A note on the blog title.

The martial arts tradition in Europe is a long one, and is actually fairly well documented. Beginning in approx. 1290 and continuing on through the Middle Ages, into the Early Modern period leading into the modern day. My principal area of interest is the High/Late Middle Ages into the Early Modern era.

Language is one of the most fundamental and important things to a written record, and it's one of the things most quickly lost to the shifting nature of culture. As languages evolve, the written word gets left behind. Soon transcription is needed, then translation. It remains a testament, it's nuanced meaning too often lost.

One example is the word 'vehten.' It is the most common medieval term used to describe combat- physical, spiritual, and moral. It is also used extensively throughout the fighting manuals, which makes it an odd choice since it's actually the word schirmen that describes sword fighting.

What led to this style choice? Was this a choice made by the monks that were so often writers of these documents, meant to reflect a spiritual or moral struggle? Does it denote a certain level of skill or sophistication? Membership to a school perhaps?

Schrimen itself has several interesting layers to it, the most prominent being that in addition to referring to sword fighting, it can also refer to shielding. In fact- what begins as a secondary meaning in the Middle Ages is how the word survives into the modern day, such as in the word 'Abschirmung.'

This brings me, in a round about way, to the name of this blog. A schirmære is simply a pratictioner of schirmen, in modern terms, a fencer.