The Historical Persona
To make their equipment authentic, a reenactor must first decide on the time period, geographic location, and social status they wish to portray. The collection of clothing and equipment is typically called a "kit" and the fictional alter ego is called a "persona".
Sometimes when a person has interests that a single persona can't reasonably encompass, for the sake of being authentic, they might create more than one persona. For example, someone might be interested in Norse ("Viking") cultures but also be interested in economics and social history that led to the Landsknecht, might create two separate personae and kits. They can then choose the persona they will portray according to which hobby they want to do, the location of the reenactment, or the weather (cultures that wore a lot of wool and fur are more popular to reenact in winter than summer).
Read more about this topic: Authenticity (reenactment)
Famous quotes containing the word historical:
“It is hard to believe that England is so near as from your letters it appears; and that this identical piece of paper has lately come all the way from there hither, begrimed with the English dust which made you hesitate to use it; from England, which is only historical fairyland to me, to America, which I have put my spade into, and about which there is no doubt.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)