Bardic Arts

"Terrance of Halliday"
by
Rima of Rockridge

Terrance this is stupid stuff:
You jab your shield-hooks fast enough;
There can't be much amiss, 'tis true,
To see the way you hack and hew.
But, oh, sweet squire, the aim you take:
Not every blow should be a fake.
The foe, the bold foe, he's not dead;
How could he, when you've missed his head.
We poor lads, we aim our blows,
At least mash shields when missing foes.
Pretty fighting 'tis to fan
The breeze as if it were a man,
Flailing Fiery-hearted fey.
Have done, they're carting you away.

From a collection of fighter poems titled Valhalla. This is from the section titled: "The Lighter Side of Dying".

"Long ago, the West Kingdom bards decided to produce poems for every fighter in each crown lists. We carried this on for several years before finally faltering. A large number of bards were required, since the lists kept getting larger and eventually the effort involved wore us out. Even so, we published two volumes of the best of the fighter poems. I was president of the college of bards of the West Kingdom at that time and I regard that effort as perhaps the most satisfying thing I ever achieved in the SCA." -- Steven MacEanruig

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