Ludicrous Bowmen of the Known World
The Ludicrous Bowman ranking is unofficial, but denotes an archer who has achieved a Royal Round Average of 120 or more points. It can be earned by any archer in the Known World of the SCA, as long as the Royal Rounds were shot by the same rules we use here in the East. Master Ailean's account of how the tradition started can be read below. The list shown on this page was created from Master Ailean's list and messages to me over the years. If you have any corrections or can fill in any blanks - and, especially, if you learn of new achievements - please get in touch with me (see end of page).
Ludicrous Bowmen - Standard Scoring
As of September 25, 2024, only 30 archers in the Known World have achieved the rank of Ludicrous Bowman with standard 5-4-3-2-1 scoring.
| Archer Name | Date Achieved | Notes |
| Ailean mac an Daroch | #01 East - crossbow | |
| Dwayne Shinnock | #02 East - crossbow | |
| Ragnar Two Axe | Spring 1996 | #03 East - handbow |
| Andras Truemark | Fall 1996 | #04 An Tir - handbow |
| Geoffrey deWygan | 09/28/1997 | #05 East - crossbow |
| Krakken Gnashbone | 06/28/1998 | #06 East - crossbow |
| Dafydd ap Sion | #07 Ealdormere - handbow | |
| Connor Bowsplitter | #08 Aethelmearc - handbow | |
| Fritz Bare | #09 Midrealm - crossbow | |
| Cormac Dubh | #10 Aethelmearc | |
| Yaakov Avraham ben Obadiah | #11 East - crossbow | |
| Arioch the Quick | #12 East - crossbow | |
| Li Kung Lo | #13 East - crossbow & handbow | |
| Rowan Elfhame | 10/31/1999 | #14 East - crossbow, first woman! |
| Lorenzo Il Confuso | 02/05/2000 | #15 East - handbow |
| Robert Thorne | Midrealm - crossbow | |
| Allen of Caerlaverock | Midrealm | |
| Gawin of Kevelioc | 2002 | An Tir - handbow |
| Caedmon Wilson | 07/20/2003 | Midrealm - crossbow |
| Laochlain Silverwolf | 09/25/2004 | Aethelmearc - handbow |
| May 2005: Laochlain has achieved an average over 140! | ||
| Ellias Silver | 03/24/2006 | An Tir - handbow (recurve) |
| Siegfried Sebastian Faust | 10/22/2006 | Atlantia - crossbow |
| Jonathas Reinisch | 06/28/2007 | Atlantia - crossbow |
| Joseph the Bold | 09/05/2009 | East - longbow |
| Samuel ap Dewi | 01/22/2012 | Ansteorra - crossbow |
| Rupert the Unbalanced | 06/14/2015 | East - handbow |
| Delwyn verch Ynyr | 2015 | An Tir- handbow, first woman! |
| Godric of Hamtun | 10/18/2015 | East - crossbow |
| Aiden of Bright Hills | 02/21/2016 | Atlantia - handbow (recurve) |
| Valgard av Mors | 05/23/2019 | Atlantia - crossbow |
Ludicrous Bowmen - Period Scoring
Several kingdoms maintain rankings for PERIOD Royal Rounds, done with the same target scoring system as used in the Period IKAC. Since the scoring is different, I have started a separate list of folks who achieve an average of 120 or more using this special format of Royal Round.
As of September 10, 2024, only 6 archers in the Known World have achieved the rank of Ludicrous Bowman with period 8-4-2 scoring.
| Archer Name | Date Achieved | Notes |
| Gawin of Kevelioc | 2003 | An Tir - handbow (longbow) |
| David of Tiriane | 2005 | An Tir - crossbow |
| David has achieved averages over 140 in several different years, with his highest being 143.3! | ||
| Samuel ap Dewi | 10/23/2011 | Ansteorra - crossbow |
| Alaricus Simmonds | 2014 | An Tir - handbow |
| Tymme Lytefelow | 2018 | An Tir - crossbow |
| Weylyn of Sotwyld | 2024 | An Tir - crossbow |
Origin of the Ludicrous Bowman
by Master Ailean mac an Daroch
Once upon a time when the kingdoms of the Known Worlde were young, the kings of the earth began to set out goals for their archers. In the great Kingdom of the East it was decreed that Gentles having a Royal Round average (three recorded and witnessed scores within one year) of 60 or more would be declared Bowmen, and have the right to wear the badge of that rank. It was considered a high honor. To those great archers scoring over 80 went the title "Master Bowman" as it was thought that there would be but few of these and they would be masters of the skill indeed.
But it came to pass that in the East there arose archers of totally unexpected skills, and they did score over 100! The court was in a quandry over what to call these greatest of the great archers, but settled upon the name of "Grand Master Bowman".
Soon thereafter there was a party at which many of these great archers gathered and enjoyed their cups. The talk, of course, was of archery.
One slightly less intoxicated gentle noted that the ranks were now neatly divided into groups of 20 points (60-80-100) and wondered out loud what on earth they would ever do if someone actually scored 120. This brought about a rousing chorous of laughter as these archers knew full well that 120 was impossible. It would take more of a machine than a man to ever do that. "Why that's LUDICROUS!" one archer slurred
Thinking this foolishness a good jest, the rest chimed in to agree on the total impossibility of such a feat and the stupidity of the idea. They devised a badge for this insanity - PAISLEY (just to tick off the one herald in the group) with one white arrow dexter.
And so the myth lingered for a great many years and was almost forgotten in the lore of the SCA. But then in the year AS XXVII one archer, having already become a "Grand Master Bowman" with both his handbow and crossbow too, decided to seek the ridiculous, the insane, the LUDICROUS. But to the amazement of all, he accomplished it with an average of 123. In the following years others have followed his path to the highest accolade of archery skill... the crazy paisley of the Ludicrous Bowman.