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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Entertainment
Patrick Marlborough

After 10 years talking to knights, squires and wizards, I understand why ren fairs are booming

Marshal Mieka Leitch at the 2025 Australian Jousting Championship at Kryal Castle in Leigh Creek, Victoria.
Marshal Mieka Leitch at the 2025 Australian Jousting Championship at Kryal Castle in Leigh Creek, Victoria. The castle, built in the 1970s, hosts spirited ren fairs. Photograph: Otis Filley/The Guardian

“I dunno what to tell ya, mate,” a young knight once told me through his helm’s lifted visor. “Gettin’ shield bashed just feels good.”

For the knaves among thee, a “shield bash” is what it sounds like: to bash, or be bashed, with a shield. It’s simple and to the point, like a mace to the face or an arrow to the knee. Witnessing a shield bash, you understand the “haha yesss” that the basher must feel upon bashing, just as you empathetically presume a long “oh noooooo” on behalf of the bashee. So I was surprised to learn being bashed was, in itself, just as fun.

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