I'd probably end up as some sort of cook. Head of the kitchen. Which means I'd be pretty darned good with a cleaver. Or a rolling pin. Very firm but relatively benevolent and not above pulling the occasional prank. Arms like tree trunks from all the dough kneading and spit turning. And shaking young pastry thieves by the ear.

As for the Robin Hood era... I'd hear all the good gossip and be an spy in the Sheriff's household. No problem getting notes (of course I'd be literate!) to Robin - I'd just go herb picking in the woods and leave the paper in the knothole of the third tree to the right of the rock by the bend in the stream.

Lissa, I love you! :D And I love your alter-ego! (Does she have your name or something different?) Shaking pastry thieves by the ear...notes in the knothole...cleaver! ::flails:: So awesome!

I envy your decisiveness, too. I can't quite decide who or what I'd be. Every time I think I've come to a conclusion, I change my mind.... I shall have to ponder a bit more and then post when I have something that sticks. :)

My decisiveness stems from a semi-realistic assessment of my actual abilities. I mean... I'd love to be an archer or spy of the first rank or a Countess de Winter type (except appropriate to England during Robin Hood time and not France during 3 Musketeers time) or something dashing like that - but I'm not built for it. And someone's gotta do the more down-to-earth stuff! :) Also, I like cooking. And if I'm not gonna end up as gentry of some sort, I'd rather my job NOT be toiling in the fields with only a dirt hovel to come home to.

Another thought... if I became a renowned enough cook, I could be lent to other lords/kings/high-muckety-mucks and therefore know even more neat stuff. Go me! :)

Names... names. All of a sudden, I'm thinking of her (me?) as a roleplaying game character. Creating backstory (see, she might have an odd-for-the-time name because her momma had an unusual liking for foreigners) and all. This is fun and my favorite part of any roleplaying game. I like making up characters. :)

I run into the same difficulty every time I try to insert myself into another time period. I'm a writer and a librarian, and the historical translation of those abilities usually means becoming a minstrel or a nun, neither of which I have any interest in. So instead I have to try to extrapolate my personality and home life within a different historical context---while at the same time reining in my desire for fame and glory. :) Tricky, tricky....

I think, though, that I'd be a yeoman's daughter, held hostage by the Sheriff of Nottingham to secure my strong-willed father's good behavior. As a quiet, unassuming "guest" of Nottingham castle, perhaps serving as handmaid to Maid Marian or other assorted ladies of higher rank, I'd be able to watch and listen and occasionally glean little pieces of information. I'd code these bits of knowledge into brief messages to my family using a cipher my father and brother created, and they, in turn, would pass them on to Robin.

I don’t possess the ideal constitution for spying, but doing so in such a passive way wouldn’t strain credulity too far, especially if I’m motivated by my beliefs. And as far as skill with weapons goes, I can’t imagine my dad---in any time period---neglecting to teach his daughters how to defend themselves, which would explain the knives. And as a yeoman’s daughter, I’d be more likely to have learned to hunt for my own food, hence the skill with a bow. It wouldn't be a longbow, of course, but I think I could still do some point-blank damage if I had to. :D

I like making up characters too. In fact, I've moved on from my own Robin Hood alter-ego to create alter-egos for my sisters and brother and coworkers too.... Bwahahaha!

We are also somewhat hampered by our modern notions of what females are actually capable of vs. those antiquated notions of what females are good for. (And I just went on a serious tangent in my head trying to rephrase that sentence so that it didn't have prepositions at the end of each clause. I decided that rephrasing made them much too awkward and abandoned the project.) Men did so many of the jobs that we currently stereotype as woman's work. Like embroidery and cooking.

I hadn't really thought of using my actual family's abilities as a base of what I would have been taught. Dad would have made sure I could build a cabinet or table properly. I would have learned my cooking skills at my mother's knee. She is a librarian now, but she's such a good cook that she likely would have made her living back then in that capacity.

Joe would likely have been a guard of some type. Probably the garrison funny guy - joke teller, prank puller, exaggerator extraordinaire. He's worked security several times in his life. Also, he likes swords and axes.

It's fun, isn't it? Trying to figure out what your friends and family might have done. My father would've educated himself, because he's knowledge-hungry like that, and he'd know the value of making use of your full potential. So all his children would've been taught as many skills as their craniums could hold. My mother would make an ideal yeoman's wife. She's efficient, organized, and a supreme multi-tasker, so juggling the household chores and needs would've been exactly her kind of challenge.

I would've been a beekeeper while I was still at home, I think. Rose Red would be an herbalist/apothecary with a hundred recipes for tisanes, poultices, and simples. Hermione would be assisting in the household chores while longing for life at court---although I think she'd be a very good ale brewster. And Elessar would be designing better siege engines, collaborating with my dad on ciphers, and blowing stuff up. I'm not sure what my brother-in-law would do. I think he'd be a knight, but that would mean he'd be away on crusade most likely, so he might prefer another role. :)

When I mentioned your alter-ego to my coworker---who's decided to be a court astrologer, herself---she mentioned that cooks were more often men at that time, which I'd completely forgotten. But you'd be an excellent chef, so I'm thinking once they tried your masterpieces, they conveniently forgot that you were a woman.

Hmm, intriguing challenge. I'm a little like you Quila, in that translated farther back I generally go with priestess of some sort. Just about the only place women got to be independent, and pursue education. This is further complicated by the fact that I don't know a hell of a lot about the Robin Hood period. I could see myself doing something totally unseemly like being a blacksmith, but I suppose more likely is a tavern of bar owner of some type. Sympathetic, if unprovable, watering hole for all sorts of scallywag (anachronism!) types. I don't necessarily like to cook, but I am good with people especially on my terms. And can be hospitable or tossing drunks.

I'm reading a book right now called Archers, Alchemists, and 98 Other Medieval Jobs You Might Have Loved or Loathed that's helping a lot. There are nice commentaries on each job as to who would've been likely to do them and what might have been great or not so great in that profession.

You might have trouble being a blacksmith, since I think that required more a man's strength, but you could've been a gold- or silversmith with very little difficulty. And according to the book, inns and taverns were more often slovenly and filthy spots than not. You could've brewed beer and sold it from home, though: that was frequently a woman's profession. (And as a woman, you'd be a brewster, not a brewer.)

You know, I have no idea. My first thought was maybe a lady-in-waiting type person. This would be a fun quiz from someone to write.

I think you'd make an excellent lady-in-waiting, especially at a higher court than just Nottingham Castle. And if you wanted to spy on people, no one would ever suspect you. But I also think you'd be a pretty good illuminator---the person who draws the pictures in books. They often hid silly tableaux and creatures in their work...which might be a great way to sneak messages to various people, even if you weren't involved in the actual spying.

Ooo, I like the idea of an illuminator too. I could see myself doing that. I also like combining whatever it is with being a spy. I think I'd be a more useful spy as a lady-in-waiting, but either would be fun.

Maybe you could illuminate books in your spare time as a lady-in-waiting? A genteel hobby to occupy your idle moments...and pass on super spy info! Bwahahahahaha!