The clash of arms - Society for Creative Anachronism holds annual tournament at scout camp

Sparta - Motorists passing Camp Sacajawea on White Lake Road this past weekend may have thought they had entered a time warp. In a big field, autumn sunlight glinted off polished armor and the air rang with the sounds of medieval battle. It looked as if the Middle Ages had reappeared in rural Sussex County. In a way, it had. The gathering was the Third Annual Haus Von Halstern Winter Wolf Tournament, but despite the postal address, it wasn’t in Sparta, it was in the Shire of the Rusted Woodlands. That’s what this neck of the Jersey woods is known as to subjects of the East Kingdom of the Society for Creative Anachronism, a not-for-profit participatory educational organization which studies the Middle Ages by recreating the pastimes and crafts of the period. The organization is international in scope and activities include tournaments, festivals, classes, feasts and all manner of arts and sciences which would have been found in the culture of pre-1600 Western Europe. Members of the society must participate in the activities, which means there usually are no spectators at events who aren’t dressed in period costume and engaging in activities ranging from calligraphy to dancing. Gatherings, as they are called, are held on most weekends. Some feature tournaments and feasts while others specialize in learning more about particular crafts. The summer months often feature full weekends of activities concentrated around a campground and often ending with revelry around a campfire. For more information, visit www.eastkingdom.org. Visit our Photo Gallery for additional pictures of the tournament.