Hilla's Scroll Staff
Hilla - if you don't want spoilers, stop reading here.

Hilla's Staff: An Introduction

Upcoming steps pending:

Prepping a digital copy of the final designs - futharc, diamond patterns
Printing and test fitting the final designs for the stripes - a bit of misfit is ok and can be adjusted, but not a ton

4/4 note: It is becoming clear that I'll want to do the steps below piecemeal once I get the final designs test-fit for size. At the very least, I'll want to transfer the pattern in patches and pyro those patches, then dye + pen + clearcoat in patches. This will help ensure nothing prone to smudging will be smudged!

Design transfer of the text and pyroing
Design transfer of the gridwork lines and pyroing
Design transfer of the knotwork and pyroing
Stain what needs staining
Metallic pen decorations
Clearcoat everything
Final presentation!

Completed steps - write about

3/12/2026

Wooo, project time! This one is going to take a bit, and I'm going to be extra-extra careful with it, but I hope it'll turn out well!

So back when they got elevated, Magister Hilla asked me to make a staff for them as the elevation scroll as an Anglo-Saxon scop (bard). Her apprentice was doing the text, Hilla would provide the hunk-o-wood and the futhark version of the text, and I'd have the rest. Due to *points to general chaos * it's taken a bit to get properly started, but here we are. I have the blank staff, I have the text all a-futharked, and I have Ideas.

The request is pyrography, Sutton Hoo based designs, and stained colors if I decide to go that route. I have a handful of designs I'm leaning towards, and I might grab a metallic paint pen or two for some extra detail work. I'll do a computer mock-up first, then print out a paper scale model of the design to see if it makes sense irl. Adjust as needed before ever touching the wood. I'm leaning towards a vertical based design to accentuate the natural grain of the wood, with the pattern off this shoulder clasp as the decorative element, but we'll see how that spaces out.

It'll be fun!

Source: https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/eighty-years-and-more-sutton-hoo

Blank staff!

Measurements and Initial Design

3/13: Measurements and math!

So I don't plan to update every day, but I happened to have some time today for measuring, and the weather is hurting my joints so other projects are on hold a bit. Before doing the rest of the design, it's useful to know the exact dimensions of the piece I am working with. (And by writing these down here, I'm less likely to lose them)

The usable length of the staff is 56", with another 2" in the end cap space.
It is a hair under 3 11/16" around, or 93.66mm. Neither of these are particularly even amounts to work with.

The text is 5 stanzas of 4 lines. My tentative plan is to run the text vertically down the staff. The layout from top to bottom will be: top cap of knotwork (maybe of an otter if I can manage it, definitely including Anglo Saxonized laurel motifs), section of text including the first two lines of a stanza, mid band of knotwork complimenting the others but distinct, section of text with the bottom two lines of the stanza, and then a bottom band of knotwork mirroring the top. Around the staff, the sections of text would alternate with gridwork in red, gold, green, and blue like the center of the shoulder clasp. If I can manage it, I'd love to make the diamonds look more like the period music notes that are part of Hilla's heraldry, but might just have to stick with diamonds themselves. Overall, it would be an extended grid - which amusingly enough is how I initially "sketched" out the design. Remember - the colors here are placeholder stand-ins for final designs.

Each of the text-gridwork lines would be a hair under 3/8" wide, and approx 23" long. That would leave 10" for the bottom, middle, and top bands. I'm still deciding if I want to go 3-3-3 with the extra inch split between laurel motifs at top and bottom, or 4-2-4.

4/4 - After fit testing on the staff itself, and knotwork design described below, the final dimensions are 1/2" bands of laurel leaves at the top and bottom of each knotwork section. The top and bottom knotwork sections are 2" and the middle one 3". Each of the text/pattern stripe sections is 23" long. There is about 1/2" of space at the very bottom above the stopper that will be blank, but clearcoated.

Design Elements

3/15

Today I had a craft day with friends, and amongst other things, used the opportunity to start on some of the design work for the staff. In particular, the laurel wreath depictions that will go at the bottom of the top knotwork and the top of the bottom knotwork.

Parts of this clasp were the inspiration for what will be the "laurel wreath" imagery on the staff.

Source: https://www.bmimages.com/preview.asp?image=00269625001

4/4 The knotwork at the top and bottom of the staff will be based on the edge critters on the shoulder clasp. I had originally thought to make an otter-styled piece, but after reading through some research papers on animals in Sutton Hoo imagery, decided it would be best to go with something more based off of the original piece with the abstractness maintained. I just need to figure out what I'm doing with the center bit!
Source: Decoding Anglo-Saxon Art

4/8 - Fit testing the 2" sections - looks like I've got that locked down now. Just the 3" one to go!

4/12 I think for the center 3" section, I will use a band of knotwork from the "Great Gold Buckle" as shown in the red box below. It already is vaguely in the correct shape - a single elongated strip of knotwork that I can wrap around the staff without losing context.

Source: Decoding the great gold buckle from Sutton Hoo © Trustees of the British Museum

3" on staff

Testing!

3/23: A dear friend of mine gave me a piece of scrap hickory trim to test against. There are four elements I want to test before touching the real staff: how it pyrographies, takes stain, takes the metallic paint pen, and finally, the clearcoat.

1. How the wood pyrographies.
Does it take the heat easily? Does the tool slide with the grain? How do cross-grain pieces feel? Does the heat "carryover" and cause easy bleed-scorches I need to be mindful of? How does it handle light touches or dots? How does it handle both curves and lines? How does it handle lines of different weights or filled in sections?

Answers: I /really/ like the way this takes heat! Good results all around.

2. How the wood takes the stain.
This particular stain is new to me, so I need to test strengths of it. What ratios are needed for different color effects. Does it carry along the grain? Does a pyrographied section contain it if so? Do I need to use a wax or other barrier to stop it if not? How do sections of different colors nearby each other interact? What's the drying time like, and the final finish when dry? Luckily, all the colors will be in discrete sections, otherwise I'd also be testing 'watercolor' type techniques!

Answers: The stain does not come with instructions, but I was able to find some on the manufacturer's website. It was experimenting time! Both alcohol and water were mentioned as liquid options, as well as multiple ratios of powder + liquid. I tested single layer and double layer of both, using tools I have handy but unfortunately that do not have standard measurements - one of these days I need to invest in a scale that measures weights in fractions smaller than tenths of a gram! The important thing is that it's a repeatable metric for me. Water was better than alcohol across all three colors, to the extent that the blue looks purple with the alcohol base! The double layer was much more vibrant, but it did prove to me that I'll need to wait for the first layer to be 100% dry or it'll bleed even across pyro lines. But no wax or resist should be needed.

3. How the wood takes the paint-pen.
I do not (yet) know how to inlay metal into wood. Or gems. These techniques are VERY high on my list to learn, but for this project, metallic elements will be done with a paint pen or metallic sharpie. Similar to the stain section, I need to see how a metallic paint pen handles the wood. How it looks against hickory, and what it looks like when dry. How thin and how wide can I make a section that looks good.

Answers: 4/16 I picked up a set of gold paint pens to match the gold that is predominant in the Sutton Hoo jewelry. The pens I grabbed have a "fine end" and a "brush end" - amusingly enough, the brush end had the finer point! It looks best going on after the first layer of clear coat, over the stain. Another layer of clear coat on top takes off a /little/ of the lustre, but not a ton. (And the protection is still worth it!)

4. How the wood takes the clear-coat.
Finally, there's the clear coat. I have two different brands and techniques to test, and since this will be on a staff, it needs to be GOOD. I'll in particular be watching to see if the stain carries with the clear coat, or if I'll need some kind of spray on barrier before a paint-on layer. Also dry time and ensuring transparency when clear.

Answers: 4/4 I've only tested this with the stain so far. The clear-coat is, wonderfully, clear. I'm using a spar urethane, to ensure it'll be properly waterproof. I do have to be careful with the initial layer, I've found - I need to apply it against the grain and very very lightly to ensure the dye does not run. Once the first layer is set, however, I can be heavier on the second layer. Once I get a chance to test it with a paint-pen, I'll clear coat an entire section and test it in water.
4/16 After testing the gold paint-pen, I tested it with the clearcoat. It works well with this as well!

Final testing: Once all the individual elements were tested, I combined them all for one final megatest: pyro, stain, paint pen, and clearcoat. I then did water testing with this section, first with a spray bottle of water, then a soaking in standard water, then a soaking in salt water for 5 minutes. You can review the videos of these HERE if desired. Overall, the final tests passed with flying colors, and it is time for the real wood!

Pyrography

4/22 Before putting heat pen to staff, there was a final bit of prepping to complete. The staff was sanded during a group project day this past weekend to a perfect smoothness. I also printed out copies of all the knotwork sections to test fit them. I did end up deciding I'll be freehanding the section meant to emulate a laurel wreath, because the digital version just was not playing well with the printer and it was faster and easier to freehand.

I started with laying out the main sections, top to bottom, first in pencil and then going over the lines with the pyrography.
The top, bottom, and middle knotwork are traced directly out of the Sutton Hoo find examples as shown above, with a touch of light editing to make them fit the space.
As of 5/6, I have currently completed the laurel wreath and knotwork bands at top, middle, and bottom of the staff. One brief note - in the pictures, it looks like there was pyro runaway near the heads of the critters in the center knotwork. That is actually the natural lines and natural knotwork of the hickory underneath, and will be covered when the stain and gold paint pen go in.

Next will be
- the vertical lines for the alternating diamonds and futharc text
- the diamond sections
- the futharc text

Once the pyrography is completed, I'll move on to the stain, paint-pen, and clearcoat, one section at a time.