Medieval fair in Monroe brings out the lords and ladies of An Tir

The weekend brought a little bit of the 17th century to the Evergreen State Fairgrounds.

Lords and ladies, barons and baronesses and a good number of merchants held the Ursulmas Medieval Faire in the fairgrounds, performing archery, medieval combat, thread spinning and more.

All the people running the fair are members of the Society for Creative Anachronism, a group that started in Berkeley, California, and now has more than 30,000 members all over the world. Different areas are divided into kingdoms; Washington, Oregon, part of Idaho and parts of Canada make up the “kingdom” of An Tir. Aquaterra, also known as Snohomish County, is one of the baronies of An Tir.

Royalty in An Tir is determined the old-fashioned way — by armed combat. In the indoor arena was the combat tournament.

People dressed in medieval armor, most of it homemade, tried to hit each other with “swords,” which are actually made out of wooden sticks wrapped in tape. That is called heavy combat.

There was also a rapier competition. But there would not be any king or queen crowned here. This tournament was just for glory.

Across from the arena, in the lobby of the Evergreen Speedway, craftspeople wove patterns on wooden looms and sold hand-forged armor. On the other side of the wall, cars raced around the track. The roar of the engines echoed through the building.

At one booth, Frank Renn sold handmade armor. He and his father are the armorers at Firedryk Steel, out of Coos Bay, Ore.

“I was born into this,” he said. He and his father travel to medieval fairs all around the country selling the armor that they make. He grew up doing this.

“This is just as much of a lifestyle as it is a career choice,” he said.

A few tables over, Ian Audrain-Skinner sells leather shoes. He makes them all himself. He took an interest in it when his modern shoes started hurting his feet. So he made his own.

“They actually conform to your feet,” he said. People started asking about his shoes, and where they could get a pair of their own. Now he travels to medieval fairs up and down the west coast selling shoes.

“I love it,” he said. “I’m basically a professional medieval re-enactor now.”