ANST - bards/parasites question

[karl muller]

maybe the reason the celts called the bards parasites was that not all 
bards served one master. some made their living by going from town to 
town. they were the one's who carried the news about wars and battles, 
coronations, palace politics, and everything else from place to place. 
they would come into town and be invited, usually, to the house of the 
highest official, and relate the news in story or song. as payment, the 
bard would be fed, sometimes clothed, and given a bed for as long as he 
had stories or song to entertain with. or they would 'entertain' 
traveler by the camp fire with the same stories and songs in exchange 
for food and shelter. of course, the more the bards traveled, the more 
material they had to 'earn' a living with.
km


>From: "j'lynn yeates" <jyeates at realtime.net>
>To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG
>Date: Mon, 8 Feb 1999 16:21:26 -0600
>Subject: RE: ANST - "parasite" ... a new designation
>Reply-To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG
>
>
>On 8 Feb 99, at 14:47, Decker, Terry D. wrote:
>
>> ...  In Greek, a parasitos is a person who eats at someone elses 
table.  The
>> word is derived from para (near) + sitos (grain, food).  It may be 
that
>> Athenaus was using the term to describe what he thought the Celtic 
clan and
>> retainer system represented.  Equally, a bard could not be considered 
a
>> parasite. His ransom was as that of the lord he served and he was 
required by
>> his position to provide counsel even when it contradicted the lord's 
ideas. 
>> In essence, he was an extension of the lord rather than a servitor or
>> sycophant.    
>
>love learning new words, finding new uses for old, and exploring their 
genesis 
>(some day want the CD version of the OED loaded up full-time).  the 
source i 
>was working through alluded to the differences in bard's social status, 
a side 
>thread i wanted to look further intp  
>
>> In Rome, the parasitus was a person who lived by entertaining the 
rich.
>
>so, a "parasitus" equates to a "stand up philosopher" ????  
>
>> In these enlightened times, we call them professional dinner guests.
>
>many years back we used to call them "professional royalty" (++g)
>
>thanks for the expansion of concept ... especially for the tie-in with 
the 
>"client" system, had'na thought it that far forward and ties into 
another 
>conversation thread.
>
>'wolf
>
>... When we hunt, we all function with one mind
>... - Boingo, Pedestrian Wolves
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