minstrel: Definition of Bardic

[Martin Hungerford]

SNIP
>mysslef more of a druth, I would call myself a minstrel in court, you
>see).  BUT, lets say the Crown is neither Scottish nor English.  As is the
>case at present in Atlantia, they are early period Vikings.  They would
>have neither a Royal Bard, Druth, Minstrel, etc.  They would want a Scop.
>And a scop I am not.  And since the reign of the Royal Bard lasts through
>3 Crowns (the Crown when you take office, the next Crown after them, and
>the Crown Prince and Pricess before you step down), each one of these
>Crowns may expect a different Royal Performer for their reigns.  So I can
>either be authentic to my period, and ignore them.  Or I could be
>authentic to their period and change every 6 months.  Or I could style
>myself the generic SCA bard, and fit all categories, as it were.

This was one of the problems faced in Lochac (West Kingdom) some years 
ago. The Bard of Lochac was both the Head of the Guild of Entertainers 
and a member, ex-officio, of the Princely household. Appointment was by 
way of competition on 'coronetation day' (sic). Because of the size of 
Lochac this could mean the Prince and Princess only ever saw 'their' 
'bard' once and the guild, never.

We attempted to resolve the issue by splitting the posts. The 'Bard of 
Lochac' became an annual appointment made by the members of the guild at 
the annual guild event, and rulers were encouraged to appoint a 'Royal 
Entertainer' from their own household. This meant the title and style of 
the royal entertainer could easily change from reign to reign.

The attempt was not wholely successful, but then, neither was the attempt 
to do much the same by the mundane organisation we used as a model:the 
Catholic Church's. Especially in its attempts to seperate church and 
state under Gregory in the 12th Century (the so-called investiture 
conflict).

Martin o' Lyos OL (one-time Bard of Lochac)


This is Martin Hungerford, aka Martin Jongleur, aka Martin o' Lyos 
(called the Juggler) OL.  email:jongleur at netcon.net.au 


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