Suffolk's Society for Creative Anachronism offers medieval showdowns, noble dress and more

Two heavily armored knights glowered through barred visors. Then loud clacks rang out as their swords and shields collided, as both combatants aimed for victory via a fatal blow to the chest, back or head.

But when Sir Gilbert Christian Blackmoore blocked a high attack, Sir Fearghus mac Cailin swung low and landed a strike to his opponent’s leg. A limb suddenly severed, the valiant knight was forced to carry on the battle on his knees.

“Gimme one second,” said Blackmoore, aka Jason Peck, 55, of Holtsville, catching his breath under his helmet, which accounted for just a fraction of his 50 pounds of gear.

“Yeah, yeah . . . ” replied mac Cailin, or Brian Carroll, 47, of East Northport, equally exhausted. “I’m like a human Slip 'N Slide right now.”

This mock medieval showdown didn’t take place on a movie set or at a Renaissance fair, but at a Friday night get-together in a Bellport backyard last month.

SOCIETY FOR CREATIVE ANACHRONISM

Members from the Barony An Dubhaigeainn, the Suffolk County branch of the Society for Creative Anachronism — an international living history group dedicated to research and reenactment of the Middle Ages — capped off the workweek with a jovial gathering full of laughs and a spread of snacks and drinks, from beer to Yoo-hoo.

Some waited in line to enter a designated area, a “bear pit,” for one-on-one combat, complete with medieval-style banners.

They clobbered one another — but with customized rattan sticks, not actual swords.

“I’m a nerd, so to be able to dress up in armor and have fights, it’s kind of awesome,” said Conrad Schnakenberg, 52, of East Patchogue, a high school science teacher by day and the formidable Lord Jarnhand in the society, which he joined in 2003. “It’s physical exercise, it gets me out. But only about 10% of the society is fighting. It’s a community — so inclusive and wonderful.”

A Newsday photographer spent several months with the Suffolk chapter to get a feel for their world.

THE SUFFOLK 'BARONY'

Made up of 90 active members, from families with young children to those in their 70s, the Barony empowers teachers, IT professionals, engineers, students and beyond to immerse themselves in the culture, arts and combat of the medieval world. There is also the Nassau County chapter, the Canton of Lions End, which has about 30 members.

When they can, they forgo real life — referred to as “mundane” within the group — and assume period names, personas, garb and whatever roles and skills from the time before the year 1600 that they’re drawn to.

Some take part in armored combat, fencing, thrown weapons and archery; others brew and make mead, cook meals of the time, sew outfits and practice calligraphy. There are forgers, singers, dancers, poets and those focused on study and research.

Many of them dabble in several activities.

The Society for Creative Anachronism is “not really a hobby, it’s a place to come to find new hobbies,” said Kerry Skadl, 53, of Bay Shore, a special education teacher who’s been involved since 1993, when she was a student at Stony Brook University.

As the Honorable Lady Fiona the Volatile in the society, she’s one of the chapter’s two Baronesses — an elected ceremonial head position — along with her sister, while her husband is a fighter and web minister for the organization. She said her group offers a more immersive experience than what you’d get at a typical Renaissance fair.

“A ‘Ren’ fair is all about viewing, the SCA is all about doing,” she said. “It’s more personally involved. We’re living it to learn.”

Peck, an IT manager who joined in 1989, became involved in weapons tournaments and constructing his own armor early on. Laughing, he called the organization “a trade school where we can stab each other and drink” and noted a large number of IT people who do combat within the organization.

“I grew up on ‘Monty Python,’ ” he said, “and this is a large extension of that for me.”

His daughter, Emma, 24, was shy, according to her father, before entering the group on her own in 2019.

Now, Rosalie Jane Blackmoore has come out of her shell, becoming well-rounded in armored combat, embroidery, weaving, crafting, the bardic arts — which in the organization encompasses choral and instrumental music, poetry and general storytelling — and also running events.

“It encourages you to socialize and to be creative,” she said, mid-knitting. “There’s the ability to learn a variety of practical skills with your hands, something that’s sorely lacking in our modern age.

Matauqus Tarrant, 41, a member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation and a facilities director, said he attended his first event 20 years ago and was mesmerized by the knights. “I was just like, ‘Yeah, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life,’ ” he said. “I had to do it. Never grow up.”

Although authenticity to the period is important, members said they don’t go full Method acting with their personas and embody characters like those who participate in what is known as live action role-play games, or LARP.

They compared the group’s overall vibe to the 2001 film “A Knight’s Tale,” which brought contemporary attitudes into a medieval context.

“That’s pretty much what it’s like,” said Carroll, who went to his first event with his wife, Cat, another member, in 2007. “We can be silly, a lot of us put a little shtick into things. Some people take it more seriously than others. But that’s the good part about the game is that your level of involvement and how you play it is entirely up to you.”

The society also “cleans up” the period to be less beholden to its horrific historical reality.

“We’re creating the Middle Ages the way they should’ve been,” said Colleen Skadl, 51, of Yaphank, a history teacher, or Dame Hugoline the Delicate, the other Baroness and scrolls maker.

Kerry Skadl chimed in: “We leave out consumption and typhoid, slavery, inquisition, sexism, anti-Semitism . . .”

Pamela Petritsch, of Centereach, aka Sláine báen Ronán, added, “It’s all the best parts of medievalism but with modern conveniences like hot showers and aspirin.”

30,000 MEMBERS GLOBALLY

Within the Society, there are 20 administrative regions known as “kingdoms,” with more than 30,000 total members; each of those regions has several local subdivisions. The East Kingdom, which spans the Northeast and parts of Canada, contains more than 40 baronies, shires and provinces — including those in Nassau and Suffolk, the latter established in 1981 and elevated to barony status in 1991.

Suffolk’s Barony has held public demonstrations across Long Island, including at schools, universities, libraries, historical societies and county fairs, spreading the word about the group.

The official events (consisting of tournaments, royal court gatherings and award ceremonies) are mostly closed to the public; since May 2024, they’ve had seven, including in Middle Island and Huntington.

Then there’s the Pennsic War, the grandest occasion for the local chapter and the entire organization. Running annually from late July through early August in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, it draws thousands from kingdoms and chapters around the world, with classes, parties and campouts centered around a massive two-week battle.

“You have more friends than you’ve ever had in your life when you join something like this . . . it’s one big family,” said Peck. Though, he admitted, it’s easy to forget real names: “There are some people you’ll know for 10, 20, 30 years and you have no idea . . . because you’ve only talked to them in terms of their medieval name.”

BACKYARD KINGDOM

For James Gallagher, 56, of Bellport, the society seemed too good to be true when he was a fantasy-loving, D&D-playing high schooler in the mid-1980s, referring to the Dungeons & Dragons board game. So much so that he read an article about the group in a tabloid magazine and assumed it must be a joke.

But in the summer of 1987, at 18, he attended a Ren fair in Sands Point and witnessed it firsthand: Knights doing real combat.

I was hooked,” he said. “I’d been playing D&D for years and now here it is, it’s real, I could actually do it and not just roll the dice.”

He was invited by one of the knights to join them for a feast. He joined the Barony soon after as Baron Vladimir Bathory and started attending Pennsic, making fast friendships.

Decades later, Gallagher, who works for UPS, used the downtime of the COVID-19 pandemic to build a mini kingdom in his Bellport backyard, including a big dragon statue, standing torches and the bear pit. A shed became the “Black Dragon” pub, and Barony members gather for medieval movie nights.

Like many of the others, he has a hard time thinking of this as merely a hobby.

“This is a lifestyle,” said Gallagher, whose wife, Andrea, was completely outside of medievalism when they met and now serves as the seneschal, or president, of the Barony. “We all realize we’re waking up Monday morning and going to work, but on any given [weekend], this is real to us. Finding your tribe, that’s magical.”