July 12, 2009 @ Clark University

We will be playing Knattleikr on July 12, 2009 at 12pm on the Quad at Clark University.

See you there!

-Colpitts

Viking Arms and Armor

Hey all. I thought you might find it interesting to know that the guy who basically started us all playing Knattleikr, Bill Short, just came out with a book on Viking Age Norse arms and combat techniques. Given all of the fighting we end up doing in the process maybe some of us can find inspiration here...hopefully no one shows up with an axe instead of a stick to hit me with now.

New Game Cometh

So, next chance to hit people with a stick while they try and hit you...(not including Nick on this one, as these things happen often to him) December 6th. New Haven, CT. Knowing us, there will probably be drink after and/or maybe a trip to one of the local delicious restaurants that New Haven has to offer. Should be enough bed/couch/floor space to accommodate all those willing to show their faces for battle, so that shouldn't be an excuse.

See you on the battlefield.

Blood for the Blood God.

July 26th - Knattleikr

We have set the next Knattleikr date - July 26th, 2008. The location is still to be determined. The current thought is to either have it at Nick's (Jotun One) house or, depending on weather, at a random field and camp out after. You will be updated as we know more.

Thanks,

-Colpitts

Professor Winston Napier has Died

Many of you may know Professor Winston Napier from Clark University. He has died. He was a professor of English and he means a lot to those who had the privilege to be one of his students. An interesting, funny, strict, fair and eclectic professor, he pushed his students very hard. Despite - and because of - the pushing his students came out better students on the other end. I am confident that I can speak for most of his past students when I thank him for what he has done for us.

Below, I have pasted the full notice that Clark University has posted on the University's website.

-Colpitts

___________________________________________________________________

University Communication

May 19, 2008

In Memoriam: Winston Napier, E. Franklin Frazier Chair and Associate Professor of English

Winston Napier, Clark University's E. Franklin Frazier Chair and associate professor of English, died Sunday, May 18, after a sudden illness. The Clark community is saddened by his loss. A memorial service is being planned. Details will be shared as they are finalized.

Professor Napier earned a bachelor's degree from William Patterson College in 1974 and a master's degree and Ph.D. at Howard University in 1977 and 1991, respectively. He taught at Howard University, Purdue University, George Washington University and Bates College before joining the Clark faculty in 1995 as the E. Franklin Frazier Professor. In this tenure-track professorship, Napier created and taught innovative courses on African American literature and critical theory. In addition to the traditional African American canon, his courses explored recently published works by African American writers, particularly contemporary novels of satire.

Professor Napier specialized in critical theory, 20th-century African American literary culture, and African American philosophical thought. A former editor of the Howard University Journal of Philosophy, he published in Literature and Psychology, The Massachusetts Review, New Literary History, and The Village Voice Literary Supplement. He was editor of the acclaimed book "African American Literary Theory: A Reader." In his research, Professor Napier explored the intercultural dynamics responsible for the unique structure and configuration of black expressive discourse. He examined the theoretical foundations of African American intellectual culture. In his most recent work on the satiric novel, he analyzed the ways in which contemporary African American writers adopt a distinctively postmodern reaction to racism and other forms of social injustice through a campaign of disparagement qualified by the force of contemptuous laughter. He invited members of the Clark and Worcester communities to explore these issues as well through the African American Intellectual Culture Series, a lecture series sponsored by Clark's Higgins School of Humanities that Professor Napier helped organize each year.

"Winston's passing is heart-breaking for the Clark academic community. He made a profoundly thoughtful contribution to the intellectual life of students and faculty here. Dozens of students have told me he was their most stimulating teacher in college. I was honored that he asked me one year to lead a discussion in his course on the Harlem Renaissance. I will miss him very much," says President John Bassett.

___________________________________________________________________

Mobile Blogging Test

This is a mobile blogging test. This could be use to submit info about our bouts as they happen.

-Colpitts
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device from U.S. Cellular

The Last Two Bouts

There have been two knattleikr bouts since the last posting. One occurred on Sunday, January 27 in Oakham. While we did not play on a frozen lake (there was a recent warming spell and the lake may not have held us), we did have an interesting game out on a field near on of the player's houses in Oakham. We followed up the game with some food, fellowship, and general fooling around. It was cold, snowy, and glorious. With an luck - and a little detective work - I should be able to find some photos from that event.
We also played on February 10 at Clark in Worcester. While the group was small, we got a good game in and even experienced some winter thunder claps during the game (a sign from Odin, perhaps?). We then went out to Monyhain's for some refreshment and then to Saigon Vietnamese for dinner. Good times all around.
As for the next bout, I will look into it and get the date, time, and location posted here.

-Colpitts

Our Knattleikr Videos

Our regular readers may have noticed that I removed the video feed on the sidebar. I did so because that sidebar is an auto feed from Youtube that will show Knattleikr videos from other groups so, I embedded some of our videos in a blog post.





-Colpitts

Next Knattleikr Bout Date and Location - Jan 27th - Oakham, MA

It is my pleasure to announce our next date and location for a Knattleikr bout. We will be engaging in glorious battle on January 27th in Oakham, MA. We will shoot for a 12 noon start time.

If the weather cooperates and we get a substantial cold snap in the weeks and days leading up to the event we will likely play on an iced lake (this will depend on ice thickness, we need at least6 inches or so to do this with any amount of safety). Otherwise, we will play on a frozen field, which will still be awesome.

Make sure to bring lots of layers and maybe even a change of clothes to change into when we are done (whiskey may also be advisable). Please feel free to bring friends, family, or whoever to play. As always, if this would be your first time, you are welcome.

Pay attention to the blog (and feel free to leave comments) for more updates, news, an general ramblings. Feel free to contact any of the blog administrators if you know them, if not, please feel free to contact me (mcolpitts@gmail).

See you in Oakham. Knattleikr!

-Colpitts

The Viking Tower

          Nick, Bryan, and myself had the fortunate foresight to go on a wild adventure today. While the first part involved crawling through a tunnel beneath the earth, the second part has pertinence here. The Norumbega Tower was built around 1987, on the supposed site of Norumbega, also known as Vinland, a supposed Viking (Norse) settlement in New England. This is the settlement supposedly started when the Norse sailed up the Charles and settled. Eben Horsford claimed he found the only site that this settlement could have existed in, and therefore that he had found the settlement of what was once supposedly 10,000 Norsemen. He of course, made this claim based on a few scattered rocks he discovered, and not the tons of rock structures that most likely would've been left behind. Given his fervor for the quest to locate the settlement, once "discovered" he built a tower on the location as a monument to the Vikings who sailed there in 1000 A.D. Despite this whole "discovery" being a big sham, the tower is still pretty neat, and the surrounding grounds look nice and flat from a top-of-the-tower vantage point.


          A large flat expanse? Next to a tower erected in honor of the hard-sailing Norse who crossed a vast sea to make settlements in a new land? The prospect is grand, the idea of playing knattleikr on this ground seems good and right. A proposition for the future: knattleikr at the base of the tower erected in the name of those Norse who touched this land before their culture manifested itself in the since-founded american imagination.