J. M. Levinton

Throwing Knives at the Renaissance Faire

• August 20, 2018
• Blog
• 2 Comments

I’ve always wanted to learn how to throw a knife. I had been assured it wasn’t difficult but finding a place that would teach it was the catch. So I was thrilled to see stands set up at the Renaissance Faire in Tuxedo, NY for knife throwing, axe throwing, star throwing, and archery.

Okay, for the record, I suck at knife throwing. Yes, my knife hit the target board—if you count the side of the hilt slapping against the board before falling to the ground. I did better at throwing stars, and archery—again, for my first time ever—was best of all.

So I wandered through the town of the faire and enjoyed the costumes, the wares for sale, and people performing throughout. Here’s a snippet of a performance by Vince Conaway, who plays a hammered dulcimer and can be found at vinceconaway.com.

I wandered into the Mayhawke Armoury and was entertained by this helpful ye olde salesperson, who informed me that the sword with sheath (below) was a Scottish sword for royalty. The Royal couldn’t eat with his hands because of his position, so a knife and fork were placed on the outside of the sheath:

Some comic relief:

(I walked up to him and said, “Promise?” 😉 )

Beautiful costumes:

And a reminder that most of the folk from that time period were not royalty:

Jousting before the torrential rains came:

I can see going back next year but preferably in costume. All are welcome!