In Memoriam: The Passing of THL Od Barbarossa

Courtesy of the SCA Memorial Shield Project

Sad news from the Shire of Westumbria:


The Honorable Lord Od Barbarosa passed from this world to the next on the evening of December 25, AS LV (2020)

His lady wife, Lady Biby ferch Llewelyn, is with family and friends. The family requests that anyone wishing to say their farewells in person, please do so safely.

I will remember him as a shield brother, and for the songs and stories we shared around the fire. He was a large and joyful man, kind and generous.

Some remembrances of Barbarosa from The Book of Faces:

We’d been friends a while, a couple years anyway, and had joined the SCA. After getting me into armor, and I said nope, this isn’t me .. he kept saying variants of “Mike, I just want to hit you!” – Lord Archer MacRobert

How Sir Geoffrey de Gournay earned the title “Toe-killer” — Many moons ago, Barbarosa marshalled the fighting of a tournament with a best death component. A young fighter took a killing blow and essentially did the Nestea plunge fall. When the fighter’s sword elbow struck the the ground, it straightened, bringing the sword down on Barnarosa’s toe. Later that evening, at bardic, Barbarosa rose to recite a poem he written that very day. We recite his poem, with the fondest memory, at almost every event. That poem — “I think that I shall never know a thing as painful as a toe. Damnit, Geoffrey” – Mistress Adalia VonderBerg

I’ll never forget that time Barbarosa won that Sumo tournament. He went shirtless and greased himself up with sun tanning lotion so no one could get ahold of him. Not that anyone could get ahold of a man that size anyway. Yokozuna Red Bear! Rest well dear friend – Master Hanashi No Kagemoto

Visitation will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Friday, January 1, 2021, at Bryant Funeral Home, with family to receive friends from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Funeral Service will be held at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, January 2, 2021, at Bryant Funeral Home. Interment will be in Union Cemetery, Nekoma. Memorials have been designated to the American Heart Association, in care of Bryant Funeral Home.