To Their Royal Majesties of An Tir King Cedric Rolfsson and Queen Elizabeth Owles, and to Their Excellencies of Glymm Mere Baron Wolfgang von Bremen and Baroness Juliana MacPherson, do Lord Thorbjorn Askni and Lady Signy the Slow of Glymm Mere send greetings.

With all humility do we, Signy and Thorbjorn, ask to be considered for the offices of Baron and Baroness of Glymm Mere.

We are a stable couple with a strong relationship, having been married for twenty years. We have both played in the SCA, specifically in the Kingdom of An Tir, (Baronies of Blatha an Oir and Glymm Mere) for the entirety of our marriage. The Dream has been a way of life for us both for the last twenty years.

Though we have served our baronies in many ways over the years, we have not sought recognition. We have, in fact, sought to avoid recognition. Our hearts have said that for ourselves, serving The Dream was reward enough. Thus, we do not have a list of awards and credentials to lay before Your Majesties as proof of our worthiness, nor would we have it any other way.

If graced with the honor of serving Glymm Mere as Baron and Baroness, we would continue to work for the glory and continuance of The Dream, seeking to lead by example.

We give our pledge to support The Crown, the Peerage, and the Chivalry and to work cooperatively with the officers and populace of Glymm Mere to ascertain and achieve the best interests of the barony. We promise to do our utmost to resolve conflicts in a manner that will promote harmony and unity.

We believe that being a strictly volunteer organization, the only coin we can offer in payment for the efforts of the populace is that of recognition, ( yes, we do see the irony) and we further pledge to continue Their Excellencies Wolfgang and Juliana's practice of giving Baronial level awards and to recommend members of our populace for Crown level awards.

We pledge to represent ourselves, our barony, An Tir, and the SCA in a positive, dignified, and honorable fashion, to show fairness and consistency in our leadership and to remain approachable to the populace.

We pledge to promote the continuation of The Dream, and to honor the established traditions of Glymm Mere. Lastly, we pledge a strong adherence to Glymm Mere's motto: ""It is a silly place.", never forgetting that we all do this to have fun.

Our thanks for your consideration,
In service to The Dream,
Lord Thorbjorn Askni Michael Freeman

Background
Thorbjorn Askni (Mike Freeman)

Thorbjorn has been in the SCA for twenty years. He originally lived in Blatha an Oir, where he was a member of the original Glam Folk Household from approximately 1989 until the present (although the Glam Folk split into several different households some years ago, including the Ormsvikings and Ravenstead, it still exists sort of nebulously as a loose confederation of folks who used to be in the same household). In keeping with his Norse persona he reads and writes the elder futhark (Norse alphabet) fluently (in English).

He was in the Queen's Guard for Queen Caia in 2006.

He is currently Provost of Fence for Glymm Mere and Lieutenant of the Beevarian Guard, with five years in the rapier community. He has been Cadet to Don Magnus von Bremen for the last four years, and has had his own rapier student since 2005. He is the former Rapier Champion of Blatha an Oir (2004) and has studied the rapier arts within and outside of the SCA for five years. He has run numerous rapier events in the last year as Provost of Fence and is a Senior Marshal.

During his time in the SCA Thorbjorn has been known for giving help wherever it was needed, including helping with set up and tear down for numerous baronies, merchants, friends, family, and total strangers, indiscriminately. He has helped out many of the merchants (without pay) when business was busy or they needed breaks. He was part of the autocrat team for two Autumn Wars.

He is a veteran of many public demos, including at least ten years of Viking Days in Poulsbo with the Glam Folk, demos at Pacific Lutheran University, Scandinavian days at the Puyallup Fairgrounds and Freedom Fests at Fort Lewis. He has given literally hundreds of children the opportunity to hold a real "sword" (rapier) and actually "swordfight" for a few minutes for the last four years at the Gig Harbor Renaissance Faire.

He has an AA degree from the University of Maryland and has been active in Plumbers and Pipefitters Union Local 26 for over a decade and has learned leadership and problem solving skills running work crews on the job.

Thorbjorn is a "people-person" whose strengths include communication skills and a genuine desire to help. He is a natural at helping others see and attain the potential within themselves. He has the tenacity to see projects through, the people skills to muster enthusiasm and support from others, and a lively sense of humor that keeps things light.


Background
Signy the Slow (Lisa Freeman)

Signy has been active in the SCA for the last 20 years. She was part of the original Glam Folk Norse household (see Thorbjorn's background).

She is currently Chronicler for Glymm Mere as well as Arts & Sciences Deputy. She does both hand and machine sewing, plus embroidery and appliqué and makes all of her own and Thorbjorn's SCA clothing including his fencing garb.

She has remained active throughout her years in the SCA by helping out where needed, whether helping to set up and tear down encampments and merchants booths and stock, (in her younger and spryer days), being in charge of cooking for the entire volunteer staff at an Autumn War, helping out her merchanting friends at their booths (uncompensated), picking up trash after events, and helping with clean up and tear down after numerous feasts.

She has attended and worked numerous demo events, including approximately 10 years of Viking Days in Poulsbo, as well as Scandinavian Days in Puyallup, and at Pacific Lutheran University.

Outside of the SCA she has been a bookkeeper for twenty years and co-owned a successful electrical contracting business with her (now ex) husband for ten years . She has excellent clerical, computer, and bookkeeping skills.
In the 1990's she was president of Pacific Gallery Artists, a local (Tacoma) non-profit artist's group of about 100 members. After a successful first term of one year she was re-elected for a second year. She was also Recording Secretary for two years and participated in art shows and fund raising.

Over the last six years she has been the caregiver and advocate for her elderly parents who have recently passed away. Her father suffered from Parkinson's disease with dementia, and her mother suffered from Alzheimer's Disease. These diseases struck her parents at the same time. She has learned much that is applicable to leadership from this experience:

" The difference between a crisis and an inconvenience.
" To think things through and not rush to a decision whenever there is time.
" To make quick decisions under pressure.
" To make decisions based on the good of others rather than personal preference.
" To admit when she is wrong.
" To forgive the honest mistakes of others.
" To not give up despite any opposition when another's welfare is at stake.
" To understand that another's point of view is completely real for them, despite whether it makes sense to anyone else.
" That we are all capable of being and doing much more than we ever thought possible, and will be stronger for it in the end.
" That despite how it sometimes seems, there are an amazing number of amazingly generous and caring people in the world.