[Bards] Prose Tales

Ken Theriot kentheriot at ravenboymusic.com
Thu May 3 07:45:04 PDT 2007


<You may not find what you are looking for. The chances of finding a story
that begins 'Here is the story, word for word, that the great bard Conall
told us in the presence of the High King on Beltaine Eve," 
may be slim.
Just as slim as that same story indicating the bard Conall stamped his foot
or shouted a particular line.>

Actually Willow provided just such a piece of documentation FOR telling
stories in verse when she stated: I have in my accounts nobles who told
stories. One entertained the King of France at a siege when it was raining
with retelling the Chansons of William curt nose later St. William.  He
recited a well-know versified story.  There are many such passages that can
be documented on THAT side.  Why can we not find something that says "and
then the Bard known as John the Storyteller delivered to an audience a piece
from the Cattle Raid of Cooley?"

Again, this is not meant to be an assertion that it was not done.  But if we
are going to enter a piece of work into a bardic competition, I feel we need
to find some good evidence for it.  When I enter a song in a competition, it
is not hard to find many, many examples of songs being performed by bards,
(insert favorite word for medieval performer), etc.  I then document the
existence and use of the meter, the existence and use of the mode/key used
in the melody, the existence and use of the guitar (yes, the guitar is well
documentable), and the likelihood of the storyline.  I recently learned a
really cool story, in prose, from a modern storytelling competition.  It's a
sort of combination of the 5 Chinese Brothers, and a few other popular
tales.  I am looking for a way to document it as something that would have
been done in period.  That is what started me on this road to travail.

Kenneth






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