An Excerpt from "Life in the Current Middle Ages by Mistress Siobhan Medhbh O'Roarke:
Every person in the SCA picks a name to use in the Society choosing a name appropriate to some time and place within the historical scope of the Society. It could be something simple and familiar (John of Wardcliff) or something elaborate and exotic (Oisin Dubh mac Lochlainn). Some SCA participants try to create a "persona" which could have lived in some time and place within the scope of the SCA, and fit their garb and activities to that persona; some people try to live at events as if they were their personae. Other folk simply pick a name and go ahead with life in the "Current Middle Ages."
Even our towns have medieval names. Lansing, MI, is Northwoods, Toronto is Eoforwic, Boston is Carolingia, the San Francisco bay area is the Principality of the Mists, etc.
The SCA has its own College of Arms, which assists participants in choosing their SCA names and heraldic devices. The College of Arms assists participants in their research to ensure that their names and devices are appropriate to the medieval world we try to create.
Edited and revised with the author's permission, and posted at irregular intervals by Arval Benicoeur (mittle@panix.com). This article may be copied and re-published in SCA publications or used as an introductory handout by any SCA participant.
This is not an official publication of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc., and does not define official policy in any regard.
Last revised 26 Sep 94.
The SCA is the Society for Creative Anachronism, which is a group dedicated to researching and recreating the Middle Ages in the present. Many groups meet weekly, and at these meetings we dance, talk, study, learn, revel, and make plans. But first, let's get a little bit of info about the SCA in general.