Drekaheima

About the Household

Drekaheima (Dragon House or House of the Dragon in Icelandic) was founded in 1976.

Membership

Founding Principle Members:

• Ivan Reddragon
• Usula von dem Meer

Current Leadership:

• Ieuan of Falkeep

Prior Members:
Godfrey de la Fosse
Dominique Charles de Blavier
Otto the Merciless
Sigmund the Wingfooted
Sieglinde Syr
“Mom” (Sigmund’s mother)
Calvin of House Wingfoot (Sigmund’s Brother)
Thorvald Dragonflyer
Ieuan of Falkeep (aka Leif Thorinson)

Allies

• Bran de Tintreak
• Shire of the Shadowlands

Timeline

Drekaheima was created back in the 1970s.

Traditions

• Viking “Handshakes” (forearm clasping) when male members (and female, if they want to) greet each other. The goal is to create as loud a noise when the forearms make contact. Pain is not to be registered and techniques to increase the sound (such as wetting your forearm) are allowed. This greeting is completed with bearhugs. FYI, while not encouraged, injuries such as broken ribs from the bearhugs are simply the risk one takes to show the depth of friendship between members.

• The Household “uniform” (for males) is a simple red, short-sleeve tunic with a “keyhole” neck opening and Viking / Celtic knotwork around the neck.

• If Drekaheima would march together as a household whether it be into Court or to war (notably, into Court at the Tournament of Chivalry, and holding and rolling up the right flank at Queen Willow's war) the would chant the Winkie guards chant from 'The Wizard of Oz,' "Oh e oh, e oho."

• Taking Captives (An honor the Household gives to people we like)

At an event, the head of the Household or the seniormost member of the Household announces to those in attendance at Court or other public gathering that one or more people have been taken captive by the Household and are now under its protection. In extreme cases, larger members of the Household might actually hoist the captive over their shoulder and leave the assembly with them.

After a captive has been taken, all members of the Household who want the honor of being that captive’s protector will fight each other one-on-one. Fighting is heavy weapons that are traditional for Vikings (usually sword and shield). The fighting takes place in a “fighting pit” (a 10 x 10 square). Combat in the pit is won by either a “kill” or by pushing an opponent out of the pit.

In such cases as a member wants to be a captive’s protector but is not a heavy weapons fighter, or is physically small enough that they couldn’t resist being pushed out of the pit, they can ask another member of the Household to be their Champion in the pit.

As a sign of being a captive of and under the protection of Drekaheima, once a captive’s protector is determined, they will present the captive with a token to denote their status. This is traditionally a neck-chain with a Viking coin on it as an emblem.

For some reason, all captives that were taken by the Household were women and all of the protectors were male… go figure. A Partial and (very) Incomplete list of Captives and their Protectors:

• Aleana o'r Gorwydd Serennog - (Godfrey de la Fosse)
• Tessa of the Gardens - (Dominique Charles de Blavier)
• Bevin Fraser of Stirling - (Dominique Charles de Blavier)
• Rowan of the Shadowlands - (Dominique Charles de Blavier: Dominique bought Rowan from Otto the Merciless for a bottle of mead)
• Lisa Patton (SCA name unknown)- (Thorvald Dragonflyer)

House Rules

The House Rules and Laws are contained in Drekaheimabok (Book of the Dragon House).

House Events

At Crown III (and a few other Shadowlands events), Drekaheima hosted a “slave auction.”

Household Honors

Drekaheima was named a Pillar of Ansteorra (PILA) at Crown Tournament I (1979 – 05 – 13)