For the Medieval Society, this weekend was like Christmas: it was an annual grand occasion that needed to be set up, prepared, and made to look really nice so everyone could enjoy it. Our holiday: the twenty-fourth annual Medieval Forum. The Medieval Forum is a gathering of students, scholars, and enthusiasts to get together and celebrate the Medieval period. Over the weekend, the Medieval Society was busy decorating Rounds Hall in banners, flags, and posters; running the Mini-Faire in the HUB for students and members of the community to experience Medieval games and activities; and setting up the HUB Courtroom for the grand finale of the weekend, the Medieval Feast. For those who wondered what it is like to set up and help out at this event, here is a little description from the point of view of the member of the Medieval Society: Me.
The work officially began at the beginning of the semester when the club started holding bi-weekly meetings to prepare various crafts, such as vendor’s items, the board and costumes for the human chess tournament, and any other activity that needed to be done. The months of preparation led to zero hour, or the Thursday before Forum. The club members gathered in Rounds and took a collection of banners, fabric, and hand drawn crests out of a closet on the second floor labeled Medieval Forum and proceeded to decorate Rounds with a banner on each floor, fabric to cover the hallway boards, and crests to adorn the fabric. In addition we arranged tables and desks in lecture and vendor rooms and aided a book seller in brining up several boxes of used books. By 6:00 P.M.., the work was done for the day and we could all look forward to the start of Forum the next.
At 8:00 a.m. I was dressed in a flowing shirt, vest, leather pants and high boots looking my Medieval best when I met President Ally Cunningham and Secretary Maureen O’Brien in the MedSoc office in the HUB. We gathered small necklaces and candle holders for our vendors’ table and bring them over to Rounds. These members and others that showed up were also dressed in Medieval finery: flowing dresses, capes, and other accessories abounded. Signs were made directing Forum attendees to the registration tables and I set up the vendor’s items on the table in Rounds next to a table selling Celtic designs on t-shirts and prints an across from the aforementioned book vendor.
By 9:30, people were already filing in with green folders under their arms and wearing nametags listing their name and what school they were from. The next room contained coffee and Danish for the Forum attendees and was welcome for the friendly author who had yet to eat breakfast. At 9:45 we were gathered outside to take part in the procession for the opening ceremony. We walked in twos and some held banners as we walked to the front of Rounds for the opening ceremony, which consisted of speeches and recitations from various faculty and guests, ending with the club leading a singing of the traditional Medieval song “Gaudeamus Igitur.” By 10:15 we were told to scatter, but be back at the HUB by 11:00 to set up for the Mini-Faire.
I went to the library and researched a few traditional Medieval stories to tell, as I was the official storyteller. I came back to the HUB just as the Faire was starting. Member Kirsten Traber was selling fantasy cards, sticker books, and various small toys to benefit forum. Melanie Griffiths was running a table displaying various herbs and Chris Gentry was showing his collection of swords and daggers. The stage was occupied by a kilted magician named The Great Scott, who was entertaining an audience of small children with a few magic tricks, including card tricks and trying to get a leprechaun out of a bottle. When the Great Scott was finished his set, I hopped on stage and shared some of the legends of King Arthur with the audience. After I was done, I slipped out to see the human chess tournament going on in front of the HUB. The king and queen were wearing crowns, and every other player was wearing a t-shirt with their piece on it. In the end, the victory went to Black. At 2:00, we took down the Faire. Our work for the day was officially done, but the biggest task was tomorrow: setting up for the feast. The members and I met in the HUB around 12:00, where we got something to eat from the catered luncheon in the MPR and set off to work in the Courtroom. Boxes and bags filled with various decorations lined the front of the room. The curtains around the feast area would be the hardest to do, as they were large sheets with twine attached to them that needed to be strung over the rafters. We laid out large sheets and strung twine through grommeted holes. After the string was connected, Maureen, Chris, and member Steve Bates connected ends of string to basketballs and did champion shots over the rafters. As they took care of the curtains and people from Sodexho set up tablecloths, the rest of us ran to Rounds to collect banners to be hung and Kirsten and I strew green Christmas garland around the two wooden thrones at the front of the room. After setting up and having the strings break on the curtains several times, everything was finally set up by 4:00.
After that I ran to my room, rested for a while, and changed into a black, velvety, Medieval style dress and cape that were my Summer and Winterim 2002 projects and walked back to the HUB. People in modern and Medieval dress had gathered in the Courtroom for drinks and appetizers. The feast officially started at 6:00. I walked through the curtains, had my hands washed by a few friends wielding clay bowls and jugs shaped like sheep, and found my seat. The feast went well and was the perfect wrap-up to a perfect Forum. The lamb stew was excellent and the apple tarts were even more fantastic. When the feast ended around 7:30, our work was not done. As soon as the other attendees left, the MedSoc members took down the decorations and the room was finished by 8:30. We gathered at Rounds the next day to take down all the decorations that had adorned the building all weekend. This was the official mark that the weekend we had waited all year for was finally over. Within a few hours, Medieval Forum 2003 was in the bag and a memory of a good year and a good experience. What fun adventures will the twenty-fifth Forum hold next year? Time will tell, but for now the members of Medieval Society can rest on their laurels knowing that they worked hard and it was a job well done.