In Memorium: Yvan Wolvesbane
Lord Yvan Wolvesbane passed away suddenly on December 4, 2016. Always an upholder of the chivalrous arts – he was the third Knight Marshal for the Barony of Concordia of the Snows.
Yvan Wolvesbane discovered the SCA while he was in the Navy. His first assignment on a ship was a great adventure for him. When his was off duty he explored. Imagine how surprised he was when he climbed a ladder to go on deck and stepped into a fight practice!
The ship was a successful little shire. The Shire even had permission to have little events on board. His attempt at medieval clothing for his first event was to pull the blanket off his cot and pin it on backwards as a cloak. The blanket was stamped NAVY of course. Rather deeply. The ink had soaked through. When he told a shipmate he had not chosen a name, someone laughed and said it was written on his cloak! YVAN was a name that stuck for his entire career in the Game.
Reading was a great passion with Yvan. There he discovered that choosing a persona was going to be a difficult decision. He found the fascination with working metal and the fearlessness in battle that comes with believing that death is followed by waking up with your friends in Celtic cultures fascinating. The Norse focus on fighting, travel, entrepreneurship, and farming was very, very appealing too. He discovered that the culture in the around early Cornwall was a delicious blend of the two.
After his discharge, Yvan bought a Harley and traveled wherever his whims took him for several years. But he never missed Pennsic. He managed to take his armour and tent as well as his garb along with him on the bike, a pole arm sticking out on each end. When there were fewer rules there he used his bike as a tent pole. Once! In a storm that year his tent fell over him! After that the bike was usually a quiet companion in his tent. His first air mattress exploded when Yvan hopped into bed. Every year after that for a long time he broke his bed at Pennsic. These are stories that will make you laugh for hours.
For him, fighting and metalwork were both arts. Arts requiring study, research, skill acquired by practice, and creativity. Making armour for fighting and tools for the forge were just as interesting to him as using them. His helmet and his forge were prized possessions. Not only did he work at the forge, he found joy and passion in sharing his knowledge with anyone who showed interest. In 2015 he was inducted into the Order of the Maunche.
“Yvan Wolvesbane was a charismatic and honorable man who will be missed by everyone who knew him. Sail off on your Death Ship, my friend, to Valhalla. I will meet you there when I come to the Blessed Isle.” Mistress Brid nic Shearlais