~Terry Pratchett
Ancient Irish poetic traditions are very interesting. (I wrote about them in 2016.) There was a whole elaborate system of poet apprenticeship, and "the training took place in schools under an Ollamh and was long and arduous. Poems were created in the dark while lying down. Traditional payment was in gold rings, horses, land or apparel." In the dark while lying down! Sounds like sleeping to me, haha. ("Ollaimh" in Scottish Gaelic means "professor." Perhaps professors are descendants of the highest bards?)
What was the point of bards? This quote "somewhat doubtfully attributed to Giolla Brighde Mac Con Midhe" explains one function: "Were it not for poetry, [we] would not know of a goodly hero after his death nor of his reputation nor his prowess."
Thinking about that reminded me of the tv series The Witcher. Have you seen it? Here we have a bard (Jaskier) trying to convince a hero (The Witcher) that Jaskier can help him out. The Witcher needs the bard to memorialize him so he can go down in history but, more immediately, Jaskier can persuade people to give The Witcher ale and money:
He wiped out your pest, got kicked in his chest
He's a friend of humanity, so give him the rest
That's my epic tale: our champion prevailed
Defeated the villain, now pour him some ale
If you want to be fancy about it:
All this to say, I'm glad in the modern era that we can all be bards and memorialize more than just the "heroes."
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The Miss Rumphius Effect has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Tricia!
5 comments:
Tabatha, thanks for the history lesson here, and the videos. I have not seen The Witcher yet. That is funny how he composes to get the Witcher ale and money. I have a funny embarrassing story about a bard. I was a young teacher (my only excuse). Second graders were working on a phonics page--writing a rhyming word with the given word. I was helping Anne Marie with something else and noticed she had written "hard - bard". I said, "Bard isn't a real word." She said, "Oh, yes, a bard is a singing minstrel in a king's court." I love students like Anne Marie who remind me I am never the smartest person in the room.
thinking everything is a hero right now --we bards make it so. The peony is hero. The raven. the worm. the wind that breathes upon the pistachio leaf beside the window, which makes the window a hero too. each saves me.
Yes, that second one is very fancy, Tabatha. I love the first, too, rather like the real thing. I love the long poems that tell a story, like The Highwayman, but this, with music, brings it all to a higher level, too. Every Friday, I feel like the posts are performances, enjoying the treat! Thanks for this one!
I love that there was a poetry apprenticeship. One of the local bookstores is "Bard's Alley." How perfect is that?
Thanks for this interesting post, Tabatha. I'm not familiar with the Witcher - will check it out.
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