By THLaird Colyne Stewart
(mka Todd H. C. Fischer)
June 2014 (AS 49)
This article is to
examine what it means to be a bard within the SCA. It will strongly be coloured
by my own experiences and exposure within the Society, but I have tried to make
it as broad as possible. If I have left something out, I apologize. No offense
was meant to any field of bardic endeavour I may have missed.
A bard was a Celtic poet-singer who composed, sang and/or
recited stories, poems and songs. Such entertainers were common in multiple
cultures. In Wales the bard
was called bardd, in Scandinavia skald, in Anglo-Saxon lands scop, and in Ireland fili (to name just a few examples).
However, bards and their kin were not just entertainers, but
scholars, and keepers of oral tradition. They not only entertained but praised
those worthy of praise (or those who could reward the bard) and condemned those
who had transgressed the common good in some way. They were also repositories
of such information as genealogies and the law. As the years progressed, the
term was broadened to include composers of the written as well as the oral
word. In fact, William Shakespeare is known as “the Bard”.
One of the things that set bards apart from other
entertainers is that they did not only recite the work of others, but wrote
their own material as well.
The Celtic Bard /
Bardd / Fili
In the Celtic world, a bard underwent many years of study at
a college, slowly progressing through various levels of aptitude until becoming
a master. (Not unlike our modern education system, with undergrads, grad
students, doctorate students, and so on.) These ranks and titles were achieved
as the bardic students learned new responsibilities and new material. This
material not only covered song and poetry, but medicine, law, history,
genealogy and philosophy.
According to Master Garraed Galbraith, these ranks were
bardagh (under three years of study), fildidh (who had completed between seven
and nine years of study and would have been able to judge most crimes) and
Ollagh (who had studied for nine years since becoming a fildidh and were held
in very high esteem, and were allowed to speak before kings and were considered
equal to princes when it came to blood prices).
According to the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, the
ranks went as follows: Principle Beginner [Ollaire] to Poet's Attendant
[Tamhan] to Apprentice Satirisist [Drisac] all within the first year, Pillar
[Cli] (after six years), Noble Stream [Anruth] (between seven and nine years),
and finally Ollamh (after about twelve years total).
The exact course of study varied from country to country
(and, I would imagine, from college to college).
The Scandinavian
Skald
The Norse skald was similar, though I have not found any
evidence of such a structured training environment. Their duties though were
the same as the Celtic bards: to preserve oral tradition, praise the worthy,
heap scorn on the low of character, track family trees and record history.
Unlike their Celtic counterparts though, skalds could not act as judges in
matters of law (unless they were elected to the Thing or Althing).
Primarily, skalds were poets who recited poetry
unaccompanied by music.
The Anglo-Saxon Scop
Scops seem to have been essentially a Germanic version of
the Norse skald: a poet (usually attached to a court but sometimes itinerant)
who performed poetry and preserved culture and history through an oral
tradition, who were well known for chastising the ill behaved. Unlike the
skald, the scop did recite poetry accompanied by a lyre.
Bards within the SCA
In the Society, the term bard is often used as a blanket
term for entertainers and includes activities that might more accurately belong
to the traditions of the minstrels [1],
troubadours [2],
trouvère [3],
joglars [4], trobairitz [5], jesters [6] or
cantabanks [7].
In fact, when someone in the SCA says they are a bard it could mean they are a
singer (and most people who identify as bards do seem to be singers), but they
may also be a poet, storyteller, actor, chronicler, historian, musician,
chorister [8],
mummer [9] or
a combination of any or all of those things.
Patronage
Bards (and especially skalds and scops) were often attached
to a specific court or patron, whose exploits they recorded and whose praises
they sung. This arrangement is often mirrored in the SCA with kingdoms,
baronies, cantons, households and even individuals having their own bard (or
bards). These bards may have specific duties such as opening a feast hall
through song or story, performing first at a bardic circle, preserving the
history of their patron(s), writing SCA genealogies (such as tracking who was
squired to who), introducing their patron(s) at tourneys or inspiring troops on
the field.
Patronage will likely work different from group to group, so
if you are interested in this subject, I suggest you speak to your local bardic
college.
Mentorship
If you want a helping hand with your bardic pursuits there
should be bards out there willing to help you. Some may even have grant-level
or peerage-level awards for their own bardic work. You can talk with your
fellow bards through Facebook groups, Yahoo groups, email lists, or
even—horrors—approach them in person at an event. If that specific bard doesn’t
know the answer to your questions, it’s a good bet they know someone who does.
And, who knows, maybe you get along really well with that
bardic Laurel .
You may become their apprentice. Apprentice or not, I have found that those
inducted into the Order of the Laurel for the Bardic Arts are more than
welcoming to anyone who wishes to speak to them on the subject. Don’t be shy;
reach out. Send an email; approach them at an event or meeting when they don’t
look busy. You may not just get that information or nudge you’ve been looking
for; you may make a new friend.
Disciplines of an SCA
Bard
From my personal experience, these seem to be the
disciplines I most often see bards performing:
- Songs
- Poetry
- Stories
- Music
- Plays
- Histories
All of these disciplines are very broad categories. A poem
from 10th century Sweden
will have been written differently from one written in 15th century Spain . Some
bards may specialize within a certain timeframe (such as pre-Christian Scandinavia ) while others will perform and write forms
from any medieval place and time. This choice is completely left up to the
individual bards. You as a bard should feel free to study, learn and recite
from any place or time you want. (That said, your local area may have customs
that favour certain forms and you may want to tap into that.)
Authenticity
While some bards in the SCA will write in period fashion
(such as writing Norse dróttkvætt [10]
or Welsh cywydd deuair hirion [11])
many engage in what is known as filk (or contre-fait). Filking is a modern term
for taking the tune from a song and writing new lyrics for it. Outside of the
SCA, filks usually make references to science-fiction, fantasy, video games and
other ‘geek’ culture. Usually with filk, the borrowed tune is from a modern
song. If you’re using a tune from a period song, that is more accurately called
contre-fait [12]. Like
filk, contre-fait is the practice of taking the tune from an existing song and
writing new lyrics for it. This often happened in period, with regional lyrics
popping up for the same songs.
So, while if you write a song about your local baroness to
the tune of an Abba song, you won’t be making a period piece, you will still be
engaging in a period process. As Drottin Gunnar Hlidskijalfsson once remarked
to me, “The singing we do is not necessarily to ‘entertain people in a period
manner’, but to entertain people ‘as they would have done in period’.”
Both the filked song about your king’s prowess and the
correctly smithed sonnet about the queen’s beauty have their place. It is often
easier for a new bard to start out by filking and singing the popular patriotic
songs of their kingdom, and then to learn authentic practices as they become
more comfortable in their roles as bards. Do what seems natural to you.
Duties of an SCA Bard
Alright, so by now let’s say you have decided that, yes, you
want to be a bard. You’ve learned what a bard was in period, and have chosen
certain disciplines and forms to focus on. You may even have a patron. Now that
you are a bard though, what is expected of you?
Well, really, nothing. This is a game after all. You do what
you can when you can. That said, listed below are several opportunities for you
to practice your bardic talents and try to emulate the behaviour of our poetic
ancestors.
First, you can praise the worthy and spread word-fame. If
you are at an event and you see something you think is really cool (a great and
honourable fight on the lists, a person serving selfless for hours, someone
making something awesome) then praise them! Write a poem, a story or a song
about that person and spread it far and wide. Post it online in appropriate
forums; perform it at feats or fires. One of the coolest aspects of being a
bard is getting to praise the worthy acts of others.
A great time to write praise is to mark someone’s
achievements, like Master Hector did here:
For Sir Pendaran Glamorgan,
Master of the Pelican, Lion of
Ansteorra, Baron of Bryn Gwlad, poet vigilant for the Order of the Laurel , on the eve of his
elevation to that Order
You are a Peer, you wear the belt
of white,
You wear the splendid spurs and weighty
chain;
You also grace the Pelican by right
Of service rendered, time and time
again.
You are a Lion, conscience of a
King
And keeper of the land you love so
well.
Your merits glow in manner poets
sing:
What is there left a distant voice
may tell?
Beyond the lists, beyond your
constant drive
To help, there is the need we two
do share.
Without your art, how can a
Knight’s heart thrive?
Your service? Poetry beyond
compare.
You’ve learned your art brings out
from you the best:
Now learn a Laurel is not made for rest.
Of course, the
opposite side of that coin is bards can vituperate the shameful. When someone
does something wrong (such as blatantly cheat in a fight) we can, if we wish,
write a piece that calls out that person for that behaviour. Be cautious if
choosing to do this though. This is our hobby, and no one wants to make enemies
in their hobby. If you do feel a need to write something chastising, you can be
oblique. Many years ago, I felt that a local monarch had slighted someone who
didn’t deserve it, and wrote a poem about it without mentioning any details.
Whether the target ever even saw it, or knew it was about what they had done, I
have no idea. It was cathartic for me though.
Forgotten
A yawning hole below his feet,
the bard is offered no retreat.
Within lay broken bloody bones
of his patron, amongst the stones.
A call from king to come
attend,
his hearthguard to the call
contend;
they fought with valour 'gainst the
foe
but by the sword was lord laid
low.
The king in victory now feasts,
his army to his health now eats,
while in a lonely churchyard
stand
a lowly disenheartened band.
No praise from lips of Majesty,
no sign of thanks are given free,
no man of His in rain attends,
no act will this dark error
mend.
Singing low the bard offers praise
by reciting proud the unheard lais
that show his master's former
might--
his love, his pride, his skill in
fight.
The lord's few men together
cry,
confine him in the earth to lie,
forgotten by the high born crown
who left him in the mud to drown.
As mentioned earlier, bards in period kept track of
genealogies, and SCA bards can do so too. In the Kingdom of Ealdormere
As an example of an SCA genealogy, here is Baron Cynred’s
Line of Septentria (which is now slightly out of date):
Hearken Septentria and ne'er forget
For before the Wolf, Ram and Keep,
The Hare and Cup, There was the
Bear.
Swift in battle, gifted in arts,
Guardian of hearth, Ealdormere's
heart.
And many are the Names held high in
our past,
But this, Your Excellencies, is
your Lineage.
First came Gillian D'Uriel, Wise
foundress of Love's Court
In days of misty past.
Then came Kaffa Murriath, second of
that line,
Mother of tradition, true spirit of
the land.
And Aeden o Kincora, First of the
Patrimony,
Heart of the Bear, Lord Lieutenant
of yore.
Then came Diane de Arnot, third of
her line,
Hearth keeper, future foundress.
And Cordigan de Arnot, second of
his line,
Bardic lord, founding father.
Then came Adrielle Kerrec, fourth
of her line,
Flame haired, one true daughter.
And Ieuen MacKellmore, third of his
line,
Hearth's shield, called to Crusade.
Then stood Adrielle alone,
Flame's guardian, 'til the next are
chosen.
Then came Gaerwen of Trafford,
fifth of her line,
People's servant, legend's weaver.
And Cynred Broccan, fourth of his
line,
Sure spear, traditions remembered.
And then came Domhnail Galbraith, sixth
of her line,
Art's Mistress, fierce sword.
And Corwyn Galbraith, fifth of his
line,
Deadly axeman of quiet wisdom.
This then is your heritage, wrapped
in legend made truth,
Burden and joy, the High seats of
Septentria
Bards can also teach our culture and history to newcomers to
our society. And to long time members too. There is always something new to
learn. As a bard you can not only recite songs and stories of events that
happened long ago, but you can document events as they happen so future
generations of Ealdormereans will know of them. Perhaps the most famous piece
of bardic work about Ealdormere’s history is Mistress Marian of Heatherdale’s
song “The History of Ealdormere: Part 1”. In these opening lyrics she tells us
how Sir Finnvarr de Taahe (whose arms feature a star) arrived in what would
become Ealdormere, and the founding of the first group in the northlands (the
Royal Citie of Eoforwic):
First was the wolf and the wilds and the will
And the rule of the mid-realm king
Long was the night when the wolf pack was still
in their wait for the gathering spring
Soft was the face of the deep-hidden flower
that bloomed in the whispering wood
Strong was the sight of the heaven's red eye
when the dawn was the scarlet of blood
Then came the ship to the ice-ridden shore
that carried the northern star
Proud indeed was the banner they bore
that flew from the uppermost spar
Many a back built the citadel wall
that grew on the banks of the mere
Loud was the sounding of destiny's call
for those with the wisdom to hear.
And the rule of the mid-realm king
Long was the night when the wolf pack was still
in their wait for the gathering spring
Soft was the face of the deep-hidden flower
that bloomed in the whispering wood
Strong was the sight of the heaven's red eye
when the dawn was the scarlet of blood
Then came the ship to the ice-ridden shore
that carried the northern star
Proud indeed was the banner they bore
that flew from the uppermost spar
Many a back built the citadel wall
that grew on the banks of the mere
Loud was the sounding of destiny's call
for those with the wisdom to hear.
(The entirety of these lyrics are too long to reprint here,
but they can be found online. Note that if you are unsure of the events
described in this song, you can read Marian’s notes in the Call the Names Songbook, which you can purchase off her website. I
have included a link in the bibliography.)
Whatever duties you may want to take on are between you and
any patron(s) or mentor(s) you may have. You may have no delegated duties; you
may have many. It all depends on your personal situation and what you are
comfortable with doing.
Speaking of comfort, I will note that working in the bardic
arts can be a great way to increase your comfort zone. When I was named Bard of
Septentria (jointly, with THL Þorfinna gráfeldr), I had only been in the
Society for a year. I had never performed publicly before. These were my
thoughts on the matter at the time I was stepping down from the office, as
related in my article “The Role of the Ursine Bard”:
However, as fairly introverted
individuals for a time we dreaded attending Septentrian events. Neither of us
wanted to get up and perform. But we did. We were honour bound to Cynred and
Gaerwen, to the people of Septentria to fulfill our duties. So we sang at
Snowed Inn (me very poorly). At Bad in Plaid I told my first story (‘The Tale
of the Badger Broccan,’ which broke the Thegn and earned me my second ever
token). As each event came we became more comfortable and now I am rarely
nervous when I perform. (Outwardly anyway. My hands still shake, but I don’t
dread the act anymore. In fact, I like it now.) Being made Ursine Bard forced
me to participate, instead of just observing. It has been one of the greatest
gifts I have been given.
I hope that your pursuits of the Bardic Arts are likewise as
rewarding.
Bibliography
"Anglo Saxon Scops," 123HelpMe.com, 09 Jun
2014
Anglo-Saxon Scops, http://www.comm.unt.edu/~ktaylor/scop/.
Bard, Merriam-Webster, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bard.
Bard, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bard.
The Bardic Sourcebook, John Matthews, ed., Blandford,
London , 1998.
Cantabank, wordnik.com, https://www.wordnik.com/words/cantabank.
Entertainment in the Middle Ages, http://www.lordsandladies.org/entertainment-middle-ages.htm.
Gararred Glabraith, OL; personal correspondence.
The Call the Names Songbook, Mistress Marian of
Heatherdale, https://heatherdale.com/product/the-call-the-names-book-songbook/.
“For Sir Pendaran Glamorgan”, Master Hector of the Black
Height.
“Forgotten”, THLaird Colyne Stewart, http://sca-poetry.todd-fischer.com/2010/12/forgotten.html.
“The History of Ealdormere”, songlyrics.com, Mistress
Marion of Heatherdale, http://www.songlyrics.com/heather-dale/the-history-of-ealdormere-part-1-lyrics/.
Itinerant Poet, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itinerant_poet.
“The Line of Septentria”, The Ursus May 2008, Baron
Cynred Broccan, page 4, http://www.septentria.ca/UrsusDigital/Ursus%20history%20issue.pdf.
“The Line of the North”, Master Hector of the Black Height, http://www.ealdormere.ca/line-of-the-north.html.
Mummers Plays, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mummer.
“The Role of the Ursine Bard”, THLaird Colyne Stewart, http://sca.todd-fischer.com/2010/11/role-of-ursine-bard.html.
Royal Genealogy of the Known World, http://www.calliglorify.com/scaroyalty/.
Scop, Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/529260/scop.
Scop, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scop.
Skald, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skald.
Welcome to the Skald’s Corner, The Vikings World, http://www.thevikingsworld.com/Skald/.
What is a Bard, The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids,
http://www.druidry.org/druid-way/what-druidry/what-druidism/what-bard.
Links
Athenaem Hectoris, http://athenaeumhectoris.blogspot.ca/
The Bardic College of Ealdormere, http://bards.ca/
The Bardic College of Ealdormere (Yahoo group), http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/Ealdorbards/?yguid=149782049
THLaird Colyne
Stewart is a student of the written word. He is the Curator of the Atheneaum
Hectoris, the Precentor of the Scriptorium, the Royal Historian
of Ealdormere, the Baronial Historian of Septentria, a chronicler and
a member of the Bardic
College
[1] A
minstrel was a European traveling entertainer, usually a singer and musician.
They would create their own material, and perform that of others.
[2] A
troubadour was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry between
1100 and 1350. As opposed to the itinerant minstrels, troubadours were
sponsored by aristocrats, or were aristocrats themselves.
[3] A
trouvère was a troubadour from northern France who composed in their local
French dialects.
[4] A joglar was an itinerant entertainer who sang
songs, recited poems and engaged in acrobatics and juggling.
[5] A
trobairitz was a female troubadour.
[6] Jesters
were not only poets and story tellers, they were also acrobats, jugglers and
musicians.
[7]
Cantabanks were traveling poets and singers who were considered to be low
class. They usually did not compose their own works. Sometimes also called
gleemen or ciclers.
[8] A
chorister is a member of a musical chorus.
[9] A mummer
is a folk performer who took part in folk plays.
[10] Dróttkvætt
is a Scandinavian poetic form used between 900 and 1400.
[11] Cywydd
deuair hirion is an ancient Welsh poetic form.
[12] This is
a term I read in an SCA paper many years ago, that I can no longer find.
