When I said I wanted to be part of a medieval re-enactment, I didn't mean I wanted to do it as a slave! Yet now I find myself in a locked train car, with so many others, heading for another destination where we will be restrained, flogged, and made to work hard.
How did I end up here? Well, it seems so long ago, but I suspect it's only been a few months. I can still remember, now that we're in here and sort of have a break from being in our specific roles, how excited I was when I first came here. But it's almost like it's a different person this happened to. Another person that was too trusting and made a foolish mistake and found herself in a situation she could never have imagined just the day before.
***
Audrey Keene was finally on her way to the Bamburgh re-enactment, and she could barely contain her excitement! The only chip in her happiness was that Nora, her best friend, couldn't be here with her. If this had been open for more days, she would have waited, but this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! She couldn't miss it just because Nora was sick. Nora said so herself. They were supposed to do this together, but now she was alone.
The bus wasn't the most comfortable, but that was fine. She was instantly distracted by the costumes the people on the bus wore. That looked totally authentic! She was truly impressed. Those wool tunics must have taken some time to make, there was no way that was just a costume. Maybe this place was as authentic as they claimed after all! And the linen undergarments! Everything about what he wore was perfect! This was going to be great! She took out her camera and took a picture of him. Nora would love that!
As the bus ride progressed, she became a little less excited, but not by much. The guy in the costume said very little, but there was another tour guide who said a lot. He talked about the history of the place they were going to, as if they hadn't all read up on that already, and about rules. The most important part, that he said again and again, and the other guy also repeated, was that they must not try to make the crew "break character" and that they couldn't access any of the crew areas. That wasn't unexpected, but it was a little strange that they felt the need to repeat that so many times.
Apparently, some of the crew would play the role of slaves, called theows. That was a little bit surprising, but there had been slavery in Anglo-Saxon England, so it made sense. Most of the theows would not talk to them, no matter what they did, the guide said.
The crew areas being off limits made sense, but why wouldn't the people talk to them? Audrey was glad someone else asked that, she would never be brave enough to ask. It was only the theows that wouldn't speak, most of the others would talk, but only in their roles, the guide explained. That was to maintain the authenticity. These people were seriously dedicated to their craft.
The place they were going to was not a full castle. It would be hard to make that from scratch in the middle of the desert. They were going to be in what they called a burh, which was more common for the time anyway. There were very few stone castles in Britain before the Norman Conquest.
The burh was in the hands of the Lady of Bamburgh. She was the widow of the earl of Bamburgh, and he was one of the original founders of this group. It made sense that they had been doing this for a long time, with all the details being so perfect. She had recognized the name Bamburgh as well; it was one of the few pre-Norman castles that had been found in England. In Northumbria, if she remembered correctly. Archaeologists speculated that it was made to protect the nearby coasts from the frequent Viking raids. It was near Lindisfarne, where the first recorded Viking attack was made. Audrey wondered how they were going to recreate medieval England in the desert in America, but she thought that if anyone would be able to, these people would.
Finally, the bus ride was nearly done.
"We'll be there within the hour," the guide said. But before that, they had to change. Audrey felt the excitement growing in her again as they were handed costumes to change into. She had been looking forward to this part, ever since she was told they would provide the appropriate clothing for the event. And it looked just like what the man wore. He called himself a churl, a sort of guard or freeman. They each changed as much as they could in their seats and then took turns using the small changing room they had made in the back. The fabric felt rough, and probably hadn't been prefabricated at all. This was by far the best costume she had ever worn! A pity she wouldn't get to keep it. She made sure to take a picture of it too. Nora would flip, she loved old costumes like this. That was her specialty, more than Audrey's.
Audrey decided to keep her own underwear, but the bra had to go. She didn't really need one anyway, not for just the day and night. There was a woollen tunic, leggings, a leather belt and a rough pair of shoes. The women also got a set of undergarments, though Audrey suspected she wasn't the only one who kept her modern underwear underneath. Then finally, there it was! The burh! It looked so perfect!
She was given a small pouch to keep the essentials she needed during the day, but she wouldn't see most of her luggage until later in the evening. And they confiscated all their phones and cameras. "It would ruin the experience if everyone constantly took pictures," they said.
She sent a quick text to Nora, just to explain that she wouldn't be able to update her during the day. She saw several of the others doing the same. There was no one else she needed to tell. Not anymore.
No! No thinking about that today! Today was for having fun at a genuine Anglo-Saxon settlement. No thinking about sad thoughts today.