Meet royalty, wanderers and Vikings at the East Idaho Renaissance Faire

The East Idaho Renaissance Faire has transported Krupp Scout Hollow back in time and transformed it into a medieval village populated with residents from all walks of life. From noble knights and ladies to wanderers and musicians, the Faire is an opportunity to meet colorful characters, many of whom have fascinating backstories.

The Faire is ruled over by Princess Aldaline, who oversees the Knights Tournament and makes sure that visitors feel welcome in her kingdom. It’s a role she feels completely at home with.

“I was born into it, naturally, as most royalty is,” the Princess told EastIdahoNews.com. “I introduce all the tournaments and hail the knights when somebody wins. I absolutely adore that. Sometimes I’ll go to shows and see that they’re keeping in line, of course. I go around and talk to all the children and people and see that they’re having a good time.”

Along with these duties, the Princess has a lot of power, which she has been forced to use to keep local criminals in line.

“We’ve had a scoundrel that’s been roaming, constantly stealing my gold,” the Princess said. “When people find this scoundrel, I have my guards go after him. So I’ve been asking some of our customers to go and get him for us.”

At the other end of the social scale, the Wanderers camp is filled with wenches and shady characters like Morgan the traveling musician and suspected crook.

“I used to be a knight,” he said. “But ever since I’ve been on the run, I have found that my ability to do music has come to the forefront.”

While the Faire has given Morgan a chance to show off his musical chops, it’s also entangled him in an alleged robbery plot that often finds him dodging accusations and hiding from the authorities.

“There are some people who know who I am and figure out that there’s a bounty on my head, so they’ll grab the guards and turn me in,” he said. “But then there are other people who will know who I am and not want to turn me in, so they’ll ask the guards to go investigate a different location. So I get my fun that way.”

“We’ve actually got several of us who like to cause trouble for the guards,” he added. “I like to walk behind them like I’m marching with them and mock them. It’s kind of fun.”

After Morgan decided to abandon his “knightly duties” and become a wandering minstrel, he was taken in by Tolly Finch, a tavern owner who loves the common people and has a fascinating story.

“I was captured by the Royal Guard and I was on the gallows and I don’t know what it was that the Princess saw in me, but then and there turned to her father and said ‘This woman needs a second chance,” Finch said. “So I decided I needed to become a respectable citizen and I settled down, purchased the Ax & Bramble Tavern and I’m starting a legitimate business.”

Finch looks after a band of wanderers, which she says has grown together and become a family of sorts.

“I have four wenches working in the tavern and they’re my girls, so I try to take care of them as much as I can,” she said. “I want to protect them and I like to feed them. I don’t know what it is. I just enjoy feeding people because I enjoy it when people feed me.”

The Faire has even attracted residents from as far away as Norway, where Bjorn the Viking originated. At his Viking village, Bjorn does reenactments of Norse mythology and works to educate people and clear up misconceptions people may have about his people.

“The biggest misconception about the Vikings is that they’re a dirty, savage people, when in fact they were the cleanest people in Europe at the time,” Bjorn said. “They actually combed their hair and beards daily and they would wash themselves and their clothes every Saturday. They’d wash with a soap that was made up of lots and lots of lye and all the extra lye would bleach their hair and beards. So people think Vikings were born blond but they were bleaching their hair all the time.”

You can learn other fascinating facts, meet all these characters, and many more at the East Idaho Renaissance Faire. The Faire runs July 2 & 3, 9 & 10 and 16 & 17 at Krupp Scout Hollow. Click here or here for more information.