Couple Says Archaic Fun Never Gets Old

In a week, Clark Fork residents Timothy and Christine Dick will head north to McArthur Lake for Pendale’s Championship Tourney VI a medieval throwback to King Arthur’s days.

Unlike jousters of old, they won’t go by horseback, but they will don period attire. The trip is part of a lifestyle that has the couple living, in some respect, as if they were stuck in the Middle Ages.

Courteous and honorable behavior is at the core of the Society for Creative Anachronism, an international group to which the Dicks belong.

Otherwise known as Lord Yeoman Timothy der Kenntnisreich and his Lady Katla, they moved from Spokane via Lewiston to Clark Fork in early 1995, bringing their love of the Middle Ages with them.

They built their home with the help of a neighbor, who goes by the name Mad Mykal and is Timothy’s “sword brother.” The home uses solar power and the Dicks bring rainwater into the house by way of a pump. Timothy has a smithy which he uses to make cloak clasps, tablewear, knives and arrowheads.

Christine researches spinning and weaving and anything to do with wool and other fibers such as flax. A garden, sheep, goats, chickens, rabbits, dogs and cats keep them busy, as does their participation in the anachronism society.

The society is devoted to the study of pre-17th century Western culture. It began with a tournament in Berkeley, Calif., on May 1, 1966, and was incorporated in 1968. Thirteen kingdoms span the globe. Idaho, Oregon and Washington make up the Kingdom of An Tir. In the Sandpoint area, Lord Timothy and Lady Katla belong to the Shire of Pendale.

“I always had an interest in the time period,” Timothy said during lunch break at the University of Idaho Clark Fork Field Campus, where he works. “I was infected by my cousin, who read me the three J.R.R. Tolkien books. He is two years older and read me these books on the school bus before I was actually able to read on my own.”

Once Timothy started to read, he devoured Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “seven or eight times.”

Timothy went on to attend a technical school in the Spokane Valley, learning skills necessary to work in the electronics industry. He is not alone in bridging both worlds.

“A lot of people are involvd that way,” he said of the society. “This is their escape from their modern high-tech drive.”

Timothy enjoys the tourneys and specializes in using a crossbow with a tennis-ball-and-golf-club arrow, as well as throwing axes made of plastic foam, garden hose and duct tape.

“You get a lot of bruises but not as many as you get in football,” he said, referring to the society’s staged battles. “There are real strict armor and weapon requirements to prevent injury.”

And only adults can participate in medieval combats.

Understanding archaic language, customs, garb, skills and crafts is a challenge, but the real motive is fun, Timothy said.

“We’re trying to look like we belong in our time period as best we can with the material available,” he laughed.

The Shire of Pendale welcomes anyone at the tourney at McArthur Lake on July 25-26.

“But they should wear something that blends in, or rent a period costume available at the site,” said Timothy.

Merchants and pets are welcome. There will be Pied Piper activities for the kids, bardic events both evenings, and, of course, fighting.

For more information contact Sandpoint resident Jim Kemmis - Lord Sargeant Jhone MacLachlan - at 263-l557.

, DataTimes MEMO: Susan Saxton D’Aoust is a freelance writer who lives in Clark Fork. Panhandle Pieces appears every Saturday. The column is shared among several North Idaho writers.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Susan Saxton D’Aoust Correspondent