bookstore starting at 7:00pm in the coffee shop. It just so happens that the Westside Chess Club also meets at that time, so anyone interested in joining in a casual game of chess will have some avid players ready and willing to accept the challenge. I will have some Nine Men Morris boards available for those who want to learn and play this Medieval era game! In following weeks, we will be adding more games. Hope to see you there!!!

Just a quick note to all of my readers . . . I hope you have a great holiday season! As the new year begins, I hope that this endeavor will have great success and grow to reach thousands of homeschool students and their families, as well as others who might find my topics and activities of interest. I hope that next week, I will be able to post some specific date/time/location on “Game Night” – if I ever get finished in the workshop with all of the other projects I am doing, maybe I will have some Nine Men Morris boards available for everyone’s usage.
Please take a few moments to make a comment or two about my blog and our activities. You can always send an email – scott@medieval-living.com – if you don’t feel comfortable leaving comments on blogs.
Again, have a wonderful holiday season – I wish that everyone have a safe and joyful new year.

Scott
Medieval Living

While the Albuquerque area has a variety of chess clubs, there are very few opportunities to try some of the lesser know board games from the Medieval period. Beginning in late December or early January, we will begin offering Medieval Game Days . . . where anyone interested can learn to play such games as Nine Man Morris, King’s Table (Tafl), Alquerque, as well as Chess. Once we are through the holiday season, I will post more information on the dates and locations for Medieval Game Days. Anyone interested in reading the rules for these games, go to Modaru University

Game days are open to all . . . however, if there is a large enough interest by home school groups, we will organize a seperate game day location.

I’ve been playing Nine Man Morris online for the past week or two – although my computer opponent continually beats me, I have still enjoyed the challange! So what other Medieval era games are out there? I found an SCAdian’s website which has a very nice list of Medieval games along with their history, directions for play, and descriptions of the required equipment. Baron Modar Neznanich of the Kingdom of Calontir (essentially Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri) discusses such games as Alquerque, Fierges, Fox and Geese, Nyout and Tablut just to name a few! So . . . which of these games do YOU enjoy?

A popular board game during the Medieval era is Nine Man Morris. It still has some popularity, especially among SCA types and other Medievalists. However, there are some Morris groups around the world, and you can even play it online. I saw some very interesting board designs online today and am thinking of making one to put on the auction site. Hope I get it done faster then the inkle loom!!! Depends on how fast I get through the “home” projects I have on the to-do list.