Pronunication is equally confusing: phonetically, it's pronounced: "Malegrim Kedor oh Lan Villahn oh Bowus." At least, that's the closest approximation I can give you.
Actually, if you want to be a real stickler for authenticity, it's highly unlikely that an 11th-century Welsh wanderer-minstrel would have more than one surname, so Maelgrim Ceduar is actually fine (though Maelgrim is also known as 'ap Mailcun--Mailcun's son).
This page is dedicated to those who feel as if they should have been born eight hundred years ago. (Give or take a century). It is for anachronists.
Click here for links to different armor-making pages.
Not to discourage you; researching and making garb is quite fun, and (gasp) educational! Plus, you end up with a really cool suit to wear afterwards.
To find out more about medieval and Renaissance music, click here!
If you want to hear a recording of some medieval music in .au format, click here. Note: this is a large-ish file (53K).
About now, I'll bet you're wondering who Maelgrim is (besides the guy in all the pictures which aren't up yet). Well, Maelgrim is a 11th century Welsh wanderer-minstrel
whose father is unknown to him. He can speak English (Old English, that is) with some degree of fluency, as well as Old High German (even though that's not what they call it back then) and,
of course, Welsh and some Irish Gaelic (Maelgrim can't stand Scots).
Because Maelgrim is a musical kind of guy, as well as a hopeful warrior, I went to all the trouble to compose a short battle chant/prayer and translate it into Old English--what
the Saxons would have spoken. I think it's about as gramatically correct as I can get it (please, if anybody who reads this can speak Old English and knows that I screwed up--tell me!)
No, he is not a real historical figure: he is a figment of my diseased imagination. I participate (sort of) in the local chapter of the SCA--the Barony of Dragonsspine.
For a while, I hailed from Caer Galen, and got to meet the previous King and Queen of the Outlands--now the Duke Irel and the Countess Ileana.
Tywyllgwaed, meaning "dark blood" earned its name while I was sparring with a fellow warrior,
Owen Cwiran of Shropshire. You see, I have a bad habit of accidentally hitting my opponents' knuckles while fighting, either with steel of with
padded weapons. Careful not to shirk tradition, I accidentally cut Owen's thumb, and in my haste to see if he was all right, forgot that
there was blood on my sword. Later, after we had finished "playing" (sword-fighting) I noticed that the blood had dried on the blade of my new sword,
almost to the point of blackness. Thus, it became Tywyllgwaed.
Me in my armor--if you want to find out more about how I went about
constructing my armor (which is rapidly becoming less accurate for my 11th century persona and more accurate for a 12th or 13th century one), then click on the picture.
Here's a set of medieval clothing, commonly referred to as "garb." Although it is not entirely accurate in its construction,
for the most part it's accurate. I wear this kind of clothing to SCA events, feasts, and sword-fighting battles. Don't be fooled--
although it may look like a simple set of clothing, a good set of garb is hard to get hold of. If you choose to buy your garb at a medieval or Renaissance Fair, it will
doubtless be expensive. If you choose to make your own garb, as I do, then the research is often long, and authentic materials are often scarce or expensive--or both!
If you want to learn more about garb-making, click here!
Of course, no medieval or Renaissance gathering is complete without music. That's my specialty. The ancient Celts divided their bards into different classes:
the pencerdd, meaning "chief of song" was a high officer of the court whose duty it was to sing the praises of his lord and his lord's family. Under him came the bardd-teulu,
the "bard of the king's war-band" who did for the king's household what the pencerdd did for the king himself. The Welsh ceddor, or "minstrel," most often was a wandering warrior-poet
who sang mostly ribaldry and satire, and especially, the cyfarwyddyd: the epic poem. My surname--Ceduar--is the medieval Welsh word for ceddor.
I'm telling you this, not because I want to bore you, but because I thought it might be interesting to know what a cerddorion was. Minstels, bards, jongleurs, and minnesangers are all
important parts of a good medieval re-creation group. Authentic songs are hard to come by, especially the earlier the time period the song is in, but medieval music has a harmonious,
almost haunting quality all its own, and is well worth the search.
In Modern English: Come to me, spirits of battle. Aid me, so I may learn from your wisdom.
In Saxon English: Cume to me, blaedas beanueda. Fylstane me, thaet ic modan leornie of eower syltrane.
Cool, huh? Maybe a little paganish, but Maelgrim is that kind of fellow.
Right, well that's as much as I can think of to tell you about Maelgrim and the Middle Ages right now, so keep checking back for updates and new stuff (notably pictures and more music). gentles have visited this page.
All Hail the Outlands!
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Owen's Page is quite cool as well--I'd heartily suggest checking it out!
Green Dragon Inn: and here's my younger brother's medieval Inn.