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<div><span class="gmail_quote">On 10/28/06, <b class="gmail_sendername">T'Star</b> <<a href="mailto:bedlamandmayhem@gmail.com">bedlamandmayhem@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</span>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">I hope I'm posting this in the right section of the thread.<br><br>The question has been raised: How do we improve Eisteddfod. I would
<br>like to give a new bard's perception of Eisteddfod. I have never had<br>the opportunity to go, but everything I have heard about and coming<br>from Eisteaddfod led me to draw the following conclusion: If you are<br>not of the scholarship of the Poet Laureate of England, having iron
<br>clad documentation for every piece (Original pieces must have<br>documentation for the style or need not apply.) and are not of the<br>bardic skill of Taliesin. Don't bother trying. It has the feel of<br>Olympic Bardic crossed with a PhD dissertation.
<br><br>I rarely call myself a bard. My style lends more to Minstrelsy than<br>what I understand Bards were historically (Keepers of style and<br>official oral traditions). Eisteaddfod is a Bard's event. Not a<br>minstrel's. I do not know if I can even attend this year, so this may
<br>be so much whistling in the dark, but this kind of perception may have<br>contributed to the decline in participation in Eisteaddfod over the<br>past few years.<br><br>~Svetlana Andreivna Volkova</blockquote>
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<div> Standards of judging at Eisteddfod vary from year to year depending on what the outgoing bard wants. Since the Kingdom Bard is supposed to represent Ansteorra the standards are high, and that is as it should be.
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<div> The following is my opinion. Others may see it differently.</div>
<div> The ideal candidate for Kingdom Bard should have some knowledge of storytelling, singing and poetry as it was practiced during the period we study. You don't have to be an expert on Medieval Literature but you should have done some research. It wouldn't hurt to have some knowledge Ansteorran history and bard craft as well,
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<div> They should be able to compose their own material. A bard should not only know the tales of heroes of old but should be able to immortalise the deeds of our current heroes. When composing new pieces it helps if the piece can evoke the feel of the Middle Ages. A filk to the Dukes of Hazard theme song has it's place but that place is not Court, generally not feast, and it's not Eisteddfod. You can't compose in a Medieval style if you don't know what a Medieval style is. Just how strictly period a piece should be will vary from judge to judge. Some will want pieces to strictly follow a documented style, while most will be satisfied so long as it doesn't feel blatantly modern.
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<div> All the research and scholarship in the world won't win you Eisteddfod if you aren't entertaining. If you are entertaining enough that can cover somewhat for a lack of scholarship. In Eisteddfod you will be up against very good Bards who have done their homework. A very entertaining but non-period piece will often win over a less entertaining period piece, but your competition will be bards who can write very entertaining pieces in period styles.
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<div> Documentation of a period style doesn't have to be a research paper. It's enough to say for example," this sonnet is in the style popularized by William Shakespeare" so long as the poem is in fact a Shakespearean sonnet.
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<div> I you've never cracked a book and can't tell a sonnet from a saga, that doesn't mean that you can't or shouldn't enter Eisteddfod. It does mean that you probably won't win. </div>
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<div> The other thing to remember is that Kingdom Bard is a job. If you win it is your responsibility to represent the Kingdom as a bard and to promote bard craft throughout the kingdom. If you can't do that then you probably shouldn't be Kingdom Bard.
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<div> As I said befor this is just my view on the subject. Others may see it differently.</div>
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<div>Robert Fitzmorgan</div>
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<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">-- <br>"If you haven't found something strange during the day, it hasn't been much of a day." John A. Wheeler
<br><br><a href="mailto:Fitzmorgan@gmail.com">Fitzmorgan@gmail.com</a><br>Yahoo IM: robert_fitzmorgan </blockquote></div>