Bards, Skalds, and Teaching LONG (was Re: The Rising of the Star)

[KiheBard at aol.com]

In a message dated 97-04-18 19:55:23 EDT, Sir Lyonel wrote:

> So in a sense, both Alan and Talen are correct.  To answer the original
>  question--"What should the teacher teach?"--the teacher should teach
>  whatever she considers the best version.  For a Norse skald, the best will
>  (I think--help me on this one, Gunnora) be the "official" version handed
>  down from generation to generation with as little variance as possible.
 For
>  a later medieval jongleur, poet, or minstrel, the best will be the version
>  that most appropriately mirrors the work's sentence with "solaas" 
> (pleasure).

Coming late to the discussion of the particular point but not at 
all behind the curve in considering the "True Bard" in his or her
several aspects, I applaud Sir Lyonel for his scholarly intrusion.

He speaks in the quoted passage to the late medieval and skaldic
cases -- allow me to address more thoroughly the "original"
matter as well as one or two off-shoots.

First branching: in medieval Iceland, the headman of the 
legislative body was charged with memorizing the entire
body of law and reciting same regularly. At the mandatory
(annual, if my own memory serves) recounting, if he left
anything out it was automatically dropped from the legal
code so long as no one spoke in protest of the omission.

The "best teaching" became the least amount of law
which could be retained in a single memory without
error.

Second branching: I am not so certain in the whole, but
have found multiple specific references to one scholar
or another deliberately recording multiple variations of the
same folk-tale well before the the syntheses constructed
by der bruedern Grimm or the investigations of Childe into
the ballads of the borderlands.

The "best version" becomes that most understood by the 
least skilled speaker / reader / listener in the chain of 
data transferral.

Primary root: the "True Bard", as defined in the Irish legislations
and as later preserved in a somewhat debased form by the
Welsh, was expected not only to commit to unflawed memory
over twelve THOUSAND lines of poetry but was also required
to compose additional material of their own making. 

However, in their function as *teachers* the ancient Bards 
were commanded to teach to their student's desires and 
strengths. If this required using more modern language in
the training of a given student who might not have been 
pursuing the full title of Bard, I can certainly see variations 
being introduced.

In their role as "keeper of the Custom", Bards were further 
charged with remembering, interpretting, and even passing 
judgement based upon the Customary Law (precursor of 
Common Law). As the individual Bard was also charged 
with maintaining neutrality in matters being judged, and 
also being corruptible humans, it is known that memory 
sometimes lapsed unaccountably in making certain legal
decisions... after which, it would have also been necessary
to manipulate one's store of other knowedge to avoid 
giving away the earlier indiscretions.  (MUCH of the Law
was embodied in passages from the aforementioned 
12,000 lines of poetry...)

There were many other responsibilities attendant upon 
the True Bard. Of those specifically related to memory and
the consequences of error in memory, most important 
would almost certainly be the Bard functioning as 
genealogist (and coincidentally as historian). The succession
to a given office, title to lands, or eligibility for entrance to
a given profession could ALL be determined by parentage.

And the only proofs of lineage stretching back further than 
two or three generations were kept in Bardic memory.

The "best version" to be taught depends upon the student,
the purpose for which the teaching is being conducted,
and the best interest of "the People" [house, clan, tribe, nation] 
as a whole. 

Withered root: in the (relatively) debased form whereby bardic
tradition survived among the Welsh, and to a lesser extent
the senachie-storytellers, the poet was *expected* to make
performances show his patron in the best possible light. I have
no specific doumented case to illustrate the effect, but expect
that the audience on this list can think of examples within the
brief span of the SCA which make the point at least as well. 

The "best version" is that which allows the bard to keep
head, neck, and shoulders in normal functional alignment and 
juxtaposition!

Secondary root: the Norse skald were not only expected to
commit a vast body of knowledge to perfect memory, they were
also by definition expected to create at least one completely 
new verse form AND could also be required to perform 
extemporaneously within as many different previously existing
forms as possible.  (Mikal Hrapsfa teaches a very good class
on Norse poetic forms which I can only hope I have done
some justice with this extreme condensation...)

The "best version" is the unchanged version, except where
the changed version succeeds in achieving a goal. Such as
preserving one's life in the middle of a duel between skalds!
(Apologies to Mikal for not recalling the _name_ of the 
verse-challenge I refer to here.)

SCA-Modern-My Own Practices:  I am acknowledged a bard
within the SCA as well as given a Bard-name in mundane
existence. As such, I take my responsibilities very seriously.
(More seriously than many in the modern world can understand,
and more intensely than may sometimes be apparent within the
SCA.)  As a bard & Bard, I take particular care and joy in the
aspect of my duties that involve teaching. I tell you all, as I
tell every student in whatever aspect I may be offering 
instruction, that my memory is a cross between Swiss cheese
and MLAWS syndrome -- Mind Like A Wool Sock, fuzzy and 
moth-eaten. 

Knowing that, I teach from written materials whenever possible.
At the very least an outline, UNLESS the material is something
that my overtaxed modern brain *has* been able to commit 
reliably to memory.

The "best version" is the one committed to permanent record,
even if there are significant variations available.  Once
in existence, even a variation becomes its *own* "best version".

Now, if you want the most reliable and error-free version of
a given thing (such as a song), my personal suggestion is to
go find the author and ask to copy their original hardcopy.
NOT their current memory of the piece in question, not someone's
transcription of a tape made in bardic circle, not their room mate's
spouse's rendition (unless said individual is a verifiable eidetic
with supplemental training in storage and recall).  

There are exceptions.  Ask Robin of Gilwell about the difference
between the original / early written versions and the version
he actually performs of his own work, "The Baron".

No doubt I have bored all and sundry beyond reason by now,
but I hope that I have helped to address the question of
"Which is the best version of a thing to teach?"

Writing tonight as bard, Bard, and man, I am
Kihe Blackeagle (the Dreamsinger Bard)  
s.k.a. Amr ibn Majid al-Bakri al-Amra
	currently residing in Barony of the Steppes, Kingdom of Ansteorra
Mike C. Baker					KiheBard at aol.com
Any opinions expressed are obviously my own unless explicitly stated
otherwise!