Memento Mori - A 14th Century Deed Scroll

This past year I was asked once again to create the scroll for the Deed at GNEW. For those that aren't familiar with the Deed, more information can be found here.

The theme was Memento Mori, and it was being held on Friday, July 13th. (no, the exact date was not known when the theme was picked. really. we just got lucky ;) ) The Challenges were well chosen:

Le Danse Macabre - 1v1
Love Send Me To My Fate - Ladies Challenge
The Lady in Deaths Tower - All v All
Ransom Battle - Teams v Teams

In past years I had chosen to depict all the scenarios on the scroll, but this year I found a carpet page that grabbed me, and so I chose to do only Le Danse Macabre and The Lady in Death's Tower.  The mind behind all this, Lord Alexander Clarke, has long run this tournament with little recognition. The fighters and ladies decided this was the year for a change.

We conspired, as you do, to name him the champion of the Deed. It made my life easier, in a way, because I could complete the whole thing before the Deed and didn't need to make time allowances to get his name and arms added after the fact. As it was, I still ended up finishing this on site - but it was done before the Deed started! :D

My homework for this was relatively straightforward - I worked with Lord Alejandro on the words, and sought out the source materials courtesy of the British Library. For this, I chose one book but not facing pages from Add MS 18850

f. 14r

The carpet page depicts scenes of Angels and sinners. I loved the distance and castle in the foreground. A general layout and use of the structures is about where my use of this ended. 

• I chose to change the fence in the background into the rolling hills so often spoken of in songs of burial grounds - rolling hills and trees under which to be laid to rest. 
• The golden tower center of the back I changed into Death's Tower - removing the crosses and the beauty of the ceiling painting, removing the altar, and inserting a swooning woman into the center. Death plays a harp, and wears a crimson and black hood and cloak - Death dances while the fighters advance.
• The castle became a Gallery for the Ladies to look on as one fighter wins the fight, landing a heavy blow to the other fighter who as lost the Danse Macabre. 
• One lady stands in the doorway, looking on to see her fighter return from the trials, a black river running past her door.  

I am happy with how the carpet page came out - it's simpler than the source by far, and I worried that the look would be lost in removing so many elements, but in thinking about the scroll, the fighters are the focus so I decided they would be the focus here. 

f. 38r

The text page is classic in the intricate vine work so usual of this style. The changes I made here were completely because of the necessity for multiple signatures as well as the text. Because of this I had to greatly reduce the vine work, and eliminate the medallion on the right side of the page. Some small repositioning of the lower medallion and pushing the right side bar further to the right to accommodate more lines, and I achieved a look that was mostly correct, and room for all the required elements. 

The text was a collaboration between Lord Alejandro and myself, and written specifically for Lord Alexander. 

I have a huge thank you to note here - to Master Robert Whitcomb of Brandywine. His calligraphy instruction helped me immensely, not only in his coming to teach the Calligraphers Guild in Carolingia before KWHSS, but at KWHSS too. 

The scroll text: 

The sun moving low over the mountains casts its light upon our band of brothers resplendent in our finest franchise gathered on the verdant fields of Malagentia. 

With clash of sword Love sent us to our Fate, with crash of mace we found the Lady in Deaths Tower. This day we have each our own danse macabre, prowess and wisdom to faithfully display before the gallery. There is one among us who gives all and inspires all, one whose sword found its mark this day.

He is known by the shield he carries in azure and or ,a shield that bears his armor from the battlefield to rest. The Ladies did confer and thus name the most Noble and Honorable Squire Lord Alexander Clarke the anointed champion. Thus the shield of chivalry shall forever remain with him, a memento mori.

As with anything, I can see the flaws but I won't go into those here. There are elements that I will improve on in the future, and I feel that guidance I received from Mistress Nataliia on whitework from my Dragon piece came into play here. 

I can see the progress in this piece from my last Deed scroll, and that makes me happy too. I am honored that I was asked to paint this again.