Laurel Level

(DISCLAIMER: this is written from my personal experiences.  Other people, other Peers, will disagree with what I have written here)

One of the most common questions, and mis-perceptions, is that "Laurel-level" is static, and well defined. Instead, let's take a statistics approach and see if this explanation will help.

First up, we need to understand what a normal curve looks like. It is a curve with almost everybody in the middle, with a few people at the edges. Think of human height. In the US, average height for men is about 5 foot 9. So, MOST people will be within a few inches of that, yes? A FEW people will be basketball player size, and a few people will be much smaller. Can you picture this curve?

If not, then consult any number of webpages (search normal curve). I have picked one at random here, simply for illustration purposes.

This image is from here: http://jwilson.coe.uga.edu/EMAT6680Su09/Floer/6690/Stat%20Essay/normal_curve.gif

Okay, so, we have a good, solid image of what a normal curve looks like.

Now it is time to apply this to an SCA context. Let's start with fighting, as that is easy to imagine (shields and swords, oh my!)

Let's consider all the Knights in a Kingdom. Their fighting skill should fall roughly along a normal curve, with most of them being excellent, a few less so, and a few being extra amazing. For me, the extra amazing side is usually easy to imagine being made up of the top Dukes of the Kingdom.

Now let's think about squires. Now, if we measure all the squires (or non Knights, or however you want to do this), they should also be a normal curve. MOST of them are in the middle. A few are not so hot. A few are really really good (for a squire).

If we imagine two normal curves, next to each other, with an area of overlap, we can see that there is a level of skills that includes some Knights and some squires. Got this so far?

USUALLY (not always), new Knights and top squires are in that overlap area. After they are made Knights, fighters skills continue to improve, and they keep moving toward the "more and more excellent" end of the curve.

We can often (again, not always) get some idea of the current level of that overlap by looking at who has been recently made a Knight. Not at ONE person, but at the general trend. So, a quick survey of the fighters who were recently made Knights gets us an idea of what the "level" is for Knights, today (could change tomorrow!)

Let's get back to Laurels. We can use this analogy with Laurels, but there are a few caveats.

Laurels are fairly subject specific. What the level is for a late-period costumer is different from the level expected from a person recreating roman glassware. But, IN GENERAL, the level of research being done by those who have just been elevated, in a similar field, is a good indicator for what the local council is looking for.

So, "what is Laurel level"? DEPENDS. Depends on what you are researching. Depends on where you live. Depends on what you have to build on.