“Six times a year, we have wars,” says ninth-century Norwegian Olai Skjaervoy.

As he donned his dusty green plate armor, made mostly of plastic and leather, he picked up an enormous plastic greatsword and stepped over the pink and yellow streamers into the tournament ring. A horn rang out just south of the Campanile. The tournament had begun, and Olai might not survive.

Olai’s “rest of the world” name is Sam Ose, and he is a member of the ISU Medieval Recreationist Club.

“We each take a persona and try to recreate that persona as accurately as possible,” says Ose, senior in physics.

Saturday afternoon on Central Campus, the club put on a demonstration where all were welcome to come and learn about the club and about life in the Middle Ages.

To celebrate, a series of brightly colored tents were set up and members of the club demonstrated various practices of the Middle Ages, including engraving, spinning, sewing, leather working and bellydancing. Although many were looking forward to some medieval cuisine, the cooking demonstration was canceled because of the rain.

Most members of the Medieval Recreationist Club are also members of the Society for Creative Anachronism, a worldwide medieval study and recreation organization. Many members of the SCA showed up Saturday to show support for the club.

In the SCA, the United States is divided into a number of kingdoms. Iowa State falls in Calontir, which covers most of Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri. The Ames chapter of the SCA is called Canton Axed Root.

Regardless of age, everyone dressed in cloaks, tunics and other medieval garb. Tournament participants dressed in various styles of full plate armor, complete with helms.

“You do have to dress in a period way,” says SCA member Tammy Heartmann. “A big requirement is to dress medievally.”

Almost everything at the event, outside of the Triscuits and Diet Coke on one of the tables, was authentic to the Middle Ages. SCA member William Gull says the preservation of historical knowledge and methods is important to SCA members.

“The SCA embraces a philosophy that I adhere to myself, and that is knowledge that isn’t shared is wasted knowledge,” he says.

Heartmann says the SCA is not associated with Renaissance fairs, where most of the entertainment is provided by paid performers.

“One of the best parts about the SCA is you don’t even have to pay to learn all of this stuff,” she says.

She says Renaissance fairs are usually associated with 15th-century European culture, while the SCA covers all periods from 600 to 1600 and all civilizations that were in contact with Europe at that time. Civilizations ranging from Norse to Japanese are represented. The sign outside the camp was flanked by a suit of European plate armor and a suit of Samurai infantry armor.

“It’s all about learning and education, and having fun while we do it,” Heartmann says. “Chivalry and honor are very important.”

With an arsenal of weaponry, including a large siege engine called a trebuchet, the SCA could have laid siege to the Memorial Union if they had wanted to. Ose says the club has jokingly considered taking their combat outside of the realm of recreation.

“Last Veishea, when we heard about the rioting outside Pizza Pit, one of our favorite restaurants … we could’ve set up a shield wall and no one would’ve gotten through,” he says.

Ose vanquished his opponent, Heidrick, with a decisive blow to the side. Heidrick crumpled into an armored heap on the damp grass. “The victor: Olai!” shouted the crier. Ose bowed to his fallen friend, and the next two fighters entered the ring.

Of the six wars SCA holds every year, the largest is the Pensec war. Ose attended the war during Spring Break last year. There were 12,000 participants from all over the world waging war for two full weeks.

“There’s nothing like the sight of 12,000 men in full plate armor charging into battle,” Ose says. “If that doesn’t put the fear of God in you, nothing will.”