I completed the Lion of Atenveldt scroll and it was awarded shortly thereafter by Morgan, the Eternal Atenveldt King (he and the queen have not been able to step down due to COVID…personally I think he is trying to become the Dictator of Atenveldt <<<joking>>>).

This project was unique in that it was produced by my wife, Baroness Tetinka and myself. And…it is a two part scroll which was then glued in place after both of us finished our parts. I know there are a few examples out there of period pieces being glued together (I could be wrong or imagined it…I do know that I have seen pieces where vellum was glued over holes in the skin). The reason for it being two parts is simple: we did it so that we wouldn’t interfere (read between the lines…so we wouldn’t kill each other) with each others work. I did the main body of the scroll, as well as the caligraphy, and Tinka made Thor’s Hammer (the lion is all her). Finally, I completed it with the gilding.

All it all, this was an SCA scroll with period(ish) inspiration. But then again, the motto of the SCA is recreating the Middle Ages “as they ought to have been.” Take it for what it is.

The knotwork was created with both grid paper, so I could do the straight lines, and then the curves were all done by hand. I got inspiration for the knots while I was looking at some “Viking” furniture. The shading was a PITA and I would like to say that I will never make one that big…but I am probably lying. The shading took several goes with me completing the initial part in about 3 rounds. After that I kept going back and trying to make the shading look more natural. In some areas I think I actually achieved that. Within all the open areas I then took a brush and created millions of little hash marks to give it some depth.

The lion on Thor’s Hammer is pretty much a reproduction of the casting Tinka made for the necklace that is also given with the scroll. You could say I helped her make the lion casting…since I poured the molten brass into the flask. The position at which her Electromelt sits is dangerous for someone of short stature. Heck, it was dangerous for me as well since the first pour ended in failure when the crucible fell out of the crucible tongs and molten brass splashed everywhere, setting some things on fire (an exciting moment which caused me to check the shop several times that night to ensure no lingering embers didn’t ignite).

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