Q&A for a term paper

In the SCA Bardic Arts Facebook group, ‎Cambria Van de Vaarst‎ asked for input for her term paper for ethnomusicology course on music in social movements, on music’s (and especially the music written in and about the SCA) influence on and within SCAdian culture.  She asked a series of questions.  My responses are below.

1) Role of bard in the SCA
a. What is the role of the bard at events?
It depends on the event. Sometimes, just provide background music or “drive-by bardic” – snippets of songs or poems, or brief tales, appropriate to the moment. Perhaps a dishwasher’s sing-along in the kitchen. Perhaps a command performance at feast or court, or pre-court entertainment.

b. How would you define a bard?
Ask three bards this question, get five opinions. IMO, a bard in the SCA is a performer who chooses to call themselves a bard. Some performers prefer to be known as actors, troubadours, instrumental performers, singers, what-have-you. Bards tend to be jacks-of-all-trades, singing, telling stories, composing and/or reciting poetry (though some may choose not to do some of those things, or simply be unable to for one reason or another)

c. If you are a bard, what standards do you hold yourself to?
I’ve been privileged to see some incredible performers. My goal is to be as good as them – to be able to perform something appropriate on request, hold the audience’s attention, and most importantly, leave them happy that they traded a few precious minutes of their attention for the experience.

d. If you are not a bard, are there bards that have been particularly influential to you?
The list is *very* long. Just about everyone I’ve ever heard has had some influence on me to a greater or lesser extent.

2) Influence of bardic arts
a. How much influence do the bardic arts have in upholding the values and myths in the SCA?
I suppose that it varies by region. In places like Northshield and Calontir, the bardic arts play a key role. I lived in Northshield during its transition from region to Principality to Kingdom, and the bardic arts played a very large role in creating and defining its distinct identity. Casual retellings of “The Man Who Wouldn’t Die,” “Pennsic Flood,” and other NSTIW stories, keep our history (or at least our collective memory of it) alive. Even semi-apocryphal tales like “Blood for Odin!” or “What Does That Mean, Sir?” have their place. Perhaps not in the same venue as “Eislinn’s War” or “Jafar’s Star,” but they are not to be despised.

b. Are there particular songs and stories (or a specific type of song or story) that uphold these values more than others?
No. With perhaps a few exceptions, they all have their places. (The exceptions being those that can be perceived as problematic given changes in social mores.) The Society embodies hijinks as well as high ideals.

3) Local bardic culture
What type of music making culture does your local group do the most (if any)? Bardic circles, dances, jam sessions, competitions, singing at feasts, etc.
In Cleftlands these days, we have semi-regular “bardic tea parties” hosted by a local member at her home. Events have featured bardic performance, but finding an acoustically suitable performance space can be a challenge. At the regional war practice we host each summer (Norther Oaken War Maneuvers), the baronial bardic champions compete for the “NOBLE Cup” (Northern Oaken Bardic Lagniappe of Excellence) which is essentially bragging rights for the winning barony. There’s usually informal entertainment at events as well.

The Midrealm holds an annual Bardic Madness event, which is a day of classes and challenges (NOT a competition). We often see participants who “don’t normally do bardic stuff” – knights and so forth. It’s a very low-key event.
Even lower-key was the Bardic Roundhouse event, which sadly lasted less than a decade (the private residences where it had been held became unavailable for reasons unrelated to the SCA). Roundhouse was a weekend camping event (food provided – continental breakfast, baked potato bar lunch, burgers and hot dogs for dinner) with classes, challenges, sometimes kid’s activities, instrumental jam sessions, and a bardic circle that might go on until the wee hours. The schedule was deliberately loose. “What’s scheduled between noon and 2:00?” “NOTHING!” This left plenty of time for chatting, sharing, plotting, etc. “Wow! This is what SCA events USED to be like!” was a common comment from first-time attendees.

4) Impact of bardic arts on SCA culture
a. Do you believe that music is a vital part of the Society?
Absolutely. Certainly, period music (especially performed on period instruments), helps create the illusion of being in another time and place. But the songs that we write and sing about US, and the things that WE do, make the Current Middle Ages real as well.

b. If there were no bardic arts (no songs of events/people in the society, no bardic circles, no stories told of historical or modern chivalry), do you think the culture of the SCA would be different?
We trace our roots to the counterculture of the 1960s, and sitting around a campfire singing folk songs was a key part of that whole scene. We are fortunate that we still have in our ranks a few who remember those days. I frankly can’t imagine the SCA without the bardic arts, any more than I can imagine it without armored fighters, colorful banners, or wide-eyed newcomers in RenFair pirate outfits.
So throw another log on the fire; that reminds me of a story…