Med brinnande lunta..?

Maybe it's time to tell those of you that does not speak Swedish what the blog name means. It is actually a part of conditions for surrender, meaning that if you can surrender in this manner, you are not beaten, but can march off with pride and fighting spirit, ready to strike back. The full sentence reads: "Med brinnande lunta, flygande fanor och kula i munnen" and is translated into: "With burning slow match, flying banners and a bullet in the mouth." The bullet in the mouth part is for quick reload; when you fire your first round, all you have to do is top up with powder and spit the bullet into the muzzle. Then you are more or less ready for another go.

Needle case and a freaking oud

One of my friends contacted me the other day. We usually chat on the msn or on the phone, and give each other advice on stuff medieval. He is a goldsmith by trade (he made my wedding ring, among other things), and he knows a lot about crafting, so I sometimes ask him when I need to know. As I stated - I am not a craftsman. I am a reading man. And that is why my friend contacted me. I can't help out much, but what I can do is get 14th century manuscript pictures of most stuff imaginable. So he told me:
"I've got a challenge for you! I bet you can't come up with a picture of an oud."
"What the...?"
"Yeah. It's like a lute used in islamic cultures. They used it in southern Europe as well during the 14th century."

I smiled. I smiled because I recently saw a picture of the instrument he was after in a French manuscript. So I promptly sent it to him by mail. Just to show him.
"Check your inbox." I told him. His msn was still. No messages in sight. He paused. I waited. Finally:
"OK. Thanks. Splendid work! Talk to you later!"
And that was that. I felt good. Challenge-Schmallenge!

Some day later he phoned me, and said:
"Hey. You know you always get me sources on everything?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, me and Stefan really appreciate it, and we would like to do something for you in return."
"No need, but thanks." He ignored me.
"I heard someone lost his needle case last summer." I frowned.
"It was actually my wife..."
"Blame whoever you wish. Still it's gone, right?"
"True."
"We'll make you one. Get me a source on a nice one, and you'll have it in your hand before spring."

I was deeply touched. I really was. And then I started to look for sources. And you know what? Despite of all my bragging, I still haven't found a good source...

If you have a good source on an extant needle case in metal, preferrably from Scandinavia or northern Germany - please tell me!

A new year

I hope you all had good holidays. I was out travelling through Sweden to meet the family and the friends. It seemed easy enough, but it eventually turned out to be a two week long odyssey, with little time for rest.

First of all, I would like to write a short notice on the upcoming Burns' Night. It seems sheep entrails are considered non-edible by the Swedish ministry of health - and that means that you can only get them through more or less unofficial channels, like your friends, and not through butcher's shops. This means that I probably can't get the ingredients for my haggis :-(, and THAT means you won't get to read yucky details on my second attempt :-)

Fear not. Soon I will present a heap of new stuff - upcoming kettle hat, made by Ralph Snel, a bagpipe, made by Thorsten Stoye, pics of my "new" shoes and my new coat, plus pics of an upcoming gorget made by Simon Lundqvist.

I will also report on the making of new greaves, and of me not going on the Albrechts Bössor winter march.

Stay tuned!