The Rising of the Star

V. Allan Endel endel at tarleton.edu
Fri Apr 18 12:51:50 PDT 1997


At 10:35 AM 4/18/97 -0500, you wrote:

>The performer will perform the way they learned.  What Sir Burke is asking
>is "what should the TEACHER teach?".  I'm in favor of the original. 
>Besides, it goes against the fabric of a TRUE Bard to change something they
>pass on, as one of the roles of a Bard was to pass on oral tradition in a
>society that was basically illiterate.
>
>Talen

Not necessarily true, as evidenced by the number of different versions of
some period songs and stories. I have read that the early Scottish works
dealing with King Arthur are much more favorable to Mordred than those of
other locales, possibly because Morgause (his mother) was queen over part of
Scotland. There would be a natural tendency to adapt bardic works to
accomodate local beliefs and legends, else the bard might receive a rather
cool reception. The Robin Hood stories also show change; originally Maid
Marion was Robin's enemy.

Alan




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