Some readers might know that have an interest with medieval life,especially devotional practices, and one thing I've always like are medieval Paternosters ,now known to us as rosaries. Their paternosters were quite different than our modern rosaries, because the rosary as a prayer hadn't yet been standardised. So you find three-decade rosaries of seven beads each, or six-decade rosaries of five-beads, etc. Most consisted of two decades of a certain number of beads, with a 'Gaud' bead used for the paters and glorias, and smaller beads of a different color used for the Aves.
The archetypical medieval rosary, the one you see so many pictures of seems to usually be of red coral or glass with bone or rock-crystal gauds, strung on a silk cord and either a tassel at one end and a medal or cross at the other, or a tassel on both ends.
Since don't know where to buy one of these, and I've always wanted one, I decided to make one myself. Since my mother has a large collection of old, broken and ruined jewelry, the materials were free, and I was able to make three paternosters.
The first one is the only one I really like and will probably use. It's made of large black agate Aves with alternating rock crystal and amber gauds, a silver tau cross, and a black tassel. It's heavy,but easy to use, and it's one of the rare rosaries that don't look like they're being marketed to suburban teen-age girls who still listen to Avril Lavine**
The other is the stereotypical rosary with red glass Aves, clear glass gauds, a plain silver cross on one end and a medal on the other. The beads are kinda small, so the whole thing is small, and the medal does'nt match.(It's gold-plated.) I would really rather have the medal and a tassel, but there isn't another tassel.
The third is'nt nice, but I had extra beads. It's made of rock crystal Aves and gauds with a brass greek cross on one end and nothing on the other end,while I look for my miraculous medal.
*She's a traitor. She claims she never sang punk, when we were all there when the albums came out. She never had any problem with being punk, but now she wants to be poppy and her music is unworthy of listening. A pox and all that.
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