[Bards] Bards in the SCA - Questions
barrett1 at cox.net
barrett1 at cox.net
Tue Aug 17 14:33:32 PDT 2010
---- Fields Family Farm <fields at texas.net> wrote:
> I can't sing. When I try, it sounds more than anything like a tomcat
> howling.
>
> The only instrument I play is the drum, and that not for a while.
>
> But, I enjoy verse. I happily memorize ballads, and as long as they can be
> spoken or chanted, I can perform them.
>
> I also write a bit of original verse. And I don't mean the 'free verse'
> that many call poetry these days. I mean with meter and/or rhyme, and I
> enjoy learning and using the old forms.
>
> Actually, that's how I decided to join this list and ask about bards. I was
> at the Bryn Gwlad fighter practice/populace-in-the-park (I live between Bryn
> Gwlad and Ffynnon-gath, and attend both), and was talking to the heralds
> there about my name, Hrethric, and how it is taken from Beowulf, as my
> persona is Anglo-Saxon (viking father, Scottish mother taken in a raid,
> settled in Anglo-Saxon territory) from about the year 1000. A gentle,
> listening and also speaking with the heralds, showed interest at that and
> started talking to me about Beowulf, and verse, and such. Somewhere in the
> conversation he asked me if I'd ever considered being a bard. I told him
> that I hadn't really, that I wasn't sure what a bard was these days, in the
> SCA.
>
> We traded emails so that he could tell me more about it. His name is
> Thomas. I don't think he gave me his last name, but I'm told that he was a
> previous baron of Bryn Gwlad.
Wouldn't be Master Thomas of Tenby, would it? If so, you were speaking with a well-established, highly-respected performer and scholar.
>
> As far as I understand it, the Anglo-Saxons had no bards. But, both the
> vikings and Scottish did. If working with verse but having no ability to
> sing could lead to a bard-like pursuit, I'm willing to give it a try in the
> SCA.
>
>
> Hrethric/Rick
I was under the impression the Saxon version of the historian/poet was called a Scop, which was similar to the Norse Skald, and the Saxons had the Gleeman, more of a regular minstrel and local entertainer.
I also have reference to professional storytellers in the 12th century called Joculators.
I may need correction on the Saxon thing, but the reference to the Joculator was in the first chapter of "Writing Aloud: Storytelling in Late Medieval England"
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Aloud-STORYTELLING-MEDIEVAL-ENGLAND/dp/0252024036
I can scan through it and see if earlier Saxon vocal professions are mentioned, as the book does make a few references to earlier medieval periods, despite the title.
~Finnacan
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