stitchwhich: (viking snob)
stitchwhich ([personal profile] stitchwhich) wrote2009-09-29 03:59 pm
Entry tags:

Historical re-enactment (living history)

I'm gearing up to attend a Vikings-era training session/demo in a couple of weeks* and thoughts of historical accuracy have been high on my mind. I'm going into a hostile environment, in a way, as some of the people who will be there and in charge hate, with a passion born of thwarted power-plays, the group I am a member of (Vikings North America) (yes, [livejournal.com profile] penguininarmor, She Who Will Not Be Named But Whose Initials Are "LR" will be there as a primary resource/assessor) and (of course) they all despise the SCA**.

For the most part, barring politics, their hatred of other groups is expressed in terms of 'poor authenticity'. A fairly common tactic in the Re-enactment communities. You simple point at the folks in the target group doing the least-historically correct stuff and use them as your yardstick to measure the group as a whole while ignoring your own slackers/newcomers. I'm used to it, if not amused more often than indignant.

So why am I noodling about this now? I want to talk, philosophically, about carrots.



See, there is no evidence at all for orange carrots during the Viking era. We have purple, black, yellow, white - all of varying sweetness, attested to in archaeological finds and extant texts from Northern European cultures of the time. But no orange carrots. When I last was involved in a discussion about them on "The Vikings!" email list the general readership was so tired of the discussion that we had to create an all-new list for food discussions... which, as you would figure, is pretty much dead. And overall, the folks taking part in the conversation were more concerned about justifying their meat & veggie stews and Scotch Eggs than they were about discussing period foodstuffs. But I'm nattering...

My question is, "do we use orange carrots, knowing that they did not exist at the time but are usually the only kind available - thus preserving the food-type that was used by the Norse OR do we not use any carrots at all since the only example presently available*** is Out Of Period?"

As someone who does this because I'd like to try to experience Early Norse Life, my leaning is towards using the carrots. Because I eat the food dang it, and to leave them out creates a vacuum. But as someone who wants to present a historically accurate picture for our visitors, it does create stress to feel that one must constantly explain the difference between modern carrots and medieval strains.****

And yet, we live with that sort of disconnect every time we set up a "camp" that has furniture, family women, spinning, weaving, wood-turning and craftwork going on in it rather than at a proper homestead.

So what you do think? What is more important to you - the presentation or the personal experience? How would you reconcile it?

----
*Assuming I can motive myself somehow. The Little Season of allergies is kicking my hinney. I can't think worth a tinker's dam and the idea of driving 5 hours or more to get to what I've committed to is kicking my butt. I now understand why people move to other climes "for their health". Would that I could.

**Higly amusing since most of the expert reenactment sources they cite are from SCA folks doing exemplary work.


***Barring purple carrots which have the same look but we have no idea if they have the same flavor or if they 'bled' the way the modernly back-bred ones do. And yeah, if I can find them during the demo season, I do bring some with me. But that is a rare and relatively new availability.

****Later edit: I just realised that I'd be explaining that whether or not the carrots were there as I'd feel constrained to list them as a Norse food item when talking to interested visitors just as I would talk about marsh reeds and other wild/gathered foods. And for the record - our mushrooms aren't correct either...