Creating a Persona

A persona is a period-appropriate name and personal history that you adopt at SCA events. Some people know immediately what persona they want; others, even some SCA veterans, haven’t decided. Maybe you’re drawn to a particular era’s style of clothing, armor or mythology; maybe a particular historical figure has always captivated you, and you want to learn more about that period.

While you can’t become a famous figure like Queen Elizabeth or Charlemagne, dive into their stories if you find them interesting – and perhaps your persona will evolve organically from there.

You have a large swath of history to draw from: the fall of the Roman Empire to the dawn of the 16th century!

Naming Your Persona

You may have a name in mind, but many do not, and that is okay. Choose what you want when you are ready to choose it. When you are ready, contact a herald and they will be happy to take you to the next step.

Creating a Device

This is getting ahead of ourselves a bit, but because it’s loads of fun, I’m including it here. Devices are the symbols you see on banners and shields identifying everything from knights and shires to the coat of arms of the Duchess of Sussex. A device is a sort of visual representation of your personal, household or group persona, and it’s another way to think about your persona’s place in history.

Young archers at Panteria 2012

Before you spend weeks creating a device that may not be entirely appropriate to your persona’s period in history, I recommend you check out Heraldry for Non-Heralds.

Helpful Resources

SCA College of Heralds

East Kingdom College of Heralds

Panther Vale’s own herald, Edward Talbot

What say you?