Fair ladies, fine fellows, jugglers, knights and even a couple of dragons have turned El Rancho de las Golondrinas into a bygone medieval age this weekend at the second annual Santa Fe Renaissance Fair.

Young Navaree Freedé was dressed to the nines in a red lion-embossed tunic and shield Saturday, wearing a sword almost as big as himself. The 7-year-old stopped short when he came face to face with a towering dark Japanese samurai warrior, Lord Edrichich. Navaree reached out his leather-gloved hand to tentatively touch Edrichich's leather and metal armor. "His armor was really cool," Navaree said later, before pulling out a shining dagger to show an admirer.

Lord Edrichich, aka Patrick Trujillo, is an Albuquerque electrician who grew up in Santa Fe. He welds, rivets and sews all his armored outfits. "It's my hobby," said Trujillo, a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism.

He planned to change later into his conquistador outfit.

Trujillo said battles are his favorite activity at the fairs and at SCA events, where 200 to 300 knights go to whacking each other with rounded wooden rattan "swords." Trujillo had just come from the medieval combat field of the "Shire of Drygestan" set up in a las Golondrinas pasture. A sign on the path down to the field admonishes, "no alcohol beyond this point."

In other words, no drinking and sword play.

The Queen of Colorado and the Queen of Santa Fe were on hand at the combat to hand out favors to favorite fighters, and one for the best "death."

The jousters didn't appear because one of their horses had suddenly died, according to the official fair pamphlet.

Elsewhere at the fair, pint-sized castle defenders and pirates in a wooden ship took their best shots at each other by lobbing plastic "cannon balls." Other games kept children and their parents busily entertained. Belly dancers from the Pomegranate Studios glided around the grounds in shimmering veils, ringing their finger cymbals.

Kuno, a dragon, wandered around with his Chinese dragon girlfriend Zhi Zhen, pestering knights and delighting young children brave enough to talk to them. The dragons were inhabited by Eldorado couple Hanno and Nicol Blais.

Renaissance festivals are held all over the U.S. and in other countries. Renfaire.com counts 180 fairs in the U.S. alone. Some, like the 3-decade-old one in Larkspur, Colo., last several weekends each summer.

Mark and Natalie Bedell are the official tailor and seamstress for the queen of the Colorado Renaissance Festival. They were at the Santa Fe event dressed in their finery and answering to a number of royal titles such as Lord and Lady Montgomery and the Earl and Countess of Thornton.

Mark Bedell, a contract computer programmer for the U.S. military, said their medieval ways began in the early 1990s when they moved to Colorado. They attended their first medieval fair, and his wife fell instantly in love with the elegant gowns. "I looked at the price tag, and after I woke up from the shock, I told my wife, 'No way,' " Bedell said. "I said, 'If you want one that bad, I'll make it for you.' "

His wife held him to his word, and now he makes their costumes and finery for themselves and for others. He said it can take months to find the right material and trim for the velvet, cotton and lace clothes. From cut to finish, it will take him about a month to finish one gown working a couple of hours each day. But the result is one-of-a-kind. "You'll never see that dress on anyone else at a fair," Bedell said proudly.

The fair continues today at las Golondrinas with Celtic games, live music and booths selling medieval ware. Proceeds benefit Open Hands, an organization that assists the elderly and disabled, and las Golondrinas, a living history museum.

Contact Staci Matlock at 986-3055 or smatlock@sfnewmexican.com.

IF YOU GO

What: Renaissance Fair
When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today
Where: El Rancho de las Golondrinas, 334 Los Pinos Road
Cost: Adults, $8; Seniors and teens, $5; children, $3; kids under 5, free