Paternosters

One of my other great passions in the name of the Society, while out of period for my persona, is paternosters, after stumbling upon http://paternosters.blogspot.com/ a few years ago.  I finished one last night, and used coral, quartz, and quite a few charms, in the same vein as this one from the V&A.  I did end up using different materials, and it does look considerably different, but yet entirely similar.

Paternostering is a relatively easy (and relaxing) A&S activity, though much of the research is still being done, given that grave finds rarely have a complete strand of beads strung in situ.  That being said, I've recently uploaded my documentation (found here and here) from a competition I was in that was based around a monk's life.

There will be a few more entries on other types of prayer beads as I get more research done on these, though these resources are proving to be a bit more difficult to find.  That being said, beads are a wonderful expression of both modern and medieval faith, and it's a great way to outfit a complete SCA kit.  Paternosters are one of those great little items that no proper medieval person would have gone without, both to show piousness and to show wealth as well.  And, if you couldn't bear to wear one with a cross, you could always wear one with a tassel on it instead.