minstrel: Definition of Bardic

[Rex Deaver]

At 11:36 AM 4/23/97 -0500, mn13189 at WCUVAX1.WCU.EDU wrote:

>	Social Reforem is not a bad thing.  And I see the need to help
>people understand that a "bard" does not really mean a generic performer,
>but it once meant something else.  However, I also see the need to have a
>generic term for a performer for use in the SCA, in cases like the one
>mentioned above.  And I also know that the English language, like any
>other, is a fluid thing.  Words can change their meanings, and I think
>that the modern meaning of bard is signifigantly different that the Gaelic
>meaning.  To teach people about the true Gaelic bard, it is not neccesary
>to eliminate the word bard from your vocabulary meaning a generic
>performer.

In the Brythonic celtic tongues, the word "bard" (or variation) meant simply
"poet", but also implied musical talents, usually harp.  Thus, outside
Gaelic areas, it *was* a more generic term.  

Mathurin

----
Rex Deaver
rdeaver at cgro.com	
"Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme."


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