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Sarmatia i th SCA
A resource of information on the Sarmatians and my experiences in the SCA

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A&S 50 Challenge: Depth (Calontir Royal Arms) A&S 50 Challenge: Persona

Tuesday, August 28, 2012 Abou M

Aritê gunê Akasa
Stepp Noma Symbolis for SCA Armor My persona in the Society for Creative
Anachronism is Sarmatian. I started this
blog to keep track of my persona research
I’ve talked about tamgas being a heraldic tradition of steppe nomads before, but what if your particular culture and disseminate it. I'm willing to try out
and time didn’t have tamgas, didn’t use them as heraldry, or you just don't want one? There are still plenty of ways basically anything in the SCA, but my main interests lie
to make your Western-style armory reflect your steppe persona. Just think about symbolism that would have been in persona research, heraldry, illumination, and fighting. I
important to your culture and put that on your device or badge. Mine their art for ideas as well as thinking about live in the Shire of Shadowdale in the Kingdom of
Calontir.
their modes of life.
Below are some ideas. Can you think of any others? Add them in the comments! View my complete profile

Weapons
Steppe nomads were not exactly a peaceful lot. They raided, they were mercenaries, they fought against empires
that threatened them… They also got a lot of their sustenance from hunting. Bows (think Mongol-type bows, not
Blo Archiv
longbows) and arrows were used both for hunting and in combat (Parthian shots ftw!). Some Sarmatian tribes, like
► 2017 (3)
the Iazyges, used long lances in combat. Swords and daggers were also prolific (swords in particular held strong
symbolic significance for some, such as the Alans). When you emblazon them, just pick the type your persona would ► 2016 (2)
have had. Sarmatians were known for swords with little to no guard and ring pommels. They also had dirks which ► 2015 (7)
they carried in sheaths strapped to their thighs rather than hanging from their belts as Westerners would have done.
► 2014 (19)
► 2013 (14)
▼ 2012 (31)
► December (3)
► November (4)
► October (2)
▼ August (2)
Ring pommels were popular between the 2nd cent. BC and 2nd cent. AD around the Black Sea and Hungarian Plain. They were usually 50-60
cm long, and sometimes had semi-precious stones set in the rings. These are from the Odessa Archeological Museum. (Brzezinski and Steppe Nomad Symbolism for SCA Armory
Mielczarek, 2002)
Make Your Own Scythian Gryphon

Vestments ► July (2)

What would your persona wear? What type of kaftan did their culture have? Were their boots distinctive? What ► June (4)
about hats? What type of armor did they wear? Any torques or other commonly-worn accessories? All of these are
► May (5)
possible charges.
► April (4)
People ► February (1)
People are not common in armory- partially because most don’t care for them as charges and partially because
they’re harder to draw/sew/embroider/etc… for most. If you do like them, though, you can have people standing ► January (4)
around, people riding horses, people shooting bows, etc… Just give them the sort of racial features and proportions
► 2011 (23)
your nomads would have had, dress them up in their clothes, and make any other accoutrements persona-
appropriate.

Wagons and Tents

Steppe nomads did not simply sleep on the ground or in a bedroll; they had wagons
Popular P t
and tents (which or what they look like depends on your persona). You could have a tent
List: Personal names
or wagon simply placed on your device, show them being drawn or carried by horses,
When I was researching names for my persona, Ursula
cattle, or camels, or you could have multiples arranged to symbolize an encampment George's page and her associated St. Gabriel Report
(heraldic options for this are semy, in orle, a semy on a bordure, or in a train (try “on a 3315 were the biggest source ...
fess, x wagons/pack animal”).
Kurtas
Sarmatians are usually pictured with a
Horses
type of jacket called a kurta over their
The single most important animal in a steppe nomad’s life is their horse. They are tunics. Kurtas are a type of kaftan, which
transportation, source of dairy, indicator of wealth and status, pack animals, mount are worn in var...
during hunting or combat- everything. This makes them an extremely appropriate charge
Models of dwellings from
for a steppe nomad’s armory. Another A&S 50 Challenge: Emblazon the
Kirch, Crimea circa 600 BC.
(Andrews, 1999)
Calontir Royal Lineage
Deer Aritê's Depth 50- Draw 50 Calontir royal
arms for use as flash cards and whatever
Early steppe nomads- both Iranian else they may be used for (the Calontir
and Altaic- really like deer as art Big Book of E...
subjects. This wonderful figure from
Lebedensky’s Tamga book illustrates the Drawing an Animal in Heraldic Style
uniformity of just one deer motif. They Heraldic animals are not realistic. They’re very stylized
in a way that emphasizes parts that are considered to
sculpted, painted, and sewed them make it recognizable from...
standing, lying down, being attacked by
predators, with their legs turned 180
degrees (registering that might be hairy,
though you could display it that way),
and running. In Western (and SCA) Phrygian caps
heraldry, courant invokes the image of A couple days ago, I made my first piece
legs extended, but the steppe depiction is of Sarmatian garb- a Phrygian cap. While
the moment in the stride where the legs the name may be unfamiliar, you've all
are tucked under the body. seen them worn...

Griffins
Griffins are of huge importance to
Iranian steppe nomads. Unlike later Topic SCA an Medieva
Western griffins, it isn’t simply the back Blog of Interes
half of a lion glued onto the front half of AandS50 (36)
an eagle with ears. You take something alans (7) Altaic nomads Medieval Re-
that looks like a lioness (or maneless (6) animals (5) armor (2) Enactment Blog
male lion), add bird wings, a beak, armory (13) armoury (1) 4 weeks ago
pointy, feathery ears, and a fish-fin type Running deer from: 1-2)The Ukraine, art (8) Asia (1) ask the
3-5) Russia, 6) Iran, 7) Kazakhstan, readers (4) awards (1) battle
crest running down the length of its Medieval Cheese
8) Mongolia. (Lebydynsky, 2011) tactics (2) blog (17) Forum
neck. If you want to get really fancy, have
bookbinding (1) calligraphy (4) 5 months ago
it vulning (standing on top of and attacking) a deer or ibex. Depending on your culture, the deer’s legs may or may Calontir (6) chirurgeonry (1)
not be twisted 180 degrees from the front of the body. clothing (17) cooking (2)
crannog mor (1) culture (1)
Is that an Apres?
Camels dacians (1) draco standards (1) 7 months ago
Camels were (and are) important to many Altaic nomads. A fairly common event (7) fencing (2)
fighting (4) footwear (1) Sayyeda al-
theme that you see in nomadic art is two Bactrian camels with fangs
genetics (3) gold (3) Kaslaania's Fatimid
standing side-by-side and biting each others' back legs. I seriously doubt
headgear (3) heraldry Arts
that particular pose could be registered, but the “combatant” pose was
(18) hiatus (3) horses (3) 7 months ago
created with the intention to show animals attacking one another, so try huns (2) Iazyges (5)
registering that instead (the word may be changed to “respectant” during illumination (5) Jasz (4) Ségnat's Sojourns
registration since they’re herbivorous). Alternatively, you could have them jewelry (5) kurgans (4)
1 year ago
standing and facing one another (statant respectant). Then when you display language (1) list (3) lit review
(3) modern (2) mongols (2)
it, shift it to the form more appropriate to your persona.
music (1) names (2) Nart alannaofskye
Saga (2) Nart Sagas (2) 2 years ago
Monsters neighbors (1) Norse (1)
You don’t often see unique chimerical monsters in SCA heraldry, but they persona (17) reader Medieval News
Phalera with two Bactrian camels.
do exist and are completely registrable (there are currently 37 registered). request (2) romans (3) 2 years ago
Bronze, Filippovka, 4th cent. BC.
You just have to blazon the different parts they’re made of. Some steppe (The Golden Deer of Eurasia)
roxolani (2) saka (10)
nomads left behind depictions of chimerical monsters. The most common They have pompadour mullets! sarmatians (51) Adventures in Wool
example it to start with either a deer or a horse. Say you have a deer- you can
sca (38) scribal (7) Addiction
give it a bird beak. You may put stylized griffin heads on the ends of its antler tines. The blazon would read 3 years ago
scythians (16) sewing
something like "a monster composed of the beak of an eagle and the body of a deer, with antler tines ending in (6) shadowdale (3) society (1)
gryphon heads". If you start with a horse instead, you do the same thing while adding deer antlers. tamga (5) tents (2) truth or The InK Stained
lie (6) wagons (2) weaponry Badger
(3) zoomorphic art (11) 7 years ago

Got Medieval
7 years ago
Follower
Going Errant
Seguidores (25) Siguiente 7 years ago

Ercc Glaison
8 years ago

In steppe terms, this is a lion-headed, goat-horned gryphon (with front leg proportions more akin to a goat, but still ending in paws). Because Gunnvor's SCA
of the difference between medieval gryphons and early steppe gryphons, this chimaera would be better blazoned as "a bird-winged monster Fighting Blog
composed of an ounce's head, paws, hindquarters, and tail, a goat's horns, ears, and forequarters, and a dragon's neck" if you want to register
something like this in the SCA. It could be taken to be couchant (lying down) or sejant erect (sitting, but with front legs raise), but make it more
obviously one or the other for registration purposes. It's wings are addorsed and inverted if you want to blazon that detail. Remember that
steppe art involves squishing and stretching things to fit the space.
From a scabbard made by a Greek with Scythian designs and for a Scythian. Gold, PLACE, TIME. (From the Lands of the Scythians)

What Not to Have

Once you've come up with a steppe-themed charge, you might find that you want to put a little bit more on your
device but don't want the rest of the obviously steppe options. Instead, you might find yourself flipping through the
PicDic or medieval armorials for possible charges. What should you avoid if you want it to still make sense for a
nomad? Big ships, for one- horse nomads have no reason to go sailing (unless you want to be one of those Iazyges
who went to what's now England, or an Alan who crossed Gibraltar to raid with the Goths, but those were one-off
trips). That's not to say they didn't fish in rivers or any of the seas in or near the steppes- you can occasionally find a
zoomorphic fish- but big whales? No. Pelagic fish? No. Also avoid any objects which postdate your particular culture
or that they never would have encountered. Maunches, for example- the angel-armed sleeves- are not from a time or
place in which they could be encountered by a Saka. Farming implements (aside from some involved in animal
husbandry) would also be uncharacteristic. If your persona didn't have a written language, books and quill pens
wouldn't make much sense. Unless you have evidence that a steppe nomad encountered tales or depictions of New
World fauna, it would be best to avoid them considering how temporally and geographically restricted knowledge of
them was in SCA period. These are just a few examples. Basically, just do your homework and use your best
judgement when picking charges not specific to steppe nomads. :)

One Final Note

 Keep in mind with all of these that if a steppe nomad motif looks much different from the Western standard, there
is the risk of it not being registered if submitted as such. I’m not saying it couldn’t, but keep in mind that typical SCA
heralds have to be able to blazon it consistently. Stylized zoomorphic art has been registered in the past, but so far
as I know it isn't anymore, so definitely avoid that aspect when drawing for submission. When it comes time to
display your armory, though, show everyone your steppe persona!

From the Lands of the Scythians: Ancient Treasures from the Museums of the USSR, 3000 BC-100BC,
Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Vol 32, no. 5, 1975.

The Golden Deer of Eurasia: Scythian and Sarmatian Treasures from the Russian Steppes, The Metropolitan
Museum of Art, 2000.

Brzezinski, R, and Mielczarek, M, 2002, Men-at-Arms: The Sarmatians 600BC-450AD, Osprey publishing.

Andrews, P, 1999, Felt Tents and Pavilions, Melisende UK Ltd.

Lebydynsky, I, 2011, Les Tamgas: Une "Héraldique" de la Steppe, éditions errance.

Posted by Aritê gunê Akasa at 2:45 PM

Labels: AandS50, armor, armory, armoury, art, clothing, heraldry, horses, huns, jewelry, mongols, persona, saka,
sarmatians, sca, scythians, tents, wagons, weaponry

4 comment :

Juturna F. August 29, 2012 at 9:22 AM

" A fairly common theme that you see in nomadic art is two Bactrian camels with fangs standing side-by-
side and biting each others' back legs."

I will never be able to get the idea of vampire camels out of my head again. 0.0

Reply

Replies

Lady Aritê gunê Akasa August 29, 2012 at 10:54 AM

Heheh To be fair, they do actually have some wicked canines.

http://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/dscn5616-paris-camel-mark-evans.jpeg

Reply

Anonymous September 7, 2014 at 5:51 PM

oh, i took care of some alpacas and that is exactly how the males fight for dominance: they interlock legs
and necks, bite each others' back legs, and it looks just like wrestling. The owner said they were trying to
bite each others' testicles off. I bet you could find some video of this. Alpacas have long front incisors but
only the bottoms. The top of the mouth has a calloused pad of gums where the teeth should be. Camels may
be the same.

Reply

Replies

Lady Aritê gunê Akasa September 7, 2014 at 6:37 PM

Oh cool! Well...not for the alpacas...

Nope, they don't. Lacking upper incisors is a camelid thing. I don't know if it goes farther down
the tree to any of their extinct relatives. If I find my artiodactyl morphology book I'll be able to
answer that.

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