From the Almost-Frontlines: Kingdom Bardic

This weekend was yet another SCA event (and another is coming this weekend, what can I say, it is campaign season).

Kingdom bardic is a competition to determine the Kingdom's Bard Champion. While this person ranks equally with the heavy fighting champion, rapier champion, archery champion, etc., there were only two entrants this year (for comparison, I was told there were over 100 fighters up for the Crown tournament, drawing from the same area). A third candidate had to drop out at the last minute due to family issues. Despite my limited knowledge of SCA people, I knew and was known to all the entrants, certainly a first for me.

Each entrant had to prepare four pieces, either period or in period style, and was called on to do improv work at the event feast (which, sadly, I missed). I sat in on a period English song about a male prostitute offering himself for 'rent', a Norse tale created by the bard, a Morrocan dance, and the introduction, in Latin, to a lecture on mathematics. The latter two were one-off entries by people who were not competing for the champion's slot. After each the judges discussed the piece with the performer, asking about documentation, performance style questions, etc.

I found this event quite interesting, as the portions I witnessed are about as completely different from, say, the Shittimwoode bardic championship as it is possible to be. Prepared pieces for judges vs. winging it for an audience, period-restricted vs. free choice, solo objective judging vs. head-to-head doulbe elimination, scholarly vs. crowd-pleasing, scheduled simultaneous vs. sequential.

Sadly due to latent exhaustion I didn't make it back Sunday for the final round and announcement of the victor.