The Renaissance Faire is not a spectator sport. Well, I suppose it could be. But it would be far less enjoyable. From the moment you approach the gates, until the moment you leave, you are politely invited to participate. Of course, should you politely hint that you have no desire to join in the fun, they will also leave you alone.
The cast of the Faire takes great pains to draw the traveler into the shire for this very purpose. They know that the more you participate in the revelry, the more fun you will have. And they know that the more fun you have, the more likely that you are to return for more, and the more likely you are to tell your friends about it.
One of the easiest was to participate in the Faire is to put forth an effort to speak in Early Modern English (EME). This is also known as Elizabethan English, Basic Faire Accent (BFA) or "Ren-Speak." For the purposes of this article, I will refer to the language of the Renaissance Faire as BFA.
Mayhap thou dost fear BFA. Mayhaps thou hast attempted to read Shakespeare only to be exceedingly vexed. Didst not queens and kings speak thusly? Is it not the speech used in the King James Version of the Holy Bible? Mayhap thou art fearful of conning all of the "thees" and "thous." I'sooth, BFA is a most complex language. Yea, but it is more than that.
Be thou not offended in what I do say. All Her Majesty's subjects did speak the queen's English. The lowliest of peasants, and the most lofty of nobleman spake in this manner. Fear thou not that BFA is a language intimidating. Rather, knowest thou that the lowliest of peasants didst speak in an off-colour and colloquial manner, moreso than they wouldst speak today. Know also that for the writer and orator, the queen's English was full and rich. It did provide a means of subtlety in order to convey the politics of the court. I daresay that BFA is a language that is sometimes base and at other times lofty, depending on the education and status of the speaker. Either way, I do find it most useful and joyous to use.
I'm willing to bet that when you read the above two paragraphs, you understood what I was saying. But I'll rephrase them for easier understanding:
Perhaps you are intimidated by BFA. Maybe you have tried to read Shakespeare's plays only to become frustrated. Wasn't this the language of kings and queens? Isn't this the language used in the King James Bible? Perhaps you are hesitant in trying to learn all of the "thees" and "thous." To be sure, BFA is a complex language (but so is Modern English). But it is more than that.
I'm not trying to insult your intelligence; but all Englishmen spoke the same language - from the poorest to the richest. Don't be intimidated by BFA. Instead, realize that since the lowliest peasant spoke it, it could be off-color and full of colloquial terms, even more than the less educated use slang today. But for the rich and powerful, it could be spoken in a manner to convey subtleties in such a manner as to be useful in court. Depending on the social status of the speaker, it could be either base or lofty. Either way, I think it is fun to use.
BFA is not necessarily stuffy or formal. It's also easy to learn. You are already over 90% of the way there. You already speak English. That is, you speak a form of it. The language you already speak is called Standard American English. BFA is similar in many ways. All that's needed, then, is to point out some of the differences, and you're ready to begin "speaking for soothly!"
As you study this article, I would advise you to take it slowly. Remember that Rome wasn't built I a day. Read this article in little chunks. I've broken it down into brief and simple lessons.
Another thing I want you to do is to read the Elizabethan portions out loud. After all, the purpose of this article is to teach you to speak BFA - not write it! Also, experts say that you are far more likely to remember what you've read if you also speak it. If you can find a friend who goes to faire, speak in BFA to him or her. Be careful, though. Speaking in BFA to someone who doesn't enjoy going to faire may lead them to believe that you should be put away in the funny farm.
Oh. And more importantly, the object is to enhance your enjoyment at faire. So, if you are becoming bored, or your eyes are tired, stop. Start again when you are ready.
Before we begin with the formalities, though, perhaps it would be easier to learn a few simple phrases that you can immediately use at Faire.
A standard day at Faire begins at the gate. At the Faire I attend (the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in Devore, California), there are "greeters" posted just outside the gate before you enter. More often than not, they will greet you with, "Good morrow, my lord!" You have just been bid "good morning," or, "good day." Respond in kind! Say, "God save you, sir!" This is another form of greeting. You have begun the day's Faire by speaking BFA!
Let's move on to a quick reference of phrases:
| Good Morning | Good morrow God give you good morrow |
| Good day | Good den Good day God grant you good day I bid thee good day |
| Good evening | Good e'en God give you good e'en |
| How are you? | How now? |
| Hello | What ho! God save you. |
| I’m glad to see you | Well met |
| I’ll see you soon, or Later, Dude! | I shall see thee (you) anon. |
| Pretentious or well-bred | Adieu |
| God bless you | God save (keep) thee (you) |
| Goodbye | Fare thee well |
| When speaking with nobility | By your leave |
| Excuse me | Pray pardon I crave your pardon I cry your mercy |
| Please | An it please thee (you) I pray you Pray |
| Thank you | Gramercy God grant you mercy Grant you mercy Many good thanks Many and hearty thankings I thank you I do humbly thank you God yield God ‘ild you (thee) |
| Wow | Hello! Marry! Now, by my faith! I’faith! |
| Really? Or, No kidding? | Go to! Is it even so? E’en so? For sooth? In sooth? |
| I swear it! | In sooth! I’sooth! By my troth! Verily! |
| Oh, no! Too bad! Bummer! | God-a-mercy! God’s me! ‘Ods me! |
| Darn it! | Alack! Alackaday! Alas! Fie! Fie me! Out upon it! |
| Where is the bathroom? | Whither be the privy? |
| Do you have a map? | Hast thou a chart? |
People in Elizabethan England were acutely aware of their position in society. For more information, read the article on the Great Chain of Being. This class awareness carried over into their speech and manners.
When addressing someone, always refer to them using their appropriate title. This may be done by referring to their station, their age, or their occupation.
One of the things you will learn when speaking BFA is that there are no real hard and fast rules concerning syntax. However, study the following, as it will prove useful.
Many romantic languages have a familiar form of address, and a formal form of address. In French, "vous" is the formal mode of address, whereas, "tu" is the familiar mode. Elizabethan English worked the same way.
Many people are under the impression that "thee" and "thou" are the formal mode of address. This is probably due to the way these words are used in the King James Version of the Bible when someone is speaking to God. However, the translators of the King James Version wanted the reader to know that one's relationship to God is personal, and therefore familiar.
So, the mode,"you," is formal, and the mode, "thou," is familiar.
| Nominative | Objective | Possessive |
| I | me | my/mine |
| thou (familiar) | thee | thy/thine |
| you (formal) | you | your(s) |
| he/she/it/hit | him/her/it | his/hers |
| Nominative | Objective | Possessive |
| we | us | our(s) |
| ye/you (familiar) | ye/you | your(s) |
| you (formal) | you | your(s) |
| they | them | their(s) |
Properly using the “Thees” and “Thous” is easy. Just remember that “Thou” refers to the subject of a sentence: “Thou art a poxy boggard!” And “Thee” is used for the object of the sentence “What does it matter to thee?”
“Mine” and “thine” are used when the article possessed begins with a vowel or an H. “Thy” and “My” are used when the article possessed begins with a consonant:
There's not much need conjugating every verb there is. I'll show you one verb and let you get the idea.
| Present Tense | I run you run thou runnest He/she/it runneth |
| Past Tense | I ran you ran thou didst run he/she/it ran |
| Future Tense | I will/shall run you will/shall run thou wilt/shalt run |
As you can see, Elizabethan verb conjugation is similar to our American English. The two exceptions are when using the familiar mode of the second person singular, (thou) and the third person singular (he, she, and it).
In the case of the second person singular, familiar, add “est,” or “st” on to the end of the same verb you would use in the formal mode. If you would say in the formal, “You took my coin purse,” then the familiar would be, “Thou tookest my coin purse.” Of course, it would probably sound better if you said, “Thou didst take my coin purse.” Experience and practice will be a better guide. Use whichever form seems to flow better. For the future tense of the familiar mode of the second person singular, substitute “wilt” or “shalt” for “will” or “shall.”
In the case of the familiar mode of the present tense third person singular (he, she, it), add “th,” or “eth” to the end. If you would say, “He runs,” in American English, change it to, “He runneth,” or, “He eateth.”
And, lastly, in the familiar mode of the future tense, change “shall” and “will” to “shalt” and “wilt.”
To add some flavor to your conversations, use the word do before your verbs. “Pray do sit down.” “I do believe that thou art a knave.”
The same holds true for did. “He did prattle on incessantly.”
Add the word me after first person verbs. “I will sit me down awhile and think me on this matter.”
It was an accepted practice to leave some words out of a sentence. For example, “Calls my lord?” omits the words does and me. “[Does] my lord call [me]?” Of course, we do the same thing, but in a different way, “Sit down.” In the modern example, we are using the imperative mood and omit the object, “you.”
One of the ways you can add authenticity to your speech is to mix up your sentence structure. In our speech, you may say, “Sit down.” In this case, since we’re speaking in the imperative mood, the object is implied and placed at the beginning of the sentence, “[You] sit down.” In BFA, it would be better expressed as, “Sit you down.”
BFA avoids many of the contractions that we use today. As a rule, avoid using any of the contractions that you would ordinarily use in today’s speech. The following contractions should be avoided.
Avoid contractions that shorten the word, “not.” For example, “don’t, can’t, won’t, didn’t, couldn’t, etc.” Rather, say, “do not, can not, will not, would not, did not, could not, etc.”
We often say something like; “I’d have coffee.” A better way would be, “I would have coffee.” (Although coffee was an unknown beverage during Queen Elizabeth’s reign.) Also, “would” was used much more extensively. It was a substitute for would prefer: “I would that thou didst take the other path.”
“Well, I’ll be damned!” is an example of how we shorten the word, “will.” Avoid this.
In Modern American English, we also use a contraction to express possession. For example, we refer to John’s coat or Tom’s hat. This is a contraction of John his coat and Tom his hat. I know this sounds odd; but in BFA, you would not use the contraction. We use the longer method.
While you should avoid using most of the contractions that you use today, people in the Elizabethan period didn’t avoid using contractions altogether. They were just different. Here’s an example of some of the contractions that were used.
The word, “it” was often contracted. The often said “’tis: for “it is,” “’twas” for “it was,” “’twere” for “it were.” And here’s a peculiar one. The used “’ist” for “is it.”
“In” was also contracted. “I’faith” was used for “in faith,” and “i’sooth” was used for “in sooth.”
There are even some words that you would never think of using in a contraction. You’ve already seen the phrase, “‘Ods me!” It was short for, “God save me!” There are others along a similar vein; “Uds teeth,” and, “Zounds!” Those are short for, “By God’s teeth,” and “God’s wounds.” Also, there’s “God a’mercy” for “God have mercy.”
You have also seen some contractions that today would be in the poetic form. “O’er” is short for “over;” and “e’er” is short for “ever.”
Remember, though, that the same ideas apply to contractions. You would be less likely to use a contraction when writing. Also, you would be less likely to use a contraction if you are being pretentious, or if you were better educated. Still, most every one uses contractions if they are in a hurry, or in a casual setting.
An anachronism is something that is appearing after its own time. If you saw a horse-drawn carriage in the streets of Los Angeles, you could call it an anachronism. At faire, we take the opposite view. We call things that would appear after the Elizabethan period an anachronism. For example, a wristwatch would be called an anachronism at faire.
We take great pains to give the patron the impression that he has actually stepped back in time and is now actually walking the streets of an Elizabethan village. Because of this, we try to avoid anachronisms as much as possible. We rid ourselves of wristwatches and sunglasses. Our costumes are as historically accurate as possible. And we try to rid our speech of any words or phrases that weren’t used during the period.
Sometimes, getting rid of a bad habit is more difficult than establishing a good habit. I’ve found this to be especially true when trying not to use words or phrases that I’ve used all my life. “OK” has been one of the hardest expressions to eliminate while I’m at faire. But rather than concentrating on not saying “OK,” I’ve found it more useful to try to say something else. In other words, instead of trying not to say “OK,” I’ve looked for opportunities to say “Well enow,” or “Very well.” In doing so, I am taking positive action to eliminate a negative habit.
The following is a list of common words or phrases in Early Modern English with appropriate substitutions. Make an effort to gradually eliminate the bad, and look for opportunities to insert the good.
| Anachronism | BFA Substitute |
| OK | Very well. Alright then. Well enow. |
| Nope, Naw, Huh uh | No, Nay |
| Yeah, Uh huh | Yea, aye, yes |
| Huh? | What say you? |
| For sure! | Certes |
| Guys | Gentlemen, good people, good gentles |
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