May 2008

Království Danar

About 80 km south of Prague are the ruins of Šelmberk Castle. Built sometime in the 14th century, its purpose was purely military. Though most of the castle fell into ruins beginning in the 1700s, the watch tower still stands today. Its history and location make a perfect setting for a local Medieval festival that takes place every year. One of my students has been an organizer of the festival since he was a teenager and he invited us to spend a day enjoying his labors. The festival is called Království Danar (Kingdom of the Danar) and it featured various crafts, performances, exhibitions and games.

My student Bohouš explains how to properly use an axe for squaring the sides of a log. Of course he made it look very easy. I wouldn't have won any carpentry contests.

Me, Milena, Aneta and Bohouš

The second-manliest thing I did that day was shoot a longbow.  It was far longer than any bow I had used before and had quite a heavy pull on it, but I seemed to do alright. 

Certainly the manliest thing I did that day (maybe ever) was work in a smithy. We had the chance to make a nail from wrought iron. Making things from raw materials is certainly nothing new to me but hammering something out of red hot metal is simply on a whole different level!

And what medieval fair would be complete without getting to handle some real armor?  My student assured me that all the items were hand-forged by people in his organization. They certainly looked like it.  The helmet was really heavy.

I was very impressed with the quality of talent at this festival.  One group of musicians (whose name I didn't understand so couldn't remember) put on a great performance.  Playing an array of instruments I had never seen before, they gave us a lively and energetic show. I'm just a sucker for live music.

One exhibition that I found quite interesting was a competition by a group of teenage boys. Each boy was an apprentice blacksmith and they were given various tasks to complete within a time limit.  The boy with the highest quality work would receive a prize of some sort.  I didn't even know you could still apprentice as a blacksmith. 

And of course no medieval festival would be complete without a little oriental dancing. 

The real highlight of the festival however was the fencing performance.  The costumes looked really impressive and their choreography left nothing to be desired.  In fact, several times they banged into each other so hard that I became convinced that the armor wasn't just for show.

The watchtower is the only part of the ruin that is maintained.  However there are no lights inside the structure, only what comes through the glassless windows.

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