Heilsa, and Glad Lammas to All!
This past weekend of July 27 and 28 was by all measures a great one. The Normannii assembled at the home of Lou Fohten and Romona, his wife on Friday for diner, drinks and fun. In attendance were Dan Lord and Cynthia his leman, Billy Thain and his wife Diane, Kevin Fedtha, Micha Kottaren, Galen Cniht and of course our Land Lord and Lady Lou Fohten and his wife Romona. On Saturday Joe Goodfolk joined us for our Lammas blot lead by Dan Lord, who offered bread and mead to the land wights.
Afterward we gathered for a presentation by Lou Fohten on the Fyrhring project. It was well thought out and packed full of good information on western martial arts styles, manuals, pamphlets and the like.
Romana, Cynthia, Diane and Micha Kottaren all worked on preparing a wonderful dinner. One which easily met the grand standard of the Normannii folk, starting with an appetizer of Ham and Cheese bread made by Micha Kottaren. Romona ensured no one was hungry or unsatisfied by providing a multiple dish main course of bratwurst, polish sausage, lasagna and pork roast.
After a brief break we re-assembled for symble. Lord Dan sung his Lament of Donner and Mynne Horns where raised to our Gods and ancestors. Lord Dan presented the tribe with a statue of a horse and rider from the Bronze Age to honor the shild he set upon himself in his Sjaldoemi of 2001. He and his leman Cynthia then presented several gifts to the tribe such as:
Dan Lord then consulted his Witan on his desire to free Lou Fohten with ordeal to come this Yule. His Witan advised against it and found a compromise at accepting his heighting then Lou UnFohten to Fohten and arranged an ordeal to take place this Hallows at the Niagara Shire. Micha Kottaren then presented a Seidh chair a deemed by the Hallows 2001 Abbanning. Then, she and Kevin Fedtha presented Lou Fohten and Romona with a set of herbal teas consisting of lemon mint, spearmint and peppermint. Gaelen Cniht also got involved in the festivities by presenting Lord Dan with several loafs of Micha Kottaren’s ham and cheese “mini loafs” bread. He also displayed a knife he forged himself.
Not only where gifts exchanged and yelps made, but what would a symble be without a few good boasts? Come this Midsummer 2003, we are all in for a treat when Micha Kottaren will provide a homemade blueberry flavor mead. Should this mead not be drinkable, she will then not only work on fixing what went wrong, but also provide mead for the Yule 2003 Blot. Along with this mead, Lou Fohten has promised to provide at Midsummer 2003 a 20 oz silver oath ring. Should he not appear at Midsummer with this ring, he has promised to not only continue to provide this oath ring, but also incorporate into it 1 oz of gold.
Sunday came and it was time to depart, but not before we finished one last
piece of business. We gathered together for a Tribal Moot. The issues cover
where:
An Invitation to attend a Martial Gathering at Cloisters in Manhattan – Sep 21,
2002. We agreed it would be a good and fun event to attend, however
participation in the martial events would not be possible as of yet.
Financial report. Micha Kottaren went over the Normannii Finances. Dan Lord and John Aescmann both were behind in their “dues”. At witch point Lord Dan made a payment to bring him up to and include August’s dues. It was decided to give John Aescmann, who unfortunately could not attend, until Hallows 2002 to catch his balance up. Currently the balance of funds for the tribe is $576.00
Web Site Update. Site is doing well and is active. Work is continuing on the Encyclopedia and Lore Sections. Once that is completed work will begin on an Online Store to raise funds by selling a variety of products. Any help anyone is willing to lend on compiling an encyclopedia would be greatly appreciated, please contact the Webmaster at WebMaster@NormanniiReiks.org.
Yule. Planning needs to begin, this will be handled at our next few Thing Tides. With an emphasis on easy and quick prep work at the gathering. Also we will need tables, and Billy Thain mentioned he would be able to provide them.
Other Thing Tide Topics: Tribal name – To Theodish or not to Theodish, that is the Question.