ANST - On Laurels (Was Rank and Shortcuts)

[John Ruble]

TuhTahl wrote:

> This brings up a topic I'm curious about-Laurels entering
> A&S competitions.  I've noticed that there seems to be an
> expectation that once Laurels have received their peerage,
> they stop entering competitions (at least in their primary
> art(s), and often at all).  This seems rather silly to me
> (I'm coming from a fighting background, and no one expects
> Knights to stop entering Tourneys), and as far as I'm
> concerned, it deprives the populace at large of the
> opportunity to SEE the work that made someone a Laurel.

I am entering Kingdom Eisteddfodd in two weeks.  I plan on winning.  I am
polishing my "armor" and retaping my "swords" even now.  It is a worthy
endeavor for a bard, even one who is a laurel.  And just like Crown
Tournament, some relatively new buck-toothed goat herder could wander in and
win it away from me.  I see nothing wrong in this.  I will then do as I have
done before: practice more and try again next year.

If anyone thinks they should win this instead of me,  let them come to
Kingdom Eisteddfodd and I will face them in honorable "combat" in the bardic
ring.  The Premier Bard of Ansteorra represents our kingdom, both in wars
without and peace within.  It is fitting that they should be one of the
best, and if they defeat me, I will acknowledge them my better for a year.

This does not answer all the facets of your question, I know.  As for other
kinds of A&S competitions...  it seems to me that the fighting peerage could
be running around winning every single tournament held.  But they don't.
Most lists will have a knight or two in them, and these are usually people
from the area who want to win their home shire's championship.  It seems
that one of the qualities of peerage is when one refrains from entering
every tournament, allowing less experienced fighters a chance at the ring of
gold.

In A&S, though, it is a little different.  "Competition" is not in every
craftsman's blood, and the difference between a well executed box and a well
executed scroll are much greater than different fighting styles.  Still, box
makers and scroll painters should be allowed to make boxes and paint
scrolls.  If someone wants to hold a competition for the best box or best
scroll or even the best overall work of art and science, they should allow
all competitors (even laurels and goat herders) to enter if they truly want
the best.

Competitions could (and have been) held specifically for non-laurels.  To my
knowledge, no competitions have been held specifically for goat herders.
The only real disadvantage to allowing laurels to compete is *not* that only
laurels will be skillful enough to win (that is balderdash):  it is that
some quite skillful non-laurels will hesitate to enter against someone they
perceive as being more skilled than they.  And that is why, in my opinion,
laurels do not enter every competition.

Ulf Gunnarsson
(Note: I was originally going to say "pig farmers" instead of "goat
herders", but my political sense got hold of me before I made that error...)

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